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If you are into nail products and you've ever browsed the "higher-end" nail polish section at your favorite stores, you've probably heard of Seche Vite topcoat. I only recently bought it after hearing wonderful things about it. However, I really had never looked much into topcoats because I've been faithful to a certain one by Sally Hansen for years.

Of course, through the many I've gone through, the bottle has changed a bit over the years, but honestly, this stuff is the best topcoat I've ever used...In my opinion, even better than Seche. The formulas seem almost identical. Even the scent is the same (which slightly differs from most nail polish). It has that same thick feeling and when applied over wet nail polish and creates an even, glass-like finish. Best part, it seems to dry extremely fast, even faster than Seche.

The first time I used Seche, I was a little fooled. It looked super shiny...SUPER shiny. I thought it may have been possible that I had found something superior to my beloved Sally Hansen one. Honestly, I was just impressed that something actually was similar to the Mega Shine, simply because I had never found anything like it. But after a day, the shine just wasn't as high as I'd hoped anymore. It seemed to wear off. Nothing horrible or anything, but it was definitely no Sally Hansen Mega Shine... I also feel that the Sally Hansen really prolongs the wear of my nail polish much better. I've used Seche for weeks now and have had the same experience with it with several different polishes and formulas. Don't get me wrong, Seche Vite is GOOOD stuff. Would I have LOVED it if I hadn't have had the Mega Shine to compare it to?? Yep. But nothing compares to my Mega Shine. If you've never tried it, I would obviously highly recommend it. Now keep in mind, the Seche Vite is around $9.00 most places (I got mine from Ulta). However, it's on sale right now at Ulta for $4.99. The Sally Hansen Mega Shine is around $7.00 most places. So you're not going to be saving any money or getting a great deal or anything by trying the Sally. I just feel that it's better.
My bottle of Mega Shine is about 7 months old and it's in the older bottle. So I REALLY hope they haven't changed the formula at all, but over several years and several other packaging design changes, it's stayed the same. Hopefully it always will!
You can find the Sally Hansen Mega Shine Extended wear topcoat in most drugstores--anywhere that Sally Hansen products are sold.

Happy Pink Saturday! Hard to believe that Bev has been hostessing this crazy little event for a year now, but "shore 'nuff", that is the case. I must have been feeling the love when I posted my auctions on Ebay this week, because these represent 5 out of the 6 things I have up right now, all PINK. Thought you might enjoy seeing them since they are very fun antique and vintage pretties.

First, a wonderful 1940's or 50's hat that I bought on my recent vacation to Florida. It is covered with pink organdy and velvet rosebuds (on a pink velvet hatstand, of course).


Next, a wonderful pair of 1920's silk shoes with adorable rosettes on the toes...can't you just see a little flapper gal doing the Charleston in these?


Antique English pink lustreware cup and saucer. Makes you want to have a spot of tea, doesn't it?


One of my favorites of all time (why am I selling it???), a 1920's half doll boudoir lamp with the prettiest little half doll perched on a tricked out ribbonwork and lace canopied chair. The light is under her skirt, giving her a soft glow when it is turned on.


Lastly, one of the prettiest handpainted tole trays I've ever come across, in almost mint condition and...PINK with pink roses. Doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little tour of pink pretties on this lovely spring Pink Saturday. I hope you are having a great weekend with your friends and loved ones. Next week, I hope to take you shopping with me to some of my local haunts.

Until next time,

Products Used:

Benefit F.Y.Eye Primer
MAC Patina eye shadow
Symmetry eye shadow (pro)
Swiss Chocolate eye shadow
NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil-Milk
Mylar eye shadow
Blanc Type eye shadow
Print eye shadow
Typographic eye shadow
Blacktrack Fluidline
Plushlash mascara
Cantaloupe blush (pro)
A Rose Romance lipstick
Saint Germain lipstick

So happy that I checked out this collection in person. I had made a little wish list in my head of items I thought I wanted for sure, but when I saw them in person, there were different things that caught my eye. Especially with the lip and nail colors.
I thought the boxes were super cute...the actual packaging on the products?? Eh, not so much. But I love the lipglass packaging for some reason with the animal print on the top of the wand. Even though it's, well, a little tacky...haha. Anyway, here's what I got!



I picked up two of the eye shadows, Bright Future and Night Maneuvers. I already had Vibrant Grape (it's permanent in the pro line) and Tempting. I thought the light golden shade was similar to Nylon and Solar White so I skipped that. While I think the Night Maneuvers is very similar to other browns I own, like Mystery or even Brun, I caved and got it anyway since I'm a sucker for good dark cool browns. I picked up two of the On a Mission beauty powder blush just because as you probably have heard me say before...I LOVE BEAUTY POWDER BLUSH!! (not to be confused with Beauty Powders...TOTALLY different thing...see my FAQ section of my blog). Anyway, I wanted one in the packaging for me and one to depot for my kit. Just because I love the color SO much.
For the bronzers, I picked up Refined Golden only. I love Solar Riche, but I have a good bit of my other one left. But who am I kidding... It's a limited edition shade, so I'll probably pick up a back up eventually.
About the nail polish... I had only planned on getting the purple shade and the light cream shade. In person, the lightest shade looked like an OPI shade I already have and the bronze shade (mercenary) which appeared kinda boring in pictures, was gorgous...much brighter and with more shimmer than I had thought. So I had to get that one too.
I was also expecting to get the Brave New Bronze lipstick. When I saw it in person, I wasn't too thrilled with it. It was kinda plain. So I really only liked Purple Rite...SUCH a gorgeous color. But somehow, in all the mix of getting the other stuff, it didn't make it into my basket :( Oh well. I'll have to go back for it later. I LOVED the lipglass shades. Especially Fierce and Fabulous. That's the only one I got. It reminds me of my beloved Star Nova lustreglass, but more opaque. I skipped everything else. Just because I really have always disliked the Solar Bits (the formula is just messy, weird and unnecessary). I also wasn't too thrilled with the lustre drops. Seemed like any other highlighting/bronzing formula like that I have already. But I really do love what I ended up with!

Here are some swatches... I swatched other colors I already owned from the collection as well.

5.20.09

A few words to start...I am a very positive person. I never respond to negativity or anything like that because I'm just a happy person. YouTube is a positive place. BUILD UP your fellow guru. Appreciate what everyone has to offer. When you put yourself out there and JOIN in on this community, embrace everyone. Don't look at it as a competition or as a way to tear down anyone. That's so sad. Of course, we are in a place where free speech is embraced and of course eveyone is entitled to their opinions, but in my opinion, however you look at it, belittling others is not ok. We should be here because we enjoy what we're doing and want to share it with others, not to criticize. I'm here because I love helping others and have a passion for makeup. That's the bottom line.

Now to what inspired this post...

I saw a really disturbing video today sent to me by a friend where another person on YT was complaining about bigger beauty gurus. I know you guys will be curious if you haven't seen it, but I really don't think it's right to empower this person in any way because I think it was very unfair and uncalled for. She was more than entitled to her opinion, but so am I. It was sad because not only was she speaking of something that she may not have fully understood because the truth is, she doesn't know who really takes the time to answer all their messages or respond to as many people as they can. More importantly, she doesn't know what hard work it is to actually respond to every single message when you also have a job and a family outside of youtube. I wouldn't feel the need to respond, but I feel that it's not fair for you guys to be fed this negative information by someone who has no idea how many messages we respond to or who we reply to. I also think it's sad that some of you who saw the video were asked to start a negative dialogue and were encouraged to LEAVE NEGATIVE COMMENTS about OTHER BEAUTY GURUS in the comment section. So sad.

I really feel no need to explain myself, but I take offense when my subscribers are lied to or are being given false information or MOST OF ALL, being encouraged to be negative. Here are my thoughts...

When I had 2,000 subscribers, could I have done that, YES. Because I now have over 50,000, is that a possibility anymore?? NO. As sad as that is, it's true. Has my outlook and love for my subscribers changed?? NO. I pride myself on trying to answer most if not all of the messages I get everyday. I usually sit down every few days and go through them. Is it tedious? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT. Do I always have time?? NO. That would be like replying to an average of 100 emails a day, with AT LEAST a paragraph because you're giving advice and answering detailed questions. I do that because in my heart, I feel its right. I don't always have time to, and of course, that means that your question may not get around to being answered for a few days, or even a week, but that's just how it works, as much as I would love to be able to respond to everyone right away. Sounds cliche, but it's very true.

About twitter... There's a little feature some may not know about under settings where you can select your @replies settings. (EDIT...apparently twitter removed that setting...MAKES SENSE because who wants to see every @reply someone they follow sends? See the article here.) Let's pretend for a moment... Let's say you are following me, and a popular makeup guru named CHUCK (haha), because lets face it, CHUCK is awesome. Now, CHUCK and I are friends and follow each other also. When CHUCK and I reply to each other YOU will see it if you have your twitter set to show you only @ replies to people you are following (that's the default setting). Get it..??? So let's say I reply to someone that YOU don't follow. Then you wont see it. So you really don't see who all I send @replies to. Which leads me to believe that this person doesn't really realize who all is being replied to.
Can I reply to EVERYONE on twitter?? NO. Chances are if you follow me and reply to me a lot, I've replied to you. That's just how it works. Let's think back to earlier today... I send a tweet about my car and how hot it was (super important stuff...haha). Out of roughly 6,000 people, how many replies do you think I got that were along the lines of people describing a similar situation or something like that? A lot. Which I LOVE. I read all of them. Can I pick and choose one or two people to reply to? sure. Can I reply to everyone all the time....Certainly not. That's silly.
Also, today I tweeted about an issue I was having with YT. I got so many helpful responses from people saying that they had a similar situation. Crisis averted..haha. Twitter is such a cool thing. Anway, instead of @replying 20 people, I replied that I was not the only one and a quick thanks because others were having the problem too.
That's just how twitter works. It's impossible to reply to everyone. Unless you were planning on spamming out your whole twitter page with one word responses as well as the people who follow you if they see your @replies. Do I answer questions? Of course. When I see them or have time! Just like anyone else would.
You'll find that if you follow me on twitter, I'm pretty good about @replying most of the time. I just think that some people don't understand how crazy it gets. Not only that, but that my want to reply to EVERYONE is still there. I still want to help every single person that takes the time to write me. I honestly feel pretty proud that I try to be good at corresponding with my subscribers.

BOTTOM LINE... I feel no need to explain myself. You guys know that I appreciate you and how this stuff works. But I would hate for someone to be fed false information or to be swayed into negative feelings by one person on YT who doesn't fully have all the facts or know the situations of EVERYONE they referred to by inviting negative comments about beauty gurus (sickening). I love you all and I think you guys know that :)

*EDIT* 5.22.09
Thanks everyone for the kind words and support <3>
I know you guys are smart and can see through stuff, I just felt the need to respond and give my take on the situation since I'm in that situation she spoke of and I know how crazy things can get and how hard it would be for me to criticize anyone making videos on here that has a lot on their plate, ESPECIALLY after experiencing it myself. ...and that being busy does not equal being rude nor does it reflect how I feel about anyone :)
Thx for the love and support---Love you all. <3

Lately I've discovered some blogs dedicated just to nails and all the gorgeous pictures have totally inspired me to rekindle my love affair with pretty nail polish. When I was in my senior year of high school, I discovered OPI and China Glaze and was totally obsessed. I was shocked when I found my old stash of 50+ shades of these brands that were 6 or 7 years old!! What a waste... Some were still good though. So I've gotten into taking care of my nails again. No more acrylics for me. I've always had a nervous habit of picking at my cuticles (gross, I know) and having acrylic nails were the only thing that prevented me from being able to do that. So for a few months now, I've left my nervous habit behind and am taking really good care of my nails. Using all the fun colors is motivation to keep them looking nice too. You've probably noticed in my videos I like to use fun and crazy colored nail polish, but I figured that it would be a fun little addition to my blog to post pictures of the colors I use.


I also used my new Seche Base (the white ridge filling one) and the Seche Vite topcoat.

I have been SO excited for these new Sigma brushes for months! Since the MAC 188 and 109 are two of my favorite brushes, I was super excited, and skeptical at the same time that my beloved 188 and 109 could never be replicated. Since I absolutely love all my other Sigma brushes and the quality on them are amazing, I guess I wasn't that shocked that these were no different.

I wasn't going to do a Pink Saturday post this week since I am in Florida with my family on vacation, but then I started looking around and realized that I had lots of pink to choose from on this fine Pink Saturday. From left to right, we have pink flowers, pink sandy toes, pink seashells, and a pink hat.


More pink flowers, pink cheeks, a pink koozie, and more sweet pink cheeks...
Who knew that there was so much pink just waiting to be discovered? And while you ponder this, pop on over to Bev's and check out the other Pink Saturday participants. You'll be glad you did!

Until next time,

Products Used:
Benefit F.Y.Eye Primer
MAC Iris Eyes Fludline (or any bright purple as a base)
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Electric
The Balm Shady Lady palette:
The Balm Shady Lady Palette: Curvy Cami, Easy Wheezie, Risque Renee, Luscious Lani
MAC Brule eye shadow
Benefit High Brow
Urban Decay Perversion Liquid Liner
NYX #105 False Lashes
MAC Plushlash mascara
MAC Pervette Lipstick
MAC Softnote Tendertone
NARS Madly blush

I'll just be honest, usually small palettes like this (think the ones by Urban Decay) usually disappoint me. They usually only have a few colors I like and I almost always find myself having to reach for other eye shadows to round it out...like a good highlight and a good dark shade. This one seriously has it all. All of the colors are amazingly pigmented as well. While there is a great range of different colors included in the palette, they actually could all pair and combine really nicely to create a countless amount of looks. The palette contains 9 colors--6 eye shadows and 3 shadow/liners. I also absolutely love the packaging. Not just the cutesy leopard print, but I love how small and sleek it is. It's very portable (especially with the giant mirror inside). The fact that they've wasted no space on awkward, useless applicators that would just go into the trash is also a plus. And because good ingredients are always a plus in my book, I've got to mention the fact that it earned Sephora's "Natural Seal".

OH, and did I mention all shadows in the palette can be used wet or dry??




You can get this limited edition (Sephora exclusive) palette for $38 at sephora.com

I thought you might enjoy seeing one of my Ebay listings which happens to be SO very pretty and...PINK! She is from the 1920's and is a powder puff holder. She holds 6 powder puffs in her skirt. Isn't she just adorable? I may have mentioned that I love 1920's flapper boudoir items. Some of them are totally useful, some are totally useless, but most are somewhere in between. I think the thought of the day was that if something held still, you should embellish it! And boy, did they.

Until next time,

MAC Paint in Bare Canvas
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Medium
Nars Eye Shadow Duos: Habanera, Paris
Benefit High Brow
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
Bee LUSHcious Lashes Mascara
Eversun Beauty Powder Blush
Bare Slimshine

*MAC Dupes for the NARS shadows*
Habanera Duo:
Purple shade- Trax, Nocturnelle
Teal Shade- Steamy, Surreal, Aquadisiac

Paris Duo:
Dark gray- Print
Silver/gray- honestly, there isn't a good one...try White Frost VERY lightly (just any satin formula light gray/silver or white)

When I started this blog, I promised some posts on fashion. ...yeah, never happened. So I figured, what better time to start than now? Especially since I've found some amazing things at Gap lately. I've never been much of a Gap fan, but I'm loving their summer selection. The dresses especially...very much my style! Think clean, un-fussy dresses and simple tops with chunky accessories. I'm loving gold lately... Anyway, here are my finds!

* I cheated and tried to find pics of what I bought in the store, online...but a few things were not on the site. So I had to actually photograph a few things. But all of these items can be found in-store. All pictures are of items I purchased, in the exact colors :)