Viva La Nails--Review

Hey! How was your Tuesday? Mine was okay. I didn't have to work today (yay) but I had class all day (boo). Another plus, Glee was on! Loved it, as usual! Anyways, on with the post..

I have a review for you today! Viva La Nails! They sent me the Blogger Nail Art Sample Pack full of nail art goodies! Now, if you've been with me from the beginning you'll know that I'm not one for nail art. I have the ideas, just not the follow through! However, they sent me such a variety so I was able to try out different types and figure out what I could do!

I sat down with all the stuff and felt overwhelmed, extremely overwhelmed. Feeling that way I decided it was best to pick one of each kind of art and go for it.

I am a changed woman. Why did I think nail art was so difficult? Granted, it may not be a Picasso painting on my nails, but I enjoyed it and I think for my 'first' try it was pretty darn good. Without further ado, I present my nail art:

 Take one: Star shaped sequins and small round ones. Both holographic, and lovely. Easy to apply, easy to remove. Loved them! 

Take Two: One of everything! Thumb: Small blue sequins Index: Black rhinestones Middle: Crushed Shells Ring: Small Gold rhinestones, large gold rhinestone Pinky: Water decal

Another view. The crushed shells are the only ones I really had trouble with. 

Close ups:

I was confused by this:

 Not sure how to use that for nail art. I tried but it did not work. It was one big fail full of goopy feathers. Or rather, feather. Fail. 

Viva La Nails has a large variety of great nail art items. Check them out! I'm definitely going to try a lot more nail art now that I'm such a pro. Or semi-pro. Meh.

A little birdie told me..

Hello!

So I was looking through random tweets on Twitter, and I found one that really caught my attention.  Nyx Cosmetics tweeted: 

Hint hint: I hope you're all signed up with @Hautelook by this time next week! ;)

I don't know about you, but this makes me really excited! I love discounted makeup! If you haven't heard of HauteLook, it's a great site that offers up to 75% on certain items from different brands. Each brand is featured for a few days and it's only select items but you can certainly hit the jackpot if you get to the sale early enough. 

I suggest joining because there's always a beauty sale going on and there's always other amazing sales on clothes, jewelry, home decor, etc. 

If you haven't been joined yet, here's your chance! Nyx sales are always great! Plus The Body Shop and Butter London have sales going right now (ending Weds. 8am).

HauteLook

Happy Shopping! :)

Kayla

Beauty Tips That Changed My Life

There are many beauty tips that I could list here, but these are the ones that truly make a difference in my life.

1. Use a toothbrush to work cuticle oil into the cuticle. Results are amazing. My cuticles never look better than when I use my trusty toothbrush. Uh, it's not the same one I use on my teeth. That would be nasty. I suggest separate ones. ;) 

2. Only use products from the same line for face wash/moisturizer/etc. My skin has never looked better! The chemical war on my skin is no more! 

3. A paintbrush is amazing for cleaning up your nails. If you look at my first swatches...yikes! Now, I can not paint my nails without cleaning them up to perfection. Or as close to perfection that I can achieve. 

4. Eyebrows aren't supposed to be identical twins. Just sisters. Do you know how hard I tried to get them to be exactly the same! Ugh! It's great not having to worry about that anymore. 

5. Switch it up! Wearing the same eyeshadow or whatever day in and day out gets old. Have fun with makeup, hair styles, clothes, and, of course, nail polish!

Okay, now it's your turn. Tell me about the beauty tip that changed your life, or your beauty habits, at least. Leave a comment and maybe I'll compile a list from everyone and we can share our amazing tips with the world!

Kayla

Giveaway Winner!!!

The moment had finally arrived!! I received 209 entries (a-ma-zing!) and gained a bunch of new followers (double amazing)! I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.

The winner of 10 polishes (6 ChG Vintage Vixen and 4 OPI Swiss) is:

Megan Harmeyer!!!

Congrats!!! She was entry number 88, the number Random.org picked for me! Megan, I'm sending you an email tonight, please respond within 48hrs. If I don't hear from you, I'll pick a new winner. 

Thanks to everyone who entered, it was a lot of fun for me! I only wish I would have received more manicure entries! I only received two! Sad face. 

In the coming week I've got some reviews planned! Thanks for following!

Kayla

Reminder

Hey!

Just a quick reminder that giveaway entries need to be in by the end of tomorrow. That's September 5th! I want to see at least 10 more entries. I'm at 190, and I want to hit 200! It would be fabulous!!! Thanks to those who are new followers! I hope you stick around and enjoy!

Check back September 6th to find out who the winner is!!! I hope its you! Yeah, you!

Kayla

e.l.f Beauty Books

Hello! Welcome new followers and thanks to everyone who has entered the giveaway!!! I already have over 65 entries! I'm so excited!!! Whoo! :)

Today, I'm going nail polish free and bringing you a review on some e.l.f products! The Beauty Books are palettes that e.l.f has released for a limited time. They're kind of a back-to-school accessory. In fact, the packaging looks like little notebooks! And since tomorrow is back to school for me, I thought I'd share my favorite new school supply with all of you (all 115 of you! 115! Freakin' amazing! I hope you all enjoy my blog, because I already love you all! :P)!

There are three different palettes: Natural Eye, Smokey Eye, and Eye Brights. Each palette comes with 12 eyeshadows, a sponge applicator, and a black eyeliner pencil. Each palette has a guide on the inside cover, explaining how to get the "perfect" eye makeup. Not bad tips, but I like to get creative on my own. I guess I'm just a rebel.

When my friends and I spotted these at Target, we were skeptical. We had tried e.l.f eye shadow before and been unimpressed. We decided to sneak a quick swatch of some colors from each palette. Whoa. Pigmentation was extremely better than the single shadows purchased in the past. I grabbed one of each palette and hit the checkout lanes. (Note: I purchased these at a Super Target that already carried e.l.f products, the Target in my home town is not a super and does not carry e.l.f on a regular basis and did not have the back to school end cap filled with goodies. I'm guessing that only some Targets will end up having these palettes).

The Natural Eye palette has the exact colors you would think it would. Browns, taupes, creams, and some mauves and pinks.  It's the perfect palette for creating a beautiful natural look. Excellent pigmentation, silky smooth texture (except on colors with glitter in them), and great ability to blend.  This palette is wonderful for every day looks.

Close up of Natural Eye. 

Swatches in sunlight

No sun. No Flash.

The Smokey Eye palette is equipped with the best shades to make a black smokey eye or a brown smokey eye.  The have the same amount of pigmentation as the Natural eye and the same texture. I was hoping for more gun metals and greys in this palette but overall I like the fact that it's got a broader range of color. Here's the closeup:

Direct Sunlight

Sunlight. The one color matches my skin tone almost perfectly! 

Flash. Look at the glitter in these shadows! Holy cow! haha

Eye Brights has to be my favorite. The colors are gorgeous! It has the same color payoff as the other two palettes but it has more variety of colors. The greens are amazing. I love them! Here, look at them. I can't say anymore, just look!

Sun. The blue is actually a duochrome type color. It has a green flash to it. Stunning. 

Sun. None of my pictures do this palette justice. It's slightly depressing. Everything is gorgeous. And I think that may be the same skin tone-matching shadow as in the Smokey Eye palette. 

Flash. Beauty. Yummy. *drool*

There are some shades in each palette that do not give as mush color payoff as the rest but it's generally the lighter colors. However, you can build them up. There is a down side to these palettes. I cannot get the colors to last all day. I use an eye primer, which has never let me down before, and when I get home my eye makeup has faded. I've also used a finishing spray. That didn't help either. I need to experiment with these some more. There has to be a solution. I only noticed it a couple of times so maybe those were flukes? Hmm. 

Well, I'm going to go paint my nails for school tomorrow. Haha. I hope everyone has an amazing rest of the week. I will see you later!

PS: If you haven't entered my giveaway, do it now! Okay, you have until September 5th, but I still think you should enter right now! :)

Wanna win some nail polish? Giveaway Closed!

Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering!

Hey, I'm back for real this time! And I'm starting off with a giveaway! I thought it would be the best way to apologize for being away for so long and I'm feeling generous.

There is only one prize this time around and it includes polishes from the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection and the OPI Swiss collection! Here's some pictures to drool over:

OPI L-R: William Tell Me About OPI, Ski Teal We Drop, Diva of Geneva, and Yodel Me on My Cell

China Glaze L-R: Swing Baby, Jitterbug, Emerald Fitzgerald, Goin' My Way?, First Class Ticket, and Riveter Rouge

Here's how you enter the giveaway:

1. Be a follower and leave a comment on this post. Your email should be included for contact if you win!

2. Extra entries can be earned. 

• One extra entry can be earned by blogging, tweeting, or by some other way of spreading the word. You may earn an extra entry for each of those if you chose to do more than one. You must give me a link or retweet me (@glamgeekchic).  
• You can earn 5 extra entries by emailing me a picture of a manicure inspired by the Vintage Vixen or Swiss collection. You can even combine them and do a Vintage Swiss Vixen or something! :) Must be a new mani and only one entry can be submitted. I will post all the entries for fun! Email: glamgeekchic@gmail.com.

3. Giveaway ends September 5th, 2010. That's about three weeks to get in your entries! On that date I will draw a name using some random generator site and announce the winner on the 6th!

Good luck! I'm so excited to give these gorgeous polishes away! So pretty! *drool*