Birchbox | September 2012

Today, I finally received my September Birchbox! Some things I'm excited for, some things just okay, but overall, I am still a huge Birchbox fan! The theme of this box is the September Issue, so I was excited to receive some great items to get me through the season.

Box Breakdown

• Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel | 50 mL
• Jouer Matte Moisture Tint | Linen  2.3 mL
• Color Club | Tweet Me 7 mL
• Twirl by Kate Spade
• Twistband | Purple Lace
• Mighty Leaf Tea | Green Tea Tropical, Vanilla Bean, & Chamomile Citrus

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Urban Decay & the High Line

New York Fashion Week is a crazy time in NYC! There are so many events going on. Unfortunately, many are not open to everyone and those that are fill up fast! So when I saw that Urban Decay was giving out coffee & samples in Chelsea I headed straight there!

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Guild Wars 2 Nail Art

Last week, a new online computer game was released, Guild Wars 2. I have been hearing all about it because of my incredibly nerdy boyfriend. The launch date was August 25 for people that pre-purchased the game, and the open release was August 28. Guild Wars 2 is an MMO, so you play online with a bunch of other people, leveling your character, completing events, and exploring the world. It is along the likes of World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars The Old Republic, among others. After knowing Preston for so long my nerdiness was amped up to the extreme as well, and I played a lotttt of WOW. So, I was really excited to play Guild Wars 2 because it had the things I loved about WOW and also some different aspects that seemed to fit my wants in a video game even better. Unfortunately, they don't have a Mac client, so I have been playing on Preston's account. I am a Norn Ranger, and she is prettyyy cool. ;]

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Rainbow Water Marble

I am so excited for fall! I can't wait to drink Pumpkin Spiced Lattes while wearing a chunky sweater & boots. But after finishing my first week of classes, I had the feeling, "Maybe I'm not so ready for fall..." So to enjoy the last of warm weather and bright colours, I did a water marble using some of my new Color Club polishes.

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Most Worn Tag | Summer 2012

The last week for summer for me consists of thoughts of the upcoming fall. My mind is so set on what the next season will bring that I tend to forget to live in the present and enjoy the summer while it lasts. So today's post is a reflection on my most worn beauty & fashion products of the summer. This is based off the popular YouTube beauty tag "Most Worn-Summer Edition." Though, it's meant to be a video, I thought it was a great idea for a blog post. There are 12 questions on your most worn beauty & fashion items of the summer and at the end you are supposed to tag some fellow beauty vloggers (or bloggers) to answer the questions too. So whatever form of media you use, consider yourself tagged!

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Leopard Family Nail Art

 

I tried my first leopard print mani a couple of weeks ago. I have an especially small nail polish collection for being such an enthusiast. So in searching my polishes, I realized I had no browns for a natural leopard print. So, I opted for a monochrome black & white print. I call it the Snow Leopard! I followed instructions from Chalkboard Nails, one of my favourite nail blogs. Her designs are always so neat!

I am not a big fan of animal prints, but I knew my little cousins would love it. I was visiting my father's side of the family at a cabin on lake Tulaby, in Minnesota. It was so great being there, but by the end my nails were broken, my legs bruised, and my skin sunburned! Definitely worth it though!

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Coral & Gold

So before I left for my family trip to Minnesota, I painted my nails in the perfect summer colour: coral. I then added some elegance with a gold glitter gradient. I loved how this combination looked. It was just so pretty! I couldn't stop staring at my nails...and I had plenty of time to do so while on the plane from New York City to Minneapolis!

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Birchbox | August 2012

It's that time again! I just got my August 2012 Birchbox in the mail today! The theme is Beauty School and 15% of proceeds from Birchbox Shop purchases will be donated to Pencils of Promise, with the goal to build a school in Central America. Anyway, I love when companies give back, and I love the school theme. School supply shopping is my favourite time of year!

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Birchbox Cynthia Rowley by Band-Aid

Remember the Birchbox Cynthia Rowley by Band-Aid giveaway, I entered over a month ago? Well, I won & I am so excited! I don't think I have ever won anything in my life & for it to be something that I love & worked on really feels great!

The contest was on Birchbox's Pinterest site. You needed to post a picture of your nails while wearing a Band-Aid. I had just received my first Birchbox ever & I actually received the Cynthia Rowley Band-Aids in my box, so I was so excited to check them out for inspiration for a mani.

 

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Ikat Nails

So I just returned from a trip to Florida a few days ago. I had such an amazing time seeing my family, Preston's family, and a few friends! Before I left, I painted my nails using an Ikat design inspired by this video by Miss Jen Fabulous. I have been watching so many of her videos lately. She shows great designs and demonstrates them in such a simple, easy way.

I have been loving the Ikat design for clothing, home goods, and accessories and was so excited to see how to translate this into nail art.

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Two Ways | Color Club Blue-Ming

In my July Birchbox, I received a mini bottle of Color Club nail polish in Blue-Ming. The colour is a bright mint. It is gorgeous! So perfect for summer! I did have some issues with the formula of the polish but think it might be because it's a mini bottle. I found the polish to be very thick & the brush was difficult to work with (very stiff and the ends kinda of frayed out.) Unfortunately,  I ended up with some bubbles in my application. However, it's a beautiful colour, very opaque, & has a nice shiny finish.

Two coats of Blue-Ming without topcoat

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Birchbox | July 2012

I just received my July Birchbox in the mail today! It is always so exciting to get this little pink box in the mail. I was a little nervous that I might not like this box because after seeing the Sneak Peek; I just wasn't too thrilled with the products they showed. So after I received the notification that my box shipped, I immediately started scouring youtube for unboxing videos. My fears intensified as I saw more and more boxes that were just so-so. I kept my hopes up that my box would be different since the main feature of their boxes was the Eyeko Skinny Liner, and I had just got that last month so, though I absolutely love it, I was hoping not to get a repeat.

 Anyway, here is my box!

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Summer Gradient Nails

My manicure for this week is a gradient using Zoya Zuza (Aqua Blue) and Zoya Kimber (Strawberry Pink.) I love the Zoya Surf collection. The colours are so beautiful & sparkly! These colours were part of my mini Pinterest trio (which I used in my first water marble.) & I have Zoya Myrta as my pedicure, so it wouldn't feel left out! Again, I couldn't just pick one colour to paint my nails!

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Happy Fourth of July

Here is a quick post of my nails to celebrate Independence Day! I wanted to do something inspired by the flag but not too literal. So, I decided to try a water marble again, thinking the colours would appear to be fabric blowing in the wind. I tried two different concepts. For the first one, I used red, white, & blue polishes for the marble and covered that with a blue glitter top coat. For the second one, I used red & white on all nails except my accent nail which I used blue & white. The polishes I used weren't the best for marbling, but I like how it turned out!

I hope you have an amazing Fourth of July! I am going to miss my Jax Beach firework tradition with my mom but am happy to spend my first fourth in New York!

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Gold & Mint Tape Mani

So I have another nail art post today.  I did a tape mani using a mint polish as my base, painted over it with a mattifying polish, then finished it off with a gold glitter accent.

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