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NOTD: Wet n Wild 1 Step Wonder Gel in Stay Classy

wet n wild 1 step wonder gel in stay classy, is it worth the hype?

I love my neutrals. The main reason I bought this nail polish was the colour. Stay Classy is a neutral mauve shade. I thought it would be similar to my all-time favorite polish: Essie Ladylike, but it is not. It's darker and pinker than Ladylike. This nail polish range intrigued me because the premise is that you only need one coat of polish without a base coat or top coat and it's supposed to last 14 days. I didn't think it would work because that is a very bold claim.

I initially applied one coat on my naked nail (no base coat, no top coat). It applied streak free but I felt like one coat wasn't opaque enough. I applied a second coat and it looked nice. The finish was slightly glossy. I noticed that it enhanced all the ridges of my nails that I didn't know I had. My nails a pretty smooth. It showed me the importance of a base coat; a base coat makes your nails smooth and removes any appearance of ridges. I loved that it applied easily and dried quickly.

Top 5 Essie Nail Polishes

top 5 essie polishes, netural nail polish lovers rejoice

Nail polish was my first love. It was my gateway to the beauty world. Essie is my favorite nail polish brand. The other day I was thinking about which shades were my absolute favorite nail polishes. If I could only keep five these are the ones that I would choose. You can see that there's a theme here. I love my neutrals and these are the ones that I wear the most.

Romper Room: The perfect pastel pink. Essie describes it as a pale tea rose pink. It's basically white with a drop of pink in it. It's pink enough that it makes me feel comfortable wearing it. It's the closest to white I'll ever go.

Topless & Barefoot: The ultimate nude. Essie describes it as a soft beige pink. It's not so nude that it gives you mannequin hands. It's also not so pale where it looks unnatural. It's a nude that will look flattering on fair to medium skin tones.

Ladylike: My all-time favorite nail polish. It's a neutral mauvy pink shade. Essie describes it as an elegant soft mauve. It always looks beautiful. I'm obsessed with the color. If you want to look classy and put together this is the shade you need. I think it would be flattering on a lot of skin tones. If I had to recommend an Essie polish to anyone I would pick this one. Everyone needs this nail polish in their collection. 

Angora Cardi: The muted berry. The berry for the ones afraid of bold berry shades. Essie describes it as a deep dusty rose. If you want to dip your toe into the pool of berry nail polish this is the shade for you. It's the gateway to the world of berry nail polish.

Merino Cool: Essie describes it as mulberry. It's not grey. It's not purple. It's dark but not bold. It's the perfect autumn shade. I love it so much. There's something special about this shade. It looks quite dull in the bottle but when you put it on your nails it just comes to life.

What your favorite nail polish?

Sincerely JoJo. ♥

Small Sephora Haul

small sephora haul, MUFE, too faced, lancome

I have a never ending loves list on Sephora. I keep adding to it. I don't think I'll ever end up owning everything on that list. I recently got to tick some products off of my wishlist. Two of the items are products that I've been thinking about getting for quite some time but I wanted to see if they were still popular after the hype died down. After all this time the hype is still quite high, so I thought it was time to pick them up. The last one is kinda of gimmicky but the idea behind it is really cool.

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation ($43 USD/$52 CAD)
I've heard so much about the Make Up For Ever foundations way before I started blogging. Every beauty youtuber raved about the original HD foundation. When they reformulated it and replaced it with the Ultra HD foundation there were mixed reviews. I was hesitant about picking up until I saw BeautywithEmilyFox talk about it. She's just as pale as I am so when a foundation matches her well I know that it's going to be a good match for me. I also saw Natasha Bure talk about it being her everyday foundation. I got the shade R230, which used to be 115. The shade matches me perfectly. The only other foundation that matches me as perfect as this one is NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc. I call the NARS foundation my skin tone in a bottle. In terms of coverage it's light to medium. It works well as an everyday base because it blends quickly and it provides enough coverage to even out your skin tone. I haven't tried it enough have a solid opinion. For now I will say that the shade match is perfect and that you don't really feel in on your skin.


Too Faced HangoveRx Replenishing Face Primer ($32 USD/$40 CAD)
My Hourlgass primer ran out and I wanted to try something new. This primer caught my attention since its launch because it's a silicone-free primer. Silicone primers break me out so any primer without silicone is already a winner in my book. I was skeptical about trying it because it's described as hydrating, but then I saw people with oily skin raving about it. Since I have combination skin I figured I would like it too. Paula's Choice gave it a good review, which is what ultimately convinced me to buy it. I haven't tried it on my face yet; however, I've tried it on my hand and it felt smooth, but it also had a tackiness that gave me the impression that makeup will adhere to it well. I also smells like coconut, which is very pleasant. I love that it comes with a pump so that I'll have an equal amount of product every time. I'm excited to use this.

Lancôme Juicy Shaker in 301 Meli Melon ($21 USD/$28 CAD)
This was a somewhat of an impulse buy. I knew about this product way before it launched because it launched in the UK months ago. I didn't know that my local Sephora already had them in stock because the week before they weren't there. I saw the shades. I swatched a few of them. This one smelled like melon so I grabbed it. I also knew that Lily Pebbles liked this shade. I've worn this a few times. I'm torn about how I feel about it. I like it but I think that it's gimmicky. It does what it says on the tin. It's really fun to shake it up and pat it onto the lips. You don't need a mirror so it's good for touch ups on the go. The colour is a pretty pink that enhances my natural lip shade and makes my lips look a little fuller. I think it's cool that each shade has a different scent and I love that this one smells like melon. It feels moisturizing on the lips but the shine doesn't last. The staying power isn't really long but it leaves a bit of a stain on your lips, which is to be expected with a lip oil. It wears off evenly though. They're fun but they're not an essential product. I think it would be a nice gift for someone who's just getting into makeup or someone who doesn't like to wear lipstick. I don't think you need to have more than one though.

What are your latest beauty purchases?

Sincerely, JoJo.♥

Link Love #3: Foodie Edition

link love #3 foodie edition

Link Love is a feature where I share things I've been loving. This edition will be featuring five amazing recipes and food videos that I've recently tried. I've always enjoyed cooking and baking, and I love discovering new recipes.

Avocado Smoothie (Honeysuckle)
I love avocados. Avocado on toast is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast or lunch. I never thought I would like it in a smoothie because smoothies are rather sweet. This one tastes amazing. I think it's because the smoothie has sweetened condensed milk (which I love) and bananas. I was skeptical in trying it but I'm glad I did. I think anyone who loves avocados should try this.

Flourless Chocolate Cake and Coffee Mousse (pictured above) (Home Cooking Adventure)
I discovered this cake in by seeing a gifset of it on tumblr. This is proof that spending too much time on tumblr is actually a good thing lol. This is one of the best cakes I've ever had. It honestly tastes better than a cake you'd find in a pastry shop. The chocolate cake tastes like a chocolate lava cake without the lava center. The mousse is so light and fluffy. Since it's a coffee mousse it taste similar to a tiramisù. I wish I had a piece in front of me right now.

Roasted Tomato Pasta (Donal Skehan)
I love pasta and tomatoes so this is the perfect dish for me. Roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, pasta, fresh basil and cheese. Yes please! It's so easy to make because the sauce basically cooks itself. It smells amazing. It's one of the best pasta dishes I've had in a long time and I eat pasta on a weekly basis. Donal's recipes always turn out great. His videos are so pleasant to watch as well.

Sansa's Lemon Cakes (Rosanna Pansino)
I love anything with lemon in it, especially lemon cake. I've always wondered what Sansa's favorite lemon cakes would taste like. They look so delicious and they're adorable. I haven't made them yet but based on the ingredients it's a foolproof cake. The addition of sour cream will ensure that the cakes turn out moist. I plan to make these for Mother's Day because my mother loves lemon desserts.

5 Fruit Hacks (The Domestic Geek)
Some fruits are very difficult to cut perfectly. This video shows you easy ways to cut them to make sure you get perfect results every time. I've tried them myself and they really work.

My Favorite Food Youtube Channels:
Gemma Stafford
Katie Pix
Donal Skehan
Gennaro Contaldo
Honeysuckle
SortedFood
Tastemade

Sincerely, JoJo. ♥