Archive for November, 2007
Friday, November 30th, 2007
I can’t believe it’s almost December!
Here are the weekly beauty reads to take you through to the end of the month!
Sarah’s Surprises (I changed the name of Etailers Mall - The Blog) HollyRose Aromatherapy’a Sweet Orange Lip Balm Review
If you haven’t already entered Mystical Beauty’s Musings MAC Nail Lacquer and Fluidline Giveaway hurry up and do it!
Bionic Beauty reviews the new Milani Black Magic Eyeliner.
Christine at 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic discovers a quick way to moisturize her hands and feet.
Kyle at Face Candy, says YES to Carrots.
Jeni from Savvy Skin gives you an extensive Guide To Cure Acne.
A Touch of Blusher previews Anna Sui spring 2008 makeup collection.
Because it’s nice to be a little naughty, Makeup Moxie taps into the Good Girl, Bad Girl Palette from Too Faced.
SugarShock has found the secret to looking fabulous in every photo: Smashbox Flawless Finish Skin Perfectors.
Beauty and Personality Grooming - Winter hair care
Preview Chanel’s Blue Satin Nail Polish before it releases on All Lacquered Up.
Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog lists 43 makeup and non-makeup things she’s thankful for this year.
The Glitterati fights The Man: They can take her time and her money, but they’ll never get her Rimmel Viny Lip lipgloss!
Makeup Loves Me finds the perfect holiday gift for mom!
Beauty and Fashion Tech looks at Beauty Accessories for Holiday Gifts
Elke tries the new Loreal Infalliable Lipcolor, over Thanksgiving Dinner.
Stylish Opinion finds a chocolate body scrub, good enough to eat!
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Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
I was browsing the makeup aisles at Target Monday night and came across Covergirl’s Volume Exact Mascara in Very Black, with a bonus perfect point plus self sharpening eye pencil in black onxy for 94 cents!
What a great score!
I’ve tried the liner and mascara once - I decided that I should take pictures for you after I tried the liner, but before I tried the mascara, so the picture isn’t the best.
I was impatient to try the mascara!
It didn’t give me as much volume as I thought “volume exact” would give me, but it’s been a pretty decent mascara for the three minutes I’ve been wearing it. I did notice that it easily wipes off my skin if I happen to smudge a bit on there, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.
The eyeliner is nice and smudgy, and it’s definitely not as tough on the eyes as a pencil eyeliner is.
I’ll tell you more after I wear it a few more times.
Posted in Beauty, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 26th, 2007
We finally moved our first generation of BN Pleco to their new home - the 55 gallon guppy tank that didn’t have any plecos in it.
We could only catch two of the six BN’s and believe me we tried.
They are fast, and they are small, ranging from 3/4-1 inch long.
These fry were freeswimming on Sept. 24, so they are just about 2 months old.
The second batch and most of the first batch died after we changed the water, so right now we’re trying to be very careful with water changes, and time it so there are no eggs or very young fry in the tank.
We have a new batch that we saw swimming out and around the taco last Wednesday.
So far we haven’t lost any of them - fry can be hard, for a while I was finding dead fry every morning, and it was depressing to look at the fish tank.
The two fry we moved are doing well in their new home - a few of the guppies came over to inspect when we put them in, and after they made sure they weren’t food, they left the pleco’s alone.
We got 8 German Blue Rams on November 10, and a couple of Golden German Rams before and after that, and we’ve had two batches of eggs since then. Unfortunately none of them have made it.
We had read that the Rams might start to eat their own eggs after the lights went off, so we left the light over the eggs on all night - the eggs lasted longer that way, but they were all eaten after 3 days, instead of after the first night.
The Rams are pretty good at keeping the other fish away too.
I used to think I’d never want cichlids, because it upsets me to see them fight, but these keys chase and nip at each other, and don’t seem to cause any permanent damage, so it’s not as bad as I thought it was.
They are fun to watch, and they’re really pretty too!
Well that’s enough of the fishy update for now.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, I did.
Posted in Fish | No Comments »
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007
It’s the Holidays - and Mystical Beauty’s Musings is giving away some Holiday Goodies.
I asked Elke from the Beauty Blog Network to throw in a few extra goodies with the items I wanted to review, so I could pass the extras along to you.
Up for grabs is MAC Fluidline in Uppity, and MAC Nail Lacquers in Vestral White and Gold Veneer.
If you want to know more about the products, here’s what the MAC website says about Fluidline:
Ultra-smooth, Fluidline’s gel formula provides the precision of a liquid liner with a silkier, softer finish. Goes on “foolproof” with a brush in an easy dip-and-stroke action. Long-wearing. Smudge-proof. Lines up in a rich array of colours and finishes. Brush sold separately.
US$15.00
and about the Nail Lacquer:
Revolutionary new high gloss formula. Three long-wearing finishes - Cream, Sheer, and Frosted. Visibly different. Provides no-streak/no-chip finish. Contains conditioners and UV protection. Go hi-lacquer!
US$10.00
I have to admit I was really impressed when I saw these items. I’m more of a silver person, but I thought about sneaking the gold veneer polish for myself when I saw how beautiful it was in person.
But I didn’t!
I decided that you deserve it, but you have to work for it!
Just leave a comment telling me about the first time you wore MAC, why you love MAC, or what you’d do with these products if you won them - where would you wear them (out to dinner, at home, to a party), how would you wear them (a golden french manicure, little white flowers on a gold background on your toes), or something like that.
Pictures get you an extra entry, and they’ll be posted on the blog, unless you ask me to keep them private!
Since today is Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving!) I’ve decided that if you list at least one thing you’re thankful for in the comments you can be entered to win too.
If you leave a qualifying comment on this blog post, you’ll get one entry into the contest, if you sign up for the mailing list you’ll get another entry. If you send pictures of how you would wear the nail lacquer and fluidline (you don’t have to use these colors), you’ll also get another entry, so you can get up to three entries.
We’ll put all the names in a hat (if you have three entries, we’ll put your name in three times), and pick the winner on December 18!
We have to have an email address so we can contact you and let you know you won, so make sure you use an email address that you can check on December 18.
If you haven’t signed up for our mailing list yet, you can sign up below, and get one entry into the contest.
Good luck!
Posted in Life, Beauty, Reviews, Stuff | 23 Comments »
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
I tried the Lush Marathon Bar Bubble Bar last week, and unfortunately it didn’t live up to all of the hype.
I crumbled about half of the bar into a warm tub, and I only got a few bubbles, all of which disappeared as soon as I actually got into the tub.
That’s definitely not my idea of a bubble bath - I want my bubbles to stick around forever.
The web site does say “The stronger your water pressure, the more bubbles you will make, so you might not need the whole bar.”
I think we have a normal amount of water pressure, so I don’t think I can blame the lack of bubbles on that.
Although the Marathan bar didn’t smell like “minty cinnomon” to me, I did like the smell.
Some people have had problems with Lush bath bombs and/or bubble bars staining their tubs, fortunately, I didn’t have a problem with this.
There’s nothing that can ruin a nice relaxing bath like knowing you’ll have to scrub the tub as soon as you get out.
Posted in Beauty, Reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
There are many benefits to being a member of the Beauty Blog Network - one of them is the chance to review products that other members don’t review.
Thanks to Elke, the founder of The Beauty Blog Network I have the opportunity to review several new things for you - the first one is the Lancome Color Fever Lipstick in the color Prune drama girl.
I have to start out by saying that I love the name of this lipstick! Prune drama girl is just fun to say it, and of course, I’m one of those people that actually like prunes.
Prune drama girl is one of Lancome’s Color Fever Lipsticks.
According to the Lancome website:
COLOR FEVER delivers incredibly luminous, vibrant color. Color smoothly glides along your lips with sensuous comfort leaving lips feeling smooth and supple. LIGHT-MAXIMIZING PIGMENTS™ use light as a prism to bring you the most intense, lasting shine.
No need to compromise long wear for color, this lipcolor has it all – a long wear, hydrating texture that wraps your lips in cushioned comfort. Color stays true with no feathering or fading.
I was really impressed at how smooth the lipstick felt when I applied it. My lips felt moisturized, and I didn’t feel like I needed to immediately apply lip balm like I do with many lipsticks.
I was really impressed that I didn’t feel the need to apply lip balm for at least 30 minutes while I was wearing the lipstick - usually I need to apply lip balm more often than that when all I’m wearing is lip balm.
Of course since I do reapply lip balm so often, the color doesn’t last very long for me. I had to reapply the lipstick after about an hour.
I’m bad at describing colors, and I can’t seem to find a color description, but Prune Drama Girl is listed in the browns/neutrals sections on Lancome’s web site.
It seems to be more pinkish brown in real life, although on my monitor it appears to be more of a berry color.
I found that one coat of the Color Fever Lipstick is about two shades darker than my natural lip color.
If I apply more than one coat I get a darker, more brownish color, but it’s not overly brown.
Prune drama girl contains enough shimmer to make your lips look shiny, without having so much shimmer that it’s easily visible from a distance.
I really like this lipstick, and I love the color.
One coat is great for when I’m looking for a hint of color, while two coats can give me a more dramatic look.
I would definitely repurchase this.
And if you’re interested in purchasing it, I just read about Lancome’s Friends and Family Discount from Product Girl.
You can get a 20% discount and free shipping through November 26 by entering OURGIFTS in the promotional code box.
If you’re lucky enough to have a Lancome Boutique near you, you can print this page and take it into the boutique with you.
Posted in Beauty, Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, November 19th, 2007
Urban Decay’s family & friends discount event is going on now - you can get 30% off your order if you use the code FFH30.
There’s also a link to Hard Candy, and the code seems to work there as well!
Happy Shopping!
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