Etude House - #21

Direct sunlight.

This lovely color from Etude is probably my favorite out of the colors I picked up in my haul. Not only is the formula great, the color makes my heart bleed. I think it's because this is a vampy shade and that seems to be big in the Fall.

Indirect sunlight.

This polish could almost be called a jelly, if you're able to apply a layer thinly and evenly enough. I wouldn't call it that, however, as I'm not quite able to get that first layer to apply evenly.

These pictures have two coats and no top coat. As you can see, it levels out nicely and has a beautiful shine to it.

Etude House - #50

Direct sunlight

This nail polish was an absolute nightmare to photograph, but oh honey was it worth it. 40 photos and this is the only one that shows the polish's true potential.

Etude House's #50 is a navy blue based nail polish with tiny duochrome flecks that range between magenta, purple, and blue. In the picture I used three coats and no top coat, so this polish is slightly less opaque than Etude's other nail polish offerings. The layers even out beautifully, however, and does not leave the nail feeling thick. The formula was great, with no pooling, gloppyness, or weird bubbles and clumps. This gets an A+ in my book!

Stop & Chat: August 16-19 - Garden 5, EMart, IPark... Everywhere

I got a very special package on Tuesday that I will be blogging about soon. In any case, Tuesday was spent waiting for that package. I'm actually disappointed in myself. I spent so much time worried about that package that I didn't really do anything. I watched YouTube all day and played the various Halo games with my siblings. Technology is so awesome, so long as you don't become completely entrenched in it.

Anyways, on to the rest of my week!

Willow Metals - Deep Purple Amethyst Studs

After Julie's post about Willow Metals, I couldn't help but meander my way to Heather's Etsy store and take a peek myself. Imagine my pleasure when I saw this lovely set of earrings for the low cost of $19!

These earrings have 5mm African Amethyst cabochons set in a sterling silver bezel. As Julie pointed out in her post, these are a comfortable wear.

I also have to take some time to gush over the packaging. The earrings came in a bubble mailer that had a sprinkling of lavender and rosebuds in it, leaving everything smelling absolutely divine. Within the mailer was this little package with a simple yet beautiful wrapping of tissue paper and yarn. Within that bag was the purple cloth drawstring you can see in the top picture, which had the earrings within. Between each layer (except the one between purple drawstring and earrings) was a healthy coating of bubble wrap. I appreciate all the care taken to make sure these earrings got to me in South Korea in one piece. I will definitely be buying from Willow Metals again in the future!

Have you checked out Willow Metals yet?

Etude House - #83

Indirect sunlight.

Etude House's #83 is a bright blue with a world of application issues.

In the shade.

 Pictured is two coats with no top coat. I had issues with the layers not leveling out properly and the polish looked gloppy in some areas. To its credit, the polish is incredibly pigmented, but I think that lends itself to the polish's inability to level out. I have yet to try this with a topcoat as I don't actually have a topcoat that I like at the moment, but I'm hoping that once I do the issues with the formula won't be as noticeable on the nail.

Still a gorgeous color, though!

Sniff My Tarts - Jack Frost/Candy Cane/Winter Green

Scent Description: Creamy mint, vanilla/Christmas candy canes/cool, crisp notes that will export you to the forests of the frozen alps.

Date Received: March 7, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.8 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 Candy canes, strong mint, and the hint of one of my favorite hard candies? Yes, please!

Warm Sniff: 5/5 This swayed between a candy cane blend and a generic minty blend. The wintergreen continued to be a background player, making this a very minty, very cool weather kind of melt. The vanilla toned down some of that typical minty bite, but not so much that it lost its cool. Hehehehe. See what I did there?

Scent Strength: 2.5/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room and some of the bedroom.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got about 7 hours of scent from one chunk.

Repurchase: Yaaas! Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Nikkie Tutorials. This was a perfect melt for a day where it wasn't too hot for a warmer yet still hot enough to make one wish for cooler days. I may or may not have broken out my Fall box early. It's sitting next to my living room warmer, taunting me with its promises of cooler days and more wax melting. I haven't melted anything from this box yet, but each day I'm tempted a little more. Please forgive me, Deb!

Etude House - #25

Indirect sunlight.

 The first of my Etude polishes, this is an interesting color. I picked it up thinking it was purple, but now that I've worn it and photographed it I've noticed it's very nudish. Maybe mauve? You tell me. LOL

Direct sunlight.

In the shade.

This is one polish I love, but the formula can be a bit tricky to work with. It levels out nicely, but is prone to bubbles as you can probably tell in the pictures. There is a small window to apply the next layer of polish. Apply too soon and the polish will be streaky and uneven. Apply too late and the polish gets gloppy. If you let the first layer dry beyond that glop timeframe it'll be fine, but it takes a few minutes. If you apply nail polish as fast as I do, it can become inconvenient when the polish doesn't dry to the right consistency on your timeline. It's a relatively minor problem but I'm picky, dangit! All of the pictures above feature two coats and no top coat, so you can see that the polish is incredibly shiny.

I would say this is a repurchase, but the logical part of my brain knows how long it'll take me to go through this bottle of polish and I have yet to repurchase a nail polish in the 6 years I've been consistently following nail polish/nail art.

Stop & Chat: August Happenings

I know, I'm a horrible photographer. How dare I take a vertical picture!!

Something miraculous has happened with the weather today and instead of it being 33+ Celsius in the house, it's stayed below 31. As a result, the office actually feels quite nice. So I'm taking this opportunity to catch up on my blogging and breathe some life into this place. It's not forgotten, just very much put on the back burner. I feel like everything I post has a complaint about the weather. I would apologize for that, but I'm really not sorry. When you're spending $400+ a month on electricity and your house is still above 85 degrees you'd complain, too.

Haul: Etude House July 2016

Oh, girl. Have I got a basket of complaints for you! Not about these products. Just about life and hot-as-balls-temperatures and photography woes. How am I supposed to take pictures when it is constantly overcast/raining? How am I supposed to write out a blog post when just thinking about sitting in the office makes me sweat in all the wrong places? My temporary solution has turned into bringing out the laptop. Which involved stealing it from M's work bag LOL. He is not a happy camper today. Anyways, that rant is for another post and another time.

Today I'm going to talk to you guys about my lovely haul from Etude House! This was the same store I had the lovely experience I talked about in this Stop & Chat post. Just thinking about it gives me (and my face) a warm glow.

Anyways, let's move on to what I got!

Band of Bloggers - Vol. 8/August 2016

Welcome to the August 2016 edition of Band of Bloggers! Record temperatures across the globe have us feeling the heat and looking forward to Autumn, especially those delicious scents that make our homes feel warm and cozy. 

This month we are sharing our favorite fall blend and also the vendor we would turn to first to order this blend. 

In the non-wax related category, we're each recommending a book that we have read and loved. 

  

Please join in and comment with your number one fall blend and definitely give us your best book recommendations!

My favorite fall blend would have to be any blend with Balsam and Cedar. I melted it for several fall seasons after my mother and I stocked up on the candles from Bath and Body Works at their Semi-Annual sale. What, they were $2.50 for a 3-wick and 25¢ for the tiny candles! You can't tell me you wouldn't stock up if a scent you liked was that cheap. ;)

White Fang by Jack London

"In the desolate, frozen wilds of northwest Canada, White Fang, a part-dog, part-wolf cub soon finds himself the sole survivor of a litter of five. In his lonely world, he soon learned to follow the harsh law of the North—kill or be killed.

But nothing in his young life prepared him for the cruelty of the bully Beauty Smith, who buys White Fang from his Indian master and turns him into a vicious killer—a pit dog forced to fight for money.

Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master or will he die a fierce deadly killer?

A classic adventure novel detailing the savagery of life in the northern wilds. Its central character is a ferocious and magnificent creature, through whose experiences we feel the harsh rhythms and patterns of wilderness life among animals and men."

This book is an oldie (published in 1906) but a heartwarming story in its own little way. I have read this book several times since my first reading in 2011 when it was assigned for one of my classes. Since then I have picked up a very old copy of the book from the thrift store and cherished it as if it were a children's tale. It is, of course, not a children's tale, but it's one of those stories that has stuck with my since the day I read it.

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Please visit these Band of Bloggers blogs
and help support the blogger community!

Deb, at It's Always Something.

Julie, at The Redolent Mermaid.

Lauren, at Lolo Loves Scents.

Liz, at Furianne. 

Michelle, at Waxing About.