Breedlove Hoops

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You've seen my swatches of Vampy Valentine holo. Now it's time to see how the original Vampy Valentine compares. They are certainly similar, but still different enough that I needed both of them.

I know I recently wore Vampy Valentine holo, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to turn Vampy Valentine into something extra vampy for Halloween.

Vampy Valentine

Products used

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Sure, I love the crunchy leaves and warm sweaters. What I really get excited for is Halloween. It wouldn't be Halloween without skulls, so here's my take on the classic calavera.

Getting through my untried pile has been quite a challenge. After some debate, I decided that I needed to also try to get through my untried stamping plates. Here's what I came up with:

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I'm not entirely sure if I've ever told you, but I am a sucker for great packaging. I won't necessarily buy things just based on their packaging, but if I'm on the fence it could be the deciding factor.

Carmex recently released these gorgeous Moisture Plus lip balms with back-to-school fashion in mind. The packaging makes it feel like an accessory rather than a necessity, which I think is a pretty cool idea.


Each lip balm has broad spectrum 15 SPF, and is scented with a soft vanilla flavor. I've never used Carmex before, but it has a nice flavor.

I'm still on the quest to finish off my untrieds. My pile is slowing down for the moment, but I still feel the urgency to reduce its size. One of my untrieds was Emily de Molly Dark Forces.

Emily de Molly Dark Forces and Cosmic Forces are legendary in the indie world. Before I knew a whole lot about indies, I heard people reference Dark Forces frequently. At the time I didn't understand the indie hype, or why Dark Forces was so popular. After seeing it in person I knew it needed to be mine!


Formula: Nice consistency. Thinner than most jellies
Finish: Opaque black jelly with various shapes and sizes of circle glitter
Coverage: 3 coats
Notes: Some people have difficulties with the larger circles sitting flat. I didn't find this to be an issue despite my nail curvature. This definitely needs a thicker top coat to seal in the glitter.

Surprise! I have almond nails again. There's just something about the shape that makes me happy. To celebrate the shape change I asked Jeanette of @Netters_Nails if she would be interested in doing a twin mani. After sending a million photos to Jeanette, this is what we came up with.

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I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Yvette of Bliss Polish at Cocktails & Colors this year in Vegas. Over the years I heard a lot about Bliss Polish, but never got around to purchasing any. Lucky for me, our swag bags had two Bliss Polish colors inside. I can't think of a better introduction to the brand.

Nero

Cheers Two Years

Soiree 

Conclusion

Here's another mani that just happened thanks to my crazy untried pile. It's nothing fancy, but it helped me get through three untried colors.

I Love Nail Polish Happily Ever After

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This is possibly one of the most bizarre things I will ever review for you guys. Remember, this is coming from someone who is totally ok with putting snail secretions on her face in the form of moisturizer. I'm willing to go there.

Disclosure: If you are one of those weird foot-fetish people you can leave now. There will be no photos of my feet in this blog post.

Baby Foot is an exfoliant foot peel. It's like getting a strong chemical peel for your feet. If you've never done a chemical peel or used an AHA at home I will break it down for you a little bit. What you are doing is applying an acid which forces your skin to peel prematurely. Chemical exfoliants are used over physical ones because they tend to be more gentle.


If you know me, I don't do feet. A lot people have nasty feet and it's caused an aversion to them as a whole. That means you are going to have to look at photos of this box while I recount my experience with Baby Foot.

Each box of Baby Foot contains instructions, tape, and two booties filled with the chemical.


See the feet on the box below? Nasty! My feet weren't anywhere near that bad when I used this. I had some callousing from wearing flip flops in Vegas for a week, but other than that my feet were in ok shape.


I followed the directions on the box and started with a short pre-soak in water to soften my skin. After about 5-10 minutes I patted my feet dry and stuck them in the booties. At this point I sat down for the full hour soak, but found myself incredibly fidgety. I can sit down and binge watch OITNB or House of Cards, but don't you dare tell me I need to sit down for one hour for my safety.

After my soak I took a full shower to make sure that I got rid of all of the chemical. I wore socks and slippers around the house because literally everywhere I stepped smelled like the lavender fragrance they used in Baby Foot. Normally I love lavender, but smelling it for that long made me nauseous.

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I will give you one of many reasons to join Firecracker Lacquer's Facebook group. The first being that you get sneak peeks before anyone else. The second is that there is a kick-ass group custom that's only accessible to group members.

Better Than a Snitch

Conclusion

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Keeping with that retro Vegas theme this week is another groovy mani featuring Cupcake Polish and UberChic. Check out this far out combo, and let me know what you think!

Products used

• Cupcake Polish Bluebell Girls 
• UberChic 1-01 
• Sally Hansen Insta Dri Pronto Purple

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While the Glisten & Glow Cocktails Anyone collection was released this summer, it has some fantastic colors for autumn. Who said holos were only good for summer!

Midori Sour

Tequila Sunrise

Conclusion

The other weekend my dear friend Kendahl was in town, so we decided to browse the Portland Saturday Market. There were about a million shops, and so much going on that it was hard to decide what might follow me home. We stumbled upon this adorable tent and had to check it out.

Enter- Leeloo's Soap, aka my new love (sorry Brian).



The Soapicorn: The closest you will ever get to becoming a real unicorn. I deeply regret not buying one of these.


So many delicious scents that I could probably stay there forever.


I wanted to learn more about Janah's passion for bath and body products, so I emailed her a few questions.

What was your "ah-ha" moment that led you to make soap and other bath products? 

 - I have been an arts and crafts nerd my entire life, always creating. Then I went to school for cosmetology and started becoming more interested in beauty products and natural body products as a result of that. I started making products myself and quickly realized that I was in love with the way I could combine natural skin care with creative craftiness to make fun colorful bath and body products that are truly good for you. I was immediately obsessed. 

I noticed on your Instagram account that you use fresh ingredients to scent some of your products. What made you decide to do that over using pre-made oils?

- I like to add fresh natural ingredients whenever I can because of their amazing benefits like antioxidants and vitamins. I will still use pre made oils to scent products but I love to combine skin loving fresh ingredients with delicious smelling essential and fragrance oils for the best of both worlds. 

Are there any other local small businesses that you are hooked on? 

- I am totally obsessed with Saturday Market Vendors in general. I am always in awe of the crazy amounts of talent that are packed into that place every weekend and I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to join them. They are absolutely some of the most creative and supportive people I have ever known.

 Do you have any other things that you would like to say about your business?

- I love what I do and I'm grateful every single day for the people that support me and my products!! I'd love to say a huge thank you to all of my customers for making this possible for me.

My Haul

Caught 'N Candy is a sweet cotton candy scented bath bomb. It has a great amount of fizz, and isn't overpowering. I found this bath bomb to be incredibly moisturizing.