And the winner is....

I want to start out by thanking every single person that entered this giveaway! I did not expect to get so many entries but I'm really happy that I did get such a great response. This was my very first giveaway but there are so many more to come!
Ok ok I know you guys just want to know who the winner is already, so here goes!
And the winner is...

Melissa Vergara!

Congrats! I hope you enjoy all the prizes :) I emailed you already, please respond within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Don't fret if you weren't the winner this time, with all the giveaways I have planned already you have tons of chances of winning another time. If you haven't already remember to enter my ForgoodnessGrape Giveaway which also ends soon. I'm also hosting a blog contest so enter that as well :)

Just a little heads up: I'm working on getting some weekly beauty and fashion giveaways set up for the blog! Super exciting right? So make sure to keep following so you don't miss out ;)

XOXO,

Almay intetense i-Color palette Trio for hazels: Review and swatches!

This is one of my favorite palettes that I own. I love the color combo because the shades just go so well together.

My favorite shade of the three is the gorgeous sparkly champagne color. I use it ALL the time to highlight my brow bone and cheek bones. I would seriously buy the whole palette just for this color.

No flash Swatch

Flash swatch

The next color is a very cool brown. It adds a lot of depth to the look when applied to the crease.

No flash swatch

Flash swatch

This pink is really light. I wish it was more pigmented; it really takes a lot to build up the shade.

No flash Swatch

Flash swatch

I’ve been working on some looks using this palette! I’ll put up those tutorials soon.

A couple reminders:

Remember to enter the little contest I’m holding! All you have to do is comment with a post idea and you will get entered to win a cute hair clip! (CLICK HERE!)

Also don’t forget to enter the ForgoodnessGrape giveaway if you haven’t already, the prize is worth $30.00!

At last but not least I wanted to ask you guys again to please nominate be for the 2011 Winter Beauty Blog Awards, it would really mean a lot to me (CLICK HERE!) J

XOXO,

Small Beauty Haul!

Yesterday I tweeted about going shopping with a friend, I got a couple of things and I wanted to share it with you!

Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush: I have been wanting this brush for a while and I finally decided to get it! I love Ecotools brushes, they have amazing quality and are oh so soft!

Dream Matte Powder: I was needing a powder to set my makeup with and to use at noon to blot my oily skin so I decided to give this a try.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation: This is one of those foundations that ALOT of people have tried and usually rave about. I'll try it myself and give you guys a review.

Milk of Magnesia: I know what you're thinking..."I thought this was a beauty haul, why are you showing as this?" Well I was on Makeup Alley when I saw a review for milk of magnesia. It was filled with people saying how wonderful this is for controlling oily skin! I hope it works.

Elephant Neclace: I have a thing for elephant jewerly, seriously I love it. My mom got me this adorable necklace, I will be wearing this alot!

I love hauls! I think they are so fun, if you have recently done a haul on your blog leave a link. I would love to check it out :)

XOXO,

Fun Contest: give me blog post ideas and win a prize!

I have a really fun post for today!

So I have been looking for some new ideas on blog posts to do. I figured who better to ask than the people who will be reading the posts, right? I love to hear from you guys and it would be really interesting to know what kind of things you would like to see on this blog.

But I thought instead of just asking you for some ideas I could make it a little bit more fun.

I will be choosing the most creative and interesting idea and the person who wrote it will win a prize!

The prize will be a free clip for your hair from the shop Flower Me Boutique. They have a big selection of really cute flower hair clips. They have everything from really colorful and fun prints, to much softer colors and classic designs.

Here are some of their clips:

Flower Me Boutique is a cute little Etsy shop. Definitley go check it out(click here), they have really great prices and some fun designs.

So to enter this contest all you have to do is leave a comment with your idea for a blog post. You can leave as many as you wish. The contest will run for a week. Next Saturday September 3^rd I will be choosing the winning idea!

This is international so no matter where you are you can leave a comment with what you would like to see on the blog and enter to win a really unique clip!

I would like to thank Flower Me Boutique for sponsoring a cute clip for the winner!

Can’t wait to read the comments J

XOXO,

How healthy is your hair? Find out in 3 easy steps!

The hair health test!
Are wondering if your hair is healthy? Take this test to find out:
1. Pull out one strand of hair. Grab it between your thumb and index finger, hold it fairly taut. Now pull it apart a bit more. If it snaps immediately your hair could be too dry. If it stretches a bit and then bounces back your hair is pretty healthy. If it stretches a little bit and doesn’t bounce back to its original shape, it is a little dry and damaged, but don’t worry, not beyond repair.

My results: My hair snapped! The two pieces of hair looked pretty nasty where they had snapped. Take a look at this pic: Guess I have to continue moisturizing my hair A LOT!

2. Pull out one strand of your hair. Fill a glass with water and drop your hair into it. If it sinks to the bottom, that means your locks are parched. A regular strand should float on top because it’s fully hydrated, therefore it can’t absorb any more moisture. A strand that sinks is so dry that it drinks up H2O from the glass.
My results: My strand floated! Yay!
You can hardly notice it in this picture, but maybe if you look really hard you will see it floating on top.

1. Pull out one last strand. Grab a sewing needle and try to thread the strand through the eye. do this with the end not the root part of the hair. If it goes through with no problem your hair is in good shape. If it gets snagged, it means your hair cuticle is damaged and frayed or that you have split ends.
My results: My strand went right through, no problem.

So in conclusion my hair is pretty healthy, just a bit on the dry side. But I can definitely work with that, I will just continue to deep condition twice a week with some of my favorite hair masks (see here). I am marking my calendar so I can do this again 3 months from now and see how my hair is doing then. I will keep you updated.

Take this little test and share your results with me! It really doesn’t take long and it’s a great way to measure the condition of your hair.

Remember to please nomonate me for the Winter Beauty Blog Awards! Just click on the button on the right side of my blog, Thanks!

XOXO,

Will you please help me get nominated? :)

Hey!

So I have a little favor to ask you all of you..

Handmade Reviews is hosting the Beauty Blog Awards! It’s an amazing opportunity for new bloggers to win the award and help them get some more readers to their blog as well as receiving an amazing prize filled with lots of beauty products for them to get to review on their blog! Not living in the States really limits the kind of products I can get my hands on, so this would be a great chance for me to be able to posts reviews for you guys on products I would never be able to buy myself. In order to win a blog must be nominated, and then a portion of nominees are selected based on their nominations and other criteria. Blogs are then announced and put up for voting.

So the first step is getting nominated. That’s where you guys come in. If you enjoy reading this blog and find the posts helpful then I want to ask you guys to please help me get nominated J

It would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to nominate Vanilla Pop! Go here for the form. All you have to to is enter your email address and the blog address ( http://thevanillapop.blogspot.com/ ).

If you want to read more about the award click here.

I have a couple of posts planned for today that I have been working really hard on as well as yet ANOTHER giveaway announcement coming really soon!

Oh and one last thing:

XOXO Vanilla Pop <3

DIY: Shine spray for your hair!

Hey guys,

Today I have another shiny hair recipe for you! My hair is curly and I have recently started caring for it with the curly girl method. I will be doing a post about it soon, but if you don’t know it basically consists of not using silicones or sulfates in your hair. Since I can’t use silicones it makes it really hard to find hair styling products that I can use. I have yet to come across a store-bought shine spray or serum without it. So I decided to make my own and this recipe was born!

How to make it:

Get a spray bottle and make sure it’s clean.

Fill it 2/3 or halfway full with water.

Add a bit of rose water (just eyeballed it but if you want measurements add about 3 or 4 tablespoons).

Ok so the idea is to add two tablespoons of oil. It can be olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil ect.

I used two oils so I added 1 tablespoon of each. Feel free to use your favorite oil for your hair.

I added 1 tablespoon of almond oil.

Then 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.

Now shake it up!

This is what you get:

Last thing I did was add a cute label. I named this spray Dazzle & Shine! I’m such a dork :p

Directions for use:

Shake it before each use. Apply a light mist all over hair. DO NOT over do it! Less is more when it comes to this product.

Results:

I used this today in my hair before I went to school. I’m not kidding when I say I had zero frizz! My hair was really soft and had a nice sheen to it. Loving this spray J

Don’t forget to enter my ForgoodnessGrape giveaway if you haven’t yet!

XOXO Vanilla Pop <3

Beauty tip of the week: Fix a bad hair day!

We all have days when our hair really just doesn’t want to collaborate with us. So for this week’s tip I put together some different styles that can help you hide your bad hair day.

1. Cute Headband!
A bold bright headband stands out, it takes attention away from your misbehaved locks and helps you to gain a bit of control by pushing back some bad looking strands. I adore headbands, I think they are such an easy way to add a bit of style to your hair. Think Blair from Gossip Girl!

2. Teased Pony!So putting your hair up in a pony tail is an obvious fix for a bad hair day, but style it a bit more and it will look so much better. Add a little teased bump to make your pony more flirty, also wrap a strand of hair around your hair tie to hide it and look extra chic

3. Cute Hat!
A cute knit hat looks chic and can help you hide a halo of frizz! It’s also perfect since Fall and Winter are right around the corner. Leave out your bangs to frame your face and avoid the look of a shower cap. You could also do a side pony or side braid and then a hat, I love that look!

4. Loose side bun!
A low side bun is pretty and simple. A super quick way to style your hair when it won’t cooaperate with you.

5. Pinned Back Bangs!
Are your bangs misbehaving? Bobby-pin them back into a mini half-up do. You could also French braid them like Lauren Conrad. I learned how to do it on youtube and it’s now one of my signature looks!

Hopefully these tips will come in handy when you wake up to a huge mess of hair!
What do you do on a bad hair day? Let me know J

XOXO Vanilla Pop <3

Celeb’s favorite spa treatments - DIY!

Celebs stay looking fab with regular spa treatments. While we can’t do the same we can still try these at-home versions of sought-after skin and hair treatments!

Drew Barrymore’s blemish buster:

Sonya Dakar is the Hollywood skin specialist behind this recipe, one of Drew’s favorites.

Tools:

Mixing bowl

Whisk

Cotton swabs

Ingredients:

1 small packet dry yeast

8 oz. water

1 lemon wedge

How to:

Pour the yeast packet into the bowl. Add water slowly whisking well. Continue until you have medium thick paste(you will use about 2 tablespoons). Add a few drops of lemon juice and mix again.

Dot the mixture onto breakouts with a cotton swab. Leave overnight.

*This will last about a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

Kirsten Dunst’s magic moisture mask:

This recipe is also from Sonya Dakar. Kirsten uses it for soothing and moisturizing dry skin.

Tools:

Mixing bowl

Fork

Mixing spoon

Ingredients:

½ medium avocado, peeled and pitted

2 tbsp. aloe vera gel

1 tbsp. honey

2. tbsp. plain old fashion oats (not instant)

1 tbs. grape seed oil ( I couldn’t find this so I used jojoba oil)

How to:

With the fork, mash the avocado in the bowl until smooth. Add the aloe vera gel and mix thoroughly. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Smear the mask onto your face in a thickish layer. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

*toss out leftovers

Liv Tyler’s shiny hair mask

Tina Cassaday has a Beverly Hills salon frequently visited by celebs such as Liv. She is known for whipping up concoctions that condition damaged hair, add shine and smell delish! Here is Liv’s favorite:

Tools:

Blender

Mixing bowl

Towel

Shower cap

Wide-toothed comb

Ingredients:

½ cup purified water

½ banana, peeled

1 tbsp. plain yogurt

1 tsp. honey

¼ cantaloupe, peeled and seeded

1 tbsp. condensed milk (I used regular milk)

1 tsp. wheat germ oil

How-to:

Put everything in the blender and blend for 10 secondson medium setting. Pour mixture into the bowl. Put a towel across your shoulders to avoid spills on your clothes. Start working the mixture into your hair, from root to tip. Slip on a showe cap(to help the product penetrate the hair with the heat the cap creates). Leave on for at least 45 minutes. Rinse of with warm water and a light shampoo.

*toss out leftovers

Let me know if you try any of these out! My personal favorite was the hair mask.

XOXO Vanilla Pop <3

I do not own the images in this post.