Winner of the Reduce Your Stress Givaway

This was a very exciting giveaway!
I used random.org to pick a winner.  I just counted up the valid entries and let the site pick the winner.

NUMBER 2!!!!!  Jamie K!!!!!


Congrats, Jamie!!!!


I'll be emailing you to let you know and get mailing info to send off your own personal digital massager.

Thanks to everyone that entered.  My readers are VERY special to me.  Look forward to more giveaways in 2011!!!!


Wishing you the best year ever in 2011!!!!

Are You Ready to Relax Giveaway

My giveaway for a digital muscle massager ends today! (Thursday, 12/30, 8:00 PM, EST)  Yep, someone is going to start the year in a little bit less stressful way.  I know I am!

Click here to check out the giveaway and to enter.  Couldn't be any easier than that!

ELF Lips and Fairy Eyes

For about 4 months, the local Dollar Tree stores have not had much to talk about.  However, I let the 'pull' get the best of me and I stopped in one just to see if anything had changed.

Oh, goody!!!  I did find something I liked...

 Six different shades of ELF Minty Lip Gloss.  I figured since they were a buck a piece, spending $6 for all wasn't going to have me digging under the couch cushions for gas money.

Very, very sheer.  I don't find that they change the color of my lips much.  But if you like to keep your lips glossed and only want the slightest inkling of color, you'll like these.  Sometimes I only want a slight tint.  And the minty part, oh yea.  It's minty and feels fresh.

Here's the colors, in the same order from the product photo and swatched photo:
Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, New York City, Boston and Chicago.

As you can tell from the tube, it has a doe-foot applicator.  It smooths on the gloss very nicely.  It feels a bit tacky in the beginning.  But after awhile, I didn't notice that.  Either it smoothed out or I just got used to it.  However, it didn't slide all around so that's a plus.

My first favorite:  Los Angeles.  Softer than a bubblegum pink but has soft gold sparkles...

No other color on my lips, just the gloss.  I should have put a photo up of naked lips so you could see the contrast.  However, this puts very little color on me.

Here's Boston.  It is an orangy-red with red sparkles...

It doesn't even look that different.  But for a buck, I recommend getting your favorite color.

Then I picked up some L A Colors eye shadow at Rue 21. 

And what is neat about these is that the sparkle is not just sprayed on the top.  It is through the entire shadow pan.  With Pixy Ipoxy, these shadows went on bold.

Here is a look I wore using the pinks and purples.  I did use NYX 'Yogurt' shadow stick for the highlight below my brow.  It wore very well.

So, I'm going to learn how to take photos of my face and not have such a blue cast to them.  I took the photos of my lips and eyes at the sunny window hoping it would give a better representation of the color.  The skin tone doesn't show true, but the purple in the shadow colors did really good, especially with purple being a pistol to capture.

Are you a lip gloss person?  How about the shadow palettes; it that something you'd pick?

Are You Missing Merry Mittens?

The hustle and bustle that I have is to get all the new Holiday nail polishes swatched before the year is over.  I went a bit overboard with polish purchases this season because of all the glam and glitter.

This polish from Finger Paints is just adorable.  It's called 'Merry Mittens.'

It's that glam?  It's crush-velvety red with red and gold micro-glitter.  It's a divine color combo.  It you read my last post on 'Mistletoe Kisses,' what that polish did for green, 'Merry Mittens' does for red.  Spee-Arc-Ull.

That's pretty sweet when the polish shows its high-beam brilliance in both the sunny window AND outside.

I have on 2 coats of color and the standard 2 coats of Seche Clear followed by 1 coat of Vite.

If I had not found 'Mistletoe Kisses,' 'Merry Mittens' would have been my actual Christmas swatch.  This red is just how I like red glitter.  It has shine, glitter, sparkles, all those things that hold my fascination. 

Living in Florida, I don't have much need for gloves or mittens.  However, I leave for Denver in a couple of days and I have lost my gloves!!!  I did wear them last week when it was a chilly morning.  But I didn't put them back where they belong.  Luckily, I have some woven gloves I can take.

Do you wear gloves or mittens?

Sure I Like Mistletoe Kisses

First, if you haven't entered my latest giveaway, you could be cheating yourself out of a good massage!  Click here and enter the 'Just Chill' giveaway for an electronic muscle massager.  Oh, and due to a discussion with a fellow European blogger, you can recharge this device using your USB port on your computer!!!

If you follow as many nail/makeup blogs as I do (just check my blog roll; all of them are worthy of your time), we have been discussing our Christmas/Holiday manicures.  Here is the ONE that I'm going to wear for better than a week. 

 This is China Glaze's 'Mistletoe Kisses' from their current Holiday collection.

At the sunny window, I am loving this more and more with each gaze. 

I was rummaging around my stash looking for any Holiday polishes I wanted to swatch and get in before Christmas.  Looked like I had pretty well got them all but then ran upon this one. 

I guess I saved the best for last; this one ROCKS me!!! Mega-tons of glitter for Mega-tons of sparkle-topia.  I'm flying to Denver on Wednesday and staying a week with my brother and his family.  This is the manicure I'm taking with me.

It's overcast and a tad chilly today in Orlando.  But even outside you cannot miss this over the top shine and glitter.  The polish was a bit gritty.  However, I have put on 2 coats of Seche Clear, one coat of Seche Vite, with another coat of Clear and another coat of Vite.  I want to 'secure' this mani for as many days as I can.  My niece and brother are highly sensitive to odors so if I wish to change my polish, I will have to go to a salon.  But, I'd like to keep this the entire time.

A green polish with so much green micro-glitter in it that I'm sure to get extra attention with the TBA on Wednesday. 

And on that note, I have always been pulled aside and get the extra 'go over.'  Not sure why and the officer always apologies for it.  I don't have a cow about it.  Seriously, I WANT them to check my flight carefully!  And now, I can always expect it because I had my hip replaced almost 3 years ago.  I have a card that I carry stating that I have had a replacement, but they still check me over.  I'm surprised at how heavy a fake hip is, so that's a lot of metal.

My opinion is that this is a small price to pay for me and my fellow travelers to stay as safe as we can.  And it's worth it to see my little brother and his family. 

I hope it wears like IRON!!  The photos don't even come close to representing the twinkle and sparkle of this polish and that's a shame.

Do you have this green?  How do you like it whether you have it or not?

The Art of Making Your Nails Prance

(Here's the beginning credits....my giveaway for a muscle massager closes on 12/30/10, 8 PM EST)

Wet 'N Wild kicked some serious boo-tee with their limited Holiday collection.  Most stores were out of it before Thanksgiving.

I found this polish from the Holiday collection behind a display at the cash wrap in Walgreens this week.  So much for cosmetics department understanding sales.  That's why there is a merchandising industry.  Companies cannot rely on the associates at the store level to display their products properly.  And, as long as that is true, I'll always have clients to work for.

I found 'Prancer'.  I knew it was going to be a top coat.  And I didn't want to use stark white as a base.  So I chose an old Avon polish called 'Salma's Hope.'  The collection was to raise money for breast cancer awareness.  This was a super pale pink...

I'm not fond of this polish at all.  It makes my nails look terribly yellow.  And they are not.  But that thumb nail is gross.

Regardless, I only used this color, in hopes that, it would highlight 'Prancer.'

Large, chunky red glitter with some micro glitter spun throughout.

Sunny window hides nothing.  There's a cat hair on my pinky and my cuticles, sigh, well, I'm not biting them, hardly picking at them but nonetheless, it's all gross.  Blech.

Here with outdoor light on a cloudy day, I think 'Salma's Hope' makes my nails look dirty.  And the combination would best be suited for St. Valentine's Day.  I haven't removed this mani yet.  I bet it gives me one more thing to complain about.

Did you get a chance to grab some of the Holiday collection from Wet 'N Wild?  What other color could I put on for a base coat for 'Prancer'?  Have you ever Pranced????

Just How Much Red Polish Can You Get During the Holidays?

In days of yore, there were no Holiday polishes.  One had to just pull a red out of their minimal stash and call that the Christmas polish.  There weren't any Holiday makeup collections either.  Yes, I'm talking waaaay back.  Like when Santa was a baby.

This polish is not from a Holiday collection, but has come out during this season.  Better than good enough, it is Holiday polish!

From a  new Milani collection, One Coat Glitter,  this is 'Red Sparkle.'

Don't judge the boring name, 'Red Sparkle', by the color of this HOT Red!  Rich in pigment, this is a saucy blue-red that could not have any more red sparkles in it.  And even though it says 'one coat,' I did two.

This is the nubbins swatching hand.  The middle nail broke so I went a-whackin'.  I was playing with some looks and used shadows to try a sexy look for this red.

I wanted to capture that sparkle-topia.  You can see how rich it is.  And it was 'rich' to remove.  That's no surprise with a micro-glitter, or, any glitter at all.

Even in the middle of Florida, this spells Christmas!

'Red Sparkle' was easy to apply.  Boy, you better not get any on your skin because it was hard to clean this one up.

I've always loved to wear red; red polish, red suit, red shoes, red lipstick, red coat. (I feel like the 'shrimp' scene in Forrest Gump.)  

How about you?  Or, do you only wear red glitters for the Holidays?  Got a favorite of all time red?

Golden Opportunity

If you have not entered my latest giveaway, jump over here and sign up.  The prize is a personal TENS unit for muscle massages.  Oh, trust me, it is DIVINE!!!!

Gold has truly been a trending color this fall and now into the Holidays.  I haven't, in the past, been keen on wearing gold nail polish.  And I haven't worn gold eye shadows much before, either.  However, things tend to change when you start blogging about beauty items.  It has a tendency to stretch out one's boundaries.  And within that, you can discover new joys.

Here I am swatching 5 different gold polishes; from 4 different companies...

From Left to Right: Wet 'N Wild's Goldmine; Borghese's Ipnotico Gold; China Glaze's Cleopatra; Savyy's Golden Honey; China Glaze's Cowardly Lyin'

WooT!  I scored 5 gold medals!!  They are all gold but each has their own expression.

Just a bit out of focus to see who sparkles and who shines.

My nails are in the same order here.  From Left to Right: Wet 'N Wild's Goldmine; Borghese's Ipnotico Gold; China Glaze's Cleopatra; Savyy's Golden Honey; China Glaze's Cowardly Lyin'

I have three coats of color on.  And I have 2 coats of Seche Clear with Olan Labs' Quick & Slick as a top coat.

As much as I love twinkly colors, I like the buffed gold color of Savvy.  The rest are just a bit too weak for me.  Cleopatra is one that I would just use as a top coat. 

Here's the look in the sunny window.  Cowardly Lyin' just can't get past the VNL.  All the golds are 'warm'.  It was fun to see them all side by side.  I think that they are all so subtle that no one noticed that there is a different gold color on each nail.

Are you sporting any gold polishes this Holiday season?  Do you like to wear gold as a polish?  Tell me your favorite.

The Most Timely Giveaway, So Just Chill

This is one of most exciting giveaways I've held to date.  I'm really, really excited about this one.

I have been using a digital muscle massager on my tense and achy shoulders and neck muscles.  I, now, have the means to get a wonderful massage at any time.  It may sound like a joke at first, but if I ask my husband to rub my shoulders, it goes something like this:

Me:  Honey, would you plllleeeeeeassssse massage my neck and shoulders?  They reeeeeeeeallllllly hurt.
Husband:  *sigh*  OK.  Now?
Me:  Pleeeeeease?  They reeeealllly hurt!
Husband:  *sigh*  OK.  Where does it hurt?
Me:  It's my neck and shoulders.  It reeeeeeealllly hurts.  Bad.
Husband:  *sigh*  OK.  *puts hands on each of my shoulders.  squeezes 3 times.  pats me on the back*  There.
Me:  *bewildered*  Thanks?

Thing is, when I tell this very truthful story to my married friends, they say the SAME thing!

This is my answer to never having to put my husband 'out' to just rub my shoulders, again.

Who would have guessed that we could replace the begging for a shoulder massage with a unit that's the size of a cell phone?

The set that I have been testing is the limited edition Pinook Massager Set.  It comes with the following:
- a massage control unit  with 6 massage modes (kneading, tapping, acupuncture and combination, foot therapy, holographic auricular therapy) and a timer for 10 to 60 minutes
- 2 pair of massage pads
- recharger cord using electricity
 - recharger cord using your computer's USB port
- pair of foot massage pads
- massage pad holder for when you are not using them
- 2 separate cords for using 2 pairs of massage pads
- all the directions and instructions. 
Retail value is $480.  Or, the price of 7 one hour massages.

It wouldn't be fair to say the holidays are stressful, for me.  Everything's stressful to me.  Even sleep.  But, this massage unit is helping my shoulders feel reeeeeeeealllllly good!

Now, the part that reeeeeealllllly makes me happy: I get to give away a mini massager set.  Yeeeaaaayyyy!  This is what the set looks like...

The instrument is small in size and easy to operate.

Features:
• Digital control display
• 6 massage modes (kneading, tapping, acupuncture and combination , foot therapy, holographic auricular therapy)
• Adjustable timer for your convenience (10-60 minutes)
• 20 levels of intensity
• Extremely small dimensions (smaller than an Ipod!)
• Rechargeable Lithium battery

Retail value: $350.

Elad, is the owner of the business, Body Therapy, that is sponsoring the giveaway.  Oh, what an adorable guy!

He was very excited to sponsor this giveaway.  And, if you cannot wait and want a massager set right now, he is offering all of Libby's followers a 10% discount on any massage unit.  He asks that you email him directly at mrpapoon(at)gmail.com with what you'd like to order and let him know that Libby sent you.


You can check out the massager set we are giving away here. 



MANDATORY (1 SINGLE ENTRY)
*1)  You must be a follower of my blog.  Note this in your comment and what name you use.  You must have your email address on every entry you make. 


EXTRA ENTRY OPPORTUNITIES
*2)  Tweet about it, with a link back to here, and let me know.  1 extra entry
*3)  Post about this on your Facebook, with a link back to here, let me know.  1 extra entry
*4)  Post this on your blog; put on the sidebar, on your listing giveaways, anyway is good, as long as you have it somewhere visible on your blog. Have your post link back to here and let me know your link.  3 extra entries on this one.

Giveaway is international.  You can do all entries on one comment or each individually, just make sure you put your email address on each entry.  Any entry that doesn't have an email address, gets removed from the entries.  If you have won with me before, you can still enter!  I'll notify the winner by email after the drawing and the winner needs to respond back to me within 48 hours or, we will draw another entry.

This giveaway closes on Thursday, 12/30/10, at 8 PM EST.

Did I say it was perfect timing?  At this time of year?  You betcha!!!  I have been using my massage unit, at least, twice a day.  Beats the hell out of plllllleeeeeeeadinnnnnng for a neck rub.

This product has been given to me for my honest opinion and review.  The massage set for the giveaway is sponsored by Elad Papoon, owner of Body Therapy.  The giveaway unit will be shipped directly to the winner from Mr. Papoon.

Yes, I Am Matte as A Hatter

A post on my inability to not leave well enough alone, gave insight to just how egotistical I can be.  It is pretty presumptuous of me to think I can improve on someone else's work.  It's a lie we tell ourselves,  like we drive really good, it's the rest of the drivers that are idiots.

And, here I go again, not leaving well enough alone.  Honestly, I'm just playing with nail colors and methods.  I don't think mine is 'better.'  A better way would be to say it is 'interesting.'

In my last post, I showed Revlon's Perplex and then notched it up with some Wet 'N Wild's Dasher.  I thought it was very pretty, and I wanted to wear it for a few more days than usual.  While contemplating my next manicure, I spied my little bottle of China Glaze's Matte Magic.  And magic, indeed.  Here's where I couldn't leave it be...

Matte Magic is like magic to me.  I never thought I'd want, or like, my nails to look matte.  However, you can see that I have, obviously, changed my mind.

What have you changed your mind on that you never thought you would?

My Recipe For Awesomesauce

First, I want to tip my hat to Jacie.  She runs THREE blogs!  You've Got Nail,  You've Got Face, and the new Stuff My Kids Drew. It is from her that I learned the word 'awesomesauce.'  Not only do I think it is a cool word, but it describes Jacie perfectly.

What Jacie doesn't know is that I have picked her as one of my idols in blog world.  Her blogs are crisp, clean and inspiring.  Her photography and skills are THE best!!  Her wit is hilarious and she also talks about some sort of BBQ sauce too.   But, you'll have to check out her nail blog for more on that.

So, what is awesomesauce?  Well, awesome is for something that invokes awe.  I got my first, huge taste of this viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time.  The photos don't even come close to the beauty and AWE of this place.

And sauce...you know that makes everything taste better.  Sauce is making something good even better.

Side note:  I found this photo of  the dude you do NOT want to get behind at the airport's security check.  Not because the person is bad.  Just that he is going to hold the line up...a bit...you think??!

OK, then....shall we move onto the purpose of this post????  Hmmmm???

Awesomesauce!!!!  I made some.  Revlon has set the nail blogs afire with their release of 'Perplex.'  They just about name the company they are mimicking this color after.  Even daring you to compare the colors.  And 'Perplex' is just what the name implies...

After having a cardboard compactor's metal door fall on my head yesterday, I used that as an excuse to solidify that I did, indeed, deserve a professional manicure and pedicure.  I came home and took these photos before I lost good sunlight.  I had socks on, can you tell?  OK, just look at the color, not my sock-track feet.

Beautiful, isn't it?  I could hardly wait to find this polish.  I finally found it after a tip from
Kari of Once Bitten Blog.  She saw them at a local Ulta store.  I was there the next day!  There was one empty slot where Kari napped hers.  I walked away leaving 5 more empty slots.

I was going to apply 'Perplex' on my toes, because I knew I'd want to wear it for more than just a couple of days.  So I took in Wet 'N Wild's 'Dasher', from their Holiday collection, for my fingernails.  But, once my manicurist put one coat of 'Dasher' on, I realized that it was really a top coat.  Quick thinking (remember, I had that thump on my noggin),  I asked to have 'Perplex' on my fingernails too, with 'Dasher' on top.  A 'current' and a 'holiday' look.  Worlds of Nails Collide!!!!

'Dasher' is way, WAY more sparkly than this!!!  Fine, shimmery iridescent glitter.

My right hand is rockin' my best length and shows 'Dasher' a bit truer.

AWESOMESAUCE!!!!!

I'm still going to wear this mani for more than just a couple of days.  I'm in love....sigh.

Ooohh....what if I matted it?????  Part 2?????? 

Are you in love with Perplex?  If you bought it and, not its more expensive twin, are you happy with that choice?  I am.  And even if I should get in the same security check line as the piercing clown...well, I have this beautiful color combo to keep me in awesomesauce while I wait.