This Girl's Life: April 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

Quick Reminders

Good Morning! :)
I just wanted to post a quick reminder that the Wow Wow Wednesday is still open. I noticed this weekend my linky tools sub was outdated and it had closed the link up but it is back up and fixed now. If you want to link up you can find that here.

Also I'm still looking for blog swaps if you are interested. :)

April Faves

As I say every month... Is tomorrow really the beginning of May? I'm excited about May though. I get to go see my family this month and it also means I will get to go home to Tennessee. My beloved state that I miss ever so much. I haven't seen my parents (other than video chatting) since Thanksgiving. :( That also means they haven't seen their granddaughter in just as long, so I know they are super excited too. :)

Since it's the end of April it means it's favorites time again.

Here are my latest faves....

The nail polish I've been wearing a lot the month of April has been China Glaze's Lemon Fizz. It is such a pretty light yellow. I started out wearing it at the beginning of April and currently have it on my nails today, at the end of April. ;)

Another product I had to throw into my faves, because I finished a tube this month and thought it deserved some recognition is the Colgate Sensitive Pro-relief. I usually use Sensodyne but had some coupons to save on some Colgate during a sale so I grabbed up some and it works just as good. If you have sensitive teeth like myself then definitely try it out. I can use regular toothpaste but after maybe a week of using it I can definitely tell my teeth are more sensitive to drinking and eating.

The makeup product that I picked out for this month and have been using probably most days is a neutral palette by Rimmel London. A glam eyes quad in 002 Smokey Brun. If you are interested in picking up this palette and have a local Walgreens Rimmel products are currently 50% off this week. I love this little quad. It goes with everything. Some days I'd use all four colors and some days I'd just use the two side colors. If you haven't picked up the UD Naked palettes or don't plan to because of their cost then definitely grab this little quad, great alternative.

I bought me some sterling silver teardrop earrings, real simple but super cute at JCPenney's a couple weeks ago and have been wearing them almost everyday too. I'm loving JCP's new 'Fair and Square' deals. I picked up these originally $40 earrings for $5. Eeee!! I also picked up another leafy style that I love too, also for $5. While i'm mentioning sales at Penney's. I picked up several tops that were on sale for $4, yes $4. I got a tan blazer for 4 bucks. These sales make me giddy. I love it!

My last fave from above is the Clean & Clear foaming facial cleanser. I use Purity Made Simple to take off my makeup and it's suppose to be a cleanser as well but I just feel weird not using something that foams up to clean my face. So... after I wash off my makeup I have then been using this product to clean my face. It is also the medicated kind so it kills bacteria as well so thats good. Clean & Clear has always been a tried and true brand for me. I love their scrubs too. Walgreens also has their products on sale this week 2/$10 plus get a $4 register reward back so basically like paying 2/$6. I used some coupons on them and picked me up a new bottle of this product and some body wash, which i've never tried before. I will let you know how the body wash turns out.

Those were all of my faves for the month but I just thought I would mention a couple of other things i've been loving.

Minwax stain in English Chestnut.

I stained these bookcases in English Chestnut and I love the color. I usually use dark walnut but i'm definitely glad I choose to go with this stain color instead.

The last thing I wanted to mention was a book series I read this month. 50 Shades of Grey, although not written great it still had me turning page after page.

What where your faves for the month of April?

Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Royal Anniversary & Kate's Wedding Look 4 Less

Happy Anniversary to Will & Kate!

In honor of their big day today and wedding season approaching what better than a look 4 less post. Here are a couple of beautiful dresses that have a similar style to the ever stylish Kate Middleton's wedding dress but without that hefty $65,000 price tag.

This dress, though not exact as Kate's but has that similar lace styling is a score for $340 at HeleneBridal.

Another super simple way to have Kate's look for less would be to pair this lace jacket over a classic sweetheart shaped bodice dress.

David's Bridal lace jacket for $129

Over something similar to this dress below.

David's Bridal $449

If you are married, what dress style did you get married in? If you are not married, what dress style would you like to get married in?

Friday, April 27, 2012

Woodworking DIY: Kentwood Bookcases

Here are the bookcases that we have been working on, for the office, in all their glory. I can claim 95% (ok 90%) of this build so let me say I really really love them, even more so now that I'm getting to finally put pretties in them (which will be a whole separate office makeover post later).

You can see the plans for this bookcase here if you would like to build your own. I love Ana and her plans. :)

We pretty much followed her plans to a t, minus a few tweaks here and there. If we had to do it over we probably would have went with the nail gun and glue 100% over using the Kreg Jig. We do love that little jig but don't prefer to use it on some builds. This was one of them.

We used EverTrue plank paneling for the backs which was somewhat of a pain. You can buy it (@ Lowe's) in packages of 6 planks and just hope you get something good in those packages. If you are going for perfect looking panels this is NOT for you. I, however, like the knotty look. :) Also note that it will take 7 panels for one bookcase but the 8' pieces will allow for your last panel to be pieced with leftovers. That is a-ok in my budget friendly book.

The stain used was Minwax English Chestnut.

I didn't keep up with the exact total cost of this project but it was right around $120ish for both bookcases, which isn't bad at all for solid wood.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Review: MAD Skincare Youth Transformation Age Corrective Serum

"Youth Transformation Age Corrective Serum can be used twice a day for improved skin texture and great anti aging results. This multi- stem cell and multi-peptide technology infused serum will be a great choice in your anti aging regimen. Your skin will be hydrated with skin conditioners that can effectively protect against UV-damage, and improve extrinsic signs of aging. It can also stimulate fibroblast growth and collagen synthesis and increase moisturizing properties of the skin. You wont leave the house without it!"

The biggest question I had when I first got into serums was what the heck was a serum and why is it different than any other lotion out there. If you are wondering the same thing then let me tell you what a serum is before I even get into the review.

Moisturizers have large molecules and can only penetrate the first layer of the skin. A face serum is able to penetrate into all three layers of the skin because it is made of smaller molecules. Their ability to go further into the skin is what allows it to help many beauty problems such as fine lines, wrinkles and dark spots. This is why you often see serums targeted to these problems or labeled anti aging.

I don't really have any complaints about this product. I'm still up in the air if I feel like it is good enough to replace my fave serum (Dr. Denese) but I definitely like the way it seems to work and it is much cheaper at $54 for a full size. I don't find $54 to be cheap but my Dr. Denese is over $100 for a full size so it's pretty good in comparison.

A lot of serums can be oily and I'm not a fan of extremely oily ones despite having dry skin. This serum does not have that problem. It blends well into my skin and doesn't leave me feeling like I need to blot off excessive oils.

A semi-con is the smell. It smells like bug spray which is a turn off but after you put it on your skin and it dries you don't continue to experience that smell so it wasn't a problem for me.

So my recommendation would be that if you are a serum user definitely give this one a try but only if you can get a sample size first. I wouldn't go full out and purchase it at $54 if you already have a serum you love. If you have never tried serums before definitely think about checking out Beauty Army. They always have samples of serums and it's a great way to test products you might be interested in but don't want to commit to full price yet, especially if you're into skincare products.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

OPI: New York City Ballet Collection

If you are looking for some pretty sheers this collection is for you.

{Picture Source}

Available Now!

Have you picked up any of these shades?

Wow Wow Wednesday #5

My featured linkers this week are Leigh and Jeanette at Crafty in Crosby. They shared with us how to get the most room and storage out of your stock cabinets. Vertical space is good space!! :)

Blogging about anything fun lately? Come link it up here at the link party. :)

Party Rules

Follow This Girls Life.
Grab the button below or add a link somewhere on your blog. This lets others know about the party so they can share as well. :)
Link to a specific post. (no home pages, no giveaways, no etsy shops)
Please visit others linked up, that's the fun part!
Make new friends and have some fun!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Sponsors: Blog Swap

I finally got around to adding a sponsor link. I'm currently accepting blog swaps only. If you are interested in swapping blog buttons please check out my blog post here for all the details. :)

Tip Tuesday: Hair Brush Tips

Hair brushes are a must have tool. Well unless you are going for the messy look (which can be cute) then maybe not so much but I beat we all own one, at least one right? Here are some useful tips about the different types of hair brushes and how you can get the most out of the ones you own or maybe didn't know you needed.

Plastic Bristle Brushes.... These brushes are good for taming curls and calming flyaways. Think smoothing!

Boar Bristle Brushes... The best brush for enhancing shine is a boar bristle brush. It helps to distribute your hair's natural oils.

Nylon Bristle Brushes... The nylon bristles are durable and work great for detangling all those knots or rats as some of us call them. These brushes are great for us thick hair girls.

Wood Bristle Brushes... These type of brushes are great for reducing breakage. They also massage the scalp and stimulate your hair for growth.

Hopefully that was helpful in finding what bristle brush is right for you.

Now all of those brushes are labeled as paddle brushes but then you can get into radial brushes and half-radial brushes. A radial brush is round with bristles all the way around the head of the brush. These are great for creating curls. These brushes are very similar to a hair roller, wrap your hair around them towards the base of your hair, blow dry on warm and then give it a shot of cool air to set the curl. Half-radial brushes are one sided with curved bristles these are good for hair flips and small waves.

More hair tips...

Never use a brush on wet hair, instead use a wide toothed comb.
Brush out tangles before shampooing. It creates less stress on your hair.
Don't brush thick and frizzy hair, use a pick comb instead.
When brushing out tangles, brush from mid-shaft and gently brush out the ends.
Use fabric hair ties or elastic ties without the metal closure.
Wash your hairbrushes regularly with a little shampoo and allow the bristles to dry naturally.
Brushing for just 5 minutes a day boosts hair shine and encourages hair growth!

All the brush pictures I posted (minus the wooden brush) belong to and can be purchased at Folica.

Monday, April 23, 2012

DIY Stenciled Pillow

So I mentioned several post back that I picked up a pillow at TJMaxx that I was planning on doing a little project with. I broke out the letter stencil and fabric marker and created this little diddy. :)

This one was pinspired by Amanda at Wit & Whistle. I pinned her stencil picture and just knew I had to make something similar but with my own touches.

Want to make your own?

Supplies:

Pillow cover (I bought a pillow that had a removable cover).

Pencil (for tracing)

Letter stencil

Fabric marker

Cardboard (or magazines worked for me... so that it doesn't bleed through the other side)

Once you have all of your supplies the how to is really simple. Pick out what you want stenciled on your pillow, trace with the pencil and fill in with the fabric marker. Easy Peasy! I didn't worry about everything being perfectly lined up, centered or straight so if you want to do that you might also need a ruler handy. Otherwise the good ole eye balling it works! :)

In case you can't see it, it reads, "Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale." I've always loved this saying and wanted to add it to my home somewhere. It fits nicely in the master bedroom. My husband and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary in 3 months and I definitely believe I found my prince charming. :)