Girly Stuff

Prom season is here and the stores are filled with sparkly, pretty, elegant dresses just waiting for someone to scoop them up and make it theirs…to be matched by the girl’s date, to be in countless photos and to always be remembered. I still have my prom dresses, do you?

My niece is currently searching for a prom dress and it’s unfortunate that we don’t have too many places in town for her to look to find “the one.” Fortunately, ordering a prom dress online is a fantastic option to browse through many styles, choose different colors and have way more to choose from…perhaps even find a fantastic deal (which I’m sure her mom would love even more!).

You can find a plethora of prom dresses online at http://www.jenjenhouse.com/

I am a fan of how they offer dresses that are appropriate for prom. There are some dresses with a short hemline for those that prefer it, but they are tasteful, fun and stylish. But what girl wouldn’t want to feel like a princess in a long, flowy dress like these?

As you can see, most dresses have “More Color Options” underneath the photo. When you click on a dress, you are brought to another page to more photos, read more details about the dress, and also select which color you want…they have a long list of available colors!

One of my personal favorites…if I were to be picking for myself or my niece… is this first dress on the top left…with a sparkly top and fun purple tulle floor-length hem. Heck, I might even need to consider that gold one in the middle on the bottom for our next cruise’s formal night!

JenJenHouse has so many different dresses and I love how they have several different ways to search for what you are looking for…such as a particular color, hemline, neckline, price and more. Here are just a few…

They also have plenty of accessories to accompany your dress selection. I just love how a matching wrap makes a dress look complete.

To see the entire selection of prom dresses at JenJenHouse and to discover any current deals they are having, just go here: http://www.jenjenhouse.com/Prom-Dresses-c18/

 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the company. Thanks for reading!

I received this product in my Violet VoxBox from Influenster.

I am a big believer that you get what you pay for when it comes to nail polish. I don’t really put colors on my fingernails, mostly because my fingernails look terrible (New Year’s Resolution for the 20th year?), but I do like putting colors on my toenails. However, I am kind of lazy about it…I like having a good quality polish that I can paint on and forget about it for a few weeks and not have to worry about chipping or peeling. I’ll find a color I like and if it works well, I will continue to use the entire bottle until I can no longer scrape any nail polish out of it (does it bother anyone else how those brushes NEVER reach the bottom?!).

Since I had JUST painted my toenails, I figured I’d be brave and paint give myself a little manicure with my new PURPLE nail polish!

About Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish

Water to workout, day in and day out, nothing will dull these nails. The gloss is protected with the Ultimate Shield Complex, exclusive to Sally Hansen, designed to help polish withstand the wear and tear of everyday living for non-stop shine. Outshine ‘em all with our 29 shades!

 

When I first put this nail polish on, I immediately noticed that the color stays true to what you see in the bottle…the purple is just as dark and doesn’t come out looking watery.

The brush itself is actually different than any I’ve seen before…it’s wide and flat, helping to provide better coverage with each swipe on your nail. I think this helped me, seeing as my nails are small and short, the less strokes I have to make, the less chance of error.

However, I don’t like how small the bottle opening is…it’s only slightly larger than the brush handle. I foresee many messes being made by me quickly trying to brush back in the bottle and accidentally scraping the sides.

I put on 2 coats, just to make sure they would show up really well in the photos, but I probably could have gone with just one. And the “Triple Shine” in the name is the truth…I didn’t even need a top coat, the polish was shiny enough that I didn’t need it!

Going back to what I said in the beginning of this post about getting what you pay for…drugstore brands of nail polish sometimes get a bad reputation for not being good quality, but this nail polish is trying to give that reputation a run for its money. You can quality nail polish in bold, shiny colors without breaking the bank with Sally Hansen Triple Shine.

I was thrilled to be accepted into the most recent campaign from Influenster - the Violet VoxBox!

Influenster is an amazing site that lets people try new products in exchange for sharing their opinion through social media. Sometimes they’ll send one product to try, sometimes they’ll send an entire box! I have been involved in several campaigns since joining several months ago and have come to love many of the products I’ve tried and even made some of them permanent fixtures in my life!

I received the Violet VoxBox a few weeks ago and have been having fun trying out the products that were included. I’m going to post individual reviews on some of the items over the next couple of days and will link to them in this post, but for now, I wanted to share the goodies I received!

Stay tuned for the reviews!

 

As we move more and more into a technology-driven/dependent society, the joy and thoughtfulness of a handwritten note can be lost among emails and texts. Back when I had a few professors and employers submit recommendation letters for my Master’s degree program application, it felt really nice to give them a handwritten thank you note for their time and effort, but I honestly haven’t written one since.

And as much as I try to move more of my stuff to my laptop, iPad or phone, I still find myself writing to-do lists on post-it sheets. I don’t know why, but I seem to feel more accomplished with the act of actually crossing through an item once it’s complete.

If you like the idea of handwritten notes/cards and pretty stationary, but don’t really find yourself actually shopping for those items, let me introduce you to the new mail subscription service from Ginger P Designs called Ginger Mail!

Ginger Mail is composed of stylish stationery goods by Ginger P Designs such as greeting cards, monthly calendars, notepads and more of their latest products. Each mailing pertains to a theme, which varies based on seasons, trends and other inspirational ideas.

The subscription service arrives on the subscriber’s doorstep every six weeks. Each mailer is accompanied with an introductory and greeting message explaining why the theme was chosen as well as an explanation of each item included. Perfect for gifts or for enjoying oneself, Ginger Mail will fill the need and desires for creative sparks and little surprises, all of which are conveniently sent straight to the recipient. Ginger Mail is perfect for busy moms who are constantly on the go but still have a creative side they like to feed!

ABOUT Ginger P Designs:

Ginger P Designs is a modern and fresh stationery business that specializes in wedding invitations, save-the-dates, holiday cards, greeting cards and all sorts of custom paper goodness. Started after Gina Peterson, owner & creative mind behind Ginger P Designs created her own wedding invitations, Ginger P Designs has evolved from a modest shop on Etsy, to being a key player in the custom design and paper goods business.

 

My shipment came mid-December and was conveniently Christmas themed!

It came in a bright pink mailer and inside was a bunch of Christmas-themed goodies.

I liked how they sent just 1 or a few of each item, as I often buy packs of stationary items and have several go to waste because I only need a couple.

One of my favorite things was this little mini calendar of December. Even though we were already halfway through the month (I opted in late), it was still a cute little addition to my desk. I already have a calendar, but it doesn’t have cute Christmas trees on it.

I also love this little notepad for making lists that says “Making a list and checking it twice.” So cute!

There was also a recipe for Candied Pecans, which we can testify make awesome Christmas snacks and gifts.

You can never have enough gift tags and these are much more unique than any I put on our gifts this year.

There were also 3 Holiday cards in various sizes, perfect for that last minute card you need to give Aunt Edna or your neighbor because you forgot to order enough photo cards…oops!

 

The costs for Ginger Mail is $15 per mailing and are available in increments of 1 mailing, 3 mailings, 5 mailings, 1 year or an on-going membership. You can gift it to yourself or someone else. To find out more, you can visit their website here: http://justaddgingerp.com/ginger-mail/

 

Connect with Ginger P Designs on Facebook

 

I received this product in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own and honest.

I recently received the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation from Influenster for testing purposes.

I was excited to try it out…the last time I received a foundation from Influenster, it turned into one of my favorite products that I use every day! It was about time for a new foundation and this new foundation didn’t disappoint.

About Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation:

A feather light, oil free formula with an airy mousse texture that won’t feel heavy or greasy. Delivers all day shine control and blends flawlessly for a natural looking matte finish. Minimizes the appearance of pores. The weight is over – finally, shine has met its matte.

The Stay Matte Foundation really does have an airy, mousse-like texture, which is apparent from the second you squeeze it out of the bottle.

You might think that a mousse foundation couldn’t possibly provide full coverage…but you’d be wrong! The foundation is surprisingly thick given it’s feathery texture and I was even more surprised at how well it evenly covered my skin and wasn’t cakey at all. Most days, I didn’t even need concealer for extra coverage because the foundation covered it well enough.

Because I have oily skin, I prefer matte skin products. Matte products help hide oiliness and keep the shine away. This Stay Matte Foundation goes on matte and stayed that way for hours. I didn’t even need to use face powder to hide any leftover shine that I sometimes get using other foundations. This next photo was from Halloween after I’d been wearing this foundation for several hours and running around to get everything ready. AND I’m wearing white without any makeup marks on it!

Perhaps my only negative is that I wish it was a shade darker. I received the foundation in “Light Ivory” and I had to use extra bronzer to make sure I didn’t look like a ghost. Even though the foundation blended well, I had to pay extra attention to edges to make sure it was blended enough and that there was no visible line. There are 8 shades, so I will definitely be searching to see if the next shade is what I need.

You can find it at a number of local retailers or online at Amazon.

 

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I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.