Firefox and Iphone Users

     Hey Gals! This is not a review, I simply wanted to say that I know that the formating on this blog is a little off for those of you viewing it on Firefox or on your cell phones. There is nothing I can do about this. It works on a majority of browsers, so I will leave it as it is. It seems only to affect the font and the sidebar on the right.
     I am planning on putting a review up, hopefully, today. If not, I will put one up tomorrow.

Have Fun and Stay Your Beautiful Self!
Sarahbeth

L.A. COLORS Nail Polish Review and Taylor Swift Inspired Nails

I have been a fan of L.A. COLORS nail polishes for quite some time. I find these at my local Dollar Tree and hardly ever leave without picking up at least one. The colors I am reviewing today are: "Base Coat - Top Coat", "Mega Watt", and "Sparkling Diamonds". The company has 72 colors in their "Color Craze" collection. Mega Watt and Sparkling Diamond are both in that collection. However, the base coat it not. I have lots of these "Color Craze" polishes and intend on reviewing lots more of them and hopefully showing you looks I like to create with them.

    They are basically your standard nail polishes. They aren't especially water and they smell like nail polish. The pigmentation, over all, can be iffy. Some are more opaque than others. It really depends on the colors. Overall, I really, really like these polishes.         

     I LOVE the Base Coat - Top Coat (it is the one on the left in the picture above.) It is the ONLY base coat/topcoat I use. I own a couple of others, but by far this is one of my favorites. It is easy going on and tries very quickly. Typically by the time I am done with one hand, the other is already dry. It is also works very well for a topcoat. While it is slightly shiny, it really doesn't affect the nail color underneath it. It fills in gaps very well and works extremely well with glitter polishes and it leaved the tops smooth, not scratchy and uneven from the glitter.

     Mega Watt was a slight miss for me. I had actually purchase it because I had tried "Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs." by O.P.I. at a friend's house and really liked it, but couldn't rationalize spending around eight dollars for nail polish. I saw this at Dollar Tree and thought it looked similar. When I put it tried it on at home, I was disappointed in the fact that it was so sheer. I thought it would have been opaque but it wasn't. For the purpose I had originally wanted it for, it didn't work. However, I still really do LOVE the color in this color combination. I think it will work well under glitter, or alone if you are aiming for the "just slightly there" look. 

     Sparkling Diamonds is BY FAR my favorite color I've ever seen by L.A. COLORS. I saw it and fell in love with it immediately. Yes, I am girl who loved glitter, but I am very picky about what kind. This polish has lots of tiny glitter specks in it with larger (but still very small) hexagon shaped mirror-like specks. I am going back to Dollar Tree to buy several more bottles of this color. I NEVER want to run out. Yeah, THAT'S how much I love this color.

     Together, I think these colors look amazing. I actually purchased all three of these on separate trips, but when I went through my nail polishes to decide what color to paint them, this just jumped out at me. It reminded me a lot of Taylor Swifts style. It would be perfect for prom, dances, formal events, or even just everyday.

     To Create The Look Above:

     1. Paint one thin coat of the Base Coat - Top Coat. Let dry.

     2. Paint one thin coat of Mega Watt. Let dry.

     3. Paint a second thin coat of Mega Watt. Let Dry.

     4. Paint one medium-thickness coat of Sparkling Diamond. You can move the bigger pieces of glitter   by using a tooth pick if you wish to change their placement. Let dry.

     5. Paint one thin coat of the Base Coat - Top Coat. Let Dry.

     Since these are all light colors, they dry fairly fast. Mine was completely dry within about thirty minutes.

Have Fun and Stay Your Beautiful Self!

Sarahbeth

Disclaimer: I purchased all items mentioned. None of these items were given to me and I am not being sponsored. I am not receiving any compensation for reviewing these items. These are solely my own opinions. I am not a professional or expert of any kind.

SEPHORA COLLECTION Color Play - 5 in 1

     So, this palette will probably be amongst the most expensive things I ever review. The main reason I decided to go ahead and review it was because of the amazing deal it was. A supposedly "$150 Value", it is originally priced at $30. Personally, I couldn't let myself spend thirty dollars, even though I had heard great things about this palette. However, I went to my local Sephora in JcPenny earlier this week (Monday, I believe) to purchase something else and found this at the clearance section. For TEN DOLLARS. At that point, I knew I was not leaving the store without it. I decided to wait a couple of days so I could use it and get the feel for it before I reviewed it.

     So, here is the deal: This palette contains 5 "color stories" on small palette that pop into and out of the palette and it also has a compact (it's the black rectangle on the right side) that you can pop one individual color story in and take it with you on the go. It has a fairly decent sized mirror both on the palette and in the compact. The five color stories are (from right to left) "Boho Bombshell", "Classics Never Die", "Angelic Boudoir", "Black is the New Black", and " A nod to Mod". The entire palette itself contains 50 eye shadows, 10 lip glosses, and 5 blushes.

     As for the actual quality of the products, I was quite impressed. I am a sceptic of palettes because I usually find that the quality isn't as good because they are trying to get you the most for the least amount of money. Having said that, I still thought the quality was very good. I found the eye shadows to be quite creamy and pigmented. I swatched a few random colors so that you could get a sense of both the pigmentation and the variety of colors. There are matte, satin, shimmer, and glitter eye shadows in this palette. I trued to swatch at least one of each kind, but have realised I missed the glitter ones, which are mostly a couple of dark shadows with fairly large specks of glitter in them. I absolutely loved the teal, gold/yellow, ivory, and pink shadows in this picture. The teal was especially bright (I also have an e.l.f. eyeliner in this same color on order from e.l.f.'s website.) I think this palette is worth the ten dollars simply for the eye shadows. 

     The blushes are also pretty pigmented and also creamy. I personally do not wear blush as I have extremely pink cheeks naturally, but I found the colors quite nice and even used a mix of the two lightest blushes. I did notice that the blushes left powder around them when you swept a brush on them, but I solved that by simply blowing it off a little bit. The picture below is a swatch of the blushes in the order they are in on the palette.

     I did not take a picture, but I did swatch the lip glosses. I almost never use lip glosses, but I wanted to get a feel for the pigmentation and the texture. I thought they were good quality. The red is very nice shade of red. The clear had a little bit of glitter in it. The nude was fairly transparent. The pinks and reds were very pigmented. If I feel like wearing lip gloss one day, I will most definitely reach for this palette.

     The case itself is nice and sturdy, slim, and clean looking. I like that you can see inside the palette before opening it. The eye shadows are on the smaller side, about the size of a dime. The lip glosses are about a half inch by two inches and the blushes are about the size of four eye shadows. 

    Overall, I thought that this was a very good product and definitely worth the ten dollars. I actually liked it so much that I went back the next day and purchased one for my best friend and did a whole look that evening with the palette. She is in love with it, too. So, here is the bad news: This palette is NOT available online. It has been discontinued and will disappear soon. However, if you live near a Sephora, I would HIGHLY suggest getting it as soon as you possibly can. My Sephora had about ten to fifteen palettes, so some may run out sooner than others.

     I hope this was helpful and informative. I will be putting up alot of reviews in a short amount of time over the next few days as I go back to school for my senior year (YAY! :D ) in 11 days. I will be reviewing alot of the L.A. Colors nail polishes I bought at my local Dollar Tree and I will even be telling you how to create a few looks.  I will also be reviewing some eyeshadows I bought from the dollar tree. Lastly, I'm expecting a large order from e.l.f. soon and I will be reviewing those items probably in a few weeks or so.

Have A Great Day and Stay Your Beautiful Self!

Sarahbeth

Disclaimer: I purchased all items mentioned. None of these items were given to me and I am not being sponsered. I am not recieving any compensation for reviewing these items. These are solely my own opinions. I am not a professional or expert of any kind.