My first Paul & Joe and Illmasqua Haul

Beautiful day again today. Sure the sun isn't out much, but the air is still, the light drizzle is calming my nerves and I have a reveal for you all today.

When I asked some of my british girlfriends where they shop the most, I was told Asos. Strange name, but I wandered over there. Glad I did. Their sale section was amazing.

This is my group shot..

Paul & Joe gift set on the left and an Illmasqua gift set on the right.

Paul & Joe cost $14 and although I loved their bottles, I was never too keen on their colors. Yes their colors are cute and adorable, but I don't find myself to be a cute & adorable type of gal, so I always passed.

Well this set was chock full of glitters

and it came with a Paul & Joe floral makeup bag, floral nail file, and 2 polishes
(sorry I didn't take a picture of the bag, it's actually going to be part of my giveaway so I wanted to keep this beauty a secret)

I loved the cardboard box that the polishes came in, because it was made of high quality cardboard and frankly I'm a sucker for lil' cute things deep down inside. lol.

So each polish is $14 USD, and here it's probably 14 pounds. I got this set for 9.50 pounds.

Then to further my good deal,
I managed to score an Illmasqua set as well.

Welcome to the family Scarab and Viridian.
At $14 USD, I never plunged into the world of Illmasqua. I always wanted too ever since my online friend bluejinx got a hold of Scarab and raved about it.
Well Asos had these 2 as part of a set and a nice sturdy giftbag on sale for 10.50 pounds. So I added this to my cart with a quickness.

Asos also had a coupon floating around for 5 off 20, so with that coupon and free shipping, I was able to nab both sets for 15 quid! Who said everything in England had to be expensive :)

Oh, and you're probably wondering why there is only a swatch of viridian and not scarab. Well, I'm sorry folks but as I was swatching viridian, a huge dollop of polish landed onto my mother in laws blanket!!! eck!!! so I had to rush to try to get it out with nail polish remover. That did not help very much :( Luckily she's a doll and wouldn't scold me, but I'm sure she won't be happy either that I ruined her bed sheet set that she's currently letting us use. Oopsy, I'm a bit clumsy sometimes. So I will get Scarab swatched when I wear it - for sure!

So for a total of 15 quid, I got 2 Paul & Joe, P&J makeup bag, P&J nail file (which works very well), and 2 Illmasqua polishes all with free shipping included.

Asos dispatched this order very fast to me and I am pleased. I will be shopping on there again.

So 4 more polishes added to my collection and DH is none the happier, but he'll survive :)

Until next time, Take it EZ!!!xx

Quick trip to London - Lush, Boots and L'occitane Haul

DH and I had to run into the city really quick today in order to exchange dollars to pounds. OUCH! It really really hurt exchanging all my hard earned money and to get about half of what I had, in fact...I cried a little (inside) lol

So the shopping trip was a bit dampened by my mood after that, so I just ran into L'occitane to get my mother her mother's day present. Luckily she doesn't read my blog, so I can post it up for you all.

Home oils for the diffusers in Lavender and White Flower. I personally liked the light sweet floral scent of White flower so I got it for her. She loves Lavender (I know this, because her house smells like a Lavender field) so that was an obvious choice.

Each are 10 pounds and that roughly makes it out to about or a little cheaper than what it costs in the states...so I grabbed two.

Oh the third bottle is Marks & Spencer's Royal Jelly hand cream. Apparently another favorite of hers, so I grabbed that for 2 pounds.

(The background is actually a vintage scarf that I got from Lush)

Then I ran into Lush at Liverpool Street station and had a good time looking around. The staff was quite pleasant too. Loved the girl's tattoos as well!

So while I was there, I did make out like a bandit LOL I don't know if it was cheaper than the states like many have said, but I didn't care because I can't resist Lush.

I got this sugar scrub. I have used this before and loved the exfoliating scrub. It is great for my arms, elbows, feet, and just anywhere that needs extra attention and care.

Next up, Love lettuce fresh face mask. I've tried almost all of their face mask. I think they are cheap and last a long time. They also feel so freaking amazing when you pull them out of the fridge and put them on your face. Talk about refreshing...ahhhh....
Oh, this also have little almond shell pieces for exfoliating and it really really works!

I couldn't leave Lush without my bubble bars. A little crumble makes so many bubbles and I think you get more bang for your buck with these than any of the other bath products from Lush.
My bubble bar was called the comforter and it smells of blackberries. I am going to really enjoy using this tonight.

This next product is new to me. Jumping Juniper shampoo bar is suppose to be good for greasy hair, which is what I suffer from badly, so hopefully it will do some magic.
Plus, I like the whole solid bar concept and lack of preservatives that are in other liquid shampoos to keep it from going bad, so I hope this works.

And last but not least, you can't walk out of Lush without a bath bomb. I grabbed avobath, because I want the smoothing effects of the avocados in this bath bomb to moisturize my tired winter skin.
I really can't wait to try this one either. It also smells so fresh!

Ok, so onto some free stuff. I got this lotion with a Marie Claire magazine. This is so awesome! We never had this in the states, free gifts that come with the magazine. So I have no idea what lotion this is, but I laughed because it's called "Cowshed" knackered cow relaxing body lotion. LOL at cow. I guess that's what I am lol

and I get to look at what a Marie Claire UK magazine is like.

And speaking of lotions...I really need some, so I grabbed this body butter from fcuk (french connection) and it was cheap and on sale and it's a body butter. Not sure if it will be great, but I got to give these brands a try, or else I won't know.
So for 4 pounds, I picked this up while I was at Boots.

So after I came home from spending all this money (bad Sue! bad Sue!), I was so pleasantly surprised that the sales agent from Saks in NJ sent me these free Bond no 9 perfume samples -

I'm super happy about the Madison Square Park sample. This is going to be my next perfume once I finish all the perfumes that I currently have. It is a burst of freshness and youth. Only if it wasn't $260 :(

So I hope you guys enjoyed my little purchases.

I am soooo exhausted, so I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I go into town to find a 50th wedding anniversary gift for my in laws - wish me luck!

until next time, take it EZ !! :)

NOTD: Gosh Holographic

Damn my outdated camera. Oh only if I could stop buying polish and beauty products to pay for a new camera. lol. Note to self, stop and buy a camera.

I tried my hardest to capture the Gosh's holographic polish. I hope you enjoy the beautiful linear holographic polish. I sure do love it. It's such a blast from the 80's and I am loving that I can have this since I can not afford Chanel Holographic currently going on ebay for almost $300. No chance lol.

This polish is being discontinued and I know girls in the states are paying up to $30 for this polish, so if you find it and it's less, nab it....it will definitely rock your nails!

"Off topic" topics: English Sunday Roast

I haven't had a proper Sunday roast in over 5 years, so this morning I woke up to the wonderful delicious smell of sunday roast. Oscar was circling the kitchen and going crazy over the smells.

I am having a wonderful day today. I did nothing but stuffed my face, web surf (ebay) and play with Oscar in the backyard.

This is the life.....ahhhhh....

see.......it was the best meal I've had since being here.

NOTD: Nfu Oh #63 - holographic nails? yes please

I wanted to sneak in my NOTD picture before another busy day!
The formula was nice, I felt it went on quite smooth and the linear holographic lines rocked!
I am happy to have gotten another holographic polish into my collection, thanks to a great online friend who sent it to me prior to my departure to England.
So as a thank you to her, I wanted it to be my first manicure that I rocked here.

See the pretty linear holos? gorgeous!

sorry for the dry cuticles! One of the things that I didn't bring with me was lotion...d'oh!

Christian Lacroix C'est La Fete perfume from Debenhams

I know I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to UK beauty shops. I just signed up for my Debenhams Beauty rewards card and purchased my first item today.

At a whopping 11 pounds, I got this really light and sweet smelling perfume called "C'est La Fete" by Christian Lacroix.
I grabbed it for 2 reasons. First, I didn't realize Christian Lacroix made perfumes and I never saw this in the states and the second reason, because it was only 11 pounds on sale from 33.

I got to the perfume before a huge mob came afterwards to the clearance rack and I managed to escape with this in hand.

It took me a while to check out, because I was side tracked by the awesome Butter London set up. I have never seen these polishes in real life, and they were just gorgeous! mental note - add more to collection.

So I was very happy with my cheap purchase today at Debenhams and a great start to accumulating points on my beauty card.

Christian Lacroix C'est la Fete has top notes of pear, passion fruit, blackcurrant, bergamot and apricot blending with heart note of mirabelle, jasmine, tagette, rose, orchid, and vanilla. Finishing with the base of musk and sandalwood.

Sounds nice right? It is, and to be frank, I have smelled something quite similar to this and I remember it costing a hell of a lot more than 11 pounds, so this is quite a good purchase in my opinion.

For those in the UK who need a nice light fragrance and a bit skint, try this. You won't regret it.

And for those in the US, if you can get this, you definitely should instead of spending loads more on those perfumes that are heavily advertised and heavily marked up.

POUND LAND vs. DOLLAR STORES

We have heard it said over and over again how times are rough and you hear about people coming up with ways to save money. I'm definitely not excluded from this bunch. The days of designer shoe shopping has come to a halt in my life and to be truthful I am happy to have replaced my obsession with a slightly cheaper obsession.

In the states, the dollar store is NEVER a dollar..unless you are at dollar tree, which definitely sticks to their store name. However, I found that in the UK, pound land is exactly a pound and boy did I stock up on things like cotton balls, q tips, nail polish remover, and more.

I wanted to show you this Body polish that I got for one pound (for those Americans, it's roughly 60 cents at the moment). No 7 is sold at Boots stores and I heard some really good things about this brand, despite never having tried anything from No 7, so when I saw that this was a pound, I grabbed two. One for me, one as a gift.

I's really excited to try this tomorrow in my shower.

First, the name is quite odd. It's called Really renewing, now why not just Renewing body polish? But nope, it says Really renewing lol, so I hope this is really renewing.

And if it sucks and there aren't enough exfoliating granules in this polish, I'll most likely just use it as a body wash or even as a bubble bath, ahhh speaking of bubble baths, I'm going to Lush to grab some bubble bars and bath bombs, so check back with me later this week.

It's a pound, if it sucks then oh well at least it only cost me a pound.

Byeee!

*Update: This product is amazing for a pound. The granules are medium size and really scrubbed my dead skin away. The scent was pleasant and clean (which I like) and I think it left my skin feeling very smooth. A little also goes a long way. Bargain purchase!

Greetings From England!

Greetings!!!!
I have been here in England for roughly 2 full days now and I'm finally feeling like myself again and not jet-lagged.

It was a long journey indeed. it took 2 hours to drop my dog off at cargo and took 2 hours to check our baggage (because my carry-ons were too heavy and so we had to move some stuff around). Once we got through security it was smooth sailing all the way to England. Neither my DH nor I slept a minute on the plane. We were like a bunch of kids up all night watching movies. So that wasn't the smartest move lol, especially when you have to make your way through the busy Heathrow airport and wait for 2.5 hours to pick up my puppy from the Animal reception centre.

Then after a 2 hour taxi ride, we finally landed in our destination. All 3 of us.
That's all I truly cared about. I just wanted to make sure that all 3 of us were safe and sound, and once we were, I worried about all my precious cargo LOL
TSA didn't steal from me (for the first time), so the Gods were looking out for me. YAY!

The next day, we took a trip out to town center where I checked out Boots and Superdrug. Although I didn't purchase anything but a Barry M Black magic polish (which I owned previously but gave away to an online friend), it was a great shopping trip, because I got to see all the different brands that were sold in the UK.

Sorry this is a photo-less blog, but I promise, next blog will be full of pictures!

I am very eager to go to London in a couple of days.
I'm going to stop by Lush, Inglot, Primark, Topshop, Boots, Superdrug, Debenhams, selfridges, space UK, and wherever else I can squeeze in.

Although, my #1 goal should be looking for a place, I am dying to head into these places to see all the eye candy.
So watch this space for some UK beauty hauls!

It's 2am and I am clearly still on US time. haha.

Until next time, take it EZ!

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Please come to London

As I say goodbye to the states, there are lots of things that I will surely miss.
Diet coke refills, black friday, ice, constant sales, and I just discovered recently..Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish. Yes, nail polish is trivial compared to what is going on in the world today, but while some drink their sorrows and anxieties away, I like to look at color in little bottles to try to fade away how crazy life really is.

Only being a few blocks from rescue beauty lounge last week, I am kicking myself about not buying these polishes before I left the NYC area. stupid stupid me!!!

I adore the colors, but I oddly adore the owner of the business (very rare for me). I don't know her and yet I do. She is very similar to me in many ways, I even emailed her to tell her that. I hope she doesn't think I'm some psycho fan either lol. But I definitely believe in supporting businesses run by people that I can respect.

So Ji - if you are reading this! Please come to London! I want to work with you!!

But for all the readers out there, her new Iconic line is currently on sale, so
shop Rescue Beauty Lounge

I am seriously making my wishlist or polishes to buy. I love them all, seriously.

NOTD: "Bon voyage" Dior Bond Street & Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale

I am calling this my bon voyage nails, since I will be rocking this as I move to my new country!
Bottom layer is Christian Dior Bond Street and I topped it off with my favourite topper, Deborah Lippmann's Today was a fairytale.
My trip is surreal to me, so this manicure symbolizes all of that.

Enjoy!

This photo shows you Bond street more

This photo highlights the Lippmann glitters - god they are great!

A Day In the City: IFC cinema, hot dogs, leopard tops & sore legs

My body is aching. How can 2 miles of city walking hurt every inch of my body? I'm so out of shape, that's definitely what it is. I have lived in suburbia far too long! :p
But it was all worth it. We went into the city to watch the korean revenge film, "I saw the devil" at the IFC cinema. Usually anything that plays on IFC is a winner for me, but being Korean and all, I knew I had to see this.  That and my hubs begging me literally to make the trip into the city to watch this.  Well, I'm glad we went. It was absolutely brilliant! Loved the complex portrayal of revenge and probably one of the most intense slasher films that I ever saw in my life! It was a heavy heavy and emotional movie. Very IFC lol

Check this out also. IFC has these really neat movie posters (original posters). I took thispicture of an original Hitchcock movie poster of the Birds (Japanese edition, cool yeah?)

I dodged the busy manhattan streets far better than my other half lol.  I guess he's been out of London for quite some time himself hehe.  We ate really bad and delicious cheap hot dogs and ate real cheese fries (yum) and I walked out with a leopard top from urban outfitters and a free reusable bag. Sorry I don't have pictures of my leopard top, but it's very 80's and love every gawdy bit of it :)  I was very close to Rescue Beauty Lounge but didn't have enough time to go in.  I had a great time as usual in the city, and I'll miss it a lot.

In a few days, I depart for London and my new adventure begins.

I was reflecting on my past 2 years and how I have moved around quite a bit - sort of like a nomad.  From D.C. to Miami to NYC and now off to London.  I'm such a bad photographer and even a worse a photo taker, so I don't have much, but I wanted to share some of my photos that brought a smile to my face.

When Oscar was a puppy and we first got him in Miami.  He was not happy about the Miami heat, that's for sure.  You see those devious eyes, he was eyeing a lizard to pounce on lol

Our first batch of bananas from our tree

I remember how tropical I thought Miami was when I first moved there lol

Banana and mango trees, lizards everywhere, humidity (wow the humidity), and I just thought to myself, wow I'm in the jungle lol

From miami jungle to the concrete jungle

Back in NYC area

and...

Next stop...
 England!

See you ladies there.  I can't wait for the fish n chips, good Indian food, topshop, drum and bass parties, UK charity shops, UK nail varnish, and only hours away from Paris, Amsterdam and other fabulous european cities.

So thank you to my 18 followers and hope you come along with me 5 hours into the future to UK time!

LORAC's Close Up: Real Life To Red Carpet Eye Tutorial

I am definitely broadening my horizons when it comes to makeup. Before I use to purchase mainly Chanel, Dior, and MAC.  Unfortunately for those companies, I have fallen in love with other brands.  Inglot is one, the other is Lorac for their buttery shimmery neutrals.

I was at Ulta today just perusing the clearance section for some good deals (which were none) but I came upon this kit.

Currently, Lorac is giving a free gift with any purchase.  It was a nice deluxe size lipgloss called Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick Trend setter.  Wow a long name for such a tiny sample lol. And with great hesitation, a rude SA at ulta also gave me a Bremenn 6 in 1 skin cream sample.  Ok, let me rant a bit - why do SA's get upset when you ask for samples? It's not coming out of their pocket? They don't get commission off of it, so why is it such a pain for them?  It just annoys the crap outta me - seriously.  If you are a SA and reading this, customers love samples..customers return to stores that give samples..customers may repurchase from you if you give samples...so the moral of this story is - GIVE SAMPLES god dammit lol.

So back on topic. The lorac kit is awesome! I got:

Movie Star eyeshadow trio

Great color payoff on the 2 lighter shades. The black I will be using sparingly as a eyeliner because it was a bit more matte than I would have liked, but 2 out of 3 shadows that made the cut isn't that bad.

A dual ended makeup brush

Not too shabby for a gwp brush and very nice and soft bristles 

Eyeshadow primer

Liquid eyeliner

and a mascara (dual ended with primer and mascara)

All for $36.  Of course the box claims it retails $140, but more realistically it's around a $70-80 value, which in my book is still great for only $36.  Everything is full size, except for the makeup brush and primer, which is still bigger than most deluxe sizes.

It also came with a tutorial booklet.  I think Lorac could have saved some money on the booklet and did a double-sided foldable pamphlet and have given another product inside this kit - just saying :p

I missed out on the 3D kit, so I'm super excited to have landed this good deal.

I hear Lorac also has a VIP discount section on their website. Great prices and a super bargain if you can obtain a free shipping code.  

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Shadow Pencil in Midnight Cowboy

When the cashier at Ulta told me I had a $4 off any purchase, I ran directly to Urban decay and grabbed the 24/7 Glide-on shadow pencil.  It was a toss up between midnight cowboy or Mercury, but I figured that I would use the shimmery/glittery beige over the steel grey everyday.

So at $16 + tax, I walked away with this item

I couldn't get a decent swatch of this, because the glitter in this eyeshadow kept making my photos burry. So yes there is slight glitter to this (which i wasn't expecting). The original midnight cowboy eyeshadow is a shimmery neutral beige color that I use as an all over lid color.  I like it, because it brightens my eye.  So I expected the same with this thick eyeshadow pencil.  Instead I got an onslaught of glitter. Which is cool, except I'm in my 30's and don't like glittery eyeshadow during the day, so this will have to remain as something I wear at night.

Overall, it is a smooth application as advertised (glide-on) and it is a nice color on my lid. I'm a bit annoyed that I'll have to buy another sharpener just for this pen, but overall I'm happy with the product.  I think they are definitely banking on this 24/7 collection.  I have used the 24/7 eyeliners and the eyeshadows definitely last much longer than the eyeliner.  Also, the eyeshadow doesn't budge.  Where you apply it, is where it will last for hours.  So that is another good thing and makes it definitely worth the $16 I paid or the $20 retail.

I will definitely use this to the end, but I don't know if I will repurchase in other colors.
It's convenient and handy, but I think I prefer using powder shadow instead of a pencil. and that's just a personal preference.

Bon voyage gifts - TOM FORD Private Blend Lip Color in Blush Nude, Cherry Lush, and Pink Dusk

I have a sweet sweet online friend of mine who sent me a lovely gift in the mail.
I was blown away by the awesome package, and want to thank my friend for thinking of me - especially during this crucial time in my life.  This bon voyage gift contained tons of goodies, but I wanted to review my favorite items.

TADAH....

Not only are they my biggest lemmings this season, but my #1 favorite lipsticks now.

TOM FORD lipsticks are to Die for! I can see why people are spending $45 each for these lipsticks.  They are creamy, moisturizing, pleasantly scented and absolutely gorgeous in their white and gold cases.  They scream luxury and deliver luxury to your lips as well.

I was given Cherry lush, Beige Nude, and Pink Dusk.  All 3 colors are gorgeous and very different and yet all flatter me.

Cherry Lush is a blue toned hollywood red.  I have been searching for a bright red for so long and this one suits me so well.

Beige nude is a clean beige nude.  It isn't muddy and contains enough pink to not wash me out.  So in love lol

Pink Dusk is such a mature pink color.  I don't look like I'm trying to be 15 with pink lipstick.  It is a wonderful blend when you mix it with Beige nude.  It is so neutral and glistening. I can't rave about these enough......seriously.

I love these so much, that I have decided that once I am done with all the lipsticks that I currently own, that Tom Ford will be the only lipsticks that I will purchase for myself.

A little piece of heaven in a lipstick tube and I am content.
ahhhh......now only if you weren't $45/tube lol