March Favorites- Beauty

Y'all I am so sorry I'm behind in blogging! Obviously these favorites are belated, but better late then never, right? I wrote these up right at the end of the month too, so they're all things I was loving in March.

Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer: I bought this through one of my favorite beauty sites, Beautylish. I had a $20 credit to Beautylish, so I got the bronzer for an amazing price ($15 total with shipping, it's regularly $30) and I was really excited to try this out. It's a great bronzer for fair skin because it's not too dark, and it's perfect for contouring because it's matte. Overall, I've LOVED it. It smells like chocolate, is smooth, blendable, and flattering for my fair skin. Also worth mentioning is Beautylish's awesome customer service. Each order comes with a handwritten note. How sweet is that?
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara:  An oldie but a goodie. I ran out of mascara and hadn't liked my last few purchases, so I went back to something tried and true. This is a great mascara  to give you jet black lashes with great volume. 'Nuff said.
Maybelline Babylips in Quenched: I kept this by my beside a lot this month. Even in the hospital, I reached for this constantly. It's just a great staple lip balm!
Illamasqua Nail Polish in Cameo: It's no secret that I LOVE nail polish. I had been coveting this polish for months and after my hospital stay I had to treat myself a little bit. Let me just say, I have a new favorite splurge brand. Oh my goodness, this polish has a gorgeous formula. The color is vibrant, the polish went on smoothly and evenly... no complaints. It's perfection.
Benefit High Beam: This has become a holy grail product for me. I pat it on under my eyes for an instant pick me up (which- let me tell you, I often need) and on my cheekbones for a little lift. It's gorgeous. It's a no brainer product and I'm in loooove.
Maybelline Master Precise Eye Studio Eyeliner in Black: This is the finest tip liquid eyeliner pen I've found and it's awesome. It's perfect for a quick little swipe of liner at the lashline, which is my go-to look. Definitely recommend this for anyone who likes the look of liquid liner but wants a little more control.

What did you love this month? Any great beauty recommendations?
Hope you're doing well!
Love,
Hannah

Pick A Pair: Mani-Pedi Combos You'll Love

I got the idea for this post when I was doing my last mani-pedi. I always try to come up with chic, unique, and eye-catching combos for my mani-pedis. It's easy to pull two polishes from the newest collection and have them go together, but it's much more fun to mix and match old favorites and watch them come to life in a new way.
This Spring's collections from Essie and OPI were a little disappointing in my opinion. There were definite winner polishes amongst the bunches, but I didn't end up purchasing much at all, which y'all know is unusual for me! So I've actually really been enjoying shopping my collection and rediscovering old favorites. These are just suggestions, and feel free to look at your collection and change the combos based on what you have. There are no rules when it comes to mani-pedi combos in my book. If you think it works, it probably does! I also want to say that I've set these up so that you can wear them with either polish on your fingers OR toes, so there's no right way to read this!

The combo that inspired this post! I love these polishes together! I think they work with either polish on fingers or toes. I'm currently wearing Ole Caliente on my fingers and Bikini So Teeny on my toes. It just feels more unexpected to have the baby blue on the toes, which I love. Plus, the hot coral on my fingers is to die for! But I'm thinking I'll reverse this one soon! 

This combo is a little cooler in nature. If you don't have Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue, you might have Essie's Butler Please. I like the idea of these two together because they both have purple tones to them. Also, I like to add the Revlon glitter in Radiant as an accent to Pacific Blue sometimes, so that's a fun addition if you're bored! Again, it's up to you which is for fingers and which is for toes!

Zoya Elodie is such a gorgeous color, I feel like it just looks like the inside of a grapefruit! I had to pair it with something equally dynamic, so I chose Essie's Boxer Shorts, which is a blue with shimmer and purple shades to it. This combo will feel really fresh as we head into spring. In a more conservative setting, Elodie works well on fingertips, but I think this combo works well both ways. 

I wanted to do a combo that felt like it would work for someone who had to be in an office setting. This includes a really gorgeous nude shimmer for fingertips from this January's Mariah Carey collection, and my favorite glossy hot pink shimmer from the Minnie Mouse Collection. The shimmers pair well together, and it's a good balance of grown up and girly!

Last, but not least are Where's my Chauffer and Pink Friday! I like these two together because they really bring out the true pastel tones in each other and they were both big sellers in their own collections. I think combined they'd look incredible and feel like Easter came a little early. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes! 

These are just a few of the combos I came up with this week while I shopped my collection. What are your favorite color combos for spring? Do you shop your collection, or do you have to have something new to keep inspiration flowing? Share your favorite pairs with me please, I'm always looking for a new duo!

Hope you're happy and healthy!
Love,
Hannah

Saturday Instagram Recap- Week 3

Hosted by Sara at Pearls & Curls

Here's my roundup for this week! Pretty quiet week but there are a few fun photos :)

OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts- a great grey

I got ambitious and decided to organize all my polish. It took a while!

All finished! This is all 150 ish polishes!

Clean, happy dorm! 

This might sum up my week the best.

Sweet, sleepy Gracie. 

Keeping it short and sweet this Saturday! Have a great weekend!
Stay beautiful,
Hannah

Emerald City Beauty- Oz the Great and Powerful Collaborations

It seems like the beauty world is all excited for the new Oz movie: Oz the Great and Powerful. To be honest, I hadn't heard a ton about the movie until I heard about the beauty products associated with it. 

Here's the trailer, though!

It looks like it might be pretty good. The movie comes out March 8th, and has a pretty outstanding cast!

What's even more exciting are some of  the gorgeous beauty products coming out with the movie. Both OPI and Urban Decay are lined up to do collections. We last saw this collaboration combo with Alice in Wonderland, and both of those collections were MAJOR hits.  The news about the OPI collection has been out for a little while (so forgive me if you've seen these photos!) but I wanted to feature both collections.

OPI OZ collection promo pic via StyleFrizz

2013 Softshades collection- Oz the Great and Powerful
(Via)

While I do think some of the shades look nice (I think there's a gold and black glitter in there!) I'm a little bummed that they picked Oz for the Softshades collection. Yawn. 
There are so many gorgeous options  that could be inspired by this movie. With all the witches (which seem to be the focus) you could do some pretty, moody shades. Also, where's the Emerald?  It's even the color of the year, come on!


Here's the more exciting part- the URBAN DECAY palettes! Featuring all new shades, these palettes are going to be huge.  The buzz about these started yesterday on People Style Watch,  and I'm sure by the time they launch in a few days they'll be very hyped! These seemed to be modelled after their new palette system, which means each shadow can be popped out if you so desire.  The palettes each  feature a look based on one of the witches, and they are going to be launched as soon as January 25th! They're $49 each, and feature 8 full size shadows (2 are duos, so really 10), a travel liner and a full size lip pencil.

I love that they created a dark, moodier palette for Theodora (the darker witch) and a light, pretty palette  for Glinda. Plus this packaging? Nice!
(Photo via A Model Recommends)

These are some of the promotional photos featuring looks from the palettes.

 I love both looks, it's going to be hard to choose! 

(Photos via Musings of a Muse)

Here's the inside of the palettes! Plus, they come with full size lip pencils!
(Photo via A Model Recommends)

Aren't those palettes just gorgeous? The only thing I feel like I'm missing is a true deep emerald. I think it would have worked well with the Theodora (darker) palette, too. Especially a bright emerald liner to pair with some of the neutrals. It would have been stunning! But really,  at the end of the day, I'm super excited about these two palettes,

Are you loving this collaboration? Which products are you dying to get?
Stay beautiful,
Hannah

Zoya Sale!

Need a little beginning of the semester incentive? You're in luck, Zoya's got a great sale going on this week! 

First off, you should make a Zoya Account. It's easy, free, and they send you coupons and info about sales  like this one.

ALSO if you click this link and sign up for an account with Zoya, you'll get an extra coupon for a free bottle of nail polish! Score!

So the current sale is for- drumroll please- 3 free nail polishes. That's right, you're getting 3 nail polishes for FREE! All you have to do is pay shipping. However, if you're like me and would rather spend more money on polish and less on shipping, you can put $25 worth of Zoya merchandize and they'll waive the shipping. So if you spend $25 you can get 3 free nail polishes and free shipping.
Either way, you're going to need the code: ZOYA2013

Now that the logistics are out of the way, let's talk polish. I've bought from Zoya Sales before, and I wanted to show you what I've bought and the past and what I'm looking at for this time! That way you can get some ideas to help fill your cart.

My first big Zoya sale haul. This was a great deal, and I really enjoyed the polishes I got.

More first Zoya sale. Top: Breezi, Zuza, and Charla
Bottom: Rica, Gloria, Cheryl

 Of the above group, I especially recommend Zuza, Rica, and Gloria.
Here are those 3 swatched via Scrangie:

Zuza

Rica

Gloria

 Zuza is by far one of my favorite teals. It's got great shimmer and looks gorgeous on the nail. Rica and Gloria are never done justice by swatch photos. They're both super dynamic and just plain gorgeous. I recommend all three of these for sure! The other three I bought last time were also great, but Zuza, Gloria, and Rica are my favorites!

Another Zoya purchase: Perrie. A great purple cream. 

Perrie is another one I recommend pretty often. It's just a really interesting purple. Not quite medium purple, and not really periwinkle or lilac either. It's like a fun, warmish purple.

So what am I looking at this time? Probably too many polishes. I thought I'd compile some swatches because I'm too much of a visual person to just give you a list. Plus, how do you know if you want a polish until you see it on the nail?
All swatches via Scrangie.

Blaze is a gorgeous red glitter with holographic glitter mixed in. So pretty! 

Megan- it's like a moody greyish lilac. Love! 

 Aurora- Purple holo glitter- lots of fun! 

Storm- Black glitter with holo. I think this would be a great start if you want to try the galaxy style manicure

Natty- I love this as an alternative to navy. It's a little lighter but still acts as a chic neutral.

Rekha- A true red with blue undertones.

Kimber- this is like Zuza's pink-coral sister. Need. 

Burke- raspberry goodness.

Shawn- a gorgeous deep green that doesn't quite get to forest green. Pretty! 

Dita- Pink with berry tones.

Moxie- True raspberry! 

Whitney- Bright pink with purple undertones.

Lo- A bright yellow toned pink

Elodie- Deep bright coral

Ok, I think that's probably too many for y'all to handle. I get so caught up looking at swatches and can't stop myself.
Make sure to look at Scrangie's blog- she's the reason I could put this post together. I think swatches are super important when picking out polish, so if you're considering a color, look up the swatch!
Are you shopping the Zoya sale? Let me know what you get!
I'll share what I ended up getting when it gets here!
Stay beautiful,
Hannah

Urban Decay's Naked Craze

I am a huge fan of Urban Decay. I bought the second Naked Palette the minute it came online with Danielle on the phone, both of us screaming in excitement. However, even I am starting to wonder if Urban Decay is trying too hard with all of the recent Naked releases.

This year we've seen the launch of several new Naked products. There have been quiet releases like the Naked glosses (which are just shades of their lip products) and a few other small products, to the very hyped releases of Naked Skin and the Naked Basics Palette. I've even got a preview of some of the new Naked products!

Let's take a look at the Naked Family:

From left to right: TOP- Naked 24/7 Glide On Lip Pencil, Naked  Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color. BOTTOM- Naked Lipgloss, Naked 2 Lipgloss
(all via Urban Decay)

Top left to right: Naked Palette, Naked 2 Palette.
Bottom: Naked Basics Palette
(all via Urban Decay)

Naked Skin Foundation
(all via Urban Decay)

Above are all the products currently available on Urban Decay's website. There is a great range of eye products with the three palettes- I actually love that the Naked Basics Palette was (almost) all matte. I think it compliments the other two palettes well, and is a great addition to any makeup wardrobe. In terms of lip products, I feel like these are the forgotten Naked products. They're only shades out of Urban Decay's lip products, so it's no surprise they weren't made into a big deal. Finally, the increasingly popular foundation line Naked Skin has been well-received in the beauty world, proving the Naked phenomenon is not just hype!

Urban Decay is taking it a step further with the next two Naked releases: Naked Flushed Palette and Naked Nail Set.

Naked Flushed: 
This product information was released New Year's Eve, and I imagine this product will get a lot of attention. The idea is that you can get a Naked, healthy flush with this palette containing a blush, bronzer, and highlighter!  My only preemptive complaint is that the included bronzer looks very orange. I would have preferred something with a chocolate tone, but I'm looking forward to reading reviews and seeing in depth swatches of the product.  The Naked Flushed Palette will be $30, which sounds like a good deal if the products perform well!

(These two images via Temptalia)

Naked Nail Set: 

(Image via Musings of a Muse)

As a true nail fanatic, I was thrilled to hear Urban Decay released (available now on Sephora's website) a set of nail polishes based on the famous Naked Palette. Once product images and information came out, I was a little disappointed to see that the nail polishes are all mini. I would have loved to see a mini set like this and individual, full size polishes released.  As is, the set runs $26 for 6 polishes at .16 oz each. To give you a comparison, most full size polishes are .5 oz, so these are quite small.


All in all, I am a fan of the Naked Product line from Urban Decay. The eyeshadow palettes are an incredible deal, and I'm definitely curious about the nail polish set! There are a few Naked products I'm not as eager to try, like the Naked Skin line, but I do think that Urban Decay has done a great job running on the success of the original Naked Palette.

What do you think of Urban Decay's Naked makeup line? Are there any products you're dying to buy? Or has Urban Decay taken it too far with the latest releases of Naked products?

Stay beautiful,
Hannah

Essie Collection

Oh, how my tune has changed.
Let me tell you a little story. A few years ago I wanted a bottle of dark purple polish and the famous OPI Lincoln Park After Dark was out of stock at my Ulta. So I grabbed an Essie polish. It was sticky, tacky, goopy and gross. A bad bottle. I assumed it was the BRAND, and at $8 a bottle I swore off of Essie forever.
Thank goodness for Danielle and Beauty Forum. Well, my wallet would beg to differ.
She convinced me to try another bottle and I am hooked. They last longer, and have a much better selection of colors. I'm more impressed with the collection every time I look at it when I go to Ulta and I'm happy with the 8-10 days of wear I get out of my at home mani/pedis.
I've bought 7 polishes in about 2 weeks. Oh my gosh, that's scary considering they're $8 a bottle. Ulta has been running those Buy 2, Get 1 free sales... I'm such a sucker! Already planning my next 3.
Here's what I've bought:

Lapis of Luxury

Splash of Grenadine

Cute As A Button

Funny Face

Tea & Crumpets (current mani)

Super Bossa Nova (current pedi)

Your Hut or Mine

What should I get next? I'm dying to grab Tart Deco, but my Ulta doesn't have it. I'll probably grab another three because I have $9 in points at Ulta so with the Buy 2, Get 1 Free I'd get 3 for less than the price of 1. I have an addiction, you guys!