Giveaway Winner! And New Giveaway...?

Hello lovies!!

I just wanted to make a quick post to congratulate Sophie on winning my giveaway! And I recommend you go check out her blog, it's great, and she's such a sweetheart!

I also wanted to talk about my next giveaway, as I am close to 100 followers now!

I was thinking of doing a makeup bag filled with a bunch of American drugstore products that are raved about throughout the Blogosphere, and it's going to be open everywhere except for US/Canada, obviously haha.

But if you guys could tell me what you would want to see in that bag, and what you suggest could go in there, that would be great because I'm not positive on what we have that you can't get anywhere else!

xx

What American drugstore products would you like to see in the bag? And have you check out Sophie's blog yet?? :)

xx

Artist of the Month: 5 Seconds of Summer

L-R: Michael, Luke, Ashton, and Calum

5 Seconds of Summer (or 5sos) is an Australian band that is now the opening act for One Direction's Take Me Home world tour. A tour I wasn't even planning on going to until I came across these guys!

The band consists of Luke (vocals/guitar - 16), Calum (vocals/bass - 17), Michael (guitar/vocals - 17), and Ashton (drums/vocals - 18). 5sos got their start by posting covers on Youtube in 2011, and have already gotten the chance to write with McFly and Busted, and as I said earlier, open for One Direction for the entire world tour! I'm not sure about what kind of following they have, because The Vamps have just as many views on their videos, but haven't accomplished nearly as much as 5sos has.

I would love to go see them in Atlanta, but ticket prices are too expensive. When I saw One Direction in Orlando last year, I was sat 7th row for 300-something dollars. Now nosebleeds are going for the same price!

I'd love to see them live, but the more I look at tickets, the more I realize that it's just not going to happen.

xx

Have you heard of 5 Seconds of Summer? And are any of you going to the Take Me Home tour? Also, if you haven't yet, go enter my giveaway! :)

xx

March Favorites & Disappontments

Hello lovies!

I only have one disappointing product from March, so that's good! Not all of these are new, but I've rekindled my love for them. So let's get to it, shall we?

Favorites:

1) Ocean Salt Face/Body Scrub - I got this Lush product a couple months ago, and I just love it. It smells SO GOOD! When you first get it, you have to stir it all together because the salt is on the top, and I was so scared to stir it together because I thought the bottom half wouldn't smell as good - but it does, all is good! It's a little harsh on my skin, so I only use it twice a week, and that's all I need. - $21.95

2) Hope in a Jar moisturizer - First of all, I apologize because it's torn and not pretty - but it is a sample, and that's a big problem with sample packaging. This moisturizer is SO good! I have combination skin, so I don't have to use very much of it for it to do the job. It smells a little.. weird. Not necessarily bad, just an odd smell. It smells kind of like a spray tan or hair bleach, but luckily it's not a scent that's strong enough to stay for a while. It's been a few weeks since I ran out of the sample, and if it wasn't so expensive, I would've already gotten the 2 oz! - $40.00

3) Tarte's Lights, Camera, Lashes! - I would have never thought of trying this mascara if I hadn't gotten it as a sample along with an eyelash curler (mentioned in this haul) because the sample is always so hard to open in Ulta. But I'm very glad I got to try it because it's a very good mascara! It says it's "clinically-proven to increase lash volume by 424% and lash curl by 90.2%." If it did that, I wouldn't be able to open my eyes and I'd have to hold my lashes up with my hands. It'd be like having bangs in your face but your eyelashes instead, like "Oh, hold on, let me lift my lashes out of the way." But despite the exaggerated promises, it's a very good mascara, and with different packaging, I would definitely buy it! - $19.00

4) Naked Basics palette - I've had this since it came out and never really used it. I used Venus a few times, but that was about it. But I used it almost every time I put on makeup last month. I got to experiment with it, and ended up using it a lot more than I thought I would. - $27.00

5) Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express - I did a review on this early last month (which you can see here), with much better pictures. You can see what the wand looks like, and what it did for my lashes as well. - $7.99

6) MAC Powder Blush in Springsheen - This color is absolutely gorgeous. I was looking for something similar to Nars' Deep Throat, and it is close, it just has more of a shimmer to it. Springsheen is a lovely peachy-coral color with a fair amount of gold shimmer, and it is absolutely gorgeous on. I'd say it's closer to Nars' Orgasm rather than Deep Throat, they are quite similar in color, just not in shimmer. Although I do love this MAC blush, I will be picking up Nars' Deep Throat next time I stop by Sephora. 'Cause a girl can't have too many blushers, right? - $21.00

7) MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in Desires & Devices - I came across this at the most perfect time possible! I was looking for an eyeliner similar to the Urban Decay eyeshadow color Darkhorse (brown with dark green undertone), and I found Desires & Devices which is even better! It's dark green with a brown undertone and kind of a shimmer to it, and I have hazel eyes that are basically brown because its really hard to bring the green out, and this makes the green in my eyes show a bit more! - $19.50

8) Stila Lip Glaze in Guava - I bought this last year when I had dyed my hair red, because stupid me decided to make a huge commitment to dye my hair red and didn't have any lip colors that wouldn't clash with my hair! So I went to Ulta and asked one of the girls there what would look best with my hair color, and she came up with this and an Urban Decay color. I found it hidden away in my armoire a few weeks ago, and I haven't stopped using it since. And let me just say: This. Smells. So. Good! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Stila's lip glazes are all supposed to smell and taste like the name? If so, I'm going to be buying so many more of these, despite the fact that I hate the applicator. - $22.00

9) Essie's Sand Tropez - This is a gorgeous nude that is absolutely perfect for spring! I love tan and black together, so sometimes I'll put black stripes over them, and it's really cute. I was kind of worried about what it would look like on me, because I'm quite pale, but it actually doesn't look bad at all! - $8.00

Disappointments:

I'm lucky enough to only have one product that I was completely disappointed with this month and that is Revlon Photo Ready 3D Volume. I'm not putting a link to this one for obvious reasons. But I did a review on this last month, which you can read here, and the only good thing about it was how black it was. To this day it is the blackest black out of all the Blackest Blacks I've tried. And that's it. - $8.99

xx

I realized about half-way through this post that I didn't do any swatches, so if you guys would like them, just tell me in a comment below, and I'll do some swatches and add them to this post sometime this weekend.

xx

MAC Giveaway: 50 Followers! *CLOSED*

Hello lovies!!

As you can tell from the title, I'm doing a giveaway! I've recently reached 50 followers, and wanted to celebrate with a giveaway!

Earlier this month I asked you guys what kind of shopping spree I should have, and I ended up spending most of my money at MAC. I was going to give a lipstick away, but because I was spending my money before the giveaway, I didn't want to buy something that wouldn't go with the winner's skin tone, so I decided on a lipgloss instead! It's a MAC Dazzleglass lipgloss in Sugarrimmed, which is a lovely glittery/shimmery light pink that I'm sure will look gorgeous over any color - or just by itself!

This is an international giveaway, so anyone can enter!

Rules:

You have to be following me on GFC and/or Bloglovin' to enter.

For extra entries, follow me on:

Twitter

Tumblr

She Said Beauty

Instagram

I'm not going to ask you to tweet about the giveaway or anything, because I personally hate doing that, but if you want to, then that will also be an additional entry.

Just comment below with your email and all of your entries and links, so that way I know how many entries you have and I can also follow you guys back!

xx

I'll be choosing a winner on April 10th, and entries are open until then :)

xx

Review: Chanel Velvet Top Coat

Chanel velvet top coat - discontinued

This is my absolute favorite nail polish! It was a Christmas present, and I love it so much. It's no longer available because it was limited edition, so I try to be frugal with it..

But let's be honest - it's not happening.

I use it over every. single. color.

I might cry the day I run out. Or the day I've used it so much to where it starts getting thick and sticky - IT HAPPENS!

This isn't even a review. It's more of a "If I could marry this, I would" post.

Okay, but being serious now. It is a clear top coat (I thought it was a black top coat until I opened it), and it just makes your nails feel really smooth and soft - like velvet!

 I don't usually use it over a black, I tend to wear more pastel colors and it looks really good over those. Sometimes I'll put a thin glitter top coat over them and then put the Chanel top coat over that and that gives it a really cools effect, because you can still see the shininess of the glitter, but the nail is still completely matte!

But I am completely dreading the day that it's gone, and hoping more brands will have their own velvet top coat by then.

xx

Do you know any other brands that make a velvet top coat? Also, what is your favorite top coat/ effect for nails??

xx

Wishes: Zara

1. Combination Leather Shopper - I love how black and white is on trend this spring - so cute! I would love to see this bag in person, because it looks like the black is suede, but Zara's website says nothing about it being suede. And for $100, I'd like to touch it before I buy it! - $99.90

2. Abstract Gold/Silver Moulded Choker - I don't usually like necklaces like this, but as usual - anything metallic and I'm sold! This piece goes perfectly with the black/white trend, and it's a reasonable price (for Zara's quality). - $25.90

3. Combined Wedge - There are three reasons why I love spring - pastels, florals, and WEDGES! If I could wear wedges all the time, I would. It's all the extra height I need, and pain-free (well, for the most part) - $89.90

4. Court Shoe w/ Studded Cap Toe - Don't really need these, but I love them. And if I had a spare $100, I'd buy these just to have them! - $99.90

5. Flared Trench Coat - I don't own a coat like this, and I really wish I did! Sadly, Florida's springs are a bit too hot for this, but I'd love to own it. - $99.90

6. Jacquard Shirt Collar w/ Appliqué - Same as #4, I don't need it. But I would still love to have it around for when I do need it! - $39.90

xx

What do you think about the black/white trend this season? And what is your spring must-have (or lust-have, I should say)?

xx

Artist of the Month: Lewis Watson

I was slightly worrying about not being able to find an AOTM this month, but then I came across Lewis Watson! He's a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from England, and to put it simply - if you love Ed Sheeran, you will like him!

The first time I had heard of Lewis was back in November in one of PointlessBlog's daily vlogs, and I had loved what I'd heard and promised myself that I would look him up. I never did.
Then earlier this week, I was scrolling through Tumblr and found a video of his song Sink or Swim (below), and he has a similar sound to Ed Sheeran, so I'm a huge fan of his music now!

He has two EPs out at the moment called It's Got Four Sad Songs On It BTW, Another Four Sad Songs, and a third one on the way called The Wild. I'm someone who pays more attention to the voice rather than the lyrics, so as of now, I don't find his songs sad, because I'm listening to what's coming out of his mouth, but I'm not listening to the words he's saying (if that makes any sense at all haha).

I try to make sure every AOTM is someone from Youtube who isn't touring or have any albums/EPs out, but I just couldn't resist.

xx

So while Google is trying to force everyone to use Google+, we're going to find ways around it! I don't want to lose all of my lovies, so if you would follow me on Bloglovin', I'll follow you back if I don't already! :)

xx