Help me plan the month of May; Plus: updates on giveaways & more!

Hello, Beautiful!

March is almost over, which means my crazy month of posting (what I've been calling my March Madness) is almost over. To finish out the month with a bang, each day (the 26th through 31st) will have 5 posts! It's kind of like the grand finale of this crazy month. And I just want to thank you all again for sticking around through this crazy month of posts - I know it's a lot to handle, but I wanted to try something new on my blog and see how much I could accomplish (a personal goal of mine); plus, I had a lot of products I wanted to share with you all!

For April, things will get back to normal with just 1 to 2 posts a day -- possibly 3 a day depending on when my monthly subscriptions show up (Birchbox, Beauty Army, MyGlam, The Look Bag, Sample Society, etc.). In April I'll be posting more nail related posts, hopefully having at least one every day or every other day! I'd like April to be focused mostly on nail art or nail related posts. My nails are still really short and in really bad shape, but I'm slowly working on bringing them back to life. But my blog isn't just a nail blog, so there will be makeup, skincare, hair care, and other girly posts too -- and of course giveaways!

April is "the birthday month" at my house; my birthday, my son's birthday, my husband's birthday, my mom's birthday, and my best friend's daughter's birthday are all in April. We do a lot of celebrating and having fun in April, but what I like to do on my blog is throw lots of giveaways for all of my readers! Stay tuned for a bunch of great giveaways in April, including another Surprise Follower Giveaway!

Now for what I need your help on... 
I want you (my readers) to help me plan my blog schedule for the month of May! Let me know what YOU want to see on my blog. Just leave a comment below or send me an email.

Please be specific with your requests so I can make May the best reader request month ever! I may not be able to fulfill all requests, but I will try to get to as many of them as I can in May.


And...

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my current giveaways - which are all ending pretty soon!

• My March Madness Beauty Giveaway - ends March 31, 2012 (open to everyone)
• Kelly Teegarden Organics 10-Piece Sample Set Giveaway - ends March 31, 2012 (USA only)
• Tona Michelle Cosmetics 3-Piece Skincare Giveaway - ends April 7, 2012 (USA only)

Those are all the updates and giveaway news I have for now. I hope you enjoy the last week of this crazy March Madness month of posts, and I hope everyone gets a chance to enter the giveaways before they end.

Remember, leave a comment below to let me know what you want to see in the month of May. You can also email me with your recommendation/request!

 

Winners have been selected from the April Giveaway!

Hello, Beautiful!

The April giveaway ended on Sunday night but I didn't get a chance to choose winners until this morning. All winners have been contacted by email and I will post their names (first name, last initial) on my website (under The Winners Circle page) once they confirm their prize and it ships out.

Congratulations to all the winners!!!

More giveaways are coming, so stay tuned :)



Here are some upcoming posts:

My personal in-home nail salon -- I've been moving all my nail polish, nail art supplies, and other nail supplies downstairs to our dining room. I've set up my own personal in-home nail salon (although it's not complete just yet). As soon as I finish getting everything organized (and all polish on the shelves) I will take photos and post them on this blog. In addition to showing my in-home nail salon set up (which, by the way, isn't a real nail salon) the post will also show my organization methods for all things nail related.

Amusement Park Beauty -- Let the 2011 summer testing begin! Every summer I put several makeup brands and products to the ultimate test. Amusement park days are long... makeup goes on around 7am, then has to last through a full day outside in the heat, sweat, water rides and roller coasters... I don't get home until late, sometimes not until 1am! Makeup has to really perform to be wearable in those conditions, and sadly, many products fail. There are a few gems in all the fails, and I hope to find more gems this summer when I test out a new batch of products.

Movie Nail Art -- I've started a few different nail art series based on some of my son's favorite movies, as well as some of my favorite movies. Fun nail art is coming soon!

Illamasqua foundation swatches -- Swatches of their Rich Liquid Foundation and their Powder Foundation, two different shades for each product plus before and after pics. 

The 7*10 Project -- A workout program I designed for myself. I'm going to keep track of my progress on the blog. I'll also post the program details if anyone wishes to follow along with me! Even though I've already started, I just don't have time right now to post details of everything.

It's official; the new ValentineKisses.com is coming soon! Plus: Don't forget to enter my April Giveaway!

Hello, Beautiful!

Today marked the last day that ValentineKisses.com was a shopping resource. Although I'm a little sad that I'll no longer be able to help customers find great girly items at rock bottom prices, I'm also extremely excited to move on to the next chapter in my life.


When will the new ValentineKisses.com launch?
Soon, very soon! At first it will be a little sparse in content, but slowly it will build up over time. Now that I will have my time back I can focus on other things, including the new ValentineKisses.com. I have to focus on getting my house in order first, but then I will have several hours a day to devote to the new ValentineKisses.com website.


Will I still update this blog once the new website is launched?
Yes, I absolutely will continue to blog! I know many of you check out my blog on a daily basis, and if you like my blog then you'll love the new website! It takes it to the next level, and then some. More photos, more content, more detail and it will be easy to find what you're looking for.


Will I ever sell anything again?
Absolutely, but not in the way I used to. I no longer have any desire to have an online shopping website. That part of my life is over and I have no plans to ever re-open. However, I will have blog sales!

The blog sales will be announced here on my blog but will be hosted on my website (it's easier for me to do it that way). Another change will be in payment options. Before I was able to accept credit cards, but now I will not offer that option. It costs me $30 a month to accept credit cards (plus fees) and there is on point to continue paying for a service that I may only use a handful of times per year. I'll still be able to accept PayPal, which works for most people. I will likely have inventory from ValentineKisses.com to sell in my blog sales, and also personal items (makeup, clothing, shoes, etc.).


Keep a look out for the new ValentineKisses.com! I will make an official announcement on here the day it launches.


Also, don't forget to enter my April Giveaway! Enter once for your chance to win one of ten prizes! Enter now through May 8, 2011. Click here for details.


A few upcoming blog posts:

• April Favorites & Not-So-Favorites
• Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation: swatches, before & after, review
• Illamasqua Powder Foundation: swatches, before & after, review
• Philosophy The Microdelivery One-Minute Purifying Enzyme Peel: review, before & after, tutorial
• Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment: swatches, review
• Updated photos of my nail polish collection: showing the current way I organize my polish, nail art, and everything else nail related.
• Photos of my makeup collection including storage methods.
• Possibly a video tour of my bedroom, which is where I have all my nail polish, makeup, hair stuff, skin care, etc.
• Photos of my closet to show my organization... this post will include tips on how to organize your closet! May also include a video tour, I'm ont sure yet.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Thank you again to all my wonderful customers. I hope you will continue to check out the new ValentineKisses.com and my blog. I'm excited to begin the next chapter in my life!

Tomorrow is my surgery!

Hello, Beautiful!

I can't believe I'm saying this already, but my surgery is TOMORROW! My surgery day seemed so far away when I first scheduled it and I thought it would take forever to get here; but here I am, rushing to finish everything on my pre-surgery checklist (like finish laundry, re-arrange my living room to accommodate my recovery, and pack a bag of toys for my son to play with in the hospital waiting room).

I'm going out for my "last meal" tonight to a local place that I love. I'm going to order the steak with a baked potato (sour cream, butter and A1 sauce on it), and salad (Italian dressing). It's going to be delicious! I won't be able to eat solid foods for a week or two, depending on my recovery process and comfort level. I still need to go shopping for soft foods.

In case you didn't already know, I'm keeping track of my surgery on this blog on a separate page - which you can check out by clicking here or clicking on the link that's on the left side (My Surgery Journey: Rhinoplasty & Chin Augmentation).

I will be updating that page daily or every other day... basically whenever I can get to the computer. I want to document every step of my recovery - from how much pain I'm in, to how I have to sleep, to what I have to eat, all follow up appointments, etc.

Wish me luck... I'm kind of getting nervous, but I'm also really excited!

And don't worry, I'm not going to stop posting swatches or reviews! I actually just finished up a swatch-a-thon (as I like to call it) so I have plenty of swatch photos to process and post! My hand and arm are red from all the swatching (mostly from removing each product); it even caused me to break out in a red rash. But that's to be expected when you do so many swatches in a short period of time.

I have plenty of swatches, reviews, tutorials and before & after posts coming to this blog soon. Just give me a few days to recover from my surgery before I begin posting swatches again.

Below is a (long) list of everything I swatched. Reviews will come with every product listed below, and some also include a before & after and/or a tutorial.

• Mally Beauty High Shine Liquid Lipstick in shades Nude Light, Mally's Look, Super Natural, Blossom
• Mally Beauty Blush in shades Plum Pretty, Mally's Glow
• Mally Beauty Cancellation Concealer System in Light/Medium
• Mally Beauty Poreless Perfection Skin Finisher
• Mally Beauty Eye Shadow in shades Mally's Glow, Shimmer Taupe
• Mally Beauty Eye Shadow Base
• Mally Beauty Citychick Smokey Eye Kit in Plum Chelsea (3 shadows, 1 shadow base)
• Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara (black)
• Laura Geller Tinted Spackle in Champagne
• Laura Geller The Real Deal Foundation SPF 15 in Medium
• Laura Geller Baked Body Frosting All Over Body Glow in Sugar Glow
• Urban Decay Naked Palette, which includes the following shadows: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal
• Urban Decay Eye Shadows: swatches of shades Midnight Cowboy, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Flipside, Grind, Oil Slick, Polyester Bride (plus all shades in the Urban Decay Naked Palette)
• Essie The Cuticle Pen
• Benefit Moon Beam
• Benefit High Beam
• NARS Orgasm Illuminator
• NARS Multiple in Orgasm
• NARS Essential Eye Palette, which includes the following shadows: Unconditional Love (cream), Night Star, Galapagos, Nepal, Ondine, Thunderball
• NARS Blush in shades Deep Throat, Orgasm, Super Orgasm
• NARS Lip Gloss in shades Chihuahua, Turkish Delight, Dolce Vita, Tempest, Striptease, Greek Holiday, Ophelia, Orgasm, Super Orgasm
• Tarina Tarantino Pearl Glow Primer
• Tarina Tarantino Eye Dream Hypershadow Eye Shadow in shades Cord, Facet, Chain
• Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation SPF 15 in shade Warm Beige 3.5
• Victoria's Secret Shimmer Lights Eye Kit (6 shadows, 1 highlighter, 1 gel liner)
• Victoria's Secret Perfect Lipstick in the shade Instinct
• it Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer with Collagen and Vitamins C & K in Neutral Medium
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Mineral Eye Shadow in shades Elegant, Mysterious, Royal, Socialite, Seductive
• Stila Collectible Travel Palette No. 1 - includes 4 shadows: Snow Bunny, Valley Girl, Southern Belle, City Chick - and 1 convertible color in Hibiscus
• Stila Adventurous in Aspen Palette - includes 4 shadows: Snow Angel, Icicles, Glisten, Ajax - and 1 convertible color in Rosy
• Smashbox Sheer Focus Tinted Moisturizer in Luminous
• Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Color Correctors in Light
• Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Canvas in Sand