My Jewelry Store Grand Opening Giveaway

My EightSeventeen Jewelry website is officially open!

Head over to my site to find out how you can win prizes from Kim Kardashian's ShoeDazzle.com, Moon's Harvest Bath and Body, and NARS from yours truly!

Thank you for all of your kind words and support.  It means so much to me!

My Jewelry Store:  EightSeventeen Jewelry

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My PinkIce.com Giveaway ends soon.  Get your entries in now!

Gift Card Haulin'

Sephora and Ulta employees have seen more of my mug lately than my adorable husband.  I refuse to rest until every last cent of my gift cards are spent!

Here are some of the items I purchased during my last trip to the mall:

[Essie Van D'Go Nail Polish]

My mission to find the perfect Summer polish has officially come to an end.  Essie Van D'Go is peachy, creamy, and neutral enough to wear with most of my wardrobe.  I love it!  It takes three coats to achieve the opacity and streak free finish I desire, but who cares?  This pretty polish is worth the extra elbow grease.

[Healthy Hoof Lacquer]

My former top coat, who shall remain nameless, used to make my brown eyes see red.  Every time I polished my nails, it always managed to make a streaky mess of my handiwork.  We Asians are born natural nail technicians, so I knew the repeated issue was of no fault of my own.  LOL!

My best friend purchased me a bottle of Healthy Hoof Lacquer because I am a centaur with dull hooves after I vented my top coat frustrations.  Once dried, this horse-friendly varnish produces a smooth and glossy looking finish.  I was hooked after one use.  The best part?  It's a mere $2.50.

[NARS Deep Throat]

It's a NARS blush.  Need I say more?

Nope.

[NARS Striptease Gloss & Revlon Peach Gloss]

Both of these glosses feel lightweight, are incredibly pigmented, and appear pretty and peachy in their tubes.  Sadly, each are going to be returned as they made my kisser look alabaster.  (Momma didn't raise no Ganguro Girl!)  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the products themselves; the shades just weren't suitable for my skin tone.

The hunt for the perfect peachy lip gloss continues...

[Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Zero]

I have never been one to line my waterline.  As a contact lenses wearer, I find products that close to my eyes irritating.  Hopefully this pencil will be the answer to my beauty-related prayers!

[Zebra Loofah]

How cute is this little guy?!  I have yet to use him because I thought it'd be gross to showcase a loofah post-use.  XD

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  The hubby and I plan to BBQ, relax, and maybe squeeze in a little shopping.  I can't wait!

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It's been a long time/I shouldn't have left you/Without a dope beat to step to.

I have been slackin' on my Beauty Blogger pimpin', and I apologize.  Yours truly had a negative reaction to a new medication, and spent about a week spooning our porcelain jacuzzi.  (I was the big spoon.)  I also broke out in sex-ay hives...  on my face.  Shame on me for not doing a HFOTD!  Ha!

As some of you already know, I recently turned twenty-eight years old.  My darling little sisters surprised me with two Sephora gift cards to celebrate my senior citizenship.  I immediately placed an order online, but unfortunately, ended up returning everything to the store.

I drug my adorable husband with me to return my "great-but-not-for-moi" products.  He sweetly agreed to allow me to peruse for as long as I desired -- without dragging his feet or staring longingly at the exit signs.  I am proud to announce he did just that!  (In his eyes, Sephora and Ulta are the devil.  LOL!)

RETURNED ITEM #1:

[NARS Mekong Eye Shadow]

[NARS Mekong Swatch]

Oh, how I wanted to love this shadow.  I love NARS' products and had been dying to get my hands on this particular product for months.  In the pan and swatched, Mekong appears to be a rich dark chocolate shade, speckled with delicate gold flecks.  It's gorgeous.  However, once it has been blended onto the lid, the Godiva goodness and metallic sparkles morph into a flat black hue.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, I already own two matte black shadows.

RETURNED ITEM #2:

[Buxom Gloss in "Celeste"]

I am a HUGE Buxom Gloss fan.  Moisturizing, minty fresh, and emollient, they truly are my favorite glosses.  Sadly, "Celeste" was a miss for me as it wasn't as peachy as I had hoped it'd be.

What peach or pinky-coral gloss are you reaching for this Spring?

RETURNED ITEM #3:

[Sephora by OPI Polish in "How Cute Is That?".  The photograph does not capture the polish's true color.]

This pretty polish would have been a keeper had it been a tad less orange and shimmery.  The good news?  The varnish itself was easy to apply and didn't chip for days!

Anyway, I hope you're all doing well!  I look forward to catching up on all of my favorite blogs.  New posts are in the works, but in the meantime, check out this awesome giveaway:

SmootchKiss is generously giving away quite a bit of MAC goodies, among other things.  Check out her blog here!

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FOTD Fail & Nail Polish I've Been Hearting

 We beauty bloggers are masters of the at home photo shoot.  On the occasions our husbands, boyfriends, or tri-pods are not accessible, we snap our own pictures.  Sure, we sometimes need to crop out what appears to be a Stretch Armstrong arm every once in awhile, but that comes with the self portrait territory.  Ha!

Yesterday, I spent hours painting my face and creating a 'do that would have made my perfectly coiffed pal, Tiffany (Big Hair Bigger Lashes), do the slow clap and rise.  I was especially proud of my locks; they were curled, teased, and a force to be reckoned with.  Yet, somehow my HOTD found a way to ruin my FOTD.

I took NINETY-TWO pictures of my mug and mane, confident that at least a few would be worthy of posting.  Upon uploading the photos, I noticed my hair appeared horrifically frizzy.  Nick Nolte's mugshot looked sexier than what I had going on.  So, instead of a FOTD, you get EOTD (plus one cheek)!  XD

[Click to enlarge.  I had to significantly lighten this picture up because it was too dark.  I also airbrushed everything except my eyes and lashes as my skin looked strange after I messed with the photograph's exposure.  Blech...]

EOTD Products:

♥ NYX Black Eye Shadow
♥ NYX Cherry Eye Shadow
♥ Christian Dior Beige Eye Shadow
♥ GOSH Extreme Art Eye Liner in 07 (Liner courtesy of my wonderful follower, Dominique!)  :)
♥ L'oreal Voluminous Mascara in Blackest Black
♥ Ardell Wispies

On my cheeks, I am rocking NARS Crazed.  The stunning Miss Natty recently reviewed this blush.  Check out her post here.  I agree 100% with what she had to say!

On to my latest nail polish obsession: OPI's "Do You Lilac It".  I have been wearing this for quite some time now, and love it!  Two coats are all you need to achieve this pretty shade.  Wearing it definitely puts me in a Spring type of mood!

What are y'all sporting on your nails?

Two Men + Two Packages = Love (Whoa. That sounds WAY more inappropriate than I intended it to! LOL!)

At approximately 11:00 this morning, I heard a knock on our front door.  Peering through the peephole, I saw a FedEx driver waiting with a large box for yours truly.  My Coastal Scents 88 Matte Palette and laptop charger were finally here!  (I have been using my husband's old work laptop to blog.  It won't let me upload pictures, which drives me crazy!)  I got so excited that I whipped the door open, momentarily forgetting that I was wearing tapered sweat pants, slightly busted glasses that sit crookedly on my face, and no make-up.  When signing for my package, I should have scrawled "Hot Mess" in lieu of my real signature.  Ha!

[So pretty!]

All I can say about the C. S. palette is that it truly lives up to the hype.  The pigmentation is insane!  I can't wait to play around with it.  Everyone in the house is getting their eyes done tonight.  Oh, Huuuusband...  Where are yoooou?  Ha ha ha!  Just kidding!

[I barely touched the shadows...  Look how vibrant they are!]

Coastal Scents ® 88 Color Makeup Palette

Hours later, my adorable husband got home from work, mail in hand.  My NARS Blush in Crazed had arrived!  I immediately grabbed my blush brush and swiped it across my cheek.  I looked like a, a-hem, "Lady of the Night".  (A Lady of the Night who wears tapered sweats and broken glasses, that is.)  I learned my lesson, and applied it to the other side of my face with a much lighter hand.  It's a gorgeous color!  It made me look as though I had just come in from a run.  My camera phone photograph really doesn't do it any justice; I will take another picture and do a swatch when I get my laptop/camera issues taken care of.

 

[NARS Crazed]
NARS Blush

Ugh...  Speaking of my laptop/camera issues, the charger we received today is defective.  It's the fourth one we've ordered in the last three weeks.  We have had the worst time getting something that works!  Anyway, we placed yet another order today, so hopefully I'll be up and running on my HP soon.

I hope y'all are doing well!

A moment of silence, please...

My favorite blush has crumbled.  Not only have I hit the pan, but the outer edges have broken off and are floating freely around the case and my make-up bag.  Sadly, there's not enough of it left to warrant doing the rubbing alcohol trick.  It's time to say farewell and purchase something new.  (Tears are forming in my eyes as I type this.  Ha ha ha!)

[Check out the blush and ignore the faded eyeliner.  LOL!]

I have a $6.01 credit at drugstore.com, so I have been doing some online window shopping, trying to figure out what to buy.  I was surprised to see they carry NARS products.  Unlike the rest of the world, I have yet to jump on the NARS Orgasm bandwagon.  As I have mentioned before, I am cheap.  Again, not cheap like yo momma...  Cheap as in, I can't justify spending $25.00 on blush.  I'm a huge fan of eyeshadow and lip gloss, so occasionally I will spend a little more on those products.  But blush?  Not so much.  That said, I was at my sisters' apartment the other day, and saw that one of them owned the coveted peachy-pink rouge.  She has had it for a year and has barely made a dent in it!  I'm thinking it may be a good investment after all.

[photo courtesy of: www.sephora.com]

I am on the fence, though...  Word on the streets is, Deep Throat looks better on medium to dark gals.  My little sister has fair skin; Orgasm looks gorgeous on her.  The blush I will be tossing looks similar to Crazed or Desire.  Ack!  NARS has so many gorgeous shades to choose from; I am at a loss.

What do y'all think? 

P. S.  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!