Holiday Gift Ideas / Wish List

Hi everyone! With the holidays fast approaching I thought it would be fun to do a little post on possible holiday gift ideas.  I am going to include both things I love and things I want. I would love to hear what you want Santa to bring so leave me a comment with your wish list! 

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For the candle lover on your list I highly reccommend Crosscreek Country Candles candle tarts. (Photo: an order I once placed) . Candle tarts are small wickless discs of wax which you place on top of either an electric or tea light melter. As the wax melts the scent releases and makes the area smell amazing!

I have been ordering from Crosscreek  for 7 years or so now, since the owner, Deana, started her business on Ebay.  She's since moved on to her own website  and it's been fun to watch her business grow.  She's become a friend over the years and I can honestly say her customer service is top notch. 

Her tarts are highly scented and gorgeous.  You can tell she puts a lot of love into her products and everything is made to order. They come in all types of shapes and sizes.  I love the breakable bars and the good ol' standard tarts (in the photos above)  but there are candy canes, pointsettas, snowmen, stockings, you name it!!!!!   You can order a Christmas Scent Sampler with 10 standard tarts for just $8.50 which is a great deal!  If you're not into the holiday scents you can get a U Pick Sampler for the same price with 10 scents of your choice.  There are so many ways to order, definitely check out her site. (pictured right: Birthday Cake shaped.) (Pictured below: Pretty Shimmer Poinsettia tarts.)

Make sure to visit Crosscreek soon though because Deana closes for the month on December 11th to spend time with her family. So don't forget to place those Christmas orders before then!  Let me know if you try them out I would love to hear your thoughts.  

BONUS: Scents Reccomendations: Funnel Cake, Pink Sugar, Pink Sugar Rush, Pink Christmas, Celtic Moonspice, Granny's Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Log, Ferris Wheel Treats, Bamboo Sugar Cane, Spa, Pink Noel. 

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Here's something from my personal wishlist that I will probably not get LOL. I have been lusting after this Lisa Taubes necklace (photo: LorraineStanick.com) ever since I started watching Lorraine's youtube videos.  She's always got this thing on and it's so pretty and elegant. I feel like it goes with anything. I really want the 5 foot gold because I love how it looks wrapped three times like in the photo. 

This is pricey at $148 but it's so so pretty. Someday it shall be mine (insert evil laugh).  You can get it on Lorraine's website.  As soon as I get a job (whenever that may be) I am purchasing this as a gift to myself. 

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Now, how could I not want this many nail polishes in one package?  This is the Sephora by OPI Mini Nail Colour Set. I think this is a fantastic gift to get a lacquer fanatic! Even though I probably have most colors that can dupe those included I still want it! I am a nail polish hoarder, what can I say?! 

This set has mini bottles of the following colors: 

A True Romantic, Techno Girl, Access 24/7, Ms. Can't Be Wrong, What A Broad, Just A Little Dangerous, Cab Fare, Caliente Coral, Special Request, High Maintenance, Sample Sale, I'm With Brad, Leaf Him At The Altar, Mermaid To Order, Opening Night, Already Famous, Dating The Drummer, Never Enough Shoes

Sounds good to me.  It's $48 at Sephora.com.

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If you have someone on your list that loves to read these bookmarks are the perfect stocking stuffer. You can get a set of two of these at Barnes and Noble stores for under $5.  I am pretty sure you can't order these online but next time you're in the store just go over to the bookmark section and I know you'll find them.  I adore these and have tons of them.  

You just slide the bookmark onto the page marking your last line. So you never reread a page you read because you just stick a random bookmark in or dog-eared the pages.  These are seriously the most simple things but they are just so cool. Honestly if you have a bookworm on your list I bet they will love these. 

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Well that's all for now, I hope you found this post helpful or at least fun.  If you are a fan of any of the items I mentioned let me know. Also, if you know something you think I would like let me know that as well.

Have a fantastic day! Thanks for reading!!!! :-)

I am not affiliated with any of the products/companies mentioned in this post. These are simply things I love or want.  I was not compensated in any way for these opinions. 

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OPI: The Show Must Go On (Burlesque Collection)

Hi everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. My poor husband had a stomach bug which landed him in the ER all day on Saturday but he's doing much better now. Poor guy always gets sick when he has a few days off, he can't catch a break. 

Today I have another color from OPI's Burlesuque Collection, this one is called The Show Must Go On. It's a gorgeous pinkish red with orange duo chrome. It reads more red on me but I have seen some swatches where it appears more pink. Weird right? In any case this is a beauty. The duo chrome finish is so pretty and interesting. It just plain sparkles in the right lighting. I love it.  You can really see the shimmer in the indoor photos I took on the bottom of the page.

I had no problems with the formula. I needed three coats for opacity, which I think is typical with most duo chromes. I didn't have any issues with brush strokes which is great considering the finish. It went on smooth and easily. 

 

So what do you think of this one? Hit or miss? I think it's just gorgeous. I can't get over the shimmer in this collection, I think companies have some a long way perfecting this formula. 

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P.S. I have been having issues with the Intense Debate commenting system, it just up and disappeared from some of my posts. I am working on it. Please please let me know via email: primandpolished@gmail.com or on twitter @primandpolished if you're experiencing problems with the commenting system.  

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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Comment Test

Suddenly Intense Debate stopped working. Just checking to see if it works now. So annoyed all my comments on the last post are missing. So strange.

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nubar: Competition Red, Pixie Dust and Nubar 2010

I hope you all had an amazing and delicious holiday and I hope you're home safe on this insane Black Friday. No deal is deal enough to get me out there in that craziness.

Today I want to share some nubar holiday polishes with you. I have Competition Red and two gorgeous glitter top coats Pixie Dust and Nubar 2010.  Let's start with Competition Red.

Competition Red is described as a "classic red creme" and that's exactly what this beauty is.  In my opinion it's neither a yellow based nor blue based red, I think it lies perfectly in the middle of the two. It's a gorgeous classic red creme. I cannot get enough of red cremes but that's just me.  I think it's a nice addition to their holiday basket. 

The formula on this is lovely. I needed just two coats for maximum opacity and the brush  works well so I had little clean up to do. It's super shiny, as I am finding most nubar cremes to be.  Have a look:

Gorgeous right? I think so! On to the glitter top coats!

Pixie Dust  is  described as "a delicate dusting of shimmer" and I agree. It's a sparsly placed teeny tiny glitter which adds a pretty glaze to the nail. It's subtle but really really pretty. I used 2 coats so you could see it well in the swatch.

Nubar 2010 is described as "a flaky glitter in a color changing base" and it is reminiscent of of Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure.  Flakies are ALWAYS pretty in my book and this is no exception. It flashes orange and green mostly to my eye. Check it out:

 See anything you NEED? Do you like the top coats?

Let me know how your Thanksgiving was? I am off to Thanksgiving dinner round two today!  

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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Color Club: Ready to Royal

Hi everyone! I hope all of my American readers are ready for a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I plan to eat... a lot.  Enjoy your time with your families everyone!!!!

Today I wanted to share Ready to Royal from Color Club's Untamed Luxury Collection. This is a super shiny, vampy royal purple color. It's so shiny in fact that in many of my photos you can see a reflection, which is quite annoying but that's life.  It boarders on black but it's purple enough for me. I love it. I adore all purples so I may be a bit biased. 

The formula was nice. I didn't have much clean up to do which is good because I usually do with dark colors like as this.  I used 2 coats and for the most part I am opaque with no streaks. There's a little balding on the pinkie finger so I suppose 3 coats would have been better but it's really no big deal.  

On to the swatches. Check out that shine!!!!

Did you pick up Ready to Royal this fall? Do you plan on picking it up? 

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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nubar: Marabout (Finest Silks Collection)

Hello lovelies! I hope the weekend was good and you're energized today. This week should be a fun one for me as it's Thanksgiving on Thursday. Thanksgiving is always a nice time. I overeat and watch football LOL. I cannot wait to set up my Christmas tree this weekend. I just love the holidays.  For my American readers, how do you celebrate Thanksgiving? What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Today I have another nubar color from the Finest Silks collection. This is Marabout and nubar describes this as "a deep muted brown". To my eye it's a taupe like the popular OPI You Don't Know Jacques . It's slightly lighter than that one which makes me like it a bit more because YDKJ leans a little charcoal on me.  

This is a lovely creme finish and it just glides on flawlessly. I am really impressed with this collection and really think the polishes are fool proof in terms of application. I have no issues with the formula or brushes. They're just wonderful, this is no exception. 

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So are you a fan or do you have enough taupes? I love it. I can't get enough of these colors. 

Don't forget to tell me your favorite Thanksgiving dish and your plans for this week! I am nosey!

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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OPI: Tease-y Does It (Burlesque Collection)

Happy Friday everyone! Who else is hoping to see Harry Potter this weekend? I hope we get to go. I know the crowds will be miserable but I am a huge fan and I am sure it will be so worth it!  Today I have a color from the OPI Burlesque Collection to share with you.

This is Tease-y Does It and OPI describes it as a "tempting burgundy shimmer". This color is quite vampy and quite beautiful. It's got a slight dark purple tone with tons of burgundy micro-shimmer in it. It's got the "almost black" thing going on but it's quite apparent, even in low lighting that this is not the typical black. The shimmer is prominent and beautiful.  It's not the most unique shade in the world but it's got a place in my collection for sure. 

I must be getting used to application with the pro wide brushes because I didn't have my usual application issues. I have been trying carefully to use the three stroke method and it's been working well for me with all brush types.  Even though this color is dark I did need three coats to reach full opacity and fix any streaks or bald spots. 

So what do you think of Tease-y Does It? Would you like to get this in your stocking this year? I love a good vampy polish so this one is a winner for me. It's not 100% unique in terms of color but that doesn't mean I don't love it and NEED it in my life.  And any good polish hoarder knows that even if there are colors that are similar no two colors are truly identical.  

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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Essie: In Stitches (The Fall Collection)

 Happy Wednesday all. I hope you're all having a great week. Today I have a color from Essie's fall collection to share with you. This is In Stitches and it's a typical work safe pink creme.  It's nothing exciting but it might be a staple for those of us who work in a conservative office as it's not offensive to the boss! I think it'd be good for an interview as it's not distracting or bold.

I found the formula on this one to be nice. I had no issues with application and it was not too thick to work with like some of Essie's lighter colors like Van' D Go.  I think this is well formulated and I don't have anything to complain about.

Not sure there's much else to say about this. It's nice, safe for work but not ground breaking in any way. I'd say if these are your type of colors then it's a good investment. Otherwise get Sew Psyched and Merino Cool from this collection instead, they're more interesting and fun! 

Disclosure: This product was sent to me by PR. All reviews are honest and done at my discretion. Please refer to my disclosure policy at the top of the page for more info.

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Beautyticket.com China Glaze Giveaway: WINNER

Thanks to all who entered my Beautyticket.com China Glaze Giveaway! I had 118 valid entries when all the extra entries were tallied.  I selected a winner using random.org.  Random.org selected #66. The lucky person who had entry 66 is:

LacquerObsession

Congratulations LacquerObsession! 

You won 6 China Glaze polishes furnished by Beautyticket.com.  The lovely people at Beautyticket.com will ship the polishes directly to you.  Please look for my email and respond within 48 hours with your shipping information.  If you do not respond in 48 hours I will select a new winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn't win this time don't despair, I will have another giveaway soon! As always, thanks so much for reading and interacting with me. You all make blogging fun!

This giveaway is sponsered by Beautyticket.com. I have not been paid or compensated in any way for hosting this giveaway. I just want to give back to my readers and this company offered to give 6 great polishes. The winner will be selected by me via random.org and the prizes will be shipped directly from Beautyticket.com

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Nina Ultra Pro: Salsa

Happy Monday readers!  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that you had a great weekend. My weekend was nice, hubby and I had dinner at his brother's house with my parents (LOL which sounds odd but it was nice) on Saturday. Then on Sunday we didn't do much but I snagged a nice deal at Big Lots. They had a 6 foot Christmas tree with lights for $20! Wow! I needed a bigger one, I have too many ornaments for the 4.5 footer we had. I am so excited I want to put it up NOW! 

 

My giveaway has now ended. So I just need to go through the entries and make sure you all get the amount of entries you deserve and chose a winner, so keep your eyes peeled this week for that! 

Well, on to the polish...

 

Every once in a while Sally's has some fabulous selections on clearance and this time I was lucky enough to find the exact polish I had been lusting after for weeks on the clearance table! I was so excited to get this baby for $1.99 and it was the last one! SCORE!

 

This is Nina Ultra Pro's Salsa and I guess it's a tomatillo salsa because this baby is GREEN! Bright, beautiful Crayola crayon green.  It's the perfect shade of green if you ask me. Sure it's not smoky or neon but when I think of plain ol' green this is it! 

 

This is a creme formula and it dries super shiny just the way I like it. This is the only Nina Ultra Pro polish I own (because most of the colors are frosty) but I am impressed with the formula on this. It was a great consistency and application was a breeze. I got full opacity with 2 coats and didn't have any issues with the brush or anything.  Overall this polish is a winner for me! I love it!

 

 

So, what do you think? Worth searching high and low for? I think so!!

Have you scored any awesome clearance deals lately. Spill your hauls in the comments!

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Holiday Beauty Offerings from Target!

So let's be honest, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmassssssssss everyyyyyyyy where we goooooo." Retail outlets are prepping for Christmas in full force and I don't know about you but I have already almost FINISHED my Christmas shopping! (I know, I am insane). But I wanted to share some Christmas shopping ideas for the makeup lover in your life.

I LOVE Target so I was excited to get this press release about some amazing  items available in their beauty section. Please enjoy these videos featuring the designers showing off the products available this holiday season in your local Target and offering their tips on how to create fun holiday looks.

I am especially excited about these Jemma Kidd and Napoleon Pardis offerings.  

Press Release: 

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Hectic holiday schedules require festive looks that are fast and easy to create, and most importantly reflect the wearer’s personal style.  Make a statement to fit any look this holiday season with how-to tips from Target beauty design partners Jemma Kidd, Napoleon Perdis, Petra Strand and Umberto Savone, using their glam essentials available at Target this holiday season. 

Runway Fixes from Jemma Kidd

International makeup artist and busy mom Jemma Kidd uses her vast knowledge of backstage tricks and fixes to create products that make it easy to disguise flaws and create eye-catching looks with minimal products.  Jemma explains how to use two of her latest creations, JK Jemma Kidd Backstage Kit ($35) and JK Jemma Kidd Mannequin Skin Perfector Kit ($22) to fake a full night’s sleep and create any look from runway to reality.  

Target Beauty - JK Jemma Kidd from LaForce Stevens on Vimeo.

Alluring Eyes from Napoleon Perdis

Makeup maestro Napoleon Perdis knows that women don’t need to spend a lot to get maximum impact.  Discover how to create the coveted metallic smoky eye look with his new NP Set Smoke Signals Eye Palette ($9.99), or how to add a touch of drama to a classic neutral eye with his NP Set New Neutrals Eye Palette ($9.99).

Target Beauty - NP Set Holiday 2010 from LaForce Stevens on Vimeo.

A Radiant Holiday Glow from Petra Strand

Known around the globe for her simple, makeup to wakeup approach, makeup artist Petra Strand makes it easy to create a festive holiday look with products that are perfect for on-the-go application.  Petra shares her tips on how to use her Pixi Essentials Kit ($28), Pixi Nude Shade Wardrobe ($26) and Pixi Lip & Line ($18) to create a look that is pretty and polished in seconds.

Target Beauty - Pixi Holiday 2010 from LaForce Stevens on Vimeo.

Glamorous, Easy-to-Attain Styles from Umberto Savone
From a modern twist on the classic chignon to an edgy pompadour, Beverly Hills stylist Umberto Savone offers looks to complement any holiday party ensemble.  Each unique style can be created with his how-to tips using products from Umberto Beverly Hills, including Volumizing Thickening Spray ($8.99), Ionic Ceramic Styling Iron ($79.99), Shimmer Spray ($8.99), Dry Clean Dry Shampoo ($8.99), Banana Brush ($8.99) and Super Hold Hair Spray ($8.99). 

Target Beauty - Umberto Holiday 2010 from LaForce Stevens on Vimeo.

Any of these items on your Christmas list this year?

All information, video and photo was obtained directly from PR. 

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