Happy Birthday to Me! + NOTD

Today is my birthday, and just happens to also be the birthday of one of my closest friends, Tiffany. :) We have been friends since elementary school.  So I just wanted to wish her HAPPY BIRTHDAY one more time!  It's pretty amazing that we are so close AND share the same birthday.  Another of my closest friends is born just ONE day before Tiffany and I, and the three of us are always having adventures together.  TRAVELBUDDIES4LYFE! lol :)

Anyway, I started my birthday celebrations a little early...having a birthday lunch this past Saturday, because my brother couldn't make it today due to work.  I've kind of had a birthday tradition to have lunch at Olive Garden with my Mom and brother.  My Mom would take off of work and take us.  Then, when my Dad got home from work, we'd go out to dinner and have cake after.

I kind of forgot to take a picture of my food, but I did take one of my brother's, lol.  This is what I usually get, anyway (just switched it up to Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara this time):

Braised Beef and Tortelloni

Today, I had a chill day and spent the day with my Mom, who is, of course, a big part of why I'm here today and why this day is possible.  Gotta appreciate your Momma!  We spent it mostly at the mall.  Had lunch, and then did a little bit of shopping.  I also got my free birthday pretzel from Auntie Anne's!  I love their almond pretzel with caramel dip...nomnomnom!!  Also stopped by ULTA for the free birthday brow wax at the Benefit brow bar.  And I actually left without buying anything! Go me!  Unfortunately...I did not take any pictures today...FAIL. =.=;;;  But I did take pictures of my cake...

I had actually mentioned wanting an Ube cake from Red Ribbon earlier in the year, when my cousin had it for his birthday.  It was really good!  But that was a few months ago, so it became a forgotten comment, lol.  Instead, I got this cake, which is good too!  And besides, I'm a big fan of Tiramisu. :)

And finally, here's my birthday NOTD:

What I Used:

ORLY Ridgefiller

Julep Basecoat

2 coats Julep Miranda

(from my Julep Maven box! post on that coming soon! :])

2 coats China Glaze Atlantis (on ring fingers only)

1 coat Nubar 2010

I'm really loving this combination!  And really loving layering Nubar 2010 over everything, lol.  I don't think the pictures do it justice though...let me know what you think? :)

Polish Hunting Success! (Haul)

I went to the OC yesterday to pick something up from my brother and decided to take a detour to a nail supply store I've been wanting to check out.  According to Yelp, this place has a really good selection of polishes and they carry brands that other supply stores don't usually carry.  The one brand in particular I was interested in was Nubar.  And I was looking for a specific Nubar polish that Yelp reviews said this place had in stock.  You can probably guess...it was Nubar 2010, that gorgeous flakie polish I've been wanting for ages (that I debated buying from ebay)!

Anyway, they have a pretty good display of Nubar polishes, with lots of colors I wanted to try.  But I was on a mission to find Nubar 2010.  I didn't find it right away, and almost left with nothing because I thought they didn't have it anymore.  But then, I looked one last time, a little closer, and there, hidden in the very back, was a bottle of Nubar 2010!  SUCCESS!  I think it was the last bottle, too.  So I was a happy camper.  After that, I decided to get one more bottle of Nubar to try out their color polish.

LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUSNESS!!! :D

The other Nubar polish I got - Verde

A green foil with blue/teal shimmer!

It's a bit hard to photograph...likes to photograph black!

But you can see the shimmer here...

In the end, I also ended up with 2 China Glaze polishes, Atlantis and Shooting Stars, and 2 top coats, China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat and Essie's Matte About You Top Coat.  I've been wanting Atlantis forever!  And I've been looking for China Glaze's Fast Forward Top Coat ever since I heard sayanythingbrooke talking about it.   So this trip was a definite success! ^^

China Glaze Shooting Stars

China Glaze Atlantis

Hope you enjoyed~ And as always, swatches coming soon! ^^

And I want to know:
Do you have any HTF polishes on your wishlist?

EOTD + FOODIE FILES: The OC Fair

This past weekend, I spent a day with two of my closest friends and got my grub on at the OC Fair.  I love fair food, but it can get kinda pricey.  Plus, it's not the healthiest thing for you, lol.

I really wanted Fried Zucchini, but I didn't just want Zucchini.  So, I decided to go with a sampler combo.  It came with Fried Zucchini, Onion Rings, and Waffle Fries.  The Onion Rings were HUUUGE!

Click it to get full effect! :)

Surprisingly, this was super filling.  I had to ask my friends to help me finish it...and they shared an onion ring, haha.  It was good, but I felt kinda...gross, afterwards.  All the oil, you know?  But that didn't stop me from enjoying another fried goodie (because the fair is all about fried stuff!)........FUNNEL CAKE!

This was so yummy!  I looove funnel cake!! 

There was so much more food I wanted to get, but I was already full. :(  But that's what the LA Fair is for!  Heheh, can't wait to go to that, later in the year.  I'm definitely gonna try some BBQ, and I think I might work up the nerve to try some fried Oreos or fried Twinkies... xD

And this is the look I wore to the fair:

For this look I used UDPP, 2 colors from my Coastal Scents 88 Palette (original), and Avon SuperSHOCK Max Mascara.  No eyeliner, because I wanted to keep it pretty simple and let the color show.

Not a full face of the day cuz I didn't do the rest of my face, lol.   I've been playing around with using color on my eyes, to try and be more creative, and this is something I came up with.  This look was actually pretty simple, and I really liked the outcome so I decided to wear it out. :)

BIRCHBOX: August 2011

I got my August Birchbox today!  It was a big surprise for me, because I didn't get a shipping email or anything.  I was a little worried that it wasn't gonna come, but then...I shouldn't have been, because it usually gets to me around this time of the month. =.=;;; Anyway, I've refrained from watching Birchbox videos, because I wanted to be surprised with mine.  So after I opened mine, I went on a video watching spree, hehe. ^^;;

My Birchbox is quite different from all the videos I watched.  Here's what I got:

I got Birchbox 7, which included Atelier Cologne (back), blinc Mascara (front), Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream (center), Fix Malibu Wish Wash Exfoliating Powder Wash (center, left), and a twistband Hair Tie (center, right).

blinc | Mascara
This game-changing mascara encases your lashes in a thin tube of water-resistant formula that won't smudge, smear, or run.

Fix Malibu | Wish Wash Exfoliating Powder Wash
Add water to transform this powder into a foaming exfolator.  Salicylic acid helps purify pores, while microexfoliators gently slough away dull skin.

Caudalie | Premier Cru The Eye Cream
De-puffs and hydrates the under eye area with antioxidant-rich grape extracts and anti-aging peptides.

Atelier Cologne | Orange Sanguine Absolue
It doesn't get sunnier than this juicy scent, which is a modern update on the classic eau de cologne.

This is the only product I've tried from this BB, since it's the easiest, lol.  It smells like oranges!  I love citrus scents, so this is a great scent for me.  It's citrusy and refreshing, and this might be the first product I buy full sized. :)

So a lot of people seem to be disappointed with their Birchbox, but I'm not.  Sure, it's not the best one I've gotten, but I'm very excited to try some of these products.  Particularly the mascara and eye cream.  I do wish I had gotten a product that I've seen in other peoples' Birchboxes, but wasn't in mine, and that is Shaveworks The Cool Fix.  I would've really liked to sample that product.  But, oh well...

What did you get in your Birchbox?

NOTD: Popsicle Gradient

Hello~ I attempted another gradient this past week.  Since I had Essie's Tart Deco on, I decided to use it as my base and make a summery gradient.  To do the gradation, I used Jesse's Girl JulieG and OPI Charged Up Cherry.  The result reminded me of those pinapple-cherry Big Stick Popsicles that I used to eat on hot summer days when I was a kid.

It didn't come out as nicely as my first one, but I think it still came out okay.  There are quite a few imperfections, but that just helps remind me of the popsicle even more, with the colors swirled together. :)

Essie - Tart Deco

Here's swatches of Essie's Tart Deco, which I included in my last haul post.  I picked up this polish a few weeks ago, after seeing it on a few gurus.  It is a gorgeous light peachy coral creme, perfect for summer!  

It also applied pretty well, with minimal streaky-ness. I usually have trouble with Essie polishes, which always baffles me because everyone else seems to love them.  Maybe it's the way I apply them.  Anyway, the swatches below are 3 coats.

indoors, natural light

outdoors, shade

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, sunlight

I hope my swatch pictures are alright.  I'm still trying to get my swatching technique down. ;)

Anyway, I totally recommend this polish.  It is one of my top polishes for summer.  Speaking of, I might do a Top 5 Summer Polishes post soon, even though summer is almost over, lol.

SWATCH+REVIEW: Avon - Teal Waters

I can't believe how fast August is passing by!  That means the summer is almost over! :(

But to help prolong it a little longer, I have swatches of a polish that totally reminds me of summer.  It's a polish by Avon called Teal Waters, and I believe this was a limited edition.  I have a few polishes by Avon, but don't remember the last one I wore one as a manicure.  This particular one is my Mom's.  I saw it lying around and thought it was pretty, so I decided to swatch it.

Teal Waters is a frosty pastel aqua color that totally reminds me of crystal clear waters at some island resort.  The name is perfect for it!  Unfortunately, it did not apply so well.  I already had inklings of doom for my swatches, when I saw how small the brush was.  As mentioned previously, small brushes and I don't mix well.

Though the color is pretty, I'm not a fan of frosty polish.  I probably would've liked this a lot more if it was a creme polish.  The formula was very thin, taking three coats to get some kind of opacity, and it applied streakily. As you can see in the pictures below, I ended up with some bald spots, even with 4 coats.

outdoors, sunlight

indoors, natural light

I wouldn't recommend this particular polish.  If you're looking for this kind of color, check out other brands.  This type of color is a pretty hot color right now, so I'm sure you can find a dupe.  If not a dead-on dupe, at least something very similar.  As for Avon polish in general, I'll have to try a few more before I can say for sure.  After all, other brands don't have a 100% success rate either.

Have you tried this color or any other Avon polishes?

What do you think of them?