Influenster: Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen Review

Hello everyone,

Influenster Summer Beauty VoxBox

This is the first post of several Influenster posts.  If you do not know what Influenster is, it is a free testing service where you get a package (called a VoxBox) filled with new products that you must test.  Here is a link to the website: www.influenster.com, I highly encourage you to sign up!

This picture to the right is just a collective photo of all the products I received FREE from Influenster.



So in this post I will be reviewing Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Sunscreen Lotion if SPF 30.  It also comes in SPF 12 and 50.  A 6 oz bottle is priced at $8.99.

This was one of the products that I saw and wasn't really that excited about it, until I realized that I was...if that makes since.  Basically I haven't been one to use sunscreen (bad, I know) but when I got this it just made sunscreen more appealing.

First of all, it is a sunscreen lotion.  This is very evident in the way that it applies.  It doesn't just sit on your skin like most sunscreens I have tried in the past, but it actually hydrates your skin and supplies it with moisture and protection.

As far as the scent goes, it does smell a little bit like a sunscreen; but, it also has a nice relaxing sweet and summery smell that is subtle but still detectable.


I am really pleased with this product.  The bottle I got is 2 fl oz and is just the right size for my purse or backpack and makes applying on the go very easy and convenient.

DISCLAIMER:   I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

17 Challenge: Mix It Up

As I promised, I have the first installment of  the Seventeen Magazine nail challenge I have started for this summer and on.  (Click here to read more about it)

I actually did this nail design last Thursday, but I was busy enjoying my first few days of summer break to post about it, but now that it is the first full week of summer break, I have found some time.

This design was #13: Mix It Up.

The description of these nails was to paint all your nails one color and then do an accent nail on your ring finger.  I normally don't really like to do one nail a completely different color with nothing that ties it into the other nails, so I'm glad this was a challenge because otherwise I would not have tried this.

The colors I used were Finger Paints "Drawn to this Shade" (no surprise here, this is only about the 10th time I've done a post on this color).  But I did use this new color my mother got me a couple of months ago.  It is called "Stranger Tides" from OPI's Pirates of the Carribean collection.  It was only a dollar at this nail store that was going out of business.  

Actual color of the dusty green

I really didn't know when or how I was going to wear this dusty pale green color, but it contrasts nicely with the coral and I have started to really like it.   I used one coat of the coral and two coats of the dusty green because it goes on pretty streaky at first.

I also think that this accent nail is really cool.  My mom and brother, who's home from college, don't really understand why one color is painted differently.  I just tell them "17 Challenge" and they don't bother me anymore.  Lol =]

If OPI is your favorite nail polish brand, just go ahead and vote for it in the poll on the left.  If it is Finger Paints or something else, vote for that one.

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day...and I'll see you next time for another edition of the 17 challenge (or a random post or something).

Summer's Almost Here

UPDATE: You can now click on the nail designs in the list below to take you to the blog post about it.

I know it has been a while since I posted a nail design, nail tips, or basically anything, but school is finally out, which means that finals are OVER.

This means I will have more time to actually do my nails.  I haven't done them since my last post and they look terrible.  A manicure is definitely needed.  So look forward to more nail tips and designs.

Also, I received the latest issue of Seventeen magazine in the mail and it came with a little packet of 17 different nail ideas.  So what I am planning on doing is trying all 17 ideas by the end of this year.  NOTE: this does not mean that it will be all 17 in a row.  I like to alternate sometimes between plain or simple designs and the more complex and busy designs.  But I will definitely have them all "worn" and posted about by the end of the year.

Here are the 17 nail designs:

1. Stripes
2. Neon
3. Polka Dots
4. Glitter
5. Lace
6. Stars
7. Newspaper Print
8. French Tips
9. Graphic
10. Tie-dye
11. Cute Tattoos
12. Swirls
13. Mix It Up
14. Stickers
15. Pastel
16. Tribal Print
17. Half Moons

As I was typing this list, I realized that I didn't have a lot of the colors or supplies to make these designs, so yesterday I went shopping and found some of the ones that I needed for a couple.  I still have some more nail polishes on my list, but I do have enough for the next two or three designs.  

I started off with one of the rather easy designs: #13 Mix It Up.  Look for that post in the very, very near future =]

Comment below if you have any nail designs that you want me to try!
And don't forget to take the poll to the right of this post on your favorite nail polish brand!

How To: Color Blocking

Good evening everyone!

Tonight I am going to share with you all a how-to post on how I made the color blocked accent nail from my last post: NOTW Perfect Peach.

Oh and FYI, if you are reading this post late Saturday night, look outside.  The moon is the brightest that it has been this year, and probably for a couple of years.  The sky literally looks blueish purple where I live.


So back to nails.

Step 1: Paint your nails a solid white color.  (I had to use white because these colors were very sheer when applied just to the bare nail.)  Then use a black striper to create a bunch of little sections.  

The thing I don't like about this design is that it kind of looks 

like I was trying to make a star and then messed up, 

which I wasn't.  So just be careful that the design looks varied,

like in the first picture.

Step 2:  Fill in one or two spaces with one color.  I just used the tip of a small bobby pin.  Take the nail polish brush out of the bottle and just dip the bobby pin into the brush.  I tried to put dots on paper, but I think dipping the pin directly into the polish is easier.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 until all the spaces are filled.  Be careful not to get any color right next to each other.  Here's a link to the post of the swatches from this color collection along with the names.

In this picture, I have actually two different oranges on.
The space on the top right and the space on the
bottom left is the color I painted the rest of my nails
in the last post.

Here is the pink color.

The red-orange color.

And finally the yellow.

Just take a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover to clean up around the edges.

Overall, I like the way this nail turned out.  If it didn't look so much like a star, I think I would have liked it better.  The funny thing is that I like my accent nail on my left hand.  I'm left handed, so I thought my right hand wouldn't make the design look as pretty since it was my non-dominant hand. But I really like the effect, so I had to include a picture:

This nail design is really simple.  I even think it would look great as a design for all the nails, but I'm just too lazy and impatient to sit through and paint all of them like that.

Comment below if you like the design or if you have any questions.

See you all later <3

P.S.  I did my friend's nails yesterday for tonight's prom.  I wish I had taken a picture because it was this really pretty gold and white water marble with glitter sparkles.  Maybe later on this year I'll do it on my nails and show it to you all.  It was just that pretty.  So look forward about a month or two for that one.  But I will be doing another water marble design either for this upcoming week or the next.  I don't know...with finals and AP exams,  I'll try to find time.  Okay, this really is the end of this post.

Ulta Skittle Nails

Hey Everyone,

It is Sunday!  Yesterday I got up really early in the morning to drive two hours to perform a three minute song for a state competition.  As tired as I was, I drove all the way back.  But when we got back in the city, my mother and I decided to stop at Oberweis to buy some ice cream.  So anyway, long story short, I decided to stop at Ulta.  I had $3.50 off coupon for a while now and decided to use it.

Here's what I bought:

This is a five pack mini nail polish called "In Bloom."  The colors are exactly what I have been wanting.  I cannot tell you how long I have been looking for a perfect orange.  These are the perfect colors for summer!

Four of the five colors are glitters and one is an opaque orangish-coral.  This colors are  (in left to right): Snap-Dragon Me Down, Voted Most Poppy-ulur, In a Daisy, Tu-lip Service, and Fleur-ever Yours).

All the glitters are pretty sheer, so for my skittles swatch, I decided to layer them over one coat of Opi's Alpine Snow.  I just have a tiny bottle of the white polish, so the white coating underneath the base color is not well done, but I didn't plan to leave this on all day.  Actually I have a new design on now.  So yeah, I apologize for the terrible nail job I did. 

Here is a sneak preview for the nail design I have on my nails now, and what I will be sharing with everyone tomorrow:

"Color Blocking"

Look for tomorrow's post for the full manicure!

Until then, <3

"...Just Take One Step At a Time"

"...there's no need to rush". Yet again I gave away the title of the song. But who, I ask you, is the artist? Comment below and you'll get a prize*

Despite this song being about "steps", my main reason for this post is that I need to finish reading my book for this upcoming semester. So let's make the lyrics "just read one page at a time, you might want to rush." I really didn't have a plan to follow, plans are boring, However, today I did sort of make reading into a rewarding experience. I watch a lot of t.v. and unfortunately I can't always catch my tv shows the day that they air. Like for today, I'm going to the Cardinals game later on tonight and will not be able to watch Secret Life when the new episode airs. Thank goodness for the Internet though. So here's how the game works. Each page I read equals one minute of online tv. So in order for me to watch the Secret Life online tomorrow, I need to read about 43 pages.

I really think this idea is going to work. I ALWAYS watch episodes the DAY AFTER they air if I missed them. In other words, I best be gettin my read on.

"I Need Another Story..."

"...something to get off my chest"  Know the song and artist? Comment!


So as I was wasting time doing nothing, I decided to listen to Pandora (love Pandora, try it out if you haven't already) and this song came on.  These first lyrics from the song, made me think about my failed attempt to read a book FOR FUN.  *mentioned in Summer To Do List...Didn't, item #3.*


In the previous post I talked about how I am reading a mandatory book for my Honors American Literature class for my junior year of high school.  However, I wanted to do some more reading besides assigned.
And I'm not including, blogs, FaceBook, or even magazines <--- probably the issue in the first place


Current status on summer goal: FAILED!!!
I have two, no three "could be excuses" for why I have failed this goal.

1. I don't know what to read, and whenever I ask one of my friends for a recommendation for a book...they don't have one.
2. I owe about $10 in fines at my local library so I can't check anything out for fear that my picture is posted underneath a big WANTED! sign.
3. I don't like to buy books I will most likely only be reading once.

I would say comment if you've read any good books this summer, but honestly, I don't want to set myself up with another goal...which would most likely be FAILED as well.

But if you have a recommendation, go ahead and comment anyway.  Challenges are good, right?

"Whatcha Know 'Bout Me?" EOS Lip Balm and Shaving Cream Review

If you know what song the above in quotation marks is from, comment below!  By knowing this I also hope you realize that song does not directly relate to my topic, but still, it's close enough.

Website: CLICK HERE!

Last week at Walgreens, they had a GREAT sale on EOS lip balm and shaving cream.  Buy 2 for $2 (after cash register rewards).  But yeah, I bought four lip balms and two shaving creams.  I am sort of obsessed with sales, but I can always take them back.  The flavors I got were Summer Fruit and Honeymelon Honeydew in the lip balms, and Vanilla and Lavender for the shaving creams.

First off, the smells are great, they are not overpowering (a problem I have with Burt's Bees products).  Both the lip balms and the shaving creams are very moisturizing and are long lasting.  However, with the shaving creams...They say you don't need a whole lot, but conscientiously, I feel like I'm more likely to cut myself.  But you can definitely get away with just a little bit and still have long lasting moisture.

Bottom line: Great product for the price I paid.  I don't think I would have purchased this at the regular price ($3.49 for lip balm and $2.29 at Walgreens), it's a little expensive for my taste.  Honestly, I'll probably stay with the products I already have, and if they go on sale again, I don't mind repurchasing them =]

Tell me what you think about the product!!! 

"Hot and Dangerous..."

"...if you're one of us then roll with us"  Know the song?  Comment below!!!


It's hot out!  I may live in St. Louis, but it's getting hot.  Global Warming anyone?  I played tennis earlier today, 8 o' clock to be exact, and it was "burnin' up."  Not only is it hot, but like this artist says, it's getting to be dangerous.  The Weather Channel has issued heat warnings for the past five days, and I do not object.  Buuuuuuut, because of the hot heat, I am inside (still sweating, but not disgustingly I'll have you know) updating my blog.  It's a win/lose situation, but whatever.

Funny quote from my mother regarding the giant-sized Thermos she bought my brother for college:

"Hypothetical situation: Suppose he's at breakfast and he heard about a snowstorm coming tomorrow.  He now has a container to store milk in for cereal the next day.  See, since he didn't keep the snow shoes I bought him, he won't be able to walk to the cafeteria tomorrow.  So now he can just take the milk from the cafeteria."

Summer To Do List....Didn't

Like I said, I like to make lists.  However, sometimes I don't always complete all the things on these lists.  Example, this summer I made a list to with the following:

1. Exercise
2. Complete a knitting and crochet project
3. Read books
4. Make some jewelry
5. Make a checklist 

*that last one didn't even make since*

So, #1: Exercise:  I was on top of this one...for the first week of summer.  I speed walked on the treadmill for the first five days and burned about 500 calories each day.  I watched the Price is Right (yes, I'm serious about that) and I walked and won prizes (figuratively speaking).  I was on a roll.  Well, the weekend came, and the Price is Right's not on on the weekends, so I didn't exercise. Well that brings me to today....about two months later not having done anything more.  I mean, I played a little tennis here and there, but I haven't truly exercised.  I really am disappointed with myself on this one.  But it's okay, because I still have time before tennis starts.  And if it makes myself feel any better, I am exercising my fingers =]

I'll get back to those other ones, I've just depressed myself and can't even bare to talk about the other ones that I failed to do even more so then this one.  Stay tuned for an update on my "Summer Didn't Do List"