New Year's Eve ready nails using Neutrogena Hand Cream.

Let me start out by saying I got to try Neutrogena hand cream because I got it free from BzzAgent.  My opinions are solely my own honest opinions.

This isn't really a review of Neutrogena hand cream it's just an awesome product that is helping my hands look and feel their best in the harsh weather of winter. What this really is, is a simple how to guide on getting great looking nails that will be a perfect accent to your New Year's Eve party outfit using...aha!...an accent nail.

Step One-
  Gather your tools. No one likes having to hunt something down and potentially ruining all the hard work you've put into your manicure so far.
  You need two complimentary nail polishes or a polish and a glitter top coat.  I used Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Celeb City and Stroke of Brilliance by Essie.
You also need a cuticle stick, an emory board, a top coat and of course your hand cream of choice, which in this case is Neutrogena.  You may also need paper towels or tissues and nail polish remover if you don't have the most steady hand when painting your nails,which I do not so I make great use of my cleaning up tools.

Step Two
  Assuming your hands are clean and free of your last manicure you'll want to gently push back your cuticles using the slanted side of your cuticle stick.  I don't want anyone stabbing themselves then saying...Melissa told me to...no I didn't.  Then after you've moved the cuticles away so you have an even nail, you'll want to file the ends of your nails so they are smooth and will look nicer.

Step Three
  Yay painting!  Take your primary polish, the polish you want on all of your nails, and paint a thin even coat over your nails, let it dry and repeat.
  Since I'm using a glitter accent this is the step I used. If you are using two complimentary polishes then paint every nail except your ring fingers with your primary polish. Paint your ring fingers with the second polish. Then skip to step five.

Step Four
  Take your glitter polish and paint over the polish on your ring fingers. Keep doing this until you have reached the level of glitteryness that you want to achieve.

Step Five
 After your nails are completely dry then paint over them using your favorite top coat. This ensures that your manicure will last longer and it smoothes edges if your glitter polish happens to be multi-dimentional.


Step Six
  After your nails are dry again, you can read or watch trashy tv while waiting for this to happen, clean up any slips you might have made with the brush. I use a paper towel corner and nail polish remover but you can find special clean up pen things at your local Walmart...I think.  Please don't leave nasty comments if you can't find them, cause that would hurt my feelings and would damage your karma and neither one of us wants that to happen do we?  No, didn't think so.

Step Seven-The Last Step
  The last step in getting awesome nails for New Year's is the moisturizing.  Take your favorite hand cream and place a teeny tiny dot in the middle of your cuticles. Then massage the cream into your cuticles so they are soft and look nice.

I hope this was helpful and that I didn't sound like a blathering idiot.  Happy New Year's everyone!

Review-Dino Lingo Japanese

I got to see this clip complimentary through Influenster but my opinion is my own.

Dino Lingo is an adorable language learning program for kids.  It features two cute dinosaurs saying hello in the language of the lesson then going on to your lesson.  We chose Japanese because we love anime...we're so nerdy hehe.

  The Japanese lesson we got to see was on animals. We learned that cat in Japanese is neko, which I already knew cause you know, catgirls...they are like everywhere.  Dog is inu and bird is tori while a flock of birds is toritachi. A fish is sakana so of course a school of fish is sakanatachi.

We loved the clip! The characters are super kawaii (see...more Japanese) and the bright colors and movement will keep a child so interested they won't even know they are learning.

If you want to watch the clip with your child just go here http://dinolingo.com/languages/japanese.html#.ULgeW6z7L5w

Review-CoverGirl Blast Flipstick

Let me start by saying I got these for review purposes from BzzAgent but my opinions are entirely my own.


I am loving these lipsticks, they are creamy, blendable and easy to use to make stunning looks for day or evening wear.It's a double ended lipstick duo that you can use each color on their own, mix them together or even go for the ombre style lips that I hear is all the rage right now, which is what I did for the pictures. For those not in the know...and that was me till I looked it up, ombre just means moving from one color to another with a little blending in between, like a gradient, but with makeup! Super fun huh.

Please excuse the quality of the pictures, my camera is super old.
First up is the flipstick Minx. It's a dark brown shade on one side and copper on the other. I love this one and when I first saw all the shades available on the CoverGirl website I was hoping it was one I would be receiving.

                                                 

Next up is the color duo Vixen.  I am not usually a fan of pink lipsticks because I am super pale, but the ombre style kind of worked for me. But I do have to say I was not a fan of the colors on their own.

The last of the flipsticks I received is called Stunner and the ombre style of them together was my favorite of all three.  When I first saw the colors, this set was the one I wanted least and when I saw I was getting it I was disappointed because there are tons of pretty shades, but I put on my big girl pants and sucked it up to do an honest review.  Boy was I surprised when I put the two colors on and they were gorgeous on me.

All in all I would say that the CoverGirl Blast Flipstick is a steal at around 8 dollars for two colors that you can use to make 5 different looks, each color on their own, blended, ombre with darker color outside and ombre with lighter color outside.

Our first lark!

Ok lovelies, as we know the name of the blog is Snarks and Larks. We've seen the snarks part...well maybe not so much because I'm pretty much liking everything I talk about...well there was that little bit about the lotion smell but whatever you're distracting me...what were we talking about?  Oh yeah, larks and I don't mean the little song bird.  A lark is a fun time, so I want to tell you about my lark to the Buffalo Zoo. It's kind of photo heavy, so just a warning.

 I went with two of my friends and right away this sign cracked us up, just the thought of an exterminating company sponsoring animals was just silly to us.

I have never claimed to have any photography skills and while I wanted to get a pic of whatever that animal is, you have to admit that's a pretty good picture of a cobwebby fence.  That being said Buffalo Zoo needs to clean their fences!

This is an ocelet, I pretended it's name was Babou. that being said  Holy shit, you guys! Look at his little spots!   Look at his tufted ears!  10 points to you if you get it.

 I don't know what this bird is but it's color was magnificent!

It's a capybara!  It's so cute, like a giant guinea pig. This picture makes it look deceptively small...it was huge.

I love this guy, his little back feet made me squee with adorableness!

Usually I don't like snakes that much but the blue on his scales was just lovely.

This is my favorite picture out of the 100 or so I took. The is just a beautiful animal and he was looking right at me!

I'll spare you anymore pictures mainly because I'm a horrible photographer and plus I'm pretty sure you don't want to see a bison peeing or some kind of monkey with it's finger in it's butt...I don't even know how I managed to capture those moments.

Hope you enjoyed some little evidence of a lark!

Review: Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Face Care.

Let me start off by saying I got these product to try for free from BzzAgent, but that my opinions are entirely my own and honest.

While I do love these products I do have a couple issues with them that I will get to in a minute.  First off, holy scnhikeys do I love these products, There are day and night creams, a cream cleanser and a treatment mask. There's also an eye cream but I didn't get to try that.  These products are 99% all natural and are inspired by clary sage, a plant known for it's ability to adapt to harsh climes and retain moisture.  Ooh Ooh, I didn't tell you the best part...the day and night lotions and eye cream also help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles!

They are so super hydrating, it's amazing.  The cleanser leaves your skin feeling soft and fresh,the day and night creams are smooth as silk and make your face feel that way as well. The treatment mask is for when you feel that your skin is really dry and in need of repair because lovelies let me tell you, it works hard.

Now onto the issues I had with these products.  The first issue is a general issue with all the products and that is the smell.  It's not unpleasant by any means, it's just too strong for my taste.  While I love really intensely fragranced body lotions I prefer my facial care products to have a lighter scent.  That being said I adore the way the product works so well I can overlook that little snafu.

The other problem I had is with the treatment mask.  No one else had this problem but me so maybe my face was already moisturized enough that I didn't need to use the mask. After you are don't with the mask you wipe it off and smooth the rest into your skin like a lotion. The problem that I had was that it felt really heavy and when I ran my fingers over my cheek to scratch an itch the product actually came up and sort of rolled into a little ball...slightly icky.

The only drawback I could see anyone having aside from my personal issues is that each product costs 18 dollars, except the treatment mask which only costs 10.

I might update with pictures of how smooth my skin looks so look for those.

Kiss® everEZlashes!

I got this product free in a voxbox from Influenster and I love it!  They were so easy to use, they come with little strings on the sides to help you adjust for a perfect fit but you can remove them if you are an old hand at putting on fake lashes...which I am not.

One of the things I liked most about the Kiss lashes is they are made from high quality human hair, it might sound creepy to some people but I have sensitive eyes and synthetic things tend to irritate them. A few other things I liked was they are odor free, latex free and waterproof, and if you use the Kiss eyelash adhesive like you're supposed to then you get a flexible 24 hour hold, and I mean who wants fake looking lashes that are gonna fall off in the middle of your activity or event? No one, that's who.

I got the #3 lashes, which are a normal looking,not too dramatic lash. In the future I think I wanna try a fuller lash though.

So if you want to try out these lashes, and I recommend you, do then check them out at their site, http://www.everezlashes.com/home

RESCUE Remedy Natural Stress Relief Gum!

I received a pack of this gum to review in the latest voxbox from Influenster.com.  I absolutely love it.  I came across the liquid Rescue Remedy and was thinking of purchasing it, then a few days later my voxbox shows up and it has the gum, which is filled with a dose of the all natural Rescue Remedy.

  I loved it, it tastes flowery and slightly citrusy and the flavor is mild and not too overwhelming or sweet.  It does help relieve stress and calms you down a bit.

I love how they list the flower ingredients on the back and tell you what they are for:
Rock Rose- Courage and presence of mind
Cherry Plum- Balanced mind when losing control
 Clematis- Focus when ungrounded
 Impatiens- Patience with problems and people
 Star of Bethlehem- Softens impact of shock

 I would definitely recommend Rescue Remedy Natural Stress Relief Gum to anyone who needs a little all natural, homeopathic something to help them on a day that might be a little more stressful than usual. You can  get this gum and other products at the site here

Helpful Tips Time!

Who loves free things?  Everyone  loves free things and I'm gonna tell you how you can potentially get boxes of many awesome things!  All you have to do is go to influenster.com,sign up and fill out badges so they can cater different boxes to your preferences.  They just updated  the site and it's looking awesome so make sure you check it out. The faster you get it going the faster you can receive a box!

Technical Difficulties

It's been brought to my attention that some people may have been posting comments and they have not gone through.  In between the comment box and the publish button there is a "Comment As" drop down menu.
You have to be signed in to one of those services to post comments. I don't know how to change that so if anyone knows how to do that you can email me at annalismel@hotmail.com.

Also don't forget to follow me and if you own a blog if you link to me and let me know I will also figure out the way to link back to you.

UPDATE-One of my Facebook friends told me how to fix the problem, so thank you to him. Comment away lovelies.

More Masks!

Hello my lovelies.  That's what I'm gonna call the people who read my blog and eventually watch my youtube videos. That's way better than a play on the blog name. What would I use for that...snarkipelagos? Because an archipelago is a group of islands and a snarkipelago would be a group of Snark readers?  I don't know...see this is why I'm calling you my lovelies.

Ok now that we got past that little moment of insane rambling I have two more masks for you. One is for wicked dry skin and I don't recommend it for people prone to oily skin at all and one for oily skin that I call the breakfast mask.

First off is the dry skin mask. This is very moisturizing and kind of oily which is why I don't recommend it for oily skin.

Ingredients:
Mayonaise
Honey
Vinegar

Take about a tablespoon of mayo and glop it in a bowl then drizzle some honey in there and about a teaspoon of vinegar.
Mix it all together. It should be just a bit thin.
Slather all over your face.
Let sit for 10-15 minutes
Wash off with lukewarm water then rinse face with cold water.


Now onto the "breakfast" mask for oily skin.  DO NOT EAT THIS...I'm talking to you Phil.

Ingredients:
Espresso
egg
honey
milk
cocoa powder-I recommend unsweetened but I didn't have any so I cheated and used a peppermint cocoa

Crack the egg in the bowl...yes the whole egg this time.
Drizzle in some honey and whisk that bad boy like there's no tomorrow.
Pour in just a tad of milk and whisk again.
Now at this point you may be tempted to stop the process and make yourself an omelette... Resist the urge lovelies!
Now dump in a bunch of espresso...you can use regular coffee but grind it up a bit first. Whisk again.
Now add a teaspoon or so of cocoa powder and whisk whisk whisk.

Now that your arm is tired from all that whisking,slather the mess onto your face and let it sit 10-15 minutes.
 While i wouldn't normally tell you to put a face mask right under your eye, if you have puffy under eye circles, put the mask on the puffiness.  Be careful though.
 This stuff is wicked messy and, while when I used my mom for a guinea pig it came off with a wash cloth and a paper towel, I had to take a cool shower when I was done because it dripped onto my neck and decolletage. Plus when I got out of the shower I had espresso in my eye, so watch out for that.

Once again thanks for reading and if you have any tips for home made face masks leave a comment.

Cheap and mostly natural skin care!

My internet is back so I'm gonna blog.
   I don't know why I get the urge to blog so late, I guess I just have to keep myself busy whilst suffering from insomnia.  This is super wordy so I hope ya'll don't get bored.

Ok everyone knows that natural skin care is the way to go, especially for older skin.  The chemicals they put in lotions and soaps for your face sometimes aren't the best thing, and the scrubs you can buy are sometimes too harsh for more sensitive skin.

So I'm gonna share my few little tips to get your skin soft and pretty with natural ingredients, plus it's super cheap.  Everyone loves cheap right.

Ok my lovelies first gather your ingredients and tools:

3 bowls
a fork
a teaspoon
1 tissue 
olive oil
brown sugar
1 egg
honey

These recipes are not only good for your skin and cheap they are also simple.

Olive oil and brown sugar scrub
 The title says it all, it is a face scrub made of olive oil and brown sugar.
Put some brown sugar in one of your bowls, then put a couple cap fulls of olive oil so that it's wet but not too wet, sort of like a dry paste. Mix with a finger.
Then slather it on your face and massage the scrub into the skin.
Scrub until you feel you've scrubbed enough.
Rinse off with lukewarm water...I cannot stress enough how bad hot water can be for certain people's skin so wet your wash cloth with lukewarm water and gently remove the scrub, making sure you get all the sugar and oil off your face... and while you're doing this whole process stay away from dogs they might think you are a nummy treat.

Ok after you are bright and shiny from your scrub it's time to move on to part 2 of our 3 part system, the pore strips.
First thing you are gonna do is take your egg and separate it into the remaining two bowls, I use the crack it then dump it back and forth in the shell method.  Set the bowl with the egg yolk aside for now we'll be using it later.
Take the fork and whip the egg white like it kicked your puppy or like it didn't kick a puppy if you aren't fond of dogs...either way I don't condone puppy kicking. Please don't call peta I don't even own a puppy!
This part is really good for venting frustrations because you really need to get your egg white quite frothy.
Now for the messy part.  Take one ply of your tissue..if you have 2 ply pull it apart... and rip it into 2 inch rectangles. Then take some of the frothy egg bubbles and smear it on your face,then lay the tissue on the wetness and pat it down so it is flat and smooth on your skin as you can make it. I usually start with my nose, then do my cheeks, then the middle of my forehead then my chin. Now girls I cannot tell you enough not to get the egg white/tissue in your eyebrows because the egg white dries like a glue and the tissue gets hard like a pore strip so if it gets in your hair it's gonna hurt when you pull it off.
Now this will take about 10-15 minutes to dry depending on the humidity so take this time to relax. Read a chapter in a book, listen to classical music or do as my mom and I did...watch Real Housewives of New Jersey.
When the tissue is dry, slowly pull it off in a downward motion. When you get all the pieces off, if you're like me, you'll be tempted to look at the strips. Go ahead because 1) you'll see these really work and 2) you'll see you need to wash your face better every day.
Use the wet wash cloth from before to remove any leftover stuff on your face.

And the last part is the part that might gross you out a bit because it's..well it's gross and a bit slimy.
Find the last bowl that should have the egg yolk in it... you might have lost it in your mad dash to call peta about the puppy kicking earlier.  To this bowl add a teaspoon of honey and mix with the spoon. Yay you've got a big ol bowl of salmonella and it's going on your FACE!  I'm kidding...mostly...don't eat the egg yolk and honey mixture though...just don't.
Smear the mixture all over your face but avoid the hairline and your eyes.
Once again you'll have to wait for this to dry so go back to your book or music or trashy television.
And keep your face perfectly still...no laughing or smiling or talking.  So doing this at a giggly girls' slumber party is probably not the best idea.
 Once it's dry use your washcloth once again and rinse the mixture off.
 Once your face is clean run cold water onto your cloth then gently pat the cloth onto your face. The cold water will help soothe your face from all the rubbing and will shock your pores into looking like they are smaller.

I hope you learned a little something that might help you and if you have any tips for me leave a comment.

I'm bored so you get a post!

My birthday was Friday and so my mom and my friend Jaime got me micas and an eyeshadow kit from DIY Cosmetics. I love making my own things, I love being crafty and when I do it myself it turns out exactly how I want it.  Well so far I have made myself 6 loose eyeshadows and three lipsticks, but those are really more like heavily tinted lip balm.

The eyeshadows were super easy since they came with a premade base that helps the micas stick to your skin, so you just have to mix until you find the color you want. The first color I made was like a highlight color it's a super sparkly beige that looks really nice. The second color I was going for was a teal green, it didn't quite get there but I like what I ended up with. The third color is magic I swear. It looks like a sparkly mauve just sitting in the pot but when you rub and blend it into your skin it becomes an orangey red. Then I did an actual darkish orange because...well why not.  Then I did moonstone black because I also use all my loose shadows as eyeliner using mixing medium and I'll give the recipe at the bottom with the recipe for the tinted lip balm. The final color I did was a sweet baby pink that is super sparkly. I also use this very sparingly across the tops of my cheek bones a a sort of blush/highlighter, but I mean a little goes a long way. I dip a finger into the pot and get the tiniest amount on then use that finger to put the pink on both cheeks and then dab away some.  This is best used for going out in the evening though cause it so tremendously sparkly. The beige one got sort of messed up as I was swatching and the sparkle in the plate doesn't really let you see the sparkles in the colors so use your imagination ok.

On to the lip balms. I technically have done three but I didn't like one so I chucked it in the trash. So the second one I did was a really pretty ruby red. It has a sort of metallic sheen to it so I didn't add any sparkle to it, even though I'm addicted to the sparkle...I need a sparkle intervention. And because I didn't get any lip gloss pots yet I used a cleaned and sanitized tin that a tealight candle sits in. 

The last thing I made was a tin of sparkle pink lip balm...see sparkle addiction.  For this I used a tin that used to have zombie outbreak mints in it.  As soon as I find my other zombie mint tin I'm gonna make a grayish green lip balm. I also added vanilla extract to my mix to make it smell good but I don't advise this because not all of it mixed so there's a chance it will mold or something...so don't do it.

And lastly here's the recipes I used..well not so much a recipe as what I used to make them:
Mixing medium- First buy glycerine from rite aid or whatever pharmacy you have near you.
One part glycerine to 3 parts water makes an excellent mixing medium or if you can't find glycerine just use eye drops.
Lip Balm Ingredients-
  Beeswax-Grape Seed Oil-Jojoba Gloss-Vitamin E-Mica
It's super simple to make, you just melt all your ingredients in your container(if it's metal) and once everything is mixed and melted let it cool off and harden.  If it's too hard for you or you don't like the color you can remelt it and tweak the recipe till you get what you want.

And here's a warning...If you are working with micas please wear a face mask, gloves, and old clothes. Micas are very fine powders so they will get into your lungs. And since they are pigments then can and will stain your clothes and working surfaces so lay down newspaper.

Thank you for letting me ramble so long.

Shoes for Scholl's Review

So I'm a BzzAgent, which means every so often I get sent products for testing. I'm not paid for doing this and all opinions about products are my own opinions either good or bad.

I got picked to test Dr. Scholl's for Her High Heel inserts.  I haven't gotten them yet but they should be here soon. In the mean time I decided to take pictures of the two different pairs of shoes I am going to try the product with.  These aren't raw photos, I played with them in picmonkey.

Hello World and Parmesan Yumminess

This is my first post as a blogger under my real name. I usually blog fashion and stuff for an mmo game.So I am not new to blogging but I wanted to do the same for my real life adventures and reviews as well. So sometimes it will be funny or boring and sometimes I will rant my butt off. I hope I don't offend anyone but if I do I apologize in advance.

  Since this is my first post I will talk something simple and close to everyone's heart...Dinner.  You know cause the stomach is near the heart and whatnot.  These are the jokes people.  What I had for dinner was spaghetti noodles with a simple Parmesan cheese sauce with corn mixed in. I would post pictures but frankly while delicious it looks like something a dog might yack up.  There's a pleasant mental image huh.

So here's what to do:
After your water starts to boil, add your noodles.

While the noodles are boiling, melt butter in another pot and add whatever spices you prefer.
When the butter is all melted and is boiling a little bit add flour like you were making the base for a gravy.
On medium heat cook the flour butter spice mixture for a few minutes just to get that raw floury taste gone.
When you decide the flour has cooked long enough add milk and whisk and whisk and whisk till it's not lumpy.
When the milk has just come to a boil...dump a ton of Parmesan cheese into the sauce.
Turn off the heat and whisk until smooth.

Open a can of corn and dump it into your collender.
Your noodles should be just about done now so check them and if they are done enough for you, dump them over the corn in your collender to drain the water and heat the corn.

Dump the noodles and corn back into the pot or a large bowl and pour the sauce over it.
Mix, Plate and Enjoy.

If you are wondering why there are no measurements, it's because everything about this is about your own personal taste.