Archives for August 2012

Nails: Zoya Fall 2012 Diva Collection + Swatches!

August 7, 2012 By StephanieLouise 753Leave a Comment2012-08-07+18%3A24%3A00StephanieLouise

I loved the Zoya’s summer collections (Beach & Surf) so much, but for the first time I’ve been thirsting for some fall shades. But I like shimmer. Its always a conundrum. I mean, so many creams…I like them, don’t twist my words, but I also love shimmers! The Diva Collection from Zoya is pretty incredible, with some shades that totally blew me away. Read on to find out which ones are my must haves! & if you love creams, check out my prior post featuring the Designer Collection from Zoya! All descriptions in italics & quotes are from the Zoya website.

FeiFei- A steely blue base loaded with multi-colored shimmer leaning mainly golden green. Magical. 3 coats.
Zoya says- “FeiFei can be best described as: A medium steel blue base with heavy gold, blue and pink iridescent metallic sparkle. A truly unique sparkling iridescent blue that adds a magical look to the nails.”

I’m starting here because, OMG. My #1 pick of this collection & I can’t even explain everything about it. Its, phenomenal, even better in person. The shades I can visibly see in no specific order: blue, green, teal, lime, purple, pink, lavender, turquoise, & it some lights in can lean silver OR gold. Crazy! Clearly the base is a steely blue but the green shines through the most out of the other shades. Amazing, really.

Elisa- Bright shimmering red. 2 coats. Very saturated.
Zoya says- “Zoya nail polish in Elisa can be best described as: Bright, shining medium crimson red with subtle gold shimmer and a glowing metallic finish. The smooth, glowy metallic finish gives this bright red an extra kick.”

I love this red but I do feel like its a bit more winter than fall? It leans a bit too holiday-ish in my opinion. I do absolutely love it & it was PERFECT in 2 coats. I can’t wait to break it out later on.

Suri- Shimmering royal purple that leans a bit frosty. 2 coats.
Zoya says- “Zoya nail polish in Suri can be best described as: Medium blue-toned purple with delicate red and blue shimmer and a smooth metallic finish. For a perfect royal purple nail with interesting red and blue sparkle detail.”

It is a purple so on principal I love it really. Its better in person but it is indeed a bit more frosty than I normally like. Surprisingly, I like it anyway & I think its a great fall shade. Great formula here with minimal streaking.

Song- Vibrant, shimmery medium blue. 2 coats. Very saturated.
Zoya says- “Zoya nail polish in Song can be best described as: Bold, vibrant medium primary blue with silver and blue glittery metallic sparkle. A very vibrant blue with a glittery finish that’s smoother than traditional chunky glitter.”

There really isn’t much I can say about this one other than I adore it. Perfect formula, perfect vibrancy, amazing shade. All around, a must have blue. Definitely something I’d wear year round as well!

Ray- Deep shimmering green that leans very frosty. 2 coats.
Zoya says-“Zoya nail polish in Ray can be best described as: Dark blackened pine green with smooth, delicate silver and green frost shimmer. A dark, smoky nail color balanced by a bit of shimmer for a softer effect.”

I like it, kind of. Where Suri walked the line of being too frosty, this one danced right over it. Maybe this winter I’ll feel differently? Its just too frosty for me at the moment. Perhaps against fallen leaves I’ll like it more?

Daul- A sheer purple base packed with muted golden shimmer. 3 coats.
Zoya says-“Zoya nail polish in Daul can be best described as: A medium red-toned purple base with heavy purple and gold iridescent metallic sparkle. The shiny gold sparkle makes this shimmering purple polish extra bright and lively.”

Yeah, I needed at least one more coat of this. I love the shade but it just wasn’t layering like I wanted. That visible nail line wasn’t nearly as bad in person but still. I love this shade although it reminds me of a more crushed-up version of Spoiled’s Are Mermaids Real? perhaps? If you guys want the side by side, just let me know!

All in all, the Diva Collection from Zoya did not dissapoint! I think I would have loved both shimmers more if Daul wasn’t up against FeiFei which, hands down, blows everything else to pieces. Pretty collection, some unexpected fall shades though! I kind of wish they had put a deep shimmering teal in here? I love Zoya though, they’re brilliant. & quickly taking over my nail polish collection.

My top picks are Song & FeiFei.

What do you think? Anything you LOVE? Lust after? Spot any dupes? Let me know! I’ll be doing some nail art with the Zoya fall line so if there’s any you want to see lots of swatches of also let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

These products have been provided for review. The linked content is also affiliate links specifically for the Zoya site. When I receive points or you sign up for an account where YOU also get points, all points are used to purchase more polish to be swatched & used on this blog. Thank you for helping to support this blog!

Petit Amuse Box for July Review & GIVEAWAY! (Wine Jelly?!?)

August 2, 2012 By StephanieLouise 754Leave a Comment2012-08-02+15%3A15%3A00StephanieLouise

Petit Amuse noun pə-ˈtētˈ ä-ˌmüz
Also known as amuse-bouche. A French term that literally means “mouth amusement.”These are tiny bites of food served before a meal to whet the palate and invigorate the appetite. They’re more whimsical than hors d’oeuvres, and smaller than appetizers.

When Petit Amuse contacted me asking if I would review their box of groumet goodies & give one away to you guys, I jumped on it. Subscription boxes are one of the absolute MOST popular searched terms on this blog so clearly you guys like them or love to hate them! Either way, I’m always happy to bring you something a bit different.

I love the idea of this box, its definitely something I can share with my husband or family as opposed to some of my other more beauty themed boxes which honestly, I have to make him look at. He doesn’t even care about eyeliner! Can you believe that?

So this box is only $10 a month which is rare for non-beauty boxes. They are normally $12+ so that’s something to note.

In a nutshell, here’s what this box is all about according to their own website ( www.PetitAmuse.com ):
Focus on Producers
We put a lot of effort into the discovery and promotion of products from small food artisans that you won’t find in large retail chains. Why go to all that trouble? Two reasons.

Small batch artisan foods simply taste better. The quality of ingredients and care in production make for amazing products, unlike most anything that you will find in your local supermarket.
They need our help! For a litany of reasons, the odds are stacked against small artisan food producers. Even the best products often don’t get distributed outside of their local markets; never reaching a majority of foodies who would love to buy them if only given the opportunity.

So the idea behind this book is ACTUALLY how I feel about many beauty boxes: There are SO many brands out there that we miss some small ones that are really great. A few brands people know & love but there are others (Nails by Laura, Everyday Minerals, & the recently discovered Sauce Box come to mind!) that I’ve discovered around the way that just don’t hit the spotlight like they should! I can’t even imagine starting a company right now so to know that this box supports the baker down the street & the food artists makes me feel good about it!

What I got in the July Petit Amuse Box:

Ice Wine Jelly from Caramoomel: I’m shocked I’ve never had wine jelly, seriously! I love wine. I like jelly. How? Anyway! This is a simple mix of quality ingredients. A very nice sample size, its a solid 2 oz so it will get used up…but not too fast! Also, love the coloring & the packing is nice as well! My favorite item in the box!

Garukabar by Garuka Bars: This is another example of simplicity tasting incredible. I’ve tried lots of bars if for nothing else but convenience, but I LOVED this one. It is nice & soft, not overly sweet, & tastes exactly like the ingredients inside. High protein, real peanut pieces, & a really wonderful honey glaze.

Original Kettle Corn from Oogie’s Gourmet Popcorn: I’ve had it before & I’ll probably have it again. I liked it then…& I liked it now! Tasty, convenient, & a great snack!

Cha-Cha’s & Salted Rosemary Shortbread from Lark Fine Foods: These were really good! I’ve never tried anything from Lark Fine Foods so these two cookies were a great testers. The Cha’Cha’s has a slight spice, nothing over the top at all. They tasted really dark & rich but were a bit hard. The shortbreads were awesome, super buttery & perfect. I had never thought of rosemary shortbreads, I might need to make these sometime!

Things to note:
-I love that the ingredients are right there on the card, especially with the peanuts & such!
-Really nice sized samples! 3 full sized & then the 2 specialty cookies.
-Simple, clean presentation. Nothing frilly or excess.
-Although MY cookies were crumbled (HA!) they have assured me yours will be packed much better!

So…time for the giveaway! Everyone seems to LOVE the subscription box giveaways so I’m thrilled to bring you another one! Please keep in mind you will be receiving the exact same box & that Petit Amuse will be shipping it to you. This contest is for US residents only (sorry guys!) & its easy to enter! Please do know I WILL NOT be spamming your e-mail, the e-mail is strictly to contact the winner!

If you DO NOT see the Rafflecopter widget load below so you can enter, please wait a few seconds/refresh the page if necessary. If you’re still having issues, contact me! As always, my terms & conditions are up in my PR/Contact tab.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty + Gizmo Models

August 1, 2012 By StephanieLouise 755Leave a Comment2012-08-01+14%3A20%3A00StephanieLouise

My problem over the past few months has honestly been too much reading. Too much flopping down on my bed & turning pages & not enough cleaning or filming. Sorry guys. However, if this is my biggest issue, well I shall consider it #1stworldproblems & move right along.

The Chaperone is not my average read. Written by Laura Moriarty, this is the tale of 2 women finding themselves in New York City. WAIT. Yes I know we’ve heard/seen/read/snored to this story before, but this one REALLY IS different. In fact, it is inspired by real-life silent film actress Louise Brooks in the 1920s, an era I rarely read about.

Let’s get this straight right off the bat: This starts off SLOW. Like….too slow. But I promise, if you give it a shot, it will pick up & become one of those books you’re never quite ready to put down. This story centers around Cora & Louise. By reading the description & the cover…I thought it was about one summer. Not so much… This actually chronicles Cora’s entire life. Its a long life.

Cora is the Kansas housewife who is pretty much exactly that stereotype in the beginning. She’s 36 & quite proper. In fact, she’s so proper I didn’t think I’d like her much at all. Louise is 15, free, & a fabulous flapper it-girl. Growing up, all of my best friends were pretty much opposites of me so this dynamic isn’t too crazy.

It’s more the fact that I seriously DISLIKED Cora. She made me ANGRY. But, without giving away too much, this book definitely evolves to form a less stressful story for me to read. This is important to note as books are heavy & the walls in this house aren’t the best. Its one you might have to force yourself through the beginning, but by the end I think you’ll really fall for the characters.

You can join the discussion about The Chaperone by visiting us at the Blogher Book Club.

Disclosure: I was compensated for writing this review for the BlogHer Book Club. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. The model used in these photographs was highly unprofessional, moody, & far too round. Also. I did not ask for a model, but she insisted she was to be a part of this shoot. I urge you to never use Miss Gizmo as a model, however she sure has the attitude on film. Just a photographer’s point of view.