Polished Up Tuesday: Salley Hansen's Blue Me Away

Another color from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection. This beautiful bold shade is called Blue Me Away! I put this on my nails this weekend in school spirit fashion for my college's first football game of the season. It only took one coat of polish to achieve the look above. This polish is very opaque and just as amazing as the other colors in this line.

I applied this polish on Saturday and it's still on my nails today. I have had a little bit of chipping on the tips of my nails that I started to notice yesterday, but I also went to work the past three nights in a row at a job where I use my hands quite a bit. In comparison to how my nails normally look after three nights of work (usually see chipping after one day) I'm still impressed.

Back to School

This week I began my last full semester as a college senior. Classes began on Wednesday and I wanted to share with you the outfits I wore to start my first week of the fall semester. I'm hoping to keep up with blogging as much as possible during the school year. Between homework and working on campus I'll certainly be busy (not to mention exhausted).

Hope you enjoy this quick post (please forgive the florescent lighting; that's a college dorm for you). Maybe it will inspire those other back-to-schoolers out there who just aren't sure what to wear to class this year. For me I kept it casual and comfortable.

 Day One

  

Day Two

  

Day Three

Polished Up Tuesday: OPI's Suzi & the Lifeguard

OPI is one of the most popular nail polish brands out there and I certainly own my share of colors. My favorite thing about OPI is the HUGE variety of colors available and all the cute names that go with them. This baby pink shade on my nails is called Suzi & the Lifeguard. This is an adorable shade appropriate for work and school. 

It took two coats of polish to achieve this look. One coat is just too sheer. Of course I am wearing my base and top coat with this color. OPI's polishes on their own will only last around three days on my nails. Adding a base and top coat with this polish does wonders for staying power. 

The Intern: Part 2

I can't believe I finished my internship with the newspaper this week. Next week it's back to classes and my on-campus job. I'm so not ready to return to "normal" life. I just want to keep writing and meeting interesting people. I know my relationship with the newspaper isn't over (I'll continue to freelance throughout the semester), but I'll miss the planning meetings and spending time with the awesome office staff.

This is what I wore this week to my last planning meeting of the summer (*sniff). I fell in love with this cobalt blazer at first sight. It's comfy and such a lovely color. These black ankle pants are also favorites of mine and can be dressed up or down.

What I'm Wearing:

Cobalt Blazer: Sears

Black Ankle Pants: Worthington (JCP)

White Lace Tank: JCP

Studded Ballet Flats: Arizona (JCP)

Jewelry: JCP

Sunglasses: Liz Claiborne

Nail Polish: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lacey Lilac

Polished Up Tuesday: Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

I just have to jump right in here. I LOVE Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear nail polishes. On their own they last longer than the average polish. Adding a base and top coat just makes them that much better. The cherry on these polishes is the price (less than $3!). Get ready to see a few colors from this line because it is one of my favorites.

This beautiful color is called Lacey Lilac. I used two coats for this look, but I could have easily gotten away with one. It's habit for me to apply two coats. The brush is small, but the polish applies smoothly.

My Favorite Frugal Find

There's nothing I love more than finding a great dress for a great price. This super comfortable and figure flattering dress came from Walmart. It's been a few months since I purchased it, but I'm pretty sure the price tag was around $12. This is, hands down, my favorite frugal piece of clothing in my closet.

I topped it off with this gorgeous green and blue necklace given to me for birthday and a pair of lovely black sandals from Target (bought them last year on clearance). 

Gotta love those frugal finds!!

What I'm Wearing: 

Maxi Dress: Walmart

Necklace: Birthday Gift from a Sweet Friend (from Rue 21)

Shades: Liz Claiborne 

(What? Nothing from JCPenney! Gasp!)

The New mark. Eyeshadows with Swatches

Recently mark. sent me a set of samples I was very excited about. The samples were of the new wet/dry eyeshadows  that are launching tomorrow (8/10/12). mark. has reformulated the shades to make them more pigmented and has also added a larger selection of colors.These .08oz eyeshadows will retail for $7 for each.

The new collection includes 10 shimmer shades, 8 satin shades, 6 metallic shades and 4 matte shades. Below are swatches of the sample colors I have (I do not have them all). I'll give you my first impressions after the photos.

The first 4 photos are of the shadows swatched dry with no primer in natural sunlight. The last photo is some of the shadows swatched wet (one shadow from each category).

 Matte Shades in (L to R) Whisper, Storming and Nightly

Metallic Shades in (L to R) Sugar Sugar, Goldi Luxe, Jazzy and Lava

Satin Shades in (L to R) Minx, Luvstruck, Moss, Plum Velvet and Pewter

Shimmer Shades in (L to R) Puff, Fairy Dust, Luster and Empress

  Swatched Wet (L to R) Goldi Luxe, Empress, Luvstruck and Storming

I love the color variety of these new formulas. With 28 total colors available there will easily be something for everyone. I was pleased with the pigmentation of most of these shadows when swatched dry, except for the metallic shades. When swatched dry they do not have the same pop of color as the other shades. However, as you probably noticed above, when the metallic shades are swatched wet they look amazing. Swatching the shades wet brings out more of the color in the shadows. The exception would be the matte shades, which I feel look better dry. 

Also remember these shadows were swatched from samples. I anticipate the actual products will be even better than what you see above. 

Polished Up Tuesday: Essie Tart Deco

I have been obsessed with coral this season and when  I discovered this gorgeous color I was ecstatic. Essie's Tart Deco is the perfect summer color and adds a pop against a neutral outfit. It took two coats to achieve the look above. There is one downside to this polish. It's a pain to apply. I had fight with it to get a smooth coat since it wants to apply streaky. Once I put the second coat on it was slightly better, but it was the top coat that smoothed everything out. A top coat is a MUST with this polish if you want a smooth finish. I don't know if other Essie polishes apply this way since this is the only color from this brand I own. I think part of the problem comes from the small brush (I prefer a larger brush). The end product is gorgeous and worth the fight to have this beautiful color on my nails. 

Denim & Floral

What I'm Wearing:

Denim Top: London Jean

Skirt: Old Navy

Sunglasses: Liz Claiborne

Belt: NY&Co

Bracelets & Earrings: JCPenney

Shoes: Shoe Dazzle