R.I.P. Talia Joy (Castellano)

I've been thinking about posting this for the past couple of days.  I didn't really want to dwell on something sad, or something that my readers may or may not know about.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was not sad after all.  If you are in the make up community or big on You Tube videos or not completely hiding under a rock, you may know of 13 year old Talia Castellano.  Talia lost her battle with cancer this week, after fighting for six years. Talia became a really big YouTube sensation back in the day.  Her love of life, beauty, makeup and all things positive radiated to hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of viewers.  She even became an honorary CoverGirl, and has appeared on the Ellen Show.  She radiated such positivity to everyone, even us strangers who admired her bravery from our computer and phone screens.  She was the pretty little bald girl, who never wanted to cover her head with a wig, and loved every minute of it.

I remember first seeing her thinking, there's no way this girl is so young, she has the wisdom and courage of someone years older than her.  Just writing about her brings tears to my eyes.  The love that so many people had for someone they've never met, and the positivity that radiated and was sent out to her family during these tough past few weeks has been nothing short of amazing.  I loved that Talia was a fighter, and never let cancer get her down.  I could not imagine having to go through everything that she did, and still keeping a smile on her face, even from her hospital bed.  

I know, based off of the Facebook and Instagram pages for Talia and her family that the past few weeks have been very hard for Talia, and that at moments things were touch and go.  Everyone pulled together and sent her family prayers and well wishes, many for a girl whom they never met.  As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that Talia's mother is going through, but I can say that Talia has left a legacy here on Earth that will last forever.  Her kindness, beauty, and courage have touched each and every one of her "fans" or "admirers". I am eternally grateful and inspired by her bravery.

I know I might be rambling at this point, but I just wanted to pay my respect to Talia and her family.  She was truly an angel here on Earth.  Rest in paradise, always.  Just keep swimming.

Note: These are images I found on IG or Talia's page.  I didn't make these.

Ipsy July Bag 2013

So I signed up for Ipsy last month, and I got my first bag this month.  The July 2013 bag was a cute vinyl hot pink plastic bag. This is my first bag, so I wasn't sure what to expect or whether or not I should be super stoked or super let down by this month's contents.  Either way, for $10, you really can't beat that.  Especially since each month your products come in a cute travel bag of some sort.  There were many options for this month's bag.  My goodies were: Coola Unscented Sunscreen (sample size), Big S**y Hair Weatherproof Hair Spray (sample size), BH Cosmetics California Collection eye palette (sample), POP Culture lip color pencil in Coral Crush, Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub (full size). 

For $10, it isn't a bad deal at all.  I've posted swatches below.  I love the lip color and the eye shadow colors.  I'm going to try the other products and review them in the near future! 

It comes mailed in this cute hot pink package.

Lip pencil in Coral Crush on top, followed by the BH eyeshadow palette.
Hollywood, San Francisco, Malibu

CVS Sale

Hey guys! So I stopped into CVS last night and thought they had some pretty decent deals.  First, all Orly nail polish was 50% off.  They were pretty cleaned out but I managed to pick up two shades (pictured below).  Also, there were many other random items mixed in that were marked with 50% off or 75% off stickers.  Additionally, for every $10 you spent on Maybelline (as well as Covergirl and Loreal),  you receive $3 in bonus bucks.  Or CVS dollars.  Or whatever they call them since I don't shop at CVS too often lol.  

MAC Nudes & Metallics Collection...Available Online NOW

MAC's latest collection is the Nudes & Metallics Collection, which is a limited edition, online (or pro store) only collection.  So if you're interested in any of these babies, you've got to go online and order them.  Unfortunately, this is a collection I wished they had in stores, because it contains a lot of items that I personally don't enjoy buying without swatching, because I'm not sure how I'll like the product.  Specifically, nude and metallic lipstick. For nudes, because of my skin tone, I prefer to swatch, because there aren't many that look good on me.  For metallics, I never really like the finish/feel of them, so I usually pass.  But I wouldn't pass if the color of one was absolutely to die for. The collection is broken down into two parts: nudes and metallics.  Both collections have four lipsticks, four eyeshadows, and one blush.  Everything is limited edition. 

Nudes:

• Angel's Kiss (amplified lipstick)
• Wholesome (amplified lipstick)
• Nearly Nude (amplified lipstick)
• Restrained (amplified lipstick)
• Bare Minimum (satin eyeshadow)
• Glimpse of Flesh (satin eyeshadow)
• Body Conscious (satin eyeshadow)
• Exposed (satin eyeshadow)
• Barefaced (satin blush)

Metallics:

• Dominate (frost metallic lipstick)-deep purple
• Pre-Raphaelite (frost metallic lipstick)-berry
• Subverted (frost metallic lipstick)-brown
• Show-All (frost metallic lipstick)-red
• Love's Lure (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep red
• Brazenly (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep purple
• Crimson Tryst (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-berry red
• Deep Fixation (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep brown
• Stylish Me (satin blush)-mauveish

Looking at the swatches, the eyeshadows look gorgeous and pigmented, which isn't exactly common for MAC eyeshadows (anymore).  I'm thinking of picking up some of the nude lipsticks and some of the metallic eyeshadows.  

Suggestions for a Good Topcoat???

Okay, so I just did my nails yesterday.  Twenty four hours ago.  And this is what they look like now (the other hand as well).  Typically I don't use a top coat on my nails because I've found that it makes them super thick and doesn't really aid in the polish lasting any longer.  Well yesterday I decided to re-ignite my past love of top coats, and this is what my nails look like.  It's not that the polish is even chipping, but it is peeling, like you could literally lift a corner up and peel it off, with ease.  I've done this polish look before with no top coat, and it gave me 3 days worth of wear.  This here, I'm probably going to redo tonight.  

So, that leaves me with asking you guys, any suggestions for a good top coat? One that won't cause my nail polish to peel, help prolong the polish wear, or make them "bumpy" after application? PLEASE comment below! LOL.  Whoever finds me one that works well, I've got a polish giveaway for you!!  FYI-I used Finger Paints top coat for these nails. 

Thanks :)

NOTD: Nail of the Day

Hi Guys, here's today's nail of the day! Excuse the extra short length of my nails...I've been breaking them left and right, down to the nub, so I decided to just cut all of them down to the same length, and grow them back out together.  I'm also thinking about changing my natural nail shape from round to square.  I'm starting to like the way it looks, so my nails also have an awkward shape right now.  Anywho, for the colors I used China Glaze's Electric Beat (the blue) and the glitter is OPI's Polka.Com (polka dot com).  

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

Check out the pics below!

Ulta Online Haul

I ordered some things from Ulta that came in the mail last night.  The Eco Tools and Real Techniques brushes were all buy one get one 50% off, and I also used the 20% off coupon.  The Eco Tools brushes were Detailed Lip brush and the Sharpen and Smudge Duo (1275 and 1245).  The Real Techniques brushes are the blush brush and powder brush. I'm super excited about these because my former brushes were Target brand brushes and of course, they sucked.  I find the Real Technique brushes to be a good value for the price!  The Ulta products were all buy one get one free, so I picked up an eyeliner brush and an eyeliner gel pencil in Peacock.  The nail polishes were $6 each. Overall I think I got a really good deal!! Oh yea, check out those free samples in the back (next to the bread) lol! Didn't open the pack, not sure what they are, but I will update...because you know I love my free samples!!