A Mini Favorites Compilation!

Hey all! Every body has stuff they like, and stuff that they can`t do without. I thought I`d share some of my favorite items that I go to time and time again. At the end of the post, feel free to comment and tell me some of your favorites, I`m always looking for the next holy grail of products!

1.  Lush bottled shampoo in Rehab

I love this stuff! I have a fairly miserable scalp, oiliness and some frizz, not a fun combination to deal with. Rehab smells awesome, lathers great, and seems to encompass and deal with all my hair issues. The down side is that it *is* expensive ($13.95 for 100ml, ouch!), however, a little goes a long way. (I`m always generous with my shampoo, and this one I really can go with a quarter sized dollop.)

2. Gosh brand kohl eyeliner

 

I have handfuls (literally!) of eyeliners. When it comes to pencil liners, their saving grace is if they can be used on the waterline, since my skills at using a pencil liner on my outer eye looks like a 3 year old with a crayon. I`m not sure how familiar people are with Gosh because I don`t think I`ve seen it used in any of the beauty blogs I follow (but I could be wrong), but in Canada Gosh is easily purchased at the drugstore. Since I live in a smaller town (the nearest MAC and Sephora is a 3 hour drive), being accessible is what made me try it. And I love it! I get such intense color with very little effort on my waterline. I`ve tried other highly recommended brands like Urban Decay`s 24/7, and Benefit's BADgal waterproof liner, and though they work, I find to get a good color payoff you've got to go over your waterline a lot. I plan on trying a different color in the 24/7, and if there's any recommendations for waterline liners, I'd love to hear them. Also, any tips for using pencils around the eye without looking like a racoon would be welcome. (I am inept. *sorrow*)

3. Lorac Bejeweled Lipgloss

I love this stuff! Gloss is an iffy thing for me. I have some of the worst chapped lips you have ever seen, so if a gloss is not moisturizing, it doesn't work well. It'll either just sit on the roughness, or if I used a balm previously, they'll slowly dry out and and get to the state previously mentioned. This stuff is moisturizing, and looks beautiful to boot! The color is sheer, but it gives enough of a tint to enhance your lips, or for me, cover up any patchiness that may have occured due to a picking session. I didn't find it sticky, but my friend did. I have tried much stickier products, so this is my favorite so far.

Seasonal Bonus: Starbucks Chai Eggnog Latte

I normally don't hit up Starbucks all that often, but around the holidays, I go bonkers for this stuff. The combination of chai tea and eggnog takes like liquid pumpkin pie. No joke. It is terrifying to think of the amount of these I have consumed so far this season. I even drank one as I wrote this post.


  This started off as a "Top Ten" list, then I was having trouble thinking of things I am completely in love with. So I decided I'd make it into a "Top Five" list.............then I realized that though there's stuff I like, not many products have achieved the rare status of being so awesome that I'm not still fishing around and trying to find the "right one" for me. So, it because just a favorites list. Perhaps as I find more amazing items, I'll share them with you folks. And if there's something you think I should try, I'm always open to suggestions!

~Nifty

Awesome Give-Away! (that isn't mine)

You know what's totally awesome about beauty blogs, other than the fact that they have amazing make-up ideas, and tutorials to help the forever-clueless like me? People who actually have a following will sometimes do give-aways, and really, who doesn't love free stuff?

So I wanted to inform any readers out there (if you exist!) about this awesome blog.

The Beautiful Life of the Girl Next Door has a fantastic blog! I love her looks! You should go check her out, give-away or not.

But, here is the link to the give-away, which is awesome, and I'm crossing my fingers for! Oh, and if you find your way there because of me, please name-drop.

Perhaps in a later post I'll go into some of my favorite blogs and why!

Pondering Loose Shadows

So, around Black Friday, I kind of went a little crazy, and did some major spending on a few make-up sites. During the time, I was also doing some reading up, looking at different shops, and discovered that there is a HUGE variance in prices and quantities for loose powders (mineral shadows). I thought it might be nice to see all the information together for comparison for people when they're contemplating their shopping. So, here is a breakdown some shops and what I found:

Sugarpill (shop) - 5 grams - $12.00

Medusa's Make-up (shop) - 1.5 grams - $7.00

Fyrinnae (shop) - 3 grams - $5.90 for most product

Morgana Cryptoria (shop) - 1.5 grams - $5.50

Pure Luxe Cosmetics (shop) - 5 grams - $5.00

Beauty From The Earth (shop) - 1 to 3 grams in a 5g jar - $6.50

Bitchslap Cosmetics (shop) - I couldn't find anything indicating how much product you get, a few items indicated a 5g jar, but most items have very little information about them. Prices vary.

Lime Crime - (shop) - 2 grams - $14.00

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics aka OCC (shop) - 2.5 grams - $12.00

Coastal Scents (shop) - 2 grams - $7.95

As you can see, there is a huge variation in amounts given, and the prices for those amounts. A couple of things: this doesn't speak at all of quality, and I find it takes forever to use up loose shadow, so I personally don't find anything on this list outrageous, considering how long it lasts, but that's just me.

Impressions: BTFE's "1-3 grams" seems odd to me. If I'm purchasing something, I'd like to know for sure how much product I'm getting. If the amount of grams varies based on which color/pigment it is, then it'd be nice to have that clarified, either on the faq page, or on page of the shadow itself. Bitchslap Cosmetics......there seems to be some really favorable reviews on the site, but I find the amount of information minimal, and pricing is all over the place.

If you'd like to add to the list, please leave a comment with what company you'd like added.

I'd like to eventually do a major swatch and mini-review of the companies listed above (or at least a majority), but as a mom, my disposable income is sometimes at a minimum. Please share any experiences or feelings about any business you've done with any of these companies, I'd love to hear from you!

The 5 W's (an introduction)

Hello! My name is Genista (or "Nifty, or "Nista" to friends). I'm a (very soon to be) 27 year old violin/piano instructor, who's majoring in psychology. I have a 6 month old named Abram who is the cutest, fun, on the go little man ever. We reside in the ever flat and sometimes cold center of Canada. 

I've had ideas bouncing around my head for years about blogs or channels that could be helpful and fun for others. My first idea was for a review site for skin care and beauty products. I'm a loyal customer once I find a product I love, but I'll buy everything under the sun in the process to find that awesome product. And really, who needs 10 eye creams? I figured I could share my experiences, as well as hear from others, and put information forth for people who don't have the money to buy 50 bajillion products. I still want to do this, but I also want it to be a journey. I've always enjoyed make-up, and always sucked at it. It's become more important to me now that I'm a mom and a professional who works with children. I used to have really out there hair, and a personality to match, but being a mom and a teacher has definitely tamed me down some. So I turned to make-up to be my new fun and funky go to. But remember, I suck at make-up. So, I started watching tutorials and reading.

This is where my revised idea came in. I still want to review or share info on products, but I figured it could be a journey into the make-up realm. I know there are a hundreds and hundreds of beauty gurus running blogs and youtube channels, and lets face it, with the learning curve I'm on, I'm no-where near running something like that. But, I had (and have) a bunch of questions, troubleshooting, stuff like that, and I thought maybe some people would want to go on this journey with me, of learning and the whatnot. Or share their knowledge with me.

So, this blog is about products to love and avoid, but it's also about questions that you want answered, or sharing your knowledge with me and any readers who might need this information as well.

I'll update as much as I can, as I think of things to share. Having a 6 month old may make having a solid posting schedule hard, but I'll post what I can.