Resolutions (beauty and personal)

Hello, Beautiful!

Happy New Year's Eve!!! I hope everyone has fun tonight ringing in 2011! Be safe! Don't drink and drive!

Everyone seems to have New Year's resolutions, even small things. So I'm wondering, what are your New Year's resolutions? Let me know what your 2011 beauty related resolution(s) and your 2011 personal related resolution(s) are.

My resolutions...

Beauty Related:

I would like to commit to always taking care of my skin, morning and night. I know when things get busy I sometimes skip a morning or a night of washing my face. I hate that feeling! I need to try extra hard in 2011 to really focus on my skin morning and night, every day no matter what.

I would like to commit to buying less beauty products. This past year I think I purchased more beauty products than most years. I just need to think twice on each beauty purchase. I'll ask myself these five questions:

1. Is this a product I'll use on a daily basis?
2. If not, is this a product I'll use at least once a week or once every two weeks?
3. Do I already have a similar product that I'm happy with?
4. If I don't like the product can I re-purpose it? (return it, give it away, make samples, sell it)
5. Is it on sale or reasonably priced? Can I find it somewhere else cheaper?

I know I tend to buy a lot of beauty items because they are on sale... and that is part of my problem. I'm cheap, so when I see a high-priced item on sale I need to buy it. It's the bargain hunter in me. And that's a problem!



For my personal life, my resolutions are:

Continue living a "Be Love" type of lifestyle. It's not easy to be love all the time, but when I am living that way I find that I'm so much happier and less stressed. I laugh and smile a lot more! Stress ruined my health in so many ways. It's not an over night fix to repair all the damage that was done to my body but I can see a lot of improvement. When I go to the doctors my blood pressure is so much lower than it used to be. Just yesterday it was 106/75. That tells me I'm able to keep my body chilled out more, which is so helpful! I want to continue to work on this stress-free lifestyle and get my health back to normal.

I will get my broken nose fixed this year, along with my teeth. I actually plan to get this all done in March or April. I've been saving up for awhile now and I think I'll be ready to get this done. Well, I hope so. That probably means no vacation this summer, but I'm okay with that.

Of course I want to lose weight, but for me that is directly tied to my stress level. No, I don't over eat when I'm stressed. My body now over produces cortisol thanks to the stress I had several years ago owning my own business (a gourmet dog treat bakery... which I also sold jewelry to raise money for animal shelters). Naturally, every time you stress your body produces cortisol and cortisol makes you fat. I was stressing so much with my business that I poisoned my body with cortisol. Now my body naturally makes it all the time because of the length of time it was producing cortisol on its own. I've tried to go on meds the docs wanted me to be on, but they made me so sick. After trying to wean on and off and back on them for nearly a year, I gave up on meds. I decided living stress free would be the real fix, and I believe it is. I'm able to lose weight when I am stress free. Oh, and I should mention that I had gained 100 pounds in a year and a half.... yeah... 100 freakin pounds! Going from a size 4/6 to a size 18/20 was NOT fun (this happened nearly 3 years ago). For the past year I've been stuck between a size 14 and a size 16.

My weight loss journey is a little different than most, but I know I can still beat this! If all it took was exercise and diet it would be a piece of cake to get rid of the weight. Honestly, I love working out and I've never had a problem with staying in shape. Even after my pregnancy (which I gained over 50 pounds), I managed to lose it all in eight months. I stayed that way for several months... and then the stress set in and the weight gain began. It wasn't gradual either... it would be 10 pounds at a time or 8 pounds at a time (in a week). I have my body working against me, but the less stress the better!

My husband wants me to stop working all together until I'm back to normal because he knows how much time and effort I put into my work. But there is no way I could do that. I have to have my own thing going on! I love ValentineKisses.com!!! Don't worry, ValentineKisses.com isn't going anywhere! If I feel stress coming on I'm able to just say "enough is enough" and stop whatever I'm doing. That could mean this blog doesn't get updated every day or new products aren't on the website as frequent, but its okay because that's not important. The most important thing is responding to customer's emails and phone calls, and getting all orders out within 1 to 2 business days. I've always done that! Even when I was in the hospital with health problems I was still concerned about packing up orders and my husband helped out. The day I got back I finished packing up the orders and got them out within 2 business days! Yes, I have helpers here at ValentineKisses.com, but they're just helpers (not employees) and they only help out from time to time when it's really busy (I'm too much of a control freak to let anyone run the business while I'm on vacation... I just delay shipping out orders when that happens).

Anyhow, enough about me... I can tell I'm rambling on and on now! I've got to get ready and get to the store to pick up supplies for tonight. Rum & gingerale... yum! I also make "Sweettarts", which is orange soda, vodka, and Kool-aid packets (grape and cherry). I don't drink very often... but when I do, I like to really go for it, haha. Especially if I'm at home where I know I don't need to worry about driving or finding someone to drive. It's nice to let loose and just get stupid for a night! Enjoy yourselves tonight... BE SAFE!

Let me know your resolutions for 2011!

Some nail art... (21 Designs)

Hello, Beautiful!

I've been playing around with nail art here and there. I used to do it all the time when I was younger (and I was pretty good at it since I was really good at drawing), but then I stopped doing nails and just lost that magic touch. I'm slowly getting better and better, and finding inspiration everywhere. Here are some of my first nail art tries of many that will come to this blog....

Holographic Leopard



To create this design...

1. Apply two coats of Milani 3D Holographic polish in Hi-Res.
2. Make random dots of color on the nail using a nail art brush. Color I used: Nicole by OPI in Midnight Snowfall.
3. "Hug" the colored dots with black (leave at least one side of the colored dot open) using a nail art brush. Color I used: Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent.
4. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
5. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

Comic Book

To create this design....

1. Apply two coats of polish. For the "POW" (pink) nail I used Butter London in Primrose Hill Picnic. For the "BOOM" (yellow) nail I used Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) in Mellow Yellow.
2. Using a nail art brush or a nail art pen (I used a nail art pen) create the white jagged bubble (the area where you'll put "POW" or "BOOM" or whatever other action word you want). I used Nail Ritz Nail Art Pen in White. You may need several coats to reach the opacity you prefer.
3. Using a nail art brush or a nail art pen (I used a nail art pen) outline the jagged bubble. I used Nail Ritz Nail Art Pen in Black.
4. Using a nail art brush or nail art pen (I used a nail art pen) write the action word you prefer inside the jagged bubble. I used Nail Ritz Nail Art Pen in Black.
5. Using a dotting tool, apply white dots (try to keep them the same size) onto the solid colored areas of the nail (the pink or yellow areas as shown in the photos above). Try to keep the dots in a straight line but alternate the potions as shown in the photos above. I used China Glaze White on White. You could also use the nail art pens, but a dotting tool will easily keep the dots closer to the same size.
6. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
7. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

Sephora

To create this design...

1. Apply two coats of black nail polish. I used Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent.
2. Using  a nail art brush create the Sephora "S" with white polish. I have to admit, this was not easy and required cleanup with black polish after the design was made. It's not easy to get that "S" to be close to the actual logo. You can also use a nail art pen. For the white polish I used Brucci in Snow White.
3. Using a nail art brush make white stripes on the tip of the nail. I used Brucci in Snow White. You will also likely need to clean up the stripes with black polish.
4. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
5. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

ValentineKisses.com (or just Kisses)

To create this design...

1. Apply two coats of pink polish. I used Sephora's Chupa.
2. Using a nail art brush, paint on the lips using red glitter polis. I used Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Red Sparkle.
3. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
4. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

Mod Flowers

To create this design...

1. Apply two coats of white polish. I used China Glaze in White on White.
2. Using a nail art brush, apply the first layer of the flower (the red layer). The flowers should be rounded and non-perfect. You can place the flowers wherever you'd like. I used Essie in Lolipop.
3. Using a nail art brush, apply the second layer of the flower (the orange layer). Make an oval shape. I used Butter London in Minger.
4. Using a nail art brush, apply the last layer of the flower (the black layer). This should be a smaller oval shape. I used China Glaze in Liquid Leather.
5. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
6. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on. 

Glitter Peek-A-Boo Kitty

To create this design...

1. Apply 1 to 2 coats of gold glitter polish. I used Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Gold Glitz.
2. Using a nail art brush, paint a black cat head. This should be the top of the head going down to the nose, applied at the tip of your nail. I used Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent.
3. Using a dotting tool, apply a minty color for the base of the eyes. I used e.l.f. Cosmetics in Mint Cream.
4. Using a smaller dotting tool, apply the gold centers of the eyes (using the same gold color you used as a base). I used Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Gold Glitz.
5. Using a nail art brush, apply a pink polish for the nose. I used Sephora in Chupa.
6. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
7. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

Snowy Branches

To create this design...

1. Apply two coats of a very light blue or grey/blue. I used Essie in St. Barths Blue.
2. Using a nail art brush, create the tree and branches with a brown shade. I used Sephora n No. 13.
3. Using a nail art brush, create the snow on top of the branches using a white shade. I used Brucci in Snow White.
4. Using a nail art brush, create glitter on the snow using a clear based sliver glitter. I used China Glaze in Fairy Dust.
5. Apply 1 to 2 coats of Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.
6. Remember: Allow time for each step of the design to dry before moving on.

And now for some random designs (holiday, related to family, related to my dogs, etc.).

If anyone is really interested in a tutorial (like the ones above) let me know and I'll post the instructions for it.

101 Dalmatians inspired...

Shades used:

• [white] e.l.f. Cosmetics in White
• [black] Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent
• [reds] China Glaze in Ruby Deer and Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Red Sparkle
• [golds] China Glaze in Midnight Kiss and Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Gold Glitz 

Inspired by my dogs...

My dog Batman

(a chocolate lab with white on his belly and paws)

Shades used:

• [brown] e.l.f. Cosmetics in Chocolate
• [white] Brucci in Snow White

 My dog Potter

(a white pit bull with tan spots)

Shades used...

• [white] Brucci in Snow White
• [tan] Brucci in Class Act

  

Tiger

(my husband's favorite animal)

Shades used...

• [black] Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent
• [brown] Brucci in Sandalwood
• [white] Brucci in Snow White
• [pink] Brucci in Luv Olivia

Gummy Bear

(inspired by Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory... my son's favorite movie)

Shades used...

• [white] e.l.f. Cosmetics in White
• [red] Essie in Lolipop

Haunted House

(because I love Halloween)

Shades used...

• [black] China Glaze in Liquid Leather
• [grey] Claire's in Rain Drops
• [darker grey] Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here
• [white] China Glaze in White on White

Love Letters

Shades used...

• [red] Wet n Wild (Rock Solid) in Rockin In Rubies
• [white] Brucci in Snow White
• [black] Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent
• [pink creme] Sephora in Chupa
• [pink glitter] China Glaze in Mrs. Clause
• [silver] Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) in Celeb City

Sparkle Cupcake

Shades used...

• [blue] Sephora by OPI in Havana Dreams
• [glitter frosting] OPI Sparkle-icious
• [glitter candle] Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Red Sparkle
• [glitter flame] Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Gold Glitz
• [lighter green] Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) in Green With Envy
• [darker green] China Glaze in Four Leaf Clover

Sparkle Dots

Shades used...

• [purple] Nicole by OPI in Midnight Snowfall
• [sparkle dots] OPI Mad As A Hatter

Hungry Panda

Shades used...

• [light green] Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) in Green With Envy
• [white] e.l.f. Cosmetics in White
• [black] Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent
• [darker green] China Glaze in Four Leaf Clover

Candy Mints

(Inspired by my son's Christmas wrapping paper)

Shades used...

• [blue] China Glaze in Shower Together
• [white] Brucci in Snow White
• [red] Essie in Lolipop

Holly

Shades used...

• [gold] China Glaze in Midnight Kisses
• [green] China Glaze in Mistletoe Kisses
• [red] Milani (One Coat Glitter) in Red Sparkle

Santa Suit

Shades used...

• [red] Essie in Lolipop
• [white] Brucci in Snow White
• [silver] Sally Hansen (Xtreme Wear) in Celeb City
• [black] Sally Hansen (Salon formula) in Black Patent

There will be more nail art photos to come in the future! I just wanted to get these up before I forgot! Enjoy!

UPDATE: Check out these nail art posts:

• Nail Art inspired by Monster High
• Nail Art inspired by Jason Mraz and Engagement

Great Dollar Store Makeup Organization Finds!

Hello, Beautiful!

I stopped by my local Dollar Store tonight (whenever I'm near it I go in to see what nail polish they may have). While waiting for my son to pick out one toy (which, by the way, takes forever for him to decide!) my eyes wondered to the back wall where all the storage bins and baskets are. I started to get excited because they had great little "drawer organizer" bins that work perfectly for storing makeup! And they're really affordable!

I picked up two sizes:

• The smaller bins are 4"x4"x3"
• The longer bins are 8"x4"x3"

They only had them in two colors: a translucent white (the color I chose) and a translucent blue. Your Dollar Store may have other options.

The smaller bins come 3 to a pack for $1
The longer bins come 2 to a pack for $1

Here are photos of what they look like and ways to use them:

The smaller bins...

Great for lip gloss, mascaras, liners, concealers, foundations, basically anything.

The longer bins....

Great for palettes, mascaras...

... foundations and anything really! Even nail polish would work great in the longer bins!

Note: I did not organize my items in the ways shown in the photos above. I just wanted to throw some items in to show you the size of the containers.

So there you have it! An affordable makeup organization solution! I put these in my makeup drawers, but you could sit them on a shelf or makeup table.

They also make great organizers for other things too... scrapbook & craft items, pens, small toys, belts (rolled up), scarves (rolled up), jewelry, etc.

WEN Pomegranate... best WEN of them all!

Hello, Beautiful!

I first tried WEN back in early September and instantly fell in love. There were some downfalls though, the price in comparison to the amount of product I needed to use, the length of time you'd need to do the WEN process, and the smell. I had tried the Fig cleansing conditioner and absolutely hated the smell. To me it smelled like a log cabin pharmacy.

Since I loved the way it made my hair look and feel I decided to give WEN another go with a difference cleansing conditioner (since the Fig smell was not working with me anymore). I went with the Sweet Almond Mint, thinking that I like the smell of almond and mint, so it has to be better than the Fig. And it was better smelling than the Fig, but I didn't like the after results as much (each cleansing conditioner doesn't just smell different, they do different things for your hair).

Then they came out with the Pomegranate, which I picked up in a small 6oz size (about 2 to 3 uses for my hair length) in a different kit with another small 6oz size of the Sweet Almond Mint cleansing conditioner, a small hair mask and a small hair replenishing spray. For some reason I never opened it or tried it out until last night.

I am blown away with how good it smells in comparison to the other two WEN formulas I've tried. To me it smells like candy... maybe sweettarts in a way. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it does smell really good! I did like the results of this cleansing conditioner more than the Sweet Almond Mint, but maybe not as much as the Fig, but it's pretty close to Fig results without the awful smell (which may not be awful to you).

Either way, I really do like the Pomegranate cleansing conditioner and it looks like I'll be repurchasing this in the future.

Sorry I don't have any pictures for you of what my hair looks like. It was late and I wasn't thinking in terms of taking before/after pictures. I'll try to remember to do that the next time I use it (which means I'll use regular shampoo/conditioner for a day or two before going back to WEN so you can see a real before/after).

Have you tried the new WEN Pomegranate cleansing conditioner? If so, what do you think of it?

Click Here to view the WEN pomegranate Cleansing Conditioner on QVC (the 16 ounce size is $28)

Merry Christmas!

Hello, Beautiful!

I just wanted to take a minute and say Merry Christmas to everyone! On a day like today I am truly thankful for all my friends, family, and of course all of you!

It's 12:25am EST and right now my son is asleep awaiting Santa's arrival. I know he's waiting to hear jingle bells (which I always ring at some point in the night to make him believe Santa was here), and after I make this blog post I will ring those bells to begin the Christmas magic!

The photo below shows our tree with all my son's presents ready for Christmas morning. He has a lot to open on Christmas morning, but I always want him to have more! Although he would of had more if I wasn't so bad at surprises, haha! This year I gave him eight presents before Christmas... which is better than last year, but I still have a long way to go before I'm able to hold onto all his presents for Christmas morning! I'm so bad at surprises that my husband always receives his Christmas presents before Christmas! One day I'll find the patience... maybe, haha!

Have a wonderful, fun, and beautiful Christmas!! xoxo

[Our tree this year is candy/bright colored themed. All the ornaments are from Target. We topped our tree with giant glitter candy canes instead of a star. We also hung bright colored snowflakes from the ceiling. The tree is prettier in person, especially with the lights (which you can't see in the picture). Wrapping paper is also from Target - and the bright blue/candy cane wrapping paper inspired me to make nail art from it, which I'll post soon! The brown zebra rug doens't really go with the theme, haha, but it's part of our living room and I wasn't moving it.]

Essie Swatches (9 colors)

Hello, Beautiful!

I recently picked up six new Essie polishes (that I found on sale at Trade Secret for 50% and 75% off!!!), but I haven't had time to take the swatch photos. So for now, I will show the nine shades I did take swatch photos of. I'll update this post with the other six shades in a few days. I also have nine new OPI shades to add to the OPI Swatch blog post!

*Click on photos to view them larger*



Here is my Essie Nail Color Wheel:

#1: Carousel Coral (443)

Shade Description: A pink coral creme. For whatever reason this color did not swatch right (which I didn't realize until I processed the swatch photos). It appears streaky and weird, but it's not (I promise).

#2: Bachelorette Bash (563)

Shade Description: A pinky bright fuchsia creme.

#3: True Love (641)

Shade Description: A sheer cotton candy pink.

#4: Infatuation (559)

Shade Description: A watermelon pink creme.

#5: Very Cranberry (262)

Shade Description: A medium deep cranberry creme with a pearl finish.

#6: Funny Face (687)

Shade Description: A pinky fuchsia creme.

#7: Luscious Lips (689)

Shade Description: A sheer pale pink.

#8: St. Barths Blue (275)

Shade Description: A light blue creme with a pearl finish.

#9: Lolipop (703)

Shade Description: A bright candy red cream. For some reason my camera was not picking up this color correctly and it looks darker in most of the swatch photos below. The swatch photo that is most accurate is the last one (the one that shows the color with a top coat). Also, my bottle is printed as "Lolipop" with just one "L" in the name. On Essie's website it is listed as "Lollipop" with two "L's" in the name. I'm not sure which is correct but I'm going by what is printed on my bottle.

Other Essie shades to come: Tart Deco, True Love, Rock Candy, Lyford Lilac, Castaway, Mini How High.

Other OPI shades to come: Happy Anniversary, Funny Bunny, Absolutely Alice, A Oui Bt of Red, Paint My Moji-toes Red, Hopelessly In Love, Otherwise Engaged, Glow Up Already!, Fiercely Fiona, Time-Less Is More.