4 Days, 4 Nights - Cabo

Like most vacations, this one came to an end all too soon.
Cabo was a great time - lots of good food, drinks and amazing beaches. The resort we stayed at was beautiful and especially conducive to relaxation. Most of our time was spent poolside, on the beach, or at the bar, but we did venture out to go parasailing and to the famous stone arches.

Lover's Beach

Me sporting my signature look of the trip: crop top and shorts

The impressive arches

Pelicans by the beach

From our balcony

Poolside necessities: beach bag, nook, sandals, and several mixed drinks

...and a good quesadilla 

The sunset that marked our last night =(

It was almost impossible to leave, but it's nice to be home with more time to enjoy the summer.
This trip and my previous haul have left me with no desire to spend money, so I will really have to start getting creative with these blog posts; having a blog about makeup and shopping can get a little expensive sometimes...as you probably may know =x

~Vida

A Few Purchases

I recently scored two gift cards - one for Nordstroms and one for Bloomingdales - just in time for a make up binge shopping trip. I normally don't buy several products in one trip, especially not at department stores, so it was super satisfying to be able to get a bunch of stuff all at once. 

I figured I would do this quick haul as my last post before I go off to Cabo for a little vacay with my good friend Nisha, who also blogs =). Hopefully I can do a few vacation related posts while we're there? 

Anyways, I haven't used this stuff properly yet, but I can comment on my first impressions and show you how beautiful they are.

Lots of lovely things that I'm really excited about =D

My first Dior product! Yay =D. I originally wanted to get a blush, but I was a little underwhelmed by the color selection so I went for this gorgeous highlighting powder, amber diamond. It is so beautiful I don't even want to touch it. The packaging is so luxurious; the little velvet pouch it comes in makes me so happy. It's buttery smooth and the color is gorgeous - I can't wait to use this. 

I also got the Clarins instant light natural lip perfector in 02. I've been wanting one of these for a while, as many people say it's the best lip gloss ever. This pinky peachy color is probably my favorite shade of makeup, although it's very sheer so the color doesn't show up that much on my pigmented lips. The formula is light and completely non-sticky and I have a feeling I'm going to love this. 

I mentioned before that I love the Bobbi Brown long-wear cream shadows...so I got another one in the shade ballet pink. This one is a pale rosey pink color with some shimmer in it. I don't usually wear pinks on my lids, but this one is really light so I thought I'd give it a try. The color looks really pretty in the pot, but is not as striking on my lids. Still not sure how I feel about this...

MAC peaches sheertone blush. I'm surprised that I didn't have a shade like this in my collection because this is the color for me. It is also supposed to be a dupe for Illamasqua's lover, which I am excited about.

And finally from The Body Shop, I got this bronzer...for 5 dollars! It retails for around $18 and I was shocked because I have been stalking this out for the longest time - I would literally go into The Body Shop just to look at it, and walk out without it. This is the shade 01. It is matte and a lot warmer than hoola. It also has a really nice silky finish and good pigmentation. Love the gold packaging too =)

I am happy now, and probably will not be buying any more makeup anytime soon. Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves; I'll be back next week, hopefully with some fun posts!

~Vida

Wednesday Sights

Straw hats can change the look of an outfit completely. I've been experimenting with different outfits to wear this with, but I haven't been brave enough to wear it out yet =x. 

My weekend carryall/beach bag. This ginormous bag is from Urban outfitters and it is great for traveling on short trips. How cute is the flower patterned lining? It is super girly, but I love it. 

Playing around with my camera in my mom's garden. I've been taking a few photography classes and they've really helped make sense of my dslr. 

I am currently obsessed with home decor/crafting books. I mentioned before that I will be getting an apartment in ny and I really want to make it homey and stylishly comfortable. I have no idea where to start, so I've been using these books as inspiration. One of my favorites is Domino, from the editors of the discontinued Domino magazine. As I don't have any issues of Domino, I was really excited to get this. It has amazing photos, unique ideas, and really helpful tips.

Over the past few months I have accumulated a scary pile of fashion and beauty magazines. I hate the clutter, but I don't have the heart to throw them away. I am thinking I need to go through them, pick out some inspirational pages, and leave the rest to recycle. 

   

And finally, the sweetest dog ever. 

Thanks for sticking through all my randomness, and welcome to my new followers! 

~Vida

Products I'm loving

I really thought that I would be blogging more now that I am on my summer break, but it's actually quite the opposite and I'm not proud of it. Apart from just being lazy, I've also been trying to buy less makeup (trying being the key word), which means I need to dig for blogging inspiration in my existing collection. Although, I feel a binge makeup haul coming on...

Anyhow, I wanted to do one of my favorite kinds of posts and share with you a few products I've been loving. There's not too many things as makeup and hot weather simply do not go well together. 

I can't believe I haven't hopped on the mineralize skinfinish natural bandwagon until now. I can't get enough of this stuff. For now I have been using it as my base with some concealer underneath. It gives a really nice glow without being overdone, and at the same time helps minimize shine in my t-zone. Its lasting power is questionable, so touch-ups may be necessary. I don't mind though because I love using it, especially with my angled flat top kabuki!

MAC's well dressed, an oldie but goodie. This is probably one of my most reached for blushes. I haven't been laying out in the sun a lot so I'm still not too tan for this to show up on me. It's a blush that I have to pile on for it to work, but I like that it is almost impossible to overdo. I've heard that Illamasqua's katie blush was a similar, but more pigmented version, so I will have to try that.

I've already talked about the Covergirl eye enhancers here. They are on the bit on the less pigmented side, but I guess I really like them for a more subtle, light look. They also work well with a good paint pot as a base. 

I have also been loving this little e.l.f. elements customizable palette. This costs $1 and holds four MAC sized eye shadows. I decided that instead of getting more 15 pan MAC palettes, I want to just get these little quad palettes. They are small and portable and come with a little mirror on the inside. They feel pretty durable and are a great alternative to the MAC palettes. Currently, it is housing some of my MAC neutrals that I like to have with me on the go. 

Revlon pink pout lipstick is such a pretty pink lipstick. It also has a slightly lavender tone to it, and I seriously fell in love with this color when I saw it through the clear plastic top, and even more so when I put it on my lips! Another successful Revlon lipstick - matte, but glides on smooth, easy to whack on, and beautifully pigmented. 

Another Revlon lip product that needs no introduction, peach petal lip gloss. This is the perfect lip gloss. When people talked about lip glosses that weren't sticky, I could never understand it. After trying this one, I can finally see how a lip gloss could be not sticky. A great all purpose gloss, this is one to throw in your purse. 

That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you've been loving =).

~Vida

Covergirl Eye Enhancers

I recently found these when I went on what started as a drugstore run for some top coat. I don't know what attracted me to them because in the past I haven't really liked any of the Covergirl cosmetics nor do I usually pick up eye shadows from the drugstore. I'm glad I did though because I ended up loving them so much. There were a few sets in the collection that seemed really unwearable or not my style, but I would say the majority of them were very tempting. I had trouble picking out just two and I am hoping to get more in the future. The two that I picked out are urban basics and shimmering sands.

Shimmering sands is a beautiful neutral trio. The shades include a chocolatey taupe, a greyish gold taupe, and a light frosty pink - all of which contain shimmer. I love all these shades, they are super wearable, but are still interesting and have a lot of dimension.

Urban basics is probably my favorite out of the two, mostly because of the pale lavender color on the left. It is such a pretty matte shade, one that I have been looking for in more high end brands and I am so happy to have found it in this 6 dollar quad. To me, it is a very spring/summer shade and is surprisingly wearable/flattering. The other shades include a shimmery taupe, which is very similar to Urban Decays' sidecar, a super glittery light pink (boo), and a shimmery off-white color.

The first two shades in this quad make it so worth it, even with the two rather crappy highlight shades in it.
All of these eye shadows are soft, pigmented, and last all day with a good primer on underneath. The cheap plastic packaging is disappointing, but doesn't take away from how beautiful these shadows are!


I am surprised at how much I like them, and I would really recommend anyone to check out the other colors and get one, especially because they are currently buy 1 get 1 50% off at CVS!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed,

~Vida

Sleek Scandalous Blush

Here is Sleek Scandalous, probably one of the scariest looking blushes I own. It is bright red; quite different from the run of the mill pinks, peaches, and corals that we tend to see in blushes. When I first saw this I was at first shocked, but figured that it would be one of those blushes that looks scary in the pan, but gives a really pretty, unique color on the cheek. 

The packaging of these blushes is really nice; it is a lot smaller in person than I imagined, which makes it great for travelling and it still carries a significant amount of product (.28 oz). Not that I will even need half of that amount in my lifetime considering how little of this you need of this. Literally one light dab is enough for each cheek. 

Scandalous is a true matte red color - there are no orange or pink undertones, simply bright red. When swatched it looks like it should be a lipstick color rather than a blush color. It does take a bit of work to blend it in evenly as the powder does not transfer very well, but this is easily done with my MAC 109. 

This blush reminds me a lot of MAC's Virgin Isle Cream Colour Base, one of my favorite blushes, which I believe is a pro product. However, when swatched Virign Isle looks a lot more 

The picture is making it look more like a brick red, but in person it is much more vibrant!

On the cheek, I feel that both blushes give a really similar effect, although virgin isle may be a bit more flattering because of its pink undertones. Scandalous looks great with some bronzer; it really brightens up the face and makes you look healthy and fresh. It would also work great in the wintertime, for that English rose look. 

I love blush colors like these. They give you a look like you've just been out in the sun for the day and are a refreshing change for the summer. 

Would you try this? Or does the color in the pan turn you away?

~Vida

Faking It

Now that I am not in school I can finally do something that I have been craving - I can wear long nails! While I was still in school I worked in a research lab and was around a bunch of science academics - an environment that I would never have felt comfortable wearing fake nails. But now I'm free! And I decided to celebrate with a box of Kiss everlasting French nails. 

I saw this petite version and thought it would be great because I don't like having very long obvious nails. 

They have made these nails essentially fool proof with little numbered tabs that make it easy to apply and track which nails go on which fingers. The glue smells like crazy glue, which is a little scary to put on your nails, but I applied a thin layer of nude polish before putting these on so hopefully that will help to protect my natural nails. 

I really like how they turned out very natural looking, and it took me probably the same, if not less, time that it would have taken for me to paint my nails. They last for up to 7 days, even though I will probably get sick of them before that and want to go back to my brightly colored nail polishes. Overall, these are a nice treat and keep me from going to the salon when I'm in a fake nail fix =).

~Vida