My Beauty Arsenal!

Every Friday over on Kelly's Korner, she has a Show Us Your Life Post. This week is centering on Beauty Secrets. I never pass up a trip to Sephora, Ulta, or anywhere else that sells beauty products! I am such a big fan (and avid shopper) of all of these places that I was beginning to have some storage issues with all of my beauty supplies! So, while watching an episode "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" (gasp, I know...it's a guilty pleasure!) I saw what looked like a clear lucite storage box that housed a plethora of make up! Upon further investigation I found that this storage box, that was something like 12 drawers high, appraised at a whopping $300. I knew that I wanted something like this to keep my make up in, but there was no way that I was paying that much money for something like that. After an ingenious moment in the local Dollar General Store, this is what I came up with...




It's a small three drawer organizer from Sterlite (nope, not even Rubbermaid). I got the basket on top and the desk organizer from Hobby Lobby. It really helps keeping everything nice, neat, and easy to find! I keep all of my freebies and extras in the basket on top, and in the desk organizer I keep my hairbrush (notice the pink one in the back...best ever! Goody's for fine hair and only $7....awesome!), combs, make up brushes, mascara, deodorant, make up remover, and perfume in the desk organizer.

Here's a look inside the different drawers.

In the top one...



These are all of my eye shadows, eyeliners, and concealer. I am a HUGE fan of Benefit, and I absolutely love their cream eye shadows. They go on so well, and they stay put all day! Urban Decay's The Midnight Cowboy Rides Again eye shadow is another one of my favorites with it's glitter! My favorite eyeliner of the moment is the $5 Nano from Sephora. It's small, but it gets the job done and done well.

In the next drawer...



Here are all of my blushes. Once again, Benefit blushes are some of my favorites! Hoola, a bronzer that has no shimmer or sparkle, is AMAZING! I wear it every day. Sugarbomb, 10, Dandelion, & Dallas are all stellar, too! Then, of course, is the macdaddy of all blushes, Nars Orgasm. Simply spectacular!!

In the last drawer...



This is where I keep the moisturizer, primer, and all of my palettes. Benefit's Do It Daily & That Gal are two of my favorites!

This storage system is working so well for me! Not only has it kept my beauty arsenal organized, it has helped me to get ready just a tad bit quicker for not having to dig through my make up bag to find things!

I have always been one to live by the rule of never sleeping in your make up, but I always thought it was a pain...until now. These cleansing cloths are possibly the best thing I've ever bought, and at only around $6 a pack, they don't break the bank!



Not only am I a big fan of make up, but I'm a really big fan of nail polish!



OPI, China Glaze, Essie, Hard Candy, and just about any other brand can be found at my house! I'm a big fan of mani/pedis, but sometimes, when pay day is a long way away, I'll paint my nails and toes with one of my many colors of the rainbow! :)

A few other things worth mentioning are my hair go-tos...



I have very fine and thin hair. Victoria's Secret So Sexy Volumizing Shampoo has been a favorite of mine for quite a while. It gives me volume and it smells so good! I also use John Frieda's Sheer Blonde Shampoo, too. It may just be all mental, but I really think it makes my hair look blonder! :) Up until a couple of months ago, I never used conditioner. I've been letting my hair grow for over a year, and the longer it gets the more tangled it would get throughout the day. One of my friends recommended getting a light conditioner to use since I was nervous of it making my hair look oily. This Pantene Conditioner is really good stuff. I use just a tiny bit on the ends of my hair, and, I swear, it's magic! My hair is so light and tat-free!!

My final thing to share is a Christmas present that I received. It's the 2010 Sephora Blockbuster!



LOVE!!!!!

I can't wait to hear about your favorite beauty items and secrets!

Happy Valentine's weekend!!

My Favorite Things

Well, it's been quite a while since I've shared my thoughts and feelings with the world, so I figured now was as good of a time as any. My sister, who just moved to North Carolina, just started blogging, and she has inspired me to start back. You should check her blog out here. To kick off my 2011 blogging experience, I'm going to share some of my new (and old) favorite things. Here we go...

1. Pandora

Most of you are probably thinking of the online radio station, which, don't get me wrong, is pretty awesome, but I am actually referring to Pandora jewelry! I have been wanting a Pandora bracelet for quite a while. Every time I passed a store that sold them, saw a magazine ad, or saw someone wearing one, I would mention to whoever I was with how badly I wanted one hoping that someone would eventually buy one for me! On my last day of school before Christmas vacation, Jessica and I swapped Christmas presents. Jessica knew how I coveted her beautiful bracelet and had even said that if I didn't get one for Christmas that she was going to buy me one. She handed me my gift, and I saw a G sticker placed on the box she handed me. I knew that this gift had bought at Greeks Bearing Gifts, a local gift shop that sells Pandora. Needless to say, I was very excited! I opened the box to find a gorgeous pink glass bead with flowers on it. I just scored my first bead! I told her that I really hoped that I got a bracelet for Christmas now! She confessed that she had talked with my mom and said that I would not be let down on Christmas morning! Later that morning, my friend, Jill, had also dropped off a bag with the famous G on it, but her present was adorned with a tag that said do not open until Dec. 25. Lucky for me on Christmas morning I opened a jewelry box to find my very own Pandora bracelet! Thanks to Jessica (x2), Jill, Jon, and Mom and Dad, I'm now up to 5 beads! I can't wait to get more!

Below is a picture of my mom, my sister, and me....we all got Pandora for Christmas!




2. Droid X

I know...just a couple of posts back I was bragging on my Blackberry, but let me tell you, my old Blackberry Curve (that I loved dearly at the time) doesn't hold a candle to my Droid X! This phone is AMAZING! As of today, I have 93 apps on my phone. I can check my facebook, e-mail, price compare using the bar code scanner app, play countless hours of Angry Birds (I'm addicted!), and maybe even call a few people if I can tear myself away from all of the other fun things on there. I was a bit skeptical of leaving the Blackberry OS, but now that I'm an Android owner and user, I've decided it's absolutely the best!

3. IKEA
On a recent trip to Atlanta for my Birthday Weekend Extravaganza, I had mentioned to my friends that I wanted to visit Ikea while we were in the neighborhood. So, we ventured out to find what I now refer to as total awesomeness! None of us had ever been there, but I had looked around online, and my cousin has bought several things from there, so I kind of knew what to expect. Boy, was I totally blown away! We got to the store early in the morning, and none of us had eaten breakfast yet. I had remembered seeing online that they had a restaurant inside the store. We decided to check that out, and we were not let down. We each had scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes (everyone but me), and French toast sticks. It was pretty tasty. After a quick bite we began our shopping fun! I found about a million things that I need! Everything is set up by rooms on the top floor so you can see how to decorate with their items. I was very impressed with the layout of the store. There were arrows on the floor to direct you throughout the different floors. I ended up only buying some shelf brackets this time, but I can't wait to go back and buy some bigger pieces for my house....like this tv table here. And when I get to build my dream house I will have this counter top that I saw in the store....LOVE IT!

4. I Love Lucy

My dog is named after her.

I crack up every time I watch it.

I will own the complete box set one day! (Available at Target if you would like to purchase it for me!)

5. Skype

As I mentioned above, my sister and her husband moved to North Carolina just a few weeks ago. We have discovered the wonderfulness that is Skype. Skype is a free video calling service that is used with the internet. I get to see her more now than when she lived just an hour away from me! It is super cool, and if you have family or friends that live far away or just close by, you should definitely check it out!