Lush: Almond and Coconut Shower Smoothie

I have been hearing about Lush products for over a year now and finally broke down and bought my first Lush goodie. This winter has been super harsh on my skin and it seems that no amount of lotion helps keep my skin happy. I heard about how moisturizing the Almond and Coconut Smoothie was and decided I would give it a try. It's certainly not cheap, at just under $22, but I decided that it would be worth the money. I was happy to find out that it was! I've only used this twice, but my skin feels so much better. Not that you wouldn't want to put lotion on after using this, but it's still a great product. I felt like getting a head start on moisturizing made my skin really absorb the lotion I put on afterwards. I tweeted this picture and tagged Lush and they even tweeted me back! Nerdy, but still pretty cool.
I also bought 3 bath bombs that they were selling for Valentine's Day and I'll report on those after I try them. I've used something like it before and LOVED it so I'm sure these Lush bath bombs will be no different. The bath bombs were definitely more affordable. All the ones I bought were under $8. Maybe that seems like a lot for a bath, but I think they'll be worth it on those super stressful days where you just need a good soak in the bath. Being a new "Lushie" means I'm open to suggestions on what I should try! What are your favorite Lush products?

xx Anna

Essie Demure Vixen

If you've seen my posts about my nail polish collection, or any of my "Nail of the Day" posts, then you know that I have a eclectic taste in nail polish. Every week, it's a different color or shade to match my mood or a specific outfit I have in my mind. Typically this time of year, I choose more pastel or brighter polishes. However, today I had to attend a Donor/Scholar luncheon at school. Basically it was just a way for students to meet the wonderful people that fund our scholarships and be able to thank them in person. The invitation said "business casual" and automatically I was trying to think of a nail polish that wouldn't be too crazy. My first thought was Essie Fiji or Ballet Slipper because they're soft and neutral. Then I thought of my most recent nail purchases and decided that Essie Demure Vixen would be perfect.

I keep a list of all the nail polishes I want to add to my collection on my phone and this one was at the top of the list. I find myself looking for more "business" appropriate nail polishes, since I clearly won't be able to wear bright colors forever. This is a perfect choice if you want something neutral, but want a little more color. It's a dusty rose color that I think is perfect.

It's sad that I'm already thinking about the next color that I'll paint my nails, but it's because I've added three new colors from the OPI Spring 2013 Collection to my own personal collection. I'll be super excited to share that with you guys next weekend!
Until next time,

xx Anna

OPI Come to Poppy

As we're nearing spring, I find myself being drawn back to the OPI 2012 Spring Collection. One of my favorites polishes from that collection is Come to Poppy. It's such a gorgeous coral/poppy color that I haven't seen duplicated by any other nail polish brand. This is easily one of my "go-to" polishes for spring, and even summer.
Today I'm going to a baby shower for my best friend and was trying to figure out which polish to wear with the outfit I picked out and Come to Poppy was an easy choice for me. It's such an easy color to wear and even looks good on my fair skin. If you have fair skin, you know that sometimes polishes don't look the best with our skin tone. If you can't already tell, OPI is seriously (in my opinion) one of the best brands of nail polish. I feel like I'm getting a great quality product for the money that I'm spending. The Spring 2012 collection was probably the first collection that I purchased completely. I try my best not to buy an entire collection unless I really think I'll wear every polish. It's just hard because if you want half of them, sometimes you can find the entire collection for around the same price. Anyway, I love this polish and I can't rave about it enough. I'm also super excited about the 2013 Spring Collection and currently have a few that are en route to my house as we speak. More on that later! :)

xx Anna

Valentine's Day Nails

I thought I'd take the perfect opportunity with V-Day coming up to share a little tutorial with you.

This is the final look. It's a pink, red heart for a statement nail, topped off with glitter. Doesn't get better than that!

First, you'll need to collect several things. You'll need a base coat, a baby pink color of your choice (I'm using OPI Sparrow Me the Drama), and red of your coice (OPI Cajun Shrimp), either a silver or pink glitter (OPI I Lily Love You), and a top coat.

Base coat comes first, which protects your nails and also helps from chipping. Next, you'll paint two coats of your pink color.

I love this color because it's almost a dusty rose color, but any light pink will work here. It's totally up to you! So after you've painted two coats of your pink, you'll need to let it dry for quite a while before you try to draw the heart. It's important to let your nails dry so the pink layer doesn't get messed up trying to create the heart!

For the heart you'll need your red and an orange stick, or anything with a point. You can use a toothpick as well!

You'll put a drop of the red onto a piece of paper. Since I only did my ring fingers, this amount works well. If you do more than one nail you'll probably need more of the red.

You'll take the orange stick and dip it into the red, making sure you get a decent amount onto the stick. Make two dots in the middle of your nail and then use the orange stick and drag the stick through the red to make a point. You may need to work and shape it a little bit to make it look like a heart, but this is typically a foolproof way to make a heart.

After you connect the dots you should end up with a heart like this! So once you've made your hearts you'll also need to let them dry completely. If not, the red will smear into the pink when we put the glitter on top.

Now it's time for the glitter! OPI I Lily Love you is from the Spring Collection 2012 and it's actually not clear, but rather it's slightly pink. I love this glitter because there are also big chunks of iridescent pieces as well as the smalls bits of glitter. You'll want at least one coat of this, depending on your glitter preferences.

Once the glitter dries, you'll need a top coat. I used two layers of top coat to make it last longer.

And that's the final product! I tend to only make the hearts on my ring fingers just because I don't have the steadiest hand, but the hearts would look good on every nail as well. Let me know what you think! :)

xx Anna

Cafe Escapes: Waste or Winner?

Okay, so as you know I consider my self to be snob-ish when it comes to coffee. I don't think that's a bad thing; I just know what I like when it comes to coffee. I've had my second disappointing moment with Keurig brand coffees. I was walking through Target with my younger brother last night and as usual I found myself looking at all the things I wasn't shopping for. I'm convinced that they have something magical at the entrance that reorganizes your brain to make you think you need a cart full of stuff when you only came in for one thing. That's besides the point, today. We're walking past this section, near electronics in our store, where I'm pretty sure it's just a bunch of stuff that's on sale. They had two-packs of mascara, lotions, etc. Nothing really super exciting, although I'm pretty sure the mascaras were only $9.99 which is a great price for two mascaras! Anyway, so we're walking and they have this section of Keurig coffees that aren't in the coffee isle. Like I said, I really don't know what's up with that but it's been there since after Christmas. They had these Cafe Escapes which basically sounded like a latte-like coffee that brews all in one. It was only $2.99 for a 3-pack, so I went ahead and stuck it in the basket. I noticed later that they had them in the larger packs in the coffee isle.

I decided to give it a try this morning and I could barely even drink half of it. It tastes so artificial. Clearly you can see that it says "artificially flavored" below the flavor. It's artificial to the point of being clearly noticeable and unpleasant. Many other artificially flavored things are at least pleasant and don't taste almost like plastic. I'm so happy I only bought a sample pack instead of the full size box because it is such a waste of money. The idea is there, but the execution is extremely poor. I later looked at the ingredients and it's not even actual coffee; it's instant coffee which is terrible anyway! I don't think I could be more disappointed with this product.  I'd rather pay $3-$4 at Starbucks and actually get a good latte instead of the $3 I spent on this.

I still love Keurig, but I will steer clear of any product in the future that promises something like this! My daily coffee experience is something I treasure, just because it is a moment to myself and something I enjoy. Luckily it's a Saturday and I get a do-over this morning. It's time to go brew some REAL coffee and have that quiet moment. :)

xx Anna

Golden French Toast

Easily one of my all-time favorite coffees that I've ever purchased for the Keurig is the Green Mountain "Golden French Toast." I first had this coffee in the winter of 2011. I discovered it at my local Bed, Bath, and Beyond when I was browsing the coffee section. This past winter I had my eyes peeled, because as you can see it is a limited edition and is only available around the holidays. I never saw it in stores or even on the Keurig website. The only way I found it sold this year was in a Holiday pack sold at Kohl's with Gingerbread and Spicy Egg Nog. I wasn't a huge fan of either of the other flavors, so it bummed me out that I had to buy a 48 pack that included two other flavors I didn't love as much. They're not bad, but not as good as Golden French Toast! We went through two holiday packs and the first thing to go was the Golden French Toast.
The good news is that, for whatever reason, I noticed that you can buy the Golden French Toast individually on the Keurig website now. I'm not sure when they made it available, but I was super happy about it. The other two flavors were available separately, so I wondered why the GFT wasn't available as well. The other place that I found it, after I had already wasted money on the Holiday packs, was Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love this coffee for the simple fact that it gives all the flavor of french toast. It's slightly sweet and buttery, just like french toast.
My creamer pairing, which may sound odd, is Coffee Mate's Pecan Praline.

I don't know what it is about this combo, but it's to die for. I think it's the syrup-like quality flavor that it has. I've tried GFT with other flavors, like vanilla, but nothing tastes quite as good as Pecan Praline. I'm not sure whether Pecan Praline is a holiday flavor, because it doesn't say limited edition like other holiday flavors. Either way I suppose it's a match made in heaven if they're both holiday flavors, since they come out at the same time. I highly recommend both of these, but hurry before they're gone!! You may even find Pecan Praline at a discounted rate since the holidays are over. I found another Pecan Praline, after I had used a good 2 or 3 bottles already this holiday season, just last week and it was discounted with the other holiday flavors. I've only seen them in the smaller bottles, which is kind of a downside because I always seem to use the creamer before the box of coffee is gone. I was lucky to find another Cinnabon creamer at the same time I found the Pecan Praline, so I'll probably give that combo a try. Let me know what you think!

xx Anna
 

OPI The Color to Watch

With the Super Bowl being tomorrow, I wanted to paint my nails to support the Baltimore Ravens. Now, since the Colts aren't in the Super Bowl this year I plan on having a relaxed time at the party we always attend. However, I will definitely be rooting for the Ravens over the 49ers! I'm not necessarily trying to match the Ravens shade of purple, but just generally wearing purple to support them. So, I took a good look at my purple shades and found one appropriate on multiple levels.
1. Winter-esque
2. Haven't worn it in a while
3. Not a pastel
The chosen color is.....

OPI The Color to Watch

I absolutely love this color, even though I think I haven't worn it since last winter. I love it because it's a light purple, but yet not a pastel. Hence how it is perfect for winter! About this time every year, I start to want to wear the lighter polishes I have. While there are no "nail polish police" to prevent me from doing so, I can't bring myself to dip into the pastels just yet. Also, when fall and winter arrive I get super excited for those colors that I want to truly appreciate those colors since I won't be able to pull them off in the next coming months.
I love the application of this polish because you could easily pull off one coat instead of the two. I would definitely stick with two just because I like the look of it better.

Another thing I love about this polish is the shimmer. I'll be the first to admit that I love glitter, but I absolutely hate trying to get glitter polish off my nails. I'll go a couple months without glitter, then use it again because I forget how much I hate it. The plus is obviously the staying power, but I'm not sure that it outweighs the torture of trying to get it off. I love the shimmer because I get a similar sparkly effect without the pain that comes with removing it.

As you can see, the color almost looks periwinkle rather than a true purple. I think the shimmer is more of a blue color, giving the look of a periwinkle. It looks ever so slightly darker in person, but it's not a significant difference from the pictures above.

Another thing that I want to mention is a potential giveaway for the viewers of my blog. Here's my proposition: I want to see who is actually reading what I have to say. Once I reach 10 or 15 followers then I'll come to an actual description of the giveaway, but I know it will involve nail polish. The giveaway will probably involve a few of my favorite polishes. So here's my promise: You follow the blog, or comment on posts, and I'll give one or two of those followers/commentors a few of my favorite polishes. Sound simple enough? In those comments you can recommend polishes to me, tell me your favorites etc. :)

xx Anna

Revlon Red Carpet

Introducing my collection in my last blog post had me wanting to try one of the newer colors that I've added. One of the downsides to having such a large collection is that I frequently am guilty of going back to the same colors that I know I already love. I typically gravitate towards pinks and purples, but as I've grown my collection I have tried to branch out and explore colors that are less predictable. One color in particular that I don't wear for clothing, or nail polish, is red. The only exception I'll make is for an IU shirt, but that's pretty much it. I don't know why I have such an aversion to red, but if you look in my closet I think you may only find two red shirts (both of which are IU). I have one redish nail polish that I love, OPI Cajun Shrimp, which I mentioned as one of my favorites. It's more of a reddish/coral/orange that a true red. Over the holidays, I decided I wanted to add a true red to my collection. I chose Revlon Red Carpet because, since I don't wear red often, I thought going with a drugstore brand (over Essie or OPI) would suit me better. 

I haven't tried one of the newer Revlon nail polishes (I believe they are called ColorStay), but they have been recommended to me. When I first started using this polish, I have to admit that I was extremely impressed. The formulation of this polish makes for such a great application. I honestly could have stopped at one coat. I painted my nails on Tuesday and I didn't get my first chip until Friday afternoon, which is pretty darn good for a drugstore brand. I don't want to discredit Revlon, but obviously they are less expensive than OPI or Essie. Regardless, 4 days of wear without chipping is pretty awesome. 

The only negative thing I have to say about this polish is that I felt like the brush was a bit thick. It made it a little challenging to get the edges of a nail without getting it on my skin. I think they chose a larger brush so that it takes less effort to cover the nail. However, I definitely prefer the skinnier brush of OPI or Essie so that I have better control of where the polish goes.
That being said, the formulation definitely outweighs my dislike of the brush. I will definitely be keeping an eye on these Revlon nail polishes because they are affordable and provide great color payoff.


xx Anna