Swag Attack – Target

Taaaarrrrr-Jaaaaayyyy

So it went as it always does – yaya goes in for contact lens solution and toilet paper (okay not always but necessities is what I mean!) and she leaves with an additional bagful of goodies.


I didn’t take pictures of the toilet paper or the contact lens solution, because … really.


I got a recycled cotton makeup bag and 3 Pixi makeup palettes. After getting home, and after a whole subway ride of thinking ‘why did I buy THREE more palettes?’ I decided I would probably only keep the bottom palette for myself and keep the other two for swaps and giveaways.

I also have never tried Pixi – have you?

CEW Awards


The CEW awards were announced! They gave out awards for numerous products with a lot of variety in price points and categories.

Take a look for yourself – view all entries, or view by category – they have a faulty link for “view all winners” so I suggest viewing by category and then clicking through the categories you want on the left sidebar.

This was the criteria for entries:

“Product must:

  • Have a primary benefit for use as a beauty product
  • Be available at retail outlets in the US in 2008
  • Be a new product release in 2008

NOT accepted in the 2009 Beauty Awards:

  • Gift sets
  • Re-packaging of existing products
  • Shade enhancements or additions for existing products
  • New sizes for existing products
  • Tools such as eye lash curlers, razors, tweezers, hair-styling tools
  • Oral care products
  • Personal Hygiene Products
  • Oral supplements
  • Limited edition products“

Any surprises?

Konad Experimentation

So I decided to experiment with my new Konad kit.


Not bad for a first try right? Used Tracy Reese and LA Girl polishes as base and the Konad white and black special polish for designs.

The only thing that I dislike about this for now is having to clean the plate after each use, and not being able to stamp the plate more than once at a time. Having to clean it also practically guarantees you ruin your polish on one hand.

LA Girl Nail Polish Swatches

Here are the nail swatches I promised from my swag attack.

None of these had the name stickers, so use your imagination with the names!

All of the swatches were 3 coats unless otherwise noted.

This color goes on not so great on the first coat and wows by coat 3. I couldn’t capture the shimmer so well on camera, but it’s definitely there.

This one was so thick, it only needed one coat (but I did 3 anyway)

This pink and pastel orange ones were my faves as well but they were really light and were the only ones that needed about 4 1/2 coats.

These two metallic colors went on great.


This one was absolutely my MOST favorite!! The color is so bright and goes on not streaky at all and it’s just super special. I decided to use the confetti Wet N’ Wild polish on top of it to make it look even more fun:

I’m also still getting the hang of posing with the polish (lol) so be patient!

MW: People Style Watch May 09

Sorry for not posting this up sooner folks.

This week, I was reading People StyleWatch cover to cover. It had a lot of good stuff and plenty of beauty advice.

Here’s a tidbit:


For more advice, snag your own copy!

Shoot me an e-mail to MyOwnJudge@gmail.com if you would like me to explore other/have topics and/or magazines, or for general opinions of what’s in magazine weekend.


What’s Going On?

A fan favorite – Stila has been experiencing some trouble lately. For the past month, the air has been filled with hushed whispers and questions about the company’s future. For the same amount of time, the website has been down due to “routine maintenance” and originally, there was a blurb at the bottom of the site that orders from late March may be cancelled. Additionally, their Myspace blog was last updated 11/08

As of today, the website is still down.

Here’s the newest news on the blog circuit:

“We hear employees were given little advance notice, and arrived to offices that were shut yesterday morning... they say that they’re “not going bankrupt” but “refinancing”. We asked what that means, and they said it means that they’re “reassessing their funds”…” 4/3 Fashionista

“The troubled brand has been acquired by private equity firm Patriarch Partners, making CEO Lynn Tilton the newest Stila Girl. Patriarch is said to “specialize in rebuilding companies that span across a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial sectors by providing innovative financial solutions, strategic direction and operational expertise.” ” 4/24 Makeup Minute

Internationally, bloggers and reader beauty fiends alike were told that Stila was returning to the states. 4/19 Plussize Kitten & 4/22 Zestful Iced Nyior

Some more upset fans? 4/27 Beaut.ie

No (s)he didn’t!

New contest as promised!

To break out the month of May on a good note, I got a new one for ya:

Oh No (s)He Didn’t!!!
both girls and boys welcome to participate as always!

Do you like acting like the fashion police? Do you make faces at people who are not wearing a look the way a look is meant to be worn? Well this is your chance to educate the masses!
This contest asks you to take a Don’t and make it a Do, or vice versa! Make yourself heard!

What do I mean?

  • If it’s wrong to wear socks with sandals – you let them know w/pictures.
  • If it’s wrong to wear more than 8 patterns at once – your photograph can make a change in someone’s fashion life!
  • If it’s right to wear dramatic makeup with subdued lips – then warn the public of how not to go overboard!
Some inspiration (all images and links are clickable):

Glamour: The Do’s & Don’ts of dark lipstick.

and then you would post the do next to it.

Glamour: Star Style Do’s & Don’ts

Click here to see more Beauty Do’s and Don’ts from Glamour.
And then head on over to their Fashion Do’s and Don’ts!

The Fashion Police think this is a definite Don’t
How would you make it a do?

Do you think it’s a do or a don’t? What would you change to make it a do or a don’t for you?

Do’s and Don’ts to be done on your own.
No photoshopped pictures/editing.
Submit either a beauty OR a fashion do&don’t.

Now for the rules:

  1. There must be at least two pictures – 1 – the don’t – 2 – the do. Being that this is a makeup and fashion contest, I am not making it mandatory to post an “items used” photo – but if you can do a rundown for the readers of the brands/etc. that would be nice.
  2. You must post the look on your blog/page. If you do not have a blog, shoot me an e-mail so that we can work something out.

  3. E-mail me at myownjudge@gmail.com to let me know what the link to your contest entry is. Also- enter a quick note about letting me use your images for when I post all entries. This is b/c I do not want to risk anything w/my computer and will not be opening e-mails with attachments, unless that is what we mutually agree on.

  4. Entries must be posted before/onMay 25, 2009. I don’t want to mess around with time zones, so all I know is this: On Tues 5/26/09 I will be posting all entries at 12pm my time (NYC). This gives you over three weeks to prepare, and will leave five (5) days for judging. To switch it up, this contest will be judged by a panel of people I know – it is to be decided if I let family, friends, etc. decide.

  5. There will be 2 winners. They will be chosen for best concept/look and one for best humor/originality. For every additional 5 entries after the first ten (10) entries, there will either be an additional runner up or another winner (i.e. 15 people = 3 prizes, 20 people = 4, etc.). Depending on who enters, and what the entries are about are what the prizes will be based on (from gift cards to makeup, to a mix, to clothes, etc.).

As I have stated previously, I would like to run a contest monthly. If you have suggestions for a new contest, or have feedback for the contest or the rules, you know what to do. My e-mail address is widely available on this here blog. 🙂

So excited to see what y’all think of!

TGIF!

Image credit: Huffington Post

Guess what day it is?

Their own reading lists:

Beauty/Fashion unrelated:

Check the sidebar in Shared Posts or click here for more posts I share throughout the week and periodically. Most of the time these posts don’t go up in the Blog Review as I don’t want to double post too much.

Shoot me an e-mail to MissYaya@ymail.com if you would like me to explore other/have less of some topics, or for general opinions of what’s in the blog review.