I Won a Prize From Burt's Bees and SO CAN YOU!

I just won a 3.0 oz Burt's Bees lemon cuticle butter from the Burt's Bees Facebook Page. To try to win something all you have to do is:

1. "Like" the Burt's Bees Facebook Page.
2. Click on the "Bee Merry" tab on the left hand side of the page under the profile picture.
3. Click "Unwrap my gift" and allow the application.
4. If you win something you will be asked to provide a shipping address.

If you do not win something today, do not be discouraged! You can try once a day until December 31, 2011.

GOOD LUCK and don't forget to enter my holiday giveaway here.

*Photo was taken from Burt's Bees Facebook Page.

The Gold Coin in the Hidden Treasure

I hope you all had a great weekend!

This is a mani I did a few weeks ago. Here is the rundown:

Base: Revlon Gold Coin
Base for Accent Nail: Love & Beauty Dark Purple (Passion Fruit Scented)
Second Layer: Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (over all of the nails)

Sorry for the craptastic photos LOL 


Don't forget to enter my Holiday Giveaway! Click the picture below to be taken to the entry form:

(CLOSED) TheVEROblog's 2011 Holiday Giveaway

In celebration of the upcoming holidays, I am pleased to announce TheVEROblog's 2011 Holiday Giveaway. Please read all of the rules carefully and GOOD LUCK!

Prize:

• A collection of 8 Wet n Wild "Fast Dry in 60 Seconds" mini Nail colors with a Wet n Wild nail file. Note: I will be shipping this set without the original packaging for ease of shipping.
• Funky Fingers crackle polish in Teal Scales
• Revlon Sheer Nude
• Revlon Cherry Berry
• Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Fuchsia Chrome
• Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Red Chrome

Rules:

• This giveaway is open to USA and International readers!
• Fill out the form below.
• Must be a follower via GFC (Google Friend Connect). This is the only required entry (which includes your email address). 
• There are a total of 8 (eight) possible entries. (1 required and 7 additional)
• Giveaway ends December 17, 2011 at 8:00pm EST
• Winner will have 48 hours from the time I email them to reply back. Otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

How To: Press Mineral Eyeshadows

Tools:

• Loose mineral eyeshadow (I am using a eyeshadow from PrettyAddictions.com)
• Empty eyeshadow pan
• Spoon or something to transfer the rubbing alcohol from the bottle to the pan (to avoid major spillage)
• Clean bobby pin or something small to mix with
• Rubbing alcohol (The higher the percentage, the quicker it evaporates. I used 70% because that is what I had at my house but you can use higher or lower, it really doesn't matter.)
• Glycerin (I got this at Rite Aid for $5 USD. This was the smallest bottle they had but I definitely did not need anywhere close to this amount. However, glycerin is good for skin repair so you can use a drop or two to moisturize your hands and body.)
• A coin equal to the size of the eyeshadow pan. I used a quarter (not pictured above).
• A palette or somewhere to store your pressed eyeshadow.
• I also spread out paper towels on the hard surface I was using because this can get messy.

Steps:

1. Sanitize the tools you are using with the rubbing alcohol.

2. Add a couple drops of rubbing alcohol to the eyeshadow pan. Make sure it is enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

3. Add 1 drop of glycerin.

4. Transfer some eyeshadow into the eyeshadow pan and mix.

5. Keep adding more eyeshadow and mixing. Add more rubbing alcohol to make it easier to mix. Don't be afraid if you add "too much" alcohol because it evaporates. When your pan is halfway filled, you can add another drop of gylcerin and the rest of your eyeshadow until the pan is almost completely filled. 

6. When you are done adding your eyeshadow, drop the pan at short distances onto a hard surface. This will cause the eyeshadow to even out in the pan. You will notice a lot of the moisture will rise to the top. 

7. Leave the eyeshadow pan out to dry. You can leave it out overnight to dry completely or wait a few hours until it is dry to the touch.

8. When the eyeshadow is dry, place a paper towel or a cloth over the eyeshadow pan (on a hard surface). Place a quarter over the paper towel and press into the eyeshadow firmly. This causes the eyeshadow to become compact and also allows for you to soak up any extra moisture that may be left over. The eyeshadow is only safe to use after all the moisture has left the eyeshadow, so if your paper towel is moist after pressing, wait a few hours before using the eyeshadow on your eyes!

9. The empty palette that I purchased was already magnetized, so I didn't need to do the extra step in adding a magnetic strip to the back of the pan. I peeled off the sticker from the jar that the eyeshadow came in and pasted it onto the back of the eyeshadow pan. 

10. Place eyeshadow pan in a palette or somewhere safe for storage. 

I hope you all enjoyed this "How To" blog post. This is just my method of pressing eyeshadows. There are tons of different ways but this is the way that works for me. If you try this, let me know if it works for you!

Zoya: Yara and Dove

Hey all! I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend. I don't usually post on Sundays but I am actually home today and I am trying to get a lot of stuff done before Thanksgiving!

A couple weeks ago, Zoya had a promotion where you get two polishes for the price of shipping, which is $6.96 USD. This was a deal I could not pass up because Zoya nail polishes retail for $7 each. The two that I chose were Yara and Dove.

Yara is a pickle green nail polish with iridescent gold shimmer throughout the polish. IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! After seeing swatches on a few other blogs, it just had to be mine!

Dove is a cement grey creme polish that I have been eyeing for a while. I do not have many "basic" color polishes and for some reason I was drawn to this one rather than another "out there" polish like Yara.

Sorry for the slight blurriness of these pictures! I stamped Yara over 2 coats of Dove with a pattern from the Bundle Monster plate BM-209.

Pretty Addictions Haul: Part 2

Today I have Part 2 of my Pretty Addictions Haul. You can view Part 1 here.

From Top to Bottom: Vivid. Torrid, Darkness, Electric Lemonade, Shattered Pearls

My favorites from this bunch are Electric Lemonade and Shattered Pearls. Electric Lemonade is a bright teal eyeshadow that may seem intimidating to use at first but it looks AMAZING on the lid! I use Shattered Pearls in the inner corner and as a highlight, but according to the product description on PrettyAddictions.com it can also be used as a cheek highlight among other things.

*Photos of eyeshadows in Jar were taken from PrettyAddictions.com except for the photo of Shattered Pearls in the jar. All finger swatches, photo of Shattered Pearls in the jar and the photo of the package were taken by TheVEROblog.

Pretty Addictions Haul: Part 1

Today, I have another Pretty Addictions haul for you all. This will be a two part haul. About two months ago I made my first purchase from PrettyAddictions.com (which you can read about here). Within a week or so from making that first purchase, I made another purchase. I COULD NOT RESIST! I have really fallen in love with these products. For one, they are so reasonably priced and there is almost always a great deal going on over at the website. Secondly, these products are super pigmented and are of great quality.

Check out some of the eyeshadows I purchased below and be sure to come back to see the second part of this haul, which will be posted later on in the week.

From top to bottom: Mango Margarita, Brown Suga, Mojito, Foggy Hollow, Bloom

       

                                                                

*(Photos of eyeshadows in jar were taken from PrettyAddictions.com. Photos of package and finger swatches are property of TheVEROblog)

CVS Beauty Club Deals: Revlon

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend.

I just received a email from CVS Beauty Club. There is a $3 off coupon for any Revlon cosmetics, which will expire on 11/21/2011. Also, Revlon is BUY ONE, GET ONE 50% off at CVS until 11/19/2011.

So if you are a CVS Beauty Club member, go check your email for that $3 off coupon and read about other great deals they are offering this week! I think I am going to go searching for those Revlon lip butters that everyone has been raving about!

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia is turning out to be one of my new favorite nail polishes! I went searching at a few CVS locations after hearing such great things about this nail polish and after seeing swatches, I was blown away. There was only one left in the display I found it in so I snatched it up right away. I believe this was two coats but a third wouldn't have hurt.

Mini Target Haul (includes details on clearance items!)

Today I have a little Target haul for you guys. I actually just got back from there with my friend Larina. You can check out her blog here. She has new posts coming very soon so make sure you follow her!

My main reason for going there was to pick up the Pond's Evening Soothe wet cleansing towelettes. If you received the beauty sample bag from Target, there was a pack of 5 that came with it. I tried it out and I love these wipes. They stay moist and they remove EVERYTHING.. even waterproof makeup! The sample bag came with a set of coupons and there was a coupon for $1.50 off a Pond's facial item. It is $4.69 for a pack of 30 towelettes minus the $1.50, so it came out to be $3.19.

I have been wanting to try a new mascara because Maybelline Falsies has just not been working for me lately. Larina recommended Maybelline Lash Stiletto, the waterproof version (Retail Value: $6.94).

I picked up a backup ELF Tinted Moisturizer in Sand (Retail Value: $3). I have been using this since about March and I love it. It gives a light weight even coverage. There was also a ton of ELF holiday gift sets at the Target I went to. I didn't pick any up this time around but I may go back another day because I am tempted. They are such a great value.

On an end cap, there was a shelf full of beauty items. There were a few stacks of these Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeshadow trios on clearance for $1.48 (Retail Value: $2.99). The one on the left in the photo above is called Silent Treatment, which is a trio of neautral colors. The one on the right is called Spoiled Brat, which has silver, black and fuschia eyeshadows.

There were also Maybelline XXL Pro Mascara on that clearance shelf for $2.27 (Retail: $7.64). I didn't buy that but what a great deal!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

ELF 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette (Swatches)

About a month ago, Polish Insomniac posted here about this ELF 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette being on sale (for one day) at Target.com for $6 (Retail Value: $10) plus FREE SHIPPING! I purchased it and after playing around with it for a couple weeks, I have to say that this is definitely a great value!

Although it may seem like it, there aren't any two colors that are the same in this palette, which is a combination of shimmer and matte eyeshadows. Many of the colors are super pigmented, if not buildable.

Currently, the holiday gift sets, (including the 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette) are on sale for 40% off with the code GIFTFAVES (on orders over $25) over at eyeslipsface.com.