Out with the OLD, in with the NEW!

I've been on the prowl for new makeup storage for awhile. My bathroom countertop started to look like a hot mess, the products have finally won and have consumed my countertop. I was sick of Rubbermaid/Sterlite drawers, and I wanted something chic! My Sterlite drawers were piling high and the husby always teased me of my towering product storage. I googled "makeup storage" like a maniac, and then I even looked up "stationery storage" because it could serve as a multi-purpose storage. Then finally, I'm stumbled on a crafty blog! She had regular IKEA drawers, then decided to slap some vintage wallpaper on the drawers. Then it hit me, I was finally inspired....

Being that I live in an area that lacks the better things in life (i.e. Ikea, Georgetown Cupcakes, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Coastal Flats, etc), I usually have to travel 3 hours to get to these places. BLAH! My dear friend, Mar offered to pick up the storage at IKEA for me, but unfortunately they didn't have it there. Being the persistent person I am, I eBayed that bad boy! WOO! Lo and behold, I got it! It was $19.99 plus $12.99 shipping. UGH! Shipping was expensive, but hey, I ordered on Thursday and I got it this past Saturday!

I do love ordering stuff online, and I have a sick obsession of tracking my stuff constantly. Knowing that I would get my package on Saturday, I had to stop by Target on Friday night. I made way to the scrapbooking section and fumbled through all the paper. I saw the usual, floral prints here and there, baby prints, wedding themes, and then, I saw zebra stripes! WOO! Safari theme! I own you!

On Saturday, me and the husby came home from the beach (oh yeah, we also made a detour to get some "Just Cupcakes!"), and as soon as we parked, I saw the FedEx note on the door. I was crushed! I thought "ERGH! Now I have to wait till Monday... SON OF A..." THEN! I read the note closely and the box was checked that said "Left at Front Door". I swung the door open and there it was.

I danced on my porch, and the husby just said "OH MY GAH!" HAHA! I'm sick, I know! I pulled out the husby's tools. He asked if I needed help, and my excitement ran through and I said "No, I'm good!". When I laid out all the pieces.. I thought "CRAP!". But I took a deep breath, and opened the direction and began hammering away.

I did it! I felt accomplished, I like assembling stuff. I'm quite handy, ya know? So check it out! Pretty nifty eh? With the scrapbooking paper I bought at Target, I just traced out the drawers then slapped some craft glue.

So while I was doing this, I figured I'd let you guys peep my stash. It's not much, but it's okay. I also bought purple inserts from Office Depot for better organization (thanks for the tip, Trish!). After doing this, I went crazy with my whole bathroom countertop. I bought a basket for my hair products for my countertop, and I cleaned out all my other bathroom drawers. I threw away old products and old makeup. But I felt better and now I have a fresh start!

Drawer 1: Lip Products

Drawer 2: Mascara Primer (note: I LOVE Lancome better than Shiseido!), Mascaras, Concealers, and Brow Sets

Drawer 3: Other Palettes and Beauty Sponge

Drawer 4: Eyes! Primers, Bases, Eyeshadows, Small Palettes, Fluidlines, Quads, Pigment Samples, etc

Drawer 5: My "MUG-shot" drawer, a.ka. the face drawer! Prep +Prime, Tinted Moisturizers, MSFs, Cream Colour Bases, Blushes, Highlights, etc.

My basket of goodies! This is only a partial of my sick obsession with hair products! There's more in my bathroom drawers, but these are my favos. Oh yeah, and my lotions are in here!

BEFORE

AFTER

So this is my new storage baby! I'm so proud! I stored my brushes and palettes on top. The brush containers are from Michaels. I love it cause they are black and it's rectangler. It's a Sephora inspired brush holder, so I do have the clear beads inside, but I doubt you can see them.

Whoa, First YOUTUBE Vid!

AHHH! What was I thinking? I know, I want all whole freakin CIBU Spring Roll Line and that Deva Fuser! Haha, this is embarassing but I shouldn't have any shame. Wish me luck! This is my video response to the lovely CIBU17!

PUAHAHAH! That screenshot is not flattering at all! PUAHAHAHAH!



BUMMER! This is a fallout tutorial! My hair didn't turn out the way I wanted it to because I flat ironed it in the morning. BOO! But it still has tons of volume. PUAHA! AH well, it was def. worth a shot. There's lots of good entries, so we'll still where this goes. OH! And sorry about the volume, I have no idea why it's sooo loooow. It was loud in iMovie and in QuickTime. GAH! I have a new found respect for people that do videos on YouTube. It's toughie!

A big thanks to Tricia and Carmen! THey uplifted me with this whole video thing. I was uber shy and nervous to do this, but they told me it turned out good. Thanks, loves!

Well, today is practically my FRIDAY at work! And tomorrow, we're going to do some outlet shopping! WOOT WOOT!

Have a lovely 4th everyone! Later beauty homies!

My Not So "SUMO" Haul & Palettes

As most of you beauty junkies know, MAC had their Friends and Family 25% discount. Promo code "SUMO" was the magic word using their promo image of a jolly sumo wrestler. Well, of course, I ordered. My order wasn't so "SUMO" but I'm pleased. I got the stuff I was eyeballing and staying within my budget. Of course, there's tons more that I would like to have grabbed, but I'll save that for another day. I wanted to focus on getting more soft browns and I think I have completed my mission.

Here's the goods....

15x MAC Eye Palette

Soft Brown e/s

Soba e/s

Romp e/s

Beauty Marked e/s

Sketch e/s

Paint in "Untitled"

Cream Colour Base in "Hush"

I got some "product sweat" on my CCB but it's okay. A little swirls here and there and it's gone. But let me tell you, out of all the stuff I bought, "Hush" is my favorite! I used it on the apples of my cheeks and then dusted "Soft & Gentle" Mineralized Skinfinish and I'm glowing like a champ!

Anyways, after putting the pans in the palette, I ran upstairs to get my other palettes and do some reorganizing. I don't have any hot colors, cause I tend to stick with the browns, neutrals, and the smokeys. Here's a pic of all my palettes, rearranged! I don't have anymore single eyeshadows (wait yes, I have one more!) , I like having all my stuff in a palette. If it's not in there, I'll neglect it.

So when I get ready for work, I usually get a tad bit frustrated because I have to open each friggin palette to find what I was looking for. So, I finally decided to label them! Phew!

Here's my palettes! Nothing fancy shmancy. It might look a little dark, but I wanted to take these pictures without flash so you can see the color.

Err! So I'm a tad bit bummed with this third palette. I bought Mink & Sable at CCO, and I didn't even realize how close it was to Sumptous Olive. DOH! Oh well. So as you see, I have 12 spots left. I'm not in a rush to fill these up, but sooner or later I will.

So you tell me, what staples am I missing? What's your fave e/s?

Blush Palette

Anyways, I'm just glad it's Thursday! Which means, it's payday! WOOT WOOT! Oh yeah and one more thing. I have to show you guys the romper I ordered. I'm been on the hunt for a romper for quite some time, but I had no luck. Finally, I saw this on AE.com. WOOT! Only $19.99! What a steal. My only worry is the fit of it. Eeeks, I hope it'll fit right. If not, what a complete womper! I showed this to the husby, and he was like "You're going wear that out in public?" And I had to tell him all the different way I could wear this bad boy and that'll I'll probably layer it. PUAHAHA! Oh man oh man. Does it look like pajamas to you?? Honestly?

Ookay, one more day till Friday! Hurry UP! I was supposed to head over to DC to celebrate my old man's birthday, but plans changed. DOH! OH well, I think it's going to be a movie weekend. I'm going to watch "My Sister's Keeper" with Tricia (don't forget tissues), and then probably Transformers 2 with the husby. I'm not complaining, I loove watching movies I live for my weekends.

Okay, later beauty homies!

So Random!

Hola my beauties! Slacker, slacker, slacker... tsk tsk. Anyways, I've been pretty wrapped up. Anyways, enough of the excuses. So now I'm on the hunt for a new skin care regime.

I've been using Fresh's Soy Face Cleanser since January and it's time to change it up. PLUS! That cleanser is $38 friggin dollars. I know it's skin care and it's okay to splurge, but the way the economy is heading, yeah, I should be saving. Anyways, the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser is good, but for some reason, I'm starting to feel like I'm not getting a deeper clean. With the heat coming on, I've been laying on the SPF and I don't think my cleanser was removing all that stuff. Which lead to clogged pores, then leads to little breakouts. DOOHH! So enough of the cream cleanser, it's time to bring on the tingly gel bead like goodies. I decided to channel my old teenage self and went back to Clean and Clear. I bought the Oil Free Daily Pore Cleanser. Let's hope this works out! So far, I'm loving this stuff. My face feels ubbbeer clean and it's not dry or tight after I'm done rinsing. I don't have a toner yet, but I'm looking for one that's alcohol free.

I have dry, semi-sensitive skin, so it's a bit complicated. Any recommendations? Besides, Clinique, Aveeno, Cetaphil, Fresh, St. Ives, Mario Badescu, and Origins? (yes, I've tried all of those) Or whatever, what do you use?!?!?

Anyways, so I'm patiently waiting for my MAC order. GAHHH! Hurry up, already! I can't wait to post the goodies I got. After this I'll be taking a break from MAC. Yes, I mean it! OooOH! ANNNND! Since it's getting freaking humid as crap outside, I wanted a tinted moisturizer with SPF. I used Fresh's High Noon as a TM, but there's no SPF. Then I bought Benefit's You Rebel and then I busted a few pimples =(. WOMP WOMP WOMP! So now, I rekindled with my Laura Mercier Oil Free TM. Then I decided to get my MAC Strobe Cream and mix the two. TA DAAAA! I LOOVVE this stuff. It's absolutely fab! Now if I can only find my new skincare regime... hmmmm Ookay, sorry for my lack of pics and stuff.

OOOOH! I want a new mask too! I found this at ULTA when I was shopping with Trish. C. Booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask. I've heard so much good stuff about MAC's le Volcanic Ash Exfoliator. So when I ran into this, I got excited. I didn't buy it though cause I wanted to do more reasearch. It's only 9.99 at ULTA! Anyone tried this?

This post is a little meh, but oh well, you still read it. PUAHAH! Ooh yeah, as for an update on Operation Sexy. Today, me and the Husby ran two miles and did a few sets of stairs. Aye yeh yeh, it's easy to do two miles on the treadmill, but outisde in the heat, eeks, it's tough. But, we did it! GAHHH! I smell the bikini already... but I'm not quite ready yet.

Already, I'm out! Later BEAUTY HOMMIIEESS!

Move Over OPI! Make Room for ZOYA!

Everytime I parade the nail polish aisles at ULTA or Target, nothing really fancies me. Sure, I've became a fan of OPI's Drip Dry because my sister-in-law went off a whim and bought it, and we both loved it BUT I always caught myself referencing back to Zoya. It's been months ago when I went to a spa that carried Zoya polish. But from what I recall, my manicure lasted more than a week. Other nail spas I've been to always carried OPI, but my manicure never lasted long. Unfortunately, the spa that carried Zoya no longer does manicures/pedicures, they solely focus on haircare, massages, and facials. BOO! So that's what brought me to http://www.zoya.com/.

Now, just so you know, I have a horrible habit of peeling of my nail polish. Right when it starts to lift, I tend to grab it and peel all the nail polish off. Horrible, isn't it? Especially when you spend time doing your nails, and then it only takes minutes to kill a good manicure.

So here's my good ol' haul from Zoya. I had to try to the Color Lock System to break my poor habit.

(L to R) Meet the newest to my collection: Madison and Melanie

Everything looks soooo pretty! I love my Remove+, which is the purple nail polish remover. It's in a pump! So my clumsy butt doesn't need to worry about knocking this stuff over and being wasteful. Plus, it smells good, like lavender! What I love about this remover is that it cleans the nail plate and extends the polish wear, all without drying the nail.

Citing from their site: Zoya is free of toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor.

So no need to worry about sniffing and inhaling strong nail polish fumes! I did my nails in the bedroom and the husby didn't even complain about the smell! SCOORREE!

I'm pretty neutral when it comes to painting my nails. I guess because I don't feel like I have the bestest nails to pull off color. I have short nail beds, womp! But nonetheless, I do have a passion for pale pinks and good ol' classic french tips. I do have my eye on some other Zoya neutrals, but maybe I'll twitter the Zoya Nail Lady (http://twitter.com/Zoya_NailPolish) and ask her for some expert help.

Here's a pic of my nails. I really prefer my left hand over my right. I feel like my right hand is busted. PUAHA! I don't know what's wrong with me. But anyways, please pardon the crooked fingers. I blame cracking my knuckles in my youth... DOH!

I looooovvveee Zoya! I bought three nail polishes (2 Madisons, and 1 Melanie) and gave one to Tricia to try. She loved it just as much! And hopefully, I have converted her. Maybe I'll convert you blogger gals to try Zoya polishes. My manicure lasted longer and I didn't catch myself peeling off my nail polish. That's a major plus for me!

The Color Lock System is officially a holy grail item. With Remove+, Anchor Base Coat, Amor Top Coat, and Hurry Up Speed Drops, you're manicure and pedicure will last long and look fresh. The Hurry Up Speed Drops are going to last a lifetime, I know it'll be awhile before I have to restock. What I love about the Hurry Up Speed Drops is that my manicure/pedicure is dry within 5 minutes!! No need to wait! Plus, I'm impatient and during my old drying times is when I'd ruin my manicure. So I'm in LOOVVE with HurryUP!

As for Customer Service, Zoya went above and beyond. Since I spent a good amount, I was awarded with free shippping and of course, freebies! Who doesn't love freebies? I got an extra 2 oz of Remove+ and another bottle of drops by Qtica (sister-brand).

My only gripe is that I have a hard time finding Zoya is my area =(. I'm a little hesistant to order online because I wouldn't know how the color looks in person. But nevertheless, I'll still continue to be a faithful customer. I doubt I'll be buying any OPI anytime soon!

Lastly, here's a pic of all my manicure/pedicure goodness in one big green crate. Gotta love Target! $1.99 Basket!

MAC Event! Style Warrior

Well well well, look who's back on the blogger scene! Hope you guys didn't miss me too much. It's almost been a whole month since I have blogged. My reason....

My love came home! Yes, the husby is home! He was gone for awhile and it was really tough. So I've been smothering him with my love. LOL! Being a military wife is very hard and it's definitely making me a stronger woman day by day. The good thing, my husby shouldn't be leaving for awhile for a looonngg time. I'm giddy! And one more, here's an update on Operation Sexy. Being that the husby came back, he's been my coach. I've upgraded the exercise routine to jogging 1.5 miles and then hitting the stairs and doing plenty of sets. Then finishing up with some core workouts, let's hope I can get wear the bikini by summer.

Ookay, now onto the good stuff! The lovely MAC Kim invited me to the Style Warrior event and she wanted me to bring some friends along. So, Carmen, Trish, and myself all headed to the Style Warrior event yesterday and we came out looking sooooo fly! Pictures tell a thousand words so here I am flooding you with some photos!




"Make me pretty!" LOL! FIrst pic is my bare tired face. Thank goodness Kim worked her magic and did wonders on my face. She did a toned smokey green eye to match my shirt. Haha, my plain jane outfit. I had a really cute outfit to wear to this event, but after working out with the husby that morning. I was such a bum, and I opted for my comfy shirt, jeans, and flipflops. I wear heals every single day of the week for work, so when I can slip on some Reefs, I'll take it!!




And here's Carmen and Trish getting their makeup done! And the third pic is the goods! [Check out their blogs too! They have pics from the MAC Event too!]

OOoOH! So I'm now debating if I should get the MAC MIneralized Satinfinish SPF 15 Foundation. I really liked the finish that it gave me and kudos to SPF. OooH! And I found out my MAC color, haha I bounce from Medium Plus to Medium Dark, but I'm also NC37. Should I get it? Hmmmm...

Well Kim is freaking amazing. She made us all feel like a million bucks. After hanging out with her and watch her do apply her skills we found out some pretty neato info. As they were blasting a Danity Kane song, Trish said "I'm sad they broke up..." Then Kim said, "Ooh, I did Andrea's makeup before".... All of our jaws dropped! WAHHHH! Pretty neato eh?

Purchased Goods:
MAC Cleansing Oil (This stuff is absolutely amazing!)
MSF in Soft & Gentle (Perfect Highlighter)
MAC 224 Brush
MAC e/s in Night Maneuvers



Ookay well this took awhile! Geez, but no worries, I'll be back with more posts. Keep reading! I'll do my ZOYA Review this week too! Woot woot! Have a lovely week!

JenTheJunkie is Missing!

Why hello my dears! I've been straight up M.I.A! I feel like I fell off the face of blogger world. Sorry, hope you can forgive me. I've been slacking on my comments too! ERGH! Tsk tsk...

Here are my reasons. It's "Operation Sexy" (coined by my original coworkers that got me into saying that phrase, you know who you are!). Me and the sis-in-law have officially turned into workout maniacs and healthy eaters (Hummus is my best friend). It's hard to imagine because we can be quite the heffers, but now, with seeing results, it's only motivating me more.

We've been working out everyday with an exemption of a rest day. Basically, a good 1.5-2 mile speedy powerwalk (because I suck at running), doing sets of stairs (that are horrid, but they work!), sit ups, push ups, crunches.. blah blah. You get the idea...

My motivation?

Pictures courtesy of Victoria Secret! I loooovee these bikinis! I want them!

GAH! I'm hoping! I'm 24 and I've never had the guts to wear a bikini! Why? Because I don't feel quite confident in one yet. So let this summer be the break of my tankini spell and the beginning of the bikinis. Wish me luck!

I'm down 2 pounds, and I have 5 more to go! WOOT WOOT!

Oh yeah, I haven't been hauling that much. I scored a couple things here and there. Nothing fancy shmancy. Basically just another Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Strut, MAC CCB in Improper Copper, and the 239 brush. ERGH! I tried the MAC Line Filler for my undereyes, what a bust! I exchanged that baby for some Lip Gelees instead. So now I'm a happy camper. I have no intentions nor desires to go to MAC for awhile. Well, not till the end of the month cause I'll be attending the Style Warrior MAC Launch. WOOOOO!

Ookay time to peace out. Oh yeah, and a shoutout to dear Carmen! Hehe, she reads blogs when she's on the boat. I can't wait till you get out of the Navy, dear! You can join "Operation Sexy" with us. LOL! See you soon!

OooOOH! And! I can't forget to mention my fave purchase this week!! Burberry Sunglasses!!!! TAAA-DAAAAAA! Aren't the lovely? I scored them at the NEX, gotta love the military perks! My sis in law, Tricia, got some A/X aviators! We were excited .. can you tell? LOL!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!! WOOT WOOT!