Orly - Androgynie

Hey everyone!! I hope you are all having a great day so far!

I'm getting really excited because this Saturday I'm flying to Ohio to visit my extended family for two weeks! I haven't seen them in over a year now, so I'm very eager to start my trip. I'm a little nervous though because I've never flown by myself. I've flown with my parents and with Craig before, but this will be my first solo trip (for the first leg anyways). I'm also packing extremely light, which I'm finding is a much more stressful situation than I had initially thought.

For trips, I normally pack more than I need (who doesn't?). But this time around I'm experimenting with taking only the essentials, and it is so difficult. "Do I need this skirt? Probably not, you almost never wear skirts. But what if we go somewhere fancy and I need a skirt?! Hmm, maybe a dress would be better. How many dresses should I take? If I only take one I might get spaghetti stains on it, and then I won't be able to wear it at all!"

#firstworldproblems

Seriously, who worries about spaghetti stains?
ME.
When you live with a large Italian family, you make these things a priority.

In other news, I'm currently wearing Orly's Androgynie, a black jelly with gold glitter and large multi-colored hexagonal shaped glitter. Please excuse the baby nails:

This polish is so pretty. I went through a goth phase in my teen years and my mother forbade me from leaving the house with black nail polish, but I rebelled furiously. Ever since, I've tended to avoid black on my nails because I know she hates it, but every once and a while I'll pick out a shockingly dark color and feel super chic. This was one of those times.

Black polish just doesn't carry the same stigma as it used to. Look at the runway and designers, and you'll see black nails peppered all over. For goodness sake, Chanel released a black polish years ago.

Concerning Androgynie, this is a really pretty polish, but I'll have to admit I was slightly disappointed at first. Do you see the amount of hexagonal glitter on the side of the bottle?! I was so hoping that it would translate to the nail, but the glitter seems to get a little lost in the black base. I have found that you can get a much better effect if you use a flat black polish first, and then one coat of Androgynie. This allows the gold glitter to stand out, and the hexagons aren't buried. However, this eliminates the jellyish nature of the polish, so you'll have to decide which effect you want to go for. 

Sheesh, long post! That's all for now guys, see you on Friday!

Milani Baked Blush - Dolce Pink

Happy Friday everyone! Are you all excited for the weekend? We don't have anything special planned, but I've been on the lookout for carry-on luggage as I'm traveling to Ohio at the end of the month, so we may go out shopping. Most of my extended family lives in Ohio so I'm very excited to get to visit them!

As for today's beauty product of the day, I recently picked up the Milani Baked Blush in Dolce Pink.

This is a very pink blush with champagne shimmer throughout. This is actually quite glittery, so I would avoid this if you prefer more matte blushes. I wasn't expecting the crazy amount of glitter this had, and it nearly put me off. You can buff out the majority of the glitter, but there's a significant amount of sheen left over. 

Also, I find this to be really sheer. I have to apply it about 3 times to get any noticeable color on my cheeks, and by then it's shimmer overload and I have to buff it all out. As much as I like the color, I find this to be a pain. I could easily find a more matte blush for the same price. However, I will say that the packaging is quite lovely, I'm a fan of the gold mirror finish and it really stands out in my makeup bag.

Underneath the blush pan is a small compartment for a small brush that's included. I normally toss these, but this one is actually a pretty nice quality for being so tiny. I don't use the brush on a normal basis, but it might be nice when you're traveling and can't bring all your brushes.

So what do you think of the Milani Baked Blushes? Are these old-hat by now? I figured as much, since I'm quite late to every party. These retail for about $8 and are available on the Milani website. 

See you next week!

butter LONDON Victoriana

Another butter LONDON to show you today!

I bought two over Christmas, Marrow and this one: Victoriana.

 (Warning, this post is very picture-heavy)

I really fell in love with this one. (Can you tell? I couldn't leave any photos out!) The formula was pretty fabulous, not like Marrow which was thick and globby. This was smooth, pigmented, and sparkly without getting gritty.  It photographed more blue than it is in real life. In actuality has a nice green tint in some lights which turn it a murky lagoon color. 

Removal however...was a pain. The glitter was really stubborn and did NOT want to come off. I could have been patient and just let my nails soak under an acetone-dipped cotton ball, but instead I just scrubbed...and scrubbed...and scrubbed. (Probably wasn't good for my nail bed, which is why I've been taking a small break and letting my nails just grow a bit without polish for a week or so :)

In other news I have my first midterms of the semester tomorrow! I get very nervous before and during tests, and I really don't know how to deal with test anxiety. Does anyone have any good tips for handling this? I try to study a lot before exams so that I really know the material, but I still panic during the exam and do poorly :(