"On the Sixth Day of Christmas the Eye Candy for Me..."

... Six Sexy Cylons...

Image From The Girl From the Getto Blog via Google Images

.... Five Clive Oooooo-wennnnns!

Image from Show Hype via Google Images

... Four Fighting Helos...

Image from The 13th Colony via Google Images

... Three Jensen Ackles...

Image from The Life and Times with SDV Analeigh via Google Images

... Two Eric Northmans...

Image from Blissfully Caffeinated via Google Images

... and a Heath Ledger Under The Tree!"

Image from Cinematic Passions by Miranda Wilding via Google Images

Tricia Helfer

Ok, the first (maybe only?) woman on my list for this 12. I just couldn't make anyone else Number 6, you know? You Battlestar Galactica fans will understand that - as the undeniably sexy Number 6, Tricia Helfer created one of the most fascinating characters on TV. Even if you don't like the genre, I highly recommend watching the miniseries that started it all. You will see what I mean. She is fantastic!

My Christmas Eve Look

Nothing says "holiday spirit" like using black lipstick in a look for going to church, right?

Ok ok... so I sheered it out a lot, but I promise you it was much darker than when the camera flash is on.




The Breakdown

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
  
• Mac Magic Dust Eye Shadow - all over lid
  
• MAC Sweet Sienna Pigment (LE) - Outer half of lid.
• MAC Moth Brown Eye Shadow (LE) - Outer corner and crease
• Urban Decay El Dorado Eye Liner - Inner corrner of eye as a bit of a highlighter
  
• Urban Decay Rockstar - attempted to tightline and failed, so mostly just lower lash line.
  
• MAC Fluidline in Blitz & Glitz - Upper lash line
• MAC Plushlash Mascara in Plush Black

Face

• MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15
• MAC Minearlize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• MAC Mineralize Blush in Love Thing - a little of this goes a long way, so be careful not to get streaky cheeks if you use it. I had to go back over it with the MSF Natural to tone it down.
  

Lips

• MAC Prep + Prime Lips
• MAC Midnight Media (LE)
• MAC Magnetique lipglass
  
• Lined with a little MAC Blitz & Glitz fluidline

Also had to show my favorite hair clips I purchased at Anthropologie. I swear - these are so useful.

My New Nine West "Boutique 9" Lolas

Boutique 9 Lola's in Metallic Purple

Finally I got a chance to wear these babies on Christmas Eve. You know I had to get them as soon as I saw "Metallic Purple" in the description. I think the Pewter shade would also be nice. This shoe has a 4.5 inch heel with a 1 inch platform. I found them extremely easy to walk in for being that high. I won't say they were totally comfortable - my feed did get a little tired after 2 hours of wearing them, but I think that's to be expected. I wish I could show you what I wore them with but sadly, none of the pictures that were taken of me in my Christmas outfit turned out.

All in all, a great purchase at 30% off. You can still get them, and the discount is available as well.

On Wearing Open Toed Shoes with Tights
Where do you stand on this? Even though I did wear tights with my Lolas this time, I'm still a bit hung up on the issue. Tights give some comfort in the winter, but I don't think they can beat bare feet with a cute pedi. However, I do think it is practical. I did a web search on the issue, and it seems most people out there come down on the side of "if it's cold out, go ahead". I was just curious on your opinion as well...

"On the Fifth Day of Christmas the Eye Candy For Me..."

... Five Clive Oooooo-wennnnns!

Image from Cinemassoto via Google Images

... Four Fighting Helos...

Image from Universal Playback via Google Images

... Three Jensen Ackles...

Image from Fan Pop via Google Images

... Two Eric Northmans...

Image from truebloodguide.com via Google Images

... and a Heath Ledger Under The Tree!"

Image from iOffer.com via Google Images

Clive Owen

I had to make him my Five Golden Rings guy because he's just that sexy. I don't think he's that good looking, but the guy has something I can't describe. I've talked to a lot of people who don't agree with me - mostly guys, oddly enough. I guess maybe they think he's too goofy or scruffy or something. But have you seen the movie Shoot 'Em Up? If not I highly recommend you go out and watch it. It's rediculous, so much fun.

"On the Fourth Day of Christmas the Eye Candy For Me...

... was four "Fighting Helos"...

Image from About.com via Google Images

... three Jensen Ackles...

Image from Flying Loveless via Google Images

... two Eric Northmans...

Image from FanPop via Google Images

... and a Heath Ledger under the tree!"

Image from Just My 2 (and Rolling Stone I guess) via Google Images

"Ah.... Helo..."

Don't ever say those words if your husband is in the room. Even if you mean them jokingly (which I did) you will never live it down. I don't know why, by out of all the man candy out there that I've mentioned my husband gets the most angry at Tahmoh Penikett as Helo from Battlestar Galactica. Well he can deal. Man is fine!

"On the Third Day of Christmas the Eye Candy For Me..."

... Three Jensen Ackles...

Image from mdarling via Google Images

... two Eric Northman's

Image from Hoge Runs... and eats! via Google Images

and a Heath Ledger under the tree!"

Image from All Access Hollywood via Google Images

Jensen Ackles... The "Blond Hotness"

My good friend Tara knew I was having a bad day a few years ago and sent me that picture of Dean from Supernatural during WORK BUSINESS HOURS to my WORK email. I just about died when I opened up that message.

Now about The Blond Hotness - back when Jensen Ackles was on Smallville he was blond. Early Supernatural he was still sort of blond. Therefore Tara and I nicknamed him The Blond Hotness. Thursdays became known, not as "Thursday", but "Blond Hotness Day". And in certain circles, I still refer to them thusly.

"On the Second Day of Christmas the Eye Candy for me...

... two Eric Northman's...

Image from We are Movie Geeks via Google Images

And a Heath Ledger under the tree!"

Image from topnews.in via Google Images

Discussing Alexander Skarsgard

Are you a True Blood Fan? I certainly am. Also a fan of the Southern Vampire series. Eric Northan is played by Alexander Skarsgard (which I'm almost certain I'm not spelling correctly). Anyway, look up this show and this actor. He's so much fun to watch as a viking vampire!

"On the First Day of Christmas the Eye Candy for Me

... was Heath Ledger under the tree!"

Image from Australian Acting News via Google Images

My Heath Ledger Story

Back just before I was dating my husband, he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I responded "Heath Ledger wrapped in a bow" just to be silly. Christmas arrived and what did I get? 10 Things I Hate About You wrapped in a big red ribbon. Perfect!

I had been a fan of Heath Ledger's since A Knight's Tale and was absolutely heartbroken when he died. He was my age, I was traveling for business at the time. I remember everywhere I went his face was plastered all over magazines and I hardly could believe it. But regardless, his work lives on and I'm still very much enjoying it. Just ask my husband - he'll tell you every time HBO plays The Dark Knight I'm glued to the TV even though we own the movie on Blue-Ray. What a mesmerizing performance.

12 Days of Christmas - Pretty in Dayton Style

Merry Christmas!

Ok, so back in May when it was my husband's birthday I dedicated a single day to the women he adores. I thought that this wouldn't be received well, but amazingly enough I got a lot of positive response, both messages from my readers and from my friends who read my blog in real life. I also got one very consistent question: When are we going to see yours?

Well, since this is my blog (and to the best of my knowledge my husband didn't even read my blog that day) I have decided not to take one day, but twelve.

The Twelve Days of Christmas According to Styrch.

Now here's how it going to go, just so we're clear:
Every day, I will feature a new piece of eye candy. No, I may not limit to males (though that is my preference) because I admire beauty in both sexes. I don't know yet. We'll just have to wait an see!

I will do my best to give image credit where credit is due, but most likely I'll be grabbing from Google Images and listing the link the image came in on.

So look on tomorrow for my "Partridge in a Pear Tree!" and enjoy the eye candy.

Go SMiLE Final Review

Finally it's all overwith! I completed my last treatment last night, and took my pictures this morning.


Overall I encourage you think of the general evenness of tone rather than color itself. It is very hard for me to capture white consistently.

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!





Lowers... I hate these pictures.





My Perception Of Progress
I do think this system helped me even out the tone of my teeth. While some of the lower ones are not as white as I would like (and still look a bit yellowish) I'm not completely disappointing.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
My teeth are fine. My gums are hell. I think it'll take a few days to recover. My lips are also very chapped regardless of chapstick application.

Final Review
I like how Go SMiLE gives you the ability to apply the treatment to the teeth that need it the most. I am INCREDIBLY happy that I did not experience tooth sensitivity - but I am very disappointed about the way it ripped up my gums. Although, given the trade off, I'd take the gum damage pain over the tooth sensitivity pain any day.

If you are thinking about trying Go SMiLE...
I encourage you to try one of the shopping sites that has sales on Go SMiLE, such as Hautelook. Unless you have severely stained teeth I would not pay full price at Sephora when you can get it far cheaper elsewhere.

Manage Your Expectations
You can only get your teeth as white as nature intended them to be with this system... which I have happily accepted off-white in my case.

Just a Hint: You may want to sign up for Rescue Beauty Lounge's Email List

If you're not signed up for Rescue Beauty Lounge's email list you may want to get on it. Ji Baek's been cooking up some nifty things for her VIPs and you will want to get in on the action.

I'm not saying anything specific because I don't have the same posting permission other bloggers do. But you can go check out All Lacquered Up for more info because she totally can and I can point you Michelle's way! :)

Oh the woes of being insignificant. Hee Hee.

Go SMiLE Day 7 - Beginning the Last Day

This begins my last day on the program! YAY!
Because wait until you see my battle scars...

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!

It's really hard not to drool while shooting these!




Lowers...




BUT!!!!! Look what's happened to my GUMS!


Oh dear... I'm peeling all over the place and inuring actual WOUNDS.

My Perception Of Progress
As you can see, there has been some improvement lower. The uppers are probably as good as I'll ever get them.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Teeth, as I've been saying, are fine. But did you SEE those gums? Literally, they bleed when I brush them now. I don't know if this has happened with anyone else who has used this product, but wow. I don't know what else would have caused this type of change in my gum health in such a short amount of time.

Any Other Thoughts
Will have one more set of pictures later, showing you the final results after I am finished with the 7th day and my final recommendations.

Go SMiLE Day 6 - Nearly Uniform Uppers

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!







The Lowers... (a little blurry)




My Perception Of Progress
My upper teeth are nearly uniform in color now. Still little progress on the lowers.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Teeth have no sensitivity but my gums are really starting to hurt!

Any Other Thoughts
Thank goodness after Day 6 there's only Day 7

Go SMiLE Day 5 - still going...

I got a little behind with the posts but I kept the pictures up so you'll get a few more "days" today.

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!





And the crazier picture... the lowers...


I feel like I should be putting on bright red lipstick and singing "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

My Perception Of Progress
See what I mean about the yellow in my lower teeth? I really made a point to tackle that area in the next couple of days. You'll see the results in an upcoming post. But very little progress between Day 4 and Day 5.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Absolutely fine. But the burning when applying still continues.

Any Other Thoughts
The burning sensation is not worth giving up at this point.

Making Accessories - Beading, My Latest Hobby

Double Chevron Bracelet

While you may have guessed from my previous post about my cat swallowing my beading needle, I've taken up a new hobby: Beading. I finally have something worth showing! I took this class at The Bead Cage in Kettering Ohio. I've made two of this type of bracelet so far. I think with the right beads, it can look quite pretty and be something that you might see in a store to purchase. Not to mention it has the right amount of sparkle to be festive this time of year!

Here are some other bracelets I've made. Two are the Double Chevron using different beads. The others are a simple diagonal Peyote stitch using different beads.


To be honest, results can look a bit "kitschy" depending on the beads and the pattern. I think this is worth pursuing, but sometimes I am disappointing by the results. What makes a beading pattern look expensive when executed? How do you stay out of the realm of childhood craft project? One of my friends thinks it's with the use of crystals, but honestly - I think crystals look cheap depending on the color and how they are used. So I really don't know.

I will continue to explore. If you have any thoughts on the questions I've raised above I'd be happy to hear them in comments.

Thanks!

Go SMiLE Day 4 - Progress still coming...

Ok, with this post, I'll be caught up from the weekend. Thanks for baring with me on this!

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!

(sorry for the toothpaste residue)




My Perception Of Progress
Still improving. My K9s are nearly the same color as my two front teeth and my lower teeth continue to improve a bit. It's like everything is evening out a bit. Now if only I didn' t love coffee and diet Cherry Coke so much.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Fine but WOW does this start to burn when putting it on! I even started to see some of that hydrogen peroxide foam between my teeth. Guess my flossing is tearing it up a bit. But as you can also see - yes, my lips are getting chapped.

Any Other Thoughts
They did say no one experienced sensitivity in clinical studies, but they really should mention the burn!

Go SMiLE Day 3 - Woah... difference in lower teeth

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!






Can you see the difference between Day 2??? I sure can.


My Perception Of Progress
Not much on top, but yellow is going away on the bottom! How COOL!

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Pretty good, though it's starting to burn around my lips a bit when I apply the ampule stuff. I think my lips are getting chapped.

Any Other Thoughts
Think this will be great for my teeth but worried about surrounding lip area. I should invest in a good balm.

Stila Sale on HauteLook today!

There's a Stila Sale on HauteLook today beginning at 11 am. There's bound to be something good there. And for those of you shopping for gifts, not a bad place to pick up good quality cosmetics for a cheaper price than Sephora.

Not a member of HauteLook? Use my Invitation Link!

Go SMiLE Day 2 - Not much difference

Sorry I didn't post this over the weekend but, I do have the information for a few days coming up today. Bare with me.

BEWARE! SCARY TEETH PICTURES!




Now for scary lower teeth picture to give you a better idea of what I'm dealing with down there..


.





My Perception Of Progress
Really not much at this point. But it's a 7 day system we'll see how it goes.

How Are My Teeth Feeling
Not bad, but I did have some trouble with sensitivity on the lower right side of my mouth. This could be due to the extra flossing, but may be to the system. We'll see.

Any Other Thoughts
Not liking the taste, but wasn't expecting to. It doesn't have that slighly doughy taste of Crest White Strips - more medicinal.

Go SMiLE Day 1 - Lets see if it really works...

It feels like I'm always looking for a good tooth whitening system. Many work, but usually after a few days my teeth feel like they are going to rebel on me. I always get hit with the "Sensitivity Issue". Well, I recently purchased a 7 day Go SMiLE system and I decided to give it a shot.

I haven't read many reviews of this system, so thought I might as well log my progress while go through this in the hope of helping someone else out there.

How the GoSMiLE Stystem Works

• You get two Ampules per day, one for the morning one for night. Use them for 7 Days.
• Brush and floss. Always important
  
• You take the ampule and squeeze it to break something inside of it to mix the solution - sort of like a glow stick.
  
• Spread it all over your teeth until ampule is empty
  
• Don't eat or drink for 20 minutes.
  

Anyway, I'm going to try to be consistent here and take a picture every morning on this system the same way. Hopefully we'll get to see some results! I will also let you know how the experience is as it goes along. I'll use the following reporting system:

1. Picture
2. My Perception Of Progress
3. How Are My Teeth Feeling
4. Any Other Thoughts

Here are my teeth before starting the system:

Scary!
Taken with flash in my bathroom.
Notice -my two front teeth recently smoothed due to run in with Don't Tell Mama.

Sound good? Good.

Temptalia sort of inspired me to do this with her Crest White Strips log she did a while back. Have to give her a shout out, not that she needs it from me.

As you may know if you are a member of HauteLook occasionally there are sales on Go SMiLE. They claim not to cause sensitivity but the price tag always put me off. The set I purchased is for sale on Sephora for $89. But through the wonderfulness that is HauteLook I picked up the limited edition kit for $50. (If you aren't a member of HauteLook but would like to be, please feel free to use my invitation link.)

Marquee Moon Take Two! - Ms. Lippmann Gave Me Some Advice...

This looks a lot better, no? I know - for some of you it's not your cup of tea. But I just don't want to give up on this polish.

Anyway, I got a wonderful email from Ms. Deborah Lippmann on Thursday night answering my question about the proper way of applying Marquee Moon to get the best effect. She had a lot of good tips which I'm going to share with you now:

1. Apply a ridge filler base code - According to Ms. Lippmann this will help the sequins adhere better. She also said she recommends ridge fillers for all shimmers and glitters. I had used Orly Bonder previously. This time I used Zoya Get Even (because that's what I had for ridge fillers - thank you Zoya for sending it to me for free with that Twitter contest).
   
2. Let the ridge filler dry for at least 2 minutes
3. Apply a THIN coat of Marquee Moon - She stressed that I should "resist the urge" to continue applying to make sequins stick. They either will or they won't, and this will prevent the gloppiness I was getting before. She also said she tends to get more sequins on the second coat anyway.
4. Apply Second Coat - Ms. Lippmann didn't say to, but I let my coat dry for longer than I usually do between coats. i think this helped a ton.
5. Apply Top Coat

Now I think the thinner coats helped. I did use a third coat on some nails (where I wasn't satisfied with the sequins) and those nails didn't turn out quite as well as the ones where I only used two coats.

Anyway, I thanked Ms. Lippmann for her response and told her I'd try her tricks right away (which I did), and that it gave me an excuse to remove Don't Tell Mama which gave me bad reminders of my stupidity of trying to use my teeth as tools.

I also told her that Ruby Red Slippers has grown on me, and that I would LOVE to see a "Teal-Blue Slippers" in the future. Let's hope she takes my advice. I think that would be an awesome polish!

Previous Post for Reference

Nine West Friends and Family - 30 % off through December 7th

Apparently no code necessary. You can shop at Nine West online or in stores (there's a coupon to print out if you go to the store). Anyway, it's 30% off your entire purchase through December 7th close of business or 11:59 pm EST online.

Yes, I made a purchase:

• Lola - in metalic purple
• Hollyn in black leather - yay boots that lace up! Not as dressy as I wanted but hopefully it'll do.

I fully expect to be returning at least one of these shoes, if not both, simply because Nine West always looks attractive to me but rarely works out the way I want.

At least Nine West has opened Friends and Family up very widely to all who come to their site. In a way that's sort of progressive. I always find it funny that in a world with so much online retail that many companies still restrict access to F&F events using codes. In a sense, they might as well call it a sale instead of labeling it F&F because that designation is relatively useless.

Enough rambling - go shop!

Beauty Deal from Bergdorf Goodman! Earn a gift card!

When I've shopped online at Bergdorf Goodman in the past it's mostly been to pick up something I couldn't find anywhere else (like Chanel Kaleidoscope nail polish last year). So maybe this will help someone else with an excuse to hunt down their most coveted treasure.

Judging by their table in the graphic there, the best deal looks to be spend $100, get a $25 gift card.

Code Beauty will be in effect until 11:59 pm CT December 6th.

Polish - Lippman Collection's Don't Tell Mama

Beware, the following pictures are a bit deceiving. If the polish really looked like this in most lighting I'd be recommending it strongly.


And if you can stand my cuticles (they need some TLC right now), here's a close up:


Why are these pictures deceiving?
Without the aid of a flash, or the incredibly bright lights of a gynecologist's office, you can NOT tell that this polish is anything other than black. Therefore Don't Tell Mama will join my collection of Black-but-not-Quites, rather than my Teals.

First: A Cautionary Tale...
When I went to open my bottle of Lippmann Collection's Don't Tell Mama the top wouldn't budge. I did something instinctual (but VERY STUPID): I tried to use my teeth to open the bottle. It wouldn't budge. I took it to my husband and he had no trouble loosening the too tight cap. I went to apply my polish. At some point when I was finished, I ran my tongue over my teeth - and cut my tong on the small but sharp chip I had acquired in my right front tooth. I had a less-sharp one in my left tooth. Don't worry - it's all good now. The dentist fixed me up by smoothing out the teeth. But Don't Tell Mama was SO NOT WORTH the trouble. It doesn't even look teal or shimmery on the tips!

Let it be known - YOUR TEETH ARE NOT TOOLS!

Back to the review...

Color
Technically black with loads of teal shimmer. In reality, it just looks black on the nail in most lighting.

Application
Fine, though I discovered I am in need of a new bottle of Seche Vite. Two coats should be plenty.

Wear
I already have chips after less than a day.

The Bottom Line
Unless you just have to have it, pass. There are better Black-but-not-Quites out there. Don't let the pictures fool you.

Quest for My Pretty - Weekly Weight Loss Report

Maybe I should say "Weight Gain Report". Facing the aftermath of Thanksgiving and recent binge drinking celebrations that are work related I think. Yes, I deserve it.

Weight: 194.8 lbs

What I did right this week: Not much. Need to refocus again. But I did purchase Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet book in an effort to try to pick up some recipes and tips to get veggies into my diet.

What I want to improve on next week: Actually getting the veggies into my diet. :)

Goals in Progress