Nails of the Day (NOTD) — Game of Thrones – House Stark

Ok, anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I am a raving, rabid Game of Thrones fan.  I’ve read all of the books (no spoilers, so no worries) and am a massive fan of the HBO TV series.  So to extend my nerd cred even further, I decided to do a House Stark inspired manicure.

The sigil of House Stark is a grey wolf running across a field of white.  But I didn’t have any white nail polish so I thought grey-on-grey would work perfectly.  I decided to try a half-moon manicure using hole reinforcements as a guide – my logic being, “wolves, moon hey that works!”  It was pretty easy and I think I did a decent job for my first try!

After my base coat (Seche Vite Base Coat) I applied 2 coats of Zoya Tao.  This color is GORGEOUS.  A shimmering medium grey. Love it!  I then applied Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat and then let that all dry for about 30 minutes.

Then I cut the hole reinforcement stickers in half and applied them to the nail — the part covered by the sticker would remain the dark grey shade.  This is the tricky part as you need the edges to stick down really well and it’s the area I had problems with.  But I am OK with the little imperfections!  If you’re worried about the stickers sticking TOO much to your nails just stick them to your hand a time or two, to dull the adhesive.

Once the stickers were on, I applied 2 coats of China Glaze Pelican Gray and after about 1 minute, carefully peeled off the stickers.  Then another layer of Seche Vite on top and voila!

WINTER IS COMING!

One thing I’d add is that you may want to do one hand in it’s entirety before doing the other.  I had a helluva time getting the stickers on/off while one hand was still not dry. Next time I’d do each hand separately. Also, be sure your nails are totaaaallllyyy dry before putting the stickers on b/c if not — they’ll pull your polish right off.

So, any Game of Thrones fans out there? What house are you? What do you think of the TV series? Is Arya the most badass kid ever? Do you want to go to The Wall just to hang out with Jon Snow and his lovely hair? Do you hate Joffrey as much as I do??? Please discuss! But please… no spoilers past this week’s episode!

And I’ll leave you with this:

The Balm – Mary-Lou Manizer review and swatches!

Until pretty recently I’ve never really understood the need/desire for a luminizing product. Maybe it’s because for most of my life I’ve had very oily skin — and the last thing I wanted was to add any shimmer or shine!  But as I’ve gotten older and my skin has become quite dry (thanks, Rosacea!) I’ve really started to steer clear of a too-matte look and begun to embrace finishes and textures that I otherwise had thought of as off-limits to me.

And that brings us to the Balm’s Mary-Lou Manizer, which has to be the most ridonkulas name for a product, like ever.  I’d first heard about it on some beauty message boards as well as from Wayne Goss on youtube.  With such rave reviews I figured I couldn’t go far wrong and decided to give it a whirl.

Can we say ADORABLE PACKAGING??

Amazon.com describes this product thusly:

What it is:A silky smooth pressed powder that can be used as a highlighter, shimmer, and shadow.

What it does:This highlighter, shadow, and shimmer diffuses light so your skin looks softer and younger while adding a subtle glow. Layer this paraben- and talc-free formula on your lids for luxe-looking lashes, sweep it on your cheeks for a sexy sheen, or use it as an all-over finishing touch before hitting the town.

What else you need to know:It comes in a sleek mirrored compact for easy transport.

And I’d say they’re right on the money.  Before I bought this I worried that it might be too warm and gold for my neutral-to-cool skin tone but honestly? It’s perfect.  It’s more of a shimmering champagne than gold and close enough to neutral to work on anyone. I think this shade would work for a huge variety of skin tones from nosferatu-pale like me to much deeper tones.

Top, applied heavily
Bottom, sheered out

I wish pictures would do this magical stuff justice.  And it is magic!  I’ve used it across the tops of my cheekbones to highlight them and it adds the perfect amount of shimmer without looking disco-ball at all.  I’ve applied it on my cupid’s bow to accentuate my lips and it works fabulous there.  But where it really shines (har har) for me is using it on the inner corners of my eyes, around the tear duct area. AMAZEBALLS.  It instantly lights up the eye area, making me look refreshed and more awake — which, let’s face it, is quite a task.

But for all of that, it can be incredibly subtle and soft.  You’ll just look a bit better but there won’t be obvious streaks of glitter or shine alerting anyone to your secret. It’s one of those products that doesn’t seem exciting at all but once you use it, you’ll be in awe and wonder how you ever got along without it.

One of the best things about this is that you get a LOT of product for the price.  At about $25 for 8.5 grams of product, this stuff is a bargain because you’ll use only the tiniest bit of it at a time.  When I use a brush to apply this, I barely press the brush against the product — that is enough for my whole face.  It’s gonna last me forever, folks.  Talk about value.

Seriously, if you’ve ever thought about trying a lumanizing product, I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.  Oddly enough I can’t find this product on the Sephora website, so I bought mine from Amazon.com.

Another great thing? the Balm’s products are cruelty-free and without:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Synthetic Fragrances
– Synthetic Dyes
– Petrochemicals
– Phthalates
– GMOs
– Triclosan

Vapour Organic Beauty Blush samples review and swatches

Whew, it’s been a rough week or so.  I’ve been down with a cold (which seems like it’s coming back, arrghhh) and I’ve also been swept away in the Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend. (I cannot wait for this game to come out, omg.)

But, onwards and upwards!

A little while back I placed an order with Vapour Organic Beauty and decided to throw in some samples of blushes while I was at it.  I’d only used one of their blushes before, the Multi-Use Blush Stain in Impulse (pop over and read the review!) and I liked it a lot but I’ve been wanting to branch out into other colors.

Here’s what I got:

L to R: Aura Multi-Use Blush in SPARK, Aura Multi-use Radiant in INTRIGUE, Aura Multi-use Radiant in WHISPER, Aura Multi-use Blush in TENDER.

All of these blushes come in a cream stick form and can be used anywhere on the face — lips, eyes, what have you.  The difference between the regular and “Radiant” blushes seems to be that the Radiant blushes have shimmer/glitter while the regular ones do not.  All of these blushes have the typical faint citrus scent that VOB uses a lot — I find it pleasant and soft and it fades quickly and doesn’t irritate me at all.

L to Right: INTRIGUE, SPARK, WHISPER, TENDER

Intrigue is a very pretty peachy color with a hint of copper; definitely a warm shade.  It’s also CHOCK FULL O GLITTER.  Like, whoa. Glitter. You can use this blush and get yourself all glittered up for Easter. It’s a gorgeous color but too glittery for me. I actually tried patting this on as a sheer wash of eyelid color and much preferred it this way!  It will crease though so be warned!  On darker skins the sheerness will be an issue but will add some glittery warmth.

Spark is the perfect warm peach shade for me.  It’s like the peach blush I’ve been searching for everywhere.  It has a HINT of pink but is definitely peach. (Why are so many peach blushes actually just PINK? Peaches are not pink, people.  They’re peach. It’s kind of a thing!) It’s warm without being too brown or yellow and is a lovely clear bright peach.  It’s dewy but there’s zero glitter and only the barest hint of shimmer (because of the dewiness). On the lips it’s almost too pale for me but gives a nice peachy glow.

Whisper is like Spark’s little sister.  It’s a similar shade but much lighter and with a lot more pink.  There’s some shimmer but no glitter.  It’s a beautiful, universally flattering shade of warm pink with some pleasant dewiness.  I really think this color would look faboo on just about anyone except very dark skins where the sheerness of the shade might be an issue and not show up.

Tender is a pale dolly pink with the barest hint of lavender.  I honestly could not get this to show up on my cheeks no matter how much I applied.  I mean, let’s face it folks, I am pale as all get out and that this didn’t show on me tells you how pale it is. Really disappointing as I was hoping this would be a great soft go-to pink shade for me. *sadface*

All of these shades have a decent wear time if you use them on prepped skin — I get around 7-9 hours of wear depending on the weather (how much I’m sweating or not sweating, in other words).  They’ll last longer if you powder them as well — since all of them have a dewy quality this may be something you want to do anyway.

On the lips these multi-use blushes are a bit dry but not drying.  I found they lasted a few hours on my lips and faded evenly, without leaving a creepy lip-ring.

The real star for me was Spark.  It’s a gorgeous shade and I know that when I use up my sample I’ll want to buy the full size, it’s that good!

All of these shades were lovely and creamy and pigmented (except for Tender).  They feel luxurious on the skin. While expensive at $28, the full size is 0.35grams and is a LOT of product.  Considering how pigmented the shades are *cough*exceptTender*cough* I think it’s good value for the money.  I also like that they’re useable anywhere on the face.

A quick word about these samples — they’re really the perfect size to take when you travel or pop into your purse’s makeup bag!

Vapour Organic Beauty is:

70% Certified Organic Ingredients and 30% Minerals & Vitamins
Paraben Free
Gluten Free
Chemical Free
Cruelty Free
No Nano Particles
No Irradiation
Chemical Free
Made with Wind Power
Biodegradable Ingredients
Inner&  Outer Packaging Recyclable

 

Sneak Peek

Just a little glimpse into some new (to me) products that I can’t wait to review and blog about!  very exciting!  Let’s just say I’m MORE than thrilled with these items!

I’ll be reviewing these within the next couple of weeks once I’ve fully tested them!

This past weekend has been so full for me — getting to play the Guild Wars 2 beta was great fun and I can’t wait for the game to come out!  I also redid my hair color and what was once turquoise is now almost-white-blonde and pastel blue.  I tend to change my hair color monthly but honestly, white blonde is the easiest for me to keep up!  My hair is always subject to change!