So I woke up this morning with a super puffed up face and puffy eye. The eye has been giving me issues since Sunday. I think I got something in it while cleaning my closet. But yesterday my sinuses had me in a fog while I worked. I couldn't breathe at all. I actually wore a Breathe Right strip most of the day because I couldn't breathe otherwise! Since calling in to work isn't an option, I had to do what I had to do to make it through the day. I got home around 7pm and took some sinus medicine that had me in an induced fog, but at least I was feeling a bit better. Today not so much, so I give in and am going to the doctors. There is definitely a blocked tear duct or something and it hurts! I cry uncle!

I actually for a second almost Instagramed a pic of my face. But since the terms and conditions of Instagram say to post what makes you look awesome, (I paraphrase) I decided not to. Then Kat strolled into my bathroom while I was hard at work trying to disguise my Sloth looking face. (Goonies reference anyone?) Kat had a cheer accident last night and while last night she felt fine, this morning she had a nice puffy eye (seriously!) and hers is a nice shade of Chanel Vamp! Not kidding it would be a perfect match! So I had to work on helping her disguise that. Oh the fun we have at the Morrison house sometimes! Reality show anyone?

Let's not even talk about the International Shipping drama I started last night! I thank the meds for that one! So let me just say International customers - please no need to panic. Worst case scenario I hope is just a temporary suspension while we work to meet new regs. I believe it just has to do with labeling, but we will learn more in the coming weeks. I won't say more because I am not the source of education when it comes to International shipping. We do our best to follow the regulations, and that is our goal to continue to do so. We speak only for our company.

The question was asked why can large companies distribute overseas when we can't. There are so many potential answers and I don't want to even try to insinuate what other companies are doing, because there are sooo many options out there, we just can't afford them! Maybe one day! I will say that if we were using a distibutor, we could get large shipments sent via vessal using a freight forwarder. This would mean heavy freight charges and customs fees and import taxes to the distributor, which would mean a higher cost for International customers, such as there are with larger brands. We are looking for distributors, but that also could mean big changes as well. In the meantime it is business as usual, and if we have to suspend international shipping while we mine through all the changes, we will let you know. We just didn't want to announce it as it happens because I think that would just be more drama. So in the mean time, no need to panic, just hang in there and know we will keep you informed.

As for orders placed over the weekend, we have been working hard on getting orders out. After taking a few days off with the family, I came back to a lot of work, so I've been busy. LOVE being busy! But please hang in there while I get caught up and get orders out!

Lastly did you see we are in the Refinery 29 Tinseltown Glossybox? Heck yeah! If you haven't checked it out, do it now! A full size bottle of After Glow is in the box!

First I have to say you guys are the funniest, coolest, smartest people out there. I know I say this all the time, but I absolutely LOVE reading the comments on your orders. I get everything from hello's, to trivia, to jokes, to real special instructions! And Claudia, if you're reading this - when Coco read your comment, she went "Hey it's Claudia from NY!" smiling with pride because she knows you! So cool! (Because I actually was like "aw it's Claudia! I love her!" when I read it.) Anyway sorry for the Claudia segway, but she is amazing! She is the brains behind Chromatic Misadventures and I swear when I met her it was like meeting a long lost best friend. We instantly clicked. So when we went to NYC in July she spent the day with my fam and John's parents. Amazing to think we met through blogging!

Anyway, back to what I was talking about! Ha!  I actually got a lot of comments on budgets with this collection. Hey as you read last week, we all need a budget exception once in a while right?! LOL! For those of you who budgeted for the collection, teach me your secrets! For those of you who broke your budget, welcome to the club! I have a built in exception coming up for the Target/Neiman Marcus collection coming out in a few weeks, so I hear ya! But is it really an exception if I am planning for it? Hmmm more of a budget bump for that week, right?

This week I kicked my budget's ass! WAHOO! I needed hairspray, but other than that, I mostly didn't need or want anything. Although I need some makeup wipes now.

I almost made it the entire week just spending $3.50 on hairspray! (Tresseme #4 Firm Hold for anyone that cares.) But then a little surprise popped in there! Isn't there always something? I belong to a Target Collab group - You know me and fashion! We all pretty much help each other out in trying stuff on, so you get to see it on different body types and help each other track down wanted items, especially when they go on clearance.

I have this dress from Target and I love it! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I keep trying to make up excuses to wear it, and unfortunately so far I have only found one so far. But no worries, there will be more!


Well Target also has a solid blue and black trim one? So pretty! I had trouble deciding between the bright flowers or the blue one. Once I decided on the floral one, I had no intention of picking up the blue, but someone in the group found the blue one on super clearance. I mean SUPER clearance! Including shipping to me it was $15.32! So of course I had to grab it, she found it in my size and on super clearance, how could I refuse? Both dresses are actually on clearance on the Target site too for $34.98 right now.  So even with that, I got an AWESOME deal! I can't wait to get it!

So I ended the week with a fab dress and some hairspray and I didn't even spend $20! WAHOO! Success! Although I really was excited to have only spent $3.50 until this last minute pop up.  But overall budget of $37.50 for the week and I spent $18.82. Not too shabby! I hope I have more weeks like this!

Has anyone else made a budget with me? How is yours going?

In other news, our Behind Closed Doors Collection is our best selling collection yet! WOW! I am beyond floored by the support and success. I think those who ordered are going to love this collection as much as I do! I have been waiting to release this one for months, it is hands down my favorite (besides Coco's) of the year! With that being said, please have some patience while I continue to get polishes ready for shipping and get orders out. It is going to take us a little longer than our normal quick shipping, but rest assured, we are working on processing all orders! The down side is my kids have more dentist appts today (Yay braces!) and a friend is having her Birthday party tonight, so my work day is littered with must do things, but I will work between it all and again tomorrow. I am determined to be fully caught up quickly for you guys while balancing my family life and friends all at the same time! Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Fingers crossed I have Internet today! Yesterday we had no Internet at the office. I came home since I can download invoices and prepare shipping labels from home and then I could head back to the office and pack those orders. But no sooner do I walk in the door, than AT&T assures me it is not an area outage and I needed to head back to the office and wait for a tech. So back I went, figuring I could pack orders in the evening in between Cheer and Tumbling classes for the girls. It might be a little tough, but not undoable! A few hours and phone calls to AT&T later turns out it's an outage! GRRR! I spent my entire day there waiting!

Last night Juan & I ended up focusing on some other Cult Nails items since it turns out our home Internet was also having an issue. That one seems to have been fixed now and I received a call about 30 minutes ago from AT&T letting me know the outage is over. So once I get the kids to school, I'll be working at warp speed to get orders out! So if you placed an order and are waiting patiently, this is why you are waiting. Thought you guys might want to know since normally our shipping is much faster than this! Add the fact that Monday was a Holiday here, so I really feel behind!

I've always been honest with you all, so let's keep it that way and let you know the good news along with the not so good news.

first up, I have some exciting news, we have been picked up by a store in San Marco Jacksonville, FL! WAHOO! The store Reve located in Jacksonville came by our booth at The Makeup Show and now will be carrying our polishes at her store! I am sooo excited and hope to make a trip to her store to see how things are going and to get a picture with my polishes in a retail setting! Super excited! Their website is www.revegirls.com, but our polishes will be sold in the store only from what I understand. I would love to see our polishes in some more boutiques across the world, so if you know of a good fit, please let us know!

Photo courtesy of Reve in San Marco Jacksonville, FL

Some middle of the road news. We had some of this collection set aside for an event coming up which I can't really discuss yet. As soon as I am given the go ahead, I will definitely let you all know, because it's pretty cool! But that means there is less of this collection to go around. No worries, I think there is still plenty. We never put 100% of the collection on the preview pricing event. We want to make sure that those who only want one bottle have an opportunity without the worry of a sell out. So no need to panic if you didn't order the whole collection during the sale, there will still be polishes available individually starting on Friday. We are however, down to less than 200 of the collection at Preview Pricing left though, so if you do want the entire set at the sale price, now is definitely the time, since the last day of the sale is tomorrow.


As well some of our Limited Edition colors are on the verge of selling out. :( So sad. I didn't realize that it would hurt a little to lose these colors, but I am suffering a little emotional loss. So crazy! Seduction is at less than 200, Living Water is even lower. There are maybe a few others that Juan told me about, but admittedly I was only half listening since I was doing something else at the time.

Let Me Fly is extremely low as well, but that one will be back hopefully in January, so no need to worry about that one! We already have Let Me Fly, Iconic, Quench and I think one other being worked on, so if all goes well those will either be back in January or the current inventory should last us until January. I know Quench already sold out, but if you have your heart set on Let Me Fly or Iconic for the holidays, you may want to act now.

W wicked old pic of Let Me Fly! I can't believe I don't have a newer one! Makes me want to change my mani!

Now for the not so great news. Everyone is asking about a Black Friday Sale. The simple answer is, we are not going to have one. :( BUT we will be adding our new mini files and having a holiday special that will start on Small Business Saturday. (The day after Black Friday or Nov 24th) It's not going to be a sale like we normally have done, but we are looking at making little gift options at special prices. The reason is two fold. One financially with so many colors to re-order and increased costs of making nail polish, we are not in a position as a small business to have a big sale. Truth be told, we have been trying to hold off on a $2 per bottle price increase. We had originally planned on the price increase to be effective Nov 1, 2012. But we are trying to cut corners where we can and do what we can to keep our prices where they are. Unfortunately since we are not a large conglomerate, we have little pull with companies to lower our prices, but that doesn't mean I am giving up. So in lieu of a sale we can't afford, or a price increase nobody wants, my goal is to keep the prices where they are through the end of the year and hope that come January, we can keep things going as is even longer. So stick with us, we'll have fun things coming, just no major sale. :( You all know how much I love a sale, so if I can figure something out, we will do something, I just don't see it happening for Black Friday.


Let me know what you all think. If you come up with a cool sale idea, let us know. We have some ideas going, and you know how much we value your input, so let us know what you would like to see, whether it's a color or any other idea, we are all ears!

I didn't post a budget update last week since I was telling you all about The Makeup Show, so I have two weeks to catch up on.

Week 2: Oct 26 - Nov 1

This week wasn't too bad, but I did go over. :( It started out well enough. I got my Buried Bauble email from Bauble Bar. If you aren't familiar, Bauble Bar is an accessory website. They have awesome accessories and decent prices for most items. Too add to the temptation, most Tuesdays they do a Buried Platinum Bauble which is where they mark down 1 item that retails for about $40 - $50 down to $20 for the day and on Friday's they do the Buried Bauble where they mark down an item that retails for $24 - $28 down to $10. I typically buy the Buried Bauble's only, but once in a great while I may pick something else up along the way. On Friday Oct 27th, the Buried Bauble came out and they had some pretty cool earrings to choose from, so I picked ones I thought would be versatile for $10.

The earrings I chose from the Buried Bauble

Shipping is free, so it makes it an even sweeter deal.(How do they do that?) If you aren't a member of Bauble Bar you can sign up under another person (like me), you get $10 your first purchase and then I get money to spend on the site too. Unfortunately you can't use your $10 on a Buried Bauble. :( But it's the best way to get a discount on your 1st purchase. If you want to sign up and haven't you can sign up here: http://www.baublebar.com/index.php/rewardsref/index/refer/id/45859/

So $10 down and the budget week just started. Oh no! Then Wed happened. The girls had a 1/2 day off school. I use the 1/2 days to take one of the girls out of school for the day if they are getting A's & B's and we do a mother/daughter day. I take them to the Mall to update their wardrobe, we do lunch, just have a chill day. It was Coco's turn. Things were going well. We went to the outlets and Coco grabbed a few things for herself. I stayed strong in Forever 21, especially in the accessory section, which clearly we have already discovered is one of my many weaknesses. We left the outlets and I hadn't spent a dime out of my remaining budget! Who rocks? I do!

Then we went to the FL Mall and while we are sitting there eating lunch and I'm feeling quite proud of myself I get a text from Express with a coupon $30 off $75. Um are they watching me? Did they know I was in the Mall? Darn them. I succumbed and walked into Express. I left with 2 shirts and a pair of earrings for $47.80.


The down side, I got home to find out the T-Shirt had a hole in it! So frustrated by this crap. This is the 2nd shirt in a few months that has a tiny hole in it that I only notice after I get home. The holes are so small & I check out what I am buying before I leave, but somehow I missed it. I shouldn't have to check a shirt I buy to make sure it is hole free before buying it. Not to mention that Express is an hour away, so now it has to wait until I am back that way to return it. Maybe that is my sign that I shouldn't have bought anything. Grrr.

So the budget for the week was $37.50 and I spent $57.80. $20.30 over budget. The week before I came in $4 something under budget so technically I am about $15 in the budget hole.

Week 3 - Nov 2 - 8

This week can be known as the Week of Exceptions! First up was The Makeup Show. I knew before planning the budget that this would be a big spend weekend. We are talking getting 30 - 60% off or more on some of your favorite makeup brands. I knew going in I would spend about $150. And boy did I! Yup it was one of those cringe worthy weekends! Imagine buying yourself makeup and what you spend and now multiply that by 4 because you have 3 teenage daughters! UGH!

My goal was to buy a few more shadow brushes. I find that there are times when I am doing my makeup and then the kids come in and want me to do theirs, or friends come over and want me to do theirs. Well if I am doing a complex eye, I can use about 3 brushes for one look. Add the need to clean the brushes in between uses/colors, you really need to have about 2 sets. For me that seems to be 3 sets. I had 1. Crown Brush was there so I used the opportunity to stock up on some decent brushes for $2-4 a piece. I grabbed 8 brushes and an 88 color shadow palette for a total of $32. The shadow palette is similar to those that Coastal Scents carries with a variety of bright colors. I don't use bright shadow often, so this is just a great palette to have all the colors in one place when I do want to break out a bright look. I was hoping there would be something like this at the show.

I then went and added a few more brushes. James Vincent had some brushes for the Makeup Show specifically. One is a mini fan brush which he likes to use to apply mascara with. I was curious. Applying mascara with a fan brush? really? YUP REALLY! Not for everyday, but I will definitely go with this way for special occasions. (I'll do a review showing the difference soon.) His set was $26 for 4 brushes. This was not a planned purchase. Oh the dangers lurking about the makeup show!

Outside of that, I wanted to snag some Makeup Forever shadow colors, Smashbox eyeliner and glosses and maybe O-glow, Inglot shadows and OCC lip tar. Not all these, but maybe one or two from the list. The problem was that I planned on creating a wishlist with retail pricing before the show. So I could go in with a plan. Since we ended up having a booth at the last minute, I didn't have time to do this. As I looked at the booths with my limited time, I felt overwhelmed knowing I didn't really have time to shop and of course those booths were busy, so I passed on all of the above.

But to my surprise Stila was there. I love Stila! How did I not know they would be there?! I knew I had to grab a Smudge Stick in black. I already had a green, purple and grey one, so it was time for the black! I grabbed one for $10! 1/2 off! WAHOO! I meant to buy a smudge pot too and forgot. Darn it! While there I saw a small case loaded with $450 of Stila's best sellers. They sell it for $250 and for the show it was $150! Aw man! I wanted that so bad! It had a smudge stick, which a back up of the one I just bought would be nice, I love the custom color blush, the cream blush and lip paint. Their glosses are always great items to keep in the purse, I was interested in their BB Cream, and their smudge shadows, so it was definitely something worth getting at the right price! I told Juan if that goes for $100 or less it is mine! MINE!!!

Drool!

So Smudgestick in hand I went back to work, and then I went over to the AJ Crimson booth. They had offered bloggers a free sample of AJ's not yet released cream foundation and they had already given us a small sample of their Kissable Couture lip gloss. I tried the lipgloss in the morning and knew I had to get another. So while there I got matched and turns out the free foundation sample was a full size! WOW! I ended up buying 2 glosses. Tyler and Fantasy. Tyler is a purple color that I am IN LOVE with and Fantasy is a red that I am dying to try but admittedly a bit scared. The Kissable Couture lip glosses retail for $20 and I got both for $20. I'm not sure how much the foundation will retail for, I need to email them for more info so I can do a review for you guys. But after seeing AJ do a demo using a few shades of the foundation for perfectly flawless photo ready skin and after seeing all my pictures from the show with me looking makeup less and tired, I was sold and bought one more color for $20.

So now I spent a total of $108. Put a fork in me - I'm done! No more spending! THEN it happened! Stila Man walked around with the kit for $100 in the last hour of the last day of the show! I'm not proud, but I am happy! I snagged a pic and the kit! they let me swap out the shadow palette for the one I wanted and between the girls and I we split up the items in the kit. So technically I didn't spend all $100 on me, since they are on a different budget, but still. Ramen noodles for dinner anyone?

In case you missed him both times I posted him! LOL

So even though this was a planned exception, even then I went over my planned $150! Darn it! It was Stila's fault! (I really should figure out how much of that is the kid's. HA!)

Then I found out about Narciso Rodriquez for Kohl's. WHY? Why did I have to find out about this now? But then, my daughter's friend gave me the money for a weekend cruise we are taking in January. (Cruises are so rediculously cheap out of FL if you are a resident. It's crazy! Not only that you don't have to pay for cruises all at once. if you plan early, you put a deposit down of 20% or $100 which ever is more and then pay over the course of time as long as it's paid 2 months before you sail. So it is like vacation lay-a-way. Perfect for those on a tight budget. I didn't know this til we moved to FL, so I am sharing the knowledge.) Anyway I already paid for my daughter's friend to come with us, and she was paying me back. So here I had a check for $200 and it was already "spent" so I spent $86 on the Narciso Rodriquez for Kohl's sale and put the rest in the bank.  So does that count against my budget? I didn't count it against it. But I probably should have. But I didn't. (You can see my post on this collection here.)

On the upside I didn't spend my $37.50 for the week! OK that is not an upside with all the spending. But let's see, I planned on $150 for the Makeup Show, plus $37.50 for the week and the check for $203 that I already spent. So that's $390.50 "available" and I spent a total $294. (Ugh can we not focus on the total! I think I just threw up a little.) But I added $96.50 to my account still. But see that $203 was going towards spending money on the cruise, so now I have effectively impacted my cruise budget. No bueno! Who spends that kind of money in a week? I am kind of ashamed. But I will make myself feel better knowing with all that I still spent less all week than one friend spent on one item at the show. (Although it is a drool worthy item!)

With that being said it is a new week with no planned exceptions, so time to get back to reality. Although that reality is probably that I not spend my $37.50 at all. Right? I got this!

I have to say putting my spending out there like this is very nerve wracking. I spent in a week more than what I used to get paid in two weeks 10 years ago! I have friends who work their asses off to make that in a week to live and I spent that on makeup and clothes. It's kind of disgusting. Granted I don't make a regular habit of that, nor a rare habit for that matter. But yuck. It really puts it into perspective when you put it all out there!

Yesterday the Narciso Rodriquez for Kohl's collection was quietly launched. This has to be the least hyped up collaboration to date. I mean I try to stay in the know of these collaborations and I almost missed this one! I literally found out about it last week! Usually collaborations are hyped up for months prior to the collection releasing. Prabal Gurung for Target in Feb is already in my calendar! Not sure what happened with this one, was it me hiding under a rock? Or did Kohl's miss the advertising on this one?

Narciso Rodriquez is an American designer based out of New York, who was the designer of Carolyn Bessett's wedding dress and Michelle Obama chose to wear one of his dresses in 2009 to celebrate Barack's presidential victory. For me Narciso is the designer of an amazing ready to wear collection that I could never afford. I love his clean lines, and modern yet classic take on fashion. So when I heard a collection was coming to Kohl's I was very excited.

Unfortunately all the items I just HAD to try on were not available at my local Kohl's. I mean not one item! But they did have a great selection, so I just grabbed one of almost everything to try one. Judy from Beauty Judy got to see the madness of me grabbing each item to try them all on. I think she was a bit more reserved (read: normal) and only selected a handful of items to try on. A friend of mine came with us and tried on several items as well and she took almost all the photos for me and while they looked good on my slowly dying phone's screen, when I got home and downloaded them more than half were blurry. Grrr. I really am going to throw this phone at a wall soon! (The problem is that everything looks a little blurry on my screen right now, but usually once I download them, they look perfectly fine, my screen is just weird right now so I never know 100% anymore.) So here are the salvageable pics we took last night.

This dress looked fab on everyone! I think Judy went home with this one. For me here in FL, a long sleeved dress makes it only wearable on the coldest of days, so both my friend and I passed on this one.

I LOVED this dress. Everything about it is amazing, I may need to wear Spanx to even everything out underneath, but this dress is worth it! (I always wear form wear under any fitted dress.) But I have many dresses and so this one was left behind. :(

Same dress, different color. Ironically wasn't liking this color as much on me.

Did I mention the amazing zipper in the back. You can zip it up or down. HOTNESS! Oh I so want the green one!

Judy is trying on the leggings and top. Both were too big on her, but all three of us LOVED the leggings. They didn't photograph well at all. They are dark grey with a tuxedo stripe in black down the side. The ponte material is thick and  disguises any perceived flaws. As for the shirt - the shape was great, the design on the shirt - meh. Although in person I thought it was fab until I saw the pics later.

Ha! Ha! I'm in the middle of speaking here.  I did not think this would work for me. While I may not have the biggest chest, I have a decent size chest and I did not see it fitting in the small red chest area of this dress. Once I put it on however, I fell in love! This dress while not all red, is the perfect Cult Nails event dress! I can wear it with or without a jacket. I can wear tights or bare legs, heels or boots or even slim lined booties. Many options here. I had a tough time deciding between the green dress above and this one. I chose this one.

I liked absolutely nothing about this dress - This is the loser of the collection. It screamed CHEAP to me. I am not a fan of ruching to begin with. It seems like the designer took the easy way out of actually fitting a piece. Then the material was this thin cheap spandex type of material that showed EVERY single bump. But even if it didn't, the material is just blah to me. I couldn't wait to get this one off! You can't win them all.

A close up of the leggings. These were so thick and warm and dresses up the legging quite a bit. I ended up buying these, but I have nothing to wear with them, so I think these are going back. If I have to buy a shirt to go with them, they do not fit the budget. But I really don't want to return them! What to do?

I really liked this top. It would look cute with jeans or pants or a skirt. But I didn't love it or like it enough to buy it. If I was still working in an office, I probably would have got this one. But since I'm all alone at work most days, there really is no need for this one.

This dress is so beautiful, but it isn't my style, so my friend tried it on. OMG - AMAZING on her! Isn't it funny how we all migrate towards different fashion and know what works with our own personality as well as body? I thought this one was a must have for my friend, but she picked a different one. You'll see her choice below.

WOW! When Judy came out in this dress, I was like hubba! hubba! This dress is so hot on her! She felt it was a bit too low cut for work, so she passed on this one. I think she needs to go back and get it!  Plus if she gets it and I get it, we can be dress twinsies from far away. LOL So everyone get on her Instagram and find the pic she posted wearing this and tell her to buy it! Seriously!

Not the best photo. Darn it. This shirt has a removable cami underneath. I hate the whole shirt within a shirt thing, it always becomes a tangled mess. Well Narciso & Kohl's thought about that. The outer shirt has a small thread and button that holds the cami in place but allows you to put them on separately. This is a small detail that makes a huge difference. As for the pants, these are amazing. They have a shiny tuxedo stripe down the side, but still stay work appropriate. They are not skinny nor are they a typical trouser. They are almost a skinny slouchy look. These can be dressed up for work or for a night out. I thought I would be indifferent about a pair of black slacks, but I have been obsessed with this fit lately, so I was so happy with the fit. I wanted to buy 3 pairs!

This pic is a bit blurry, but too funny not to share. I gave this shirt 2 thumbs down! LOL! It is a very straight fit. It fit perfect on the shoulders, tight around the chest, loose around the waist and then super tight at the hips, I couldn't get it any lower on the hips. This shirt is not made for any type of curve. If you have a slender straight body, this shirt will probably be great for you. Not so much on someone with curves.

Beautiful idea on the pencil skirt. BUT the material was thin and the skirt is also made for someone with a totally straight figure. In the picture below you can kind of see the gap around the waist. In person that gap was HUGE! I easily could have taken 4 inches off the waist of this skirt. yet in the photo above you can see it does not fit around my bum. It is seriously pulling and I can't get it lower. If I sized up the bum fit, but the waist was enormous! The thin material showed cellulite I didn't know I had! Spanx anyone? But if you have a little booty, this will probably look great on you. For the curvy girl, this is a miss.

You can see just how thin the material is by the tucked in shirt showing everywhere! Yuck! This would be better if it has a lining.

There were 3 jackets at our local Kohl's you can see one hanging on the left. I tried both on, but the pics came out super blurry. Neither was anything great though, so no big loss. Well I lie, the one on the left is cute, but I already have a similar tweed style jacket. I bought mine 13 years ago! So if you don't have one like it, I highly suggest checking it out, since it is a timeless jacket that always finds its way back in style. I digress, I am wearing the fuchsia trench here. The material of this trench was a bit on the thick side, but in a good way. Not overly thick, but enough to keep you a little warm in a cold rain. It is actually the perfect winter coat for FL. But I have plenty of jackets and regardless of how perfect it is, it stayed at Kohl's.

I am not a fan of this dress on me at all. On the hanger it had so much promise. But in reality you need to have no chest or a large chest to pull it off. My in between chest did not work for this dress. I came out of the dressing room and my friend said "Oh no! Take it off!" It just did nothing for my shape. I think a taller person would probably look stunning in this (I'm 5'3").

I really wanted to love this shirt. But I'm not really into shirts that tie around the waist. Why do designers think we want shirts that tie around the waist? I hate it! But it looked so pretty on the hanger. In reality it is sheer so you'd have to wear a tank underneath it, which would only add bulk to the already bulky flared bottom. Not a fan. I'm wearing it with the dark grey leggings shown above. Isn't it crazy how they look black here?

Remember when I told you that my friend bought a different dress than pictured above? This is the one she bought! The green on her skin tone would have washed her out, but this fuchsia and orange was perfection on her. You can see it is a bit baggy on her, so she had to size down on this dress. But dang she looks good! I think this dress is figure flattering on everyone! We all rocked it, if I do say so myself! You just have to figure out which color suits your skin tone best. This dress made me want to marry Narciso! ha!

OK so these shoes are Simply Vera by Vera Wang. LOVE THEM! I so want them. But alas they are not in the budget. I'll post about the budget tomorrow, but I just had to post these beautiful shoes!

I hope you enjoyed our fitting room fun. There are a lot more items to this collection, but this is what our store had. I hope I can find the other items I wanted to try in different Kohl's stores, but it's probably for the best that I don't. (financially anyway) HA! The good thing is that the collection is 30% off through today and there is a 15% off coupon (use code gratitude) floating around online. It is an in store and online coupon. I didn't have the coupon with me, but they let me use it anyway! WAHOO! If you have a Kohl's card there are 20% and 30% off coupons too. So you can really score some of these items at a steal! You can check out the entire collection on the Kohl's website. I urge you to not assume these will not look good on you. As you can see from the photos above, many of these pieces work for many body types. I always say even if you don't think it will work, keep an open mind and try the clothes on, you may be surprised! What doesn't work on me, may work for you. Overall I give this collection a B+. I think they kept the Kohl's shopper in mind, but Narciso Rodriquez also kept his design aesthetic in mind when making this collection. It seems to be heavily influenced by his Spring 2013 Ready to Wear Collection. I love when a designer can mesh the store customer, price point and their design aesthetics so perfectly. This is a strong collection and had my wallet weeping. This collection is great if you want to stay looking stylish at work or have an event that you want to be a bit dressed up for coming up or even a hot date night. This collab may not be for the teeny bopper or young 20 something if they don't work in a more professional environment. But those of us in our 30's or older who want to stay fashionable without looking like we're trying to be 20, this is right up our alley!

I am going to try to make this a super quick post since I have a million things to do today, one being is put everything back in the office and clean it up because.... BEAUTYJUDY is coming to the compound tomorrow!!! How exciting is that? And my FL Beauty Blogger buddies LIBBYSPINKVANITY and ONCEBITTEN are coming to join her! It's going to be a fun day! Although I may have them help roll some polish burritos for the upcoming collection while they're there! LOL!

Our booth at 1st, it changed a lot over the course of the weekend.

The Makeup Show was friggin' amazing! I was originally planning on attending as a blogger. Going booth to booth and talking to the different companies there, and taking pics and all that fun stuff. But on Tuesday I had an opportunity to meet James Vincent and Orlando Santiago and I fell in love! LOL! I instantly bonded with James though, seriously. He instantly felt like my big brother. Have you ever had an immediate connection with someone like that? He is just the sweetest person and so when he asked if Cult Nails would consider putting a booth at the show, I instantly said yes, knowing that financially things would be tight. (You have to pay for booths at trade shows.) It being a Makeup Show, I wasn't sure how nail polish would go over. I mean just because you love makeup doesn't mean you love polish, and as a mostly unknown brand, it could go either way. But sometimes life is all about taking chances and the exposure could be worth it.

With Steph from Imperfectly Painted, Cristina from Let Them Have Polish and Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles

I was so nervous on Saturday. It didn't look like we would even break even as far as costs would go. But I met so many amazing people! There were so many more I didn't get to meet, I wish I could have a few more days! In the end we did break even as far as costs to attend the show, and the people I met was more than worth every cent! Even if I didn't sell one single polish, I had the best experience and learned so much for the next show! (OH yes I will do this again!)

Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles offered polish changes to anyone who wanted one

The best part for me was my blog sisters! They all banded together around me and helped at our booth. They helped spread the word about Cult Nails and just kept me going when my nerves got the better of me! They came up with ideas I didn't think about for the booth and helped set it up and take it down. I could go on and on, but I am just so thankful for all their help! It was like a dream to have these women take time out of their day to meet with brands and expose their blogs to work the Cult Nails booth! What an amazing community of woman (& a few spouses) supporting and lifting each other up! So I want to list each of their blogs (in no particular order) and if you don't follow them, please do! (I hope I'm not missing anyone here.)

Pretty Little Bottles
Phyrra
Brikasia
Clumps of Mascara
Let Them Have Polish
Judi XO
Once Bitten
Libby's Pink Vanity
Mina Slater
A Big Bit of Everything
Beauty Lit From Within
Imperfectly Painted

And even the Krystal the owner of BFtE Cosmetics who only just met me on Saturday and spent her birthday weekend sharing her knowledge and experience, taking pictures and even working the Cult Nails booth! WOW! She gave me a few samples of her shadows, LOVE! She has probably THE largest selection of loose pigment eyeshadows! She has over 500 shades to choose from!

Krystal from BFtE Cosmetics!!

who is a friend and amazing nail tech in Orlando was at The Makeup Show for other reasons, but while I was watching AJ Crimson's keynote, she noticed Juan needed help and so when I came out of the keynote, she was there working the booth! How friggin' awesome is that?! So if you are in Orlando or coming to Orlando and want the best mani/pedi around, please check her out at located inside Avi Salon!

Brianna from Brikasia and Lashon from Flaunt Beauty Bar

And lastly but certainly not least, my friend Steph who is starting a blog soon, but has an awesome and my friend Pam who came out looking fabulous as usual to help out!

My girl Steph, James Vincent and Me

We definitely had more people than we needed, but it helped keep things fun and the fact that everyone was coming out to help was beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of or ask for!

My girl Pam's mani - Enticing layered with Seduction

You see what I mean? Amazing support! In a time when many big bloggers get paid to attend shows, these bloggers came out and helped me! I mean seriously! It just brings tears to my eyes thinking of their kindness and generosity and I don't know how I can ever come close to expressing how thankful I am!

Having fun with Nidia from Beauty Lit From Within

OK OK, I seriously could on about these amazing ladies, but I have orders to pack, so I am going to TRY to keep the rest short! (I'm sure I'll fail!)

with James Vincent

I do also want to thank James Vincent though, without him, our success at the show would not have been possible! He is just amazing! He is so motivational and his desire to help others succeed is just awesome! Pretty Little Bottles, our resident nail painter at the show had the opportunity to paint his nails at the show. Everyone was then coming to the booth asking for the products used in his mani! (Nevermore & Wicked Fast). Talk about a celebrity endorsement! (He is a celebrity in the makeup community and I can see why!)

Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles painting James Vincent's nails

James loved his mani and Alyssa!

I got to meet Roy Wooley and Laura Tyler, both recent contestants on the show Face Off, which I am obsessed with!

With Roy Wooley

With Laura Tyler

I had an opportunity to hear AJ Crimson speak and I got to meet him! He is amazing! I am just loving his new cream foundation that will be available on his site AJ Crimson soon and his (and Keisha Whitaker's) line of lip glosses, Kissable Couture! I will be doing a review on both soon, but Tyler is a must have lip gloss, don't wait for the review on that one, go check it out now!

With AJ Crimson and his team

I even met the owner of Cara Cosmetics, Leslie Christin. Have you ever thought about the person behind the brand of the makeup you wear? I really never did before, but when I met Leslie the first words out of my mouth were OMG I'm wearing your loose powder right now! (Which was true!) Just a cool moment and she even came by our booth later to check it out! GAH! (Oh and my lucky daughter Kat got to take her class and a class by Orlando Santiago! How totally jealous am I? Yup not afraid to admit it! Totally jealous! LOL)

Sara!!!

I got to meet Cultie Sara (as well as a few others)! Sara and I have a bit of a bond though, her daughter is a bit younger than Coco and is a lot like her too! So when Coco grew out of her clothes we sent them to Sara and now her mini is making use of the clothes! I have to send her some more, Coco is growing like a weed! I was so excited to finally meet her in person! And I think we could totally be friends, it just felt like we already were friends, so we may have to meet in Orlando with our mini's one of these days!

Blogger panel! I wish I could have stayed to watch! :(

Oh and before I forget - I met Elessa from Pursebuzz in person! She is the sweetest and cutest person! When she came by our booth all the bloggers there held their breath and started whispering "OMG that's Pursebuzz!!" and they even took pictures of me showing her our products and of her after her purchase! (You know what is even cooler? Phyrra, Clumps of Mascara and Let Them Have Polish all spoke on a panel with Elessa and Koren of Enkore Makeup!! - How lucky were they!!) I bought one of Elessa's new brush sets for Kat since she needed a set of brushes for her classes, and then loved them so much to get another set the next day for myself, and Nakizzle took those! Grrrr, so now I am (im)patiently waiting for them to go up for sale on her site so I can get my own set.

with Elessa from Pursebuzz

I didn't get to officially meet Koren from Enkore Makeup, but I did buy his brush tote bag for Coco. All profits from the sale of those bags are going to help with Hurricane Sandy relief. He also has a cool new app for iPhones and iPads called Face Chart that I can't wait to play with!

Elessa from Pursebuzz

So as you can see there was sooo much going on and I met some amazing people and confirmed what I already knew about the Beauty Bloggers of Central Florida - that they are as beautiful and amazing on the inside as they are online! Now I better go pack orders and respond to emails before my customer service goes by the wayside! Thanks to everyone for all your encouragement throughout the whole weekend and following along!

OOTD outtakes! These girls are hilarious! In the front in Toni from Toniizbeauty.

another OOTD outtake!

One more OOTD outtake!

There are so many more pics, I will try and get them all posted on Facebook today! I looked horrible in all the pics, combine little sleep, nerves, excitement with horrible lighting and the fact that I forgot my real camera and forget it! I look like I wasn't wearing makeup and I had a ton on! I need to remember to bring my real camera, or perhaps to get rid of my sucky phone! Oh well, it is what it is!