Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Flower Power

I have this beautiful Hippeastrum flower in my office and it took everything in me not to cut it and put it in my hair!  So I put a fake flower in my hair!  =)  Sorry the pictures are so bright!  I look like a ghost! Stupid iPhone!! 







Friday, May 20, 2011

Starting a YouTube Channel!!!

Hi Loves!

I am sooo excited to tell you that I will be starting a YouTube Channel!  I'm planning filming a few videos this weekend and having them edited and up sometime next week.  PLEASE!  Go to my channel and subscribe so you know when my videos are uploaded! 

www.youtube.com/hbbrighteyes

What kind of tutorials do you guys want to see?  Let me know!!  =)

Holly xox

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Look of the Day: Golden Brown

I'm a brunette so it's obvious I love brown.  Rich, vibrant browns and lighter, subtle browns... all beautiful!  Brown is definitely one of my go-to colors when I'm trying to decide what I want my eyes to look like that day.  Below are a few pictures of inspiration and what my eyes looked like after I covered them with lovely shades of brown and gold!







My hair is extra crazy becuase of the crazy rain here!!



Products I used:


 Tarte EmphasEYES in Bronze to line eyes and Tarte Mascara...MY FAV!


Thursday, May 12, 2011

Fashion & Beauty Icon: Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood is by far my favorite fashion/beauty icon.  When I think of classic yet exotic beauty, I think of her.  She can be the girl next door or a bombshell... it doesn't matter, she's always beautiful.  She usually had a short bob hair cut or maybe a little bit longer at times, until the late 60's-70's when everyone started growing their hair out.  She had a rich brown hair color to match her glowing brown eyes. She rocked red lipstick, which I totally admire because I'm too scared to try it!  I think she looked her best in the movie Splendor in the Grass.  She had fabulous style.  Her makeup was usually pretty simple with dark lined eyes as a signature.  I can't really say enough about her, she's an inspiration.

"The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he's a baby." -Natalie Wood




Wednesday, May 11, 2011

My latest experiment: Glitter Nails

This experiment wasn't THAT hard but I have never used glitter nail polish before so it was new for me!  I didn't want JUST glitter on my nails so I started out using my Sally Hansen InstaDry polish in pale pink.  I applied 2 coats of that and let it dry completely.  I also used a nail polish drying spray to speed up the process and it totally works.  I did this at like 10:30 last night and wanted to go to bed immediately! Anyways.... After applying the pink polish and letting it dry, I got my Sally Girl Mini Glitter Nail Polish in Chunky Pink out and started dabbing it on a little at a time. The glitter in this particular bottle is all mixed up with little flecks of glitter and then big chunks of glitter.  I want to make sure that it was evenly distributed on to my nails so I just did a little at a time.  I did not brush it on! Make sure you dab it on so that your glitter doesn't just pile up at the ends of your finger tips!  After a few coats of the glitter polish I let it dry and then sealed it with a clear top coat.  This is super simple and I think it looks super cute! 




Monday, May 9, 2011

Pretty Spring Outfit for the Tim McGraw Concert

This weekend I was lucky enough to go to the Tim Mcgraw concert here in Columbus.  Since I work for a radio station and I'm good friends with the PD here, I also got to meet Tim!  Of course, I wanted to look my best so I obsessed over my outfit.  I finally went with this:


Kohls:LC Floral Chiffon Shirt
Old Navy: Dark Denim Jeans in Flirt
Target: Mossimo Tan Strapy Heels
Target: Exhilaration Pink Short Sleeved Cardigan
Target: Goody Flower Barrett
H&M: Coral Ring

My makeup was feminine and girly.  I used peachy colors on my eyes and cheeks and kept my lips sheer and shiny.  Most of the products I used were from E.L.F.  I'm IN LOVE with their Minty Lip Gloss in the color Nashville.  It's sooo pretty! 

Below are asome pictures from the meet & greets I attended.  Sorry the pic of Tim and I is so blurry!  I took the pic with my carmera and then took a pic of the pic with my iPhone... LOL. 


 Me with Luke Bryan
 Me with The Band Perry
 Me with Tim McGraw
 My new favorite shoes from Target!




Friday, May 6, 2011

Pick 5: April Edition

I've decided to keep up with my monthly favorites and I'm calling it Pick 5!  It will be a little different... I will only pick 5 items in 5 categories.  Here are my picks for the month of April... FTC: I paid for all of this with my own money!

Skin care: I've been a little obsessed with my eye area... I've been reading all these articles about starting in your 20's with anti-aging treatments! AH!  I've tried so many products and I always go back to one.  The Mary Kay Indulge Soothing Eye Gel.  It firms, it de-puffs (is that a word?) and it makes my tired, single mommy eyes look awake and refreshed!  I smooth it on before bed and when I wake up in the morning.  It really does wake my eyes right up! I love it! $15



Cosmetics: I use my NYX Eyeshadow Base everyday. Before, my eyeshadow would slowly fade during the day and I'd look like I didn't have any on at all by 4pm! I discovered this shadow base a few months ago and I haven't gone without it since!  It makes the pigments in the shadow brighter and it also makes them last longer on my skin.  It instantly smoothes and evens out the skin on and around my eyelids.  You can pick it up from ULTA! $7


Hair care: Everyone has been raving and writing about dry shampoo so I figured I'd try it!  Now, I know there are many kinds out there and most are pretty expensive so I wanted to try a cheaper kind first in case I didn't like it.  I went to Giant Eagle and picked up Suave's Dry Shampoo.  I usually go every other day without washing my hair because it's so thick and curly.  I waited a day to use it on my roots and WOW... it's great!! It put volume back in my hair and it looked like I just blew out my hair!  It works and it smells AMAZING. Just spray on your roots and rub into your roots and your good to go!!  $3




Clothing: I know it's spring time and it's warming up but I live in Ohio and it's still cold!  I love wearing dresses but it's still too cold to go all out.  Instead of keeping my dresses in the closet, I just pair them up with leggings!  I can look cute in my dresses without freezing my butt off!!  YAY!!! This is one of my favorite dresses.  It's from Kohls and it's by Elle.  It's a printed smock dress.  It's comfy and stylish and I wear black leggings with it and it's perfect!




Song of the month:  Of course I had to spice things up with a song of the month!  I watch American Idol religiously (no laughing) and I love, love, love Jennifer Lopez.  Her new album Love? came out and I have been playing On the Floor like it's the soundtrack of my life!  J. Lo is back and she sounds amazing and looks amazing! (She had twins y'all!)  I love you J. Lo!!


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Dress of the Day: BCBG Max Azria Dress

So, I'm really into dresses right now.  The weather is getting warmer and I'm ready for dress season to be here!  One of my friends asked me for some advice on what to wear to a wedding this summer.  We looked at a few online shopping websites and came across http://www.bluefly.com/.  For those of you who don't know anything about bluefly, listen up!  Bluefly is one of the first online retailers to sell FASHION... not just clothes! They sell huge brand name clothing lines for a discounted price so even single moms like me can afford it!  One of the best parts of their website is if you have any questions about anything you can talk to a Personal Shopper, Monday thru Friday, for style advice!

SO we were looking through the dresses and we came across this bad boy...



A black & white printed silk kimono BCBG dress...LOVE IT.  I told my friend that this is THE DRESS I would wear.  It retails at $280 but you can get it at Bluefly for $168!!!  40% OFF!! That's a great deal for a fabulous silk dress. You can wear it out to drinks, a show or a wedding... any special occasion really. I loved looking through this collection. It's feminine but edgy at the same time!

So now that we have the dress we need the shoes, right???  =)  No need to go too far, Bluefly has shoes too!  LOL.  I'm the kind of girl who loves to look at shoes online but you always wonder, are they going to fit and if not, will I be able to return them? Luckily, Bluefly has a 60 day return policy so I can buy shoes and try them on and if they don't fit, I can just return them!  Anyways... back to shoes!  Since I love the BCBG dress, I want to get shoes that go with it. I came across these...

Black patent strapy heels!  YES PLEASE!!!  All the BCBG Shoes were amazing.  I can't believe I'm just NOW figuring out about this site!  These shoes retail for $185 but you can get them at Bluefly for $111... another 40% OFF!  

So, we could get an amazing BCBG dress and BCBG shoes for under $280 and get a TON of wear out of them because they are from a top of the line designer!  Sign me up! 


Hola!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Bees Knees

I've been hearing all about Burt's Bees New Tinted Lip Balm, so when I went to the store to grab a salad for lunch, I thought I'd pick one up!  I decided to go with the Honeysuckle color.  It's a nice, light, natural color.  This product is 100% Natural and the little case it comes in is really cute! 


It's smooth when applying... and it actually looks like I'm wearing a lip gloss without it being too shiny or sticky.  I really like this product and will probably use it all the time when I don't feel like wearing lipstick! Here is a picture!


Yummy!!!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Review: Tarte ULTAmate Must-Haves Exclusive Value Set

This weekend, my friend Kate and I took a trip to ULTA.  After wanting everything they had, I settled on the Tarte ULTAmate Must-Haves Set.  The set includes:


  • best-selling lights, camera, lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara




  • best-selling and award-winning natural cheek stain




  • emphasEYES Amazonian clay waterproof liner




  • double-ended eyeliner brush




  • smooth operator Amazonian clay finishing powder with PM20




  • vitamin-infused lipgloss




  • reusable makeup bag





  • I will tell you right now I am IN LOVE with the mascara.  I was a little worried about the mascara because I've heard it flakes easily, it runs and clumps but for some reason on my lashes it looks amazing!!  I've always wanted to use their cheek stain so I was really excited about that!  I like it... it's a little sticky and hard to blend but it gave my cheeks a great, flushed look.  The clay waterproof liner in bronze is really pretty.  They include a liner brush that makes it really easy to get a nice, clean line.  The lip gloss is a bright shade of pink that I could only wear with certain outfits but it's nice and smooth.  The clay finishing powder worried me a little.  I had never really tried a smoothing powder before.... and I will tell you right now I will ALWAYS wear it!!  It made my face look and feel soooo smooth!!!  I love it!!

    Here is a picture of me wearing everything!  All in all, it was a good buy for $30. ( I had a coupon.. it's normally $35) FTC: Paid with my own $$.

    Monday, May 2, 2011

    My friend Heather's awesome new shoes! She got them at Burlington for $29. They are adorable!!

    Art: Lynne Taetzsch

    Lynne Taetzsch is an abstract artist from New York... I love this painting and much of her work.  I'm not sure what it is about abstract paintings that make me want to paint and paint and paint!  Love it!

    My latest experiment: French Tip Nails

    So, when I was in high school I was a regular patron at the local nail salon.. I would get acrylic tips like it was my job.  Of course they were expensive but my mom paid for them.. NOW, I'm all grownup..I wanted the same look but without the crazy cost. 

    I'm an avid Sonia Castandea Youtube Channel watcher!  I love her videos!  She's got great style and her taste in makeup is spot on.  Her videos have made me fall in love with my girly side again!  While watching her channel, I came across a tutorial on how to do your own French Tip Nails!  So I said, "Why not?!?"  Last night I finally had time to get them done..and it actually didn't take me as long as I thought it was going to!  I've already gotten compliments on them today and they literally cost my mabye $4.  I've inserted Sonia's tutorial for you to watch!  I didn't use the exact products she used but and white polish for french tips will work.  I also used a clear nail strengthener on my nails.