Maybelline Color Blur By Lip Studio

Purchased by me.

Good morning lovelies!! How was your weekend? Mine was so-so. I was supposed to hang out with my dad but he didn't feel well so every plan we had went down the toilet. I was pretty bummed but I'll get over it as I always have.

Today I want to show you  a new product from Maybelline and has become one of my favorite lippies to wear. Maybelline has certainly become one of my favorite drugstore brands over the years and I love anything matte for the lips! I think I own more Maybelline products over any other brand.

A while back I had heard they released a matte velvet lip pencil over in the United Kingdom and after seeing some of my favorite British beauty bloggers talk about them I KNEW I would need them if they were ever to be release here. Well of course about a half a year later Maybelline released them but under a new name and different packaging. I don't have a problem with that as long as the product is good.

Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks. My Picks For Fall!

Well hello there lovelies! I hope you all are well! I'm back with a swatch and review for you amazing readers today!

Over the last I guess you could say almost year I have fallen in love with matte lip products.

And of course this meme jumped in my head when I wrote that above sentence.  Today I am going to bringing you my views on the new Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks. That is a mouthful.

I first heard about these through Nouveau Cheap which if you haven't heard of G. and her amazing beauty on budget blog. I seriously check her blog pretty much everyday to see whats about to hit the drugstores beauty wise.

When I read that Maybelline was going to be launching a matte lipstick line I was super excited since at the time my favorite matte lippies were made by Revlon. I am a huge fan of the Color Burst Matte Balms. Number 250 Standout is my go-to red lippie.

So I waited patiently for them to arrive at my local drugstore. The first one I wanted to pick up was Touch Of Spice, which reminds me quite a bit of the Gerard Cosmetics Lipstick 1995 which was created by Jaclyn Hill. Photos I have seen online pretty much show Touch Of Spice is an exact dupe for it.

The second one I got but didn't necessarily plan on getting, because god knows I need more lipsticks,  but I couldn't pass up Divine Wine, which is a red but its more of a vampy dark red. Its darker than Revlon's Standout. I was inspired to buy this because of the lovely YouTuber Zoella. I have always seen her rocking a dark red lip and I wanted to try too.

The texture of these lipsticks are amazing, they are super creamy and smooth. They don't dry out your lips like some mattes can do. I will say these lipsticks have a scent to them, but I don't find it unpleasant. To me it smells kind of vanilla-y. Plus I don't smell it at all after applying it. 

Lets take a look at some swatches. 

 These swatches are done with one swipe of the lipstick. In the photo you can see Touch of Spice is a brown toned nude and has that classic '90s look to it. Divine Wine is just that a nice blue toned dark red. On my lips its looks a little darker than shown here.

The staying power is not very long lasting, after eating and drinking you will have to reapply.

I paid $4.97 for these lovely lippies at Walmart which is great because other places they are about $7.99!

If you want to get your hands on these I would check out your local drugstore or Walmart now because I think everyone should have access to them!

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you love matte lippies like I do comment below and tell me whats your favorite!

I'll see you guys on Thursday with a Halloween mani!!
<3 Nicole

*All the above products mentioned by me were purchased by myself with my own money. I am not being compensated for this review.*

Maybelline Baby Skin Review.

Hi guys! I hope you all had an awesome weekend. I worked mine as usual, what else is new!

Today I bring you a beauty review on a product that made a huge splash in the drugstore market back in January/February.

What I'm talking about is the Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser. Why is it that drugstore  and high end products are becoming more mouthfuls to say?

My 2013 Beauty Favorites!

Hey guys! Happy Monday evening!! I hope that your Monday was awesome!

Today I have a post that I worked on over the weekend, I know its late, but better late than never, its my 2013 Beauty Favorites!!

This is the first time that I have done this type of post, normally this would be a Free For All Beauty Friday thing but by then it would way too late to do this post. Last year and I believe the year before that I did my top nail polish posts, you can find them here and here.

As much as I love nail polish I do love all things beauty as well, I taught myself how to put make up on and how to use different eye shadows, and liquid liner all by watching tons of YouTube videos. My make up stash however is not nearly as big as my polish stash but its getting to the point I need more storage for make up.

Anyway to start off this post I am going to start with foundation!

My favorite foundation of 2013 is Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Foundation. 

Now this isn't a new foundation out on the market but its new to me in as I have never tried it before. I have used the concealer which I don't care for but this foundation is nice. I'm a liquid foundation girl, I love the coverage I can get by building it up or just buying a decent covering foundation.

I only got this foundation towards the end of the year but from the first time I tried it which was the day I bought it I knew it would be a favorite for me.

For a thin formula foundation it really covers a lot of my imperfections, especially my dark circles under my eyes! That is when I know a foundation is a keeper in my book. It also doesn't cake up under my eyes like my other liquid foundations and BB Creams that I have tried.

What I like most about this foundation is the applicator, usually a sponge tip applicator to me isn't the most sanitary thing, but since I am the only one using it it doesn't bother me so much. The sponge on this foundation is very soft so when I use it under my eyes I know I'm not inflicting any damage to my already 26 year old bags.

My next beauty favorite of 2013 is: Cover Girl and Olay Simply Ageless Concealer. 

I purchased this concealer back during the spring time just before I went to Florida. I had always looked at this when I saw it in the drugstores but the price tag kind of made me turn away and tell myself that I don't need it. I happened to get this concealer on clearance for half off when I bought it. I don't believe that they make this anymore, it has been replaced by a concealer/serum CC cream?

In the pot its a mix of the concealer and the Olay Regenerest. I would show you the inside of it but I have hit pan on it and its just doesn't look pretty. During the summer this was my go-to concealer, it covered up my under eye well. It is a fairly decent coverage concealer, when I was on vacation sometimes this was all I put on with some setting powder since it was so hot outside and it worked well.

I don't know if it did anything for under my eye like helping my few fine lines I have. I know, fine lines at 26? Yes I have them and I hate them.  Darn insomnia.

I found myself being drawn to buying a lot of blusher this year. I think I used to only own one which is NY Color Downtown Wine I believe. ( I could be so wrong on the name). I then went to having by the end of this year five all together. Out of those five the one that I reached for the most was Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso. 

I bought this blush after I heard Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi on YouTube) talk about it all the time. I honestly thought I would never find it because sadly my local CVS is the only place to carry Milani products and they never keep anything in stock and never get anything new. Finally one day while wandering through the beauty department I just happened to look and found the last one left. This blush is beautiful! Its a rosy goldish tone that  just adds this glow to your cheeks that warms up the complexion. It is a shimmery blush but its not the in-you-face shimmery.

This favorite was featured in my July favorites over the summer and I have now realized I have a love affair with this brand. I'm talking about the Lorac Pro Palette.

I cannot get enough of Lorac Cosmetics. Since featuring this in my July Favorites post, I have used it everyday since and worn the heck out of it. I love that you get eight matte shades and eight shimmery shades, you have endless combinations. Right before Thanksgiving my dad and I took a trip to our local Kohls. The first thing that I noticed was there revamped beauty bars. They now carry Lorac, and The Balm, plus a few other high end brands. I was so excited that I wasn't going to have to wait to go to Sephora, or order online. That is when I also purchased my second Lorac product. Its called The Sweet Temptations Eye Shadow Kit. I will be doing a swatch and review post of that soon!

Next up we have some lip favorites.

Revlon came out with some pretty cool lip products this fall that I fell head over heels for. They were the new Color Burst Matte Balms and Lacquer Balms. I purchased three of the Lacquer Balms and two of the Matte Balms.

The three lacquer balms I bought are called: Demur (#105) , Flirtatious (#125), and Vivacious (#120).

This Lacquer Balms are kind of the same as the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains but there not really a stain. However the more pigmented the color, you do get a slight stain on your lips as it starts to wear off.

This fall I found myself drawn to buying brightly colored lip products and pinks and berries were most certainly on the list. Demure (middle) is a light nude-pink, which I love but it has visible bits of glitter in it and it does transfer to the lips and once the initial product wears away you are left with some glittery lips. That is the only downside of the product I have. The other two Vivacious and Flirtatious I could see shimmer but no chunks of glitter.

For the Matte Balms these are my favorites by far! I also was searching for a perfect red lip product this fall. I have never really worn red lipstick before because I always thought it made me look like a clown. So I bought shade #240 Stunning, it is a orange toned red, and I have to say I was very afraid of it. It wasn't perfect. I like how it looked on me but  I think I will try it out more in the warmer months. Then I saw a YouTuber ( I can't remember who) wearing shade # 250 Standout. I knew when I saw that shade that's the red I had in mind for myself. It was dark and velvety and just amazing.

As you can see my DSLR hates reds but you can still tell the difference. Stunning is the top shade and Standout is on the bottom. Any how when I put Standout on, I fell in love with it and have worn it almost every day I have to go to work. My job was the first place I wore this red out in public. I figure if I want to get over my fear that was first step. I knew my female co-workers would give me honest opinions, were cool like that!

One of my last favorites that I got in 2013 were two Real Techniques Brushes! I found them at Kohls! I got the Expert Face Brush ( orange handle)  and Stippling Brush ( pink handle). For those of you that don't know they were created by Samantha Chapman of the Pixwoo sisters on YouTube!

I have seen such a difference in how my foundation blends with the Expert Face Brush, it literally makes your foundation look airbrushed. It blends it out evenly and the bristles of the brush are super soft against your skin. The Stippling Brush I have been using to apply blusher thats why the bristles are pink. I love how it just fits nicely over my cheek bones to add the perfect amount of color.

I believe you can also get these brushes online or at Ulta, I hear even some Wal-Marts have them now too.

So thats it for my beauty favorites of 2013! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did even if everything kind of found there way to me from the summer on!

Whats your favorite things of 2013?? It can be anything! Comment below!! 

Until next time!
<3 Nicole

Happy New Year!! Maybelline Color Show: Pretty In Peach.

Happy 2014 you guys!!

I hope your new years eve rocked. I spent mine at home watching Netflix, eating good food, and definitely reflecting on the year. But its a new year now and time for new beginnings!

So today's polish is by Maybelline, they release some new Color Show Polishes back in December and they just hit my Rite Aid just before New Years. I picked out one color from the display that caught my eye. It was one of the brighter colors.

Its called Pretty In Peach, and the color is exactly as the title says. I love me a peach colored polish. I think though that this is only maybe my third in my collection ha ha.

I have quite a few of the Color Show polishes, mostly of the limited edition ones but none the less I overall really quite like them. The quality is good and the collections that Maybelline puts out always gets me to get at least one, otherwise if I got all of them every time I would be broke!

This polish looks florescent in the light but is not a neon, its just a beautifully bright color. You can achieve opacity in two coats with this polish. The first coat isn't nearly as streaky as some creme polishes are. The formula is not thick but thick enough that if you had a pretty steady hand and could balance the right amount of polish on the brush you could maybe get a thin one coater!

I took so many photos of this polish, that it was hard to narrow it down to just four, usually I only get two-three good shots.

I feel like that these Color Show Polish bottles are a little bit heavier than the limited edition ones. It might just be me but who knows. I am definitely looking forward to seeing other colors in 2014 from Maybelline.

So if there is one polish to pick up from the new Color Show's to help brighten up your new year and winter, this is a winner!

Till next time
<3 Nicole

Free For All Beauty Friday: July Favorites!

Hello!!!

So amongst the 45 Days Of Untried Challenge I have felt a need to start to get some beauty post out there.

In continuing with Free For All Beauty Fridays, today I have my July Favorites to share! I did a favorites post back in May, but skipped June because my favorites really didn't change so much.

July's Favorites are a mix of make up and some skin and body care products! Lets get started!

These favorites are in no particular order by the way!

My first favorite to show you is an eye shadow palette that I am so freaking happy I invested in. While I was watching my favorite YouTube video's Emily Eddington from EmilyNoel83 uploaded a video of high end beauty products worth trying and out of all the high end palettes out their she chose the Lorac Pro Palette.

As for me in desperate need to place a Sephora Order I decided on purchasing the palette. I have always wanted the Urban Decay Naked Palettes but I am so glad I didn't get them.

Please excuse the dirty outside of the palette, the packaging attracts dirt like crazy!

You get 16 beautiful eye shadows, eight are matte and the other eight are shimmery! You get a lot of neutral shades but some fun shades like the Garnet and deep purple shades on the bottom row.

You also get a small eye shadow primer with this palette too, so for the cost which is $42, (which to me  is a lot) you do get your money's worth. I have used this palette EVERYDAY since I got it. With that said its worth a try if you want to start a high end makeup collection, or even just invest in a few key pieces.

My next favorite is more eye shadow products, beside the Lorac Palette I have become obsessed with the Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo Cream Eye Shadows. I only used to own two and they were the normal pink and skin toned shades, I believe they came from the metallic collection that Maybelline put out.

The three that I have picked for my favorites for July are pretty awesome although one is L.E. but I hope that they would put something like it in the core line.

I have found these cream shadows to be so versatile, I can definitely wear them alone or place a powder shadow on top to change it up or increase the intensity.

My two absolute favorites that I picked are Pomegranate Punk and Lavish Lavender.

This beautiful macro photo is of Pomegranate Punk, it is a gorgeous cranberry shade that goes on the eyes a little darker than in the photo. I feel its going to be one of the main colors I wear this fall when back at school.

Next is Lavish Lavender. This shade was a limited edition shade, it was released as a summer collection but I believe it hit store in the spring time. It was part of a collection that had a few duo-chrome color tattoos but none of those stood out to me.

I got this on clearance believe it or not, it was originally $8 bucks and I scored it for $3.99! I would check your local Rite Aid clearance bins to see if you can snag anything left from the collection.

Something I became slightly concerned about back in July was my skin, I noticed it was looking haggard and just overall not good. We all know nowadays that protecting and taking care of our skin is something that we should be on top of, there is nothing wrong with being preventative. I think in my case I just got lazy!

Anyway when I started making myself take care of my skin again I noticed I was out of my nighttime moisturizer. So I was going to repurchase my Simple Skin Care Vital Vitamin Night Cream, which was my go-to for a long time but I couldn't find it anywhere so I was on the hunt for a new brand.

While staring awkwardly at the skin care isle in my local Wal-Mart, I found the brand CeraVe.

I had heard about this brand but not too much. I began to read the packaging and then notice this night cream had an ingredient I was looking for; Hyaluronic Acid. Now your probably thinking, that won't acid be bad for your face? Its not what you think, its a humectant that helps the moisture in your skin and the moisturizer you just put on to keep you as hydrated as possible. I started using it right away and with in the first week I notice a big improvement in my skin.

So I went out and bought the AM version of the moisturizer as well to keep everything together so to speak.


Keeping with skin care for a little bit I have finally found a cleanser that I an use day and night and NOT dry out my skin! Every single cleanser I have tried, whether it says it won't dry out your skin or not always leaves my face tight and feeling like I have to slather on mountians of moisturizer.

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser came into my life the same day that I got my new moisturizer. This cleanser is highly fragrant so if you don't like that then this may not be for you. To me it smells like strong baby powder.

I have also noticed that besides improving my skin this cleanser has helped any acne on my face. As of this post I had a small pimple on my chin and I washed with this last night and this morning and the pimple is gone! So I am most definitely in love with this!

My last skin care favorite is a body butter. When I ordered from Sephora I also got a Soap & Glory product. I got The Butter Yourself Body Butter. It smells amazing and five different types of fruit in it. I have used it every night since getting it in the mail. It keeps my skin soft and the fragrance last forever on the skin! I love using it right after I take a shower.

For $20 bucks you get 10 ounces, which doesn't sound like a lot but you do not need a ton of this to slather yourself up with.

I love Soap & Glory products I have used two shower gels from them and just keep falling in love with every other product I try. The first shower gel I had called Clean On Me lasted me a whole year!


Transitioning back into make up for the rest of this post, I have some amazing lip products to show you and a foundation!

So first up the foundation. Maybelline recently introduce a new gel stick foundation into their Fit Me line. When I first saw this at CVS I was intrigued mainly because I had never tried a stick foundation before. I purchased it at CVS for almost 9 bucks but because I had $3 in extra bucks I got it for $6 which is what I saw they sell it for in Walmart anyway.

It also clams to be shine free but using this in the summer I am never shine free, so I will have to update this when the weather cools down for the fall to see if that claim is true. For the price point you do not get a ton of product, you get just under half an ounce of product.

The one you see in photos is my back up that is brand new, the one that I have been using is almost all gone, I've had hit for a little over a month and its almost gone, that makes me sad. I guess that what you get when you use it every day!

With that said though I really like the way this foundation makes my skin look, it doesn't make it flawless but it evens out my redness and dries to a powder feeling. I think that is due to the anti-shine core that also has powder in  it.

I know it looks dark in the photo but I assure you its not that dark in real life.

Last but certainly not least in this favorites post is the lip products I have been loving!

First up are the Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers, if you know about these already then you know the U.K. had them first as Apocalips and they were such a hit that we over here in the states practically demanded they be brought over for us. Rimmel made it happen for us, keeping the same packaging and all but changing the name slightly and adding on additional colors. I hunted my Walgreen's for weeks when these were first sighted in the states.

Today I bring you my two favorites Aurora and Apocalyptic.

In the photo above Aurora is the lip lacquer on the bottom and Apocalyptic is on the top. I know they look the same in color but Aurora is more orange toned and Apocalyptic is more of a hot fuchsia color.

This is what the applicator looks like, just a doe foot one that has a tiny well in it to help control the product, because a little does go a long way with this and you can apply too much and look like a clown. These feel nice on the lips and are not drying. They don't last too long on the lips if you eat or drink anything so if wearing this out to dinner be prepared to reapply.

The last and final favorite that I have is two lipsticks also from Rimmel. These are from their Moisture Renew line, this line isn't new but they have added I believe six new colors.

I got two over the course of July, a lovely nude and what I think is the lipstick version of the Show Off Lip Lacquer Apocalyptic.

The lovely nude color  I have is called Lets Get Naked. I love the name on that one it just so saucy!

The bright berry fuchsia one is called As You Want Victoria

I love the way these feel on my lips they are very moisturizing but the bright color of As You Want Victoria you have to watch because if you accidentally  wipe your mouth with out realizing it you might look like a clown.


So that is it for my July Favorites, I hope you enjoyed and maybe you will find something that you like and will give it a try!

45 Days Of Untrieds Day 11: Maybelline Color Show: Mystic Green.

Good morning and happy Sunday! Whose mad that Monday is around the corner?

Today is day 11 of the 45 days of untried challenge, I admit I have been falling behind. I could throw out a million and one excuses but I don't like excuses. So we will just go on as planned, shall we?

Over the early summer Maybelline Color Show Released some new polishes which to me look to be permanent since I saw a wall display at my local Wal-Mart. The new collections are called the Polka Dots, and Holographic collections. I get really excited when I hear a drugstore brand is going to put out a possible holographic collection.

Unfortunately, as I stated on Twitter when I got these polishes, and did a quick swatch on Instagram, they are not holographic. Sad faces all around.

They are however nice polishes some that have a possible duo-chrome effect.

Mystic Green was one of the polishes that caught my eye. I don't normally gravitate to green just because its not one of my favorite colors, but I don't shun it because some green polishes are awesome!

This polish is fairly thin on the first coat. I haven't tried layering it over a dark polish but I think it might look cool. Three coats will get you this metallic green opacity. 

This polish does have a slight duo-chrome but it didn't pick up in the photos. How ever amongst the green polishes I own this is the first metallic one that i have. I wish it was more thick so I could stamp with it. 

Don't forget to check out Adrianna's and Shaylads untrieds! 

What do you think of companies labeling a polish something that it isn't?

<3Nicole

Free For All Beauty Fridays! May Favorites!

* I have nothing to disclose, everything but the Simple Skin Care Protecting Light Moisturizer was purchased by me with my own money. The Simple Skin Care Protecting Light Moisturizer was a free sample I signed up for via the internet.*

Be prepared for a long post with lots of pictures! Trust me though its worth it!

Ok any girl who is obsessed with beauty products, makeup, nail polish, etc., and if they watch YouTube videos then its a safe bet that some of them have watched favorites videos. I know I love watching them from all my favorite beauty YouTubers.

So since I don't do the whole YouTube thing, ( yet, I want to start trying, and I am getting a pretty decent camera for my birthday so I might just start.) I thought that I would start doing favorites post for Free For All Beauty Fridays! 

And yes this post is going up Saturday night because yesterday I had technical difficulties with posting!

So on to my May Favorites!

First up is eye shadow. I have two drugstore palettes that  are super affordable and great for wearing to work or even going out with the girls, or your guy.

Wet 'n' Wild makes some of the most affordable make up in the drugstore, I have used many of their polishes and never really touched the make up but I'm so glad I finally have tested the waters. the "Comfort Zone" Palette is one of WnW eight pan palettes that will run you about $4.99 at your local drugstore.

 The first three colors on the left hand side of the palette are the colors I have been reaching for ever since I purchased this palette. The fourth color on the left to the last four on the right are colors I don't always use but have tested the waters with by playing with them n my own home. The very last shade is unique to this palette as it is a duo chrome shade that flashes a rusty brick color to an amazing green. One of the best things about this palette is that the shadows are labeled as to where they should go on your eye, and on the reverse side of the palette there are little guides to help you. The pigmentation of these are also amazing a little goes a very long way.

The second drugstore eye shadow I have is a quad from Maybelline. Its from their Eye studio line. These quads will run you a little more than the Wet 'n' Wild palettes but the color pay off is pretty nice and the color ranges are also good too.

Once again this quad has the ' wear to work' colors, not bright or stand out-ish. I don't really like to wear bright colors unless its on my lips and even then I don't wear too many. I purchased this quad off the recommendation from my absolute favorite YouTuber Emilynoel83. If you don't know who she is I suggest you do if you love all things beauty. She is amazing! She gives great reviews and great how-to videos! This quad was featured in her Color Lovers video featuring rose gold make up products!

The pigmentation on these is about the same for the WNW palette,  its small and thin which makes it great for travel and will be finding its way into my make up bag when we go to Florida in two weeks.

Next in makeup, I think I have become obsessed with concealer, I currently have three concealers I use to help conceal my imperfections and under eye circles. This is the newest of the three and currently my favorite.

I chose the Cover Girl-Olay Simply Ageless Concealer not because Ellen endorses it, or the fact that it was on clearance for half off, but for the fact that I have always wanted to try it and don't own many Cover Girl products. I'll be the first to admit Cover Girl is not my most favorite brand of drugstore make up. I have used one of their 'Clean' Foundations in the past but I didn't like it and so hence didn't give anything else a try. This concealer though is amazing!

I am the shade #215 Light/Medium. This concealer is great for under your eyes to conceal those not so flattering dark circles. It comes in a little pot which isn't too hygienic, having to dip your finger in each time but since I am the only one who uses this I don't mind. This concealer is swirled with Olay's Regenerist serum, so it helps with fine lines and doesn't sink into your fine lines either. That is something I noticed, this doesn't sink in to what I call my smile lines under my eyes and they are pretty deep, I have had them since I was a kid.

Next I have a blush that I can't believe I love wearing. When I first started getting into make up I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this bright color.

This is the Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in # 200 Flushed.

 My Camera makes the blush slightly brighter than it actually is. Its not really that florescent. It is pretty bright however. A little swirl on my finger gives me the perfect blushed look. Since the color is a bright pink/fuchsia you have to be light handed otherwise you will look like  a clown or a doll.  This blush is more on the higher priced spectrum at $9.99 I was hesitant on buying it.
Every time I walked past it in Wal-Mart it called out to me and I would pick it up and put it down, then finally one night while just out for some 'me' time I took the plunge and bought it, and I'm so glad I did.

Finally on the makeup front I have a lipstick that I think I have worn everyday since I bought it at CVS. This is the Milani Color Statement Lipstick in #26 Nude Crème.

This lipstick is a-mazing! It is the perfect nude color. It is a pink nude but basically its my lip color but a tad lighter and better. The formula is smooth and goes on nicely, it is a bit drying so I do use a lip balm underneath just so the lipstick doesn't settle into the lines on my lips. I definitely plan on investing in some more color from their collection!

The last four favorites are skin care related and one perfume. So lets get started.

First up is the Simple Skin Care Eye Makeup Remover.

I want to say that this makeup remover is like the famous Bio-derma. Its probably the best eye makeup remover I have found next to baby wipes. You can't tell from the bottle shot but I have already used half the bottle up and will be needing to repurchase it. All I do is moisten a cotton pad, hold it on my eye for ten seconds and swipe away all the makeup on my eye. Its even safe to use on my lashes and my lower lash line. It has Pro-Vitamin B5 to help soothe the skin, restore it and soften. Its oil free which so if you have oily skin this won't make you look like an oil field. The fact that all Simple products have no perfumes or dyes is just one of the benefits, I know in the past using certain makeup wipes my skin actually breaks out if things are too heavily scented. Its fairly affordable at about $7 a bottle. I got mine at Walgreens and it seems to be the only place I will be able to get it, none of the other drugstores carry it.

Next is The Simple Skin Care Protecting Light Moisturizer. I got this after signing up to receive a full size sample via the blog Vampy Varnish, she had done a review on it and had a link that offered the full size product to the first 500 people who signed up.

This moisturizer is pretty awesome, it light weight absorbs into the skin quickly without leaving you feeling sticky or gunky. It has SPF 15 which isn't super high but enough to protect you if you going to be running around doing errands. Put on a regular sunscreen if you are going to be at the beach all day in the sun that has a high SPF. I know that Simple doesn't add perfumes or dye to their products but there is a slight sunscreen smell to this, its not horrible I actually like that kind of smell. I use this under my daily makeup (which already has SPF in it) and my makeup goes on smoother. I'm pretty sure you can find this in the local drugstore for around $9.99.


The final skincare product I'm loving for the month of May is the Clean & Clear Morning Burst Skin Brightening Facial Cleanser.

I have used Clean & Clear products since I was teenager and started having pimple issues. It seems so long ago, actually  I haven't been a teen in 7 years (seems forever right? Kidding!) Anyway I picked this up because I wanted a cleanser that was just to make me feel clean, I didn't need anything that had anti aging, or blemish control because I have products for those problems already. I wanted something to just make me feel clean in the morning.

This lathers really well even with only one pump. I also like the fact that the pump locks so you don't accidently hit it in the bathroom and waste product. The smell is very pleasant its lemon and papaya, it also has caffeine in it to help wake your skin up! It is slightly drying but that's okay and it leaves my skin brighter and  matte. It also helps control the oil on my face. You can find this in drugstores for about $5.97, I got mine at Wal-Mart.

Finally the last favorite I have for you is a perfume that I'm glad I found. I absolutely love the Victoria Secret PINK body mist. My most used one is Fresh and Clean. It smells like a boys' perfume but for girls. I have had friends tell me it smells like Dolce and Gabbana. So when I was in Five Below last month I always check out their body sprays since they always do their own versions of the high end perfumes.

This is called BE Cool & Clean.

This tiny little flat bottle is great for travel, I have two of these and one of them is in my purse at all times just in case I need to freshen up. Its just about a half ounce of liquid so it probably won't last long but it was only $2 so you get what you pay for. But this perfume smells exactly like my favorite Victoria's Secret scent. So when in comparison its worth it to me. It smells so clean and crisp and I love that kind of smell when I am going to be at work or just not in the mood for a fruit-y scent. 

So that s it for my favorites of May! I hope you enjoyed and sorry this post was so long! But if you did get through it than Thank you for reading it!

Until next time! Nicole

New Years Eve Mani!

Happy New Years Eve everyone!!

Unless you are in a completely different time zone and its already New Years there, then HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today I have for you what I am currently wearing for the end of 2012!

2012 has been such an amazing year! I have had some awesome moments and some not so awesome moments but I do think the good out weighs the bad for sure! I have reached so many milestones between life and here on the blog. I never thought my tiny little corner of the internet would get to where it has. As of this post I have hit 8100 views on here and surpassed 200 followers on twitter and I can't tell you all how grateful I am for that! If it wasn't for YOU the readers and followers and the amazing friends I have made, I would not be here!

In life I have had some beautiful things happen. For the first time I feel somewhat financially secure, I paid off all my credit card debt this year and some school debt. All I have left is my student loans from college which we all know takes forever to pay off! I got to welcome my beautiful niece Gianna Nicole in to the world, watching her grow everyday is such a blessing, I can't wait until she utters the words "Aunt Pumpernickel" ( yes that's my nickname :) )

I hope that 2013 will be more amazing than 2012 and I know it will be since there are some amazing things on the horizon. But I would rather talk about them when they happen, right now they are growing and just not ready to bloom. All in all I can't complain about the last year its been just awesome!

So For NYE I originally planned to wear something completely different then what I am going to show you, but I thought there wasn't enough pizzazz for New Years.  So I chose this; I started off with a normal black polish. I used a  Maybelline one that I have had forever, they don't make it anymore I think, I applied two coats for opacity and waited patiently for it to dry. Once dry I took a polish that the lovely Adri from Morie's Nail Art ( go and check her out! ) sent me in our Holiday Swap. Its one of my first Klean Color Polishes. It is appropriately named "Midnight Seduction" and I also used Confetti's Tasmanian Devil. I added Tasmanian Devil to my ring finger and thumb and Midnight Seduction to the rest of the nails. TD is a standard multi-colored glitter and Midnight Seduction is fine glitter polish that flashes blue and magenta.

It may be a simple manicure but sometimes that is the best route. I don't usually wear black nail polish but it is the best two show off these two beautiful glitters.

I hope that for you my dear readers and followers that of 2012 was a good year for you or not and  that 2013 will be oh so much better! If you do go out and party it up tonight please DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! If your out on the town take a cab home or if at a friends place please crash there or have a designated driver. I don't drink myself but I have seen people who have and what it can do so also PLEASE DRINK RESPONSABLEY!!

Take Care all and see you next year!!
<3 Nicole

Maybelline Color Show: Crushed Candy.

Hello! I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday!

I know I always say this, but I cannot believe that I haven't posted since the first of May! Wow this year is going by fast!

Today I have a really awesome polish to show you! Maybelline has come out with new nail polish, in a line called Color Show. They are available at Walmart, and I got mine for $2.97.

These polishes have decent range of color and textures, from glitters to cremes to shimmers. Crushed Candy is a shimmer/glass fleck polish.

Sadly the display at my store was fairly empty. :( There were not many colors left and this was the only color out of the lot that stood out to me. I am hoping they will restock the display soon. This color totally reminded me of Butter London's Disco Biscuit, a color from their spring line. I cannot fathom spending $14 dollars on a nail polish. Maybe one day when I do not have a ton of bills.

Crushed Candy applied like a dream. Two coats and its at full opacity. The color is just perfect for the summer time.It is a hot pink fuchsia  that flashes with purple and blue shimmer. I do wish I owned Disco Biscuit to see if they are dupes of each other. I haven't seen any comparisons online so for all I know I could be off by miles. Haha.

 The formula is thin but easy to handle. Just like with any other thin polishes if you are not careful you can flood your cuticles. When I went to change my polish, Crushed Candy hung around my cuticle area so I had to go back with a brush and remover to get it all off. Remember if you use 100 percent acetone like I do it WILL dry out your nails/cuticles/skin  so it is important to wash your hands immediately and moisturize.

Have you picked up any Color Show polishes? If you have any recommendations on what ones you think are worth a shot? Leave a comment below!

Talk to you all soon!
Nicole