Survey Says...

Happy Monday! Here's a survey I stole from Original Wacky. I never do these but it seemed like a fun activity to get my blogging mojo back! Go read her answers, too...I was lol-ing. I'll have a mani post this weekend hopefully.


1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Hm..Oh, I left the country for the first time to study abroad in Spain in July and August. And I worked 15 hours a week at school. Very busy, but I love my job so it's worth it!


2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't remember my resolutions, and I don't really make them anyway. I tend to just follow a ton of superstitions on NYE.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Hmm...no one too close.


4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. *knocks on wood*


5. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Ummm an easy semester.


6. What countries did you visit?
Spain and Portugal! (I'm guessing the US doesn't count)


7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why:
Our last night of study abroad. So much fun!


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I don't have a "biggest," but I'm proud of finishing my courses abroad and doing well in my courses this year while I balanced work and stuff. Yeah, I'm boring.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Well one was my blog this semester. And some others but I'm not dwelling on anything.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing too awful thank goodness.


11. What was the best thing you bought?
MAC Cosmetics and awesome polish! And some pretty awesome Christmas gifts.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Everyone's. LOL.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Geez, no one's!


14. Where did most of your money go?
Nail polish, and oddly makeup. I also bought a good amount of clothes.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Traveling. Polish. Dates with my boyfriend or outings with my friends. I get excited about everything.


16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Tonight by Pitbull, Ne-yo, etc.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? 
i'm never sad.


ii. thinner or fatter?
THINNER! Still a way to go though. Trying to lose the weight I've gained since I've entered college.


iii. richer or poorer?
I'm gonna say richer since I'm making good money at work even though I'm spending a bit more. Plus it makes me feel better to say richer.


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

More exercising, more going out.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Less complaining, less other stuff.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Well it's over, but family was over on Christmas Eve for the fish dinner. On Christmas we do gifts and have people over for breakfast, then go to each of my grandmother's houses for food and more gifts. It was so fun!


21. There was no #21. I don’t know why there was no 21.
Oh, snap!


22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
"You mean any more than I was before? Because I fall in love with The Mate over and over again. Not that I ever fall out of love with him." (I'm keeping her answer 'cause I like it.)


23. How many one-night stands?
"I really prefer to sleep laying down. Although I sometimes fall asleep sitting up in the tub." HAHAH ALSO KEEPING THIS ONE.


24. What was your favorite TV program?
Once Upon a Time! 


25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nah. If anything I hate people less.


26. What was the best book you read?
....fail. I'm in the process of reading a sample of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I've read a sentence of Little Women so far, both on my new reader. Other than that, text books.


27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Tough. I'm really not sure. I don't "discover" artists; I just listen to whatever.

28. What did you want and get?
Nail polish, of course. A tablet, Money =P, a new camera! And other mushy things.


30. What was your favorite film of this year?
One of the only ones I saw in theatres was New Year's Eve.


31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I spent my 20th birthday home, because it was Easter weekend. Probably went out to dinner. (wow, I don't remember)

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a 4.0 GPA?

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

A lot more dressed up than 2010 and INFINITELY more dressed up than my bummish ways of 2009. Constant makeup-wearing and hair-doing and very little sweatpant-wearing in public.

34. What kept you sane?
Friends, family, and boyfriend.


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ryan Gosling, Justin Long, Russel Brand, Ben from the Bachelor LOL.


36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Noneee.


37. Who did you miss?
Boyfriend, family.


38. Who was the best new person you met?
All of the new friends I've made!


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Always bring your apartment key, and don't keep your bedroom key IN your bedroom, you know, in case of emergencies. Also, to calm the eff down.


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Wow, pressure. I can think of a few but none of them make sense, so PASS!


This is the first time I've done one of these. It was fun! Give it a try if you want =] And thanks for reading! Bonus points if you made it to the end.


Janna

Christmas Mani 2011

Hello!

Today I have a my manicure from Christmas, about two weeks late. I apologize in advance for the quality of these; they were the first shots I took with my new camera I got for Christmas. I had an older Kodak Easyshare and now I have a newer one....actually, two new ones because both Santa and my boyfriend got me two different Kodak Easyshares. I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do about that!

My mani for Christmas Eve was China Glaze Jolly Holly with accent nails of Orly Winter Wonderland. For Christmas Day I added a coat of China Glaze Party Hearty. I didn't get to take pictures without PH though. So yeah, this Christmas manicure is exclusively Holiday 2010 polishes. I liked it; it was festive enough.

The background here is my living room. I snapped this one in a last-ditch effort to get a clear shot
and it was my clearest one so I included it even though the background is funky.

Blurryyyy.

WW brought out the blue undertones in JH, which was pretty interesting. I should use that polish to layer more often but it's almost too opaque for that!

What do you think about my manicure? Is it "so last year?" I say these are pretty much classics in my book!

Thanks for reading!

Janna

MAC Lipglass Swatches

HI EVERYONE!

Well I'm embarrassed. I haven't done a quality post in a while, but that's about to change. I'm getting better at managing my time and hopefully I won't leave you all hanging next semester. I'll be working less than 15 hours a week, that's for sure, even though I'm upping the number of credits I'm taking a little. But somehow I ended up with class only on Monday and Wednesday! I didn't even try....so I'll have three glorious days of no class next semester (but of course, I'll be working).

Today I'm going to do a post for my Face Paint Friday series that I started way back when, featuring the products from my first-ever MAC order. I don't have a lot of pricey cosmetics, and I consider MAC pricey, so these have a special place in my collection.

This is the order I placed shortly after the Bloggers's Obsessions Collection came out. Actually, come to think of it, all of these products are from that collection. What can I say? I like to support my fellow bloggers (as if I'm even close to being on their level) and of course these were limited edition, which draws anyone's eye - if I'm going to spend $14 for a lipstick, it's gonna be a freaking amazing one that only the lucky ones will be able to get their hands on. Anyway, this was an awesome collection! I kept it small though and settled on MAC Sonoran Rain and MAC Caqui lipglasses as my first MAC purchases (even though I received the Tartan's Tale set as a gift last Christmas).

MAC Lustreglass in Decorative, and MAC Lipglasses in Caqui and Sonoran Rain

Oh, and before I start with the lipglass swatches (Meep! My first ones ever!), I wanted to add that I'm not entirely sure about my skintone, but I know for a fact I'm not cool-toned. I don't think I'm completely warm-toned though either, since I look good in a variety of shades. Perhaps I'm some sort of olive/neutral-undertoned freak. Who knows. Either way, if I were to guess my MAC foundation shade, I'd say NC 20, but I've never checked to be sure. Thought that'd be important for you guys to know; on to the pictures!

Sonoran Rain is a red lipglass with some really pretty metallic shimmer and gold sparkles, or in the words of MAC, a "deep coal-red with gold and silver pearl." I suppose it is a bit warm in the tube but I don't think it'd look bad on cool-toned folks (then again, what do I know?). This one is awesome and came out to play during Halloween when I dressed up as Snow White. I love the shimmer in this; it's an attention-grabber for sure. I've also read on many blogs this is many bloggers's favorite red lipglass ever from MAC! It's definitely red even though my pictures aren't showing it too well. I did a pretty light swatch too as I don't like super dramatic lips.

Redder than it looks here.

And since personally I think reviews of lip products are roughly 1370 times more helpful with full-face photos, here I am!

Caqui is described by MAC as a "persimmon orange." And like I said before I'm definitely not cool-toned and I find orange/peach shades much more flattering on me than pink, so orange is one of my favorite colors for makeup. I had to have this! It's very creamy and has some red undertones for sure. I must confess though that I might love this just a tiny bit more if it had some pretty pearl like Sonoran Rain, but I still love it. This could pass as your Pantone color of 2012: Tangerine Tango. I can't wait to see what other orange products come out this year! Would you wear this?

And lastly I have to add my only other MAC lip product, which is a Lustreglass in Decorative. This came in my Tartan's Tale set and it looks super scary in the tube; it's a deep purple with really pretty sparkles that look gold and pink. It's so shiny and sparkly but it's not completely opaque which makes it super wearable. This wasn't part of my MAC order, but now all of my MAC lippies are swatched in one place.

All together now! These are very color accurate.

Top to Bottom: Sonoran Rain, Caqui, and Decorative.

Sorry for the long post! I hope it was informative. Next Face Paint Friday I'm going to feature the products I ordered during my second MAC purchase, and spoiler warning: they're from the same collection. I got Parisian Skies and Hocus Pocus, because of course Jealousy Wakes is sold out. I was going to add full swatches and review here but that'd make this post insanely long, so I'll add pan shots, just in case you want to order them before they are sold out forever! If you go to the MAC website, you'll see a link that says GOODBYES. These are all the limited edition shades that are going away forever, so if you see something you like, grab it! That's what prompted me to make the second order in the first place. As of now, 1/6/12 at 10:30PM, the products are still available. Unless someone requests swatches, I'm not going to post them until next Friday, and they might be sold out by then, so check around online for swatches. Let's be honest, they're probably way better than mine anyway.

Hocus Pocus (Dark sooty gray with silver pearl, satin finish)

Parisian Skies (Muted gray-blue, satin finish)

Hocus Pocus is warmer and Parisian Skies is dustier than it appears.

Gorgeous! I'm so happy with these. Do you have any cosmetics from this collection? What do you think?

Thanks for reading! Please give me some feedback as these are my first lip swatches and I'm pretty new to swatching makeup in general.

Janna<3

Beauty Resolutions 2012

Helloooo there! This is a short post that I'm putting up before my monster MAC post goes up later on. New Years Eve is seriously one of my favorite, if not my favorite, holidays. You can get dressed up, wear glitter like it's your job, stay up/out late, and reflect on a great (or mediocre) year while having high hopes for the new one. It's a fresh start. Who doesn't love that?

On NYE 2011-2012, I stayed in with my family. I'm only 20 so this is about as exciting as it gets, but we have family and friends over and eat a lot so it's always a good time. I did almost every superstition I had ever heard of. First, I wore a new top, new jeans, new jewelry, new makeup, and new polish. There was money in all of my wallets. At midnight, I made lots of noise, ate 12 grapes (this, to my understanding, is a Spanish tradition)...well actually, I ate 2, kissed my boyfriend (another superstition), and ate the other 10. Then I ran to fill up a cup with water and chuck it outside; I've heard this is a Puerto Rican tradition. And finally, I had my pork and cabbage. I have super high hopes for this year after all of that. What do you do at midnight? And correct me if I'm wrong about the origins of those superstitions!

My NYE Mani, courtesy of my new Kodak Easyshare.
Essie Braziliant with gradient on rings and thumbs in China Glaze Fireside Glow.
Two new polishes along with a new top/base coat for NYE!

I've seen a lot of talk about resolutions and I've decided to post mine here; maybe I'll be more likely to follow them that way. These are mostly regarding beauty, this blog, and health; I could go on for hours about personal or academic resolutions. Feel free to share yours below! I'd love more ideas.

1. Blog more often! (Who didn't see that one coming?!)

2. Set a budget! The lovely Lacquer Ninja posted on twitter that she's setting a polish budget including shipping per month, which will be the amount she makes in one week of dog-sitting. I'm going to modify this idea and make my budget just over half the amount I make in a week while tutoring. My budget per month (makeup and nail polish) is going to be $80. My problem is though that I rarely buy anything while I'm at school, maybe $20 worth of products per month from websites like e.l.f., Amazon, and Zoya, but when I get home I'm spending hundreds a month catching up with all of the products I missed out on during the semester. I'm gonna shoot for $80 per month and if I spend less than that one month, I'm gonna have "rollover dollars" LOL.

3. Take my makeup off before bed! I'm guilty of this one so often that I don't even want to think about it.

This is similar to the Pantone Color of 2012 - Tangerine Tango! That may
or may not be why I wore it. And a completely orange makeup look.
And a top with orange in it. And made orange punch.

4. Use less pure acetone as polish remover! It's all I brought with me for this past semester and my nails took a beating.

5. Drink more water! Self-explanatory.

6. Catalog my polishes and organize my makeup! This is a huge undertaking and I hope to get it done, or at least acceptably done, by the time my spring semester starts in 11 days.

7. Change my polish more often! Fall semester I was changing it once every 7 days if not more, and I even went out in public with chipped nails on multiple occasions. Disgraceful. I need to step my game up.

8. Do more nail art! I lost my nail art mojo a while ago and am trying to get it back. I'm thinking about doing some cool stamping or water marbling.

Braziliant is a bright orange with pink shimmer that I wish was more noticeable.
And Fireside Glow is gorgeous: a fine holo and copper glitter. Think a more opaque,
copper version of Fairy Dust/Golden Enchantment.

9. Take a multivitamin every day! I find that this helps with my migraines and I'm sure my body benefits in other ways, too.

10. Be more active in the blogging community! I don't want to bother any of you lovely people, but I'm trying to be more involved and maybe make some blogging friends this year =] I still feel like a new blogger even though I've been blogging on and off for a year and a half, so perhaps I'm still intimidated.

I was only planning on listing 3 when I got hit with all of these other ideas. So those are my resolutions! I'll see which ones I can stick to!

Fun fact: I bought a back-up of Braziliant before even wearing it. It's that gorgeous.

By the way, one of your resolutions should be to join Pinterest. I'm seriously addicted. That's why I'm writing this post at 5AM. Oh, and even though it sounded like it right there, I'm not affiliated with them =P If you need an invite let me know! Hahaha!

Thanks for reading,
Janna