Tag Archives: sparkle

Spring Cleaning Tips You Need For 2024

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Spring Cleaning Tips You Need For 2024

We’re moving into a new year which means that you have to start thinking about how you want it to begin. Some people want to start their new year with a huge bash but who wants to start with a house they have to clean up?! Getting your home cleaned at the beginning of the new year can make a huge difference to your health and well being but it can also make a difference to the way you choose to get organized.

We may still be in the midst of winter and spring is a few months away, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get the house cleaned up and ready to go for the season. In fact, with the tips below you can ensure that every inch of your home is cleaned out and is ready to feel great. Let’s take a look at some tips that’ll help you to kick off well:

Start from the ground up:

The first thing is to get the vacuum cleaner and rid your home of dust and that starts with the floors. You need to vacuum everything from carpets and tiles to window tracks and skirting boards. Cleaning along all of these areas prevents the dust building up any further than it already has. Go cordless if you want to get everything done but always have a corded vacuum cleaner in the background just in case!

Wash the walls:

Not many people think that their walls need to have anything done to them but washing the walls down is a great idea. Mixing a sugar soap solution in a bucket of warm water is the first step, the next is a flat mop. This will help you to wash the walls top to bottom without streaks being left anywhere.

Clean the bathrooms:

Bathrooms are germ cesspits and yours is no different no matter how often you clean it. Don’t just clean the bath and shower or the toilet, but clean the extractor fans, too, as this will stop any dust flying through the air and misting your bathroom with more dirt.

Bring in the carpet cleaning experts:

You can either hire someone to do it for you or you can hire a carpet cleaning machine and do it yourself. This should be done every three to six months because of dust and mite build up in the fibers. Cleaning out the carpets can also be done with steam cleaners and shampoo, but you need to make sure you don’t over wet it. The last thing you need in your quest to clean up is mold growth in the carpet and that musty smell that follows.

Sparkling windows:

When was the last time you had your windows professionally cleaned? It could be a great gift to yourself this year to have them cleaned on the inside and the outside. You won’t really notice how dirty the windows have become until you give them a proper clean. You can vacuum the tracks and then go through with warm water and detergent to scrub the windows, tracks, and the windows themselves. Always use a squeegee to remove any water so that you can get rid of any streaks.

Kick start your spring cleaning now for a squeaky clean home to welcome the new year with!

Featured Image By: Pexels

New Light Pink & Bright Pink Glitter Nails

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New Light Pink & Bright Pink Glitter Nails

Hello!! Last week, I fell down several of the hardwood stairs at my mom and dad’s house and it was AWFUL. I was battered and bruised everywhere and I hate to brag but the bruise on my hindquarters looked like a galaxy lol. As I was falling and realized what was happening, I assumed the protective position to avoid breaking a nail because you all know where my priorities lie! I was so proud of this accomplishment, so you could imagine how pissed I was the following day when I broke a nail from simply carrying my groceries in!! I was in desperate need of a fill and repairs, and my girl Mary at Elysian Nails delivered with these adorable Valentine’s Day talons:

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Normally, I am not one for holiday themed nails. However, I LOVE creating Valentine’s Day OOTDs and I wanted my nails to reflect that. I originally was playing around with a combination incorporating white but I wasn’t feeling red and white and pink and white reminded me of Pepto Bismol haha. So, I decided to go for pretty in pink, instead, and chose a soft light pink and a sassy, glittery bright pink for some sweet/tart fun. I think they turned out great!

Mary expertly replaced my badly broken nail that I had to repair with super glue as well as one that was lifting. She also applied the acrylic thicker than normal to help support the stiletto shape. My nails have seriously never felt better or stronger and I appreciated the time she took to fortify the claws. The last fill I had was done by my friend in my apartment and her acrylic wasn’t the best. I didn’t even notice how flimsy my nails were until I got back into the salon and high quality acrylic was used. While it was so nice to get my nails done from the comfort of my own home, I will definitely be sticking to the salon from now on.

This trip to Elysian Nails was much needed and I am in love with my girly V-Day nails. I can’t wait to show them off in new OOTDs coming soon so keep it posted!!

What color of nail polish are you rocking? What are your thoughts on holiday themed nails? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

New Emerald Green & Silver Glitter Nails

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New Emerald Green & Silver Glitter Nails

Hello! This past Wednesday was a really busy work day for me and I was so happy that I got to squeeze in an appointment for a fill at Elysian Nails in between shifts. The expert pampering by my favorite nail tech rejuvenated me for the rest of the evening and I still can’t stop looking at my nails to save my own life! I decided to go glitter this time around and these blingy talons are nothing short of spectacular. Check it out:

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Christmas is fast approaching and, as you all know, I am really not one for holiday themed nails. I go about three and a half weeks between fills so I would rather have something that works for that entire length of time rather than just one day. While I was mentally choosing my colors before my appointment, I thought that an emerald green would be pretty and I could pair it with a champagne pink or navy blue to avoid a combination that was too Christmasy. However, that just didn’t end up happening lol.

As I scoured the polish wall at Elysian, I instantly fell in love with the glitter green and began to search for another color to compliment it. While there were some shades that I originally had in mind that looked good together, they just weren’t hitting the way I wanted it to. Sometimes, the best thing to pair with glitter is more glitter and I decided to go all out with the sparkly silver. I figured that this combo wouldn’t look that festive but I was dead wrong once my acrylics were painted!

Once my nail polish was on, I looked down and all I could see was a Christmas tree! In fact, my brother told me that they looked exactly like a Christmas tree with tinsel and that only further confirmed my fears lol. Then, I kept looking at them again and again and found myself slowly growing obsessed because these nails are gorgeous! They are definitely not what I would normally go for but that makes it fun. The dazzling glitter makes it look like my nails are drenched in diamonds and how can I complain about that? They are a girl’s best friend, after all. 😀

A fairly recent trip to the hair salon and a fresh fill have me perfectly OOTD ready for holiday celebrations and I can’t wait. Thanks to my beloved Elysian Nails for another year of fabulous pampering! ❤

What color of nail polish do you have on? How do you feel about holiday themed nails? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Face Mask Festivities: Que Bella Recharge & Restore Gel Mask Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: Que Bella Recharge & Restore Gel Mask Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to a new edition of Face Mask Festivities! Today, we are going to be discussing a gel mask by Que Bella that I definitely plan on purchasing again. I so enjoyed using this mask for a multitude of reasons and consider it a steal for four dollars. Let’s get to it:

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This Que Bella Recharge & Restore gel mask had it all. First and foremost, it was pretty! I love, love, loved the glitter and the deep purple color and even if the mask didn’t work very well, it still would have earned brownie points for that reason alone. For fifteen minutes, I felt like the weirdest looking fairy princess ever with all that sparkle! 😀

Not only was this mask obviously really visually pleasing to me but it worked great too lol. I used it when I woke up in the morning and could tell that it had caffeine in it because I felt wide awake after washing it off! My skin looked and felt rejuvenated and also tingly in the best way possible. The charcoal powder also eliminated the blackheads near my piercings which is always nice.

I wasn’t expecting much out of this mask for its price and was so pleasantly surprised by it. I would happily use it again and plan on buying other Que Bella masks on my next Target run. I highly recommend it and the masks would also make great stocking stuffers! *Hint hint* 🙂

How do you like to relax? What is your favorite drugstore product? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Accessory Story: Halloween Haul Pt. 2

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Accessory Story: Halloween Haul Pt. 2

Hello! After acquiring our Halloween costumes, Johnny and I realized that we didn’t have everything that we needed. So, we made our way back to Spirit Halloween to pick up some odds and ends to complete our costumes. Makeup was an absolute must but I also needed to grab some type of skirt for my bodysuit style costume, which I can’t wait to show you all! Now, take a look at this part two Halloween Haul:

Despite getting everything that we needed for our costumes, I will be the first to admit that Johnny and I should have done this a lot earlier. When we hit the store last Thursday, Spirit Halloween was so picked over with entire displays completely bare and a check out line longer than waiting for a ride at an amusement part. I think if we waited even an hour longer to go, we wouldn’t have gotten the last few essentials for our costumes!

Originally, I wanted a black tulle skirt to compliment my bodysuit but there was none to be found. All that was left was purple and red skirts so red it was! Because the red was going to be such an abrupt pop of color, I decided to go with the glitter top hat headband to tie the look together. It might work or it might not but, on the bright side, I could use it if I celebrate Halloween as a sexy Mad Hatter next year lol.

With the costume accessories taken care of, it was onto makeup and Johnny purchased us a palette with red, black, and white cream based makeup. While he selected our face palette, I needed eyelash glue in a bad way because all of mine was no longer usable. I won’t be wearing the bow fake eyelashes with my costume but it gave me all of the Hello Kitty vibes and I couldn’t pass them up. So cute!

And, finally, the hair glitter was not really a costume purchase either but something fun to have. I used to love using gold and silver spray glitter in my hair for some fairy sparkle so I just had to buy a can for myself. I was a bit disappointed that there was no gold glitter but beggars can’t be choosers when the entire store’s supply was almost entirely gone.

Partially for costumes and partially for fun, Spirit Halloween provided me with another successful accessory haul. I can’t wait for all of you to see mine and Johnny’s Halloween OOTDs so keep it posted!

What is your favorite holiday? What did you dress up as for Halloween? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

New Sparkling Cherry Cola Nails

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New Sparkling Cherry Cola Nails

Hello! Because of a busy work schedule, it took me longer than usual to get into Elysian Nails for my monthly fill and let me tell you – I needed it! My nails were so grown out and I broke one of them at work and it was unbearable to me to have a stumpy nail for over a week. Thankfully, my go to girl, Gabby, always gets my nails looking right and I am in love with my new claws. Check it out:

I have been getting my nails done for years and Gabby is, hands down, the best nail tech I have ever been to. She works so quickly but in that time she creates masterpieces and her attention to detail is astounding. I was really impressed this time around because she didn’t even have to remove my nail that broke which is what I have always experienced before. She shaped a good as new talon out of the broken remnants of my pointer finger and free shaped the acrylic to lengthen the nail. This was so awesome to me because I absolutely hate getting acrylics removed and this was a pain free and crazy quick alternative.

As per ushe, my nails turned out flawlessly and I am completely obsessed with my color combination this time around. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted for this fill as I have been more focused on what my nails for my wedding will be like – especially because I’ll be getting them done at my next appointment! I normally have a pretty good idea of the colors I would like to have before I go to the salon so I approached the polish wall hoping that a shade would jump out at me. And that’s exactly what happened!

The first bottle of polish that I saw was the sparkling raspberry red and I fell in love with it instantly. The hue made me think of a freshly opened can of Diet Coke (My fave!) even though the cans are silver! I decided a cherry cola theme was the way to go and settled on a pinky mauve shade which worked perfectly because of its brown undertones. The end result was even better than what I had in mind and I can definitely picture myself getting this combination again.

Saying I look forward to my monthly fills is the understatement of the century and I left the salon feeling like a million bucks and then some. I simply cannot wait for my appointment for my wedding nails to get here and know that I will be in the best hands at Elysian Nails! ❤

What do you call pop in your neck of the woods? What were your nails for your wedding like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

If The Shoe Fits: Nine West Kitten Heels Edition

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If The Shoe Fits: Nine West Kitten Heels Edition

Howdy and welcome to another new edition of If The Shoe Fits! Today, we are going to be talking about the most darling pair of kitten heels by Nine West. I have had my eye on these adorable mini pumps for at least a year on TJMaxx’s online store. However, every time I want to order them they never have my size. After what seemed like an eternity of sold out size sixes, I finally snagged a pair and I couldn’t be happier so take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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As you all know, I live for a chunky platform or wedge heel. I actually don’t care for stilettos on me so a kitten heel is the closest I will get to it! I think kitten heels are the perfect combination of sweet and sassy and these Nine Wests are a total testament to that. The sleek jet black adds the oomph while the rhinestone wrap around the ankle adds that little bit of sugar. Is that sweet and sassy or what?

I feel like these kitten heels would look amazing on anyone and they also come in a charming shade of blush pink. Easy to dress up or down, the mini pumps would look stunning with a shimmering New Year’s Eve party dress. They would also be just as flattering with a pair of skinny jeans and a sharp blazer for an evening drink with the girls… Post-COVID, of course.

I am ecstatic to finally add my Nine Wests into my always growing shoe collection because I have waited so long to order them! And, I actually only own one other pair of kitten heels so now my lonely solo pair has a companion. For forty dollars, these babies are a steal and I wouldn’t wait too long if you want to grab a pair for yourself!

What is your favorite shape for a heel? How do you take a look from day to night? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Tooth Glow Gem Kit Review

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Tooth Glow Gem Kit Review

Hello! A year or so ago, my cousin applied tooth gems to my pearly whites during a visit to her salon in Pittsburgh. Within a few weeks, one of the two gems fell off. The other one, however, managed to stay on until just about a month or so ago. I absolutely adored my tooth gems and I missed my smile without them so I purchased a few Swarovski crystal kits off of a site called Tooth Glow.

The crystals I picked out were lovely, light pink and a multi colored opal and the application process looked promising, so I was very eager to get my package in the mail. After what seemed like an eternity (AKA over three weeks, lol.), my Tooth Glow kits arrived and I applied them the same night.

Bear in mind, there was still bonding on my teeth when I took the selfie – it looks a lot better now, I swear:

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The application process for the tooth gems was really easy. First, I put some petroleum jelly on wax paper and used it to stick a gem to a cotton swab. After that, I mixed up a bonding type of concoction that looked similar to what braces are applied with. Then, I brushed the spot I wanted bedazzled on my tooth heavily with the bonding agent.

Once the bonding was on, it was essential to move quickly and get the gem on before it dried. This was a little stressful and I failed the first time. But, I succeeded the second and third time around and I am really pleased with the outcome! It’s nice to have some sparkly bling back in my smile and I would recommend the Tooth Glow kits, easily.

One tiny qualm, though. I was only given one packet of the bonding agent when I bought two gem kits. I’m a little peeved about that but it is still a purchase that I’m glad I made!

Have you been successful at doing DIY salon treatments? Or not so much? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Accessory Story: New Earrings Pt. 2 Edition

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Accessory Story: New Earrings Pt. 2 Edition

Hi everyone! As you saw yesterday, I purchased some earrings worthy of the Queen Of Hearts at Target. But, I didn’t stop there. NO SIREE BOB. Because, damnit, I just like to sparkle. Lol, I also ended up with a darling pair of glittery hoops and some dangly pearls that I just couldn’t say no to. I swear, I’ll stop buying jewelry… Said no girl ever! Take a look and let’s discuss:

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When it comes to earrings, I love when they have a lot of movement to them, which is what made me so attracted to the two pairs seen above. There is also nothing better than fun pairs peeking out from my short hair, making these two optimal choices to add to my collection. And, in my defense, I don’t own any earrings that look like my new Sugarfix and A New Day pairs!

I am so obsessed with the glittery hoops because of their unique shape. I really like the pink, rhinestone bordered gem stone dropping down into a sparkling hoop, making for fairy dust magic with every hair flip. And, I never say no to pearls, fake or not! The shape of the dangling pearls are also interesting because it goes from big to small, when it’s normally the other way around for a drop style pair. These earrings are classy but still a lot of fun and will be a great pair to mix and match with ones that are a little more fierce. My bloody knife pair, anyone?!

Nothing says “treat yoself” like some pretty new earrings… or four. But, hey, sometimes a girl just has to spoil herself! 😀

What do you like to buy as a treat yoself purchase? What is your most unique pair of earrings like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

The Balm Cosmetics Nude Beach Swatch In Bootylicious

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The Balm Cosmetics Nude Beach Swatch In Bootylicious

Hello! I recently acquired a new eyeshadow from my sister by The Balm Cosmetics in a shade called “Bootylicious”. So, needless to say, I was intrigued – and I’m sure all of you are too! As ridiculous sounding as it is, Bootylicious is a shade that is right up my alley. I never go too crazy with my eye makeup. In fact, I’m perfectly content with my love for colors in the bronze, brown, and copper family, which is why Bootylicious is perfect for me. And, a little glitter never hurt anyone, either! Check it out:

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^^^ The top heart is the eyeshadow wet and the bottom is applied dry. The first photo has the flash off and the second is with the flash on.

Because I am not the most adventurous when it comes to eye makeup, I rarely buy it when I’m out and about. I have my handful of shades that I’m comfortable with and I stick to them. So, it is always such a treat to get a new hand me down from my sister because I definitely would not have bought it for myself.

Despite never going eyeshadow crazy at Sephora, the warm cinnamon shade that is Bootylicious is actually one that I might have purchased. I love the cute as can be packaging, the hint of sparkle, and the inviting hue. It’s a fair bit darker than any of my copper tones that I normally wear, making it perfect for the winter weather. But, it is not so dark that it isn’t appropriate for spring and summer too.

This eyeshadow applied so easily and it stayed locked in place all day, which is always a relief because there is nothing worse than little dots of eyeshadow falling on your cheeks! My sister hit the nail on the head with this hue for me and I’m surprised she didn’t want it for herself. But, hey, I’ll gladly take it! 😀

What is your makeup style? What is your favorite eyeshadow shade to sport? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah