Irina Likes - Holiday Tags -

I love to watch Tag Videos on Youtube. They let you get to know the person and the current things they are liking. Since I have yet to figure out how to use the video option on my camera. I figured I would just blog it instead. 

Questions

1) Favorite Winter Nail Polish?

Duri # 583 The Big Score

2) Favorite Winter lip product?

EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint

3) Most worn Winter clothing piece?

Andrew Marc Coat

4) Most worn Winter accessory?

Burberry Ear Muffs

5) Favorite winter scent/candle?

Toffee Crunch Candle by Bath & Body Works

6) Favorite Winter beverage?

Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks

7) All time favorite Christmas/Holiday movie?

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (preferably the animated version)

8) Favorite Christmas/Holiday song?

Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

9) Favorite Holiday food/treat?

Candy Canes (loads of candy canes)

10) What is your favorite Christmas Decoration this year?

Tea Towels from Target

Angel Ornament for the Hubby

11) What's at the top of your Christmas list?

Barney's Leather Detailed Sweater

12) What are your plans for the holidays this year?

Chinese Food and Movies for Christmas
Warehouse Party for New Years

I would love to know your answers to these questions.

Irina Likes - Music -

DJ DeMarko! Feat Heather Leigh West - Drop A House

This is a great remix of a song I had heard many years ago. The lyrics still don't make sense to me but I enjoy the song anyway. Since it is almost Christmas, it seems appropriate to find a song that has chimney in the lyrics. 

What are you listening to?

Irina Likes - Books -

Jeneration X

by

Jen Lancaster

This is the sixth memoir that the author has written and I can't get enough of her. Jen is sarcastic, witty, and generally gets herself into the most amusing situations.

Bitter is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such A Pretty Fat; Pretty in Plaid; My Fair Lazy; Jeneration X; and If You Were Her are all her other books and I would recommend each and every one of them. 

I can't wait for new next book to come out next year. This is one funny author most people would enjoy and can relate to. 

What books have you been reading?

Irina Likes - Music -

Afrojack - Doing It Right

The name of the song really does say it all. I love songs that have a great melody to them and this is a perfect example. 

What songs are you listening to right now?

Irina Likes - Books -

Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews

Dempsey Killebrew never expected her life to turn out like this in the span of a few months. Fired from her job, broke, shamed by the national press and stuck in middle of nowhere Georgia fixing up a house and dealing with a mean old lady and her yappy dog too. With the help of a few new friends, life can take a whole new turn.

This is a great, light read. Its the kind of book that should be a chick movie. You know its going to have twists and turns but everything will work out in the end. A feel-good book that was a joy to read. 

What books are you reading?

Irina Likes - Birchbox November -

It is that time of the month again when I get a great beauty box in the mail.

This month's Birchbox came with all new treats that I have yet to try. 

Smitten Cupcake Bath Bomb looks delicious but I know better than to eat it even though it is quite tempting. 

This is a totally new fragrance for me and new fragrance designer. I do like that it comes with spray top as oppose to a top that just comes off. This is the best way to make perfume samples. 

This is the product I am most excited to try. I have been thinking about trying a volume hair spray for when I blow out my hair, so this sample came just in time.

I tend to not eat too much soy because of the amount of estrogen that soy products make you produce but I was just too curious about this product to not try it. I ate it. Its gone. It was good but not great. I would not buy more.

This is a new product for me and I hope it works well. Most mascaras don't seem to realize what they are suppose to be doing. 

Although I am excited to try this new soap, the packaging of the samples are very inconvenient. Once they are open, I would have no way to save the rest of the sample. A jar would have been better.

Overall I am quite excited to try these products out. 

What plans do you have for this weekend?

Irina Likes - Music -

Tony Ray feat Gianna - Chica Loca

This song is a great pop song. Lots of vocals and song middle eastern and/or latin influences to the song. Just a fun to dance to song.

What are you listening to?

Irina Likes - grk -

On my hunt for lunch I stumbled upon this new restaurant. Grk is a Greek restaurant which has the same concept behind it as Chipotle. You pick you meat, your side, and your sauce and then any other extra items.

I like that the to-go bag is bright blue because it makes it easy to spot. The place has a modern feel with its seating and furniture. 

There is sauce already in the container but that is not enough for me so I asked for one more. I was happy that they didn't charge for it.  I picked out the Agean Slaw and the Pork Gyro Meat.

The slaw is tasty but it leaks all over the bottom of the tray which soaks the pita. I wish they would pack the pita separately  The meat was tasty. The sauce was great. The salad was frozen, so I did not enjoy that and I was not going to wait around for it to defrost. 

Overall, I would go again but instead of the tray I would opt for the pita sandwich.

What new restaurants have you tried?

Irina Likes - Nails -

Duri # 581 - Necessary Luxury

This color is a mix between dove gray and lavender.  It is a very soft and pleasing color to look at on the fingers. 

I decided to take a picture of the nail polish after a full week of wearing it. This was to show how well it held up for an entire week. That includes washing dishes and typing many documents at a computer. I was so pleased as to how well this polish held up that I can't wait to wear it again. 

What color are you wearing?

Irina Likes - Makeup -

The great thing about Birchbox is that it lets you review products on their site and you get points for each review.  100 points gives you $10 off your order. 

So I decided to try a new product using my points. I had heard many great things about Benefit Erase Paste.

The shade I picked up is Fair. There are only 3 shades to choose from and I was worried Medium would be too dark. 

I have been using the product for about a week and it has seamlessly become part of my everyday makeup routine. I use the concealer under my eyes and the reason I like it so much is that it is very salmon/pink based which combats the blue tones under my eyes. 

This is definitely worth giving a try if this is the kind of product you are looking for. What is your favorite concealer? 

Irina Likes - Books -

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Summary I have found:

Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon.  Despite her own mother's warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life. 

Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie--a boy who has never known his father.  After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance--and even to some degree, friendships--believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.

Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children.  But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.  

My thoughts:

While reading this book, I was frustrated with the characters. Often times I would not agree with their choices or thoughts and that would make me not like either women. It would have been a better book if I was able to get to know the Husband, Nick, as well as the two main women.

Overall, its a good book but not a great book. 

What books have you read lately?

Irina Likes - Tea -

I love to drink tea and try different brands and types. My latest tea find is Lipton Green Tea with White Mangosteen and Peach.

This tea smells like a tropical exotic peach. It puts me in a vacation mood. I love to drink tea out of my cow mug that I found in Sur La Table. 

The great thing about Lipton teas are that they go on sale. So if you spot one on sale, definitely give this one a try. 

What is your favorite tea?

Irina Likes - Holiday Giveaways -

The great thing about this time of the year is presents. 

The bad thing about this time of the year is that most of us in New York become pale as ghosts. 

So to solve this dilemma, I am giving away a full size Stila One Step Bronzer.

This is a skin tone illuminating bronzing serum. 

It will give you a gorgouse bronze glow while acting as a serum to prep your skin.

To win this bronzer, please follow the rules below:

Step 1: Sign up to follow this blog either through BlogLovin or Email

Step 2: Follow me on Twitter @IrinaK

Step 3: Leave a comment down below telling me your favorite bronzer.

This giveaway is open internationally and a winner will be chosen random. 

One entry per day.

I will tweet the winner on December 18, 2012.

Good Luck!

Irina Likes - Music -

DJ Chus & David Herrero - Rumba Magic

This song is a great latin house song. It takes a bit for it to get started (1:30 mins), but well worth the wait. If you are impatient feel free to skip forward. It makes you want to shake those hips all over the room. 

What are you listening to?

Irina Likes - Nails -

Duri # 544 - Mystic Elements

This is a deep reddish-brown color with gold shimmer. This is a great fall/winter shade.

I had to take a picture with the sun because the nails just shine so well. 

What color are you wearing?

Irina Likes - Financier -

The great thing about working in the Financial District is that there are about 4 different Financier locations that I can stop by to get an after-work treat. 

I was craving pumpkin so I picked up the Pumpkin Tart as well as a Chai Latte. 

It was delicious and hit the spot. I really liked the whipped cream sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. The Chai Latte is made with Mighty Leaf Tea which is a favorite of mine.

What treat have you had lately?

Irina Likes - Makeup -

I have been searching for an all matte palette for a bit and was excited to see this one on sale at Hautelook.com. 

NYX Matte Smokey Look Palette in One Night in Morocco. 

This palette comes with 4 neutral lip colors in the bottom slide-out compartment. 

It has an eye primer and 8 matte shadows.

I am excited to try out an all matte look and enjoy using matte shadows.

What palettes are you liking?

Irina Likes - Apple Pancakes -

This gorgeous pile of carby goodness was exactly what I was craving for breakfast. I cheat and use a box pancake mix mainly because I know that it will always come out like tasty pancakes. 

After making the batter, I shredded an apple and mixed that into the batter. This addition made the pancakes more fluffy and juicy. I was so pleasantly surprised that I ate 6 pancakes. 

What new recipes have you tried?

Irina Likes - Makeup Haul -

I stopped by Lot Less to pick up some cute gift wrapping paper and I spotted this Lip Liner set by Rimmel.

Rimmel Vinyl Jelly Gloss Lip Liners

#4 - Sorbet - Dusty Rose

#1 - Moreish - Baby Pink

I have never seen this product before but was curious about it. I really like the colors. The formula has a very jelly smooth consistency. Probably will be a great lip liner for opaque lip gloss or maybe as an all over color. 

On a recent trip to Target I saw the Holiday Elf products out and I had to get a few. 

Elf Hypershine Lip Gloss

Merry

Festive

Joyful

I picked up this gloss trio and the colors are wonderful. I would say Merry is my favorite because I adore dusty pink/mauve colors. These glosses are great to try out because they are inexpensive and usually pigmented. Also I tend to use them as lip brushes as well. 

I picked up this trio of oil blotting sheets. I have never tried them before so I hope they work well. 

Elf Eye Shadow Compact

Natural

Last but not least, I picked up  the neutral palette that was there. I am loving the shimmery shades and Elf does have a very good quality eye shadow for the price. 

Which product would you like to try?

Irina Likes - Cows Part 4 -

My favorite kind of cows are the international ones.  These three cows below are a gift from Julie on her recent trips abroad. 

This adorable little cow is a bell that I still need to figure out where I will hang. 

This money-hungry cow has a compartment for storing small items. 

This animated cow is a pencil or utensil holder. 

For now, these cows are showcased on my shelf until I find a perfect home for them. 

Which cow do you like best?

Irina Likes - Music -

Bruno Barra & Matteo Palmieri - Sax Enjoyment

This is a great combination of a saxophone and house music. Fun and festive to dance to with many latin influences. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Irina Likes - Makeup Hauls -

I decided to check out Drugstore.com because they sell Greenies and as luck would have it they were on sale. Since I was placing an order, I looked into their beauty and make-up.

I was thrilled when I saw that they have the limited edition Alice in Wonderland EOS Lip Balms.

You get three lovely orbs. 

Blueberry Potion

Sweet Vanilla Nonsense

Watermelon Wonderland 

I love that they have an imprinted Mickey Mouse on the lip balm. 

I was very excited to try the Avene Thermal Spring Water. This is the travel size container that will be great for those dry-aired flights or just moments when my skin feels tight and dehydrated. I also enjoy using this after I have done my foundation/powder. It makes my skin look dewy and soft. 

I had heard great things about the color and pigmentation of this Wet & Wild Lipstick in # 906 D Wine Room  and it does not disappoint. I am excited to try out such a bold berry lip color.  

The last thing I ordered was the Elf Stipple Brush. I had not realized that that I ordered the wrong brush since I meant to order the small stipple brush and not the regular size. Nonetheless, I found a good use for it and it is what I now use to put highlighter on my face. 

What are you plans for today?