Glitt-A-Licia Guest Post: Do Not Apologize For Being You

My friend Steph, who just so happens to be the the brains behind this blog, made a comment on Facebook that made a huge lightbulb turn on above my head. No, I'm not talking about the kitchen light, I am talking about that "Ah-Ha!" lightbulb moment.

Steph made a comment that she wished people (aka all of us insecure women), would not post a picture of ourselves, then immediately apologize for their imperfections.  I admit that I have been guilty of doing this myself. I post a pic and say, "Oh, forgive blah, blah, blah."

Then, once I saw Steph's comments and thought..."Hmmmmm....she has a point!" Why do we apologize for our imperfections? Why do we feel the NEED to apologize for being who we are?  Every human that lives, or has lived on this planet, has imperfections, so why do we need to apologize for ours??

I then took a long hard look at myself.  Being a scientist, I did a quick experiment on myself. If I try to make my imperfections disappear, I look like this.

I think this picture smooths all my wrinkles, blotchy complexion, and ruddy skin tone. You can still see my dark under eye circles and horrible roots that I need to highlight.  Other than that, I see no major imperfections, no lines, no squiggles. I see very little that is considered "imperfect," yet I see an expressionless mask. I look older. I look cold. I look sad.

But if you look at these pictures...

...there are imperfections everywhere. Acne scars, crows feet, red tinted nose, and wrinkles galore! However, I look younger, happier, and more like myself than the previous picture. Smile lines mean you SMILE! Crows feet are eye smiles!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these pictures. The only thing wrong with these pictures, is how my own mind sees myself. I will not apologize for my appearance (my house is a different story).  I will not apologize if I am not wearing make up or if my hair looks like a crow's nest!

If you don't like it, that's fine too. You be you. I will be me. This is me. I am a goofball who might be a little insecure but trying to love myself for who I am, wrinkles and all.

Sparkle On Dear Reader,
Love,
Licia

Maya Cosmetics Sprummer Collection (4 of 7)

* I received the following products in exchange for my honest review. 

I have for you today some of the shades from Maya Cosmetic's "Sprummer" release. This release is a collaboration of spring and summer shades, hence the name. This collection is scheduled to be released on April 4th.

Beach Baby

Beach Baby is a full-coverage glitter blend of bronze, sand, pink, and orange glitters in a shimmery bronze base. (2 coats)

Beyond the Pale

Beyond the Pale is a coral orange jelly base with pink and peach micro flakes. (3 coats)

Zazzy

Zazzy is a orchid foil with micro fine holographic glitter. (2 coats)

Ethereal 

Ethereal is a golden base with peachy-gold sheen and a scattered holo finish. (2 coats)

Colors: What surprised and impressed me with these colors is how they captured the nude color trend. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but I'm seeing a lot of nudes in cosmetics lately. I've never really seen a indie tackle nude shades before and these are great.  Ethereal and Beach Baby are excellent blingy and fun takes on nude! Zazzy and Beyond the Pale while not nudes, are more subdued and fit with nude/neutral theme of this selection of colors.

Formula: The formula on all of these was good and easy to apply. Beach Baby and Zazzy definitely need top coat though as they dry matte.

Price: The full size polishes will be $9.50 each on the Maya Cosmetics website on April 4th.

Overall: I really enjoyed these colors from this collection, they're unexpected and preform well. Beach Baby is probably my favorite in the bunch.

My Rating 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Be sure to follow Maya Cosmetics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Happy Friday!

Throwback Thursday: China Glaze Exotic Encounters

Green is my hardest color to pull of with nail polish. Actually, green in general is not my color at all. I don't own any green clothes. Imagine my difficulty on St. Patrick's Day. Teals can even be difficult for me even though I love them. I have oldie (not very oldie), but goodie China Glaze teal today I think works out well for me. 

Exotic Encounters

Exotic Encounters is a medium dusty teal creme. 

Color: I think it's the dusty quality of this shade of teal that makes this work for me. Is it me or do you feel like muted/dusty shades almost work as neutrals? Does this make sense? Colors like this I feel really can work with most anything you wear because they have that touch of gray to them? I'm rambling, I know! I really like this color, and I'm happy to find a greenish shade that I can wear well!

Collection: China Glaze On Safari Fall 2012

Formula: Great formula. I used 2 coats in the swatch above. 

Price: This can be found on mulitple e-tailrs, ebay, or Amazon in the the $3.75-$8.00. Google it! :)

Overall: Very nice muted teal shade. The formula is on point, and this color seems like it would be flattering and wearable for most. 

My Rating 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday! 

Way-Cool Mani Wednesday: Lavender Soft Glow

I'm really trying to break out some of my old polishes for manis lately. I forget what I have, and some of the stuff I have is great. The CND Effects were released I believe in 2011. They're a bunch of shimmer, pearl, and sparkle sheer top coats that really transformed bases. These were not any hum-drum top coats either, they were pretty spectacular. Sadly, these are HTF now, but I had to show you one I used for this week's mani!

Polishes Used:

CND Effects Copper Pearl layered over Essence A Lovely Secret

This is an amazing combination! I love the way this looks so much! 

Happy Wednesday! 

KBShimmer Spring 2014 Cremes & Holo Topper (Pic Heavy)

*The following products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review.

Today, I have for you the second part of the KBShimmer Spring 2014 collection. This part of the collection has 7 bright or soft creme shades, 1 black creme, and 1 holographic top coat. 

Chick Me Out

Chick Me Out is a bright yellow creme. (3 coats)

Chick Me Out w/ Prism Break 

Eclipse

Eclipse is a black creme. (2 coats)

Eclipse w/ Prism Break

Honeydew List

Honeydew List is a dusty pastel green creme. (3 coats)

Honeydew List w/ Prism Break

Life Rose On

Life Rose On is a medium magenta pink creme. (2 coats)

Life Rose On w/ Prism Break

My Life's Porpoise

My Life's Porpoise is a soft grey creme. (2 coats)

My Life's Porpoise w/ Prism Break

Pansy-Monium

Pansy-Monium is a medium violet creme. (2 coats)

Pansy-Monium w/ Prism Break

Sky Jinks

Sky Jinks is a bright medium blue creme. (2 coats)

Sky Jinks w/ Prism Break

Touch of Glass

Touch of Glass is a soft aqua mint creme with a subtle shimmer. (3 coats) *NOTE: Shimmer is virtually undetectable on nail in real life. 

Touch of Glass w/ Prism Break

Prism Break is a subtle linear holographic top coat (I used one coat over the bases in all the swatches above).

Color: This is a excellent collection of staple creme shades that every collection needs. That being said, some of these are not unique shades, but all are excellent as far as color pigmentation and saturation. I also like the mix of the bolder/brighter shades with softer shades. Prism Break is an gorgeous soft holo top coat, that stands out on dark shades, and gives soft touch of bling to the lighter shades. 

Formula: The formula on this selection was creamy and overall a good. The darker shades needed only 2 coats, while I found the lighter shades could use 3. Chick Me Out being yellow, was a bit tricky, but I was able to get it even and opaque in 3 coats. 

Price: All the creme shades are $7.50. Prism Break is $8.75. These all can be found on KBShimmer's website. 

Overall: I really enjoyed these cremes. They are pigmented, the formula is creamy and easy to apply, and this is a great balance of colors for a collection. The colors are not the most unique, but I think these would be excellent foundation polishes for any collection. My personal faves are Touch of Glass, Pansy-Monium, My Life's Porpoise, and Life Rose On. 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Be sure to follow KBShimmer on Facebook! 

Happy Tuesday!