China Glaze Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection - Surreal Appeal

My nails have finally grown long and healthy enough for me to be able to swatch polishes again. And just in time! I recently received several polishes from the upcoming Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away inspired collection by China Glaze which releases tomorrow - December 1. The collection overall is quite varied and perfect for this upcoming spring. It consists of several cremes, a few glass flecks, and some very interesting glitters! To start, I felt like wearing something traditionally feminine: Surreal Appeal.

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Color: Surreal Appeal is a beautiful warm toned pink. It is a cross between coral and bubblegum. To me, it is feminine and classic but with just a bit of edge. To be honest, I don't have many pink polishes in my collection as they often wash out my skin tone or are too pale for me. This polish, however, is really complementary. I love the coral in this pink which really makes the color pop.

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Holiday Gift Guide: For the Eye Shadow Lover

I'm back! Wow has life been busy lately. I had a lovely Thanksgiving, however, and am ready to share with you some holiday gift ideas. Today, I have compiled a list of gifts for at different price points and levels of expertise for anyone who loves eye shadows.

For the beginner: The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes Palette
These quads come with four little cubes and are packed with shimmer. It is hard to overdo the makeup with these. They are great for younger women who are learning about makeup as the shimmer gives them a little something extra. These come in multiple color varieties including a nude palette and a multi color palette. These retail for $22 but are often on sale, making them very affordable.

For the natural beauty: Urban Decay Naked Palettes
These two palettes are best sellers for a reason. If your eye shadow lover doesn't yet own these, she would certainly be lusting after them. I think the Holidays is the perfect time to buy people something a bit more high end that they might not purchase for themselves. You cannot go wrong with either of these palettes. These retail for $50 each and are well worth it!

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Kiss Ever PRO Lashes Starter Kit

I very rarely wear false eyelashes. The few times I year I do wear them are Halloween or fun nights out when I feel like going big. In general, I find falsies a bit uncomfortable and quite difficult to apply. I was quite excited, therefore, to try the Kiss Ever PRO Lashes Starter Kit as it comes with an application tool to make lashes placement easier.

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This kit comes with a reusable pair of false lashes, a bottle of lash glue with applicator, and an application tool. I really found the application tool helpful. It greatly increased precision with placement and made it much easier for me to apply my own lashes. The glue was pretty good. It could be a little tricky to get just the right amount where I needed it due to the dabbing method of the applicator. I prefer a squeeze applicator, but this one worked okay. I can't attest to how long the glue lasts in the tube before drying out as I have only had the kit for a month or so. The glue is pretty strong and didn't sting my eyes. I applied to the lashes and then waited a few moments before applying. It was also not painful when it came time to remove the lashes.

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Goody Spin Pin Review

I am terrible at doing my hair so I thought Goody Spin Pins would be a great easy way for me to get my hair into a chic bun. Let's see how they worked.

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The spin pin is pretty intuitive to use. You simply put your hair in a bun and corkscrew the two pins into the center. It takes a bit of practice, however, to get it right. The trick is to catch the end of your "tail" so that the bun stays in place. Additionally, you need to be sure to catch some hair that is against your head (as opposed to in the bun) in order to help hold the bun in place. I have also found that they work best when put in horizontally rather than vertically. I am still experimenting with getting these to work exactly perfectly.

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Bath and Body Works Mini Candles

I don't normally do non-beauty related posts, but I received this candle as part of my Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox and I am something of a candle connoisseur. Thus, I wanted to share with you my experience with Bath and Body Works Mini Candles. I am very familiar with these, as I have purchased them on my own, so my review is based on my overall experience with the product line, not just the specific candle I received. For the record, I received the Nutmeg and Spice scent.

These mini candles are a unique size, which is a brilliant marketing move on the part of White Barn and Bath and Body Works. They are about 2-3 times the size of a typical votive content wise and are just slightly too large in circumference to fit votive holders. Bath and Body  Works, however, does sell specific holders for the mini candles. They are a very nice decorative touch. I have a white owl as well as a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. I also use standard votive candles in the holders, so the holders are multi-use.

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Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream

I have naturally wavy hair and am always looking for products to accentuate my hair's natural texture. I was very pleased to receive Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream to test as I have heard positive reviews from others. Let's see how this worked for me.

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Vitabath Fragance Mist: Grapefruit Vanilla

I have a healthy collection of both perfumes and body mists. I tend to use my perfumes more, but like to use a body mist when I will be in class as I find that perfumes can often be too heavily scented for those around me. I recently received a bottle of Vitabath Fragrance Mist in Grapefruit Vanilla and have been wearing it consistently for the past couple of weeks.

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I was really intrigued by the scent. I was a bit taken aback originally by the mixing of citrus with vanilla. I typically don't care for vanilla scents as they are far too sweet for me. I tend to prefer spicier scents or citrus scents. However, when I tried this out, the citrus vanilla combination was lovely! On me, it had a much more citrus undertone and the vanilla gave it just a hint of spice underneath without making it too sweet. The bottle is very easy to handle (quite ergonomic). The cap stays on tight, so there is no leaking if it tips over, and I had no trouble with the spray. I like the amount of product it dispenses as well. This scent did not last as long as me as some other body mists I have used. Perhaps it is because I tend to go for stronger florals or headier scents. This faded on my skin and clothes after about 6 hours (other products I have will linger on my clothes for days), but remained consistent in its scent throughout.

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Everyday Makeup: Cat Eye

Lately, I have really been having fun with winged liner and a more subtle cat eye. I especially enjoy this look with browns and plums. I  like to keep the shadow simple, using only two shades and really accentuate the eyeliner. Sometimes, I will add a little bit of liner to the bottom lashes. 

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China Glaze Harvest Moon Mattefied

My nails are in poor shape lately. I find that they are breaking easily and so I have been keeping them very short while they grow out. This is why you haven't seen as many nail polish posts as of late. In the spirit of Autumn, my favorite season, I wanted to show you one of my recent manicures that I really like - China Glaze Harvest Moon with a matte top coat.

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