My Favourite Nail Polishes

Every girl likes having their nails done. Nothing feels better than having a set of newly polished fingertips. It somehow gives you all the girl power and confidence that you need to tackle what's next on your plate, in an mysterious way. Today, I thought I would share my favourite nail polish brands that I've been loving.

Essie
This is a no brainer for me! My collection is mostly filled with Essie nail polish. I gravitate towards the wide spectrum of colours that are available. I have colours from red to purple and everything in between! I love the texture and formula of these polishes. The brush makes for easy application and the formula makes for a long lasting manicure. I only wished that buying this brand would be a little more affordable. However, it's definitely a treat when I do buy a new colour.

Rimmel - 60 Seconds
I wanted a nail polish that would dry really quickly for those times where all you need is a fresh coat of polish before heading out the door. If that speaks to you, then this polish is for you. The formula glides on with a wide brush for easy application. The name doesn't lie... it does dry in 60 seconds! The staying power of this polish is amazing! I can go a whole week with chores and barely have any chips. I definitely want more of this brand in my collection. My only complaint is that I wish they had more colours.

OPI
I've been a lover of OPI for a very long time. With a great formula, array of colours and great applicator brush - it's all you need for great looking nails. I have a few OPI bottles in my collection. Lately I haven't bought any new colours, as it can be quite expensive. Although, OPI colours are usually what I tend to pick when I'm out at a salon getting a pedicure. My absolute favourite OPI colour is Bubble Bath! It's the perfect shade of nude all in one bottle.

Sally Hansen
Sally Hansen has been in the nail polish business for a very long time. I remember seeing this brand while growing up and going to the drug store. I love the remodeled look and extensive nail product line it has become. The lasting effect of the polish is long and the colours are pigmented. The applicator brush is wide and easy to use. I personally love my sparkle nail polishes from Sally Hansen.

What are your go to nail polishes?

~Usha

New Makeup Products I've Been Enjoying

At the beginning of the summer season, I had an itch to try some new makeup products. While we are far into the summer months and close to the end, this has given me plenty of time to use these products in my everyday makeup routine. Here's what I've been loving!

Sephora's Cream Lip Stain
I've heard many great reviews on this lip stain. I don't actually own any lip stains in my collection as I tend to stick to lipsticks. I decided to give this product a try... and... I'm itching to try more colours! I absolutely love this lip product and I now have a new found affection for lip stains. Once applied, the colour dries completely within minutes and leaves a nice, matte finish on your lips. You can eat, drink and sip all day long and this colour isn't moving anywhere. No smudges, no mess whatsoever! I got the shade "Always Red." Pair this with a red lip liner and you have yourself the perfect red lip! I love this colour as I think it works well for all seasons and is versatile.

Maybelline's Age Rewind Concealer
In the past I would never use concealer, as I felt it was a complicated product to apply. The only other brand that I've tried is ELF and I'm not too crazy about this product. Again, I've heard many great reviews about the Maybelline "Age Rewind Concealer" and decided to give it a try. I instantly fell in love with the texture and the creamy formula. It blends and sets well underneath the eye. What I love the most is how using this one simple product can make my whole makeup look go from alright to super amazing! The product itself is very simple to use. It definitely gives me the lift that I need during my early morning routine.

Milani's Eye Shadow in Bella Espresso
I really wanted one eye shadow colour that I could use a staple for my everyday makeup look. While I was in the United States recently, I went to a Walgreens where they had the Milani brand. I fell in love with this taupe, bronze, brown colour that pairs perfectly as a nude colour with my skin tone. Love the lasting power, as well as how easy it is to apply with just a finger tip. No hassle and no fuss!

Smith's Minted Rose Lip Balm
I have to be honest... I got this product because everyone has one! I now know the obsession and craze behind it! It applies nicely, has a great smell to it and feels great on your lips. I love how moisturizing this product is. And can we talk a little bit about the packaging? Super cute and fun!

Essie's Nail Polish in Cute as a Button
I was on the hunt for a cute, summery, feminine nail polish colour. I think I found just that in Essie's "Cute as a Button" shade. I really fell in love with the coral, peachy-pink colour, and it works really well for a mani or pedi. I've worn this colour a lot this summer and I could see myself wearing this as a manicure colour in other seasons as well when I need a colour pick me up!

Essie's Gel Setter Nail Polish
There have been a lot of times where I feel as if I apply nail polish and the very next day, it chips. Nothing's worse than feeling that you've spent time to do your nails, but didn't get the results you wanted. Since I do a lot of dishes, cooking  and cleaning at home, long lasting manicures are important for me. While I could get my nails professionally done with a gel nail polish every two weeks, it is very expensive. Essie recently came out with this new product which is a top coat gel nail polish. It works fantastic! It completes your at home manicure with the shine, finish and protection that you would get by going to a salon. Love this product!

What new makeup products have you been enjoying? Any recommendations?

~Usha

My Everyday Skincare Tips

1. Drink lots of water! Add lemon for a different taste and other added vitamins.
2. Wash your face twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening
3. Remove all of your makeup. Invest in some really good makeup remover wipes! The Costco brand, Kirkland, are my favourite!
4. Use a fresh face cloth every time you wash your face. Don't reuse any towels as dirt can be trapped and transferred back to your clean skin.
5. Take cod liver oil. It does magic for your skin!
6. Eat your fruits and veggies! The easiest way for me to do this is by drinking my green juice. If I don't drink it, my skin does not have a glow.
7. Change/wash your pillow case atleast once a week. At night all of the dirt and sweat gets transferred to your pillow case. It's important to clean it once a week.
8. Use an eye cream no matter how young you are.
9. Use a face mask once a week to give your skin a deep cleanse.
10. Invest in the clarisonic! I would not go back to the days where I didn't have one.

What are you skincare tips?

~RANDOMiss

Beauty Uses with Coconut Oil

I recently got into the groove of using coconut oil for some beauty regiments. While I have my tried and tested all time favourite products that I use, I've been using coconut oil to supplement my beauty routines. Be sure to look for unrefined or virgin coconut oil. This means the oil is pure and no chemicals have been added. There are so many benefits to using coconut oil, plus it's good for you and your body. There are so many other uses for coconut oil aside from beauty such as cooking and baking. Here are my favourite ways to use coconut oil for beauty!

1. Use as a conditioner for your hair before you take a shower. It restores the nutrients and makes your hair lush and soft.
2. Use it to help grow your eyebrows.
3. Use it as a natural product for lash growth/extensions.
4. Use underneath eye cream to help with dark circles. It keeps the under eye area looking youthful and fresh.
5. Use over your laugh lines to help decrease the risk of getting wrinkles.
6. Use as a natural lotion/moisturizer for dry skin (especially in the winter).
7. Use a a natural moisturizer for dry hands and feet (especially after a home manicure/pedicure).
8. Use around your cuticles to help strengthen and repair.
9. Use to decrease the appearance of stretch marks.
10. Perfect and natural massage oil after a long day!

What are some ways in which you use coconut oil for beauty?

~RANDOMiss

How To Wear a Red Lip Confidently

Everyone loves to wear a red lip from time to time. However, I know that many of us aren't that confident on how to carry that red lip either casually, to work or for a fun night out! Wearing a red lip makes every women feel powerful, confident, sexy and fun! If you haven't tried to wear a red lip or just don't know where to start, here are some simple, fool proof steps that will make you feel confident enough to strut your stuff!

1. Before wearing a red lip, use a lip exfoliator to take away any dead skin. This will make for a smooth surface. My favourite is ELF's lip exfoliator - for a dollar, you can't go wrong!
2. Always use a moisturizing lip balm to give your lips moisture. This is key.
3. Invest in good lip liner! This is such an important step and one that is often overlooked - especially for a red lip. Having a good quality lip liner will prevent your lipstick from running outside the lines. My favourite lip liners are from MAC. They are expensive, but completely worth it!
4. Line your natural shape of your lips with your lip liner and then, colour your lips in. This first layer will act as a stain and make your lipstick last longer throughout the day.
5. Apply your lipstick!
6. Follow up with relining your lips with the lip liner to have a nice, clean edge. Use your leftover foundation on an angled brush to line the outside of your lips. This will act as an extra barrier so your lipstick won't run.

There you have it! Now go and try on some red lip stick and wear it confidently! You go girl!

~RANDOMiss

Roarrrrange!

To honour all things Halloween, I thought I would paint my nails Orange! 

This is Essie's Roarrrarnge. I love the application as it's not too thick but still gives really good coverage on the nail. In this picture I used two coats. It's definitely a festive colour that's great to wear!

What nail colour are your wearing for Halloween?

~RANDOMiss

DIY Makeup Brush Display

I used to store my makeup brushes in my makeup bag. After awhile though, I found it to be really unsanitary, since its easy for the brushes to pick up dirt. So, I saw this really cool idea on a morning breakfast show and thought that this would work perfect for displaying my makeup brushes. It's also a really affordable project as well! All you need are:

-An empty vase/container (I used an empty vase I had lying around)
-Vase filler (I found some at the dollar store)
-Your makeup brushes

Just fill your empty vase with the vase filler and stick your makeup brushes in! You're done! That's how simple this is! Plus, it looks amazing on a vanity, makeup dresser or bathroom counter. Your friends will think that you spent a lot on this project, when in reality -- it's super affordable! Happy organizing!

What is your favourite way to organize your makeup brushes?

~RANDOMiss

Easiest and Cheapest Way to Clean Makeup Brushes

It's a chore that we all hate but it's a very important one. It's important to clean your makeup brushes frequently. It helps to prevent buildup and dirt in your pores that will cause break out. I have to admit, cleaning my makeup brushes always sounds like the most draining, daunting, expensive and time consuming task and I often make excuses to skip this.

But I discovered the easiest and cheapest way to clean your makeup brushes! I hope you agree.

You will need some dish washing soap (I use whatever I have available at home which is usually Pamolive), some small plastic plates with grooves on it and a little bit of a dip to hold water in (I found these at the Dollar Store for super cheap!), water, your dirty makeup brushes and some paper towels. Here we go!

Start off by putting some dish washing soap into one plate. Then fill it up with some water to create a soapy water mixture. It's helpful to find a plastic plate with a dip so you can fill it up with water.

Take your dirty makeup brush and swirl it around the plate. This is where having a plastic plate with grooves on it becomes helpful. The grooves help to remove the dirt and makeup without any effort! Swirl, swirl and swirl until all the dirt is out!

 

Take another plate and fill it with clean water. Swirl your soapy makeup brush in the clean water until all the dirt is removed. You may have to change your water a few times depending on how many brushes you have.

Put your clean brushes on a paper towel to air dry.

You're done! Simple, quick, easy and a cheap way to clean your makeup brushes. The only item I paid for was the plastic plates which you can find for a few bucks at your local Dollar Store. Happy makeup brush cleaning! In an upcoming post I will share my tip for storing your makeup brushes in a fashionable and trendy way. 

Do you have any tricks for cleaning your makeup brushes?

~RANDOMiss

Hotel Room Hack

I was travelling a bit last week (read my earlier post) and wanted to share a quick little tip I discovered. I've been to a lot of hotels over the years and it's rare to have the perfect combination of a mirror and a table/dresser to put your makeup on. For me, I've never come across a room that has this perfect combination. Either there is only one mirror in the bathroom (which is pre-occupied with my husband when I need to do my makeup) or there's a mirror on the wall but no table/dresser.

Well I've solved this problem! Use the ironing board as a makeup table! I don't know how this genius idea came to me but it works so well! In the picture above you can see that I placed the ironing board in front of the mirror. It was prefect to rest my makeup and watch my morning vlogs while I got ready! It's pretty awesome!

What's your favourite hotel room hack?

~RANDOMiss

Nail Polish Haul!

I got some new additions to my nail polish collection that I thought I would share. Generally some new colours that I don't already have in my collection. Now a word of warning, I am very biased when it comes to nail polish. I usually only stick to OPI and Essie. I am a HUGE Essie fan because of their formula and for the reason that they omit certain chemicals that are harmful to your nails, which other nail polishes still carry. Since I do my nails often, its important that I'm not harming my nails.

Without further ado, here's what I got:

I've only used the 3-in-1 treatment a couple of times. So not really sure how I feel about it yet. I have tried OPI's My Vampire is Buff and I love this colour! It's the perfect nude for Fall.

I was looking for a white/off greyish toned nail polish and stumbled upon OPI's Moon Over Mumbai. When I tried it at first it was not the colour I was looking for. It's more of a sheen/sheer grey/silver colour. Nevertheless, it's a great neutral to have in the collection. Especially around the holiday season.

I'm not sure why I never purchased a fast drying nail polish before. But OMG every single girl needs to purchase one! I have no idea how I was dealing with nail polish drying before this. Let's face it, we have time to put the nail polish on but to sit down and wait until it dries...who has time for that? Plus, when we think its dry we end up ruining our polish. As soon as I bought this I tried it the same day and I was so amazed! In 5 minutes it was dry. In 10 minutes I could carry on with whatever else I needed to do. I already used it so many times and it works the same every time. Do I need to say more ladies?

I splurged on some new Essie colours and tried to get some colours I don't already have. Not sure if you can read the colours well but they are (from left to right) Clambake, Fishnet Stockings, Roarrrange, and Warm & Toasty Turtleneck. I wanted a deep red for the upcoming holiday season. I couldn't resist not getting Clambake as its such a beautiful red. I don't have an orange in my collection so I thought Roarrrange might be nice to wear for Halloween, Thanksgiving and on my toes. The purple I got, because its purple! You can never have enough purple!

That's my haul! If you would like to see swatches of these colours, let me know and I can put those up.

~RANDOMiss

Lush Haul!

I recently did a Lush haul to replenish my face cleansing routine products. These are my go to products that I use to cleanse my face in the morning and night. I'll share what I bought, but I will also do another detailed post about my morning and nighttime face cleansing routine, as a lot more goes into it than just the products.

Herbalism Cleanser

This works great for my skin type as I am oily and very prone to acne. It really cleared up my skin when I kept breaking out.

Vanishing Cream

I use this as my moisturizer. Since my skin is oily, this is a very light cream that won't make me extra oily. It also helps with removing marks on your skin. 

Tea Tree Water

This is my toner. I only use this during my nighttime routine. This really helps with cleaning out any extra makeup and dirt off my skin, as well as preventing acne. I love the feeling of this product when I spray it on my face.

I love Lush products because they are all-natural. I have tried SO many products over the years trying to look for the perfect product for my face and have just been disappointed. My skin would always get more irritated and I would just be starting all over again. I recently tried these Lush products back in February and I have no regrets! I use some of their other products as well and I love them all! I can do another post about those products.

Do you use Lush products in your morning or nighttime routine? If so, which ones?

~RANDOMiss

My Favourite Lip Balms

It's really hard to find the perfect lip balm. At least I think so. Some aren't the right formula and some simply don't get the job done. So I thought I would share my favourite lip balms. I have two and they are: Burt's Bee and the EOS lip balms. I swear by these! 

I've tried a lot over the years, but I actually got the Burt's Bees as a gift and fell in love with it ever since. It's really moisturizing and heals my lips almost overnight, it seems like. I've only every tried it in the Beeswax (smells like Peppermint) and Pomegranate scents. Love them both! This product is pricey but I think it's worth it. I like that it's 100% natural. 

I initially bought the EOS lip balms because EVERYONE was talking about it. So, naturally I had to get it. I think my first scent was the Strawberry Sorbet and it did not disappoint! I love these lip balms! They are definitely moisturizing and they don't give your lips that greasy or sticky feeling some brands can leave. I also like that it's 100% natural. I have the Strawberry Sorbet, Honeysuckle Honeydew, Summer Fruit, Sweet Mint, Blueberry Acai, Pomegranate Raspberry and Lemon (I found the Lemon scent when I visited an CVS in Chicago). I just saw on their website that they also have a Vanilla Mint and Coconut Milk scent as well. I'm totally in for trying those!

Also, let's all take a moment to appreciate the really cool and awesome packaging that this product comes in! Whoever created it, is a genius! What I love the most about it, is that you can actually find the product in your bag when it's at the bottom of your pursue, since it has such a unique shape (Life saver!). 

I will definitely keep re-purchasing these lip balms for my lip care routine.

Let me know what your favourite lip balm is!

~RANDOMiss

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Review

Love, love, LOVE this stuff! It's a must in my nail care routine. Here are my thoughts:

• It strengthens weak nails - my nails have become brittle since I use water, (ie: washing dishes), and use nail polish remover a lot.
• It helps with preventing the skin from peeling around nails - this is my biggest problem.
• It's an expensive product but worth it. A little goes a long way! This product will last for a long time.
• I saw Cute Polish recommend this item and got it after her referral. I have no regrets! ThePolishAholic recommends it in her blog as well!
• I use it once in the morning and once in the night. I have one at work and one on my bedside table so I have no excuses to make...
• It's really hard to find time to go all out on a full nail care routine. Plus getting a manicure every week can be very expensive, but I found that this method works best.
• It smells awesome and really fresh!
• Makes a great gift item.
• Best of all, it's made of all natural products! No harsh chemicals to irritate the skin!

Hope you give this product a try! What's your favourite product for your nail care routine?

~RANDOMiss

Fav Mani & Pedi Summer Combos

Life Unsweetened by Rachel Maleady did a post yesterday about her favourite mani/pedi combos for the summer. What a great idea! Check out her blog, she has so many cool ideas! So I thought I would catch on and do a post with my favourite combos as well for the summer. Here they are:

French Affair + Madison Ave Hue

 Bubble Bath + DJ Play That Song

Such a Budapest + Lady Like

I'm looking to purchase a pale yellow before the summer ends. I don't have a colour like this in my collection. Any suggestions? What are your favourite mani/pedi summer combos?

~RANDOMiss