Small Drugstore Haul: Nail Stuff & Fall Wax Melts!

Hey guys!  I picked up a handful of stuff the other day at the store and thought I would share them with you today!  I haven't been doing too much shopping lately because.....we have been saving for a new home!  More news about that later....but for now let's get to the goods.

Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat is the only top coat I use on my nails (other than the product you'll see up next).  Guys, this is SO important if you do your nails at home I can't even stress how much.  You can totally get away with wearing any basic polish for a week and this stuff keeps them looking great.  When I paint my nails I do one layer of a base coat, 2 layers of any polish I want, then one layer of the Seche Vite.  This stuff makes your nails shine like you wouldn't believe, it corrects any streaking or mistakes you made, it's magic.  After about 3 or 4 days I might do one more coat of the Seche Vite, and that's it.  LOVE.  I can find this at my local Walmart and Rite Aid, but I'm sure in the bigger cities this is probably available almost anywhere.

I wanted a really pretty black nail polish and actually went to the store thinking I was going to get Essie's Licorice.  Well, when they didn't have that one, I decided to check the Sally Hansen gel polishes out.  This was my first time ever buying this polish and I have used it since and really like it. The color I chose was "Blacky O" and it's just a really good creamy black nail polish.  I think the whole 'gel' thing confuses some people.  To be clear, this is basically just like any other bottle of nail polish.  My nails are 100% natural - I NEVER go to a salon to have my nails done, I would never get acrylics or fake nails of any sort.  Period.  Traditionally with gel nail polishes, you usually have to 'cure' them (or set them) under a UV lamp.  This version of a gel polish, like I said above, is like any other polish.  You don't have to set it with a lamp, you just paint it on and you're done.  This does however come with it's own top coat which says it 'activates' your gel manicure.  The top coat made my nails super shiny and made my polish dry really quickly.  To remove these you just use your basic nail polish remover, nothing special required for that.  If you're like me and you believe in having natural nails and you polish your nails yourself, then I highly recommend trying these!

Sorry so blurry!  I actually did a Day of the Dead (Sugar Skull) makeup look this week, and instead of using traditional white costume makeup I just used a super pale foundation.  My pores tend to clog super easily, and I just felt more comfortable using a foundation primer paired with a traditional foundation.  This one by Rimmel worked great and with a price tag of only $4.97 I was super pleased!  In case you were wondering what shade I got, I went for the lightest one they have in Light Porcelain.  If you want to see my Sugar Skull makeup (which includes a YouTube video showing how I got the look), then just click here.

I have SO many lip products I very rarely ever buy any at the drugstore.  Each season I'll pick up a couple/few from Sephora or Ulta, but I have really backed off on buying a lot as it's almost impossible to use them up!  I hadn't ever bought any of the L'Oreal Paris Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lipcolors,  so I went ahead and grabbed this one in shade #104 Dancing Rose.

It's really pretty and I do like it.  As with most lip products this wears off kinda quick on me, but it is really pretty and I do really like it.  The color is super pretty, nothing too bright, but definitely not nude.  Great everyday/easy color.

Wax melts galore! If you couldn't tell, I am somewhat obsessed with wax melts.  I burn them every single day of my life.  I love my candles and I usually burn those everyday as well, but I never EVER miss putting new wax melts in my tart burner.  My personal favorite brand is the Better Homes and Gardens ones that I get at Walmart.  My go-to year round scent is definitely the Orange Buttercream Cupcake.  I have mentioned that one on here no less than a dozen times, it's a scent that you can use every season.  It basically smells like Fruit Loops.  LOVE it and will never be without it, I always buy every box they have of it on the shelf.  The other ones I picked up were some strictly Fall flavored ones:  Banana Bread Pudding, Whipped Pumpkin Cream, A Thankful Harvest, Spiced Pumpkin Pie, and the At The Fair duo which contains Spiced Caramel Corn and Cider Apple Fritters.  I have tried all of these now and my favorites (of the Fall varieties) are the Banana Bread Pudding and At The Fair duo.  YUM.

I also got the value packs of the Scentsationals wax melts in Cupcake and Pumpkin Spice.  It's hard to tell in the photo but these are MUCH larger packs than the Better Homes and Gardens ones.  I always keep the Cupcake scented ones on hand, I definitely think that is the best one in the Scentsationals line.  The Pumpkin Spice one is SOOOOOO good!  Definitely grab it if you see it!
Have a great day everybody!

Sugar Skull Makeup!

Hey gals and ghouls! While I don't really dress up for Halloween regularly anymore, I still really do enjoy it.  I've always been more of a fan of traditional Halloween costumes instead of your really predictable/sexy ones that you see more of these days.  Día de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday to celebrate loved ones who have passed.  For the holiday skulls are usually handmade, either out of sugar or clay, then painted and decorated and either given to children or placed on altars.  For this Halloween look I decided to do my own personal take on a sugar skull, and I really like how it came out!  This costume is an excellent for letting your creative skills go wild.  Classic designs include an upside down heart or a cobweb on the forehead, a rose on the chin, and of course the hollowed out eyes with the colorful edging.  

Makeup used:

-Maybelline Master Prime Blur + Smooth Primer
-Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation in Light Porcelain
-ELF High Definition Setting Powder
-Maybelline EyeStudio Eyeliner in Blackest Black
-Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner (Black)
-NYX Matte Eyeshadow in Black (square, older formula)
-Blue/Red/Yellow/Green/Purple colors were all from a generic Halloween makeup palette from Walmart that was around $3
-Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Marvelous Mauve
-NYX Slide On Eye Pencil in Azure
-Gold Eyeshadow from Lorac Pro Palette (I)
-Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadow in Masquerade
-Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy
-Milani Supreme Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in Blackest Black
-Guerlain Maxi So Lash Mascara

Here is a video on how I did the look!

Thanks for stopping by guys and have a great weekend!

Fall Fun: Family Pumpkin Party & Glendale Crossing Festival!

Hey guys!  We are fully enjoying Autumn this year, and I thought I would share with you some stuff we did over the weekend.  We traveled about 3 hours north of where we live to visit some family for some fall fun!

We kicked things off with lots of good food followed by a pumpkin party!  We had a pumpkin carving station and a pumpkin painting station.  So fun!

Love spending time with my family!  My greatest treasure <3

David with the pumpkin "we" created, lol.  Even though he never even picked up a paintbrush, he did cheer me on the entire time I painted it. #WeMakeAGreatTeam

In case you didn't recognize him, it's Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

Everybody did so good!  The pumpkin on the right reads "DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE."  My cousin Skylar did that one and if you've ever carved a pumpkin you'd know how hard it is to carve out words.  I was so impressed!

We started off the next morning with a donut run.  I loved the festive box they came in!  I totally recommend the pumpkin donuts and the salted caramel latte donuts.  YUM.

After the donuts we headed on over to the Glendale Crossing Festival in Glendale, KY.

You park out in the middle of a ginormous corn field that has been cleared.  This place is PACKED with people but they have tons and tons of parking.

There are around 500 art, craft and food booths here on the streets of this quaint little town.  So much to see and do with a country charm all it's own <3

We had a blast just walking around together snacking on kettle corn, brisket, polish sausage dogs, chili and funnel cake, enjoying the sounds and smells of this small-town shindig.

One of my favorite booths was this one that made one-of-a-kind witch hats.  So cute!

(I put a spell on you....because you're mine)
Thanks so much for stopping by today!  If you ever get a chance to go to this festival then I highly recommend it.  Festivals in Kentucky are the best!  If you have any questions just let me know! xo-

Another Fall Bath And Body Works Haul!

Hey guys!  Today I wanted to share with you a few new things I have REALLY been enjoying from Bath and Body Works!  Their Fall stuff is my favorite for sure, and I have been using my body stuff and burning my candles like crazy.  I had to place another order last week to replenish some of the stuff I have been using up.  Here's what I got!

I picked up 3 more candles, as I have already burned and finished a Leaves and Marshmallow Fireside this month.  I was also super eager to try the new Radiant Red Maple candle they have this year.  Leaves and Marshmallow Fireside are my favorite BBW candles EVER,  so I wasn't surprised to find that while I do enjoy the Radiant Red Maple, it is not as good as the other two.  It smells great out of the jar, but it just really isn't that noticeable when you're burning it.  I do like it, but without a doubt if I had to recommend one it would be either of the other two.

Candle descriptions:

And the last thing I picked up was some body stuff for me and also some for a gift for someone else (I didn't photograph any of that stuff).  I love using pumpkin scented lotions this time of year, and I had used up the ones I had left over from last year.  I was so happy to get a few more to be using, my favorite is actually not the pumpkin ones, but the Suncrisp Apple Harvest.  Yum!

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend everybody!

A Week Of Fall Family Fun!

Hey guys!  We had such a fun and happy week, and I wanted to share some of the highlights with you!  Earlier in the week we went over to Virginia to see some family and to do some bowling!

There's never a dull moment when my aunt Kathy is there!

Cruising the streets of Norton in the mini-van.

We had no idea their bowling alley was closed on Tuesdays (really??), but we still had a smashing good time!

We picked up our niece and nephew for a weekend of Fall fun with some friends.  Friday night we headed on over to the Fallsburg Fearplex where we enjoyed a Haunted House and Corn Maze, the Appalachian Nightmare 3D, the Backwoods Blackout, a trip down Crazy Creek, and the Hell's Wagon Paintball zombie shoot.  SO fun!

(In case you are interested in going!!)

(on the wagon getting ready to shoot some zombies with our paintball guns!!)

#EricaByMySide

Saturday morning we rode in the Jenny Wiley parade!  Kentucky has the BEST festivals in the Fall.  There's nothing like our small-town shindigs!

My boo thang <3

Saturday evening we spent the evening playing in the arcade and filling our bellies with pizza and cheese sticks!

Sunday morning it was off to church for the homecoming celebration.  Gotta give props to my niece for the excellent choice of accessories she chose to pair with her Sunday school attire.

My mom and Ronnie <3

Photobomb!

I'm so proud of you, Gunnar!

...and you Kaffy...

...and of my sweet niece.

I hope you guys had a blessed weekend with your family and friends as well, and that you have the spookiest Halloween season ever!