Jason Mraz concert highlights

Hello, Beautiful!

I went to the Jason Mraz concert in Delaware on Tuesday September 28, 2010 and it was AMAZING!!! I was 5th row back - center! It could only have been better to have been front row.

It was such a fun concert - I sang, I danced, and I screamed like a fool all night! I ended up losing my voice, which my son thinks is hilarious since it comes out in squeaks and weird tones. My husband went with me to the concert, although he's not a Jason Mraz fan. He insisted he wanted to go with me, but ended up being a huge downer. He just stood there, arms crossed, most of the time. BOO!! But I am not the type of person to that let get me down, oh no! I ended up being the only one in my row dancing for each and every song. I don't understand how anyone can go to a concert and not start moving to the music.

I made a shirt just for the concert - it said "Be Love". Jason has really changed the way I live my life. His music is so happy and uplifting. Very good for my health issues because it keeps me stress-free! I just wish I could have met Jason - it would have been AMAZING. All I really wanted was an autograph - if not for me (and I certainly wanted one for me) but for my 5 year old son. He loves Jason. "I'm Yours" was his "baby song" and was the only song that would calm him down when he was just a baby!


Anyhow, below are some (a lot) of pics from the concert. I wish I wasn't dancing as much because most of my pics came out blurry. I tried to pause to take pics, but my hips wanted to keep moving haha! Good pics or not, I can remember the entire night perfectly and that's all I need for memories!

Here is how close we were to the stage:

I don't care what anyone says, he's looking right at ME!  :)



I picked up two Jason Mraz tee's (one is a tank) at the concert, and then I bought two more tee's and a tote bag online (I had a coupon, plus free shipping). I'm so ready for another Jason Mraz concert! I can't wait till the next (who knows when that will be - hopefully within a year).

Now it's time to go WEN my hair, eat some lunch, pick my son up from school, then get back to work on our October Daily Give-Away (which begins tomorrow). Details will be posted tonight or tomorrow on how to enter and list all the prizes (at least for week one). Winners from our previous contest will be selected and emailed tonight. Keep an eye out in your email if you entered!

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

Review: Sula Paint And Peel Nail Polish in Dove

Hello, Beautiful!

I really did try to take the entire weekend off to rest and get better from this stupid cold. But after trying out a new nail polish I had to come on here and write a review. I'm still sick, and will be back in bed after writing this, but I was just so disappointed in this polish that I had to write about it now! This should actually be a WTF Beauty post!

The nail polish: Sula Paint And Peel Nail Polish. The shade: Dove.

As shown below in the photos this polish looks like a pretty gray color - which I've been on the search for. It looks like a great mid-tone gray - not so dark that it looks black or charcoal, and not so light that it looks silver. I thought I had finally found my perfect gray polish!

That is until I actually used it. When I first applied it I thought it looked like a good color, although it went on really streaky. But sometimes when a polish is streaky it will even out by the second coat. Which is sort of did, but a third coat would really be needed to get the even coverage and by the time I was done with one coat on my right hand and two coats on my left hand, I was finished with this.

The color is a lie. It goes on looking like it does in the bottle, but it dries a completely different shade (which I'll show in the photo below). It dries down to this muddy purple/brown shade.

[Sorry for the sloppy polish application - I'm sick and just wanted to try it out, I wasn't going for perfection.]

I don't know if this happens to every color in their polish line, but this color sure doesn't deliver the way it shows in the bottle. And I'm not happy with the end results. I don't like that shade, especially since I wasn't going for that shade. I was going for a mid-tone gray.

It does peel off - so you don't need polish remover. But it peels off pretty easily, which means you can "chip" your nail and start the peeling process. I don't even know what I did to my one finger but it started to peel up within 10 minutes of applying it. It doesn't peel off all that easily. You kind of have to scrape your nail to get it off, and that can hurt if you have sensitive nails. I'll stick to a polish remover!

The only good thing is this polish dries quickly. Within about a minute you're all dry and ready for the next coat. But what use is that if you're getting these awful end results?

Has anyone tried this brand of polish? If so, what were your results? I'd be interested to hear how other shades dried in comparison to what they looked like in the bottle.

Anyways, moving on... just a few reminders:

You still have till midnight EST tonight to get your final entries into our blog contest!

You could win a $5 off $5 coupon to use at ValentineKisses.com! You can enter by blog comment or email entry. Winners will be selected on and emailed by September 30! Click here to read our contest blog post and to enter the contest!


Plus, until Tuesday save 15% or 30% on your ValentineKisses.com order! Click here for the discount codes!



Have a good Sunday night! 

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

September 2010 Favorites & Not-So-Favorites

Hello, Beautiful!

Before I begin my September favorites list, I want to remind you to enter our daily contest for a chance to win $5 to spend at ValentineKisses.com!


Click here to read our contest blog post and to enter the contest!

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Now onto my September favorites!

September is more than half way over and I've fallen in like, lust and love with many beauty products this month. I've also come to dis-like a few beauty products.

My September Favorites:

Makeup Sponges

I've fallen in like with using makeup sponges again. I know, there is nothing special or fancy or magic about makeup sponges. It's almost kind of pointless to even list them. But I went months without using them; I was hooked on using my 187 MAC Stippling Brush to stipple on my foundation. And although I still prefer using a brush over a sponge any day, the sponges have been such a time saver in the mornings. For that reason alone they are on my September favorites list!


WEN
I've fallen in lust with the WEN hair care line! The reason it's lust and not love is because I'm not sure it's really a system I can keep up with. It requires a lot of time to do it correctly, you need a lot of product, and I can't stand the Fig smell (in fact, I'm sending it back to get a different scent). If you haven't tried WEN yet both you and your hair are really missing out! After just one application, my hair was completely transformed; not only in how it looked, but how it felt too! I did a big blog post about my experience using WEN, including pics, which you can check out here.


L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base
I've absolutely fallen in love with this primer! It is for sure my favorite primer, probably of all time! I even like it more than my Make Up For Ever HD Primer (which is a beautiful primer that works amazingly). It's just the perfect primer for me! I did a blog post about this primer, including swatches, which you can check out here.


Ikea GISLEV Rug!

This rug is just $19.99 at Ikea. I absolutely love it. It goes beautifully in my bedroom (which is themed out in black, white and gray tones). It's also the rug you'll see on Project Runway (in the girls' bedroom). In fact, I'm thinking of going back to Ikea just to pick up a second (for my office). Although I was worried it would feel really awful since it's only $20 and it's 6'x5' in length. It's not a  luxurious rug at all, but it does its job (at least in my house) and it's a really affordable way to change up your room space.



Jason Mraz Concert!!!!!!!!!!

Only a few days left (10) until the Jason Mraz concert! I am super excited and I'm already thinking of what makeup and hair look I'll choose. I have no idea actually, and I'll probably try out several over the next ten days. Any suggestions??



My September Dis-Likes:

My recent purse purchase from Target:

Okay, I'll start by saying I generally love the purses I get from Target (I actually get a lot of compliments on my purse and people are usually surprised when I say I got it at Target). Sure, they're no Kate Spade, but they allow me to change out my purse often without breaking the bank. I recently picked up a pretty deep plum hued purse (with black and white zebra print inside). I loved the way it looked, it was big enough to carry all my crap (like my coupon organizer thingy), and it was under $30. BUT every time I wear this it bugs me. Only one strap will stay on my shoulder. The other falls off right away. I have to keep pulling it back up... over and over again. The only way the straps will stay up is if I hold them up! It's frustrating, but yet for some reason I continue to use this purse everyday (I don't want to waste my money and it's far past the return policy - plus it's used). This is the first purse from Target that has given me these issues.

Bare Escentuals Natural Lip Gloss

I have this in "Sugar Cookie", which is a pretty shade and the gloss actually smells/kind of tastes like a sugar cookie. But it's so freakin' sticky!!! The kind of sticky gloss where you talk and your lips stick together. The kind of sticky gloss where your hair will surely get stuck in it not once, but 100 times. If this gloss wasn't so sticky I would really love it, but it's just too sticky for me (and that's saying a lot, considering I love the Stila Lip Glazes - which are slightly sticky)!

Body Wash - almost all of them!

I don't know what it is this month. I just can't stand the way any of my body washes smell anymore (well, that's not completely true - I still love my Korres Bitter Almond body wash). I get an instant headache from my body washes and I'm forced to use the "back ups" because I'm out of my Korres body wash. Maybe it's the changing of the seasons that's making my nose change the way it picks up smells, or maybe it's not. Whatever the case, I want to throw all my body washes out at this very moment (but I won't, I'm too cheap for that, so instead they will go into the guest bathroom where most of my beauty product cast-off's end up).

My Neighbor's Dog(s)

I doubt my neighbors read this blog, but I secretly hope they do because maybe they aren't aware of this situation (and the fact that all the surrounding houses can't stand your dog(s) barking). EVERY NIGHT their dog(s) bark... and bark... and bark... and bark... and FREAKIN' BARK. I have dogs - I have two right now, but I've had five at one time - I can tolerate dog barking and I understand that dogs are going to bark. If anyone in my neighborhood could tolerate dogs barking, it's me. But their dog(s) bark a lot - especially during normal sleeping hours. I don't really mind the dog going bark-crazy during the day. I can even tolerate it going bark-crazy at 9pm (despite my son hearing your dog(s) barking and not being able to sleep). But I can no longer tolerate the midnight, 1am, 2am, 3am, and even the 4am barking!! It has got to stop! It's making me crazy! You better believe the moment I get pregnant is the moment your 9 month countdown begins to get that dog barking under control. Because once I have a newborn in the house sleep is precious - both to me and the new baby. If your dog even once wakes my baby up, or me up, I will become that mean neighbor. I don't want to become that neighbor - you know, the one that calls the cops because your dog is making too much noise - but I'm not the only neighbor that can't stand your dog(s) barking, and probably by the time I actually get pregnant someone else will have called the cops on you anyway. This was a nice and quiet neighborhood before you moved in. Now you have the most annoying house in the neighborhood. I'm so lucky to be your neighbor.

[Just to clarify: I do like our neighbors, I just hate their dogs. Also, I'm not pregnant now, but my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant again for years. Eventually it will happen... I hope!]

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

Shopping rant, plus - don't forget to enter our contest!

Hello, Beautiful!

First, before I get to my shopping rant, I want to remind everyone to enter our daily contest for a chance to win $5 to spend at ValentineKisses.com!

Click here to read our contest blog post and to enter.


Now onto my shopping rant, although it's more of a shopping vowel I'm making to myself. Recently I tackled the mountains of laundry sitting in my laundry room, which I had been putting off for far too long. It started when my schedule was too crazy jammed packed with everything work related and I couldn't keep up with laundry. The pile slowly grew over time, and the larger the pile got, the less I told myself I had time to get it done. So I'd end up just washing a load of clothes whenever I needed them (or my family needed them. Now that my son is in school full time I have more time to get things done and I've finally caught up with the laundry mountains!

However, I realized I have one major issue: I have too many plain tank tops and t-shirts!

Not just one plain tank or tee in every color (which I can understand for building a wardrobe), but I have multiple plain tanks or tees in the same color! For example, I have eight plain pink tank tops (in various pink shades) - and those only count for the standard tank style and don't include the spaghetti strap styles or racer back styles. I love pink, but seriously, why do I need that many plain pink basic tank tops?!!?! I don't!!

It's a bad habit I've developed when shopping. Just about every store I shop at has basic tanks and tees on sale, some at really good bargains, and I always add at least one onto whatever I may be shopping for. Lately I've realized the majority of my purchases consist of plain tanks, plain v-neck tees, and lounge pants. Then later when I'm trying to wear something different I wonder why I only have plain boring items. Sure, I have plenty of non-plain tanks and tees, but not nearly enough. I don't want my closet to turn into a lounge store full of basics. So I'm making a shopping vowel to myself!

I vowel I will not buy any plain tanks or tees for the remainder of 2010 and from that point on I will only buy plain tanks or tees when they are on sale at 50% off or more, and no more than two per plain tanks OR plain tees per shopping trip.

Believe me, this is going to be tough. But it's something that needs to be done.

Let me just go on further to say that I don't go out on shopping trips just for fun. They're usually for a specific reason (needing an outfit for an event, as an example). I don't have a lot of money to spend on clothes, so I only shop sales. I think that's part of my problem - because I don't have a lot of money to spend I buy the items that are the cheapest and that's usually plain tanks and tees. Ah-ha! That's probably it!

I feel like I've gotten more for my money and therefore I can justify spending money on clothes. But I wasn't always that way. Before I had a child I would spend $40 to $60 on a nice top without thinking twice. Now if the top costs more than $15 (on sale or not) I can't stomach buying it.

So now maybe I won't get as many items when I shop, but at least I'll have cuter options in my closet!

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base

Hello, Beautiful!

I have to say, I'm really surprised that I'm in love with a drugstore brand primer. I've been using higher-end brands for primer (Smashbox, Make Up For Ever, Laura Mercier, etc.) and they've worked so well. I've heard bad things about drugstore brand primers (but hadn't tired any personally) so I stayed clear of them. That is, until I received a sample in a magazine of L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base.

I saw the before & after photo and was intrigued.

Here's what that looked like:

[The photo above is from the L'Oreal ad for this product]

As you can see in the photo above, the dark hyperpigmentation and dark under eye circles in the "before" picture disappear in the "after" picture. I know there is a lot of retouching involved in that "after" picture, and it's not all truth, but there has to be some truth behind it for them to show that example... right? I certainly didn't expect this product to erase all my hyperpigmentation from acne scars, but I did hope it would help.

Here's what this primer promises:

[The photo above is from the L'Oreal ad for this product]

My Experience:

It did minimized the look of my pores and fine lines (which most of my other primers do not). My skin did look and feel smoothed and resurfaced. My skin did feel velvety-smooth to the touch. Basically it did everything is said!

Although, I find it funny it doesn't mention anything about the dark hyperpigmentation and under eye circles in their before/after picture that seem to disappear. You'd think if they showed that example, and it truly did such amazing things, it would be mentioned on that list.

Regardless, this primer did blur my hyperpigmentation and dark areas. It doesn't magically make it all disappear, but I it did work some kind of magic. It wasn't like "wow, they're completely gone", it was more like "wow, they seem faded" - which in turn helped my concealer and foundation work better (less darkness to cover).

Here is a swatch of what the product looks like (it looks pink in jar):

You apply this primer in circular motions all over your face (or to the areas you want to focus on; I apply it everywhere). After you apply it, allow it to set for a minute or two. Then you can apply the rest of your makeup as normal.

My makeup lasts all day when I'm wearing this! This may be one of my favorite products of all time!

If you haven't tried this yet I highly suggest you do so! It costs around $12.99 depending on where you go. I picked mine up at Target and used a $2 off coupon I found in a magazine.

Have you tried this product? If so, what do you think? If not, will you be picking it up soon?

Also, don't forget about our Secret Sale Week (coming soon). Read the blog post below for more info!

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com