90's Themed Nails

Yesterday was my 25th birthday (yikes!), so for my birthday party I decided go go with a 90's theme and had all my friends come dressed as characters from their favorite 90's TV shows and cartoons. It was SO much fun, and quite possibly my most successful party. 

We played Twister (which is a lot harder as an adult!) with Jell-O shots. There was dunkaroo dip, pizza rolls, tang punch, and cake pops, which I aptly named "MmmPops".

 And the costumes? Incredible! I went as Debbie Thornberry from The Wild Thornberries and Mike went as Johnny Bravo. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place costumes went to Dexter and DeeDee from Dexter's Lab, Tommy Pickles and Lil from Rugrats, and Arthur, respectively, but appearances were made from Bananas in Pajamas, Bevis and Butthead, Squints, and more. It rocked. 

Mike and I as Johnny Bravo and Debbie Thornberry

Rob and Juli as Dexter and Deedee

Not sure how I didn't get a photo of Tommy in a diaper, but here is Cynthia as Lil

Lindsay as Arthur

Of course, I had to do my nails to fit the theme. I decided to take different 90's icons and represent them on my nails. 

From thumb to pinkie: the All That face, Lisa Frank leopard print, Nickelodeon splat, paint splatter, and Stick Stickley

Most of these images will bring back fond memories for most 90's kids. I did hear that a few people don't know who Stick Stickley is. To that, I say this: http://youtu.be/HfDw619p2Tw

I also got lots of great birthday goodies, including a set of Sigma makeup brushes and a few gift cards to Ulta. You all know warm and fuzzy that makes me ;P

Thank you to everyone who made my day so special!

March Ipsy Review: Floral Fantasy

March's Glam Bag had me so pumped up this month. The products were fantastic! Let's get to it. 

Floral Fantasy Glam Bag

Overall rating: 4.5 stars, my highest rating yet! 

Best product: This was so tough to pick, so I considered what I will use the most and what I'll be likely to buy again, and chose NYX Butter Lipstick for best product this month. 

Worst product: Again, it was hard to pick a "worst" product, but I decided on Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter for reasons I'll get into later in this post. 

Most expensive product: Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter, which is valued at $18. 

Glam Bag Total Value: $47.34

Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo in "Apricot Glow"

Pixi by Petra's Mesmerizing Mineral Duo was just that: mesmerizing. I literally gasped when I swatched it on my hand. These shadows have gorgeous shimmer, are great neutral colors, and the pigments are soft and blendable. I'll definitely be using this one a lot. This retails for approximately $5. 5 stars. 

NYX Butter Lipstick in "Pops"

I'm already a HUGE fan of NYX cosmetics, especially their lip products, so it is really no surprise that I enjoyed this lipstick. The color is a nude with pink undertones. I don't like to purchase nude lipsticks, but I do need them, and this shade is really great. The formula is also, well, buttery, which is wonderful because it gives my poor chapped lips the moisture they need without having to compromise color. And the best part? It retails for an affordable $6. 5 stars. 

Acure Day Cream

When I first used the Acure day cream, I loved it! It smells incredible (like citrus and cloves) and goes on thick but not greasy. However, after a few uses, it made my skin react, so I had to stop using it. I maintain it's 5 star rating however, since I think it could be a great moisturizer for somebody else. It is formulated to help build collagen and elastin, fight against environmental factors and free radicals, and firm your skin. It retails for $19, but my sample was worth about $11. 

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter

The Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter is a multi-use pencil that you can use for concealing, highlighting, or as an eye pencil or lip liner. I have used it as a concealer mainly, and have discovered that it is not satisfactory at covering blemishes, but does a pretty decent job of covering under eye circles. I wasn't overwhelmed with it, and probably wouldn't buy it again, but it does the job. 3 stars, and retails for $18. 

I was excited to receive 2 pair of Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels in my glam bag. I have heard good things about them and was looking forward to trying them out. They boast the ability to firm and de-puff the under eye area within 10 minutes. While my under eye area isn't usually puffy, I popped these on and let them sit. After ten minutes I noticed a slight difference in firmness of the skin, but overall the cooling sensation of the gel really refreshed me and made me feel more awake. I give them 4 stars. They retail for $30 for 8 pair, so my sample was worth $7.50. 

I was so pleased with my Glam Bag this month. I was looking forward to the products before they even arrived at my doorstep, and the bag itself is so cute! 

Interested in a glam bag of your own? Subscription is only $10 a month and you can skip the wait list by following a few simple steps. Sign up with the link below!

http://www.ipsy.com/r/c16l?sid=ipsypoints&cid=email

First Attempt: Ruffian Manicure

Oops! So since St. Patrick's day is in the middle of the week, I completely forgot this was St. Pat's weekend, and thusly didn't do a themed manicure. But that's okay, right? There's always next year. 

What I did instead was try a manicure style that has been around for at least a year, but that I've been too afraid to try until now. It's called "The Ruffian", and it was created by Creative Nail Design for fashion designer label Ruffian's fashion show. The style intimidated me, but now that I've done it, I don't understand why! It was super easy, and I didn't even use stencils. All freehand here :) 

I was inspired by polishedbynata's neutral and neon mani that she posted on her Instagram and decided to try it with different colors. This is an easy manicure that looks great and can yield lots of fun color combinations!

Gradient Dots Mani

A blog post right in under the wire! This week has been busy, and I just found time tonight to do a manicure. 

I got the inspiration for this mani from lemmingspolish on Instagram, but I changed the color scheme and added dots in both colors. I'm also featuring my right hand this week since it turned out much better than my left, which is pretty unusual. 

Inspiration photo @lemmingspolish

And here is my version:

I used "Ultra Violet" and "Day Glow Teal" from the Maybelline Bleached Neons collection. The colors look great together but were pretty difficult to work with for gradients, I found. 

I definitely liked the way this turned out! It's pretty and trippy and fun. I haven't really gotten the full potential out of my dotting tools yet, and I need to explore more designs! 

Special thanks to @lemmingspolish for the inspiration :)