Im not.....

dead. And Im not really a waitress.

Get it??! Because that's the name of the polish....oh jeeze....I crack myself up.
So as we get closer to Christmas, I realize that I don't have enough hours in the day. I really don't. I mean...who needs sleep anyways. Between work and shopping and spending time with the family, I don't have time to just sit and do nothing. I've been meaning to get some blog posts up on here from a few mini hauls and by the time I get home, I'm ready for a cat nap. I do have a Lush haul that I'm about to post and updates on my project 10 pan which I've been doing for about a month now. Sooooooo yes.
<----and about that. I'm Not Really a Waitress is a nice shimmery red. Perfect for winter and the holidays, but it can always be worn all year round. You can get it pretty much everywhere OPI is sold...it's a very popular color. I did see a mini set of OPI polishes at Ulta the other day and it had this along with a bunch of their most popular colors (including You Don't Know Jacques, and Bubble Bath just to name a couple).

Swimsuit....Nailed It!

I'm.....such a slacker. ::sniff sniff:: I can't believe it's almost December! I'm excited for Christmas and all the holiday smells. Is that weird? I don't even care about gifts...I just like the smell of the holidays. haha....yeah now thinking about it, it's pretty weird.
So...on to the polish. I had to admit though, I've been slacking there too. I haven't painted my nails in over a week (which is very unlike me). I tend to be pretty OCD when it comes to my nails and having chipped nail polish. It's either all on there or none at all. But I've been lazy and letting myself go. So, Swimsuit...Nailed It! by OPI is a shimmery vibrant blue. Only needed 1 coat. I have heard some people complain about it staining their nail...had no problem with it. I always use a base coat just in case. I also heard complaints about the glitter being hard to remove. Again, I had no issues. I use pure acetone to remove polish and I find that I use less and it's a bit cheaper.

Jade is the new black

Between work and cleaning around my place, my hands and cuticles are basically shot. They are so dry it almost hurts! I've bought a ton of different lotions and a couple different cuticle oils to try and bring my hands back to life....so until then, I'll try and still put up nail posts. I did make a trip to Lush a couple days ago and picked up a bath gift, Lemon Flutter cuticle butter, and Cupcake face mask. Soooo flippin' excited. I also got a couple polishes at Ulta that were on clearance. If you ever go into Ulta, definitely check out their clearance area. Most of the time, you can find some polishes that are limited edition/seasonal and they're a couple bucks cheaper.

So I swatched Jade is the new black by OPI....which is one that I got on clearance at Fred Meyer a couple months ago. The color looks like the name, a jade green. It's kinda creamy with no shimmer or anything fancy in it. Would look nice with a matte top coat over it.

Your Hut or Mine

Essie is another brand that has the cutest names for their polishes. This week's pink Wednesday is going to be Essie's Your Hut or Mine, which came out earlier this year. It's a nice dusty pink/rose color with very VERY fine gold shimmer to it. You can barely see it in any picture but if you tilt your nail just right, you can see it. I like this color for fall....it's not too bright but it's still feminine. Slightly reminds me of vintage dresses for some reason. Makes me want to put on a apron and bake some cookies.

And on a person note, what a flippin' ridiculous week this was. So stressful at work :( and on top of that, I've been breaking all my nails.

SEE! Look how sad my right hand looks. I broke my middle finger nail today and almost bled. Now it's pretty tender. Wahhhhh it makes me want to cry.

November Birchbox

Yayyy I got my Birchbox in the mail! I love getting them....they're a nice little surprise right after having to pay rent :)
So this is what mine looked like

This is what the little description card said:
"Hi there,
It's better to give than to receive, but you says you can't do both? This month, we're helping you get a head start on your holiday planning with a collection of gift-worthy products. Try them and let them inspire your own present plans...and we promise not to tell if you buy them for yourself!

Get your spa fix with a skin-purifying Italian mud treatment, then layer on a luxurious body cream with the slightest sheen. Dab on a chip autumnal scent, and dress up nails with a festive polish. Even your tabletop gets a treat--chic letterpress coasters.

Go to Birchbox.com to get the inside scoop on your samples, plus tips on how to use them. There's also exciting content to put you in a festive mood, from a primer on grownup sparkle to a roundup of the best chocolate for every craving. Feeling indulgent? Use our guide to recreate splurgy spa treatments at home."

So let's start off with with perfume sample

1. Atelier Cologne
Vanille Intensee Cologne Absolute
Warm notes of vanilla, oak wood, and amber anchor this autumn-ready perfume.
30ml $60 ; 200ml $170

My thoughts: The packaging was cute; came with a little postcard and was nice for a perfume sample. The perfume itself good for fall or evening. A creamy, musky, romantic scent. Definitely smell the vanilla and amber in it. I liked it, unfortunately, it started to give me a headache after 5 minutes of wearing it. It could also be a mixture of that and the lotion that I've had on my hands for a while not...not sure. A little pricy for 1 oz. But I really wouldn't consider this an every day perfume. It might be for some, but like I said, I would think of this as more of a evening perfume. 

 2.Borghese 
Fango Active Mud
This classic Italian treatment has mineral-rich mud from Tuscany, plus nourishing avocado and sweet almonds oils, to smooth skin on face and body.
7oz $33.50 ; 17.6oz $64

My thoughts: I did sort of a patch test on my hand to make sure that I didn't have any sort of reaction to the product first. I have really sensitive skin, so I obviously I'm pretty careful about what I put on it. I didn't have any problems with it, so it's safe to say it's alright for those with sensitive skin. I didn't notice anything miraculous about this product. Yes, my skin felt smoother...but all my face washes and other masks do the same as this. You get 1oz as a sample, which is a generous amount to use multiple times. Would I pay $33.50 for 7oz. Heck no. There are a ton of cheaper alternatives in drug stores....but it's nice to have this little sample for special occasions.

3.LaROCCA Skincare
Champagne & Shimmer Supreme Creme
Shea butter and olive oil join forces to leave skin firm, supple, and ready to set off your favorite party dress.
6.67oz $35 

My thoughts: I actually had to look this up on the Birchbox website. When I first opened my box, I poked my finger in it to see if it was solid. It kinda was....and now I know it's because it was slightly cold. Then when I went to put it on my hand and take a picture a day later, it was very soft like butter. The "sheen" in the picture is...oil. Not shimmer. This is so incredibly greasy. It doesn't leave my skin firm and supple...it leaves it greasy and gross. It didn't smooth into my skin and I ended up having to wipe it off. And it doesn't even smell good. To me, it smells like cleaner. bleh.

4.Zoya
Nail Polish in Izzy
The perfect party polish, this bold pink shade from Zoya's holiday 2011 collection has a touch of look-at-me sparkle.
.5fl oz $8 

My thoughts: I'm pretty excited to get this in my Birchbox because I was actually going to purchase it during Zoya's next sale. In my opinion, Zoya has one of the best shimmer nail polishes. They always go on so smooth and generally only need 1 coat. The glitters in it are so fine that there's no issue with uneven coats or having a hard time removing them. .25 oz is the perfect size...no one ever really goes through a whole .5oz bottle.

The treat item are these little coasters..I have nothing to say about them other than they are coasters lol

Overall, my box was a bunch of stuff that I'm not going to use. I'm pretty sad that the perfume started to make me sick. The first whiffs of it were pretty nice lol. I'm also pretty disappointed about the LaROCCA cream. I've been on the search for some really good lotion because my hands are always dry.

Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette

I bought this palette from Target a few weeks ago. I was kinda going back and forth about it because I already have the BH Cosmetics palette and I never use it. Ok...well I've used it once...for my sister's homecoming make-up. But I figured ::talking to myself in my head:: "oh hey....for $15...who cares if it just sits under the bathroom sink. It's so flippin pretty". So I bought it. Which I was ONLY going to Target to check out their clearance section. Then when I came home with a ton of bags, my boyfriend goes "what...did you buy the whole store?". Why yes....yes I did.

I kinda want to do a comparison of this and the BH Cosmetics palette in the near future. Just seems like a lot of work though, you know? ::sigh:: so maybe some day.

.....that's the look I get when I neglect him.

871 Pink?

Pink Wednesday! Pink Wednesday! Pink Wednesday! Heyyyyyyyyy! So today I have a polish by Sinful Colors. Usually they have these cute little names for their polishes. But...I don't know if it's just an old color or what...but it's just called "Pink". I have had it for a while so it is possible that they decided to not be so creative with the name. However, it is by far one of my favorite polishes. It's a super-neon-bright-in-your-face pink. I usually like to do a stamp or some sort of thing over it, but today I just did Crown Me Already by OPI on the accent nail. There are so many glitters coming out for the holiday season! I prefer this one. It goes with practically everything and it's really easy to work with.

Sultry Raven's Pout

While surfing the web one day, I came across a couple reviews about this lipstick. I'm a huge sucker for youtube raves and people gushing about products. I don't know...maybe it's just me. If enough people talk about a product, it has to be great right? So I checked out my local drugstore to see if the Project Runway line from Loreal was still there. And just my luck, it was. Only a few items because they were about to take it off the shelf. I don't like putting any product on me in the store, so I picked it up along with Audacious Amazon's Pout. So I took it home and did some swatches on my hand. WHAT THE HECK. Sultry Raven's Pout was kinda dirty looking on my hand. Very unappealing. Light caramel would best describe the color. But for shits and giggles, I put it on my lips. Now, I have pretty pigmented lips and it's hard for me to find a nude that doesn't make me look dead or that goes nicely with my skin. This color was absolutely perfect. It concealed the little red tint I had on my lips and gave them a nice natural color. I'm so glad I got it now.

DS Original

This has to be one of my favorite OPI polishes that I own. I just love it so much...I should have bought another bottle. I haven't had a chance to get my hands on the GOSH polish or nfu oh 61, so this will have to do until then. I love holos and I wish that I more of them. All the other ones that claim to be holos are just full of crap.

this polish just makes me so darn happy!

Essence Walk of Fame

I bought a couple of the Essence nail polishes a few weeks ago. I'm not sure where exactly they sell them, but I know for sure Ulta and Fred Meyer have them. The brand in general is supposed to be comparable to Wet'n'Wild and is along the same price points as well. These were .99 each and I think the most expensive thing from the entire cosmetic line is around 5.99. They also come out with limited edition products, similar to MAC and the higher end brands, which are only available while supplies last. Sooooooo yeah. I got Walk of Fame which is a dusty taupe color. Every time I tried to take a picture, the color was a little off and it kept changing color with every picture I took. Very frustrating. These two are the closest from the actual color. It is a tad lighter than the pictures, but not by much. All in all, I really like these little polishes. For .99, it's a really good deal for what you get. I didn't have any problem with streaking, but the first coat was pretty sheer. I probably should have done one more coat...but oh well.

The Old Bill

I'm just going to do a quick swatch of Butter London's The Old Bill for ya. It's a metallic gold that I think would be really pretty for darker skin tones. Not saying that it wouldn't look good on lighter skin, but there's just something about golds that look so good on darker skin. Seemed a tad on the sheerer side and I needed 2 coats for it. The first coat was a bit streaky, but then it evened out on the second. Overall, I found it ok. It's not a color that I would wear all the time and therefor isn't worth the $14 that I paid for it. I did however get it on sale during Ulta's Buy 1 get 1 free sale. Dont' get me wrong, it's a nice color. Just not one of my favorites.