Lazy Sunday ...Jin Soon Coquette Swatches

I'm having a lazy Sunday today and I'm cuddled by my fireplace reading "The Richest Man in Babylon" enjoying a cup of amazing delicious and super healthy red tea by Allegra. I'm really enjoying reading this book...Its an inspiring book compiled of many tales that provide a journey of personal growth in wealth and happiness. It has well sounded advice and it's probably one of the easiest and pleasant financial growth books to read. Since Saturday is the day I get to run one of my longest runs of the week often 10-15 miles, I take Sunday to relax and since it's cold outside, I'm reading quite a bit. This book has been so inspiring to read and I've already made some mental notes of a few things I want to do to grow further in both career and finances. Yet another pampering part of my day...painting my nails. Aren't reds just perfect for December? Meet Jin Soon - Coquette. Gorgeous shiny cream classic red color. 

This is about wraps up my Sunday. Hope you all are having a relaxing Sunday and are ready for the Holidays. 

MAC's Red Alert Eyeshadow and INSTAGRAM!

I have decided to get involved with Instagram and start posting some pictures. If you're interested please follow @ANSA_LEATH.
On a different note, Mac just released a new collection called . I think the idea of an entire makeup collection infused with red during the holidays is a brilliant idea. With that being said, I'm quite picky now with makeup as I have tons and tons of it, so I only got one eyeshadow....Red Alert. This is deluxe pearl finish so it has a shimmery pearly finish and the color is a red cranberry shade, more red than MAC's infamous Cranberry. If you do not have Cranberry by MAC or if you want something later, give this a go. This will look beautiful on green eyes but it'll look great on everyone. It's a beautiful warm shade with enough shimmer to make any holiday party makeup gorgeous.

Deborah Lippmann Before He Cheats

Ahhh...the soft cloud pinkish polishes...so feminine and girly on the nails. I love them. I love the soft, natural look they give, classy and polished look. Meet Deborah Lippman "Before He Cheats". It exceeds expectations in the "soft cloud pinkish" shade of polishes in my opinion.

This looks incredibly polished and sophisticated on. I adore this shade. The color itself requires three coats to look fully opaque but with one coat, you get that very soft natural shade as well. Highly recommend this shade if you're looking for something natural but with enough color to stand out against your skin. It's absolutely beautiful.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows in Grandstand and Mesmerized

Makeup Geek just released their new foiled formula which marks my first purchase of a MUG eyeshadow but not the last. I purchased Grandstand and Mesmerized and I'm in love with both of them. Foiled eyeshadows are extremely shimmery and are sort of a hybrid of shimmer and metallic eyeshadows. It gives the same effect some mineral eyeshadows do when applied wet. Swatched below Grandstand is to the right and Mesmerized to the left. Grandstand is a beautiful shimmery rose gold which leans on the pink rose side versus the gold side. There is a slight bronze undertone to this and this will look beautiful on blue eyes.  Mesmerized is very similar to MAC's Satin Taupe. It's a gorgeous shimmery purple taupe shade that makes my green eyes "pop". If you have green eyes, this is a must have.

They wear really well on the lids. They're very smooth and pigmented, extremely shimmery but not glittery and they are very fun colors. The quality of these is amazing for the price of $9 an eyeshadow. I'm very excited to have these and will pick up a few more from this range.

Jessica Ruby Red Polish

Ahh...December. The month of holidays which means red polish is a must. Jessica Ruby Red is an amazing glistening ruby shade that is the perfect hue for Christmas. The shimmer on this polish makes it sparkle and the deep berry richness makes it very eye catching. 

I love that this isn't berry or red but somewhere in between. It is reminiscent of OPI's "I Don't Do Dishes" but more berry and less red and way more dazzeling. The formula is beautiful. It goes opaque in two coats and it stays on for a full week. I will be wearing this shade quite a bit for the holidays.

Healthy snacks and teas all your favorite holiday flavors

One of the favorite things about the holidays is all the classic holiday dishes. I'm thinking of pumpkin pie, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies and hot cocoa or tea to warm up during a cold winter day. However, knowing that several of those dishes can pack up the calories, I found some amazing healthy alternatives that taste delicious but are also nutritious. I'll start with some of my favorite ones...pumpkin pie, gingerbread and sinckerdoodle...sounds amazing right? These flavors are Larabars seasons bars that are so tasty but also nutritious. These bars are nothing but fruits and nuts and a few different spices like dates, raisins, cinnamon, cashews, pumpkin etc...Yummy right? These are so indulgent and delicious that you feel like you're eating the real thing but also helping your body stay super healthy.

A delicious drink is Celestial Holiday Teas like Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, Cranberry Vanilla Wonderland and Sugar Plum Spice which taste just like the name description ...sweet and indulgent  but all natural and very flavorful.

My favorite is Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride which tastes just like a delidoucs sugar cookie. And don't forget the fruit that's in season right now like applies and pomegranates both packed with vitamins and antioxidants.

MAC 15 eyeshadow palette for sale

Hi everyone,
I'm selling a few of my eyeshadows...See below. If you're interested, please email me at theamcgirl@ymail.com. Thank you

Essie Carry On Nail Polish

I can't seem to get away from dark polishes at the moment...probably all to do with this unusual cold weather we are experiencing. This time last year it was still pretty warm while this November feels like winter. I'm not complaining though because it has put me in the mood for the holidays and I'm on a serious countdown to Christmas. So I raided my collection for a dark polish and I found Essie's "Carry on". What looks like a very dark mauve purple on the bottle translates to an almost black color on the nails. With short nails this looks chic and I'm enjoying wearing it.

If you're looking for a dark almost black polish, give "carry on" a go. It's a beautiful color. The application is amazing. No streaks and the staying power is pretty good too. It stayed on a full week without any chips. 

NARS M BUTTERFLY NAIL POLISH

NARS M Butterfly polish is a brilliant shade for fall and winter. It's a gorgeous dark wine red that looks so elegant but yet a little vampy. It has an amazing glossy quality and looks like a jelly polish even though it is a cream. What makes this color unique for me is how classy it looks. It's one of those colors that you can easily wear in an office environment without looking too dark or goth. Unfortunately, I looked it up on the website before posting this and it has been discontinued. I found a very similar Sally Hanson shade for only a $1.49. See link below!!! And if you have NARS M Butterfly, then you're very lucky. 

The closest and most similar shade I found find for a far cheaper price is below:

Hope you all are having a great day.

Essie Minimalistic nail polish - swatches

I've been sporting darker nails for the last month as I often do during fall and when I removed my polish this weekend I noticed my nails are in that length where a beautiful nude polish makes them look clean, long and beautiful. So instead of another dark color, I reached for one of my all time favorite pinkish white colors that looks amazing with longer nails which is Essie Minimalistic. Essie Minimalistic is a soft marshmallow shade. It's a white color but with a hint of a pink...think of a soft cloud. Absolutely beautiful but yet not stark white and very wearable.

This need about two coats as the first coat is quite streaky but that's the case with all the soft colors and I don't mind it. This polish makes the nails appear a lot longer too so if you're trying to grow your nails or want them to look longer gives this a go. And of course what a universal color...It looks good with anything.

Zoya Nephratiti - Beautiful christmas red polish

I know there is still quite some time till Christmas, but I absolutely love those gorgeous shades of red that make think of the holidays. Zoya Nephratiti is one of those shades. What makes this shade unique  is that it is laced with purple shimmer but yet  on the nails it looks like a glossy cream shade instead of a deep shimmer/glitter shade. A beautiful deep blue red, it has an amazing glossy quality to it.

The wear time is amazing. I've had it for one full week absolutely no chipping. I use Butter London's top coat called hardware and love it. Overall, I highly recommend this beautiful red polish especially for the upcoming holidays.

Cummins Fall - hiking and waterfalls - Pictures from my weekend

Cummins Falls is a beautiful 211 acres site with tons of hiking and beautiful surrounding..all leading to a 75 foot high waterfall and a swimming hole which is one of the 10 best in the US. Since I love hiking and waterfalls, we went to check it out over the weekend and it was beautiful. The weather was cool, the hiking was nice and quite a work out and the waterfall was both relaxing and invigorating at the same time.

After all the hiking we had some dinner in a British pub...roasted red pepper soup, sandwich and fries..all so yummy and delicious. 

It was a great weekend and a perfect way to spend these crisp fall days outside.

Canoeing Buffalo River - Pictures from my weekend

I absolutely love the water...ocean, river, waterfalls. I'm a water baby and I feel the happiest when I'm surrounded by water. This weekend we decided to canoe the buffalo river. We had a blast although I'll sheepishly admit I didn't do much paddling. My husband handled most of that. We pulled over in a beautiful area and took some pictures. The weather is getting pretty cool here so I'm glad we enjoyed one last weekend on the water.

Tom Ford Beauty Haul

As a makeup junkie I'm ashamed (or perhaps I should be proud) to report I haven't in the past tried much of Tom Ford cosmetic items. I have bought a nail polish here and there but nothing else. So I decided to jump on the bandwagon and purchased three eyeshadow palettes and a nail polish. The palettes I picked up are Cognac Sable, Golden Mink, Cocoa Mirage and nail polish in the color Smoke Red. 

The nail polish is in the color Smoke Red. It was quite hard to get the camera to show this a true color but this is a very deep cream red with sort of a cranberry undertone. This will be perfect for Christmas. 

 Cognac Sable has a gorgeous shimmery peach, burned orange, red brown and a steal gray shade.

Golden Mink has a golden shade, a cool town brown and two glitters, one shimmery peach glitter and a gorgeous golden glitter. 

Cocoa Mirage is a stunning matte palette with a bone shade, cool tone brown, burgundy shade and a darker chocolate brown. 

I absolutely love these palettes and am so excited to start using them. The quality of these is amazing, they blend so well and are so pigmented. The price point of this is pretty high but the quality makes it worth it in my opinion. 

Butter London Old Blighty Polish

Yet another perfect color for Autumn, Butter London Old Blighty is a gorgeous creamy and rich red brick color with a brown undertone. I love that this isn't a pink based red but more of brown based because it makes it a bit more unique than most reds in the market and it looks quite sexy on the nails. Another big pointer for this polish is that this is a pretty good dupe for one of my all time favorite but discontinued Essie color in "crock the rock" which I have posted about several times on this blog because I absolutely love it. See below for both polishes side by side.

Love this color for Autumn. The application is really nice too. It takes two coats only for opaque results.

Butter London Brown Sugar Swatch

September marks the transition to more autumn colors for clothes, makeup and nail polish for me. The weather has already started to cool off and most stores have started to put out Halloween items which really excites because I absolutely love Autumn. The next few posts of the nails of the day are going to be some of my favorite fall polishes. I'm kicking off with one of my all time favorite fall and Christmas colors which is Butter London "Brown Sugar". Brown Sugar is a beautiful cranberry shade with gorgeous gold, silver and purple glitter. I also took a picture in direct sun light to capture the beauty of this color.

Amelia Island Vlog

Hi everyone,
I put together a weekly vlog while in Amelia and thought to share with you. Hope you enjoy.

Lots of love

Ansa

Maine In September - Inspiring Autumn Pictures

I'm so excited it's September and Autumn is around the corner. Here are some pictures I took last September in Maine. Looking forward to Autumn bringing lots of hiking, festivals, lots of chai tea and pumpkin  spice late, colorful tree leaves and a lot more jogging outside.

Happy September. 

Lots of love

Ansa