Sunday Funday! A belated post...

I'm a bit late on this Sunday Funday post but hey, better late than never, right??

1. Music
My favorite song of late has been 'Cardiac Arrest' by the Bad Suns. I'm gonna go all hipster on you and say that I totally discovered this song before it was popular. It happened, it's true, and I feel really cool so please just go with it!

2. The stimulation of going outside!
My boyfriend and I have been trying to be a little less cave-dweller and a little more active. Recently we've been visiting the Farmer's Market on Sundays and its a lot of fun! So many different people, colors, and things to look at. There was this 'statue' there this weekend...hint, he's not really a statue:

3. Cooking
We've been going out to eat a taaaaaad too much recently so we've made an effort to cook more at home. It was my turn to cook this past evening and I made a delicious enchilada soup and salad on the side:

With all this cooking expect some recipes coming up soon!

Hope your week was as nice as mine and that this week is off to a great start!
xxSJ

Shades of Orange

I am so excited for the warmer months coming up and its time to bust out the brighter makeup products! Inspired by the warmer times ahead I thought I'd share my favorite Orange-toned makeup products with you!

1. MAC blush in 'Peaches' $21: As you can see I've loved this blush to death. I've hit pan on it! This is the first MAC blush I ever owned and I love it now just as much as I did when I first bought it. This blush is the silkiest, smoothest blush ever which makes it so easy to wear and blend in. The orange tone looks so good for girls with the same complexion as me (fair with pink undertones and freckles!) and I think it would look gorgeous on olive-toned and darker skinned girls.

2. The Balm blush in 'Frat Boy' $20: This blush may not be as scary looking as Peaches since it has a little more pink in it but this blush is still pigmented! I did a full review on this blush here: http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-balm-blush-in-frat-boy.html

3. Urban Decay Eyeshadow in 'Freelove' $19: Brave enough to rock orange on your lid? Try this red-orange peach shade out! This shadow has a satiny and shimmery finish and can be really pretty on its own in the lid and crease with a highlight in the inner corner and brow bone. It's a favorite of mine in Summer as a way to rock some color in a bit of an unexpected way.

L to R: Peaches blush, Frat Boy blush, Freelove eyeshadow

4. MAC lipstick in 'Ravishing' $15: Looking for a bright coral to wear this Spring and Summer? THIS IS IT!! This is the prettiest coral color I have found that I am brave enough to wear! It has great vibrancy and still is super soft and comfortable to wear on the lips since it is a cremesheen formula. Try this color on the next time you go to a MAC counter or store. You may be surprised how universally flattering coral can be on so many skin tones!

5. MAC Cremesheen Glass in 'Richer, Lusher' $15: If you're hesitant to wear a bright coral lipstick, pop some orange-tinted lipgloss on over some nude or light pink lipstick to bump yourself in the coral direction. Cremesheens are so great because they feel soft on the lips and are less sticky than a standard lipgloss. Like all MAC lip products, the light vanilla scent is to die for making this gloss a Summer staple.

6. Revlon Lip Butter in 'Juicy Papaya' $6: A cheaper and even more comfortable way to wear an orange hue is by going for Revlon Lip Butters. These have plenty of pigment yet are so comfy to wear because of their hydrating, balm-like formula. Do yourself and your lips a favor and pick up some of these next time you're at the drugstore!  http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/04/revlon-lip-butters-wild-watermelon-and.html

L to R: Ravishing lipstick, Richer Lusher lipgloss, Juicy Papaya lip butter

6. Essie 'Tart Deco' nail polish $8: My favorite orange nail polish. This polish has a creamy formula that  makes this color so soft on the nails and pleasant to look at. Wear this for a beachy mani or if you're going to a Giants baseball game! Go Giants! Full review here: http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/04/notd-essie-tart-deco.html

What are your favorite orange shades to wear???
xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Eternal Optimist'

Today's nail of the day is of one of the prettiest neutral nail colors I own. It is Essie's 'Eternal Optimist:'

There isn't an occasion I can think of where this mauve nail color wouldn't be appropriate. It is such a great 'when in doubt' color. The formula is super nice and an opaque finish took just two coats. I imagine that on some skin tones this color may look a little too flesh-toned and not add much as a manicure, but on my skin it looks really pretty. 

Essie nail polishes are about $8 a bottle and can be purchased at most drugstores.

Jacob loves when I take pictures outside and he can get in on the fun!

xxSJ

Steph Reads: Book Haul!

I picked up some books recently and wanted to share what I'm reading! Grad school is fast approaching which means I have to get in my leisurely reading while I still can!

1) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: This book is about a wife who mysteriously goes missing and all eyes are on the husband as the suspected killer. Told from a couple different point of views, this book is apparently filled with twists and unexpected turns that I can't wait to dive into! I haven't read many suspense or mystery novels in the past so this should be a nice change for me. It's also been adapted into a movie so I need to finish that before the film's release!

2) Splintered by A.G. Howard: I am a huge fan of anything Alice in Wonderland related so of course I had to pick this up. This book is about a distant descendent of THE Alice who inspired Carroll's now famous tales of her adventures in Wonderland. It is up to the protagonist of the story, Alyssa, to fix all the mistakes that Alice made in Wonderland to lift a curse placed on the family during Alice's visit many years ago. Everything in Wonderland is a little bit different and twisted than Carroll's fun tales though...

3) Uninvited by Sophie Jordan: In this dystopian novel, a kill gene has been identified that reveals if someone is destined to be a murderer. These people are ostracized in order to keep peace within the community and the main character of this story, a girl who has everything going for her, finds out via a genetics test that she has this gene. The story follows her becoming an outcast and what happens to someone who knows they are destined to kill.

I am so excited to dive into all of these books! Expect some book reviews in the near future!

xxSJ

Sunday Funday! Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter everyone! And if you don't celebrate Easter, then happy everything! I celebrated today by putting together a surprise egg hunt for my boyfriend. Can you believe this guy has never participated in an egg hunt before???

There he is, checking out his goods!
After our exciting egg hunt, we went on a hike that turned out to be a little less relaxing and a little more cardio! Nevermind the heart pumping fun, the views were beautiful!

This looks like that tree from the Pixar films!! Or a screensaver. Either way, it was beautiful.

Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday!
xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Aruba Blue'

Today's nail of the day is of an all time favorite of mine, Essie's 'Aruba Blue:'

Every time I wear this color I'm reminded of why I love it so much! This blue is a dark yet bright blue that is nearly navy but not quite as deep. It's the perfect amount of satin and sheen and has one of the best formulas of any nail polish I own.

2-3 coats is needed for full opacity for this unique and beautiful blue. This color can carry through the Spring and Summer but also looks pretty in the Winter as it can have a bit of a winter wonderland feel to it.

All in all I love this color and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

xxSJ

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

Today's review is of a product I've been trying out for the past couple of weeks. My biggest problem area in regards to makeup is finding a good concealer to cover my under eye circles. I have deep purple under eye circles that I have yet to find a product to hide them. I've heard fantastic things about the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer so I decided to give it a shot.

The packaging is very sleek and seems to be similar to the larger than life lip gloss packaging with the see through acrylic tube and matte rubberized black cap.  The cap comes off to show a wand with a doe foot type applicator inside.

I chose the color Vanilla which is the second to the lightest color. I liked it because it was a bit less yellow than some of the other light options.

The way I chose to apply this is by putting some dots of concealer on my under eye area and then using a MAC 224 fluffy brush to blend the product in. This product has a thicky, creamy consistency and manages to set up really nicely on the skin. It doesn't cake up at all and is quite moisturizing which leads me to believe that this would be a great concealer for blemishes as well as the under eye.
Here is a before and after of my eyes:

As you can see, the concealer sets to a semi-matte finish and doesn't require a powder to set it. The concealer is also full coverage and covers my dark circles well. It lasts for a full day with out requiring touch ups which is really important to me. I kind of sweat in my under eye area (weird, huh?) and so I am used to constantly checking for makeup smearage throughout the day. This stuff keeps me clear though!

The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is $30 for .22oz of product. I think the price is right with this product because it is a quality product that gets the job done and I think will last a while as a little of this goes a long way!

Let me know your thoughts on this NARS cult favorite!

xxSJ

Smashbox Photo Op Eyeshadow Trio in 'Headshot'

When Ulta sends out their ever so elusive 20% off entire purchase including prestige brands it is time to stock up! I knew I wanted to try more of Smashbox's Photo Op Eyeshadow trios so I snatched up another one in the color 'Headshot:'

I LOVE the packaging for these little trios. The matte black rubberized packaging looks so sleek and modern and the little clear plastic window allows for you to see which colors are inside. I love how tiny this little compact is as well:

It fits in the palm of my hand and I have midget hands so you know that's pretty tiny! The smallness of this compact means there's no mirror on the inside. I don't mind as I rarely use mirrors inside compacts anyhow.

I chose the trio 'Headshot' because I've been wanting to wear more pinks on my eyes and I thought this trio had a perfect pink look all in one convenient place. The upper left color is called 'Linen' and is a mostly matte satiny white with subtle sheen. The upper right pink color is called 'Golden Orchid' and is a gorgeously muted soft pink with golden and peach reflects in it. The lower dark brown color is called 'Chestnut' and it is a purpley, burgundy brown color.

These colors look so beautiful together and these Smashbox trios don't cease to impress and excite me with how darn good they are! Seriously these shadows are not only so beautiful in color, but they are so buttery soft that it makes blending them a dream.  Since blending them really is SO easy, be careful to have a light hand while blending as to not blend your color away or create a bit of a muddy mess!

Smashbox trios are priced at $28 which I think is a fair price considering the professional quality of the shadow.  These shadows are very easy to use and I can recommend them to everyone from beginners to experts.

xxSJ

Revlon Colurburst Matte Balm in 'Elusive'

I tend to run in the opposite direction when I encounter anything matte for the lips. The acne medecine I use on my skin makes my lips extremely dry and flaky and matte lip products tend to accentuate that. After hearing much praise about the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balms and liking my Kissable Balm Stain so much I decided to give this matte lip crayon a shot:

I chose the color 'Elusive' as it was to me the most neutral color in the bunch. I just wanted to try out one color at first to decide whether or not I like these and I felt this would be a good indicator of the rest of the pack.

These matte balms are in a crayon type packaging which I really like since there is no fuss with having to sharpen anything. They simply twist up from the bottom as you need more product!  I was so pleased to find that my local Harmon's had just received a new shipment of these bad boys so none of them had been touched or swatched already by other people.

This swatch freaked me out. This is a lot of pigment of a very beautiful color, but to me, this swatch made the product appear very dry. The consistency of the product is quite creamy and thicker than lip products I usually gravitate toward. I tentatively put this product on my lips...

And I FREAKIN' love it!!!! This stuff is certainly matte but not in an overly matte, drying way. This stuff still has moisture to it and kind of feels like a balm or chapstick to me when I wear it. It's really comfortable to wear and not drying at all. I also think the color is just lovely. It's a perfect princess pink color that brings some life to my otherwise  pale lips. Also this balm somehow completely smooths out my lip texture rather than bringing attention to my cracks and crevices. The wear time is about 4 hours and it won't slip or feather out away from your lips.

The final verdict is that I need more of these Matte Balms in my life. Revlon, you killed it!

The Revlon Colorburst Matte Balms can be found at drugstores and Target for about $8 a pop.

xxSJ

Revlon Lip Butters: 'Wild Watermelon' and 'Juicy Papaya'

Today's post is on some new Revlon Lip Butters I picked up from my local Harmon's.  I haven't gotten new lip butters in a while because whenever I go to my drugstore, the colors I'm interested in are sold out or all of the stickers keeping the lippies closed have been tampered with :( I saw these not-yet-compromised completely new lip butters in their display case and had to pick some up!

I chose the colors Wild Watermelon and Juicy Papaya. The packaging of these is so cute! The lip butters are from Revlon Colorburst so they have the quilted design on the packaging. The color inside is reflected by the color on the outside part. 

Wild Watermelon is a bright pinky red while Juicy Papaya is a peachy orange. Juicy Papaya made me a litttle nervous about how orange it would be as it looks quite orange in its tube!

Lip Butters are great because they have more pigmentation than a chapstick or balm but they have a ton of moisture and shine! I'm all about the moisture because of my drier skin and lips and especially when the weather starts heating up, moisturizing the lips is a must.

Wild Watermelon gives the look of having just eaten a cherry popsicle! It's a pretty wash of color that's a subtle way to wear a less neutral shade since it is so sheer and shiny.

I think Juicy Papaya is really pretty! I'm pleasantly surprised by how peachy this looks on my lips.

The wear time for these guys is only a couple of hours so you will need to reapply, however you just need the lip butter, no lip liner or gloss necessary!

Revlon Lip Butters can be found at drugstores for about $6 each.

xxSJ

The Importance of Eyebrows! Using the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil

Eyebrows frame your face. Period. Would you nail a beautiful painting straight onto your bedroom wall??? Nah, you'd frame it. The painting would still look gorgeous but the frame gives it that extra touch of class and togetherness that you don't realize is so necessary until you add it in. Well those are your eyebrows, folks!!! Eyebrows are the finishing touch to your gorgeous face and you can do a lot with them to change the shape and appearance of your pretty visage.
In this before and after picture, literally the only thing I changed is filling in my eyebrows. The angle of my head may be sliiiiiiightly different because, hey, nobody's perfect. But look at what a difference the eyebrows made!

Just my eyebrows being filled in makes me look more lively, alert, angular, and, honestly, less sad.  Do you guys see a difference? Because if you don't and I'm making a big deal out of nothing then this just got awkward... well imma keep going because I see a difference.

The pencil I've been using lately to fill in my otherwise sparse and sad looking brows is Rimmel's Professional Eyebrow Pencil in the shade 002 Hazel:

I bought this pencil in an effort to find a less costly replacement for my MAC eyebrow pencil in 'Lingering.'  I can't handle paying more than $10 for my eyebrows even though I think they're so important. This Rimmel pencil only cost $4 and came with high praise so I thought I'd give it a shot.

This plain pencil was a really good color for my brows. It has a warmth to the sandy brown color that keeps your brows from looking ashy. The pencil is also really soft so you don't have to press hard to get color payoff. Small, light strokes is all you need to slowly fill in your brows with this which is optimal for creating a natural looking appearance.  I'm really pleased with this pencil and I think it makes an excellent replacement for my MAC pencil! It's not an exact dupe color wise but I like it just the same.
Now excuse me as I finish up my makeup so my brows don't look quite so harsh on my otherwise blank face....aaaaaaand here we go!

Woooohooo for eyebrows! I recommend this pencil if you're looking for a good one to fill in your face framers. :)

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Tart Deco'

Guess who's excited for Spring?? This girl right here. Today's nail of the day is a perfectly Springy color that I got SOOO many compliments on when I wore it! It is Essie's Tart Deco:

I haven't worn this color in easily over a year and it's because it looks suspiciously orange in the bottle. This color also shows up kind of dark pumpkin orange under un-natural lighting and it isn't all that pretty to be honest, BUT in natural lighting this color is the prettiest light pastel orange color. 

This color was a bit difficult to apply for me and took 3 coats to achieve opacity...I'm thinking that might be because it has been sitting for so long but maybe that's just the formula of this guy. I'm not entirely sure. I think the pretty orange you get as a result from the slightly difficult application is worth the minor struggle.

Essie polishes cost about $8 a bottle and can be found at Ulta, some drugstores, and Target. 

Tart Deco. Go get you some of dat because its the perfect pastel orange and I don't know why I haven't busted this out more often! 

Actually, I think I do know why. Orange is my sister's husband's favorite color so its kind of become their color to wear. I tend to gravitate toward other colors just because Orange is more my sister's 'thing.' It's kind of a Gretchen Weiners from Mean Girls and hoops situation...

Mean Girls reference achieved. This day is now complete.

xxSJ

Revlon Colorstay 24 Hour Foundation

I am on a quest right now to find drugstore/less expensive alternatives to some of my pricier staple makeup items. I'm going to graduate school soon which means imma be poor! Why the exclamation point about being poor?? Because when staring in the face of poverty and destituteness you gotta keep a positive attitude! WOOOHOO! My favorite foundation currently is the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation. It leaves the most gorgeous finish and is full coverage while managing to maintain the appearance and feel of a lightweight foundation. I love it buuuuuut I don't love the $45 pricetag. In comes Revlon Colorstay 24-Hour Foundation:

I have seen this foundation listed on several 'Best Foundation' lists, drugstore and overall, so I decided to give it a shot. I LOVE the fact that it comes in two formulas, a dry skin formula and a combination/oily skin formula. I noticed there was a lot of color selection with different undertones as well which is so great!
PS Whenever I say 'so great' on this blog or in person I always think of Jimmy Fallon saying 'its so GREAT' in that special voice of his...anyone else? Anyone?

Mkay back to the foundation...
I selected the color 200 Nude for myself as it seemed light enough for me (almost the lightest color they offer, ahhh yisss) and also was less yellow-toned than some of the other lighter options.
My biggest (and maybe only) issue with this product is the packaging. While the glass container feels very nice and the screw-on cap feels like it securely tightens, this jar has no pump! Which means you gotta pour this stuff out on to something before you apply it. Here is my chosen method of application:

I pour a bit of product onto the back of my hand and then using my fingers I dab it all over my face. Using a Real Techniques expert face brush, I blend and buff this stuff into my skin starting from the center of my face and T-zone and working outwards. I'm still working out exactly how much of this product I need to cover my whole face, but a dime size amount seems to do the trick. The consistency of this is pretty liquidy, though I do find this foundation to be buildable.  The coverage is medium and this foundation does a fantastic job of not caking up at all.
Let me grace all of you with a before and after pic:

I know this picture isn't going to fit between the lines of my bloggy blog but I don't care, I'm makin' it huge anyway because you need to see the details! If you look at my forehead, this foundation does NOT cover up all of my freckles. It instead diffuses the colors a bit and makes my freckles and discolored spots far more muted. You can see the muting and blending effect most pronounced on my cheeks and chin area. I like this because I actually don't like when my freckles are completely covered up...I look like a China doll when I make my freckles disappear and its a couple shades of creepy.

I've been wearing this foundation for about two weeks and it has yet to break me out so I'm thinking this is a safe foundation for me! I've been wearing the Maybelline Dream Wonder powder on top and it pairs like a dream with this foundation.  I haven't tried to push the limits and wear this foundation for a whole 24 hours, but I CAN say that it lasts for at least 12 and through a strenuous work day.
This foundation was also only about $11 at my local Bed Bath and Beyond which I find pretty reasonable for such a lovely foundation.

Overall, I really like this product and can definitely see myself repurchasing this in the future. Does it completely trump my Laura Mercier Foundation? Mmmmmm maybe not completely... the LM Foundation gives a tiny bit better coverage. I honestly don't need that much coverage from day to day, and in fact maybe I only need it for special events. This Revlon foundation is perfect for day to day wear though!

I give this foundation an A+!

xxSJ