Monday Beauties Blog Hop 9-26-11

This is my friend Nykki’s  weekly Monday Beauty Blog Hop at Nykki's Mane Blog. This week I’m posting it on my blog too because she asked me to be her co-host. This is the 3rd week I’ve participated in the blog hop and its really fun. I’ve found some really great new blogs from this. Hope you will participate Keep reading for all the information.

Hello Beauty Lovers and Bloggers! :) Welcome back to my Monday Beauties blog hop! I hope to create a place where bloggers can come together and share their links in a friendly and supportive manner! If you are saying "What the hell is a blog hop?" just click here to see my INFORMATION post! (You can also find the times and days of the event there) :)

Now let's get to business: Here are the very simple rules:
1.   Subscribe to my Blog Via GFC :) and leave me a comment below to let me know you are following (with your link) so I can subscribe back! :) 
Subscribe to my co-host Kelly's blog Just click here
2. Add your blog URL to the Linky Below! (make sure to include http://www.)
3. Check out as many blogs as you want and if you decide to follow leave a comment letting them know that you have subscribed and found them on Monday Beauties Blog hop! :)
4. Check out the featured blogs! :)
OPTIONAL If you want to be really nice to me! :)
♥ Grab the blog hop button and place it somewhere on your blog or in a blog post. (remember you will need to re-enter your blog every week, so you can make this a weekly post) - You can find the blog button code in my sidebar.
♥ Grab the linky code and place it in your post or anywhere on your blog. This way if somebody comes to your blog they can continue hopping along. You can place the list on your blog too. It will automatically update all of the blog URL's! Pretty cool huh? You can make it a weekly post too! :)


♥ Please share the link with your followers! If you share on twitter use the hashtag #mondaybeauties so I can retweet! :)
♥ If you are interested in co-hosting just let me know by sending me an email at nykki@mymaneblog.com! I will answer any questions that you have! :) I will only choose one co-host per week, but that doesn't mean that you can't put the linky on your blog and have a weekly post. If that doesn't make sense, just email me! :) 
I will choose 2 blogs each week via Random.org(random number generator) and mention them in my next weekly hop as "Featured blogs".
Thanks so much for participating! :) Let's Begin: 

  Featured Blogs:

 

Classic Beauty Blog Award

Michelle from Healthy Living Natural Beauty awarded me with the Classic Beauty Blog Award!!! Thank you so much Michelle!!!  I’m so honored and excited because this is my first blog award. This is so great because now I get to choose 10 blogs to pass this award onto. It’s defenitly going to be hard because there are so many blogs I really enjoy and love reading.

This award is to honor those who have written some good blogs about beauty products, inner beauty and showing their own beauty within their written words. Just like Michelle said, these blogs have made some kind of impression on me with their great beauty posts.

So here are the rules: Pass this award up to 10 different blogs you also love and feel deserve this award. Link them in your post; let them know you awarded them.
Here are my 10 picks for the Classic Beauty Blog Award, I wish I could list more than 10 because my blog list is huge and I feel like a lot of people deserve this. (in no particular order)

1. Exclusively Glamm
2. Nykki's Mane Blog
3. The Daily Frizz
4. Jenn's Beauty Confessions
5. Blondetxgoddess
6. Ms. Prettyful Girl
7.Seven things Beauty
8.Her Late Night Cravings
9.Monster Girl
10.jyz' pinkprint

Wednesday's Beauty Tip

Beauty Tip of the Week

*THE SECRET TO A PERFECT BLOWOUT*

There’s more than one secret to a perfect blowout but there's an important one that I just recently learned about and it makes a lot of sense. Start with your fingers when your ready to start blow drying your hair. Pull your fingers through hair starting at the roots and pull hair out a few inches and hold it while you use the blow dryer to shoot air at the crown. Try to hold your hair super taut.

A brush can only get so close in so hold your hair super taut while doing this otherwise moisture will stay in the hair shaft and it will frizz up. It's very important to make sure your roots are dry first before going on to the rest of your hair.

*Another great tip is to lock in style with the “cool button” on your blow dryer. If you blow dry your hair in sections like I do, once each section is completely dry, pull hair taut with your brush and blast it with the cool button on your dryer. Finish each section like this and the cool air will lock in shine and smoothness.

Do you guys have any blow drying tips when it comes to your hair?  Please share!!!

NOTD: Purple Avalanche

I was looking through my nail polish collection and decided to use Avalanche by China Glaze. I bought this color a few months ago and forgot about it so it’s the first time I used it. I was a little disappointed because looking at the color through the bottle I thought it was going to come out a little bit darker with more of a matte finish.  After applying the second coat I realized that it had more of a shiny glossy finish.  Don’t get me wrong it’s a pretty color and I like glossy finishes, but it depends on the color. I do like the brush China Glaze has, it’s the perfect length for me and it's not too wide.

Of course I had to have a design (that’s my new thing lately), I'm not very good at it but its fun. I realized that I never tell you all the products I use when I post these nail looks, shame on me lol

.

1. NUTRA NAIL BASE COAT & RIDGE FILLER-  sometimes I have annoying ridges in my nails and I like this base coat because it helps create a smoother surface for the nail polish.

2. AVALANCHE IN CHINA GLAZE- I really do like China Glaze, one of the reasons bc it seems like they sell every color in the rainbow and more. I hate when a brand doesn’t have a wide selection of colors.

3. WET N WILD FAST DRY IN BLACK- I used this for the black diagonal french tip I did. I'm really impressed with wet n wild’s new polishes, they’ve came along way.

4. L.A. COLORS ART DECO IN SILVER GLITTER- If you guys read my blog you know I love these art deco polishes. I used this for the silver line painted underneath the black tip.

5. L.A. COLORS ART DECO IN WHITE- this was used to draw the vertical lines on my nail. *tip- I heard if you hold your breath while trying to draw straight lines or if your hand is shaky it will help and it does!

6. SALLY HANSEN NAIL ART PEN IN WHITE- I used this to draw the tiny flower petals that are on the tip of my nail. These are good pens for drawing flowers, hearts or whatever you want. You just have to make sure the polish you have on is completely dry before using these pens or it will bleed into your base color. Then I placed a silver rhinestone from my nail gem collection for the middle of the flower. *when using any kind of nail gems or stones make sure to press the stone on the nail for a few seconds with either your finger or the tip of an orange stick, then apply extra top coat after placing the stone or gem.

7 & 8- SALLY HANSEN INSTA-DRI TOP COAT & INSTA-DRI SPEED DRY DROPS-  I hardly ever have a problem with my nail polish chipping and I'm convinced it's because I use both of these products together. After you apply the top coat you only have to wait 60 seconds to use the speed dry drops. There great, you just use the dropper to apply 1 or 2 drops to each nail and its extra protection. If you find your nail polish is  chipping too soon, I recommend either the regular top coat but if you can the speed drops too.

Shopping with or without friends?

If there’s one group activity I don’t enjoy, its shopping with friends. Unless it's just browsing the mall and no real intent on actually looking for something you need, than I find it annoying or unless it’s my mom who always ends up buying me something (even though she swears as soon as we get in the car that she’s not) lol. Don’t get me wrong, I  love company and doing things with my friends but when it comes to serious shopping it can just turn into a mood killer.  Here’s why I prefer shopping solo:

1.You don’t have to feel bad about how much or how little you spent. It might just be me, but I'm pretty sure a few of my friends feel the same way without saying it. I can’t help feeling a tiny bit down when my friend leaves the store with 5 bags and I'm leaving with one or sometimes none. Or If I’m the one that got lucky that day and found a ton stuff while my friend didn’t. It can be an awkward feeling. You know what I mean right, even though their your friends and this shouldn’t count at all. But everyone loves the feeling of leaving a store knowing they just purchased a ton of great stuff, so when you leave the store with nothing it’s a bummer in itself, but if your with someone who’s beaming from their successful shopping session, it feels even worse.

2. You can take as much time as you would like.  Going through the whole entire sales rack or whole entire store can be boring if you’re not the one shopping, so I hate when I can sense that my friends are getting ancy and want to leave. Of course my friends would never say anything but they don’t have to, you just get this vibe and I know bc I’ve felt the same way when I have to wait more than 20 minutes for them. So you can't blame them, but me being  me, I’ll start to feel bad and end up leaving earlier then I wanted to. When your by yourself you can take as long as you want looking through everything.

3. Not having to show anyone how hideous the outfit you tried on is. Even though I feel completely comfortable around my friends there are those times when something looks really bad on you and you would rather not show them. But there on the other side of the door begging you to show them what it looks like. Plus, if your shopping for bra’s and under garments, that can sometimes be embarrassing. At least if your alone, you can quickly rip off that outfit that makes you look 20 pounds bigger and that’s the end of it.

4. You get to pick the stores you want to stop into without feeling judged. I shop at a wide variety of stores. For example, Claire’s is known for more of the teenage group but I still like to look because you can find some cute things for good deals. Some of your friends might not feel the same way so when you drag your friends in their (knowing there rolling their eyes) you’re not going to really focus on looking, you’ll be more focused on the fact that you’re the only one that wants to be there.

5. You don’t have to worry about how your shopping partner treats the employees. Thank god I don’t have any friends that would act this way…anymore. But I have and it’s the most embarrassing thing when you’re with someone who finds it okay to treat the sales assistant  like crap for no reason. It’s not their fault the store is packed and the lines are long or they don’t have your size in the pair of shoes you wanted, and it's not like giving them an attitude and treating them like your better than them is going to help anything. That’s happened to me before and I had to just walk away because I was so mortified. If I’m by myself I know non of that will be going on.

6. If you really like those pair of jeans you can buy them even though your friend might disagree. I hate when I really like something and want to buy it but then have someone next to me telling me it’s the ugliest thing they’ve seen and would never wear it (my mom has known to do this). Well, that’s fine, everyone has different styles and opinions. Plus, that’s why they give you receipts and have return policies. You can buy whatever you like without wondering what your friends really think about it.

There are a few downsides to shopping alone:

Could get lonely especially if this is a three hour shopping session. You might get bored after a while and wish you had someone to talk to, but that’s why you have your cell phone  

Shopping to me is more like a mission that I want to get accomplished so that’s why I feel its annoying with all those distractions. It has nothing to do with worrying about what other people think, it’s the fact that it takes away from your retail therapy.

I’ve always felt this way about shopping, and I always seem to regret not going alone. Nothing against my friends, and I'm sure some of them might feel the same way. It’s just a lot easier for me and a lot less stressful shopping alone. What do you guys think, do you prefer shopping with friends or by yourself?

 

10 Things You Should Never Stop Doing in a Relationship

This isn’t going to be one of my normal beauty posts but that’s okay because I think you guy’s will enjoy this. So, I was reading every woman’s bible aka Cosmopolitan magazine, of course lol. I came across this article in the October issue, “50 Things You Should Never Stop Doing in a Relationship “and found it really interesting.

You know, when your still in the honeymoon stage of a relationship and you think everything about your partner is fabulous, even when you notice how they sometimes hum to themselves. But then after the first few months that humming becomes freakin annoying among some other little habits. Even if we don’t realize it, it goes both ways because they feel the same about us (shocker)!

I picked 10 of my favorite “things you should never stop doing in a relationship” out of Cosmo’s 50. All of these 50 actually make sense but these are the ones that stood out to me and could help your relationship from going south. Or not, who knows, but it was fun to read  



1. Playing it cool on Facebook- no need to post on his wall every single day…or even every other. Virtual absence: It makes the heart – and other parts – grow fonder.



2. Quickly running to the bathroom to brush your teeth before morning sex.



3. Not commenting on the fact that your ex is way worse. Nothing is more of a mood killer than bringing up either of your romantic pasts.



4. Occasionally packing your weekend schedule with all sorts of activities that don’t include him so he has (almost too much) room to breath.



5. Wearing cute little lounge clothes on Sundays. C’mon, yoga pants are just as comfy as sweats.



6. Flirting innocently with the cute waiter or bartender so that he never forgets just how freaking doable you are.



7. Sucking it in and strutting your stuff when he’s watching.



8. Keeping your body complaints to yourself—the more comfortable you get, the more you may find yourself proclaiming that you feel fat or that your nail beds suck…something you would never do when you were the hot new girlfriend.



9. Choosing sex over kickboxing class on Saturday mornings.



10. Picking up his favorite type of beer or snack on your way to his house or on your way home from work. You know how amazing it feels when he sends you flowers “just because”? It’s like that.



COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE- OCTOBER 2011



After reading this article, I thought about a few of my past relationships that were long-term and realized there were definitely a few things both of us stopped doing. Not saying it would have saved the relationship, but its good to know that these things could help. Gotta love Cosmo and their great advice!



Which number can you relate to or that you’ve been guilty of?

Leave a Comment!!!

xoxo

Wednesday's Beauty Tip

Beauty Tip of The Week

A NOTICABLE BRUISE CAN BE COVERED

Usually when you get a bruise, especially if its not on the face you don’t think of trying to cover it up. I don’t at least. Plus I get bruises all the time, I am a little clumsy but I swear I feel like they come out of no where sometimes.

Have you ever had a bruise on your face and thought “oh well, hopefully this fades quickly'” Or do you try and cover it up with makeup? I’ve tried before but only to have it look more noticeable. Kind of like covering up a pimple with the wrong color makeup. Well, you really can effectively cover up any bruise as long as you understand color correcting.

This is when the color wheel is handy and you’ll need a palette that’s made for color correcting with a range of shades that will hide any bruise, one like Make Up Forever 5 Camouflage Palette. Then you have to figure out the primary color of the bruise and then offset it with the opposite shade (so if it’s a reddish color use green, blue, yellow etc.). Then top that with a concealer that matches your skin tone and finish with powder. You should have concealed it enough where you’re not embarrassed to leave your house. Not saying this will make the bruise look invisible, but it will make it a lot less noticeable.