Sunday, July 31, 2011

Black and White Hounds Tooth Manicure

Hello friends! The other day I was in the mood to do a hounds tooth design, it had been a while and I wanted something Jazzy. Check it out.





Orly Matte Vinyl and Finger Paints Papier Mache

I used my Konad plate in M63...this is a fun plate. The hounds tooth is one of my favorite patterns, one that I was most excited to do when I first started stamping.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all had a great weekend!

Alains xoxo

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Look Close...for a Barely there Design!

Hello Sweethearts! I wanted to do a really soft manicure with my new Essie polish, but I still wanted it to be fun. It's nice to have pretty, subtle nails sometimes. Check out the manicure I did the other day.

Two coats of Fiji by Essie. Fiji is a beautiful light pink creme. The application was great and the color was pretty, not chalky at all.

White Zebra Print on top using Bundle Monster plate BM-223. The White is Finger Paints Papier Mache and then topped off with a coat of Seche Vite. I got a lot of compliments on these nails but people had to get a closer look to see the zebra. Maybe next time I will go with a pink that is a bit darker.

Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy this manicure.

Alains xoxo

Monday, July 25, 2011

EOS Lip Sphere...They have a new Fan!

Hey friends! I was in Ulta the other day and I stumbled upon these cute little lip balms. I had seen the EOS (Evolution Of Smooth) lip spheres online and they got pretty good reviews so I wanted to give them a whirl, not to mention they are so super cute. ;) I had to get each kind that they had in stock.Yes, I HAD to. 
Each one was 3.29 good deal for all of the product you get. Each Sphere contains 0.25oz compared to say, Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm which is 0.15oz. They all smell amazing and there is a very mild flavor. Sometimes with lip balm it seems like you have to apply every 5 minutes but with the EOS lip balm it seemed to last a while. I was surprised by that, I actually wanted to apply it over and over so I could show off how freaking adorable the little thing is ha ha! Needless to say my lips were very well moisturized and smooth all day. Not greasy or sticky AT ALL. 
Summer Fruit//Lemon Drop SPF 15//Honeysuckle Honeydew

Summer Fruit up close. I love the packaging just screw off the top and you have a lot of lip balm to apply.  The big dome shape is great for my big ol' soup coolers hahaha!

Summer fruit goes on my night stand, Lemon Drop is in my purse so I can use that SPF 15 in the blazing Arizona sun, and the Honeysuckle is a spare at home. So far my favorite is the Lemon Drop. I love Citrus! There is a Sweet Mint flavor  I am interested in also, but Ulta didn't have it in stock. TEAR! I know I am going to love it so much I might buy an 8 pack of it from Amazon. I really dig mint, ha ha! All in all I am impressed with this brand and will definitely be picking up more.
Have you guys tried any of the EOS Lip Balms? What do you think? What is your favorite flavor? If you would like more information on the brand and where to buy here is the website. www.evolutionofsmooth.com.
Thank you so much for reading! Also if you haven't already don't forget to enter my latest give away..GIVEAWAY! Pretty good stuff and there may or may not be a new lip balm in it as a surprise. ;)

Peace, Love and LIP BALM ADDICTION! haha

Alaina xoxo

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Fun With INGLOT! FOTD

Played with my new Inglot shadows today and had a blast. I wanted to do a super bright look that I don't normally do and I was pleased with it.  I also recently got a new camera and I wanted to test out some makeup shots. Be gentle on me as I am trying to perfect the system and also learn a new piece of equipment so if the pictures aren't perfect I apologize.

Makeup makes me a happy girl! (my new camera makes me look fake haha..)
Face
M.A.C Prep+prime
M.A.C Studio Sculpt Concealer NC45
M.A.C Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation NC45
M.A.C Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Sun Power
Revlon Sculpting Blush in Merlot at Midnight
M.A.C Fix Plus

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
INGLOT Matte 370 and AMC 60 on the inner corner
INGLOT Matte 383 Orange on the lid
INGLOT Matte 343 yellow/green outer eye
INGLOT AMC Shine 45 for the Highlight
Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Ecstasy 
Make Up Forever Aqua Smokey Lash (it is really a good Mascara I just have pitiful Lashes..once again I should have worn falsies ha ha)
Sephora Waterproof Kohl Eye liner in Keep Black
M.A.C Mystery Eyeshadow to fill in my brows

Lips
Urban Decay XXX Shine in Quickie

(dang that's a lot of products when you list it all out..whoa!)



Super bright and colorful..definitely not a look for everyone but eh..I love it. I wanted to go for something with tropical colors that popped! I normally don't do purple liner on my lid but I figured what the heck?! and I actually love it. Also..lord help my lashes haha!


Not so crazy with out the flash.

Thank you guys for reading. If you haven't entered  my giveaway yet please enter here...TheBrrrdsNest Giveaway! There are some awesome prizes that I think you might like.

If you have any questions about any of the products used please don't hesitate to ask in the comment box. I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend! 

Alaina xoxo

Friday, July 22, 2011

IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME! CLOSED

Hey Loves! I know it has been a long time coming but I finally have enough awesome items for a pretty nice give away. This is in celebration of TheBrrrdsNest.com and me having over 100 beautiful followers! It includes some of my favorites and some other popular makeup/polish items that have been buzzing around the interwebs. I like to add a few surprise items also so the winner will get a little something extra besides what is shown. The give away is open internationally and will end on...8/23/2011.


The Goodies!


Nubar 2020  Pretty Flakey effect polish.
Nubar StarSparkle Silver Glitter Polish

One of the most popular Lip Tars from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Anime. Hot neon pink..I love it! Check out when I swatched Anime in this post OCC=OMG

Urban Decay Matte Eyeshadow in Narcotic..a pretty Robins egg Blue.
Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion (travel size)

Ardell Lashes

NYX Chrome Eyeshadow in Queen. A shimmery Yellow/gold
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean..I know the MILK pencil is more popular but I personally use Black Bean more. It is a great base for a smokey eye.

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme
I live for this stuff I have one at home one at the office and I keep a mini one in my purse.


Rules
  • Must be a follower of TheBrrrdsNest.com and Leave a comment letting me know what product in the give away you are most excited about (1 Entry)
  • Please leave me your email in the comment.
  • ONE comment per person...read on how to add additional entries if interested and let me know everything you did to earn more all in the same comment..that makes things so much easier for me when it comes to tallying up the entries! I would hate to have to disqualify anyone for not following the rules.



Want to earn more ENTRIES?
You can earn as many as FIVE entries, here is how to earn additional! Let me know everything you have done in your comment please.

Follow me on Twitter @TheBrrrdsNest and leave me your Twitter name. 1 Entry
If you're a blogger, put my Giveaway in your side bar and leave me the link 1 Entry
Write a BLOG POST about this Giveaway leave a link so I can check it out! 2 Entries

All entries will be added into a spread sheet and the winner will be selected through Random.org
 I will pick a winner on August 30th,


Thank you all so much for reading, following, commenting and all of   that great stuff! I really appreciate it all!


Alaina xoxo

INGLOT Haul..Tons of Pics!

On Monday I could NOT wait to get home from work because I had some beauties waiting for me. I recently fell in love with this brand. I have heard nothing but amazing things about INGLOTso I couldn't wait to get my hands on some..and when I did I was HOOKED!  I still want to get the new Rainbows as well. I can't get enough!

To some it's just a box..but to me it's a box full of amazingness! 


Aren't they Beautiful?! 40 in all but I had 10 that I got from IMATS that I needed to add in the mix too so I could start to build palettes.

Freedom System Palette for 20 shadows.


First I made a color palette..I did it in rainbow order. 

I placed the cases that held the shadows in the same order as the palette and made little labels so I had a guide for when I was labeling the shadows(did that make sense?) haha. Inglot shadows don't have names, most are listed by finish with a number, for example Matte 322, or AMC shine 34, Or DS (double shine) 48. Since there are no names I just labeled the backs of the palettes so I knew which shadow was which since they are kind of difficult to remove from the palette. The Magnets are STRONG and those suckers don't budge!

I am in love with these palettes. Not only do they look amazing but they are sturdy and see through. I must admit, I am a sucker for pretty packaging.

There is a blank spot because I ordered one that I already had hahahaha whoops! 

 Side by side...The colors...swoon.
Random neutrals in my 10 set

I love my label maker!
I got my latest order from the website www.inglotusa.com. I seriously recommend these shadows..reasonably priced, beautiful colors, great formula, and amazing packaging. Check them out if you haven't already! Thanks for reading, and sorry I have talked about Palettes non stop for the last couple of posts.

Peace, Love, and Beautiful Eye Shadow!

Alaina xoxo


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Black Daisy

Hey lovelies! Check out this manicure I did recently. I was swatching China Glaze Fifth Avenue a very pretty mellow pink creme and I wanted to spice it up a bit with a design so I added some daisies.


I used the Black and White Migi Nail Art Pen for the Daisies.

I hope you guys like it! Thank you for reading. Sorry this post is so short but it's bed time. haha!


Alaina xoxo


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Depotting my Urban Decay Eye Shadows

Hello friends! This weekend I had a fun project, I transferred my Urban Decay eye shadows to my new Z-Palette. It was pretty simple once I got a system going.
such a mess...eeeek!

A few M.A.C shadows and one Stila shadow made it into the Palette also. :)

Tools that I used. Box Cutter, Nail files, tongs, candle,wire cutters but you can just ignore those because I didn't use them, I thought I might have had to get crazy on something haha..luckily I didnt. I was worried to remove the shadows from their individual cases because I was worried that they would break but there were no shadow fatalities during the process.

After using the nail file to pop out the black part, I held it over the flame to melt the glue and loosen things up a bit. I didn't have to use the flame for all of them, I was able to use the box cutter to lift the actual metal pan out of the black part pretty easily for most.

 No breakage all...next step!


I also used the flame to melt the sticker glue so I could still have the names of the shadows on the pan. That part was actually fun! Well it was all pretty fun organizing, labeling, arranging..the part that sucked was popping out the black part from the main shell.

To get the sticker to peel off I held the open case over the flame for a few seconds the name sticker slides off very easily. Be careful though..it's obviously hot! I then placed the sticker on the back of the shadow pan. (The sticker also covers any access glue and doesn't ruin or dirty up the Z-Palette.)

Nice and neat and pretty, just the way I like it!

Finished Product! LOVE IT! So smart to have a clear case. I got this one at IMATS LA but I ordered two more Z-palettes from here, free shipping if you spend over 40 dollars and no tax not a bad deal!

Pretty! I have some new Urban Decay matte eye shadows coming..they were onlySIX dollars at UrbanDecay.com I will be transfering all off my shadows into palettes.
All in all this was a fun project! I absolutely love the Z-palette and highly recommend if you have a lot of shadows that you would like to consolidate. If you have any questions about any colors seen then please don't hesitate to send me a message or just leave a comment! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Peace, Love, and Organization!!

Alaina xoxo

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Nail Fail: This is what happens when I try to be Cool

Le sigh. I wanted to do something dark with a cool accent nail..not so much ha ha...
I tried to do a lightening bolt but instead it looks like a piece of cheese. Womp, womp womp. Oh well. I instantly painted over the yellow after I got a few pictures of it ha ha. On a positive note I got good application and had no issues with the tape it can sometimes be a pain in the booty.

Orly Goth and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for the Cheese...er I mean 'Lightening Bolt'. 

I will try again! You will not defeat me.

These are the scissors I used to cut the pattern in the tape. I got them from Michaels and it was a set of 6. I don't remember how much I paid but I believe the individual pairs of these cost 2 bucks. I have lots of these craft scissors and have been meaning to use them for more fun Manicures.

Thank you so much for reading...hope this one made you laugh..I definitely had a chuckle or two. 

Peace, love and not so perfect manis!

Alaina xoxo