Soaping For A Cause

So I know that I haven't been on this blog much lately but I have had a lot going on! I am getting back into making my soaps, and it's been tremendously therapeutic!

I mentioned in a vlog on my YouTube page last week that I wanted some ideas for a new soap to add to my new Etsy shop. Well one of my subscribers had a great idea... An Autism Awareness soap!

I instantly thought about how awesome this could be! Not only could I make an awesome soap that everyone will love, but we can take it a step further and DONATE the proceeds to my favorite Autism charity.. Autism Speaks!

That's where you guys come into play. On the right hand side bar (very top) of this page is a link that will allow you to donate for the supplies needed to make this awesome soap. Once I have gathered enough to get all of the supplies needed I'll start the soap! Once the soap is ready I will put it in my Etsy shop and sell it. Then I will donate the proceeds from the soap, along with any extra from the supply donations to Autism Speaks!

I will be keeping a detailed list of all of those who contributed to this project, both supply donations and soap buyers. I will do so because I want to include this list of names with my donation so that Autism Speaks will know that this donation is not all me... they will know that you guys came together as a community to make this happen. I'm just the hands that created it, but you guys made it happen!

Thank you guys so much in advance.... Let's Do This!!!!



Brightest Blessings,
Melissa

My First Zoya!

I feel like I am so behind the times. I have seen so many other nail bloggers post pictures and sing the praises of Zoya for years now. I have wanted to try them for a very long time. For some reason though, I just never got around to it. Well, I am here to tell you that if you are at all on the fence about it, just do it! You won't be sorry.

I decided to give Zoya a try last week when they were having a sale. I figured that if for some reason I didn't like it, at least I wouldn't have paid full price.

Once I placed the order I was even more excited that I thought I would have been. I watched the mail like a hawk! When they finally got here I'm sure I looked like my 7 year old daughter on Christmas morning! I ripped that package open and dug right in! 

I was super impressed with their packaging! All three of the little bottles were nestled into a cute little black box. 

Inside that cute little box were three beautiful colors! 

The first one Heidi, a lovely orange/coral creme. I was already excited by the color, but I was even more impressed with the application! It glided over my nails like a dream. No pooling around the cuticles and no brush marks left behind. I got beautiful, shiny, full coverage in just two coats!

Below is Heidi - 2 coats, no topcoat! Look how shiny!!!

Next up is Barbie. It's a flirty pale pink with the lightest touch of hot pink iridescence. This one wasn't as impressive as far as application is concerned, but the overall look is amazing. The formula on this one is a little thinner, and definitely not as opaque. It took 3 coats to conceal my free edge. I love this color though. It's flirty, fun and in the sunlight has a subtle hot pink shimmer. 

Below is Barbie - 3 coats, no topcoat.

Lastly we have Wednesday. It's a pale turquoise creme that is even more beautiful in person. Just like Heidi, this one applied flawlessly with just two coats. I am in love with this color! Of the three, this is my favorite!

Below is Wednesday - 2 coats, no topcoat

I can honestly say that I love these! The formulas are great, even if Barbie is a little on the thin side. I like the brush too... It's not to thin and not too long. It applies just the right amount of polish. 

The best part for me though is their formulation. Long wearing, vegan friendly, paraben free AND it's also free of formaldehyde, toluene, camfor and dibutyl phthalate! So basically you get kick ass colors, smooth application AND none of the yucky chemicals! For me, that's a win/win! 

If you want in on the awesomeness just click on my "share the love" link below! 

https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/016B26F4

With "Share the Love" everyone wins and everyone gets rewarded. Whether it's with instant DISCOUNTS or valuable "Love Points". Best of all it's FREE! Good News - you are automatically enrolled if you already have an account.

So if you click my link and create a free account, I will get "Love Points" when you make a purchase. Then you too can start earning "Love Points" when your friends sign up too! 

Let It Snow Challenge Week #6- Winter Solstice Nails

Let It Snow! Challenge Week 6

Winter Solstice Nails

I know, I'm late posting this. I hope that in spite of my tardiness you enjoy this post. 

Winter Solstice is actually on my birthday (December 21) so I decided to do a look that was fun, fresh and full of winter blues!

I started off with Essie [Smooth Sailing] and sponged on a generic silver polish. After that I used a thin coat of OPI [Pirouette My Whistle] and then topped it with a swirl of the generic silver with a thin brush.

 It's a simple and fun look!

Even though this post is a week late, please take a moment to look at the other ladies' looks for week 6!

3 Free Bottles of Zoya Polish!!

STARTS MONDAY, JANUARY 7th 2013

A New Year Calls For New Color!

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** just pay shipping & processing charges of $10. 

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Create an account on Zoya.com if you do not already have one.. 

Add at least (3)Zoya Nail Polish shades to your shopping cart, 

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* Promotion Excludes Zoya Nail Treatments, Gilty Pleasures and 

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If you don't already have a Zoya account, 

join here using this link and 

"Share The Love" with me:

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Let it Snow! Challenge Week #5- New Year's Nails

Let it Snow! Challenge Week #5

New Year's Nails

For me, no New Year's Celebration is complete without GLITTER!! 

For this manicure I decided to do a glitter gradient using my 3 favorite glitter polishes by Julep. 

I call this manicure "Champagne on Ice"!

I started with one coat of [Vivien], it's a beautiful sheer gold with small and large gold hex glitters. Then About 1/3 of the way up the nail from the cuticle I applied one thin coat of [Colbie]. It's a gorgeous green with lots of gold. In person it is super sparkly! On the free edge I applied one coat of [Harper]. A stunning teal/green that is packed with teal, green and gold micro glitter. 

Together the work very well and each one is a stunner on it's own. You can purchase any of these beauties at julep.com 

Thank you for stopping by! Check out the other lovely designs from the other talented ladies taking part in the challenge by clicking on their thumbnails below. Check back weekly by subscribing!

Let It Snow Challenge Week # 4: Christmas/Holiday Nails

Let It Snow Challenge Week #4

Christmas/Holiday Nails

Sorry I'm a little late with this post. The holidays got a bit crazy and I just didn't have the time. Not to mention that we had to take our 7 year old Daughter Jacqueline to the ER the day after Christmas! She has the Flu. Don't worry though, she'll be ok!

So for this challenge I wanted to go with a sophisticated manicure that could be worn to any holiday party... upscale or not. I went with a dark green, almost black polish by OPI [Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine]. It has a great grey quality to it that I love! I topped it off with NYC [Matte Me Crazy Topcoat]. It gave it a wonderful leather like look. Then I just barely tipped the free edge with Covergirl Outlast [185]. It's a glossy, patent leather red with a metallic finish. On the accent nail I used Revlon [571- Posh]. I topped the Revlon with a generic green glitter striping polish.

It's a simple, yet sophisticated look that would work well on any nail length!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Please check out the great work the other Ladies participating in the challenge have done by clicking on their thumbnails below.

Let It Snow Challenge Week #3: Ugly Christmas Sweater

Let It Snow Challenge: Week #3

Ugly Christmas Sweater

This week's challenge theme was a ton of fun! It didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, but I'm still calling this one a success! 

I used one coat of OPI [OPI Red] with one coat of OPI [Animalistic] on top to give it depth and sparkle. I used my ArtDeco Striping polish [white] to "draw" on the design. Then I used OPI [Jade is the New Black] mixed with a pinch of green glitter on a piece of foil  for the accents. 

My lines weren't as crisp as I'd have liked, but the little reindeer turned out so cute!!! 

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to subscribe to this blog and check out the other talented ladies participating in the challenge by clicking on their pictures below!