Lady C's Holiday Stash & Tutorial Part II

Hi beauty lovers! Click here to watch Part II, where I use the products I got for Christmas. Enjoy...

My Christmas Stash- Product Review

Happy Holidays, everyone! I got some great beauty gifts for Christmas this year and wanted to share them with you. I also gave the makeup studio walls a makeover with my sister-in-law Corine, check them out in the video below! Special shout out to Youtube for always choosing the ugliest photo stills of me for each vid. lol

PRODUCTS

Chantal's Lush Gifts

Comforter Bubble Bar

Blackberry Bath Bomb

Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

Allyson's Gifts

NYX Lip Liners

Urban Decay 24/7 eye liners

Urban Decay Naked Palette

My Purchases

Beauty Blender Sponge

Lise Watier Base Miracle Pore Minimizing Primer

How to Shape Your Eyebrows

Tired of paying the wax lady mucho dinero every two weeks to groom your brows? Neglecting your brows because you don't even know where to start? Click on the video below for some quick and easy ways to keep your brows tamed. Enjoy!

PRODUCTS USED: 

MAC #266 Angle brush

MAC Trimming Scissors

MAC Slant-Edge Tweezer

MAC Brun Eyeshadow

Makeup For Ever Eyebrow Correcting Gel in #3

Frosty Makes an Appearance

Once again, I was inspired by Cute Polish's latest video for this design. I can't help by smile every time I look down at my fingers! 

PRODUCTS USED:

Black Magic By Milani -- I used this for the snowman's eyes and mouth, with a dotting tool.

White on White By China Glaze- I applied 2 coats of this for the base.

Unconditionally Fabulous by MAC- I used 2 coats of this on top of the white to give it the "sparkly snow" effect.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Deborah Lippmann - I made the snowman's carrot nose using this with a nail art brush.

Holiday Gift Guide 2011

The holidays are approaching, ya'lll! If you are looking for a gift for the Beauty Fashionista in your life, you have come to the right place. I compiled my gift favorites that Sephora is offering this season to make it easy for you. Nothing is worse than walking into a store and being bombarded with 500,000 gift sets and not having a clue about any of them! What's great is that all these gifts are under $30!

The Wyndham Collection- $20.00

For the nail fiend in your life, Sephora recently started carrying British brand Nails, Inc. in their stores. Nails, Inc. is a high quality nail polish brand that I'm beginning to be a huge fan of. The Wyndham Collection features the Teal Black Kensington polish and The Wyndham Overglaze top coat, "which contains hand cut, irregular particles to create dramatic holographic effects when applied over other polishes." I'm already swooning.

Black Honey Glow   $28.50

Clinique's Black Honey Glow gift set includes the High Impact Mascara in Black, a limited edition Black Honey Gel Blush (LOVE), a moisturizing Super Balm gloss in Black Honey, and a shadow duo is Lucky Penny and Rose Chocolate. Flattering for all skin colors and YUMMY!

Gingerbread Man Hot Salt  Body Scrub- $25.00

Philosophy's set caught my eye when I read "Hot Salt." According to the site, "the Gingerbread Man Hot Salt Scrub features sea salt and natural extracts to exfoliate and polish dry, rough skin, leaving it feeling silky soft, super smooth and conditioned." I read the reviews and the salt actually heats up and gives you a tingly scrubby feeling all over. Yes, please!

Makeup For Ever Best-Of Collection $55.00

I've had my eye on this since last year, but I already have every thing in it. This gift set features all of Makeup For Ever's best sellers in smaller sizes so you can sample what you've been missing out on. If you are looking to get into Makeup For Ever, this is a perfect place to start. And let's not even talk about how soft and heaven-sent their HD powder feels! This set includes: the HD powder, HD primer, the waterproof version of the Smoky Lash mascara in Black, Lab Shine gloss in S4, and a shimmery champagne Aqua Cream. *Sigh

Fresh Sugar Plum Glam & Glow  $28.00

My heart palpitates when I think about this amazing little set from Fresh. This set includes a full size of their AMAZE BALLS Sugar lip balm in Plum, which is flattering for everyone. You also get small sizes of their SuperNova Mascara in Black, their Twilight Glow moisturizer (with red pearl, it's gorge), and Soy Face Cleanser (great for sensitive skin). 

Unsung Hero: Clear Nail Polish

Does the gem fall out of every single nose ring and you're sick of buying new ones? I literally go through about 12 nose rings a year, because they each last about a month. I like the ones that hold a little gem at the end-- so dainty and adds a touch of sparkle to your every day look! But unfortunately, there isn't such a thing as a "high-quality" nose ring, so the gems always end up falling out. I have had my piercing for about eight years and throughout that time, I've searched far and wide, including places like New York City, L.A. and Las Vegas, and every single vendor cart and jewelry shop I've gone to sells the same darn cheap-o nose rings. Imagine my delight when I purchased my last round of nose rings at Claire's the other day and the girl who worked there told me she paints the gems with clear top coat nail polish to hold it in place. 

Can we say...genius? Why the heck didn't I think of that!?  

I am happy to report that since painting all of my nose ring gems with clear top coat, they have all stayed put. We'll see how long they last, but so far, I'm pretty impressed. I spoke with another sales girl at a different jewelry store, and she told me she also paints all of her fashion (a.k.a. cheap) jewelry with clear top coat to keep the finish from rusting. I went to town last night on all my Forever 21/Claire's/Icing accessories and drowned them all in top coat. I can't believe I didn't know this little trick! Did you? 

Xmas Nails by Xtine

Merry Christmas everyone! I've been wanting to try the reverse half-moon design in red a la Dita Von Teese, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to throw in a little Christmas tree-green glitter in the mix. 

PRODUCTS USED

OPI's Pretty & Privileged -- A cheery, pearled red from OPI's 90210 collection.

Forever 21's Green Glitter-- I know: who knew Forever 21 had nail polish? I spotted this little gem while in the checkout line and snagged her (yes, it's a her) last minute. I think it was like $2. Score

Reinforcement stickers from Staples-- Yup. 

STEPS:

1) Paint the bottom half of your nails with the green glitter. I did 2 coats so it would show up better. 

2) After it has completely dried, cover the bottom half of your nails with the reinforcement stickers.

3) Paint the part of your nails above the reinforcement stickers red. 

4) After all has dried, carefully peel off the stickers and apply top coat. Voila!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Clearly, I live in L.A., and the coldest it gets here is 55 degrees at night. But still. Call me warm blooded but I am always freezing! I sleep with a comforter, blanket, and sometimes a Korean blanket (which weighs like 75 pounds, no lie). I wanted to interpret how frigidly cold I always am in the winter with a mani and found this great one from Cute Polish on YouTube. Check her out! She has literally has the cutest designs and they are super easy.

PRODUCTS USED

"Unconditionally Fabulous" by MAC Cosmetics

Essie's Lapis of Luxury

Inglot Nail Art Enamel in White