Valentine's Day Nails!

Okay so I know I haven't really been posting much this month and I feel totally guilty and neglectful but I've been super busy and stressed over work and this being the last month of the semester.
I did however spend a pretty significant amount of time on my nails last night for a Pretty & Polished contest so I figure I may as well share!! Hope you enjoy.
Inspiration is Naughty & Nice nails.
Right side is the naughty side, with black, glitter, and corsets.
Left is the nice side, with pink, glitter, and love letters with hearts. :)

I think I'm going to do all corsets this weekend. I think they're pretty cute!

Anyone have any awesome Valentine's Day nails ideas???

Let me see or describe it to me!

Xx Ashley C.

Guest Post! Melissa's January Glam Box Review!

Ok sorry it is a bit late but I am starting to thaw out now,only to find out we could be getting snow on Wed! Yes Im in Texas! -ok rant over. Now on to the fabulous stuff I got!

Ok the first thing I ripped into was the candy so there is no picture of it. Im sorry but you can't really blame me! It was chocolate! And it was delicious I have no regrets - plus my kids would have found it and sampled it for me and then how would I be able to tell you how awesome it was?

Ok so now that I have justified my eating the chocolate before I could take a picture of it, let's get to those awesome candles ! Omg the only complaint I have is that they really made me crave a latte! Good thing I used them in the kitchen next to a full pot of coffee! If you have not checked this candle company out yet you should, you won't be disappointed!

Next we have this interesting make your own perfume kit. It's pretty potent even in the plastic wrap. But if you like musky scents this is for you.

 Now for my most looked forward to item in the box! The mineral shadows :) One thing I love about this company is the personal care they put into to each box. I told them I have hazel eyes but lately they have been blue but I also own alot of brown shadows, so I received deep plum and silver so if I want a change of pace there it is. They did come with a primer but I don't use that for my shadows but they are shimmery in the tube so I am gonna use them for when I feel lazy about putting on makeup or wake up late.

The 2nd most looked forward to item well wished for item was this great loofa foot soap. It could not come at a better time since like I said with this cold snap and it being 25 out it took some pretty convincing conversions in my head to jump in the shower LOL. The only complaint I kinda have is that it's pretty big and that can be good for some but I put my special soap in a travel soap container so my kids won't use all my stuff so I had to cut it in half . If they made smaller bars that would be great!

Also Im especially fond of the sample of the HazelBrooke Exfoliating scrub and the Soaplandia samples. Most would want to use them in the shower and im sure they work great for that but I used them after work (Im a housekeeper so my hands go through ALOT) and I have to say that my hands have done a 180.
The rose mist from Mineral Fountain Is also great. But I could be a bit biased since roses are my favorite flower too. Yes I fully admit to spritzing some on my pillows in the bedroom,I like the fact that again I don't need much maybe even half a spritz . So far my hubs has not complained so I must be doing it right!

The last surprise I got in my box was more polish remover pads! You have no idea how happy I was to get these, again with the personal care we get! I raved about them in my last glam box review, and I'm really being truthful these are the only thing I have used since I started getting glam box and I see a real improvement in my nails ! Btw you can order them on their site if you just want the polish remover pads or if your still on the fence about a full sz box you can always get a mini mystery bag!
And again if you do order anything from this fabulous up and coming company please let them know that Melissa Spangle sent you!
Ok guys see you next review! I have mystery bags coming so I'll be sure to know what goodies I get!
-Melissa

Elf Beauty Book Nude Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches!

Sooo I finally got my hands on a neutral Elf palette!!! Also on sale at Walgreen's for only $2.50 like the other one. I'm pretty excited about it, and I've already used it, and it is definitely great for work makeup!!!

Like the last one, it contains 9 shades, an eyeliner pencil, and a sponge applicator that I won't use.

Here's what it looks like opened up, and the directions for the perfect nude eye look. :)

And here's a little close view of the inside. I've mostly only used the lighter colors.

Here's swatches, with flash. Some of the colors are super pigmented, others are pretty light, but they work on my eyelids. Just not my arm. :D

And here's no flash, to give you a better idea of what that super pigmented awesome green and gold look like. :)

The verdict: While not as pigmented as the other palette. Still worth $2.50 on clearance. They still are long lasting, and really pretty. I like that some of the colors are matte, and others are shimmer. I like variety. 

Still want to own every Elf eyeshadow palette ever!!!

I swear some Nail Polish posts are coming your way soon! I haven't painted my nails in days because ever since I got HK Girl topcoat, my manis last forever! Rock!

Xx Ashley C.

January Glam Box 2014 Unboxing!!

My first Glam Box is FINALLY HERE!!! And I must say that I am MORE than pleased!!!
If you don't already know Glam Box LLC is a BRAND NEW subscription box program that focuses on small business owners. It was packed FULL of awesome samples and full sized products. It only costs $10 + $4.95 shipping in the US for the larger sized box and if you want to sign up make sure and click HERE and let them know Ashley Combs referred you!
P.S. If you're in Canada, it's $10 + $10 which is still a pretty good deal for the amount you get!
Here's a first look at the box! SPOILER ALERT!

Ipsy January 2014 Unboxing!

For those of you who don't know what Ipsy is, is a monthly subscription program where around the middle of the month, for only $10 every month you receive a cute little bag filled with 4-5 deluxe size/full size makeup/beauty/skincare items. I personally love Ipsy aside from the issues I had last month. This months bag for me was not too shabby either. Alot of people were complaining because it was primarily skincare items, but in my opinion we haven't received skincare in a long time so it works for me.

If you're interested in signing up for Ipsy or to learn more use my referral link HERE!!
Let's begin! SPOILER ALERT!

January 2014 Birchbox Unboxing!

I'm so glad I didn't cancel Birchbox after December's subpar one. January's box was AWESOME!! I'm super happy with everything I received I even got the Nail Rock color I was wanting! :)
The best part about Birchbox is it's only $10 a month for a box full of 4-5 Deluxe Samples (sometimes fullsize) of higher end brands. They also offer "Birchbox finds" that are drugstore brands. This month's contained a coupon for $3 off Burt's Bees!
If you'd like to sign up, please use my referral link HERE!
Another great thing about Birchbox is you accrue points for reviewing your items, and you can redeem them for fullsize products in their store, or even a gift subscription and get extra boxes for free! :)
Spoiler Alert!

Schick Hydro Silk BzzAgent BzzKit!

I'm not sure if you guys know this or not, but I'm a free sample junkie. I love them. Pinchme.com (they send boxes of samples that I'm pretty sure they release every Tuesday if you want to sign up use my referral HERE. It's 100% free and I've gotten ALL KINDS of stuff from lotion to soap to perfume to a chocolate) and Shop4freebies.com (just a regular site that lists lots of samples)are my favorite sites. I was searching for new ones the other day and ran across BzzAgent!! I did a little research and it seemed pretty cool so I signed up, and did like a million profile surveys. 

I'm pretty new with them but here is what I am gathering. It seems to be kind of like Influenster. You get a score that is dependent on your activity level, as well as your social media accounts. You do profile surveys that determine what "BzzKits" you're eligible. They are really short, but there's a ton of them. It seems to work though, because there's definitely some kits I wouldn't want to get (men's beard trimmer, Yeah don't need that). Anyway, so they give you a score and then you get approved for these Bzzkit things. Within a week or two of signing up I was already approved for one! A good one at that! Schick Hydro Silks are my FAVORITE razor, but I find the original ones to be a bit too harsh for my skin. They approved me for the Sensitive skin hydro silk program. I received it today and it's a pretty great free kit!

Not only did it come with a Schick Hydro Silk razor, but it came with 2 refills, a thingy to hang it in the shower, a coupon for free Skintimate shave gel, and FOUR $4 off razor coupons!!!  

See! How awesome is this!?

Now that I have it, I'm just waiting for the activities to open up so I can start reviewing!! 

If you're not a member of this site totally sign up! Because I've been waiting for a box from Influenster and have basically given up, but I know BzzKit actually sends them because my friend Melissa received a kit too for something else! They don't do referrals but head over to their WEBSITE HERE and sign up!

Ashley's Top Ten Most Hated Beauty Products!

So I'm having a beauty writer's block right now... I'm waiting for so many things to come to me in the mail and I don't really have anything SUPER fantastic to review or post about. I figure this will be a pretty fun little post, because there really are so many things makeup, skincare, or otherwise that I absolutely despise. Sorry in advance if you love any of these! I just really hate them!
Let's begin!

1. Psssst Dry Shampoo - Let me start by saying I wanted to love this product so much. I wanted to try it so bad and was super stoked to get it on sale at Walgreens. I think that's why my hatred is so extreme. Unfortunately I still use it, because I'm not a wasteful person, and I don't have any other dry shampoo. It leaves a white residue in my hair, doesn't make my hair any less oily than it originally was, and gives me NO added volume what so ever. Won't buy again. You shouldn't either.
   
2. Maybelline Fit Me Foundation - The liquid kind. This stuff is wretched. It makes my face look awful. By the end of the day, even if I use a face primer, it leaves like... stains around my eyebrows where the foundation used to be all over my face, but it isn't by the end of the day. Not to mention is makes me break out like a maniac, and leaves my face with like a film of nasty makeup oil gunk.
   
3. Pixi Lash Booster Mascara - Or anything Pixi for that matter. What a crummy makeup line. And overpriced too.. This crap is like the most unpigmented makeup ever. I wish Ipsy would STOP sending me it. The mascara is double bad though. It's basically like you don't even have any on. I would NEVER. EVER. pay for this brand of makeup. EVER.
   
4. Manic Panic Hair Dye- If you're looking for a brightly colored hair dye that is going to actually last through more than one wash, don't get  this. I made the mistake like three times buying this crap from Sally's. It literally washes out after you wash your hair once. I've tried the blue, purple, and cotton candy pink color and my hair has looked like crap each time. Buy something really awesome like Special Effects. :) 
   
5. Sheer Cover Mineral Makeup - I bought this because if I bought it, I got $10 back on Inbox Dollars, which essentially made it free. It was horrible. I love mineral makeup, ALOT. But this stuff seriously sucks. It doesn't go on evenly, the concealer that came with it was really cakey, and the brush that came with it barely picked anything up. Definitely go with Bare Minerals if you're going to buy mineral makeup. They may cost more, but there is a reason for that. 
   
6. Julep - Dakota - Maybe it's my skin tone, but this is seriously the ugliest nail polish color I have ever seen in my whole entire life. Used it once, No one will buy it. Please buy it from me!
   
7. The Falsies Mascara - If you're looking for a mascara that is flakey as hell and ends up all over your face by the end of the day, this is for you!!! I wanted to love this, because it does, in fact make my eyelashes noticeable bigger, but it ends up like under my contacts somehow and all over my face. Hate it. 
   
8. Chanel No. 5 Perfume- I swear one day at work my entire floor smelled like this. It was like a bucket of old lady exploded all over my work. I can't stand this stuff. It smells so bad.
   
9. Any Lippie in the color CORAL - I will wear the hell out of some coral eyeshadow. But coral lipsticks, glosses, pencils, crayons, whatever, are horrendous on me. I tried. Then I saw a picture of myself and thought. Wow. I look like my grandmother. Never again. 
   
10. Kohl Eyeliner - Any Brand. Hell, any pencil liner. Hate it all. It smears within an hour. What a waste of money. Spend the extra 6 bucks on some real eyeliner instead of applying your Kohl liner 20 times a day just to make sure it's still there. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! I shouldn't have to light my eyeliner pencil on fire just to make sure it's black enough either. Just saying!
    

So there you have it!!! Those are the TOP TEN things I hate the most. Is there anything in particular any of you absolutely despise?? I'd love to hear about it! :)
Happy Saturday!
Xx Ashley C.

Elf Party Eye Shadow Book Review & Swatches!

As many of you guys may already know, I can't resist a Walgreen's beauty deal. I've been eyeing the Elf Christmas sets for some time now, but decided to hold off until clearance time because I didn't know if they'd be any good. So glad I did!!

I want to start by saying I bought this palette not expecting much. I don't think I own any other Elf eyeshadow, even though I do use a couple of their products on a semi regular basis (cream eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, and eyeshadow primer). I purchased this palette for $2.50 and now I must own every single eyeshadow book there is.

The colors are highly pigmented, NO NOT CREASE at all, and go on so so buttery and smooth. This palette is infinitely better than the Nyx one I just reviewed, and I am officially in search of a neutral Elf palette. For such a cheap price, you really can't beat the color payoff here. I'd even pay full price for one. :)

Who's ready for some swatches!!?!!?!

Here is the beauty "book" opened up. As you can see, it contains 9 shadows, a mini eyeliner pencil, and a brush. I won't be using the eyeliner pencil because I tried it and it sucks. & I have my MAC brushes. But it's a nice addition for beginners.

On the left side there is a page that gives you directions on how to use the palette. This is pretty neat, especially for beginners who want to know how to make their makeup look like it's professionally done.

On the other side is the eyeshadows. It also comes with a little mirror that would be nice for touchups.

And here are the swatches! As well as the eyeliner pencil. This photo is with Flash.

And here is one without.

Like I said I'm really really surprised with how much I love this little eyeshadow palette. The colors are GREAT and super bright. They are just the right amount of shimmery without being overpoweringly glittery and I didn't notice any fall out either which is pretty awesome in my opinion! I'm going to try out the Silver color and the pink tonight!

Do any of you have this palette and LOVE it? Anyone have any recommendations for Elf products they love!?

Until next time!

Xx Ashley C.

Nyx Dreamcatcher Palette Review!

I went to Ulta the other day to return some lipgloss and spotted these BEAUTIFUL new eyeshadow palettes by Nyx! They're called Dream Catcher palettes and are filled with 10 gorgeous baked eyeshadows. I purchased the one in the shade "Golden Horizons" and so far I really like it, so I figured I would share. The best part about baked eyeshadow is that you can use it wet or dry. I prefer to use it wet to really bring out the pigment in it. :)
I'm pretty new to Nyx eyeshadow. Aside from the one I received a few months back from Ipsy, this is really all I own. It has it's pros and cons from what I can see. Pros would be, they're fairly cheap ($14.99 but Ulta always has coupons, I paid about $12), tons of colors, and seem to have long lasting power with no visible creasing. Cons would be some of the colors in this palette I want to love, but they go on kind of weird. Who's ready for some swatches!!!!?

Here it is when I first purchased it. It's a really nice little neutral palette. There is only one gold color, so I don't really know why it's called "Golden Horizons" but whatever. The color in the top left and the one directly next to the white on the bottom row are my favorites.

Here's the best picture I could get with my phone tonight of all the colors. This is dry, applied with a brush. The first color that I love so much is really shimmery, and reminds me of Urban Decay's Midnight Cowboy Rides Again. Lots of glitter. A little fallout. Just like it.

Here is a photo of both dry (on the top) and wet (bottom) application. I prefer this eyeshadow wet, as it is MUCH more pigmented. The color that I was talking about earlier that is a little weird is the 2nd color, the purple one. When you first apply it... it's kind of clumpy like and you have to reallllly work it in, but then it turns into a really nice purple color. I also really like the gold/bronze color and the one right next to the white.

Here is a really crummy picture of what it looks like on. The colors are very easily blended. I used the pink shade, the brown shimmery one, the shimmer dark grey, and the light shimmery one for highlight.

FYI Starlooks Kohl eyeliner is the worst. Someone remind me not to use it when I'm going to be taking blog photos.

& here's all my makeup just so you guys don't think I'm a total hot mess.

Happy New Year everyone!

Is there anything you'd like to see on the blog this year?

Xx Ashley C.

New Years Nails! #NOTD

So I did these a couple nights ago and totally forgot to post them! I was going out with some friends for sushi and drinks for new years eve and wanted my nails to be a bit festive! So I did these! I hope you enjoy!

I used (of course) Cotton Buds by butter London, Union Jack Black by butter London, and Oscar by Julep.

Top coat was Hardwear by butter London, I am trying to convert myself from Julep Freedom Top Coat!

I hope all of you out there that checks out this blog has a wonder 2014 year and had a safe but FUN newyears eve celebration. 

<3 Chynel Webb