nicole by opi

Hi There! Happy Wednesday!!

I cannot believe that April is already ending! Didn’t we just celebrate Valentine’s Day?! Time is FLYING by, as usual! Because it is the end of the month, I want to share my beauty favorites today! I will also be sharing my “lifestyle” favorites (a.k.a my everything-that-isn’t-beauty-related favorites) this Friday. Be sure to comment (click on the link by the title of this post) or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell me what YOUR favorite products have been for the month of April! I would LOVE to hear from you! I also, as usual, have created a Luvocracy collection if you’d like more information on any of these products, or would like to shop online. I’m feeling chatty today, so I’ll stop myself before I ramble on and just get started ; )

LEAH’S APRIL BEAUTY FAVORITES:

Lips:

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Pretty Social

This lipstick is long wearing, feels nice on the lips, and has very sleek matte packaging. To me this is a perfect light cool toned pink, it’s light but not TOO light…yet light enough that I can easily wear this without a lip liner or constant touch ups. This is neutral enough that I can wear it with a lot of different make-up looks.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in 915 Blushing Beige

This is one of the nude colored tube lipsticks from the Maybelline Vivid line. I LOVE the formula of the Maybelline Vivid lipsticks: it is very moisturizing, and feels very comfortable on the lips. I love this color because it is a very wearable, slightly pink-y nude and it looks great with everything.

EOS Lip Balm in Summer Fruit

I love this lipbalm! I use them under lip color or by itself. It is always in my bag!

Cheeks:

Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick by FaceStudio in 20 Pink Fever

This is a cool toned cream blush in a stick form. I like to stipple this on with a brush or blend a very tiny amount on my fingers. It blends easily and lasts on my combination/oily skin. This color IS intense, but blends out to be a stunning color.

Maybelline Master Hi-Light by FaceStudio Hi-Lighting Blush in 251 Natural

This is part of the Dare To Go Nude Spring 2014 Limited Edition Collection from Maybelline. This is a golden highlight that is absolutely stunning! I have worn this every day since I bought it, and I know I will use it all summer! It works so well on my pale skin, but I think it would also look gorgeous on deeper skin tones. If you come across this, pick it up before it’s gone! I hate when they make colors like this limited edition!

FACE:

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder 1

This is a setting powder that I use almost daily under my eyes! It brightens up the area, and doesn’t settle into any fine lines. This is my go-to under eye setting powder.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup in 1C1 Cool Bone

This stays all, covers everything, and makes my skin look perfect! I love this foundation for my combination/oily skin. It even stays on my nose area where foundation likes to come off of on me first. A little goes a long way with this foundation and it does set quickly, so work in sections on your face!

Estée Lauder Double Wear Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter in 1N Extra Light

This is a beautiful brightening concealer for the under eye area! I like to dot it on with the brush it comes with, but then I use my own brush or my fingers to blend it out.

Estée Lauder DayWear

This is my favorite moisturizer for day and night! It never leaves my skin feeling oily (we will see how it does this summer!) and provides lots of moisture to nourish my skin.

EYES:

Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash

This is my favorite eye brow pencil! I had always preferred powders until I found this pencil! It is a super fine point that allows you to make tiny strokes that look soft and natural. It also comes with a spooli on the other end, which is nice! Love this!

NAILS:

Nicole by O•P•I in Am I Making Myself Claire?

This is from the Modern Family Collection by Nicole by OPI and is such a unique color that I’ve been loving for spring! It is a gray-ish lilac cream color, and the formula wears well on the nails.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 405 Coral Reef

This is a GORGEOUS coral color for spring! It is just so bright and beautiful, and shockingly I didn’t have any coral shades like this in my collection! The price is right with this polish, and the formula is great.

Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

I didn’t notice a difference with this immediately, but I kept using it every night for a few weeks and now I can see a big difference. I had this in my collection for so long just sitting unopened (it came with a set I believe that I had gotten for Christmas) but I am so glad I tried it. It smells great too! My one complaint would be that it can be slightly difficult to open.

RANDOM:

Warm Lemon Water!!

I have been taking 2 minutes every morning to heat up some water in the microwave and squeezing a lemon into it because of the many heath and beauty benefits! I am no expert, I am just experimenting with it right now, so I will link one of the websites that I found that explains why lemon water is beneficial. I also brush my teeth BEFORE drinking the lemon water, because I read that if you brush immediately after it is actually worse for the enamel on your teeth. I do rinse my mouth out with water after drinking my lemon water.

Wow! Another long post : ) If you read all that, thank you! What products have you been loving this past month? I would love to hear about them! Comment (just click the link by the title of this post!) or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Please also let me know if you have any requests for things you would like to see on my blog! If you have enjoyed this, please subscribe! If you have already subscribed, thank you!!! Have a fantastic day!

Hi there! Happy Friday!!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Now that spring is here, I have been loving wearing all sorts of fun nail polish colors! I looked through my collection of polishes (I have a serious love for nail polish. Serious.) and picked out my top picks to share with you today. I created a Luvocracy Collection if you’d like more information on the polishes, want to add them to your own collections, or shop directly from the site.

Note: These are not listed in any kind of ranked order, they are just done in the order of a pretty spring-y rainbow! I also love my Megalast polishes dearly, and my spring picks I posted about previously: Wet N’ Wild Limited Edition Spring 2014 “And The Style Award Goes To…”.

1) Essie Madison Ave-Hue

This is a beautiful bright pink polish from the spring 2013 line from Essie. It has a beautiful pink and silver sparkle to it. It is very bright and has great color payoff. This shows 2 coats.

2) Lóreal Wishful Pinking

This is a very light pink polish that gives your nails a beautiful, clean look. It applies flawlessly and you really can’t mess it up. I love this when I’m in a rush but want something polished on my nails. This shows 3 coats.

3) Essie Mango Bango

This is a beautiful coral-y to orange cream polish. I don’t have many orange polishes, but I LOVE this one! Orange is so on trend for spring and summer, and it is a great way to get that pop of color if you aren’t ready to try an orange lip. This shows 3 coats, but you can easily do 2.

4) Revlon Colorstay Buttercup

Buttercup is a beautiful pale yellow cream polish. It is a unique color, as pale yellows can be hard to come by. I love it because it has good color payoff, especially for a yellow polish, and isn’t too streaky. I did apply 3 coats.

5) Revlon Zealous

When I first got this color last summer I remember being so surprised at how much I ended up loving it on my nails! It is a yellow with lots of gold shimmer that definitely gives off echoes of a chartreuse green. I love it! It’s sheer, but looks great with 3 coats.

6) Revlon Parfumerie Lime Basil

This is a deep minty green cream polish that smells just like a lemon lime soda! I was expecting it to smell more herbal, but all I get when I smell it is soda pop! But I like it. It is a beautiful color and it wore very well on my nails.

7) Zoya Blu

This is such a stunning, very light blue cream nail polish. It looks gorgeous on the nail, and I always receive compliments when I wear this color.

8) Essie Play Date

I love purple nail polish shades and this one isn’t like any others that I have in my collection. It is a bright purple cream polish and is very opaque on the nail.

9) Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coin Flip

I love this for any season really, but I love the metallic look that this foil polish gives. It’s mostly gold, but in some lights looks silver as well. It reminds me a lot of Orly Rage. It’s more fun than a neutral (and I love a good nude manicure!) but I find that it really goes with so much.

10) Nicole by O•P•I Lips Are Dripping Honey

I love using this color from the limited edition Carrie Underwood line as an accent to other polishes. It is a beautiful glitter polish with tiny gold glitter and holographic larger pieces of gold glitter. The mix of holographic glitter and tiny specs of glitter gives the look in some light of a rose gold polish which makes me love it that much more! I LOVE rose gold! I don’t find that this is a pain to lay down on the nail, and it’s easier to work with than a lot of glitters.

Ta-da! That’s it! What are your favorite nail polishes to wear in the spring? I would LOVE to hear from you and try out some of your suggestions!! Let me know in the comments (click the link next to the title of this post) or find me on Facebook , Twitter, or Instagram! If you have enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe (enter your email in the box on the right of the page and you’ll just get emails when I post!). I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!