E.L.F. Mango Madness

[2 coats of polish+base+top]

Here's a quick swatch as promised of E.L.F Mango Madness nail polish. This formula was unfortunately kind of streaky which I believe was due to the incredibly quick drying factor. The first stroke of polish on my nail dried before I could even finish the nail! It is also semi-matte. I think this colour is very unique and would flatter golden tanned summer skin tones. I would describe the colour as tangerine-orangey. All-in-all this is an OKAY polish. I'm not a fan of anything matte or of course streaky so those definitely take a couple points off. I would rate this polish 3/5 stars.

Latest Obsession: Elf Nail Polish!

[in order from left to right: Light Red, Chocolate, Smoky Brown, Mod Mauve, Passion Pink, Mango Madness, Champagne, Desert Haze, Nude, White, Matte Finisher, Clear.]

Okay so different from my regular schpeel but definitely worth mentioning: Elf Polishes! I have been obessed with the E.L.F. line of nail polishes! I have heard mixed reviews about the consistency of the polish itself but when it comes to the dollar price tag..how could I resist!

So I picked up 10 coloured, 1 clear and 1 mattifying polishes. I have to say I am absolutely in love with these! I myself have not experienced any out of the ordinary streakiness and since I usually change my polish every 2 or 3 days chipping really isn't a problem. I think I like these better than most of my china glaze and essie polishes! The only complaint that I have is the horrible colour swatches on the website; they are terribly off. To get perfectly opaque nails I had to use 2 coats plus a base and top coat. Ohh how I love these so much. If you haven't tried them, in my opinion they are considerably worth more than the dollar they are purchased for.

So have any of you tried any of the polishes? I really want the mint cream and lilac but they seem to always be out of stock!!

Enjoy lovelies,

Julia

[mod mauve..excuse my terrible cuticles (=]

Oh Bargains.

[ingredients: aqua, sunflower seed oil, glycerin, coconut oil, stearic acid, cera alba, parfum, glucose, xanthan gum, tocopherol, orange wax, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sucrose sterate, sodium borate, honey, whole dry milk, beta carotene, vegetable oil, rosemary leaf oil, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase.]

Recently my local shoppers drug mart was relocating and so they had a big sale on lotions, shampoos and a whole bunch of other things. I unfortunately found this out a little too late and the shelves were left with only a handful of items to choose from. HOWEVER! I picked up a Burt's Bees product: Milk & Honey Body Lotion. A 7 oz bottle of this luxurious cream apparently goes for around $15 but I got it for $1.99! STEAL RIGHT!?

So first of course the fragrance. It smells of vanilla bean swirled with hints of honey and just a touch of sweet mint. It is just SO lovely and fresh. It actually reminds me a lot of my Mint Angel body spray from Mad City Soap.

My skin just seems to drink up this creamy emulsion and a little really goes a long away. Also I find that it's fairly long lasting. After 8 hours my skin still smells sweet & feels soft and nourished. So this happens to be the first Burt's Bees product that I have owned well aside from their lip balm. I have to say I am pretty impressed. I don't think I would pay 15 dollars for a 7 oz bottle however I really want to try out their other products now!!

What have you tried from Burt's Bees? Would you recommend anything?

lovelove,

Julia

Giveaway Winner!!!!!

So before I announce the winner I would just like to thank everyone who participated in this exciting giveaway. Keep in mind there will be MANY more giveaways in the near future!! After plugging in my numbers on random.org the winning number was 22 & The lucky winner is....drumroll please... Ariel!! Congratulations Ariel and I hope you enjoy all your goodies!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend!

lovelove,

Julia

Reminder- Giveaway!

Hey lovelies! Sorry for the lack of posts lately; We have been getting the most beautiful weather and i've just been out and about taking advantage of it =). This is just a reminder that my giveaway ends at 12:00 am EST today. If you still haven't entered you can click here . I've been getting emails asking if it is open internationally and the answer is yes! So be sure to get your entries in if you have not already done so! I will announce the winner on Friday! Good Luck!!

lovelove,

Julia

Ritual Waters!

Recently I was sent 3 soaps to try out from a company called Ritual Waters. A fellow blogger, The Mom Chef, (who's blog I read religiously) kindly gave her good friend Marilyn, who is the maker of Ritual Water Soaps, my email address. Marilyn then contacted me and arranged for soaps to be sent out to me so I could try them out. So I picked Arabian Nights, Vanilla Mint and Cappuccino Delight. They arrived very quickly and were notably packaged well. So I've already tried Vanilla Mint and Arabian Nights in the shower however I have to wait for the last soap to cure for a couple more weeks before I can lather it up!

So...What do I think? We'll start with Vanilla Mint. It gives off a sweet cool tantalizing minty smell that just makes you want to jump in the shower on super hot days. It also has a sweet vanilla peppermint smell and I can actually smell it on my skin after which is a treat.

Next is Arabian Nights: freshly crushed coriander and pepper sprinkled with nutmeg is how I would describe the smell. It is like India in a bar! It's a very complex smell and would be great for cooler weather. It also says in the description that it has ylang ylang in it. I don't smell this at all in the bar and in the shower the fragrance is still not released. I would prefer if it had a little more nuttiness in the fragrance just to tone down the spicy coriander.

Last is Cappuccino Delight. I was quite disappointed with this soap. I have not used it yet however I have smelled it over and over again. So when you think Cappuccino you think coffee right? Well I can't smell any coffee at all. What I do smell is black pepper, cloves and cinnamon. I guess I thought it would smell like coffee because it looks like a cappuccino. (a coffee brown base that has soft white fluffy whipped peaks at the top) So If could change something about this soap. I would change the name to Masala Chai.

The lather of these soaps are just super. So creamy and so thick. Compared to other non-goat's milk soaps that I have used, this formula seems to be quite a bit more moisturizing. After drying my skin actually feels nourished.

Hopefully this is helpful to you and I hope you go and check out her store: Ritual Waters If you click that it will take you to her soaps page! She has a wide range of different fragrance blends so I know if you go and take a look you'll find something that you will love. I'm eyeing the Roger Dodger!

Beyond The Rack

Hi Girlies!

So aside from my soap addiction I also love all things beauty-related and I am really just a shopaholic in general. Last year my bestie referred me to a website called Beyondtherack.com. Basically they sell designer and high end merchandise (clothes, housewares, makeup, purses, sunglasses..EVERYTHING) at very very discounted prices. I have ordered anything from makeup, shirts, dresses, purses, ugg boots from this website and every time I have always been satisfied with the quality of the things I buy and the shipping time. SO I recently found out that whoever I invite automatically gets a $10 credit for joining..that YOU can spend on ANYTHING you buy. Then, if YOU buy something I get a $10 credit. SO if any of you are interested, just comment below with your email address so I can send your invite and you can get $10 just for joining!

Have a lovely day.

Julia