Motivation For Your Monday: “Just Keep Swimming” 11/09/2009

Dory of Finding Nemo is one of my favorite movie characters ever. Yes, I love that seemingly absent-minded cartoon fish. For those of you who haven’t seen the film (add it to your Netflix queue asap), Dory is a fish that Marlon meets while trying to find his son, Nemo. She has no short-term memory, yet she has managed to enjoy life with her “imperfection” by telling herself to “just keep swimming.”  That little line is, hands down, my favorite movie line, probably of all time. It’s such a simple phrase, but it can be so hard to follow sometimes. How do you “just keep swimming” when you don’t know what you’re swimming toward? I mean, sure we have goals we want to achieve, but obstacles will always get in the way. All we can really do is be strong, swim right through those obstacles and come out even stronger. So, the next time you come to a road block in your life, sing this song to yourself.

Have an awesome day, my pretty peeps!

Share The Love: Sunday Reads 11/08/2009

I can’t stop listening to this song! Amerie’s whole new album’s pretty good, too. Just press play and enjoy. I bet you’ll be bobbin’ your head to the beat.

• I discovered this blog through Miss K and love how this writer finds the good in bad situations, like why it’s awesome that people don’t like you and why it’s awesome the economy sucks.  – Seeing Good
• Anastasia Soare, the queen of brows, shares how she started her beauty empire. Very inspirational. – The Huffington Post
• Is a Brazilian bikini wax a necessity? – BellaSugar
• A Clarisonic costs less than a Neutrogena device?! -  Miss K’s Blog
• Can a Coastal Scents palette make dupes of MAC shades? – Nouveau Cheap
• Get rid of calluses for good! – BellaSugar

Ready for another week?

Positive Vibes 11/08/2009

Hey, my lovelies. I’ve been feeling uninspired to write lately, which is why there’s been a lack of posts. Really, I just haven’t been feeling too pretty in general. During a break from my class yesterday, I went to the restroom and, naturally, starting reading the messages on the stall (come on, you know you that too). Amongst the obscene drawings and the I-hate-so-and-so’s, two messages caught my eye balls. Of course, I whipped out my cell phone and snapped pics (after I did my biz, of course). These two little messages from complete strangers whipped me out of my not-feeling-pretty funk.

Love is all you need!

We all have our moments where we feel ugly, inadequate and “in-between.” Know the following:

1. You are gorgeous. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t even deserve to kiss your ass.
2. You are capable of doing what you love, even if you don’t know what it is that you love to do yet. I don’t know yet, myself.
3. The universe has a funny way of helping you work things out. You won’t be “in-between” or stuck forever as long you keep your head up and keep pressing on. Stay positive.

Sending out positive vibes to you and your loved ones! *Huge hugs!*

More Sparkle With N.Y.C. Starry Silver Glitter Over Sally Hansen In The Navy 11/05/2009

Despite the difficulty of removal, I’m still on major glitter nail polish kick. So, here’s another party on my nails!

OoO...sparkles!

I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear In The Navy and 1 coat of N.Y.C. Starry Silver Glitter. I love In The Navy’s depth and, well, blueness. It has subtle shimmer running through it to give it a really nice pop. The Xtreme Wear line is one of my faves because of the large color range and good formula. They’re opaque in two coats and really do last long on my nails. Oh, and they only cost about three bucks!

N.Y.C. is another fave of mine even though the formula’s a bit thin. It takes about three coats for complete opacity (with the solid colors), but they only cost a dollar. Starry Silver Glitter is so unique with its larger, round pink and blue sparkles along with the smaller silver ones. Some may not like that the large glitter pieces don’t distribute evenly across the nail, but I’m okay with that. If you want to make this color more opaque, be sure to let each coat dry for at least a minute to keep the glitter pieces from shifting when you apply another coat.

Blurry with flash. So pretty. *sigh*

Whatcha think of the disco nails?

International Orange On Sale At The Skinny 11/05/2009

I mentioned The Skinny awhile back in my post about saving money on beauty products. The website is up and running with a sale on International Orange, a San Francisco spa, yoga gym and lounge. You can get huge discounts on spa services and yoga classes. Not in the Bay Area? There’s also discounts on IO’s bath and body products!

Here’s an invite to join The Skinny, take advantage of this sale and stay informed about future sales.

Does Physicians Formula Organic Wear Mascara Make My Lashes Look Naturally Gorgeous? 11/03/2009

Happy Tuesday, pretty peeps! I hope your week got off to a good start. Can you believe it’s already November? I’m so not ready for the cold weather yet (cold by Los Angeles standards equals anything below 75 degrees, ha!). I shouldn’t really be complaining when other parts of the country are already experiencing rain and even snow. Wishing you lots of warmth and toasty-ness wherever you are!

On to the review!

How cute is this package?!

Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Mascara is said to be the first EcoCert certified organic mascara. It contains ingredients that are natural origin, meaning the ingredients came from a natural source, i.e. plants, and have been converted into something else that may or not be considered natural (kinda shady, right?). For example, sodium laurel sulfate is considered natural origin because it comes from coconuts. But then whatever is taken from the coconut is turned into a surfactant. Don’t worry, this mascara doesn’t contain any SLS. You can see a list of ingredients here.

PF claims that this mascara has a “revolutionary formula with the purest ingredients [to boost] lash volume, length & definition naturally.” It also claims to boost lashes by five times. Does it live up to what it says on the package?

The leaf and branch packaging may be adorable, but it’s also bulky and seems excessive for a product that claims to be more “green” than others.

Check out the brush:

I thought the shape of the brush would make it difficult to reach all of my lashes, but the plastic bristles gripped them nicely without making a mess on my eye lids. The formula was a little thin and definitely didn’t give my lashes a big boost. It gave my lashes good color (I used Ultra Black Organics) and natural definition, but not much volume or length.

The staying power was practically nonexistent. I don’t think I’ve ever had a mascara smudge so much; it just melted off of my lashes and onto my lower lids within an hour. What’s worse than the staying power is the stench of this stuff. I prefer fragrance-free products, but I think this is an instance where fragrance should have been used. This mascara smells like something rotten, and it doesn’t fade away with time. I smelled this stuff on my face the entire time I had it on.

PF Organic Wear Mascara could have been such a great product for the gal (or guy) looking for a natural-looking boost to their lashes. Instead it turned out to be a stinky, smudgy hot mess. Thank goodness I sent in the rebate form for this so I get my money back.

Have you tried this mascara? Whatcha think of it?

20% Off At Beauty.com for PayPal Users 11/02/2009

click to shop

I’m sure most of you use PayPal by now. If not, sign up asap ’cause it’s an easy and safe way to pay for everything online. PayPal is giving its users a 20% Friends & Family discount at Beauty.com two days (11/2 – 11/3) before everyone else! If you missed out on Sephora’s Friends & Fam discount, you now have the chance to stock up on your prestige faves on Beauty.com! All you you have to do is use PayPal at checkout to get the discount. Offer ends 11/06/09.

The fine print: The discount is only valid for Beauty.com items (so no discount on their partner site, Drugstore.com)  and excludes Jane Iredale products.