Whether you have your nails done professionally or prefer to do them while watching an hour of reality television, we have picked some of our favorites to recommend to you for perfectly polished nails.  As always, polishes in reds are always in season when it comes to the holidays, but we are fortunate enough to have experienced the trend of jewel-toned tips in shades like rich, bold navy blues and emerald greens. 

Tips for Nails:

• File down nails (preferrably with a glass file to minimize tearing and splitting) to even them out relative to each other.  Sometimes if I break a nail, I may keep that one short but keep the rest even with each other.  In general, I try to keep them all in line, in terms of length and shape, with each other.
• Find the shape that suits your hand.  I go for the “squoval” or a squarish oval.
• Take care of cuticles by using a product like Creative’s Cuticle Eraser (I always keep a couple on hand and stash them around the house:  by my desk, on my nightstand, and on the bookshelf near the couch).
• Wash hands thoroughly before beginning the process of applying polish.  Any dirt, grime, or lotions will make it harder for the polish coats to adhere to the nail base.
• Find a good top, base, and fast dry coat to use.  I love Zoya’s ColorLock system because it comes with everything you need, and I’ve been using it for weeks now with amazing results.  I have also had good results using Creative’s Stickey base and Seche Vite’s Fast Drying Top Coat. 
• I prefer a top coat or dry coat that quickly dries my polish–enough at least–that I can resume some activity.  Remember, nail polish doesn’t set immediately, even with a dry coat; usually the polish is fully set an hour later.  Ensure that you don’t get texturized by your bed sheets by applying polish well before bed time!
• By applying a base coat (which anchors the polish better) and a top coat (protects the color, prevents chips), you automatically increase the wearing time of your manicure.
• Buy your salon favorites at online retailers like 8ty8 Beauty, Head2Toe Beauty, & TransDesign, rather than in drugstores.  If you buy enough, you will not only offset shipping, but save money, too (and who doesn’t LOVE to do that?). 

Now that you know how to make the most of your polish, here are some great shades to help you mix and match and coordinate with your holiday pieces this year.  Continue reading »

If our guide to Gifts Under $10 wasn’t enough to give you a few ideas for stocking stuffers, here are a few more we think might be just up your alley this year! Continue reading »

Just because it is the holidays is no reason for people to go into debt.  In fact, we are a firm believer in creating and setting a budget, as well as a plan of who to buy and who to not buy for.  As a result, we want to give you a guide that keeps your budget in mind, so here are some of our favorites to give this year that are less than $10. 

Score these perfect, inexpensive gifts for your loved ones this holiday season.

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Many of us have brothers, boyfriends, husbands, and great guy friends, so this guide is for those girls who are looking to add some beauty to their favorite boys’ lives.  We gave you a guide dedicated to your amazing father, and now we want to help you find the perfect gifts for the other special men in your life!

Find your guy, and then see what we recommend from the treasure trove of beauty that we’ve gone through this year.

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I used Pure Ore cream shadow on lid, Goldmine eyeshadow on inner lid, Cranberry eyeshadow on outer lid, Beauty Marked eyeshadow on outer lid and crease, Goldmine eyeshadow above crease, Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight brow, and Raven kohl power on lower lash line. I wore Afterdusk blush with Tenderdusk beauty powder to highlight and Sculpt sculpting powder to contour cheeks. I had The Scene lipstick with Red Romp lipglass on my lips.

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You may treat your very best friend(s) incredibly well this season, but if you have more casual gal pals that you want to give the gift of beauty to, don’t fret, we’ve found some great ideas!  We’ve kept in mind that these ladies are your friends, but not your closest ones, so we’ve made our guide to reflect gift suggestions to reflect the gift giver with a modest budget who still wants to give something to everyone!

So readers, fret not for we have some ultimate finds for your darling gabby girlfriends…

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Sisters are absolutely precious, and it helps even more that they’re of our like gender–it makes them easier to shop for… at least beauty wise!  As much as we’d love to get our boys addicted to skilled skin regimens, we often fail, but we can convince our marvelous younger sister to invest in an acne treatment or introduce our older sister to the bliss of anti-aging products.

No matter what your sister is like, we have some amazing products in store for her this season!

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Yves Saint Laurent | White Gold Celebration Palette ($67.00)

“What could be more wonderful for a woman than to wear a symbol of passion around her neck in the guise of a heart?” asked Yves Saint Laurent. An icon of his illustrious Couture house from the very first collection, a precious, asymmetrical pendant ornamented with rubies and diamonds became his good luck charm. At the presentation of each of his Couture collections, the heart always adorned his favorite model. On greeting cards, it expressed his fondness for people. As the ultimate tribute to this special symbol of love, the heart weaves its way through an elegant, festive make-up collection. Bearing the matte Cassandra and dressed in shiny silver, the entire collection celebrates love with dazzling refinement.

COMPLEXION | The Tender Rose blush adds a joyous hue to cheekbones. The Starry Rose highlighter sprinkles a festive radiance on the upper cheeks, beneath the eyebrows and on the middle of the lips.

• Tender Rose blush is the adorable heart-shaped pink on the right of the palette.  It’s a lovely universal shade of medium pink that I think most women would love.  It’s a satiny texture, easy to apply, and gorgeous all around.
• Starry Rose highlighter is the white-pink rectangle with “Yves Saint Laurent” emblazoned into it.  It’s a great shimmery light pink shade that goes well on cheekbones.

EYES | The extremely soft, glide-on eye shadow unfurls a ribbon of color on the eyelids. With an optical smoothing effect, the Heavenly Beige, Magic Copper and Moonlit Burgundy shades emit exceptional radiance.

• Heavenly Beige is a lovely incredibly light tarnished gold color, it’s a nice all over lid color for a quick wash of color.
• Magic Copper is my favorite shade out of the three, because it’s a rich bronzy gold color.
• Moonlit Burgundy is a deep raspberry crimson color that goes on easily and would make a great crease or outer lid color.

LIPS | A mini palette of ROUGE PURE SHINE gives the lips renewed definition and volume while providing long-lasting comfort. It is offered in three luminous shades: Pure Garnet, Natural Beige and Bohemia Rose. Rich and creamy Simply Gold gloss can be applied alone or over one of the ROUGE PURE SHINE shades to intensify the shine with shimmering, sparkling gold reflections.

• Simply Gold gloss is a rich bright gold that goes on quite sheerly despite it looking so pigmented in the palette.
• Pure Garnet is a bold, vampy red–very holiday and dramatic.
• Natural Beige is a sheer beige lip color that goes on easily, but it doesn’t give you much color.  It’s ideal for smoky eye looks.
• Bohemia Rose is a warm-toned medium pink with lots of gold undertones.  I think it’s my favorite out of the three, because it’s so flattering on lips.

Find this holiday palette, along with several other YSL holiday offerings, at www.yslbeautyus.com.

With the holidays, I know I can’t help but treat my best friends to some of my favorite beauty products I’ve tried (and running a beauty blog certainly has given me a plethora of products to pull from!).  In fact, I am a total gift-builder.  I love to pick up baskets from a craftstore, add a few embellishments (like faux flowers, potpourri, etc.), and stuff it full of what I’m giving.  I find it adds a great personal touch! Continue reading »

For the mother who’s addicted to beauty and makeup as you, we have this season’s best offerings lined up for quick shopping and catching up.

Now, you can find the best gifts to give! Continue reading »