Warm silver eye and outfit of the day

Hi Nesters,

I know warm and silver seem contradictory. But in this instance, it's a fitting description. Today I wore a heathered gray sweater with a black and gray lace print scarf so I thought a silver look on my eyes would be fitting. However, being a person with warm-toned skin, very cool icy silvers can leave me feeling washed out or a bit stark. So I selected colors that are predominantly silver or gray but with a slight warm cast to them.

Viewing the swatch palette I created here, you probably wouldn't imagine the final result would be as silver as it is. . .proof that you can't judge an eyeshadow by its photo or even by what you see looking at it in the jar. You must try them on. The colors I used here created the perfect warm silver monochromatic look I was hoping for. I hope you like it too.


*All colors are Aromaleigh.

This collage is a great representation of what I wore today.

Great "Cyber Monday" deals for my Nesters!

Hey Nesters! Check out these great Cyber Monday deals on fashion, beauty and skincare. . .

E.L.F. Cyber Monday Deal! 55% off sitewide with $25 purchase! Use code BCG55 11/28 - 11/30

ShoptheLook.net Cyber Monday Deal! 60% Off with code STLCM10!

ULTA CYBER MONDAY ONLY - Pick 1 of 3 travel bags and get 12 free samples with $35 purchase


ULTA CYBER MONDAY - 10% off your purchase with code CYBERSAVE10. Exclusions Apply. Nov 29 Only

And here are some other great holiday deals from ULTA. . .

Click on the photo to get your fabulous deal

Aromaleigh's newest farewell collection: Astronomical

Hi Nesters,

My friend and fellow blogger Cin just emailed me about Aromaleigh's newest farewell collection. . .Astronomical! Of course the neutrals and highlight colors immediately grabbed my attention. But there are a few other non-neutrals that I'm curious to try.

Here are the ones on my "gotta have it" list: azimuth, binary, dark matter, ephemeris, heliosphere, milky way, perihelion.

And here are the ones I'm contemplating: big bang, extra-galactic, magellanic, mega parsec, neutrino.

An excerpt from Aromaleigh:

Cyber monday is approaching, but we're starting early with vault sales MYTHOS, SPELLS, WONDERSTRUCK and a new collection, ASTRONOMICAL... all available at $3.50/jar!

Also a special bonus... for every 10 jars purchased in the vault sales, you'll receive a free bonus eyeshadow from the vault collections... please write this color selection (and alternates in case colors are sold out!) in the comments box of paypal checkout...

Photos courtesy of Aromaleigh

Meow purple jewel-toned holiday look

Hi Nesters!

While I'm patiently (not!) waiting for the arrival of Meow's newest limited edition holiday collections, Reindeer and Sugar Plums, I thought I'd play around with some of my favorites that I picked up last year. I love these colors in particular because of the rich jewel-tone quality they impart when applied in combination with one another.

If purples aren't your thing, Meow's holiday collections offer many color combinations from which to choose to create your own jewel-tone look. For an emerald look try: dirty snow, verdue and jangle

Dirty Snow (12 Pains): Off white pearlized - inner 1/3 lid and as brow bone highlight

Rose (Winter Spirits): Chilled radiant raspberry - center 1/3 lid

Chianti (Winter Spirits): Magenta-hued garnet - outer corner/v and underneath bottom lashes

Permafrost (Glacial Grove): Pale peachy mauve with silver sparkle - to blend out crease

Drama Red liner from Aromaleigh - lined wet on upper lash line (I forgot to include this in my swatch chart above - oops)

Coming soon...2 new Meow limited edition collections!

Hi Nesters,

Here is a preview of Meow Cosmetics' two limited edition holiday collections which will be orderable December 1st and will be discontinued December 31st. Click here to visit Meow's Xmas Shoppe and drool over the holiday collections you can have now.

"Reindeer. . .This holiday season, believe. The holidays are pure joy and magic when seen through the eyes of a child. This season, recapture a little of that magic with a color palette kissed with wonder. Specially formulated for sheer luminosity they are lovely and sophisticated when worn in pairs for a tonal look. Soft, airy and iridescent, these playful light hearted shades with transport you to a place where Reindeer can fly."




"Sugarplums. . .As sweet as sugared plums and holiday fairies, these lovely shades sweep on a rush of holiday color."

Groupon "Secret Shopper" page for Black Friday/Cyber Monday!

Edited to add: A lovely reader (thank you!) informed me that my link wasn't working. It's all fixed now so have fun checking out the special deals!

Groupon has put up a secret, hidden page for Black Friday and Cyber Monday with five special deals available nationwide . . . but only through direct links. That means you won’t find them anywhere on the regular Groupon page but you can find the Groupon Secret Shopper page here!

Happy shopping!

e.l.f. look and review

Hi Nesters!

This is my first experience with e.l.f. (eyes lips face) cosmetics. I heard about them on a beauty forum and discovered that they are very affordable and can be found in some local drug stores as well as online.

At just $3 for an entire 6-color palette, I couldn't resist giving e.l.f. a try. Being a neutral loving lady, I grabbed the Neutral palette. It contains 6 eye shadows and 1 brush. Each eye shadow measures 3/4" x 3/4". That's pretty standard for palettized eye shadows. In my opinion, the brush that comes with the palette is pretty useless for applying eye shadow; however, it's fabulous as a brow powder brush or for applying the darker eye shadows wet as liner. The palette even has a little mirror for on-the-go touch ups. But you probably won't need it. These shadows are very pigmented and last all day. I used Aromaleigh's shadow primer before applying the eyeshadows and my look lasted all day without creasing until it was time to remove it for bed.

Using my numbered palette photo as a guide, here is how I see each shadow:

#1 is a frosty winter white that reminds me of pixie dust or snowflakes. It is not opaque so this one would be best used as a sparkly accent. You could also carefully dip a powder brush into this color and apply it as a body shimmer for the holidays.

#2 is a sheer shimmery sparkly gold. Another great accent color. Would make a nice body shimmer just like #1.

#3 is a very opaque shimmery (no glitter) coppery/bronze brown. Great lid or crease color.

#4 is an opaque shimmery (no glitter) platinum (if gold and silver had a baby, this is what it would look like). Very sophisticated and a fabulous lid color or a nice highlighter for darker skin tones.

#5 is an opaque shimmery (no glitter) warm tan. This is my favorite color in the palette. It is one of those colors that can stand alone as a combination lid/crease color for those days when you're in a hurry. I'll have to investigate e.l.f.'s product line further to see if I can get this color as a single since I can see it getting the most use in my palette.

#6 is an opaque shimmer (no glitter) dark bark brown with a warm highlight. Great as an outer corner color, crease color or use wet as a liner.

Go get your e.l.f. palette here: Black Friday Deal! Buy 1 get 1 50% off plus free shipping on orders of $30 or more! Use Code BCGBOGO50 11/25-11/27.

Black Friday Sale - e.l.f. cosmetics!

Click here to get this fabulous Black Friday Deal! Buy 1 get 1 50% off plus free shipping on orders of $30 or more! Use Code BCGBOGO50 11/25-11/27.

A busy week. . .

"I'd like to be the ideal mother but I'm too busy raising my kids." ~ Unknown

Hi Nesters,

Do you ever have weeks where not much is going on and it's smooth sailing all the way, and then the following week seems to be scheduled full of errands and appointments every single day? Well, I'm having one of those busy weeks. Aside from all of the regular take/pick up kids from school, make dinner, clean up, help with homework, etc., I've got a bit more going on than I usually do.

After I dropped the kids off at school this morning, I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. Then I met my mom for lunch and did a little shopping. We had a great time. We haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks so it was nice catching up. Tomorrow I work in Cameron's class in the morning, have my nail appointment after that and then I come back to his school in the afternoon for his awards assembly. No appointments on Thursday but the kids are out of school for two days so that always presents it's own challenges. I have my "every 10 weeks hair appointment" (2+ hours) on Friday. I'm going to go lighter this time and get back to being closer to the light blond hair with low lights that I had for several years prior to going dark last fall. I asked DH and he said he prefers my hair lighter blond but that I look pretty any way I do my hair so whatever I want is fine (I love that man). I've enjoyed the "in between" color I've been sporting for the last several months but I've been feeling it's time for a change.

I also just remembered that a Groupon I purchased for an airbrush spray tan is going to expire on the 12th so I've got to fit that in somewhere this week. Thursday night is looking good for that. I just hope they have an opening. I've always wanted to try a spray tan so I figured at about 1/2 price it was worth giving it a go. I don't want to be dark or orange, I just want enough color to take the glare off my blue-white legs and stomach. They'll probably pick a color that matches my forearms and shoulders which are a few shades darker than all the other skin on my body that never sees the light of day. If it turns out well, I'll post pics of my new hair and tan.

And lastly, Cameron's second to the last soccer game of the season is Saturday and we have some "couple friends" and their kids coming over in the late afternoon to hang out afterward. That's my week in a nutshell. I suppose I should get off the computer, get the little man tucked in and get some rest. I think I'm gonna need it. ;)

Blog giveaway madness!

Hi Nesters!

Here are some fabulous giveaways I thought you might enjoy. There's something for everybody.

Note: Each blogger has their own contest deadline and set of rules to follow in order to enter the giveaway. Please read their details carefully. Good luck!

Saving with Shelley is giving away some Lemon Pepper Panko and a Chef Chiarello Cookbook

BeautyPop is giving away a lovely Benefit "Valley of the Stars" kit

See Girl Cook is hosting an EcoBags giveaway (I'm a HUGE lover of reusable bags)

Painted Lady Fingers is giving away your choice of 8 Konad nail art plates.

Sierra's new room

Hi Nesters,

It took Sierra going away to Disneyland for a 3-day weekend of dance workshops for me to finally take some photos of her new room. Well, the room itself isn't new but the paint, furnishings and accessories (basically everything except the ceiling fan) are.

Sierra turns 14 this December and she and I decided it was time for a more sophisticated look. Cameron started 1st grade so it was time for him to get an upgrade as well (he got Sierra's old platform bed and desk). Collecting things here and there, the room was completed over the course of a couple months. I didn't want to just open up a catalog and say, "I'll take that room." And although we started from scratch, we didn't spend a huge amount of money since we did almost all of our shopping at Target and Wal-Mart. The antique furniture was handed down to me by a relative when I was Sierra's age. I used it until around age 18 or 19 when I left the nest. Thankfully, my mom saved it in storage all these years.

Sierra's room is not a large one (about 11 x 10) but there is room for her to comfortably walk around the bed and furniture. Her old bed used to be up against the wall so she had more room to play on the floor. She's older now so that's no longer a necessity. Sierra loves how her room turned out and so do I.

I don't like sliding closet doors so we removed them a long time ago. Shower curtains are a great substitute for a door. You just fling it to the side and you can see your entire closet at once.

How the paint color (a dusty lilac) appears in this photo is the best representation of what it looks like in real life.

And some of the adornments...

Every teenage girl needs a spot for her memorabilia.

We might have to upgrade this photo collage frame with a larger one but it works for now.

These shower curtain rings look like jewelry.

Embroidery and cut work detail at the bottom of the closet curtain.

Close-up detail of the window sheers.

Pewter finial and sheer scarf.

I love this whimsical mirror clock. The ring of numbers is wider on the left side. It makes it look as if you're viewing it from an angle.

Sierra's room before

Sharing this: Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts