Last Hoorah for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's the last day of October, Breast Cancer Awareness month and I like to give a tribute to those who are affected directly or indirectly from this disease, this is another simple nail art design similar to the one I did last year for World Aids Day. The fight against breast cancer will still continue far beyond the last day of this month and if you would like to get more information on how and where to get tested for this disease and general information and support for any cancer related topic, you can always contact the Jamaica Cancer Society for further information.

Sinful Colors: Soul Mate | Sally Hansen: Strobe Lights | China Glaze: White On White

Stay Blessed everyone, and see you in my next post
Debbie

Hurricane Sandy

Hello guys, this post is unlikely but I just wanted to update you all on the situation going on now in Jamaica. It's about 2:20pm as I'm writing this post for all our Jamaicans (abroad & at home) and non Jamaicans who may or may not know about the situation , it is raining cats and dogs outside and it going get worse as Hurricane Sandy closes in on the island; she was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane earlier today and she's expected to make landfall at about 3:00pm so I'm urging everyone to be careful and continue to pray as the hurricane passes over our little island home. We are a strong nation and through the resilience our our people we will pick up the pieces after this hurricane has passed.

For information on shelter locations see the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management website.

Be safe everyone and keep praying.
Debbie

Hair Check Up: Protein vs. Moisture

Hello everyone!! Today I wanted to highlight a very important factor when it comes to taking care of your hair, so whether you have chemically relaxed tresses or you're a 'naturalitsa' , as I like to say, your hair requires a good balance of protein in order to maximize growth or improve the overall texture or appearance of the hair itself, now Shannon had previously delved into the topic of Protein vs. Moisture and how to determine which of these your hair desires/needs. The first question that should pop into your head is...How do I determine whether my hair needs more moisturizing or protein based treatments? Well here's a video Shannon did demonstrating how to test your hair in order to determine what exactly your hair needs.

Once you've determined what your hair needs here's a few suggestions on what products can help to remedy your dilemma.

We hope that this helps guys, until next time...
Debbie

Refresh, Set & Fix Your Makeup

I absolutely love makeup there's no question about that, so while rummaging through my makeup collection, I came across several products that I  use which are my MAC Fix+ Rose, Evian Facial Spray and the Skindinavia Dance! finishing spray (as pictured below). Each of these facial sprays has a specific use and when applied correctly you should definitely achieve a flawless makeup application that should prevent the dreaded makeup meltdown. Now I've attached a video from the Youtube guru Enkore, and he gives a great explanation as to the proper usage and purpose of each of these facial sprays.

 Now here's my review on each of these facial sprays

 

 


 Facial Refresher Spray: Evian Facial Spray
This is basically water in a can, but the best thing about the Evian spray is the fact that it contains vital minerals that are great for the skin, it's like giving yourself a refreshing dosage of goodness and I love using it for a burst of coolness when I'm spending a hot day at the beach. I actually also use this as a setting spray for my mineral foundation in order to subdue the 'cake face' effect and it works perfectly.













 Makeup Setting Spray: MAC Fix+ Rose
The MAC Fix+ Rose is a limited edition version of the spray, but it works just like the regular Fix+ and it contains ingredients such as green tea and chamomile and rose water. The Fix+ Rose has a light pleasant scent of roses and it works perfectly to set my foundation and also adds light moisture to the face, just several spritz and that's all I need to get rid of the overly powdery/matte look, but be careful not to use too much as it does cause some oiliness to break through during the day. One of my qualms with this product is the nozzle, it does not spray evenly and sometimes I end up with large droplets on my face... no bueno, but apart from the faulty packaging it's great!








 

 

Makeup Finishing Spray: Skindanavia Dance!
Skindinavia makes a variety of makeup finishing sprays, but the Dance! formulation promises an 'all night hold resisting perspiration, shine and makeup slippage' and this immediately caught my eye when I purchased it. I initially did not have good results with this spray and I continued to use it without success, it didn't last through a typical 9 to 5 work day in an air conditioned office as I still got shiny and my face felt tight, so I'm pretty sure that it would not last through excessive perspiration or heat. I suggest maybe trying the spray which Enkore had suggested as an alternative. Skindanavia has discontinued this formulation, but I will continue to work with it to find a better way to use it but until then I give this 2 thumbs down.

Sometimes a product might seem to not work for us, but sometimes it might be that we have to alter how we use it so that we can achieve the best results. I hope this post helped to shed some light the topic and if you've tried any of these products let me know how they work out for you.

Until next time... see ya later guys!
Debbie

Accessories Haul

A few weeks ago I took a quick trip to New York and got a chance to pick up some new accessory pieces. I think accessories are the perfect way to spice up a rather dull outfit, so of course I am a sucker for cute accessories. I am a gold toned girl when it comes to my accessories, so I definitely needed some silver toned accessories to add to my collection. These are what I chose :

Neck piece from Forever 21

Neck piece from Forever 21

Neck piece from Forever 21

Bracelet from Forever 21

Bracelets from H&M

Bracelet from H&M

Headband from Forever 21

Earring from Forever 21

Which piece is your favourite?
Shannon xoxo

Beauty Find: Hair, Skin & Nails Vitamins

Every girl wants to have the perfect skin, gorgeous flowing hair and beautiful nails; unfortunately we aren't always born with these great attributes but we should at least should try to take care of what we have right? So I came across these vitamins in my local health food store and I decided to pick up a bottle after I had thoroughly drilled the sales associate about the benefits and the efficacy of the vitamins, she actually said she used them and it helped her with her traction alopecia.

The bottle runs for JMD$1297.67 plus tax and there are 75 tablets in the bottle. The recommended dosage is 3 tablets per day so this entire bottle should last for 25 days. It's of course loaded with vitamins and minerals and certain herbal extracts such as Echinacea leaf and Horsetail extract. The associate also highlighted the fact that results may not be seen immediately and I might need to actually use more than one bottle to see significant results, but I actually have no problem with this so I decided to give it a try.

In future posts I'll let you know how this works out for me, but in the mean time has anyone ever tried these type of vitamins, and what were your results like?

Until next time friends...
Debbie

NB. With any non prescription vitamin/medication that you wish to take, please consult with your physician before you take it ...OK!!

Transparent Powder Review: MAC vs. ELF

Transparent powders are perfect for setting your foundation, they give us 'oily' girls the perfect matte finish. I personally own two transparent powders, the MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder and the Eyes Lips Face (ELF) High Definition Powder, so I get to compare a high end brand with a lower end brand to see if there is really a major difference.

MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder

Price:             $24 (USD)

Amount:         9 g

Packaging:      good sturdy hard plastic
                       no powder puff
                       no sift barrier - unable to control amount of powder

Texture:          powder grains are a bit larger than ELF's
                       ELF is a lot smoother

Application:    leaves a powdery finish
                       may appear ghostly in person and in flash photography

Results:            leaves face matte for about 4 hours

Rating:              2/5

Final thoughts: This powder is OK. But for the price it's a no no. I would not repurchase this because
                          there are much better powders out there for cheaper.

E.L.F. High Definition Powder

Price:               $6 (USD)

Amount:          8 g

Packaging:       sturdy hard plastic
                        bulky packaging
                        powder puff included
                        has a sift barrier

Texture:            extremely smooth on the skin

Application:     applies smooth
                         not too powdery
                         blends in easily

Result:               matte finish
                          lasts for 4hrs

Rating:              5/5

Final thoughts:  I LOVE this powder! ELF did an excellent job and the price is very attractive.  
                           I would definitely repurchase this powder.

Have a great day!
Shannon xoxo

Style Icon: Angela Simmons

We all saw Angela Simmons grow up under the watchful eyes of her rapper father Rev Run on the hit reality t.v show 'Run's House', but it was not until her and sister Vanessa Simmons branched off on their own spin off reality series entitled 'Daddy's Little Girls' where we saw her style actually evolving from the boring girl next door to the fashion savvy business woman that we now see. She is the co-founder of the Pastry sneaker line along with her sister and a very stylish socialite as she is often pictured at various fashion events. Her style is sexy and trendy, but at the same time not too overdone,  this is the most admirable quality of her fashion sense IMO and for this reason she is my Style Icon.

Stay tunes for our next installment of Style Icon
TTYL folks!
Debbie

First Look: Essie Nail Polish

I purchased my very first Essie nail polish a few days ago and I was really excited. I have always wanted to try Essie polishes because it's all the rave on beauty and nail design blogs. I purchased the polish in a pharmacy in  Kingston for about JMD$900 including tax. Personally, I think this is a lot to spend on a nail polish, but trust me it's totally worth it. I love the polish! The brush is the perfect size, the consistency of the polish is great, it dries quickly and it's extremely opaque. All and all it's a great polish and I look forward to growing my Essie collection.

Hope you're having a great day,
Shannon xoxo