Meet my pup :)

Everyone,

I would like you to meet my little fur-baby Abu!

I adopted him a little over a year ago from a humane society shelter while I was living in Utah. We estimate that he is about  4 or 5 years old.

He's my little snuggle muffin :)

We tried taking a nice picture, but bu was just not having it haha. That is why the picture is a bit blurry.

He is a mutt. He is definitely part Pomeranian, but the rest of him is a mystery. Everyone who meets him has their own idea of what the other half is haha.

Right now he is shaved down, when he is like this I call him "nakie bu", he even has his own little plaid jacket to wear outside in the snow.

This is pretty much how he sleeps, I swear he thinks he is a person sometimes. This is also when his fur is all grown out. It is  A LOT of work to keep that coat nice. So I take him to the groomer and he is shaved down. He doesn't seem to mind it.

Abu is my little nugget that keeps me company, goes on walks with me, and generally keeps me entertained.

Do you guys have a furry little companion to love on?

Fluffy Bu bu love,

Alyssa

Happy Friday! And a little accessory that has stolen my heart

As of late, I have become slightly obsessed with ear cuffs. I haven't bought one yet, but I fell in L.O.V.E. with one I found on etsy.com (I'll put all links below). Maybe it's just because I live close to the Puget Sound, but theres just something about this octopus that sparks my interest.

This little beauty has captured my heart

GAH! I think it is just fabulous! I love how it looks like it is slowly slithering down her ear. The ends of the tentacles curling up at the ends to give it a delicate touch. I wish it could just magically appear in my jewelry box :)

A great thing about these cuffs are that you don't have to have the middle cartilage pierced! Just the lobe of your ear. By the looks of it you just pinch the cuff to fit your ear.

I looked around a bit and found a few that are more in my price range.

I really like the edgy vibe that this spiked ear cuff gave. This is $18. I also like all the chains it has draped from the cuff to the stud.

Finally, a metal feather ear cuff. There is just something I really enjoy about the idea of a weightless feather made of heavy metal. The cool thing about this one is that if you do have your cartilage pierced, there is an option for using a stud.

Here is where you can find these beauties or contact their makers :)

Octopus ear cuff : http://www.etsy.com/listing/86642795/bronze-octopus-ear-cuff?ref=cat3_gallery_19

Spike ear cuff: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89385500/silver-spike-chain-ear-cuff?ref=cat3_gallery_5

Feather ear cuff: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91663659/single-feather-chain-with-double?ref=cat3_gallery_13

What do you guys think about this earring fad?

Cuff love,

Alyssa

Lovin' me some Too Faced

I mentioned in my first post, this Natural at Night palette from Too Faced. Well it finally arrived in the mail!

I must say I was very excited when it arrived. I opened it up and admired the gorgeous browns, olive and maroon colors. Upon closer look I found that two of the larger colors were absolutely packed with glitter. Although I love glitter, in pressed eyeshadows, I feel that it has too much fallout.

I have been able to use this a few times and I really like it.

Typically, I like to use sin from the Naked palette in the inner corner of my eye, as well as a brow highlight. Then take after hours and sweep it all over my lid. Grab some Eclipse on a fluffy brush and blend it into my crease. Finally use cocoa star and put that on the outer V of my eye. Blending everything so there are no harsh lines.

Too Faced Natural at Night Palette
Full Moon: Soft golden tan with small glitter
Night Light: Sheer light pink with chunky glitter
Spotlight: Matte vanilla
Nightcap: Silky fawn
After Hours: Shimmer dark pink champagne
Moon Stone: Shimmer olive green
Cocoa Star: Matte dark brown (almost has hints of red)
Eclipse: Shimmer maroon
Night Fever: Dark steel grey/brown with gold glitter

I have never owned any sort of olive green color before, when i swatched moon stone I think I fell in love. However I feel like this palette would be more compatible with brown eyes rather than my blue ones. Either way, I did a look to share with you guys using night light, after hours, eclipse and cocoa star.

After taking these pictures I figured I need to read my camera manual a little closer haha. I need to learn how to program my camera to take clear close up pictures.

In all, I really do like this palette. The color pay off is phenomenol, which is typical for Too Faced. But I think it would be absolutely gorgeous for those with brown eyes.

Shimmery, glittery love,

Alyssa

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day!!! Yes everyone, it is February 14th. Or as some of us know it as.... the day before the best candy sales day of the year. I think tomorrow I'll go buy myself a bouquet of flowers for half off haha. Well today has been rather uneventful, I never have very high expectations for Valentines day. Brooks (my boyfriend) was very thoughtful this morning and brought me breakfast in bed :) It was a breakfast burrito, some orange juice and coffee. He knows me all too well. I gobbled it up before I even thought to take a picture to share.

Even though I am not going out for V-day since I work this evening, I decided to share the look I would have done if we were going out.

I decided to go with a soft neutral eye with glowy cheeks and a pretty pink lip.

For my face I used:
Too Faced Primed and Poreless primer
Neutrogena Healthy skin liquid foundation in 40/nude
Laura Mercier secret concealer in #3 (for blemishes)
MAC mineralize skinfinish natural in light plus
Maybelline instant age rewind eraser dark circles in 20/ light pale (under eye circles)
bareminerals mineral veil (to set under eyes)

For my cheeks I used:
NARS Orgasm blush
NARS Laguna bronzer

For my eyes I used:
MAC Painterly paint pot (as a base)
Sin and Virgin in the Naked palette
Stila kitten
MAC satin taupe
MAC brule
MAC cream color base in Pearl (brow bone & cheek highlight)
MAC eyeliner in smoulder
MAC typographic (pat on top of eyeliner)
Maybelline The Falsies Flared Volum' Express in very black
and I forgot to picture what I fill my eye brow with... (its a glominerals by bareminerals eyeshadow trio in sand stone, I use the darkest brown in the trio) I also added some false lashes, but you don't have to do that.

For my lips I used:
Rimmel London long lasting finish lip pencil in 049/natural
Maybelline lip stick in 20/ pink and proper
Mentha lip tint (from bath and body works) lip gloss in pink shimmer (only in the middle of my lips)

I wanted to go with something simple and classic for my outfit.

I chose a white button up shirt from forever 21

a simple black tank underneath

Skinny jeans from American Eagle

Brown boots with a 2 1/2 inch heel from DSW

My gold Marc by Marc Jacobs watch and a small charm necklace from forever 21

Since it has been snowing lightly on and off today I would probably add a simple black pea coat over top.

I am writing this as I run out the door for work! So I apologize for any errors.

XOXO

Alyssa

Hungry for more

This weekend I went back to my parents house to spend a little time with them and my siblings, as well as run some errands. While I was out and about, I decided to stop buy Target as a little treat to myself since there isn't one where I live. I picked up a few of my normal treats, a couple lipsticks, a scarf, nailpolish etc. On an impulse I decided to by the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I have heard many people rave about this book. I was a little weary, but I am so glad I bought it!

I have been waiting for a good book series to come along that I can imerse myself in. It keeps my heart racing with every turn of the page. The only down side is that I am reading it too fast!! I need to go buy the last two books in the series quickly.

It's nice to know that after a long day, you can snuggle up in a warm blankie with a hot cup of tea, to familiar characters who have been waiting all day for you to return to them.

Lots of love and cups of orange spice tea,

Alyssa

A few words for thought

So last night I was wandering the internet in a little late night procrastination and I stumbled upon this little gem.

It is scary to begin a journey that you know will lead down a difficult path. Especially, if there are those that don't believe it can happen.

It took me months to gather up the courage to begin this blog. I felt as though I wasn't worthy because I have no formal training. Or possibly, I have no idea what I'm talking about and will look silly. But on a whim, I put all of those negative thoughts and feelings aside. I have begun my journey and will not look back.

My plans are to graduate from college with my bachelors in psychology, then attend a cosmetology school. I have already have a few makeup techniques that I learned from watching YouTube videos. But I feel that I will be more confident in my future work if I have some sort of formal training.

It is scary for me to express myself to an audience, but if I never try I will never succeed. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same! Whatever you feel passionate for, go after it! It can be scary and intimidating, but anything worth achieving will be difficult.

Lots of love from my computer to yours,

Alyssa

My debut to the blogging world

Hello everyone!

My name is Alyssa, and I am brand new to the blogging world.

This is me :)

I am a College student who has a passion for anything beautiful. The pursuit of this passion is relatively new though. I could never afford to splurge on what I lusted after. There were always more important things to pay for, such as rent and food (haha). Now that I find myself with a new job, I can afford to give in to my indulgences now and then. Since this is my first ever blog post I may as well jump in with both feet.

I live in an area where getting to a mall is no easy feat. The closest thing to a mall is about 45 minutes away from my house. And that is on a good day without any weather hazards. So needless to say, I do almost all of my shopping online. When I was browsing through the Sephora website I noticed a new Too Faced palette that I had to check out. It is called Natural at Night. It is a beautiful array of champagne looking colors mixed with browns to give any look depth. I ordered it from Ulta and I will have to do a review on that later. What made me interested in the first place is that I already have the Too Faced Natural Eye palette.

Too Faced Natural Eye:

Heaven-matte vanilla

Silk Teddy- shimmer pink champagne

Nude Beach- gold glitter pink champagne

Velvet Revolver- matte tawny

Push up- shimmer gold/brown

Honey Pot- shimmer gold

Sexpresso- matte dark brown

Erotica- dark brown with gold shimmer

Cocoa Puff- brown with gold shimmer

It also contains three how-to cards for creating day, classic and fashion inspired looks.

What I noticed about this palette is that it, and the Urban Decay Naked palette are strikingly similar.

Urban Decay Naked palette

Virgin-frosted white/vanilla

Sin-(my favorite color) frosty champagne

Naked- matte tawny

Sidecar- glitter tan

Buck- matte brown

Half baked-(other fav) shimmer gold

Smog- brown with gold shimmer

Darkhorse-taupe brown with gold flake

Toasted- pinky taupe

Hustle- purple taupe

Creep-almost black grey with small silver glitter

Gunmetal- steel grey with chunky silver glitter

There are different pros and cons when it comes to each product.

The Naked palette comes with 12 colors as well as a brush and sample of their infamous Eye Shadow Primer Potion. The brush is a nice quality but the bristles are a little stiff. The packaging is felt which tends to gather lint. It is also a magnetic closure which I personally really like. Then inside there is a small mirror for if you with to bring it on the go. However it is $50 which is pretty expensive for eye shadow.

The Natural Eye palette comes with 9 colors and 3 how-to cards. It also is a magnetic closure. However the satin tab that was attached to make opening it easier fell out of mine. And there is no mirror so you will need to bring a separate one if you wish to take it with you. What makes me want to jump and shout about this product is that it is only $36!!!

The price difference is striking seeing as there are many similar colors and is $14 less than the Urban Decay one. The Too Faced line also has A LOT of different palettes to choose from. The Urban Decay only has two naked palettes to choose from.

If you are looking for a nice product but can't spend $50 at the moment, reach for this Too Faced Natural Eye Palette. With it you will be able to recreate almost any look made with the Naked palette.

Have a wonderful day :)

Thank you for taking an interest