Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts Under $50

Happy Sunday everyone! With all the beautifully decorated storefronts I have seen, I am definitely in the holiday mood. Christmas is fast approaching and while I have purchased some gifts, I still have a couple more to pick up. However, as I am now living on my own, budgeting is key as I carefully consider the rest of the gifts I still need to purchase and put together. Therefore, I thought I would put together some pocketbook friendly gift ideas for everyone.

1. Mini Structured Handbag from DailyLook.com - $44.00

2. Winter Candy Apple 3-Wick Candle 14.5 oz from bathandbodyworks.com - $20.00

3. Coach Park Leather Small Wristlet coachfactory.com - $24.50

4. Demi Cup and Saucer Set from starbuckstore.com - $27.95

5. Paperblanks Karakusa Ultra Journal from papyrusonline.com - $22.95

6. Essie Nail Polishes in Pennytalk and Shearling Darling from Walgreens - $7.00-$8.00

Let me know below if you have other affordable gift ideas for this holiday season! Good luck with your holiday shopping!

♥ Joy ♥

Note: Products were purchased with my own money and the reviews are 100% my own.

Essie: Sugar Daddy

Hi everyone! Long time no post sadly, but I was getting a bit overwhelmed by school, jobs and projects. Just as an update, I presented my capstone project last week to faculty at my school and found out several days ago that I officially passed that program requirement. Now, I'm happy to say that as long as I can get past my finals, I have three weeks until graduation! These last two years has definitely been challenging, but I'm happy to say it was worth it.

As indicated in the title, today, I wanted to post a review on Essie polish in Sugar Daddy. It is a very pretty polish that can be layered up. 

(2 coats of Sugar Daddy)

For those of you interested, you can usually find Essie polishes at Target, Ulta, CVS or Walgreens. What are your favorite shades of Essie? Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Happy Sunday!

 ♥ Joy ♥

Note: Products were purchased with my own money and the reviews are 100% my own.

♥ Fall Nails: Brown & Gold ♥

Happy Friday everyone! Yay! The weekend is almost here. So much to catch up on, but on a positive note, I don't have anymore assignments for my one of my classes ^__^ woot woot! Since my schedule is so crazy, I normally don't really do much in terms of painting my nails, but I decided to actually make the effort to do so and wanted to share how they turned out.

I used, Essie nail polish in Decadent Dish (2 coats) and Revlon Colorstay polish in 140 Fall Mood. Decadent Dish is a brownish red. I did also add one coat of Seche Vite top coat. Let me know what you think. Hope you like!

♥ Joy ♥

Note: Products purchased with my own money and the reviews are 100% my own.

Shades of Summer: Essie & Forever21 Nail Polishes

Hello hello!  Just getting ready to visit my little sister tomorrow in the East Coast!  She promised we'd go thrifting (tehe thrift store shopping). So excited! Very ready to just relax for a couple days since this week has been kinda tough, but before I go, just wanted to share with you some of the nail polish colors I'm been lovin' this summer.

 Essie nail lacquer in Sand Tropez (2 coats)

First polish I used this summer was Sand Tropez by Essie.  I don't usually go for sandy beige colors, but I found this on sale at my local CVS for 50% off and thought it was time to give other colors a chance.  Although it is not crazy bright like most summery colors, for those who prefer neutral colors, I think this would be great and it only took me two coats for this to be opaque!  As usual, I topped it off with Seche Vite top coat, which you can usually find at most Ulta's or at Sally Beauty Supply.

Essie nail lacquer in Tart Deco (2 coats)

Second color I went for this summer was Tart Deco by Essie.  I think this is such a pretty bright, bold, coral orange shade.  Definitely a color that pops in the summertime (makes me think of orange flavored popsicles).  For some reason, the formula for this color was a little more difficult to apply, but still after two coats, this color came out very pretty and of course, I topped it with Seche Vite.

Love & Beauty nail polish in Peach (2 coats)

Last, but not least, I have been wearing Love & Beauty polish in Peach a lot.  I found mine at Forever21 a while back when shopping with my little sister.  I never actually wore it until this summer and found this was a very pretty peach shade!  I would say pretty close to salmon pink, but definitely with more orangey tones and  affordable ($2.80), which is always a plus.  The formula was surprisingly smooth and yes, another 2 coats of Seche Vite!

Have there been colors you all have been loving this summer?  Any shade recommendations would be awesome ^^!

Note: Product was purchased with my own money and the reviews are 100% my own.