Goodbye, Adiós , Au revoir, Adieu...

I apologize for my recent absence from blogging (again), but I have an announcement to make:

I have decided to discontinue my blogging. I find that maintaining smile for the little things has become more of a burden than a hobby. Of course, this doesn't mean that I will detach myself from the beauty blogosphere, only that I will no longer be contributing to it. These last eight-ish months of blogging has been an interesting and fun experience. However, I've found that my passion for blogging has slowly lessened over the past few months.

I have been contemplating whether or not to stop blogging for quite a long time, the whole summer, actually. I came to my final decision today as I realized that I no longer have time have time for blogging.  These past few weeks, I have been unable to blog at all because I've been swamped with last-minute work as well as the start of classes. Last semester, I could afford to spend some extra time focusing on blogging, but this semester is already looking different; it's only the start of the semester and I am already super busy! Today is the first day I've had free time since...well, my last post. I can already tell I will barely have any free time this year, so I won't have time to properly commit to this blog.

Along with having no time, the other main reason for this decision is that I feel that I have failed my readers in keeping up with the latest products and trends. I do tend to be lazy with these things, seeing as I personally don't have a huge interest in following the latest trends, whether it be makeup, clothes, or even music. This is my personal preference, but I feel that it's unfair to my readers that they must endure the disadvantages of it.

Another (smaller) reason for my decision is that I feel that I have moved away from the message of this blog. I may be trying to communicate the message of "enjoy the little things in life" but I find that I am no longer doing so myself. Instead of enjoying nail polish the way I used to, I now think of it as a duty to my blog and my readers.

I do and always will support blogging, but I now know that it just isn't for me. My blog can not compare to the multitude of amazing blogs out there that are maintained by dedicated bloggers who put up posts constantly and consistently.

I thorougly enjoyed the short time I spent blogging, and I want to thank my amazing readers; I love all of you guys! It was great knowing that there were people out there actually reading this blog, and this is the thought that motivated me to keep posting. I especially want to thank Tammy of Lazy Beautiful and Fiona, previously of Swatch and Learn. You guys were and still are SO supportive and helpful. I am really inspired by both of you, and I hope we will continue to stay in touch.
Tammy is an amazing blogger; I highly recommend checking out her blog Lazy Beautiful! I also recommend checking out Swatch and Learn; though Fiona no longer contributes to it, her former blogging partner Mary is still posting and keeping it up.

I will always be an avid fan of beauty, makeup, and nail polish, but I just won't be blogging about it. I have not decided whether or not I will eventually start blogging again, but I know that it won't be anytime near in the future. In the slight possibility that I will resume blogging, however, I am not going to delete smile for the little things.

So again, thank you to all my readers; I wish the best to all of you! Please contact me if you have a question, need help, or even just want to chat. My email is ruthe_ee@yahoo.com and I am Ruthe_H on Twitter. You can also find me on Facebook; send me a Tweet or email and I'll give you my info. And always remember, as it always says at the top of this blog, "Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful."

Enjoy life, love yourself, and as always, smile for the little things.

Santa Barbara + Summer Haul

*Warning: long, pic-heavy post!*

I'm back from Santa Barbara! The trip was really fun and relaxing, but I'm really glad to be back home.

Here's some pics of the Pier (Stern's Wharf) and the beach:

In a nutshell, the trip consisted of seeing the sights, hanging on the beach, boogie boarding in the ocean, eating at some great restaurants, and, of course, SHOPPING!! Mostly, I bought a ton of clothes, but I also got some beauty stuff. My hopes of swatch pictures on the beach were destroyed when my nails kept breaking with each and every day that passed. It was SO frustrating!! Seriously, my nails right now are the shortest they've been in this year! *Cry* So I'm going to focus on letting them rest and grow back for the time being, which means not doing my nails for awhile :(.

I decided to combine all the stuff I bought in Santa Barbara with some stuff that I bought in the last few months to compile a big summer haul. First up is the pre-Santa Barbara stuff:

Sephora Brand Mineral Foundation in Medium - Beige

I'm not exactly sure how well this foundation will work, but I won't know if I don't try it, right? Plus this was super cheap because it was on sale :).

Tokidoki Prisma Lip Glosses

Ninja Dog (left) and Monkey Pirate (right)

Yes, I realize I have a few of these already...

Sephora Brand Lip Glosses

Gold & Glow (top) and Sweet Nectar (bottom)

Hot Coral (top) and Bronze Beauty (bottom)

Flushed (top) and Purple Reign (bottom)

Blue Waters (top) and Limey (bottom)

Sephora has such a wide range of lip gloss colors, it was sort of hard to choose...but it's okay since they were on sale, right??

Liplicious Lip Glosses from left: Apple Mojito, Limeade, If the Tiara Fits (pineapple), and Princess in Training (orange)

Bath and Body Works Brown Sugar & Fig Body Lotion

Victoria's Secret Body Lotion and Fragrance Mists from left: Drenched in Pink Cool & Carefree Body Lotion, Pink With a Splash Charming & Fun Body Mist, and Good Day Sunshine Fragrance Mist

Victoria's Secret Secret Garden Body Lotions from left: Pure Seduction, Strawberries and Champagne, Endless Love, Island Waters, and Island Breeze

Victoria's Secret Secret Garden Body Lotions from left: Lost in Fantasy, Mango Temptation, Wild Scarlet, Ravishing Love, and Ravishing Love Body Butter

Yeah...I really get sucked into sales...

And here's the stuff I got in Santa Barbara:

L'occitane Lavender Hand Cream

I absolutely love L'occitane! Their products are so finely made and smell so amazing and pure, it justifies the fairly high price tag. My mom was actually the one to turn me on to the brand; she is obsessed with their shea and lavender products!

Lush Twilight Bath Bomb

So I visited Lush for the first time while I was in Santa Barbara (way overdue, I know!) and was completely overwhelmed by all of their amazing products!! I ended up just picking up a few amazing-smelling bath bombs (I've heard some great things about these!) but I totally regret not getting a Sunnyside Bubble Bar too, ugh! Well, that's reason enough to head back to Lush, right? ;)

Anyways so Lush describes Twilight's scent as containing: lavender, tonka, ylang ylang, and ovaltine

Lush Honey Bee Bath Bomb

 Honey Bee: honey, caramel

Lush Space Girl Bath Bomb

 Space Girl: blackcurrant, grapefruit

Palladio Nail Treatments from left: Flexi-Strong Ridge Filler, Moisture Surge Nail Repair, and Green Tea Nail Fortifier

When I saw a Sally Beauty Supply in Santa Barbara, I KNEW I had to go in and get some treatments for my poor nails. For the past few days, I've been using the Moisture Surge Nail Repair. I've been applying one coat every day (today is the fourth day), and tomorrow I'll take it all off and start over on bare nails. This method was introduced to me by one of the sales associates in Sally Beauty, and as this is my first time using a nail treatment, I decided to follow it. Is there an alternate or better way to use nail treatments? If you use nail treatments a different way, please tell me! :)

China Glaze Celtic Sun (left) and Dorothy Who? (right)

And while I was in Sally Beauty Supply, I had to pick up a few more polishes, right? ;)

Celtic sun is AMAZING!! The color is truly neon yellow, like the color of a new yellow highlighter!! I can't wait to use this! :D And of course Dorothy Who? is gorgeous too; it's blue and glittery, what more can you ask for?? ;D

LA Girl Disco Brites polishes from left: Dance Studio, Funkadelic, Turntable, Can U Dig It?, and Strobe Light

I actually found a clothing store in Santa Barbara that also sold some LA Girl polishes and I got SO excited! But I ended up just getting a few more of their black light nail polishes. I still have yet to try out the black light effect!

So that's the end of my summer haul. I'll be trying out my new stuff after my nails get their rest and start growing out. I'm especially looking forward to my new neon nail polish! :D

On a totally random note, did anyone else love the Lucille Ball Google Doodle from earlier today?? So cute!


Little thing to smile for today: home sweet home! :D
<3 Ruthe

Revlon Gold Coin

After this post, I will be on a short hiatus. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Santa Barbara with my friend for about a week and a half. I'm not sure if I'll have computer/internet access, so I can't really predict whether or not I'll put up any posts while I'm there. I'll definitely take a lot of pictures and share them when I get back :). Maybe some swatch pictures on the beach...;).

In anticipation for the trip, I painted by nails metallic again! I used another Revlon Heavenly Metals polish (remember Copper Penny?), but this time it's gold:

And some sun pictures to show off the metallic reflectiveness:

These past few days I've been cleaning, washing, packing, and doing a bunch of other work around the house so I ended up getting a blister on my index fingers; thus, the virtual band-aid are back. Doing all this work has also taken its toll on my nails; they keep brekaing and chipping!! :(

Revlon Gold Coin is a metallic pale gold with gold and silver *reflective particles* (again, don't know what to call them...). It's a bit more gold and less silvery than shown in the pictures. This color reminded me of my Sally Hansen polish pen in Gold Chrome, but Gold Coin is less chrome and more awesome. This went on smooth and was opaque in two coats.

What I've noticed about Revlon's Heavenly Metals polishes that makes them unique is that the metallic finish isn't smooth like most metallics; you can actually see the shimmery, reflective particles in the nail polish that gives the *metallic-ness* a kick. And with both Heavenly Metals polishes that I've tried so far, there is silver mixed in with the other metallic color, whether it's gold or copper. I think the silver gives each polish a really unique feel. The only other Heavenly Metals polish that I have yet to try (it's just sitting there in my stash, waiting...;P) is Silver Dollar, which is pretty obviously a metallic silver.

I usually have gripes with Revlon polishes, but I am absolutely in love with their Heavenly Metals collection!! These metallic polishes are just SO reflective and metallic and AMAZING!! :D

Little thing to smile for today: metallic nails! :D

<3 Ruthe

Pirate Nails!

I've been doing more outdoor painting, so my red mani got pretty scratched up. Fortunately, inspiration whacked me in the head and I turned my beat up red nails into some cute pirate nails! Check it:

As always, click to enlarge :).

Now that I think about it, pirates would probably have some pretty nasty nails. I mean, they have to live and work on a ship without washing their hands often or taking a bath every day, much less using hand lotion or cuticle oil! Obviously, I wasn't exactly thinking of that when I did my nails, but it's just a random thought...

I already had a no-name mystery Maybelline red on for the base; then I used tape and 10 Professional Nail Lacquer The Little Black Dress to do the black stripes. After, I used a nail art brush and Loreal French Tip White to draw the skulls and crossbones. Finally, I used a dotting tool and The Little Black Dress again to do the eyes and then put on a top coat.

Unfortunately, I didn't wait long enough for the eyes to dry on some of the nails before putting on the top coat, so you can see eye-smudges on some of the skulls (the skull on my right thumb looks like it's crying!). And in retrospect, I should have gone over the white again so it was more opaque. I thought about doing it, I started to do it, but then I got lazy and didn't do it :P. This was the first time I tried using tape for stripes, and I like the outcome, even though I need to work on getting the tape to stick better on the sides of my nails; the sides ended up really messy!

I am pretty pleased with the end result of my Pirate nails! Though I'm afraid people might think that they're more punk-goth-tween-girl-y rather than pirate-y. Ugh. I hope not.

Little thing to smile for today: random nail art designs!! :D

<3 Ruthe

(P.S. Do you think I should be more detailed when describing the nail art steps? Would it be more helpful if I explained the steps like a tutorial?)

Maybelline Mystery Red...

After the crackle disaster, I wanted to go back to something simple and classic, so I went with red. I always think red is an underrated nail color. People always say it's really old-school and boring, but I think red is always beautiful, classic, and elegant.

The red I chose was a Maybelline Express Finish polish that I got way back when, and the sticker with the name has fallen off ages ago, so I wasn't sure what the name of this polish is. I remembered it being something like Hawaii Red, but I Googled it and couldn't find anything. This is a long shot, but if someone randomly happens knows the color of this polish, please be a darling and let me know! :)

Lately, my pictures, including these, have been really bad, sorry. They really haven't been representing each polish well.

Maybelline ___ Red is a basic medium-dark blue-based red with shimmer. It's less warm than shown in the pictures. Like all Maybelline Express Finish polishes, each coat went on really smooth. Opaque in two coats, but I did three because I thought the color would *pop* more. It didn't.

I'm a few days behind on my posting; I've added some nail art to this mani since taking the photos and I am SO loving it!! I'll be putting up the post soon :D.

Little thing to smile for today: going back to the classics :)

<3 Ruthe

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Fractured Foil

I know crackle is the *NOW* trend, but I've actually realized that I really don't like it. I think I was initially interested in crackle polishes because they were so different than anything I'd ever seen (when the Covergirl Crackle Lacquers were all the rage in 2000, I was too young to be following nail polish trends, lol). Unfortunately after buying all my crackles and only using them only once or twice (or some, not at all), I've realized that crackle isn't for me. Whenever I have crackle on, I always think my nails look like 1) they have old, dried, scratched paint on them, 2) my polish is chipping off, or 3) I scratched a wall after doing my nails. For some reason, I still like seeing crackle on blogs (they just look so much better on the computer screen :P) but in real life, crackle polishes just annoy me. Obviously, I'm not going to attack anyone with crackle nail polish on, lol, I'm just not going to wear crackles that often if at all. I'll probably only wear them in the future to hide chipped nails, which brings us FINALLY to the point of this post; my Hot Tamale mani was starting to chip after wearing it for a few days, so I thought I would hide it by putting a crackle polish over it:

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Fractured Foil is a silver crackle. To get it at least opaque-ish, you have to do really thick coats. I actually dipped the brush into the bottle twice for each nail; you can still see the thinner areas where the coat wasn't thick enough. I'm not sure if all Sally Hansen crackles are as thin as Fractured Foil (I only got one, thankfully) or if the sheerness is due to the fact that it's a shimmer crackle polish.

Compared to my China Glaze crackles, this Sally Hansen crackle was really disappointing . Not only was the Sally Hansen crackle more expensive than the China Glaze crackles, it doesn't *crack* as well (look how well the China Glaze crackle really separated, even when applied badly). When I first swatched Fractured Foil after getting it, it separated really inadequately (sort of like on the pinky nail) and I applied the polish normally instead of super-thickly so the silver wasn't obvious. Even now, after I got the application down (for the most part), the Sally Hansen crackle still doesn't separate that well or look that cool.

In my opinion, skip the Sally Hansen crackles. They really, really aren't worth the high price tag, especially when you can get a China Glaze crackle for less and even get an OPI Shatter for just a few dollars more. Or you can just skip crackle polishes all together. That's what I'm gonna do.

And in the meantime, I'm going to get the nail polish remover...


Little thing to smile for today: picking a new nail color :)
<3 Ruthe

Pure Ice Hot Tamale

When it's summer, I just love busting out the bright colors!! Recently, I've been wearing a lot of bright, tropical-y colors, specifically lime green, chartreuse green, coral, cerulean, and turquoise. So of course I decided to make my nails as bright and as tropical as my clothes with Pure Ice Hot Tamale:

These pictures, to put it simply, are really inaccurate. In real life, this polish is way less red-leaning, way more shimmery, and not as neon-bright. Plus, the finish was glossy, not weirdly satiny-looking like in the pictures.

Pure Ice Hot Tamale (love that name!) is a bright medium orange with orange and gold shimmer. Unfortunately, the pretty gold shimmer doesn't show up on the nail :(. You can sort of see the gold in the pictures; look near the sides of the bottle. In real life, the gold is more obvious. Like I said, Hot Tamale is much less red-leaning than shown in the pictures; in real life, it's a pretty straight-forward orange with just a touch of red. Opaque in two smooth coats.

I still don't love how oranges look on me. This orange, specifically, made me look super tan. I'm already quite dark from summer because I tan so easily; I don't need to look any tanner! (Just wanted to point out that unlike most California girls out there, I don't love looking super tan; I prefer being paler.) Nevertheless, I loved the brightness of Hot Tamale! It totally screamed summer; plus it matched the decor of a local frozen yogurt place I went to yesterday :P.

Little thing to smile for today: bright tropical colors! :D
<3 Ruthe