Guilty Pleasure Reads

As I’ve stated before I LOVE to read (you can check out my summer must reads here). I’ll read just about anything but sometimes I just want a good silly, guilty pleasure reads. You can check out some of my favorites below and just like always the pictures will be linky to take you to where you can buy.

Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

L.A. Candy series by Lauren Conrad

The Fame Game series by Lauren Conrad

Hush, Hush Saga by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer

Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz

Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

Obviously I have a slight obsession with supernatural young adult novels and chick-lit books. What are your guilty pleasure book obsessions?

CoverGirl Flamed Out Mascara Review

I’ve had this mascara for a little while now (I honestly think it might be almost empty -- YIPES) so I figure it was time to do a little review for you all!

**I purchased this mascara with my own $$ and all opinions are my own**

ONE COAT:

This mascara is designed to curl your lashes and if you read my Clump Crusher review (if not you can read it here) you already know that my lashes are naturally curly so I was a little hesitant to try this out because I didn’t want any craziness going on. But after looking at the print ad for this mascara in virtually EVERY magazine I had to cave and get it.

Seriously everything about this screams “BUY ME! BUY ME NOW!!”

Anyway...I really liked the effect that one coat gave my lashes. It emphasized the natural curliness of my lashes without going overboard.

TWO COATS:

Two coats gave me some CRAZY length, like touch my eyebrows kind of length! It did clump up a little bit but once the mascara had some time to dry I was able to straighten up some of the clumpy craziness.

LAYERED:

Naturally for the layered look I had to reach for my FAVORITE CoverGirl mascara LashBlast Fusion. I definitely really liked the results from this combo and think it looks the most natural for me. The Fusion gave me just enough definition and then Flamed Out gave me some drama. Love it!

FINAL WORD:

This will definitely be a repurchase when the time comes and will definitely be added to my favorites list. It’s almost perfect because it can give you either natural or dramatic lashes based on how many coats you slap on!

You can get CoverGirl Flamed Out Mascara anywhere that sells CoverGirl products!

Handy Dandy Nail Polish Remover Trick

I adore painting my nails, it’s totally my Sunday night treat/therapy. The one thing I absolutely hate doing though is removing my existing nail polish! I go through about 20 million cotton balls to remove just one hand of nail polish and it still feels like I haven’t gotten all of the polish off. Such was my nail polish life...UNTIL...I discovered the wonder of using makeup sponges to remove my polish! **Cue the angels singing!**

All you really need are some makeup sponges I use these ones from Ulta:

and your favorite nail polish remover! I like using the polish remover that comes in the containers that you dip your fingers because then you can really soak the sponge without making a big mess.

Then all I do is put my makeup sponge in the container, screw the lid back on and let it soak up the polish remover. When you take the sponge out make sure you give it a good squeeze over the container to get rid of the excess remover. Then swipe away at your nails!

I love this trick because not only is it quick and easy you can reuse the sponge again and again (I get about 4 nail polish changes out of them). The wedge sponges also come in handy for cleaning up your nail edges.

One word of warning is that the sponge will kind of fall apart and flake a little bit but it’s not terrible!

Let me know if you try this out or if you have any fun little nail polish tricks!

Hair Inspiration

It is getting time for me to do something with the mass of hair that currently resides on my head. It currently looks like this:

And, while I love the length I have some extremely damaged hair at the bottom from an unfortunate decision to get blonde highlights a few years ago...seriously...I don’t know why anyone allowed that to happen!

ANYWAY -- It’s time for a trim and a new color (my hair is the ultimate dirt brown color -- BLEH). I’m thinking I want to go red -- and I’ve actually been told by others that my hair should be red... So without further ado here is a little inspiration board. All pictures are linky back their original sites.

THE COLOR

THE CUT

And there you have it (yes I know there are two of the same pictures but I loved the cut and the color so it gets to show up twice) I kind of already think I’ve made up my mind but I’m not entirely sure yet. For more inspiration check out my Hairspiration board on Pinterest! I’ll be sure to post pictures on Twitter (@lilannietweets) and Instagram (@anniedannie) so be sure to follow me there AND I’ll try to make sure I do a blog post on the final results too!

Goody Hair Ouchless Ribbon Elastics Review and Tips

At the beginning of July I received the Sunkissed VoxBox from Influenster (you can read my initial reactions here). One of the items I was excited to try out were the Goody Hair Ouchless Ribbon Elastics.  This post will include a mini review (there isn’t much to say -- they’re pretty amazing) and a few unique tips for using them beyond doing your hair.

"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes." -- Just in case you forgot.

MINI REVIEW

I honestly really really like these. I know a lot of people have problems with the whole Ribbon Elastic thing because you could easily run to a craft store and by your own ribbon elastic and whip up your own. But honestly, who has time for that!? AND by the time you buy the material you need you could have just as easily gone and bought a package of these bad boys....Sorry...I apologize for the rant...kind of...

I typically wear my hair in a bun to keep it up out of the way and under control (my hair has a mind of its own...) I was originally going to post some pictures of how I style it but a lot of people have already done that so....

The only downfall is that like any other hair tie they do tend to stretch out and I did have a casualty when my navy blue elastic snapped (no worries I gave it a proper burial). You can find these at any major retailer that sells Goody hair products and they retail for around $3.97.

OTHER USES

OK, so I’ve figured the easiest way to do this would be to just make a list.... This post is seriously lacking in photos...sorry..

**The bonus to these tips is that you will for the most part always have a hair tie close by if you need it!!**

Wear it as a bracelet

Tie it around the handle of your luggage bag so you can easily identify it on the carousel at the airport

Tie it around makeup brushes and throw them in your makeup bag

Tie them around loose pens in your purse

Use it to keep all of your rewards cards together inside your handbag

Is your shirt too long? Use it to tie it up, 90’s style!

A wine glass marker -- tie around the stem of wine glasses so guests can identify their glass.**This would be really cute for a girls night! Then they get an added gift -- just make sure you use a new set of ties, obviously!**

A slingshot -- because you know sometimes people just need to be hit with a hair tie...

You could also used your stretched out ones that are on their last leg to tie up some white T-shirts and throw yourself a tie-dye party!!

These are just a few fun ideas for out of the box uses for these ties, but of course the best way to use them is to make yourself a cute hairdo!!

Also be sure to check out my review of the Dr. Scholl’s Inserts for Her (here) and the SinfulColors SinfulShine Nail Polish (here) I recieved!!

SinfulColors SinfulShine Review and Haul

As you all may know I was chosen to receive the Influenster Sunkissed VoxBox (you can read my excitement here). One of the products I received, and by far one I was most excited for, was nail polish!! I am an admitted nail polish collector (some of you may call us hoarders) and so any new color is a welcome addition to the nail polish family.

SinfulColors is an extremely affordable nail polish brand that you can pick up at Walgreens and they have a HUGE range of colors to choose from. I have quite a few of them myself but I had yet to pick up some of the new SinfulShine formulation, so to receive one in my VoxBox was quite exciting! Here is a rundown of my thoughts and a mini haul of colors that I just had to run out and get after trying them out!!

Before we begin I mustn’t forget: "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

THE PACKAGING

You would never know that this polish was only $2.99 by looking at the packaging! The chrome colored lid makes it look very expensive and the shape is kind of classic. I think SinfulColors packaging is one of the reasons I love buying it at Walgreens. Some drugstore brands just look really cheap and it makes me question the formula inside the cheap looking bottle.

THE COLOR

I received the color “Steel Reserve” which is a pretty accurate description of the color. It’s a deep steel gray color that is absolutely gorgeous on. I would probably reserve this color more for the fall and winter months as I tend to like bright colors for summer.

STAYING POWER

This polish lasts!! I painted my nails on Sunday (my usual paint day) and used a base coat and topcoat of Nail Envy by OPI and by the following Sunday there was barely a chip to be seen!

To prove my point here is a midweek shot of my nails:

Seriously this shot was taken on Wednesday!!

OVERALL

I would totally give SinfulShine 5 out 5 stars! Everything is wonderful about this polish from the color selection to the packaging to the formula to the price!

Now for the mini haul portion:

I obviously really liked these polishes so I had to run out and grab some more. I’ve only picked up 3 more so far but I’ve scouting out other members of the Influenster Nation to see what other colors I might add. The three newbies are: Bananappeal, Skinny Dipping, and My Kryptonite. **How cute are those names!?** Naturally when I brought them home I had to take a family photo with the newbies (which I paid for with my own money!) and Steel Reserve.

“Welcome to the family guys!!” -- Steel Reserve

Now tell me! Have you tried the SinfulColors SinfulShine polishes?? If so which ones would you recommend? And if you want to read more about my Sunkissed VoxBox adventures check out my post about Dr. Scholl’s Inserts for Her here! Posts on Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream and the Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics will be up soon!