Beauty Deals & Steals! Big Lots $1 Mini Haul

So...I had a bit of an impromptu retail therapy session today. Well, technically it was yesterday but I'm still up at 3a.m. posting this, so my day hasn't completely ended yet.

Raheem & I loaded up the babies and drove to Big Lots to grab a few household items. Now, I actually had no intention of buying anything for myself, but once I wandered into the cosmetics section & saw this whole $1 thing they had going on, I had to pick up a few things.

I picked up 7 items altogether & spent $7 total (+tax of course). I got 4 nail polishes, 2 nail polish strip kits, and a mascara.

3 of the polishes I picked up are the Julie G for Jesse's Girl polishes. If you're not familiar, Julie G is a YouTube "beauty guru" who has in conjunction with Jesse's Girl created her own nail polish line sold on Jessesgirl.com & at RiteAid drug stores. The colors I picked up are from the holiday 2012 collection. Although the color "Light it Up" has made it's way to the 2013 permanent collection.

I also picked up some sally hansen goodies! I grabbed an Insta-Dri polish and two Salon Effects nail polish strip kits.

I swatched all of the polishes (2 coats on "Gift Wrapped" & "Ornamental", 4 coats on "Light it Up" & 3 on "Purple Haste") & I have to say, I really like all of the colors. The Julie G polishes are winning over the Insta-Dri though. The Insta-Dri's dry time isn't very "insta" and it seems to be one of those polishes that doesn't harden completely once it does dry. Making it easy to chip, scratch & ding up the finish once you start using your hands. Not to mention the funky brush it has. It's one of those flat brushes, but the bristles are a bit wonky & frayed, making it difficult to get a neat & even coat. Not sure if they are all like this or if it's just mine.

And lastly, I grabbed this l.a. colors navy blue mascara. I've been wanting one for a while and just never picked one up. I did try it on one eye and it is very navy. The color is extremely subtle almost bordering on drab. I think I'll try it paired with a jet black smokey eye to see if it pops more. Future Post!

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Dove Cleartone: 4 Week Update

Ok, so if you've been following me through this 30 day Dove Cleartone trial, you probably know by now that I am not impressed. This post won't be very long because there isn't much to report. I initially purchased the product because of it's claim to "visibly reduce dark maks" & leave you with "even skintone". Well, After using this product for 1 month, I can firmly state that it does NOT do what it claims.

I saw no improvement in my hyper-pigmentation. In fact I feel as though it may have made it a bit worse than before.

I do however have to admit one thing, the product does keep you fresh and dry just as good as if not better than any other deodorant/antiperspirant I've used in the past.

Bottom line, I would not recommend this product to anyone looking to improve or correct their underarm hyper-pigmentation. It does NOT work.

So now I'm back to square one. I will definitely be posting on the next thing I try though!

Stay tuned :-)

To view my 2nd & 3rd week update Click here!

To view my initial post on this subject Click here!

The Magnum Gold Experience ;-)

So, while on a recent road trip, a hot...long...hot summer road trip, I decided to try something I'd never tried before...

 We pulled over at a rest stop gas station, I considered my options and decided to give in to my craving. After all, I had been cooped up in a hot van for the past 6 hours, rolling through endless miles of farmland and nothingness. I felt I deserved a bit of a treat, something to lift my spirits before continuing with the rest of the 12 hour journey.

Now that I'm quite sure I've successfully drawn most of you in...I should probably inform you of one thing. I am referring to ice cream. Magnum Gold?! ice cream bars to be exact :-)

As I combed the freezer section looking for the perfect frozen treat. I saw the Magnum bars and grabbed one. It wasn't until I opened the package that I realized this was something different. It's described as "Silky vanilla bean ice cream swirled with sea salt caramel and covered in a golden coating made with Belgian Milk Chocolate". I was surprised to see that the golden coating is actually golden. A semi-sparkly metallic-ish gold. Like it had been painted with luster dust (for all you cake decorating folks).

The gold doesn't translate very well in the photo.
Much more of a golden shimmer in person.

As for the taste, well...it is a Magnum bar. Needless to say, it was devoured down to the stick in about 5 minutes flat.

My thoughts altogether: This is officially the diva of all ice cream bars & I will probably break down during a future grocery shopping trip and buy a box.

Have you tried these yet? If not, pick up one the next time you're out and let me know what you think!

And just because I came across it, here is the commercial for these things. It's beyond completely random & kinda Mission Impossible-y. But, it's starring Joe Manganiello (Alcide Herveaux from True Blood). Yeah...Him. I don't think I need to say much more ;-)

Enjoy!

Dove Cleartone: Week 2 & 3 Update

So, I'm back with my second and third week updates after using the Dove Cleartone antiperspirant. I followed the same routine as always and still I have seen NO CHANGE. I'll give it one more week since I committed to testing it out for a full month. But, I am doubtful that there will be any changes. I've already begun looking into other ways of lightening hyper-pigmented underarms & I will definitely be doing some more experimentation after this month is over.

Don't have much more to say, so here are pics :-/

For previous update Click here!

For the first post on this subject Click here

I Heart Nail Art - Vote for Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!......Please :-)

So, I was strolling through CVS the other day when I came across the Sally Hansen display for their new collection. The thing that caught my eye was actually NOT the nail colors, but the picture of an edgy couture-esque nail design that I immediately wanted to try myself (eventhough I'm sure it is beyond an impractical design which most if not all of those gold beads would immediately fall off of as soon as you do ANYTHING with your hands).

But anyway, after taking this picture so that I could accurately duplicate the design, I realized it was an ad for a nail art competition. When I got home I went to the site, got all the info & pondered on whether or not I should enter. Then after looking at some of the entries...well... I was pretty sure I had a good chance.





So I came up with this design using one of the new Textured FX nail colors and entered. Haven't done this type of manicure on myself in a very long time. I know this is not everyone's taste, but I like it :-)

The voting ends very soon (June 30, 2013) so we don't have much time!
There is a $500 prize at stake as well as a trip to NYC and more!

You can vote on the Sally Hansen site: just click here!

or you can go the Sally Hansen Facebook Page click here & vote that way.
Search Nail Artist: Kaira Ervin 

You can vote once a day EVERY DAY until the 30th. I would greatly appreciate your support :-)

800 Tweedy

Sparkling Neutral Eyes Tutorial!

Remember the end of my last blog post where I promised a tutorial on the glittery eyeshadow look that I did?
Well here it is!!!

Now, I am still quite new to this whole video thing so there is a problem with the audio. Not a major one, but one I'm quite sure people will notice and probably comment on. The volume is not great & I could't fix it so I decided to upload anyway. I put a lot of work into filming and editing this & was not about to scrap it OR start over.

So, enough explaining...Check it out :-)

And if you have a YouTube account, please "like" , subscribe and feel free to leave me a comment. If you don't...Get one! :-)

Click here for a full list of products I used.

Sparkling Neutral Eye Look!

Alright, so it's beauty time! I wanted to do a look using glitter that was still very wearable, so I decided to go with this sparkly neutral look. It's a fun look that's subtle yet eye catching with the pop of gold glitter on the inner corners (photos do not do this look an ounce of justice, but hey...how else am I gonna show you?)

Anyway, if you're interested in the products used to create this look, here they are:

• e.l.f eyelid primer
• Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette (In the Nude)
• Milani Mineral Blush (#202 Sunset Beach)
• MAC Fix+ (Dampen Your brush with Fix+ to intensify or "foil" shimmery shadows)
• Sally Girl Baked Eyeshadow (388124)
• Sally Girl Sparkle Effects Glitter (Gold)
• Sally Girl Glitter Adhesive
• Urban Decay Sustainable Palette
• Wet n' Wild Gel Liner
• Blue Heaven Kajal Deluxe
• L'Oreal Power Volume Collagen Mascara

From the Sephora palette, I used the color "Light Bronze" as a brow bone highlight.

For the inner 1/3 and outer V, I used the colors "half baked" & "twice baked" form the Urban Decay palette.

And here you have quite possibly the best combination of liners ever! 

• The top winged liner was done with Wet n' Wild gel liner. Now this is by far one of my favorite products. It is in my opinion, comparable to the MAC blacktrack fluidline, and is 1/4 the price!

• The product I used on my waterline is Blue Heaven Kajal Deluxe (Ebay). This product is an Indian Kajal liner intended to be used in the waterline. It is formulated with a mix of exotic herbs that are soothing to the eye and won't irritate. (I set this with a matte black eyeshadow)

Now, on to the face!

• Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream
• Ebay Concealer Palette 
• e.l.f HD Translucent Powder - to set concealer
• Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (Latte - discontinued shade. I purchased mine from Ebay)
• Contour - Milani Pressed Powder (05 Earthglow)
• NYX Blush (Sand)
• Max Makeup Cherimoya Mineral Bronzer Quad (01 Sungod)
• Jesse's Girl Liquid Glass Lip Gloss (Blossom)

I purchased this concealer palette from Ebay. I mix the two colors indicated above to get the perfect shade for my under eye concealer/highlight.

I used the peachy colored blush from this inexpensive quad I picked up at the neighborhood beauty supply a while back.

Jesse's Girl Lip gloss purchased at RiteAid.

*YouTube tutorial for this look coming soon!

Click here for the tutorial!

Dove Cleartone: 1 Week Update

Ok, so... I've been using this Dove Cleartone anti-perspirant for about a week and sadly I've seen NO change. I am trying this product solely based on the fact that it claims to reduce dark and uneven skin tone under the arms, which is a problem that I have.  I can't really say that I am disappointed in the results thus far, as I have only used the product for about 1 week. I maintained my normal routine of cleansing and exfoliating and only shaving about once a week and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. So, we'll see if there is any change next week!...or the week after that.

Be sure to check back for next weeks update :-)

*My last post on this subject: http://kairasworld.blogspot.com/2013/06/dove-cleartone-does-it-work.html

YouTube!

So....I finally did it! Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I have been toying around with the idea of making videos for YouTube for a couple of years now. Well, I finally uploaded a video to my channel. And yes, it will remain on my channel (Tried this whole YouTube thing a couple of years ago. Got a channel, filmed two videos, uploaded one, then proceeded to completely punk out and deleted everything :-/  ).

I uploaded a video detailing how I make my Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon with Asparagus and Brown Rice. Now, seeing as how this is my first real venture into the world of YouTube content creation, I still have a few kinks to work out, but I will press on toward perfection!

So, if you're reading this, check out my video and make sure to comment,  "like" it and subscribe to my channel. And don't forget to stay tuned, because there is a lot more to come!

*does a happy dance & sips on her pink moscato*

Dove Cleartone: Does it Work???

Ok, so I'm back. Its been a few weeks since I made my initial entry (...have to do better) but I'm here now, and with the weather warming up here in Michigan, I decided to go on a quest to find a remedy for my hyper-pigmented underarms. They've as long as I can remember been significantly darker than the surrounding skin (I've been told this is due to shaving).  I also tend to have the worst hyper-pigmentation during as well as post pregnancy and I'd be lying if I said I was't self conscious about going sleeveless in the summer.

So, I decided to try this new Dove Cleartone anti-perspirant. It claims to "visibly reduce dark marks" and leave you with "an even skin tone".

I used it for the first time 2 days ago and  I will be doing weekly updates over the next 4 weeks to show the progress. So be sure to check back!


*See my 1 week update here: http://kairasworld.blogspot.com/2013/06/dove-cleartone-1-week-update.html

First blog post!

So, It's about 10:45pm, Lelah is sleeping, Sudi is jumping himself silly in his jumparoo thingy and I figured "What better time to start posting on here". I've been putting it off for so long it's actually quite ridiculous. I think I've been far too worried about being well received and I really shouldn't be. I've been itching to show the world who I am, what I love and all that I am capable of.

I was not born to be a wallflower, but the past few years I've slipped into the role of mommy and into the background of life. Time to rediscover all that makes me "Me". Time to step out of this box I seem to have fallen into.

If you are reading this, I invite you to come along for the ride and let's see where this thing goes!