Get that Vampy Lip Look: Burgundy Lip Trend Tutorial.

Guys. It's my first tutorial. I'm super stoked.

I worked really hard to cut down all the video I had to just under 15 minutes for you. As you're watching, you will notice that I sped up some parts. Sometimes during those parts, it looks like I am talking. I am in fact talking, but I'm not saying anything overly important, so don't feel as if you are missing anything crucial. 

This may not be the look for everyone, but I love a bold lip. And the eyes are so simple that anyone might want to watch at least the first 10 minutes. I'll list all the products I used below the video. 

Eyes.
Wet 'n' Wild's "Take on the Day" Eyeshadow Primer from the Fergie Collection
NYX's Love in Paris Palette in "Je Ne Sais Quoi"
     You just need a light, shimmery taupe, a warm medium brown, and a cool, really dark             charcoal.
NYX's Love in Paris Palette in "Mon Cherie"
     You need a dark, cool brown. Mine had some sparkle, but that isn't necessary. And a                shimmery vanilla. Or a not shimmery vanilla. You decide.
L'Oreal's Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in "Blackest Black"
Brows.
A mixture of shadows from e.l.f.'s 96-Piece Geometric Palette
Lips.
NYX's Slim Lip Pencil in "Currant"
Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in "Black Cherry"
Face.
Revlon's Colorstay Foundation for Normal/Dry Skin in "Ivory"
Hard Candy's Lite Brite Undereye Concealer and Highlighter in "Fair" 
Revlon's Photoready Eye Primer + Brightener in 003
A mixture of eyeshadows from e.l.f.'s 80-Piece Day-to-Night Palette for my Contour
e.l.f.'s Studio Blush in "Mellow Mauve"
e.l.f.'s Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder

This is exciting. Thanks for stopping by.

Can You Believe It's Manicure Monday?!?!

Because I can't.

It's been far too long. Far, far too long. But not without good reason. I have been really really busy getting engaged. And working through all of everything that comes with being engaged.

I love these picture update moments, so here we go...

Zach and I have been together for close to seven years. This is a picture of us going to his prom when he was a junior in high school and I was a freshman. We grew up going to the same church with our families and started growing as friends earlier that school year. I had had a pretty consistent crush on him since I was...12, maybe? so those early convos on AIM were pretty much dreams come true.

We started dating when I turned 16 and spent the rest of Zach's time in high school together.

Zach graduated and headed to college in Virginia and I finished my last year of high school. We were already planning to be with each other for a while. so we just kind of let long distance happen. 

I went to school in New York. Zach visited me my sophomore year and my friend Ashton took some pictures for us. Some people were suspicious and thought they might have been engagement photos, but we weren't planning to get married until we both had graduated, so there was no reason to rush things.

And then Zach did propose to me. For real. I knew we were going to get married, but I had no idea he was going to ask me when he did. Happiest October 4th of my life yet.

He brought all the letters I have written him and all the cards I have made and laid them out in a path to him. And then he started to read me something from a letter I wrote him as he was leaving for college. I couldn't handle myself for a moment.

Being proposed to was genuinely one of the most joyful and exhilarating experiences of my life. If getting married is important to you, I sincerely hope you get to experience a proposal (from either side :)). And another huge thank you to all our friends who helped with the planning and executing...of the plan.
In case you aren't tired of pictures yet, I'll just share a few more from our inevitable engagement session. Once again, with the fantabulous Ashton. 

I feel like this one just screams "Christmas Card." Am I right?

Oh, and Zach has a puppy. So I also have a puppy.

For anyone who plans on getting some pictures taken for any reason but isn't sure about finding a photographer or being able to afford one, I'd like to just take some time to share what I worked out for these photos. I found a friend who likes to take photos. My fiance happens to have a nice camera, but even if he didn't we still would have gotten some perfectly fine shots with a basic digital. Then I used PicMonkey, which is a free online photo editing website. I just tweaked the pictures til I liked the way they looked, and they save in really high quality. Money saved. Check it out here. 

Now for the manicure. Can I just say that I am also fantastically excited about the nail polish I am about to show you? It is most definitely a new favorite color, and I was more than impressed with the virtual lack of chipping. 

Meet Revlon's "Fearless."

The lighting never seemed to be ideal, so I don't necessarily have a fantastic picture of this polish in action. Here is a shot in natural, but very cloudy, light.

This is really not a normal color for me. I tend to stay away from reds in general; I just don't usually love how either average or bold or bloodthirsty they look. But this caught my eye the last time I was in Wal-Mart and I took a little risk on it. Turns out it is going to be one of my all time favorites. It applied nicely; two coats and I had the opacity I wanted. It's a really bright, clean, orangey red. Not necessarily the first color I think of for the winter months, but I l-o-v-e-d the way it looked with some of my cheetah print accents and gold jewelry, and it really just gave me a nice pop of brightness in the middle of the snow and rain and grey. If I ever get a picture that does it justice you will be the first to see it. 

As usual I used Orly's Bonder Basecoat and Polishield Top Coat. This polish wore for a good week with only some shrinkage from the topcoat. No real chipping to speak of. Awesome. 

Thank you oh-so-much for stopping by. I'm going to get caught up with some fall posts and then all the winter-themed thoughts in my head are coming your way. 

Fall Nail Polish Picks.

Since the official first day of fall was only a few days ago, it's a convenient time to talk about fall nail polish shades. One of my favorite things to change (and probably the only one I change at least somewhat consciously) with the seasons is my polish. Believe me, I'm not one for color rules and choosing something simply because it's "in season," but a lot of the tones and shades we associate with fall are just gorgeous and a fun way for me to mix things up. I don't normally go for jewel-tones and warm shades on my nails, but the crisp air and leaves falling remind me of what's in my nail polish box that I haven't reached for in a while. Oh, that's another thing; I challenged myself to go through polish I already own and come out with a loosely comprehensive fall shade repertoire that helps you decide what you might want to try while also sharing personal favorites. Turns out that I do actually like most of the nail polish colors that I own, not just the light pinks and glitters...

Let's get cracking.

Jewel Tones.
In my opinion, jewel tones fit best with the season of fall. They are a pretty constant element of the fall color palette, that is to say, no matter what might be in style for a particular year, jewel tones are always a completely acceptable choice if you'd like to coordinate with the season. Here are two of my favorites in this category:

Revlon's "Fashionista"

A gor-ge-ous teal shade with a smooth 'n' creamy finish. Two coats of this beaut will suffice for an easy and colorful fall manicure.

Want to try it out for yourself? This polish is readily available in stores like Wal-Mart, Target, drugstores, and online.

L'Oreal's "Violet Vixen"

The perfect deep pink for the fall season. It applies smoothly and with an opaque finish. This is on my soon-to-be-used polish list, so expect a Manicure Monday to feature this pretty little thing sometime soon :) 

This polish is probably also available anywhere drugstore brands are sold, including online. I bought mine on clearance at a Dollar General.

Jewel tones also include deep but bright greens, blues, and even some orangey-gold shades. Don't forget to try mixing and matching these fall colors with neutrals or each other for varied and complementary nail looks.

Bronze Shimmers. Gold Shimmers. Brown-ish Shimmers.

Glitter works in every season. That being said, fall is the perfect time to sport those deeper, neutral-toned glitters and shimmers. There is such a variety of these types of shades from brands at every price range. I also think that most bronze and gold polishes look great on every skin tone. Here are two of my favorites from my collection:

Orly's "Ingenue"

This is one of my absolute favorite polishes from one of my absolute favorite brands. "Ingenue" is described on Orly's website as a "purple/gold duo chrome shimmer." On your nails in natural light it has some very bronzey-goldsey-almost orangesey tones. I will definitely be wearing this polish as the season goes on, so stick around to see it in action. 

I grabbed this polish from a Sally Beauty Supply. You can also get it online from www.orlybeauty.com. Click here to go directly to this polish's page.

Jesse's Girl's "Riff Raff"

This is a great option if you are looking for a deeper color that also has some shimmer to it. I find this shade particularly interesting because it just really really brown. The shimmer running through it is pretty bronzey, and while it won't show up like glitter, it does create a very metallic finish.

You can get Jesse's Girl Products at Rite-Aid drugstores and at www.jessesgirlcosmetics.com. Here is a direct link to the nail polish page. Sorry about that silly shadow in the corner...

I'm pretty excited to try layering "Ingenue" over "Violet Vixen." I think the pinks and purples in the two shades will just POP. 

Deeper, Darker Neutrals.

We are hitting the point in this list where colors will start to over lap in some categories, so take the examples as you will. 

Fall is the time to bring out those deeper brown and nude shades. Arguably, neutrals work for every season, but I like to limit my pale pink consumption as the weather gets colder. Although I can never fully cut myself off...

Wet 'n' Wild's "Wet Cement"

This polish is from the Megalast line of polishes from Wet 'n' Wild. With a good base and top coat, these are some of my longest-wearing and best-applying polishes. "Wet Cement" is a great all-year-round color, and it's the type of taupey nude that started being a major thing about, oh, a year or so ago.

I have found that the widest variety of Megalast colors is available at Dollar General. But you can probably find this particular shade at many drugstores, Wal-Mart, and dollar stores. 

Revlon's "Foxy"

This is one of my favorite dark browns. It's got some purple tones to it and applies like a dream. Check out this Manicure Monday to see it on my nails :)

Even though the sunlight shows some reflective pieces in the polish, it doesn't really have much shimmer in its application. That's why I included in the neutrals section. You can find this lovely shade at drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target, and online.

Coastal Scents's "Meteorite"

This polish was part of Coastal Scents COAT Collection. Which has unfortunately, I believe, been eliminated from the Coastal Scents inventory. This is sad because the polishes were actually very good little guys. I wanted to include it anyway because it is a very dark brown and I think fall is the perfect time to get out those super dark browns.

Almost there, guys. You can always just look at the pictures...

Deep, Warm-toned Purples. Like Purples with Red in Them.

Any purple that has a lot of red in it (or read that has some purple) is a great choice for the fall season. Cranberry, oxblood, and burgundy shades were HUGE last year, but I'm saving my pick for that category until my winter shades post. Here are some purples to try out:

e.l.f.'s "Party Purple"

This shades comes out on the nail a bit more red than it looks in the bottle. The shimmer in it just seals the deal and two coats gives a flawless, warm purple finish. This is another one on my soon-to-be-used list. 

Click here to see where you can buy this polish.

Nicole by OPI's "Shoot for the Maroon"

Final color! This lovely is a deep cranberry-purple base with lots of gold and bronze shimmer running through it. It's beautiful, and applies very easily. Unfortunately, the image just doesn't quite do it justice. 

I purchased this polish a pretty good while ago. So I think your best bet if you want to try it for yourself is to get it online. You can find it here.

You are all champions. Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned to see some of these polishes featured in upcoming Manicure Mondays!