Holiday Printables

I know I've completely slacked with blogging, but I wanted to quickly upload a couple of HOLIDAY printables I whipped up while Layla is taking her nap!

Feel free to grab these files or use them as inspiration! These ideas came from similar projects I've seen on Pinterest & I am planning to get them both printed on canvas to use in my living room and kitchen for inexpensive holiday decor!

December 2011 Favorites!!

Another month has flown by, and that means it's time for more monthly favorites! I know a lot of girls right now are doing "Best of 2011" videos and posts, but since 95% of my makeup is in storage, there's really no way for me to do one :(

Oh well! Here are the products that I have been loving this past month!

Face: These products have been essential to me over the past month. My skin is starting to really improve because of my Clarisonic, but I still need long-lasting, full coverage to help conceal all of the hyper-pigmentation and scarring left-over from all of my breakouts!     

~MUFE Mat Velvet + foundation: I have been using this day-to-day. I love the coverage and natural matte finish of this foundation!  ~Smashbox Studio Skin foundation: This is my "special occasion" foundation! It has VERY full coverage and doesn't budge, and can be layered to provide and absolutely flawless look!                 ~MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural: This is my favorite thing to set my foundation. It can be pressed into the skin with a wedge for extreme coverage, or lightly dusted on with a powder brush for day-to-day wear!Nails: I went a little crazy with nails this past month, and I probably could've shown 3 or 4 more polishes that I wore throughout the month, but these are the ones that I wore the most!~OPI "Just Tea-sing": This is a very sheer, light, creamy brown that looks like tea with lots of creamer! It can be worn really sheer to give a glossy natural look to nails or layered to create a more opaque nude look.                              ~Zoya "Uli" : This is another beautiful, warm nude color, but this one has the added effect of fine, gold shimmer. This looks gorgeous for an understated nude look with just a touch of something special.  ~China Glaze "CG in the City": This is a dark glitter polish that can be layered over black or grey polish or worn alone. It is PACKED with glitter, which I love, and looks edgy and girly all at the same time!                                                               ~debborah lippmann "Happy Birthday": An amazing, chunky, rainbow glitter polish that is just full of different color glitters. This can be layered over many different colors to create lots of effects. Miscellaneous: I have also been loving a few lip products and "corrective" products this month too! Also, thanks again to all of my sweet friends who sent me LUSH products over the past month! They have been a HUGE part of my hygiene routine lately :)~NYX Eye Shadow Base: This skin-colored primer is great for canceling out redness or covering up veins on the lids.                       ~Physicians Formula concealer duo: The yellow side of this concealer is great for adding TONS of brightness to the under eye area. I use this when I know I will be taking pictures.                          ~Revlon Lip Butters "Creme Brûlée" and "Red Velvet": The nude color is becoming one of my all time favorite colors for everyday and night-time wear, and the deep red color is gorgeous and has just the right texture to feel and look really wearable!                                                                                             ~LUSH "It's Raining Men": This stuff smells amazing, and I use it to wash my daughter's hair so I can enjoy the fragrance every time I smell her cute little head :)
<3 Emily                                                                                                                                                     

Wedding Update #1

Now that the holidays are over, and we are still playing the waiting game on our house, I have been hit with wedding fever-- HARD! And honestly, it's about time! Our wedding date has been set for April 28 for a while now, but with everything else we have going on, the plans have been put on the back burner-- until now! 

All of a sudden, I am overcome with the feeling that I want to get everything done, done, done! So, this past weekend, I finally tackled the big mama-- I decided on my dress and my bridesmaids dresses!

For those of you who are like me and less accustomed to dressing in huge, heavy, ornate dresses, the task can be daunting. Add to that the fact that I am pretty petite, measuring at 5'3" on a good day, and it gets a little more intimidating... I had tried on dresses once before at my local David's Bridal, and I even documented the experience on my YouTube channel, but I never made a purchase, because although the dresses I found were nice, they were generally either too overwhelming for my short figure or too simple and lacking that "something special." I didn't want to look like either a little girl playing dress-up in a cinderella ball gown or a plain-jane wearing a dress with no "wow factor."

So this past weekend I made another bridal appointment at a different local boutique, and went in with a completely open mind. The consultant had me try on dresses in all styles and fabrics, despite whatever preconceived notions I had about what would look best on my figure, and after about 2 hours, I had found the dress that blew all of the others out of the water!

The picture below is a small preview of my dress. I don't want to give too much away and the photo is not the best quality because it was taken with a phone, but it will give you a sneak peek! My dress is a fit-and-flare style, which I would have never tried without some urging, and it has a corseted closing in the back. It has a sweetheart neckline and a beautiful ruched appearance on the bodice. It is somewhere between white and ivory, and has gorgeous, glam beading under the bust and on the skirt. I have also decided to wear a floor length veil with additional beading for the ceremony, just to add more drama and make the look unquestionably bridal!

I don't have any pictures of my BM dresses to upload right now, but I found some on Pinterest! If you guys want to see more information on my decor and flowers, there are boards for those on Pinterest too!

There is a button in the upper left hand corner of my blog if you want to see any of those boards :)

If you guys have any other questions about my dress buying experience, please leave them below!

<3

Emily

Birchbox vs. MyGlam: Pros and Cons!

With so many "beauty sample boxes" out there today, I wanted to take a moment to do a quick comparison/contrast of the two that I am currently subscribed to. I hope this will helpful to those of you who are currently trying to decide which service to sign up for :)

BIRCHBOX:

Birchbox offers 4-5 monthly samples that are "tailored to you" based on a survey you fill out when you sign up for the service. The box costs $10, and the products range from makeup to skincare, haircare, and nail products. There is also the added bonus of having the Birchbox shop which offers you a one-stop-shop to pick up the full-sized versions of the products while also racking up loyalty points to use on future purchases. 

This month I received:                                      

~Harvey Prince "Yogini" perfume sample

~Jouer lip gloss

~L'Oreal Mythic Oil

~Befine gentle cleanser

~Extras (Fashion tape, Vitamin C drink mix)

Bottom line: Great range of products, added bonus of online store and loyalty system, but not strictly makeup.

MYGLAM:

MyGlam offers 4-5 monthly samples (sometimes even full-sized products!) for $10 a month. These products are generally makeup-type products only, and there are also online tutorials from top YouTubers to show different ways to use all of the products. The products so far have been from top beauty brands, and have all been some of my favorites, but this is my first month with MyGlam, so I will have to do another update once I get a few more bags to see if they are still sending mostly makeup. They also include cards with more information on each product, and some of them came with promo codes for the corresponding web stores. 

This month I received:

~Urban Decay "Sin" eyeshadow (full-size)
~Urban Decay Primer Potion
~NYX Matte Lip Cream (full-size)
~Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara
~Mai Couture blotting papers


Bottom Line: Amazing beauty products, accompanying online tutorials, but no loyalty system or convenient place to buy all of the products at once. 


Check out my video to see a more in-depth view of the products contained in each!

I hope this helps!
<3
Emily

You can find out more information about each service using these links:

http://www.birchbox.com?raf=g92d9

http://www.myglam.com

Sparkly and Smokey NYE Look!

For this look you will need: 

--Eyeshadow primer (UD primer potion)
--Matte black, shimmery dark grey, and shimmery light silvery shadows (UD 15 "Ace", "Blackout" and "Midnight 15")
--Glitter (LORAC Liquid Lustre and loose iridescent glitter) (Both are optional)
--Black liner for waterline (UD 24/7 in "Zero")
--Black liquid liner (Kat Von D Tattoo liner)
--Black mascara (L'Oreal Million Lashes)
--False lashes (optional)
--Bronzer (from NYX "Butt Naked")
--Hot pink blush (from NYX "Butt Naked")
--Cheek highlight (MAC "Soft and Gentle")
--Sheer nude lipstick (Revlon lip butter in "Creme Brulee")
--Pale sparkly lip gloss (Jordana "ASAP")


Check out my video below for the "how-to"!

Here are some additional picture of the look for reference! I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, please let me know!

<3 

Emily

Christmas Card

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very happy holiday season! I also wanted to test out uploading pictures to my blog since I am new to the blogging world!

This was our Christmas card picture this year! The change in Layla is drastic from the card we sent out last year:

It always cracks me up seeing pictures of her when she was so tiny! 

This year we also decided to raid our local thrift stores and wear "tacky sweaters" to our family Christmas party! Here is a picture of me with some of my siblings showing off our picks! And below is Layla's "tacky shirt"-- a sweatshirt with hand-painted snowflakes and a snowman-- something very similar to what my mom would have dressed me in when I was growing up in the late 80's haha!

I hope you all have enjoyed this time with family and friends, and are all looking forward to another new year as much as I am! 

<3

Emily

Welcome!

Hey guys!
So I finally decided it might be time for me to start blogging in addition to making videos on YouTube :) I plan to make accompanying posts for most of my uploads, and also additional blog posts for beauty and fashion related things that don't warrant a video!

I am so excited to start a blog to share even more beauty, hair, fashion and general girly-ness tips with you all! Plus I will probably also include some random ramblings and updates on our move, new home, and wedding plans!

<3
Emily