NOTD: love & beauty by Forever21 "Rose/Red"

I have no idea why I'm up right now.

I have no reason to be up right now. 

But I am so I'm dealing with it by watching RuPaul's Drag Race in bed (hair in curlers because I'm cute as f***) and writing up a quick NOTD post for you all. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm probably still up because my stomach is making noises akin to a bear fighting a buffalo (is that a thing?) and I'm scared that if I go to bed I'm going to crap my pants while I'm sleeping (again, I'm cute as f*** I know).

I picked up "Rose/Red" (can I just put it out there that Forever21 has THE WORST names for nail polishes? I would have named it "Cute As F***" but... [I'm beating a dead horse I know; can we pretend like it's still funny though?]) from Forever21 last week while shopping on my birthday with Torey. It was in the bins positioned around the checkout line (damn them...) and I was doing well resisting until I saw "Rose/Red" was on sale for $0.99! Into my needy hands it went and onto my naked nails the next day.

"Rose/Red" is such a gorgeous semi-sheer (hence I layered it over one layer of NYC's "Greenwich Village" to make it an opaque fuchsia) rose cream polish with TONS of silver glitter, pearlescent shavings, red hearts, pink hearts, and red confetti packed in. A lot of glitter packed polishes like this one end up needing to be 'fished' in to get glitter on the brush but not with this beauty; in one coat (I put on two coats because I'm greedy and insecure) you'll have a love party on your nails that Cupid would be proud of. 

I got so many compliments on this manicure while I had it on and I can see why! "Rose/Red" is an all-around stunner in the most adorable of ways. I've been loving cream glitter polishes lately but since they're hard to come by this was an absolute steal at Forever21 for only $0.69 (it was marked at $0.99 but rang up at the register for cheaper; happy birthday to me, huh??) and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes stupidly girly nails. The formula was surprisingly wonderful in regards to not being gloopy and is generously packed with plenty of glitter. So, if you've got some extra quarters lying around then I would absolutely head to your nearest Forever21 and nab this polish while it lasts!

Have you tried Forever21 nail polishes before?

Love 'em? Hate 'em?

What's your favorite glitter polish at the moment?

Do share!

xoxo - Cassie

June '13 Birchbox!

I spent today cleaning up the chaos Galileo left in his wake (he was having a 'man moment' as I like to call them... basically likes to tear apart everything I own and be an utter spaz) and then sobbing in the parking lot at the DMV (it's the DMV, do I need to say more?) so I was more than ecstatic to see my Birchbox wedged into my P.O. box when I got home. 

Seriously, you could have put a chapstick and a Ring Pop in there and I would have been delighted but there are actually a few goodies here I'm excited to try!

Take the jump if you want to see what I got :)

hourglass Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15: Swatches + Review!!

At a whopping $52/oz., it's no surprise that you can see scrape marks on the inside of this bottle; I'm milking this puppy for all it's worth before it woefully goes in the trash (if I can bring myself to do that... I know, I know, I'm pathetic #futurefeatureonhoarders).

I just wanted to put together a pimp worthy review for you all before the mournful day comes because I have loved this primer for all it's worth which, as I said, is a whole heck of a lot.

Take the jump if you want to drool spasm read all about it!

NOTD: china glaze "Unpredictable"

Oh hey blogger, it's been awhile huh?

Nine days, huh?

I'M A TERRIBLE BLOGGER, HUH???

I'm sorry for my absence... it was kind of sort of my birthday and my mom and brother kind of sort of flew to Boston from Minnesota and I was kind of sort of being busy in real life.

I hope you can find it in your beauty junkie hearts to forgive me!! 

To kick off my back-to-blogging-bonanza I figured I'd share a nail polish I wore a couple of weeks ago (yikes, it really has been awhile...) since, well, you know; my blog wouldn't be much if it weren't for NOTD posts considering it's my kryptonite (aside from chocolate).

I picked up "Unpredictable" while on an outing to Ulta a few weeks ago because it was in the sale bin for $3. Three dollars!! What an unpredictable little surprise ho ho ho (the name of this one is just screaming for puns galore... I'll spare you at one). And considering I've had a thing in my mind lately for holographic nails I just couldn't pass this up. The blue/green/gold holo looked like all sorts of gorgeous especially when I peered into the bottle; look at that green lava in the photo above!

However, please note that I said looked... past tense... 

yup, this didn't exactly translate into the beautiful holo that I thought it was when applied to my nails.

It's not that "Unpredictable" isn't pretty, it's just that it was... well... unpredictable (I know I said I'd stop at one but I just can't help myself when it comes to puns)!!

"Unpredictable" is pretty much void of any holographic tendencies but is rather a straight up metallic green/teal. Seriously the metallic finish on this polish is insane, mimicking that of brushed chrome. So if that's the kind of finish you like then this polish is going to be right up your alley. I personally am just not a fan of metallic polishes so this was a bit of a let down for me, especially when the bottle makes "Unpredictable" look so beautifully holographic (or at least duochrome).

Oh well, you win some you lose some right?

As much as I love sale bins, sometimes there's a reason those items were on sale in the first place.

Galileo's glad to have me blogging again so I hope you're happy I'm back too!

Have you tried china glaze's "Unpredictable"?

Love it? Hate it?

Do you have any polishes that are actually holographic?

Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie

PS: I'm not sure if the whole "Google Friend Connect is going to disappear on July 1st along with Google Reader NOOOOO THE WORLD IS ENDING PANICK NOW!!!!!111!!1!" is just a rumor/misconstrued information but to be safe I want to remind my lovely readers that you can still follow me via Bloglovin' (the button is in my side bar on the right!) or even through email notification (also in my sidebar!) in case you're worried about GFC being gone for good ;)

NYX butter gloss "Apple Strudel" & "Strawberry Parfait": Swatches + Review!!

For some reason I just haven't been up to blogging lately; it has nothing to do with a lack of products (I'm set for the next, oh I don't know, five years at least) but more so because I haven't felt up to writing. Not sure why but I'm blaming the sluggish heat putting a (literal) damper on my wit and charm (I'm really not as egotistical as that makes me sound... or based off of the fact that I post pictures of my face for the internet to oggle... I'm not building myself a very strong case here am I?).

Either way, considering I mentioned these NYX butter glosses (specifically "Apple Strudel") in my Best & Worst of Beauty: May '13 video (around the 11:10 mark if you don't want to listen to all of my rambling and general flailing) I figured it was about darn time I did a proper post on these beauties since I've been wearing them constantly for about a month now!

Take the jump if you want to read all about 'em :)

May Favorites!

A few of you have already seen my Best & Worst of Beauty video for the month, but for those of you who haven't (I just uploaded it last night, don't fret!) I've got it embedded for you to either watch in this post or to click on over to YouTube for your viewing pleasure (if it piques your interest)!

As always, I hope you enjoy :)

xoxo - Cassie

NOTD: O.P.I. "Lights of Emerald City"

Sorry for yet another nail post everybody but... well... it's Summer. 

Summer = Hot

Hot = Sweaty

Sweaty = Makeup Meltdown

Makeup Meltdown = No thank you

∴ I don't often wear makeup during the Summer

I bebopped my way over to Ulta the other day (aka a week or two ago) to take advantage of a deal they were having on a hair care item and, of course, they had to put the nail polish RIGHT NEXT to the hair section.

They knew I was coming.

I don't know how but THEY KNEW (...d***it).

With hair care in my left hand my right was feeling needy and decided to fill the emptiness with "Lights of Emerald City" (my hands may not have control but they sure do have good taste).

Sorry for the excess of glamour shots, but it had to be done. "Lights of Emerald City" deserves the star treatment (I should have made a mini feather boa for it but I guess I'll save that for next time). 

This polish is just so gorgeously multifaceted; large white squares (not glitter, just... squares) and delicate pearlescent flakes are the only components of this polish but the two look so gosh darn good together that three would have definitely been a crowd.

I absolutely adore the way this looks over pastel polishes and think it would look fantastic over pinks and nudes as well. Heck it probably looks great over dark colors too but I'm just so happy with how light and whimsical it looks over Revlon's "Cloud" (which I did a review on ages ago) that I have a hard time imagining "Lights of Emerald City" over anything even semi-dark and gloomy!

You all deserve fair warning though: this polish bubbles like CRAZY. I had to wipe off my polish and start over multiple times before I finally got it smooth, so it was a bit tedious to work with (to say the least). I think it just has to do with the fact that the clear polish it's suspended in is a bit on the thicker side and also because of the want for tons of squares to be piled on the nails. Hence I was impatient and layered the polish too heavily and too often before letting it dry properly and was left with a bubbly mess.

Aside from my application goof (purely due to lust and excitement... and the fact that I was doing this late one night in bed so I couldn't see much) I am so thrilled with "Lights of Emerald City". I think it's such a unique top coat (I've heard it looks great underneath jelly polishes as well??) and definitely worth snagging if your hands are feeling a little empty while on an Ulta outing sometime soon ;)

Have you tried O.P.I.'s "Lights of Emerald City"?

Love it? Hate it?

Any other new-ish O.P.I. collections that you're excited about?

Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie