Dry Your Nails in a Jiffy

Perfectly polished nails can really pull together a look. Freshly painted nails make virtually any outfit look better, make us look well-groomed, and --let's face it--just make us feel pretty! The problem? When you take the time to apply a basecoat, two coats of polish, and a top coat, you waste oodles of time waiting for each coat to dry. It can take up to an hour! Quick drying top coats are okay, but most of them are either pricey, or for some reason make your nails chip quicker.

I've fallen in love with Envi Salon Professional Nail Enamel Dryer. It's a fast-drying spray, akin to hairspray. It makes each coat dry in less than half the usual amount of time, and does not cause chipping or anything of the like.

In fact, it's even good for your nails! It actually helps prevent chipping & peeling, works in less than a minute, leaves a lovely shine, and contains SPF as well as conditioners for your nails and cuticles!

At $2.99 a pop, this is one time-saving beauty essential you'll want to keep this on hand. Literally.

Clinique Bonus Time at Bon-Ton!

Clinique always has the best free gifts. This time around, spend $21.50 on any Clinique products, and recieve this 7-piece set free!

The set includes:

• Youth Surge SPF 15 Age Decelerating Moisturizer
• Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
• Different Lipstick in Angelic
• Rinse-off Foaming Cleanser
• Lash Doubling Mascara in Black
• Colour Surge Eyeshadow Duo in Strawberry Fudge
• 2-pc. Cosmetics Bag

All of the products are amazing--I'm a huge fan of the Dramatically Different moisturizer. The cosmetic bags are adorable too. They're even cute enough to use to a clutch, if you're feeling daring!

Tattooed Shoes

I'm 5 ft tall. Though I should be a huge fan of heels, I'm actually more of a flat gal. So, I'm always on the lookout for cute new flats.

Payless has a great pair. The Airwalk Blaze Tattoo Flat is perfect for anyone. It's only about $25 (and it's BOGO time!), so it's easily affordable.

Personally, I'd wear these flats with a fluttery dress to toughen up the look, but they even are fab with jeans. Plus the obvious bonus; they're incredibly comfortable.

And who doesn't like stylish comfort?

$15 Maxi Dress!!!

So I know that Summer is basically over. But I'm honestly in love with the TRIXXI Stretch Floral Maxi Dress. The colors are great, the shape flatters everyone, and it's super comfy in hot weather.

At $15, how can you lose? In all actuality, you could even pair this with a cute denim jacket (they're back in for Fall!) and wear this until October-ish.

Yippee!!

Fashion Faux Pas: White Pumps

This is a little painful to write, because I know lots of ladies who wear white pumps and swear by 'em. That said, they don't always look horrible--sometimes the shoes are really cute and make a great focal point of the outfit. When wearing white shoes at all though, you have to remember that everyone's eyes will immediately be drawn to your feet. If you've got fabulous feet and hate everything else about yourself, go for it. Otherwise, I'd really suggest playing up another asset.

The sad thing about white pumps is that because they are literally the only thing people will remember about your outfit, the potentially super dress you may be wearing is easily forgotten.

Another more obvious point is that it is incredibly difficult to keep white shoes clean. Dirty white shoes are even more distracting than their clean counterpart.

A great alternative is nude-colored heels. They elongate the leg without distracting from your overall look. If you want your shoes to have some kick (har har har, I'm so funny), try silver. Not bright, obnoxious silver, but a duller charcoal-esque version. The eye will be drawn to your feet, but the rest of your outfit will be noticed as well.

Fashion Faux PAW

I'm all about cute animals, but pet nail polish is taking it a bit too far. OPI has come out with nail PAWlish for dogs... It costs $7 a bottle (similar to the price for human polish) and comes in 6 colors: Fire Hydrant Red, Yuppy Puppy Silver, Doghouse Blues, Mutts New? Purple, Bow Wow! Mint Green, or Poodle Pink.

Apparently, the polish is safe to lick once it is dry. Which all nail polish is, anyway.

Luckily, I've only got a pet fish (that is plastic and winds up), so the pawlish is not pour moi. Why don't we just cut out the whole pet pampering craziness and just love our pets?

Smooth Away: Basically Sand Paper for your Legs

Shaving my legs daily is pretty annoying. I'm sure it is for everyone else out there, too. But that doesn't mean that I'm about to go to ridiculous lengths to avoid doing it.

Smooth Away is, apparently, Europe's best selling hair remover. Really? Because when I was in Europe, I tended to notice that most women didn't remove much hair at all.

Upon further investigation, I figured out that the "gentle micro crystals" that remove hair (and exfoliate) are really just sheets of fine sandpaper. Despite the claims of the product being great for sensitive skin, I simply can't imagine sand paper not irritating my skin!

If you think this is the product for you, save the $14.99 plus $6.99 shipping and handling, and just run over to the local hardware shop.

Safety [Pin] First!

I am probably the clumsiest gal in the world. I'm always covered in bruises (literally from walking into walls) and, embarrassingly, my clothing often suffers to do my inability to walk like a normal person. I've broken dress straps, ripped jeans--not in a trendy way, popped buttons off blouses...the list goes on.

My recent BFF has become the safety pin that I always keep in my purse. It's always there for me when I need it, which is anytime something breaks and I don't want to walk around exposed to the masses.

Fun Fact: the safety pin is used by top fashion designers around the world. Now, most craft stores carry cute safety pins. Obviously, I opt for pink, but black is a great option to avoid the shiny metallic finish. You can even make safety pins look kind of stylish, depending on the spot.

Clinique Bonus!

So I know that I just raved about my love of drugstore makeup, but every once in a while, you have to treat yourself to a nice Clinique bundle of beauty.

Macy's has a great Clinique promo going on right now. Honestly, sometimes it's worth it to shop at department stores when they have deals like this. You can generally get 5 or so products for under $40.

The current promotion is a cute little beachy-ish bag (in your choice if pink or green) with 5 full-sized products. You can also choose either a warm or cool tone for the items. This is available for $32.50 with any beauty purchase--even a little lip product, such as the Almost Lipstick in Black Honey that I wrote about earlier.

Each collection contains some of Clinique's make-up and skincare greats: a Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser Mousse, All About Eyes, a Long Last Glosswear SPF 15, a High Impact Mascara, and a cute compact with four eyeshadows and one blush shade.

For some reason, I can't find a link for this deal, but I promise you that if you walk into any Macy's, it will be clearly displayed at the Clinique counter!

The Perfect Lip Color for Everyone

Clinique's Almost Lipstick in Black Honey is my new fave lipstick. It's been available for a while, but I've just been a little scared to try it as it basically looks black. Actually, it's a very sheer raspberry-ish shade when applied. It does what every lipstick should do: makes your lips look natural, but kicks 'em up a notch.

The lipstick is $14, but of course very worth it. This is a color that you simply won't find in drugstores and the creamy formula is nothing short of luxurious.

Also, if you spend over $30 on clinique.com, you will receive a FREE mini mascara. Just enter "MOST" at the checkout!

Pretty Pink Trench Coat

Trench coats never go out of style. Pink never goes out of style. For these two reasons, I'm in love with this great Marvin Richards Women's Belted Trench Coat. It's on sale for $38.99.

You might think that pink is too bold for a coat, but surprisingly, it matches a lot. The tone of this coat is a warm, deep pink, so you can wear it with any neutral color, and virtually any other color you can think of. I would, however, avoid pairing it with a bright red suit.

Also, trench coats are really flattering. The belt ties right at your natural waist, which is the smallest part of your body. Because it is highlighted, people are immediately drawn to that area, rather than (in my case) huge thighs.

Uhh...Goth is Back?

September 24th, MAC is launching their new collection, Style Black. From what I've seen, every single product is black.

I can understand black eye shadow. It works well wet as an eyeliner, or to help create a smokey eye. But black lipstick looks good on exactly no one!

I honestly hope that this doesn't become some huge trend. The last thing we need in this world is gals running around with black eyes, lips, and nails!

Let's save the scary looks for Halloween, 'kay?

Drugstore Beauty Queen

I love my makeup collection (not that I'm not constantly adding to it and saying to myself, "oh, but I really need this"). I have a pretty good mix of high-end products, drugstore items, and even a few dollar store buys. The most important thing to know is that, when building your makeup collection, you simply cannot do it with only one of those categories.

The average female spends about $600 each and every year on cosmetics -- and that’s not including skin care or hair care products, it’s strictly makeup. Disgusting, right? And I probably spend at least double that. So, it's a good idea to cut corners where you can.

When it comes to cosmetics, many people are surprised to find out that just because a lipstick or lip gloss costs more money, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better quality product. For example, Lancome’s Juicy Tubes lip gloss costs just under $14 a tube. However, the same exact company makes Loreal’s Colour Juice which costs about half as much and people who have used both products swear that they’re the same.

Here's my basic list of where to buy the goods:

Department Stores
- Concealer and Foundation (if you need it)
- Blush
- Highly pigmented eye shadows
- makeup brushes

Drug Stores
- lip products
- most basic eye shadows
- mascara
- eyeliner (but go for a "high-end" drugstore brand like Physician's Formula. Cheapie brands won't blend well)
- translucent powder
- nail polish

Dollar Stores
-cutesy lip glosses
- nail files

Another good thing to look into is which department store brands own drugstore brands. The makeup world is a small one, and with most drugstore companies there is a large department store business running it. That almost guarantees good quality.

Shiny Hair Equals Gorgeous

In the summer, I tend to leave my naturally curly [read: wavy, frizzy, gross] hair to its own devices. I'll usually throw in some glossing balm and maybe mousse if I'm feeling ambitious. My new go-to product is Umberto's Shimmer Shine Spray.

The spray adds shine to the dullest of hair without the added greasiness that often comes with products like this. Shimmer-wise, it's very subtle. No huge chinks of glitter here!

It is a very fine mist of silicone, so it doesn't weigh hair down. If one spray of mist isn't enough, you can always spray again. It doesn't leave hair heavy, coated, sticky, stiff or anything --rather it leaves it shiny, light, and silky.

To use, I spray from the ends of my hair up. Your ends generally lack hydration and are therefore in desperate need of shine. The spray retails at Target for $8.99 for 5 oz., which really lasts a long time. A little definitely goes a long way with this product!

Sneek Peek: Bobbi Brown Holiday 09 Collection

Eeeeee!!! I love being "in the know" about new makeup collections! There's nothing better than getting a press release full to the brim with pictures of brand new makeup. The Bobbi Brown Holiday 09 collection is gorgeous. It's full of shimmery brown shades that are flattering on everyone (fun fact: brown is one of the best eye colors to wear, as 99% of us have some brown in our skin).

Here are just a random bunch of picks so you can judge for yourself:









P.S.: The collection will be available in stores in October!

Hear My Sweatshirt Roar!

This is quite possibly the cutest sweatshirt I've seen in a long time. I'm not much for wearing sweatshirts--I'll maybe throw one on in the winter before I go to bed or something, but never in real life. This adorable top by The Giant Peach really changes my mind about the whole thing.

They key to wearing what I call a novelty top, is to dress it up a bit with the other items to pair it with. You could actually wear the sweatshirt with jeans, as long as it is accessorized correctly. I'd probably throw on a pair of heels, some bangle bracelets, and dangly earrings. Maybe even pearls to class it up.

This amazing shirt is actually on SALE for $37.50 (original price $75).

Fashion Faux Pas: Huge Ridiculous Sweaters

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of gals wearing leggings or skinny pants with oversized tops. The result of this is looking like you are 40 lbs heavier and have stick legs. Not very appealing.

No matter how tiny you are, or how much of a model figure you've got, this look is not for you. Leggings are a bit iffy anyway. I tend to only wear them with a skirt or dress, rather than actual pants.

Even if you feel a bit bloated, the way to go is to wear something fitted. Not necessarily tight, but definitely something well-tailored that actually fits your body.

Come on, people! Just because you see something in a magazine once and think it's trendy doesn't mean that it'll look good on you!

Awards Ceremony Heels

I don't care what anyone else says, metallic sandal-y heels are seasonless. Mod Cloth has these great ones that virtually go with any outfit (other than some sort of metallic suit, which quite honestly you should be wearing anyway).

Their Awards Ceremony Heels are on sale for $19.99!

They work well with dresses, jeans, and anything else you can think of. Mixing metallics is huge right now, so the bronze, gold, and silver hues in the sandals are super cute.

Sugar Kiss

If you haven't heard of eyeslipsface.com (elf), then you've been hiding under a rock for some time. All of the products that they offer are ridiculously affordable, and the quality is really great.

Recently, the site has introduced their Sugar Kiss collection. I'm fairly certain that the products are meant for tweens, but the packaging is so cute that I couldn't help but order a few of the items for myself!

My personal fave is the Kissing Lip Tint. Each hue is $1 and c'mon, how cute is the heart?

Check out the site and I'm positive that you'll fall in love with it immediately.

The Importance of a Good Quality Base Coat

I know that many of you ladies--myself included--are inclined to skip wearing a base coat when you're painting your nails. I get it. It's an added layer, which means more time waiting for your nails to dry and more bottles cluttering up your space. But wearing a base coat is a lot more important than you may think.

A couple years ago, I was really into wearing red nail polish. I never used a base coat and soon found that my nails had an ugly yellow tint to them. Not only was this disgusting, but it also made it difficult to wear pretty sheer pink polishes, as the yellow would show through a bit (sorry if that's TMI).

You can always simply bleach your nails, but that's horrible for your skin. If you've got yellowing nails, try rubbing lemon juice on the base of the nail (maybe for five minutes daily for a week) and the yellow hue should disappear. That said, it's really best to avoid the issue entirely.

The best basecoat I've found to date is Seche Base. It's a ridge filling basecoat, meaning that it smooths out all the little imperfections you may have, and it's main redeeming factor is that it's slightly shimmery. And I do love shimmer. It's actually pretty enough to wear on its own; just throw a top coat over it. It also adds a tid bit of shimmer to any color you wear over it.

You can buy Seche Base at drugstore.com (which, by the way, carries great products for way cheaper than actual drugstores) for $6.99.