Sometimes Yaya

I’m With Wendy

I may be a little late to commenting on the Grammys, but watching my evening Wendy update (are you watching the Wendy Williams show with me?) last night, I found that I agreed with her statement.

What was it? Let’s break out the milk carton. Remember the “Have you seen _______” or the “Missing” signs on the milk cartons? Nearly everyone consumes milk, no? So let me know… have you seen these gals and fellas at the Grammys?

Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston were not nominated, but surely, if the cast of the Jersey Shore snags an invite… well you know.

Chris Brown and Kanye West (and Amber Rose) were absent. Huge shrug here. Reminds me of foolishness like Justin Timberlake hitting up shows after the ‘football fiasco’ and Janet Jackson going AWOL.

Did you miss any of them at the Grammys? Did you even watch?

I personally watched it and had an unimpressed shrug to take away from it but watched performance recaps of the BET Awards and kicked myself for missing it.

Your verdict?

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No Winner Left Behind!

Image Credit: DeviantArt user ShingLang

It has come to my attention that some of you that won giveaways have not received your packages. If it was you, I am sorry.

A lot of times, I have no control over a package once it is in the post officer’s hands. I like to do Delivery Confirmation for US packages, but unfortunately, international packages do not have such an option. Even with tracking information, I will only know where the package is making the rounds or when it is ‘delivered.’ When an international package ships out, it can be lost, customs can keep it hostage, or a number of other reasons.

Some packages have been returned to me for wrong addresses and I have been unable to get in touch with you. Some of you have not received packages and I had no idea!

Again, if this is you, I’m sorry. Please click on the ‘Contact’ button on the top of the page and shoot me an e-mail. Remind me what giveaway/contest you won and your address.

This time around, I will ship the packages for all the lost items and will scan and e-mail you the post receipt. Then – again, it will be out of my hands.

If this isn’t you, whew! I sent a lot of packages and hope that I at least have some kind of ratio of delivered to lost. If you received a package, let me know how ya like it. You can even submit a guest review for MOJ.

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Grammy Mindset

I’m gearing up to check out the Grammy’s. The Red Carpet show is on E! and the show hits in two hours for me. No idea what your television plans are, but all tvs will probably have this on today.

Last year we had a whole bunch of ups and downs. M.I.A displayed a crazy work ethic when performing while ready to pop.

The downs? Well we remember the Chris Brown and Riri absence at the show and the brouhaha that followed it (I refuse to discuss this by the way!).

So what are the memories for this year?

Beyonce has 10 nominations. Taylor Swift has 8 (and if she beats anyone more deserving, Kanye will not, I repeat NOT stand up). Lady Gaga 6. The ladies are ruling the charts. There is a 3D Michael Jackson tribute (really? We’ve come far in television!), and we have Pants on the Ground Man from American Idol performing on the red carpet. Kathy Griffin said her Carolina Herrera came from a sample sale and attributed her full hair to “magic hair.”

Who are you rooting for?

While you wait for the Grammys to start though, check out the ideeli blog and the following awards:

The Innovator Award, Fashion 2.0: http://bit.ly/dCwayt

Fashion 2.0, Social Media Awards: http://bit.ly/9e9KWL

Check out all the nominees on www.grammy.com and check out the live coverage (if you don’t have it on tv) here.

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Green Room Glossy

When I was at the Supima Design Competition Fashion Show, I was able to snag a goodie bag. In it was a tee made of supreme cotton and a lovely green gloss. What? No, not the color green. 😉

The gloss is described as a dual powered gloss. Fancy right? It has color on the inside of the tube and gloss on the outside. It’s just like applying lip gloss and then a shiny layer on top without having to mix colors, mess around with textures, etc.

From the site:

“This environmentally-friendly gloss has luminous color on the inside and super shiny clear gloss on the outside. The innovative 2 in 1 tube is recyclable so it’s beauty you can feel good about! Contains Moringa Seed Extract for added healthy-skin benefits. With the purchase of every GREEN ROOM product, a Moringa tree will be planted in a developing country by Trees for the Future. The Moringa or “Miracle Tree” is a powerhouse of nutritional value and provides a self-renewing food source for people in need. More trees also mean less soil erosion and cleaner air and water for a greener future. All GREEN ROOM packaging is biodegradable or recyclable and all products are made with environmentally-friendly formulas.”

Check out the rest of the shots of the packaging:

It has a sponge-y applicator. Do you guys like these? I prefer the plastic diagonal tipped ones, but this one didn’t give me trouble, so I’m okay with it (at least for now).

And now for the color payout:

On the left the photo is taken with flash and on the right without. This was one swipe. This gloss shade is Azalea. The other two are Marigold and Lily. Currently, the glosses are on sale from $18 down to $10 on the site.

How’d it look?

Again, the pictures are with flash on the left, and no flash on the right.

The verdict?
I know Smashbox to be pretty good on quality and color payout, so it’s not that I was skeptical. But a girl can only see so many glosses before she gets a bit cynical. This one is really smooth on the lips and tastes (I know I’m not the only one that checks the taste of her glosses!) and smells like a Caramel candy – you know… those chewy squares? The gloss is not sticky, and the shimmer is very subtle. The only problem I have is with the packaging. You can’t reapply gloss over and over for an eye blinding gloss application because everytime you add more than needed, the sponge puts you in your place.

But you know what? That’s not that much of a bad thing. Great for travel, work, and Valentine’s Day kises. 🙂

Do you have a favorite Smashbox product? Favorite gloss at the moment?

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Let the Sun Shine In!

As I’ve been organizing my polish collection, I keep getting distracted by urges to do fabulous things with ’em. Diagonals! Designs! 3D!

Truthfully though? If y’all check my Twitter… I fail a lot (click for evidence). My hope is still strong though – my practice will pay off one day.

Until then, I’ll keep China Glaze‘s Happy Go Lucky on my digits and smile each time I see it.

No flash used in the left image and flash on the right. The color without flash is what it looks like on your fingers. It’s such a pleasant bright. No pushy neons.

Like it? Have a favorite right now?

Want to get your own? China Glaze is available at Sally’s Beauty Supply, Transdesign, and 8ty8beauty. Enjoy your savings!

Disclaimer: This product(s)was sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on MOJ remain unbiased and unpaid. For more info, feel free to contact the author.

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Eyeko Nail Polish Swatches

As promised in the introduction, I have the swatches of the Eyeko polishes for ya. Check back to the intro to see how the polishes match up to other famous brands in size, and to see what Eyeko is all about. Also? I’ll be coming out with a post about how these colors all look in matte. Any expectations?

Vintage Polish for Elegant Nails
What does this make you think of? Tiffany’s? Jade? I don’t feel like this is a dupe for any color out there, and is such a pleasant color on nails – I feel like this is great on all skin tones.

Nude Polish for Perfect Nails
Not exactly nude, it has a tinge of orange in it, but it looks like the perfect fresh ‘neutral’ polish. Looks super ladylike for sure!

Check out the rest of the swatches after the jump!

Lilac Polish for Lovely Nails
This is such a pleasant color. I think it’s soft and seasonless. One of my favorites!

Purple Polish for Electric Nails
This color actually changes with coats. With just one coat it is a much lighter color, and with a second or third coat, it turns a bit vampy.

Here is what it looks like on the nails with the varying coats:

Can ya tell which finger has only one coat? (no flash)

Indigo Polish for… none!
I suppose this one is a pick your poison description!
This is the kind of blue polish I dream about. The kind that looks like a moody sky.

Check out how it simmers in light:

Cosmic Polish for Space Nails

This one really impressed me the most. A creamy black with a constellation party on your nails! There are different colors peeking out at you. Catch the red, green, blue, etc. This was the most favorite of the bunch, and I already used it as a base for a Konad here!

Which one’s your favorite?

Disclaimer: This product(s)was sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on MOJ remain unbiased and unpaid. For more info, feel free to contact the author.

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Konad Practice Makes Perfect

Don’t let the title of the post fool you. I am nowhere near perfect with my Konadicures. But I do believe that practice makes perfect by how much I have improved at stamping my nails.

And a word to the wise? If you are stamping a fresh mani, don’t fool yourself into thinking that just because the top layer is dry, that the nail is dry enough to have a Konad stamp roll on it with the pressure that you choose. It’s not. You’ll be mad. I was!

For this Konadicure, I used a black polish and lots of holographic polishes as partners in crime. As promised in Order in the Court, here are the photos from my attempts at fabulosity.

The colors that were used are:
Eyeko Cosmic Nail Polish as base
China Glaze Wireless Holographic top coat (as top coat duh! 🙂 )
Color Club Worth the Risque as the Konad color

Left image is without flash and right is with flash.

I tried to do a gradient on my ring finger with the China Glaze top coat, but it was more wishful thinking than it was what I hoped. Any advice?

What do y’all think?
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Supima Fashion Show

Last week I had a great chance to attend the Supima Design Competition Fashion Show, where the winners of were chosen. Think Project Runway with fabulous cotton. Hosted by Katrina Szish and Coco Rocha and presented in the NY Times building, it was a fancy time.

In the dark? Derived from the actual phrase ‘superior cotton’, if you ever shopped at Bloomie‘s, Land’s End, Bed Bath and Beyond, and well… beyond, you have come across Supima cotton. “World’s Best Cotton” is the claim, and being that they supply James Perse and Splendid with the mouth watering fabrics my tees are made of, I can’t argue.

My photos from the event give me the perfect reason to invite you to the MOJ Flickr account. I will be creating sets here from the upcoming shows at New York Fashion Week, as well as creating galleries with inspirational images from around the net. Click on over – I would love to hear what you think! Here are a few to get ya interested:

The fan favorite design. Check out the rest after the jump!

Coco Rocha announcing winners – check out her makeup… I’m lovin’ it!

Check out the video below of all the designs and their respective designers from the show (via John Simon Daily). You can also check out the behind the scenes videos from the Supima Youtube Channel. Want more? They are most certainly up on Twitter, a blog and Facebook. But before you do all that, check out the MOJ Flickr and let me know what your fave designs/photos are!

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Flattering vs. Fattening at the SAG Awards

How many of y’all caught the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards today? I caught my share of award shows for the month by watching the Golden Globes, so I logged in online to catch the fashions. Were they smashhhiiiiinnnn? 🙂

I have some opinions about the above mentioned shows, but I got just one question for you. How do you feel about Niecy Nash’s getup?

Image credit: courtesy of ETonline.com and Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

I really like the beaded (or is it sequin-ed?) band on her dress and the black material overall. Makes her look silky smooth and slender in the midsection. The only qualm? I’m not sure how I feel about the ruched white part. I don’t know if there’s lots of push up, if she just has a lot to work with up there, or if she was better off having a lace overlay on it, or an all black dress.

What do you say Ladies & Gents of the Jury? Is this dress flattering or fattening?

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Sephora by OPI NOTD

I was inspired by reading a lot of blogs and posts on Twitter and all around the net about how everyone is organizing their nail polish stash.

Mine is a hefty one, but by no means amazing. What it really was – was messy. You know how sometimes it just takes a single prompt to inspire you to do things? Like a fire under your bum? That’s what it was when my honey asked why there was a forest of polishes lining up at my computer. So I set to stay up into the night, reading Twitter replies, Google Reader, and organize polish.

First I tried to do it by color. That was murderous. I would be conflicted on what to call each color and argue (with myself) that one color cannot be separated with another, and so on. So I gave up and started organizing by brand. It was something therapeutic to see polishes lined up in battle formation with uniform tops facing me. I felt highly accomplished.

But enough about that. Details? They will probably come if you want to see. The point today is that during cleanup I unearthed an unopened gem. My Sephora by OPI polish in Run With It was highly coveted. I usually put polish on one finger and then revisit the store later if the color leaves a lasting impression. This is my pseudo attempt at shopping less. Well this color had me returning and searching more than a handful of counters. So why did I find this unopened? I don’t know the reason, but I sure didn’t waste time making amends.

First I spent some time taking photos of the golden swirls inside the grayish/silver polish, and then I loaded up three coats. On the left you will find the photo with no flash and on the right with flash. Forgive my lack of attention to my cuticles, I was too excited about the polish!