NOTD: 'Bright Lights Big Color' by OPI

Today's notd is a color I haven't worn in FOREVER. It's 'Bright Lights Big Color' by OPI.

As you can see, this color is a sparkly bright orange with some pink to it. I think its a little bit of an orange grapefruit color if there is such a thing.
I think the color is nice and its quite pretty, however I did get tired of it on my nails after a bit. Orange is not a preferred color of mine. If you're looking for a sparkly orange specifically, then this polish fits the bill. If not, then pass on this one!

OPI recently increased the prices of their polish to $9 a bottle... That's pretty steep :( I think I'll only be buying more nail polish when it's bogo.  You can find OPI at Ulta beauty stores and at some drugstores. I have seen Target carrying it on multiple occasions as well!

What's your favorite orange nail color?
xxSJ

OOTD: '42' Movie Premier and Afterparty!

This is a very late post but I had the opportunity to go to the '42' premier and after party a couple weeks ago! Here is what I wore for this awesome event:

Black jeans are from Banana Republic, sheer white top from Forever21, black purse from Coach, and nude/gold metallic heels from Seychelles.

All topped off with some pretty curls and neutral eye makeup for a polished look :) The lip color I'm wearing is 'Syrup' by MAC. Such a pretty color!

The movie played at the Chinese theatre on Hollywood Boulevard and the after party was down the street in an empty lot behind the El Capitan theater. It was decorated to look like Ebbet's Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers old home field way back when!

The entrance to the party. You can see on the ground how there was carpeting making it look like a baseball diamond.

A jersey worn by Jackie Robinson. Sooooo cool!

The movie was AMAZING and I recommend you check it out! It not only served as a great lesson in American history, but the tale was inspiring. I found myself rooting harder for Jackie than I've rooted for a hero in a long time while watching a movie!
I had the honor of meeting Chadwick Boseman at the afterparty, the actor who played Jackie in the film. He was a very humble and nice gentleman making me recommend the movie further. Its nice to meet celebrities who are genuinely nice individuals :)

Go check out 42 if you haven't already! You won't regret it.
xxSJ

NOTD: Essie's 'Topless and Barefoot'

Neutral nail polish mania continues!  My quest for the perfect neutral nail continues today with Essie's 'Topless and Barefoot':

Please don't judge my dry cuticles! As you can see, this color is a lot more tan than Orly's Prelude to a Kiss or OPI's Bubble Bath but I kind of love that. This is an obscure reference, but the color reminds me of the frosting on top of a Brown Cinnamon Sugar Pop Tart. Anyone? Anyone?

I think this is a very beautiful neutral color and its actually my favorite I've tried so far. It's darker than my skin tone so it still shows up as 'color' on my nails rather than blending in with my skin completely which is not such a good look...kind of makes your fingers look a tad stumpy.  Ain't nobody got time for dat!
 The application of this color was great too. Perfect consistency for an easy application and it was completely opaque in only two coats.
I give this neutral an A+!

xxSJ

Happy Easter! What I Did to Celebrate...

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and a Happy Easter if you celebrated!
Here's what I did to celebrate:

Instead of painting eggs I painted my nails:

After I drew the first line, I thought to myself 'I immediately regret this decision,' because I knew this would take me so long!

My housemates and I also did an Easter version of Secret Santa called 'Easter Bunny Buddies,' where we made baskets for each other!
This is the basket I made for my bunny buddy:

Yummy!

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)
xxSJ

NOTD: OPI's 'Bubble Bath'

I'm continuing with my neutral marathon today with a cult favorite of OPI, the color 'Bubble Bath.'

'Bubble Bath' is a very light, slightly blue-toned, pink color.  It is very sheer which I rather like because it makes the color so light and feminine.  This color is a more natural color than Orly's 'Prelude to a Kiss,' mostly because it isn't quite so opaque.

I definitely understand why this light pink is a favorite with OPI fans. It's very pretty and certainly a natural hue.
My only qualm with this nail color is it chips rather quickly. The corners of my manicure lifts up after about a day.  If you don't mind a few touch ups here and there though, then I really like this color!

Think pink!
xxSJ

Review: MAC lipstick in 'Peach Blossom'

I love love love my MAC lipsticks.  They have perfect pigmentation, beautiful application, and awesome packaging.  The issue I've been having recently with wearing lipstick is super dry lips. I am on acne medication that makes my skin really dry and so sometimes wearing lipstick just accentuates my cracked and flaky lips... eww, I know.

I've found that cremesheen lipsticks from MAC are glossy enough for me to wear with out showing off my dry lips! I recently came across the perfect color for my lips that is a 'my lips but better' color.

'Peach Blossom' is a light warm pink color.  It is warmer than 'Angel' by MAC and a couple shades lighter than my other favorite lipstick, 'Fanfare.' 

I prefer warmer colors to wear on a day to day basis because I think they look a bit more natural on my freckled skin.

As you can see, this lipstick doesn't add a whole lot of color to my lips, but it adds a pinkish hue with a moisturizing and shiny finish. I really like it and have been grabbing it the last couple weeks.

What's your favorite day to day lipstick color?
xxSJ

Review: NARS 'And God Created the Woman' palette

NARS released a 6 shadow palette recently that I was lucky to get my hands on! NARS products are amazingly high quality makeup products but they do run at a high price. I thought I'd review this if any of you out there are thinking of purchasing this palette!
First of all let's talk about the packaging:

 

This palette is like all other iconic NARS packaging: a sleek velvety black case with bold white letters. The packaging is beautiful, but be warned! This type of material for some reason attracts every bit of dust, dirt, and makeup. The packaging won't stay sleek and pretty for long! 

Now on to the beautiful colors:

Top Row: Alhambra, Bellisima, Kalahari
Bottom Row: Galapagos, Coconut Grove, Night Clubbing
As you can see, these shadows are all neutral shades. The top row consists of shades that are great for the lid and that middle matte color is amazing for blending out crease colors. The bottom row are shades that are great for the crease to darken up any look and the middle and right colors are great to smudge into your lash line for a smoldering effect.
Swatch time!

 The top row colors are the first three on the left, and the bottom row colors are the three on the right.  As you can see, the pigmentation is standard NARS quality.  In other words, its amazing.  The only color that could be a bit lacking is that gray-mauve color called Bellisima.  However, when blended into the crease on the eye, it looks beautiful.  The color to be careful with is Night Clubbing, the sparkly deep green color on the right.  You have to be careful with this stuff! It is the most pigmented eyeshadow I have ever touched, swatched, or tried to work with.  It would be great pressed into the lash line to add smokiness to any night time look!

Something to note about this palette is the size of the eyeshadows. They have 0.03 oz of product per shadow.  For comparison, a normal NARS eyeshadow has 0.07oz of product so you're getting a bit less than half of a normal sized eyeshadow. Though these shadows are small, a great thing about the size of this palette is that its portable! It's about the size of an iPhone so you can easily store it in a purse for on the go and change your look from day to night.
This palette also comes with a small travel size brush and a medium sized ProPrime smudgeproof eyeshadow base.  NARS claims this is a $105 value set if you care to do the math and check!

Overall I recommend this product.  The eyeshadow quality is NARS level quality and because of the great color selection and portability of the product, I think this is well worth the money. Speaking of which:

This product can be purchased for $59 at Sephora. Its limited edition so snatch it up while you can!

xxSJ