Happy (early) Birthday To Me!!!!!

Aside from my ear lobes, my first major piercing was my nose, which was done when I was fourteen. To this day I have a feeling one of the reasons my dad agreed to take me was due to the fact that I had just recovered from back surgery several months earlier...but I digress...

Since then I've become obsessed. From then to now I've gotten the following pierced:
*4 holes in each ear
*labret
*tongue (most recent)

This year for my twenty-fifth birthday I decided to gift myself a tragus piercing. Working in an office environment means that I either need to be able to take out the studs or hide them...which makes new piercings a little difficult.

The ironic part is a couple years ago when I got my fourth holes done I swore I'd never do it again...and yet, I still decided on a cartilage piercing.

I went to Pleasurable Piercings, which is where I had my nose done and truthfully is the only studio where I felt the most comfortable. When I walked in, the girl behind the counter helped me to choose my jewelry and explained in full detail what I needed to do in order to help the healing process.
Once I was called into the piercing room, Jaime, my piercer, explained everything from how the tools were sterilized to what he was about to do. He even intently listened as I rambled on with nervousness, helping me to calm down. He was really great.

The procedure itself was, well, surprising. I had heard from numerous people that it would be quite painful and I'd even hear a "pop", but all I felt was a slight pinching which only lasted no more than a minute.

I must say, next to my nose, this is probably the easiest piercing I've ever had. Aside from a slight ache which lasted all of an hour, I haven't had any pain, in fact, I can't even tell there's a stud in my ear.

If you're in the NY/NJ area and are looking to get pierced, I completely recommend Pleasurable Piercings. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, not to mention very clean. You never see someone not wearing gloves and the piercers even wear masks for a more sterile environment. I don't know why I went elsewhere for my other piercings but I'll definitely be back for the next one (which will probably be my rook)...


As always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.


Note: I am not affiliated with Pleasurable Piercings or the Association of Professional Piercers. I have not received any kind of compensation to give a positive review. I am solely a lover of piercings and body modification.

My First Pearls

Last night Jason and I celebrated a belated Christmas and I was really touched by what he gave me...my first pair of real pearl earrings.
What made it so special was the fact that he had remembered a pair I had my eye on months ago and had been in search ever since.

Sometimes he can really surprise me and this as one of those moments...

Thanks for taking the time to read this :)

Simply Divine

With the warm weather approaching, I switched fragrances.
I love my Betsy Johnson TooToo but, in my opinion, it was a little heavy and sweet for the Spring and Summer. Over the past few days I've been wearing Philosophy's (You Are) Divine.

I received it as a Christmas present and originally felt it was to sophisticated for everyday use but I am in love with this fragrance. It's so perfect for the warmer season as it starts sweet but dries light and very pretty.

~Notes~
I have had no luck in finding a list of notes, however, to me it starts with a grapefruit scent and works it's way down to a mixture of lemon, vanilla, and a light floral.

~Overall View~
I'm not sure if the idea of this came out before or after Coty bought the company but I am incredibly impressed. Not only is there a difference in the bottle, but the fragrance itself. It's certainly more mature than all the other Love/Grace scents. I don't know what they did differently but I hope they continue this process with the rest of the products. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore all of the fragrances but it is disappointing that they never last longer than a few minutes after the initial spraying. This one stays with me a long time, but still has the signature "clean" scent to it.

The way it's looking, I think I'll be wearing this one for quite a while.

This is exclusive to QVC until Dec. 2012 and can find more information on it HERE

Note: I purchased these products with my own money. The opinions expressed in this post are those of my own. I have never accepted any kind of compensation in exchage for a review. For mor information, please check out my Disclaimer.

A Belated VDay Gift

My ring finally came in!!!!!!

I had been wanting something like this for a couple years and my fiance just completely shocked me with this beautiful piece. I couldn't believe that he remembered, right down to the cut of the diamonds!!!!

Birthday Haul

I am so excited!!!! I got so many fun gifts (and gift cards) from my family and have a lot of ideas for future posts :)

Something I'm really excited to try out are a set of nail pens. I had seen these on QVC during the holidays but every time I even considered ordering they'd sell out. I honestly have no clue as to how these will end up but I can't wait to try them out!

I also got a set of sprays and a "bath spa" set which consists of gel, bath salt, lotion, etc.

My sister gave me a two-part gift....the first was a scarf which I think will look really cute in the office(couldn't get a good enough picture of it), and the second was a couple of very tasty cakes-we ate them so quickly that there wasn't time to get any pictures...lol

With some gift cards that I was given and had managed to save up, I went to Sephora where I got the Too Faced Natural at Night Palette and was given my VIB gift-a set of two lip balms from Bliss.

The Bare Escentuals boutique was a lot of fun! The sales associates let me try out the skin care products that I had been curious about and really took the time to explain all the details about what they do and how to use them. I walked out with the Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser, Deep Cleansing Foam, and the Purely Nourishing Moisturizer. I also picked up the Ready Touch-Up Veil along with one of the 2.0 shadow duos in The Scenic Route.

Last but not least, my fiance surprised me with a really pretty gold chain necklace that I had wanted. It's quite long and can be worn in multiple ways (I've been having a ot of fun with it for the past few days :)

I'm really looking forward to trying all of these products out, along with posting all of my reviews. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts!

Gift Spotlight: Philosophy

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened these gifts....

~Christmas Cookies Trio~

Amazingly enough, this is a set that I had never seen before, a set of three 16oz 3in1s of Christmas Cookie, Pink Frosted Cut-Out, and Goody Graham Cracker. Apparently this was exclusive to QVC and was only on the air a couple times (both in which they quickly sold out). Upon taking a further look for this post, I found that it is no longer available. I am beyond thrilled to have this because last year I missed out on the Cookies for Santa set and was really disappointed when I couldn't find it this season.

The scents are exactly like their names:

*Christmas Cookie smells exactly like a buttery sugar cookie

*Pink Frosted Cut-Out (to me)almost has a strawberry like scent to it

*Goody Graham Cracker smells just like a graham cracker

In all three you can pull out the ingredients (butter, sugar, cinnamon, etc) and smells so yummy! As with the other Philosophy food scents, these do not disappoint. For an added bonus, the recipe for Christmas Cookies and Pink Frosted Cut-out are on the labels. 

~You Are Divine~

I literally screamed when I opened this one. This perfume is exclusive to QVC until Dec. 2012. The few times I had watched it I mentioned to my MIL (another Philosophy addict) how difficult that was because I was tempted to order but at the same time wanted to be able to smell it first. 

The scent itself is amazingly beautiful. It's nothing like the Grace or Love perfumes (as wonderful as they are)  -this certainly stands apart.  It's so sophisticated and classy not to mention it lasted all day. This is one I'll probably end up using for special events as opposed to everyday. Click HERE for a more in depth product description.

Note: These products were gifted by a family member. The opinions expressed in this post are those of my own. I have never accepted any kind of compensation in exchage for a review. For mor information, please check out my Disclaimer.

Gift Spotlight: Caboodles Storage Case

I admit, upon opening this I was undecided as to whether or not I liked it. It only took me a few minutes to realize that yes, I do! In fact, I'm already planning on purchasing a second for travel.

There's a smaller top compartment which right now is being used to hold my eyeshadow quads and trios. The bottom compartment is deeper and is where my larger shadow palettes are being held. It also comes with a removable pouch for brushes. Ironically, I was reminded just how helpful this is to have last night when I had another casualty involving one of my glasses (let's just say my vanity has changed since my original storage post).

I've been using this for a few days and am actually enjoying it a lot. I love that it's easier to see my eye shadows, not to mention there's a lot more room. I'm still ify over the brush pouch but since I got this there's been one less glass to knock over.

Pros:

*nice organization

*sturdy case

*great for travel

Cons:

*need to play around with whatever is inside to get the case to close properly

*brush pouch (not sure about it)

*not a fan of the lock

All in all I'm actually surprised at how much I like this. I never realized how helpful it can be to have a make-up case, especially since I don't have much space.

Note: These products were gidted by a family member. The opinions expressed in this post are those of my own. I have never accepted any kind of compensation in exchage for a review. For mor information, please check out my Disclaimer.

Gift Spotlight: Revlon Essential Styler

One of my favorite gifts this year was a new blow dryer. It's not much but it meant the world to me, mainly because my dad picked it out.

A couple weeks ago he and I were out shopping and I mentioned that I had to buy myself a new hair dryer. I had completely forgotten all about that until Christmas morning when I unwrapped my gift. My mom told me he picked it out himself :) To me that was so sweet that he remembered (especially since I did not...lol).

To some people it might just be a basic blow dryer but to me it means the world :)

Oh, and if you're wondering about the quality, it's pretty good. Not only did it dry my hair quickly but the attachment that hooks on made it easy to do a blow out which meant I didn't have to go crazy with my flat iron.

Thanks, Dad :)