February Glam Bag (Ispy)

This is going to be a short post because honestly I have not tried anything that came in this months bag yet. So I can't really give any kind of review other than my first thoughts after seeing the products.Which was I was a bit disappointed at the sizes of the products this month after January's were so big. But I know that every month is going to be different and some months are going to be better than others. I definitely still think its worth the $10 a month.

The bag itself was also a bit disappointing. Black again and smaller than last months. I hope they do some fun patterns with future bags like they did last year.

The products in the bag were:

1. Coastal Scents Shadow Palette Sample
2. Pixi Flawless and Poreless
3. Pop Smokey Lash Kapow Mascara
4. MicaBeauty Gel Liner
5. Lash Card The Lash Card

Click here for more information on Ispy.
Click here for my post on January's Glam Bag.


Till next time,
amber

Book Review: The Age Of Miracles

To sum up the synopsis on the dusk jacket of the book: 

What would happen if the rotation of the earth has suddenly slowed? If the days and nights grow longer and longer? If gravity was affected and the environment is thrown into disarray?

If your 11 year old Julia you keep on living and growing up. The world is changing everyday and nothing is as it was but Julia still has to deal with the normal things kids growing up deal with. Her family, friends, bullies, crushes, etc.

One of the reason I liked this book so much was not only did the author tell us the story of what happens when our normal everyday lives are changed by things we have no control over. But how even though things are so different in the world Julia is still just a kid growing up and dealing with that.

This is such a good book. Very well written.  I definitely recommend it.  I don't want to say anymore because I don't  I want to give anything away.

Till next time,
amber

Bargain Buys: Valentine's Socks & Clearance Jewerly

I just had to share the bargains I picked up today. I was at Target and I was in the sock section when I came across a entire section of Valentine's Day socks. There was no clearance sign, actually there was no price sign of any kind. So I grabbed a pair and checked it on the price scanner. I love the stores that have price checkers. Makes things so much simpler if you are wondering a price or wondering if something is on sale. Anyway back on topic, I checked the price and found out that the socks that were once $5 each were now..... drum roll........ only 50 cents! How can you pass that up? I couldn't, here are the ones I got:

I thought the black and white stripped with the red heart were really cute.They came with a pair of red with white polka dots which I realize you can't really see in the picture (oops, sorry). The long fluffy pink and gray ones I got cause I just loved the colors. I am not a big pink person but I really like this pick. Its soft and not overwhelming  And then I just had to get the Eiffel Tower slippers. I had seen them on YouTube but as much as I love Paris stuff I wasn't gonna pay the $5 for them. But 50 cents, yeah that I can do that.

My Target had a bunch of the Valentine's Day socks left plus a bunch of other clearance socks. I know each store is different but I definitely would try checking out your local store to see what they have if you are looking for some awesomely cheap socks.

When I was in the Old Navy outlet they had a bunch of clearance Jewelry for $1.99. I picked up two things. A pair of earrings and a bracelet:

Most of the clearance jewerly were over sized earrings. I am not a big fan of big jewerly I have always preferred smaller more dainty pieces.  So I was happy when I found the earrings and bracelet above. 

Old Navy also had tons of clearance clothes I just didn't end up finding anything I wanted. 

Stores have tons of clearance items right now as they make room for Spring and Summer, so it is a great time to shop for that bargain.

What are some recent clearance/bargain buys you have found? Let me know in the comments.

Till next time,

amber

Valentine's Day Nails (look #3)

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I spent the day with my bf in NYC. We went to Madame Tussuads (wax museum), walked around and went in some stores, and ended the day with a nice dinner.   

Pretty Flowers from my Bf (picture taken by him as well)

So even though Valentine's Day is over I have one more Valentine's nail look. I had wanted to post this before yesterday but I just didn't get the time to (since I only did this look on Tuesday night). This is the nail look I wore on actual Valentine's Day. Also turned out to be my favorite Valentine's nail look that I did. 

I used Wet N Wild's megalast nail polish in Haze of Love. Love this color. I then made two hearts using Sinful Colors polish in Snow Me White. I did the best I could using flossing picks because I am still waiting on my dotting tools to come in. Then over all the nails I used my new NYC Matte Me Crazy Mattifying Top Coat.

I am loving the look of matte nails. I saw at Rite Aid this past week that Sinful Colors also has Matte Top Coat.  

Have you tried the matte nail look?

Till next time,
amber

Valentine's Day Nail Look #2

I have another Valentine's Day nail look today. I actually ended up doing something different on each hand so its kind of two looks.

I started off painting all my nails Revlon's Impulsive. A dark blueish purple.

On my left hand I did two hearts using a pink polish by Sephora for O-P-I (which I am not sure of the name but it is from the Tinsel Town Collectors Set). I am still waiting on my dotting tools I ordered to come in so I used (because I didn't have any toothpicks, which you can also use) floss picks. I can't wait to get my dotting tools. I think the hearts came out all right. Better than when I tried to use the actual nail brush. For the other three nails I used a makeup sponge and sponged a little bit of the pink polish over all the nails. I really liked the way this came out and am going to do this again.

On my right hand I did the same two hearts but I used Sephora by O-P-I Only Gold For Me Top Coat. I sponged this one onto the remaining nails as well. 

Over all nails I used my Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat.

Till next time,

amber

DIY: Inexpensive Valentine's Day Gift Idea

Last year I needed a inexpensive Valentine's Day gift for my bf. Even though I had a limited budget I still wanted it to be personal. I thought I would share the idea I came up with. It is very simple to do and you don't need much. This is a great gift idea not just for a boyfriend/girlfriend but also for a friend or family member. As a teen I never had a Valentine, but my best friend and I would always give each other little gifts.

What You Need:

• A picture frame. You can use a Valentine's Day one like I did (the one I used was from Target), or any frame you would like.
• A quote you like about love, friendships, relationships, etc (depending on who this is for).
• A picture to put in the frame (the picture should have enough room to fit the quote).
• Scissors
• A glue stick.

Here is what you do:

1. You take the quote you want to use that you have printed out (you can also just type up something you want to say to the person) and see what is the best way to fit it onto the picture. For me since I had such a long quote to be able to fit it I had to cut it out in sentences (or in groups of two/three, etc). You may be able to just cut the quote out and fit it right on the picture.
2. Once you have the quote where you want it, before gluing, put the picture with the quote (use a little bit of scotch tape to hold the quote if you need to) in the frame. This is important because you don't want any part of the quote to get cut off by the frame.
3. After you have quote in the right spot you can take the picture out and then glue the quote to the picture.
4. Wait a few minutes for the glue to dry.
5. Then put the picture back in the frame and your all done! So simple and fast!

Here is a picture of the one I did for my boyfriend (I covered our faces because I wanted to keep that part private). I love the quote I used from Dr Seuss.

Hope this idea helps you if you are looking for a inexpensive but personal gift for Valentine's Day (or any day really). Let me know if you would like to see more DIY posts.

Till next time,
amber

Valentine's Day Nail Look #1

 My first Valentine's Day nail look is classic red nails with a heart accent nail. I used a nude polish that had a slight pink for under the heart on the accent nail.

I suggest using a nail art brush or a dotting tool to help you make the heart. I used the the small brush from the polish and did ok with making the heart with my right hand but just could not do it with my left. I also used my usual Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat over all the nails.

Till next time,
amber

I forgot to add that the polishes I used are the Sephora by O-P-I from the Tinsel Town Collector's Set.  They don't have the names on the bottles and I am too lazy to look them up.

Bargain Beauty Buy: NYC Matte me Crazy Mattifying Top Coat

 Yesterday while I was out picking up some groceries at Target I picked up NYC Matte me Crazy Mattifying Top Coat.

I paid $1.72. I have been wanting to try out the matte nail look for awhile now. While I really like NYC makeup, in the past I found that their nail polish chipped really easily (at least the few that I had tried) so I stopped buying them. But since my budget doesn't allow me to go out and get one of the more expensive matte top coats right now I decided to give their polish another go. I am really hoping that it works well and I end up liking it. I will do a review after I try it out.

Till next time,
amber

January Favorites!

I haven't done a favorites in so long!  So here we go........

Beauty

 1) Bath & Body Works, Triple Moisture Cream in Frosted Snowberry.

 I picked this up half off at the semi annul sale back in December. Since we are in the middle of winter I wanted something that would be extra moisturizing. I have been using this all month after my showers (you can tell by the picture I don't have much left). This smells so good. The smell reminds me of fruity pebbles. Is that weird?  Unfortunately this is holiday scent so you can't get it in the stores anymore (as of when I am posting this, they do have the regular lotion and body wash on their website 50% off).

2) Bath & Body Works, Secret Wonderland Shower Gel.

  This is one of my favorite scents for the winter. I would have gotten the triple moisture cream in this scent but I didn't want to pay full price. I just love this scent and have been using the body wash since December.

3) Stila, Lip Glaze in Sugar Plum.

 My bf  got me the All Is Bright Stila lip glaze set for my birthday in December.  Out of that set the one I have been using the most all month and the one I have been keeping in my purse is Sugar Plum (18). This lip gloss gives a bit of color and shimmer too. For me this is a great color for when I want a hint of color and shine for my lips.

4) Physicians Formula, Conceal RX in Fair Light.

 I needed a new concealer because my last on started to discolor. So while grocery shopping back in December I decided to take a chance and picked this one up. I have to say that I ended up liking it. It has pretty good coverage.  I haven't been wearing much makeup in January but my skin has been freaking out and I have been having many breakouts. So often before going out I will use at least this concealer.

Non Beauty

5) Lipton Black Tea.

 For whatever reason I have been drinking a ton of just plain black tea this month. I have all these different flavors but this is the one I have been reaching for the most this month. With honey its just so good!

6) TV Show: The Carrie Diaries. I am loving this show. First off, I loved Sex And The City the show and the first movie (the second movie not so much). Second because its set in the 80s and its fun to remember how things were (the music,the fashion,the hair,etc).

7) Book: The Age Of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker.

I finished reading this book this past weekend. It is the first book that I have read for my challenge. I am going to do a review, look for it in the next couple of weeks. Check out my page Amber's Bookshelf, to find out about my challenge, to see the books I have read, and the reviews I have done.

8) App on Phone: The Game Subway Surfers. I have been playing this since before Christmas but I have playing it like crazy this month. Its very simple, you run and collect coins and try to get the high score (you can play against friends if you link your facebook). You also complete missions and daily challenges for bonuses. I'm addicted and so is my bf ( he is the one who got me hooked). Its free for android (not sure about iphone) so check it out.

Till next time,
amber