Turquoise- a new level.

Hello!

So, I have a confession to make.

I have taken my turquoise fascination to a new level.

I have tried blue nail polish. =) A la Lauren Conrad and Jessica Simpson:
















































At first I thought this color looked terrible, but then I saw a girl out last weekend and it looked rather chic! Maybe the more I see pictures of it, the more it grows on me, and the more okay with it I am, haha! (Similar to my blue eyeshadow post a couple of weeks ago.)

Here are the colors I found at Walgreen's:


















Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Going Green and Blue Me Away! and then Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color in Mint Sprint.

The Hard as Nails are 2 for $4 and the Inst-Dri is $4.99.


I tried the Insta-Dri color today:























I think it would look significantly better if my nails were a smidge longer, haha, but this polish is impressive! That is ONE coat of polish!! I can't believe it =) And it did dry pretty fast, though I must admit I did not time it. Oops! =)

I'm a little self conscious about it, but the color makes me happy when I look down at it so I think I'll keep it on for a few more days, see what people think. ;)

What do you think? What colors do you like to wear on your nails? Which do you think are hideous?

Here's a fun article from InStyle about the summer's must-have colors. Enjoy!

Until Next Time--
~ Beauty Maven

Maybelline Galore!

Hello Lovelies!!

I have a treat for you today!! =)

So I have been on the PROWL looking for Maybelline's new The Falsies mascara -- I mean, who wouldn't with that name?? ;) And I *finally* found it last night at Walgreen's-- yaaay!!

But! In the midst of my search, I found another Maybelline mascara to try. I decided to do a special double-review for these dolls.

First up!

Maybelline The Turbo Volum' Express Mascara.
What it claims (as per the packaging):
- Instant volume
- Speed Expand formula and Turbo Brush zoom on volume up to 7x.
- Do not let dry between coats

Speed Expand formula?! So my first thought on this was that it would literally expand upon application... which is actually quite genius! Especially for volume. Alas, I did not notice any of this happening... but it was a great volumizing mascara, regardless.

Pics!

First of all, the wand. It has densely packed bristles, perfect for grabbing every little lash and providing maximum volume:











Starting point:



































































This mascara does an AMAZING job of voulmizing! Be warned though-- you must apply all the coats you are wanting while it is still wet. It does not layer well at ALL. Also, if you get a little too mascara happy... as I often do... You can get those little clumps on the end (you can see in the pic). You and normally just pinch those off and it's fine, though. Also, it does flake a smidge throughout the day.... that being said! It really is quite negligible.

I give it a thumbs up!


NEXT!

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara
What it claims (as per the packaging):
- Patented spoon brush and Kera-fiber formula instantly build 8x more volume without clumping to complete the false lash look.

Let's see, shall we?

Here is the Patented spoon brush--- it reminds me of Lancome's Hypnose Drama brush, but it works better because the bristles aren't as stiff. The bristles are longer on the sides then on top, so you can turn it a little sideways to comb through lashes. There is also a little bendy part about midway down the length... I have read a couple of blogs where they absolutely hate this-- not to be argumentative, but I really didn't even notice it, lol. It takes a LOT of force to make it bend.. I just didn't really notice, haha! But something to keep in mind*












Starting point:





























Sorry it's a bit blurry! I think you can still see, though?






































I LOVE THIS MASCARA.
It is a little difficult to work with, so have a few practice rounds before having to apply it in a hurry! But it gives great volume and length and definition-- score! And if you curl your lashes after? Holy moly. So great. The only thing is that, again, if you go mascara happy, it can be clumpy. Just be aware. =) I am just now putting it on so I am not sure how it wears throughout the day, but I will post an update letting you all know!



And here they are side-by-side for comparison:

Again, with no mascara:













And.... Turbo and Falsies















I mean, dude, you can almost just wear either one of these mascaras and nothing else. Love it!


Leave me some thoughts!!!!!!

Until Next Time~
-- Beauty Maven

Rockstar Nails!

I have something fun to show you!!

This past weekend I was at a bachelorette where the Bride-to-Be showed me her fancy pedicure-- called "RockStar Nails." They were so super-fab that I went and got a pedicure the next day. =)

Words don't do it justice, so here are some pics:





























There are 3 super-cool things about this method:
1. It's COMPLETELY glitter! She mixed the glitter herself, so it's customized!, and painted on a gel and sprinkled the glitter onto it.
2. The gel is UV cured, meaning that after a minute under the UV light, it's 100% dry! Yay no smudges! She also smoothed them down so they don't feel gritty at all.
3. It doesn't chip! It stays on until you "file them off," as she put. I think I'll go back and have her do that, lol.

This woman was amazing! She's from California and has these fancy ways of doing nails... Definitely will be going back to her.

I know glitter can seem a bit much for some people, and it normally is for me, but I am absolutely loving this! =) What are your thoughts on it?

Happy Monday!

Until Next Time~
-- Beauty Maven

Opinion!

It's really Monday again, isn't it?? Man how the weekend flies by!

I need you're opinion on something. A few weeks ago, if you had asked me about blue eyeshadow, I would have scoffed at you and told you to not be a 12 year old. Now, however, I have seen some that looks pretty cool.... examples:

Stephanie Pratt








































A la Make-Up and Beauty Blog

























Well, I'm wearing a turquoise dress for one of many weddings of the summer, and I toyed with the idea of adding some blue. Here are my pics:















































What do you think? Does blue look weird with green eyes? A little too trendy for a wedding? Tell me what you think!

Until Next Time~
Beauty Maven

Review: Maybelline's Dream Mousse Concealer

Hello dolls!

I recently read a post on another blog about how amazing Maybelline's Dream Mousse Concealer is-- long-wearing, really pigmented, etc.-- so I decided to give it a shot!

You can pick this up as Walgreen's for $7.29-- and right now they have a BOGO 1/2 off sale.

I kind of remember when this first came out thinking that it would be waaay too creamy for my oily skin, and also that I had heard about the Mousse foundation being cakey... I was pleasantly surprised that this worked so well!!

I mostly use concealer for under-eye darkness and around my nose.
Here are some pics:

With on left, without on right:




Notice how it fills in my pores, too? Huh.. just noticed that, lol!



















I am really super impressed with this concealer!! It really covers well-- it doesn't take much-- and it stays ALL day! I was pretty stuck on Maybelline's SuperStay concealer, but this covers almost better and without being so dry looking. The only thing is that there aren't a lot of shades, so choose wisely-- I just happened to get lucky with picking the right one, haha.

*Tip-- use a concealer brush for better coverage with this. =)

What do you think? Might go try it? What is YOUR favorite concealer? Let me know!!

Until next time--
Beauty Maven