Polyvore, just for fun!

Hey Guys, I just discovered Polyvore! I am still playing around with it, but you can choose from a bunch of different articles of clothing and accessories and make style boards. Like the one I made below! I can't afford any of the items in this set, but I think they'd be cute and feminine together; the nipped in waist of the cropped-sleeve blazer with the fullness of the skirt, paired with the delicate blouse and pearls feels very 1949 Dior New Look to me, but I like the idea of using a few accessories with more of an edge to make it feel modern and more unexpected.

I don't know if I'll continue posting style boards like this to the blog, but I thought I'd try it out just for fun. Is that a Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week themed background I picked out? Maybe.

What do you guys think about seeing something like this every once in awhile? It's not makeup, but it is beauty related! Would you wear something like this? I tried finding hosiery on the site, but had no luck... I think this would be really cute with black knee-hi sheers with a flocked Swiss dot.

Chic Mint by taraven featuring a pave ring

Ralph Lauren Collection formal top
$1,330 - stylebop.com

Sia Dimitriadi full skirt
$767 - wolfandbadger.com

Jimmy Choo high heels
$995 - mytheresa.com

Lanvin mini shoulder bag
$1,590 - net-a-porter.com

Eddie Borgo pave ring
$525 - cultstatus.com.au

NOTD: L'Oreal Precious Coral

Hey guys, need a nail polish to go with L'Oreal's Sparkling Coral lipstick? How about Precious Coral, from the same summer collection? It's a gorgeous deep orange; definitely not as red as OPI's Off With Her Red! or Essie's Red Nouveau.

L'Oreal Precious Coral, indoor light

L'Oreal Precious Coral in outdoor light

Summary: What more can I say about this one? It applied well, lasted about an average length of time on me before it started chipping... The suggested price for L'Oreal's nail polishes are $5.99, but as with all of L'Oreal's line, retail price will vary from retailer to retailer, and you can often find these on sale or BOGO 1/2. One thing to note; the bottles hold .39 ounces of polish, not the more standard .5.

NOTD: Ulta's Set The Nude (+ Glass Slipper!)

Ulta Brand Salon Formula Nail Lacquers are on sale, 2/$4 this week at Ulta! That's a bargain, even considering that these bottles only hold .33 ounces, as opposed to the standard .5. These polishes are normally $6 each... so you know I picked up a few. Four, to be exact... I'd had my eye on a few shades, but was waiting for a good sale to come along. Set the Nude was actually not a color I planned on buying, but I had 3 non-negotiable colors and had to find a fourth to round out my purchase and to take advantage of the sale with. Set the Nude spoke to me; in the store's poor fluorescent lighting, I swore it was a beige putty color with a hint of shimmer. Imagine my surprise when I pulled it out the next day in natural light and realized it was a pale warm lavender-grey cream! I have to say, I was a little bit disappointed, but I quickly realized that I have a thing for muted purples, and this was a version of that color that I did not already own. Plus, my walls are a paler version of this color... I couldn't have painted my whole home a light warm lavender-leaning-grey if it was a color I didn't like! So here we go...

Indoor light:

Ulta's Set the Nude 

Natural light:

Set the Nude nail polish

But as soon as I got it on my nails, I was feeling a little bored with it. It's a nice color, but not exactly what I was in the mood for. I'd really had my heart set on a bit of sparkle! So I cracked open Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Nail Color in Glass Slipper, and added two coats of that for some silver flake fun. I really like the result!

Indoor light:

Set the Nude + Glass Slipper

Outdoor light:

Set the Nude + Glass Slipper

And just for fun, here's a comparison shot of my nails up against my walls! It's definitely in the same family, although my walls are lighter and read more "grey" than purple.

Summary: I found the formula of Set the Nude to be on the thick side (as many pastels tend to be), but it wasn't impossible to work with. I used two coats to get an opaque, streak-free finish. Glass Slipper was great as a top coat, but I feel like it kind of ate up top coat... In a weird way! It wasn't just that there was a texture, it was like the flakes were getting caught in the top coat and creating drag and wrinkling on the edges of the nails. Very strange. I used Seche Vite, I wonder if it's just not the right top coat for Glass Slipper, or if I need to wait for Glass Slipper to dry more before I add the top coat. (I generally add Seche Vite while polish is still a bit tacky; it seems to adhere better and reduces the risk of shrinkage.) Anyway, I've never had that happen before, even with rougher glitters and more textured flakey top-coats, so I'll have to experiment some more.

What do you guys think? Are you going to pick up any of the Ulta nail polishes while they're on sale? I am loving Glass Slipper so much more than I thought I would... It's more subtle than the iridescent flakey top coats we've been seeing everywhere, and the smaller flakes kind of give a robin's egg speckled effect. Very cool!

Oh, and please excuse my cruddy nails... I have been having a couple of bad nail weeks here... My cuticles have been complaining, they've been sooo dry, and I cannot keep my hands moisturized for the life of me! That's being reflected in my nails as well; they've been peeling like crazy, and they got stained red despite the fact that I use base coat religiously. I think it happened in the removal process... At any rate, I'm not feeling great about my nails right now!

L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Sparkling Coral

I promised you guys a closer look of Sparkling Coral when I posted this face of the day featuring it, and here it is! I found Sparkling Coral on a recent trip to Bed Bath & Beyond's amazing drugstore makeup department. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel like this is the best place to shop for drugstore makeup brands. If you have a Bed Bath & Beyond with a beauty department, take advantage of it! It's worth checking to see if one of your nearby stores has one. They don't run sales on their cosmetics, but they're less expensive than my local Target and Walmart, and you can use Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off and $5 off $30 coupons on the cosmetic and beauty merchandise as well. Plus, they have a great selection; lotions, shampoos, and conditioners that are difficult to find are often easily found on their shelves. And did I mention they are consistently the first store in the area to put out Special Edition displays, which are always magically well-stocked? Simply put, it's an amazing resource.

Anyway, they had all of the Spring and Summer LE displays out, and I snatched up L'Oreal's Sparkling Coral, despite having had a less than stellar track record with the Colour Riche formula in the past. I think my past few Colour Riche formulas had been just fine, but without anything specific to recommend them, and the waxy-floral cosmetic smell they gave off was a little off-putting. That being said, Sparkling Coral is a different beast. The formula is sheer and can be built up to medium-opacity. In this case, the slightly waxy formula is a great thing; it makes my lips look very full and air-brushed, with the layers of shimmer in the lipstick building to a kind of "jelly sandwich" texture. The color itself is really wearable, too; it's a sheer tangerine with coppery gold shimmer, but not so much shimmer that it is frosty. It's super flattering, and because it can be worn sheer, I think it would be flattering on lots of skin tones. Yes, it does have the signature Colour Riche scent, but it fades very quickly. You know what's funny is that it actually reminds me of my mom; she used a lot of Colour Riche lipsticks, and I remember sitting in the car with her while she touched up her makeup and having this specific scent flood the vehicle as soon as she pulled off the cap.

Sorry, I am waxing sentimental! Let's get back on track. The retail price on these, according to the L'Oreal website, is $8.95, although they can be had for far less, and are often run on sale in drugstores. L'Oreal often puts $1 off coupons in coupon circulars as well, so keep your eyes peeled for those if you buy L'Oreal products! I spent $5.99 on mine, which is Bed Bath & Beyond's regular price with no extra discount; I believe Target and Walmart have similar pricing on this item. Sparkling Coral has a slightly different formula than the opaque cream finish lipsticks in this line; I find Sparkling Coral to give me a little bit of hydration. Not enough that I'd use it instead of lip balm, but my lips don't get thirsty under this, and I don't feel the need to layer it with a balm. It feels comfortable and cushiony on the lip, much more like a thick balm than a lipstick. While there is a faint waxy-floral scent, there is no taste.

On to the photos; for reference, I am wearing the shade built up on my lips. It is about as opaque as I can get it in the following pictures:

L'Oreal Sparkling Coral Lipstick

It is housed in the standard golden plastic Colour Riche case

Sparkling Coral! 

Sparkling Coral in the tube; look at all that shimmer! 

 Here it is swatched; on the right, I have 4 passes, on the left, just one:

Swatches of L'Oreal Sparkling Coral

And another shot of it on the lips, because it's just such a gorgeous color: 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Sparkling Coral Lipstick

Summary: Can you tell I really love this lipstick? It is a new favorite. The color is amazing, and the sheer-to-medium-coverage formula is really easy to pull off. Plus, it just brightens the complexion; it's a great summery tangerine. I have no complaints with the formula aside from the scent, and even though I seem to be more sensitive to the way products smell than most people (I can't wear Rimmel lipsticks, for instance!), this does not keep me from reaching for this lipstick; the odor is very faint and fades within a minute or two of going on the lip. I'd recommend this lipstick without hesitation; for the price, I'm not sure you can get a better wearable sheer tangerine-orange lipstick. If you've been itching to try out the orange trend this summer, I think this lipstick is a good way to test the waters!

Bower of Blisse is now on Facebook!

Hi guys!

I am finally getting around to getting accounts and pages made for Bower of Blisse on other websites. Twitter is in the works, but I am happy to announce that Bower of Blisse officially has its very own page on Facebook! "Like" the blog over there and get a chance to directly interact with some fellow beauty lovers; it's also a great way for me to interact with you guys directly. Have beauty questions? Curious about something I've recently posted about, but know you won't come back to check on an answer in the comments section? Feel free to post about it over there! I am a dork for makeup, and I can't tell you how excited I am to get to interact you guys on a new platform.

Also, I'd love to hear what type of content you guys would like to see over there that Blogger may not be suited for. As you can probably tell, I'm excited to have a better platform for conversations between multiple people about things that may or may not be directly related to blog posts, but I am new at this!

And, if you guys have Facebook pages for your blogs, let me know in the comments and I'll "like" yours back! I am a Luddite and am just figuring out that Facebook is a great way to keep up with blogs, so I'm excited to hunt down some of your blog pages :P

Here's the direct link to Bower of Blisse on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blisseblog

I think now would be a great time to thank all of you for your support of this blog as well. When I started it, I thought maybe a few people would find what I was saying helpful, but am humbled by the outpouring of support I have received from the beauty blogging community. It's been immensely rewarding interacting with you all, and the blog could not have come this far without each and every one of you!

-Sarah