Outfits of the Week...

Thought I would start trying something a little different. I really love dressing up and wearing fashionable clothes. So, I thought each week I would feature two of my favorite outfits...one everyday outfit and one dressier, or date night outfit.

So, without further ado here is my first:

This is one of my fave outfits for running errands. The shirt has just enough bling that it is happy, yet not too dressy. The little open back gives it a little fun, and makes it different from the everyday t-shirt. The jeans are a primo find. They are from Guess...they are the "curvy" jeans...they are designed for girls like me tiny waist, but big muscular thighs! 

Where to buy:

Bebe Top, Embellished Hi-Lo Drape Back

Jeans: Guess Power Curvy Mid-Rise

Platform Heels

Next up...date night!

Hubby & I have been married almost 15 years...we try and have a date night at least once per week. These are crucial to our relationship. This week we did dinner and drinks with friends so had to do it up a bit....

This dress is from last years late summer/early fall collection at bebe. It has an excellent cutout at the chest to show just a enough cleavage for the hubby. The shoes are an amazing sandal that, despite the height are surprisingly comfy to walk in. Both items were purchased in store at Bebe. There are similar online, but not exact. Here are some recommendations:

Peek-a-boo ottoman dress

Crossover Cutout dress

Zipper Sandal

Strappy Pump

I hope you like the new addition to the blog...do you have a favorite errand running outfit?

Valentine's Day Manicure Tutorial

I don't usually post beauty tutorials. Not sure why, I guess I'm just not huge on the beauty blogger side of blogging so I don't post much in way of that. But, after writing my review of the awesome Complete Salon Manicure polishes last week, my nails were looking awesome so I decided to add to it just a little bit more and create this super cute Valentine's manicure!

Now, when you sit down to do your manicure you may want to whip up these quick little products to help you out and clean up the skin around your nail beds: Cuticle Exfoliator and Cuticle Oil.

This is super cute and super simple:

Supplies

• Red my lips nail color
• White glitter polish, I used "frost" from MAC
• Nail polish remover
• Q-tip for clean up

Step one: paint your nails the base color, red my lips. Let dry approximately 5 minutes, if you needed two coats of the red you may need to let them dry for 10 minutes.

Step two: Using the q-tip and a bit of nail polish remover clean up any nail polish that may have gotten on your skin. 

Step three: Using frost, or other white glitter polish of your choice paint over the red base coat. Allow to dry 5-10 minutes.

Super simple, yet super cute! 

Mystery VoxBox

Hello!

Today I am sharing with you my mystery brand voxbox I received from Influenster! 

I will let my pictures and video do the talking!

On Thursday, February 6th, 2014 I opened my mailbox to this...Squee!!!!

Looking forward to taking this #mysterybrand voxbox with me to London!

I know the company is L'Oreal, but I have no idea what the actual brand is. It came with sample sizes of shampoo, condition, and split end serum. 

So far the split end serum has been amazing for keeping the winter frizz at bay on my ends! The shampoo and condition are my favorite! I have a feeling these are probably Garnier products. Judging by the smell and how they make my hair feel that is my prediction...within the week the full size, fully branded products should be here! Squee!!! So excited!

Here is the unboxing of my mystery brand voxbox...

Sally Hansen Voxbox #CSMTKO

Happy Tuesday y'all! Hope your day is going well! I am so excited to bring you this post! About two weeks ago or so I received a Voxbox from Influenster. This is the second Voxbox I've had the honor of receiving. I say honor, and that may seem silly, but to be chosen out of thousands of Influensters to receive these full size products to try and then review is amazing! I am so grateful for these opportunities.

This Voxbox happens to be super special because doing my nails is one thing that makes me feel super girly and pretty. Each time I have gone out with my nails done in one of these polishes I have gotten so many compliments on my manicure. I think it because you are only having to use one product on your nails that you have the opportunity to make a very clean manicure.

Here are the three bottles I received: 

Now, these tiny little bottles pack a big punch. With just one bottle you get 7 great benefits:

• Base Coat
• Strengthener
• Growth Treatment
• Color
• Top Coat
• Chip Resistant
• Gel Shine Finish

On a normal manicure I need to use a base coat, two to three coats of polish, plus my top coat. This makes for a very long manicure when you look at all the drying time involved. With these my drying time was no more than 15 minutes. Let me explain more about each color.

This is the "Pat on the Black". It only took one coat to cover my nails which meant I was completely done with my manicure in about 8 minutes.

Isn't is pretty? Not as harsh as black, but great for the winter! When I took the polish off my nails weren't very stained either. My nail beds were a bit darker than normal but I just took a bit of baking soda and scrubbed over them and they shined right up!

Next is probably my favorite color with spring coming up:

This is Jaded. It is the lightest of the three shades I got, it also has the longest drying time of 15 minutes to be fully dry. It took three coats to get this color to significantly cover my nails. I love it, and it is totally worth it, but just be advised it takes a lot of coats. When you take this one off there is no reside left, however, it comes off quite nicely.

The final color is probably the best red I've ever owned...

"Red My Lips". It is more of a blue based red I believe and is an absolutely amazing shade. It took just two coats to cover my nails. I could have gotten away with one, but had a few spots I wanted covered more and I had time to let them dry. The drying time on this was just 10 minutes.

All-in-all I loved the polishes and am quite pleased. I've done 5 different manicures with them each lasting a full 4 days before any chipping occurs. If I remember to put gloves on when doing housework I did get my last mani to last 6 days with no chipping! Hard to find that in a nail polish!

Come on over and check out my Knockout Beauty Board on Pinterest!

Do you like darker or lighter colors when polishing your nails or does it depend on the season?

For me it depends on the season. I love darks in the fall and winter and lighter colors in the spring and summer!

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary of Influenster.

DIY Cuticle Exfoliator

Good Morning, Beauties!!! I am back again with another fantastic homemade beauty product using the awesome stuff in your pantry!

I got the inspiration for this after being in the mall one day and being drawn to my favorite make-up store in the place. I am obsessed with nail coloring so I of course made my way to that section and was checking out some pretty awesome products. I was very intrigued by the cuticle exfoliator because my nail beds always seem dried out with dead skin. I've sort of solved this problem with my daily cuticle oil, but I've noticed a couple of times a month my nail beds still just need a good scrubbing. So, I decided I was going to buy it. I picked it up, checked the price......................and immediately put it back. There was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks was I paying $20 for this item. Then, I thought some more and picked it up again really struggling with the impulse to pay the $20 for this exfoliator! After about a minute of batting sales people away the light bulb finally came on! I flipped the container over and check that ingredient label. It was a fairly simple label except for the unpronounceable preservatives. I made a quick note in my phone and high tailed it home (like I said, this product spoke to me lol) and came up with this.....

Cuticle Exfoliator

I use this when I am giving myself a full on mani, about twice a month.

1 Tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil*

½ Tablespoon sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar

5 drops tea tree essential oil

5 drops lavender essential oil

Combine all in a nice jar. During manicure, after soaking nails apply scrub to cuticles. Gently rub in circular motions to area you want to exfoliate. Don’t be shy, exfoliate the whole finger if you want, it will give you soft skin! Rinse off under warm water.

A note about the oil: I prefer to use coconut oil here as it solidifies just a little bit and makes it easier to grab and massage into your fingers!

A second note about the sugar: I actually prefer the coconut sugar here, it is a little courser than regular sugar or brown sugar and gives a bit more of an intense scrub. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the this series here.

DIY Cuticle Oil

HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY TO MY U.S. FRIENDS!!!

Image Credit

I hope you are enjoying the fabulous Independence Day!!! We are up here in Canada, but are celebrating in spirit, despite the Mr. having to work.

Today I am showing you how to make a cuticle oil for daily use. I came upon the idea for this after I started doing a manicure and realized I was all out! I'd been moving on to more natural products as you can see from the other recipes in this series. So, I took a quick look at he ingredients list and around my kitchen, played around a little bit and this is what I came up with: 

Cuticle Oil

This one is a daily use recipe. I keep it under my sink & apply it in the morning after I brush my teeth, after I get out of the shower, and before I go to bed. My fingers tend to be very dry around my nail beds & this really helps keep them soft & moist.

1 Tablespoon Organic Olive Oil or Almond Oil*

5 Drops Tea Tree Oil*

5 Drops Lavender Oil*

Mix all together in a nice jar with a lid and label so you know what’s in it! Use a Q-Tip to apply on cuticles & around the outsides of your nails where there may be dry skin.

Note on the lavender & tea tree oils: if you only have tea tree then use 10 drops, or same with the lavender. But, you need one or the other as they are used a bit as a preserving agent since naturally they have anti-bacterial properties in them. This helps the mixture keep better I've found.

Note: I do not recommend subbing the olive oil or almond oil for coconut oil. The coconut oil solidifies at temperatures below 76 degrees Fahrenheit and it won't be as easy to apply if it is solid, so unless you know it will be kept at 76 Fahrenheit or above use an oil that doesn't solidify unless refrigerated. 

I've had this for about two months now under my sink and it's keeping very well! I really enjoy using it and my nail beds are quite thankful as well! ;) 

In case you missed them here are direct links to the other natural beauty products I use:

Coconut Oil Moisturizer

Face Wash

Vitamin E Eye Cream

I hope you are enjoying this series! If you've tried any of the recipes, leave a comment below and let me know how you like them!!

DIY: Vitamin E Eye Cream

I am loving this series! I have found I really, really enjoy making my own basic beauty products. So far I’ve showed you how to make your own homemade moisturizer and face wash. 

Today I am delving into more of a “specialty” product. This is a Vitamin E Eye Cream.

I came up with this when I discovered lines around my eyes and got tired of spending over a hundred dollars each month just on eye cream! I found a recipe and decided to give it a go. I've been using it for a few months and have been really pleased with the results I've seen! Obviously, I can’t go back in time so I still have some fine lines but I feel as though they are not as deep as they once were. I also feel as though they aren't as noticeable to everyone. 

I tweaked this recipe a bit from the original because I wanted more Vitamin E in mine. My thought process behind this was Vit E is a healing vitamin & so if I have a higher concentration of it in my cream, I may see better results. I have no idea if this is what actually happened or not, but it was my thought process!

Vitamin E Eye Cream

2 capsules from a Vitamin E bottle (I use this brand)

A bit of coconut oil

3 toothpicks

Lavender essential oil

Contacts case

Pierce each of the Vit E capsules & squeeze one full capsule into each side of the contacts container. Scoop in a little coconut oil (1/2 tsp should suffice), take one toothpick & dip it into your lavender essential oil & mix the Vit E & Coconut Oil together with the toothpick. Then, take the last toothpick & dip it into the lavender essential oil and mix the other side of Vit E and coconut oil together. Put the caps on tightly & store in the refrigerator. Put on each night before bed and in the morning before your makeup! Now, you don’t have to keep it in the fridge, I do simply because I love how cold it is on my eyes in the morning and I feel like it makes any puffiness from my sleep go away. Plus, coconut oil liquefies at 76 degrees Fahrenheit so this keeps it solid and makes it easier to apply.   

Coming up next week is cuticle oil and cuticle scrub….

Homemade Facewash

Last week I shared with you the first homemade beauty product I ever made-Homemade Coconut Oil Moisturizer. This week I want to share with you a gem I stumbled up as face wash out of total necessity.

Imagine this…one night I am in my bathroom, getting ready for bed and say to myself, “Oh crud, I forgot I was supposed to go to Shopper’s today & grab more face wash, dang it.” I then begin evaluating the bathroom I was about to turn to the horrific Bath & Body work antibacterial soap I was trying to use up when I remember my Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castille Soap in the kitchen! I run out, grab it, and run back to the bathroom. I used it, applied my coconut oil moisturizer and went to bed. I woke up with visibly reduced acne and redness. I figured it was just a coincidence but decided I would give it a try for a week. I've seen such great results I've never gone back to my usual face wash that didn't do much good, anyway.

So…ready for the recipe….

Yup, that’s it. When I first started I just used this straight up. Like I said though, I tend to have very acne prone skin (not really oily, but just prone to acne lol) so this works for me. However, over time I have noticed, even with the coconut oil it’s making my skin quite dry since the acne is gone so I have gone to diluting it at a 1:2 ratio of soap:water. However, I wanted to kick it up a notch & really do some good for my skin so I created this:

Fabulous All-Natural Face Wash

¼ cup castile soap

¼ cup water

¼ cup organic, natural aloe vera gel

2 Tablespoons organic glycerin

5 drops lavender essential oil

Mix all together and pour into a pump container. Use as you would natural face wash being careful not to get in eyes, as it does sting a bit (yes, I know from experience).

Let me know if you try this how you like it. I always give a new face wash 1-2 weeks before deciding if it works for me or not. Also, remember all skin types are different. If you have a sensitivity to any of these items please don’t use them. Also if this seems too harsh for your skin, play around with the measurements. Skin is a tricky thing & everyone’s has different needs…this fits mine, what fits yours??