Friday, November 30, 2012

Inner Beauty Friday - Book Club!

Hello!

It is time to link up with Blonde...Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

This week I read "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel :
Here is part of the Synopsis from Goodreads.com (because the whole synopsis is REALLY long): "Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe."

My thoughts:  I had this book sitting on my shelf for like 8 years and kept not reading it.  And now they made the movie so in order to see the movie I had to read the book first.  And I shouldn't have waited!  It is a very good story, and it's one of those that will stick in your mind for a while.  Because the story is so fantastic and he's castaway so long there is a lingering question of what really happened. 

Jasmine

Thursday, November 29, 2012

NOTD - Galaxy from Gosh

Hello:

So just recently they put in a Gosh Cosmetics display at my local Walgreens, I had never heard of the brand before.  It's more expensive then the usual drugstore brands, and I can't even find it on the Walgreens website, so I'm not sure if this is a "test store" thing.  Anywhoo...
I had seen a post on Gl0ssy about the color "Holographic Hero" and I REALLY wanted it - but they didn't have it so I decided to try "Galaxy".

It looks very glittery, bronzy and possibly holographic in the bottle...It's not holographic :(
It looks very different in the day (Olive toned) and at night (Bronze).

Galaxy by Day
 
Galaxy by Night
 
I like the color - but it's not my favorite.  Have you tried many Gosh products, is there something I NEED to try? :)

Jasmine

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Cover Girl &Olay Tone Rehab Foundation Review

Hello:
 
Today I wanted to show you a foundation I recently tried. I had seen a review of it on The Amazing World of J.  It looked like a great winter foundation.
Here's the description from the CoverGirl website "COVERGIRL & Olay combine foundation and hydrating serum to cover fine lines and wrinkles and helps hydrate to improve skin tone over time."  I got the lightest color 105 Ivory, and I was worried that it would lean to pink but as you can see below it's pretty neutral.

 So here I am before, freshly washed face with anti-freckle serum and moisturizing sunscreen.

And here I am with one pump of the foundation blended in by brush.  As you can see it does even out my complexion and it helps hide my freckles. I really like the medium coverage it gives.  It also looks very natural up close.  It runs about $13.99 and can be found at pretty much any drugstore, Target, Walmart etc... 
So I also realized I don't often show how I look after I put on my foundation so here I am after I put on a little blush (Miliani Coralista), Mascara (Maybelline Great Lash BIG), brown eyeliner, my eyebrows on, and some taupe eyeshadow.

Natural is my go to look normally, but tomorrow I am going try to get some good pictures of some of my bold looks.  I never show pictures of myself with my full face on because I can't get a good picture - but I'm going to work on that!

Jasmine

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Essence Volumizing Lash Powder

Hello:

Today I wanted to share a product that I had to try as soon as I heard about it.  It's Essence's Volumizing Lash Powder, I got it at Ulta ( link Here) for $3.49 and it is rumored to give the same effect as the Too Faced Better than False Lash Mascara for a tenth of the price

 
 
Here's the description from the Ulta website: "Essence's set for an absolutely breathtaking false lashes look! It's this simple: Apply your favorite essence mascara. Apply volumizing lash powder to lashes before the mascara dries. Seal with mascara & be amazed."  Also the package mentions not to use if you wear contacts.
 
I cannot really describe the "powder" it's like a a jar of millions of little fibers and if you touch it it feels spongey and then the fibers stick to everything (This is where the danger for contact wearers comes in, I got a bunch of it in my eye first time around).  So you have to carefully dip the spoolie into the powder before you apply it to wet mascara ( I used Maybelline Great Lash BIG review Here).  And since you need to apply it to wet mascara you kinda need to be ready to go with the spoolie of powder.  But once you get it down it does work!
 
 
On the left one coat of Maybelline Great Lash BIG and on the right with the Essence Volumizing Powder and a top coat of mascara.  It's not quite falsies but it does definitely bump up your lashes nicely.  I think you can wear it with contacts if you apply your mascara and powder first and then put them in.
 
Have you ever tried a "lash powder"?
 
Jasmine
 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Freckles be Gone! Week 3

Hello:

Today I have been using Dermactin-TS for three weeks.  You can see my initial post about the product Here.  I still don't see much of a difference :( 
I try to take the pictures around 10am every Sunday - but you can see in the third picture from the left it was more overcast and that one is actually closest to my skin tone.  In the others I actually look sort of tan!  This is the last week I'm using this and then I got a new cream to try! 

I should just use straight bleach and see what happens - I kid!  I kid!

Jasmine

Spread the Polish Swap - Reveal...

Hello!

A few weeks ago I signed up for the spread the polish swap hosted by Lala Lists & Lipgloss and Crayons.  Today is the package link up and reveal day!

lala Lists
Also I must note I love me some blogger swaps! I have 2 more in the works... Yeah!

My partner was Ashley from Bramblewood Fashion.  I really like her site, she puts together realy lovely outfits - I wish I coud look so cute!

And here is what I received!

 I was extra spolied as she sent me some fun "Press on" nails as well - which I will be using soon, I am sure, as my nails tend to break when I finally get them at a nice length...le sigh. :)

But on to the LOVELY polishes -> I love, love, love the Sally Hansen glitter "Strobe Light"  it is a pink/silver sparkly bottle of fun!

And NYC in "Manhattan" is a deep plum that will be a favorite this fall/winter!  Thank you so much Ashley for the lovely package!

Do you do swaps??

Jasmine

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Sunday Social Link-up

Hello!

Tonight I'm linking up with...

I thought the questions were not so blog oriented and a good way to get to "know" me better if you care to!  :)  I know I love reading about other people's lives. So here we go:

Name 4 jobs you’ve had in your life: Lifeguard, Interior Lighting Designer, Beauty Advisor, Corporate Sales Trainer

Name 4 movies you would watch over and over: Anchorman, Sound of Music, Pretty Woman, The Life Aquatic

Name 4 places you have lived: Minneapolis,MN  Seattle,WA  Eau Claire,WI  Chicago, IL

Name 4 of your favorite foods: Croissants, Diet Coke, Pasta, Candy  (Notice all very bad for you!)

Name 4 things you always carry with you: Lip Balm, Phone, Wallet, current book I'm reading

Name 4 places you have been on vacation: Athens, Greece

 Egypt


Devils Tower, WY

Louisville, KY (where we go for New Year's at the Galt House)




Anyone else consider Candy a food group?

Jasmine

Maybelline Great Lash BIG

Hello:

This week I went to get Maybelline Collosal Volume "Cat Eye" Mascara because one of my co-workers had it on and it looked GOOD!  But CVS and Walgreens were out :(  So at CVS Maybelline Great Lash BIG was on Sale for $5. 


 Now I have never understood the hype surrounding Great Lash, but this had a different brush and I wanted to get a "simpler" mascara so I could try another product with it.  Anywhoooooo... I went home with Great Lash BIG and here's the results.



The brush is full and you can put on a few coats with now clumping  issues.  It is a "simple mascara" no tricks or frills it just separates and darkens.  So it's good for natural looks.


From Left to Right - No mascara, One eye with Great Lash Big, and both eyes with Great Lash BIG.

Jasmine

Saturday, November 24, 2012

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Primer

Hello:
Today I tired L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Anti-Dull Skin primer.  According to the Ulta website this primer "Professional Color Correcting Primers glide on smoothly to immediately correct and improve the look of your complexion. Anti-Dull Skin (light skin):Illuminates and adds warmth to light complexions."

 
I like the slim pump format and you definitely only need one pump of product to cover the face.
 
 
It is very pink, and when I smoothed it over my face it did look very pink but as I blended it in it did "warm up" my complexion.  I was worried it would create a strong difference between my face and neck, but I just made sure to blend down and I didn't notice a discernible difference. 


 On the left is my freshly washed face with my serum on and moisturizing sunscreen and on the right is with the primer plus a light coat of  Inglot AMC Foundation (Review Here).  And surprise, surprise I liked it!  It gave me a healthy "glow" and kept my foundation looking good all day.  This is just the kind of product I need so people don't always ask me if I'm sick, unless I wear bronzer and blush as well.  It gets two pale thumbs up :)

Jasmine

Friday, November 23, 2012

Inner Beauty Friday - Book Club

Hello! 

I can't believe it is already Friday again!  Time for Book Club hosted by Blonde...Undercover Blonde. 

This week I read :


 Here is the synopsis from goodreads.com: "A spell-binding and suspenseful true account of a life filled with darkness that would take years to escape. A gallery of sinister characters from both sides of the law inhabit the chapters of the author's life. It mirrors a prime concern of our society: women taking control of their own lives against all odds."

My thoughts: Well first and foremost that synopsis from Goodreads is not even close.  Spell-binding -NO.  Women taking control of their own lives against all odds - SUPER NO.  This book is supposedly true but it seems unbelievable.  It's all about a girl who grew up in Rochester, NY with a loving family but made a lot of bad choices (starting at like age 12 going to bars, and hitting on 23 year old guys because she could "handle" herself) and then blames everyone else for her unhappiness and her "dark" side. Oh and she talks about how hard it was to be so beautiful a lot as well. She never takes control of her life, just jumps from man to man.  As for an insider's view into the Mob - she name drops a lot and honestly I don't know a lot of the names (I'm not up on my 70's NY scene mobsters) but does she know what is actually going on? No, they just buy drinks for her and ask her to take unmarked envelopes and stuff into NYC when she goes.  This is one of those books I really had to work to read. 

Until next week,

Jasmine


Thursday, November 22, 2012

10 Day You Challenge - Last 6 in One!

Hello!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you are having a lovely day no matter if you celebrate it where you are or not. 

I started the 10 Day You Challenge in the beginning of October and obviously I didn't complete it in 10 days.  So I thought I'd link up with Blog Love Therapy today and finish it all up.


BlogLoveTherapy


So I last posted about 7 Wants - and now I am on to :

6 Places
I could easily pick 6 places I want to visit, but I there are great places I have been that I would happily be.  So I am going to do 3 and 3.

The first 3 are places I have been to and LOVE:
#1 Yellowstone National Park - 

Yellowstone is just amazing to me - it has so many amazing geographical elements as you can see in the illustration above.  I love camping there, It just is like a wonderland to me.

#2 Ruby Beach, Washington State:
Another place that is just lovely and sooo peaceful to me.  It was sunny the day I was there and I found a huge tree that was laying on the beach and it was basically driftwood (so very soft) and I just rested on it and watched the waves and it was one of the most peaceful and relaxing hours of my life.

#3 Abu Simbel, Egypt
I was lucky enough to spend a week in Egypt and although the pyramids, and Luxor Temple are amazing - Abu Simbel is MAGICAL.  When you see it, it leaves you awestruck, and just blown away that this was created thousands of years ago, and the architectural intricacies are mind blowing.  I truly don't have the words to describe it.

And three places I want to see:

LONDON - I know I was British in another life!  I took my current job on the chance we may go public and I wouold get to possibly move to the UK to do start up training.


Hong Kong:
So little space so much Amazingness and technology and luxury!

Kyoto, Japan:
Beautiful Architecture and Natural Beauty and just history overflowing!

So that's my six places!  Onto 5 foods!

5 Foods:

The thing about food is I don't really LOVE anything... I just eat a lot of crap because it's easy.  Chips or carrots I don't care, whatever is lying about, but these things I will always say yes to:

#1) Diet Coke - indeed just for the taste of it!


#2) Candy - I have a terrible sweet tooth
#3) Croissants -




#4) Chips and Salsa (but the salsa needs to be Mild and not "saucy")
#5) Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagels

Not very exciting - so onto 4 Books-

4 Books:

I love Books!  I have read over 500 in the past 10 years.  I keep a book diary and I am on book #519 since 2003.  It's actually not that hard for me to pick just 4 as there are very few books I have absolutely LOVED.  Here are four that I think are among the greatest I have ever read:

1) Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
2) Random Family - Adrain Nicole Leblanc
3) Snow Flower & the Secret Fan - Lisa See
4) The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls

Let me know if you read any of these and what you thought :)  Now if you are still reading on to 3 films:

3 Films:

#1) The Sound of Music
I love the songs, the scenery and Captin VonTrapp

#2) Anchorman
Best one liners, Best fight scene and the CLOTHES! 

#3) Secretary
James Spader as I imagine him to be ... wonderful.

2 Songs:
 I am not hugely into music (GASP I know!)  So I'm just going to go with songs I have loved for a long time and don't tire of listening to.

#1) All I ask of you - Sarah Brightman
#2) Vogue - Madonna

AND FINALLY! 

1 Picture



Thanks for reading!

Jasmine










Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Beauty Bits Wishlist

Hello:

Today I was looking at all the fun "little things" out there for this holiday season.  I may want ALL the makeup but the truth is I truely have more than I could ever use and so I wanted to show some Beauty items & crazy randomness that I think would appeal to a lot of people and price ranges.  Plus I want them ALL!  The product descriptions are in the links.

#1) The Burt's Bees Tip to Toes kit - $12.99 @ Target
#2) TokyoMilk Femme Fetale Lip Elixir - DECADENT! - $7 @ Sephora
#3) Sonia Kashuk 24 Karat Holiday Brush Set - $14.99 @ Target
#4) Tweezerman Hot Pink Nail Rescue Kit - $20@ Sephora
#5) Leather Driving gloves -Tres Chic! - $21.99 @ Target


Born Pretty Store Nail art Brushes - only $3.51 @Born Pretty Store



SHANY 2012 Nail Art Plates - $11.99 @ Amazon
Uni-CORN Holders!!! Make your Corn eating experience magical only $7.50 @ Amazon

Do any of these make your wishlist?
Am I missing something good?

Jasmine







Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Freckles be gone - Week 2!

Hello again!

I am on my second week of using Dermactin-TS in an attempt to even out my skin and attempt to remove my freckling.



I still REALLY don't like the applicator I have no idea how much I am getting on my face.  Also as you can see from the pictures below I don't think it's making much difference:
From L to R - before using, week 1 & week 2
But I am going to keep on using it for 2 more weeks and wait for the great miracle occur!
 
Jasmine
 
 

Saturday, November 17, 2012

New to me! Detrivore Cosmetics

Hello!
 
Earlier this month I ordered some loose mineral eyeshadows from Detrivore Cosmetics. 

From their website: "Detrivore Cosmetics is a small independent makeup company, owned and run by Distorria Mordred. We specialize in handmade loose makeup. Our products are not repackaged mica blends or made by a private label company. I make loose eyeshadow because I prefer it. The colors are more vivid and I like the variety of colors available. I like the buildable coverage and generally the feel of loose eyeshadow and foundation. It's a personal preference, not a moral or ethical choice. I also like supporting other indie bath and beauty sellers." 

I had seen swatches and makeup looks of Detrivore Cosmetics on Prettymaking.com and I really wanted to give it a try. And then I saw they were having a 35% off sale so  went for it!

First thing first I got their eye primer so I could be sure to get the best results -

It looks yellow but goes on absolutely clear, it's solid and reminds me of hard lip balm
but you warm it up with your finger and it goes on smooth and soft.
From their website: "Eyeshadow primer from Detrivore Cosmetics is a wax based primer designed to help adhere loose eye shadows. Just a tiny amount can help keep your shadow on all day. It is also somewhat water resistant, although not water proof."  I will definitely be using this with my other loose shadows. 

I picked out six shadows and they are A-mazing!

Top L to R Ossuary & Adipocere
Bottom L to R  Incantation & Shroud

Top L to R Filth & Scar
And then they sent me two samples Acid Test & Hack

I swatched them over the primer and they are 10x more beautiful in person:
L to R  Ossuary, Flith, Scar, Incantation Shroud & Adipocere

They blend like a dream and such a little amount goes a long way!

The samples Acid Test and Hack
Not colors I would have chosen on my own so it will be great to try them!
I am so pleased with my new shadows - I definitely recommend you check out their site!
Jasmine