Media Monday: Grand Romantic by Nate Ruess

Can I just start with the fact that I adore Nate Ruess, and I have loved him since long ago, back when he led The Format straight to my heart?! His music will always hold a special place in my heart as it got me through so many years of teenage angst and sadness turning to a hopeful lust for love. When I heard his work with Fun, I knew the voice and immediately bought everything I could find from them. Both of their albums were played on repeat for months, and I just stopped listening to anything else. This album from Nate has been nothing less.

This man is so incredibly talented vocally and lyrically. His falsetto always amazes me, and his voice always sends chills down my back. His music is so different from anyone else's in this theatrical and emotional manner that I will never grow tired of. Every song, every word is sung with this power that reaches the deepest parts of my heart and soul. His voice is so unique and has these little imperfections, details really that make it that much better to listen to.

I love that he ties certain songs back to other songs that he has written. I love that the music makes me smile while listening, but my heart just wants to cry out. I remember hearing him say that he was excited to roll out some songs that provided this hopefulness instead of the sad songs he has written in the past. This album definitely shows his romanticism. While I still can hear the sadness, there is hope.

Lyrically speaking, "Grand Romantic" is definitely the song that resonates with me. But, "It Only Gets Much Worse" is the song that I can't stop thinking about and could play over and over and over.


"All your love may fade away
All you'll become may all go to waste
So I can't stand to hear you say it hurts
When it only gets much worse
It only gets much worse"

I guess I just think about how much I go through with my depression, how much I know it can hurt and how it always feels like it will always continue down the spiral of pain and bitterness. Even with such lyrics, singing them still brings hope in some strange way.


All in all, I love this album. I am impressed with his ability to do all that he does. He is someone I look to for inspiration in my own music and vocals. Nate Ruess is someone that I want to tell everyone about, but I still want to keep him all to myself. He truly never ceases to amaze me. Check out his album, Grand Romantic, and please tell me what you think! Nate Ruess' Website

Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick

When I saw posts about the new liquid lipsticks from Anastasia Beverly Hills, I have to say, I was a little skeptical about how "fantastic" they would really be. Then, I saw everyone going crazy for them. I decided to wait to get them. My favorite liquid lipsticks are Kat Von D's and some of the Melted line from Too Faced, and I just couldn't bring myself to order the colors that I wanted to try from Anastasia. Fast forward a few months later, I planned my weekend vacation to California. I knew that I would absolutely have to go to the physical store to get a few of these lipsticks to try. So, first thing I did after the hotel was drive over to the store, sat there for about 10 minutes, swatching all of the colors on the back of my hand. I felt like I was at work or something with how much product was on my hand.

The colors above are the original colors that came out, and since then, there have been two new colors that were released (Craft and Unicorn). I wish I would have grabbed Craft because it is a gorgeous purple-ish pink color that I don't really have in my abyss of lip colors. However, I probably would never wear it. I am almost always wearing red. I LOVE my red lipsticks. So, I ended up buying American Doll, Potion, and Pure Hollywood. I really want Heathers, but it was out of stock. I almost bought Bloodline, but I thought why not do something a little different for my reds. I wore them each throughout my vacation.

Not only do I absolutely love all the colors that I purchased, but I absolutely LOVE the formula. They are not at all drying on the lips, and the colors wear a really good amount of time. I still feel like the Kat Von D ones last longer throughout the day, but my lips don't feel at all dry and chapped like they sometimes do with the Kat Von D ones. I really just need to get a good lip conditioner to wear while I sleep with how much lipstick I wear.

American Doll is such a different red for me. Outlaw from Kat Von D has always been my go to, which is similar to Bloodline from ABH. I still want to order Bloodline, but I will have to wait until all the colors I want are back in stock. It seems when looking online, they are constantly out of stock of a ton of colors. Proving even more that these lipsticks are just as good as everyone says. I did not realize that you could get them at Macy's as well, so I may just go ahead and order from them instead. Vamp is the other color that I really loved. There are just TOO many fabulous colors.

I love that Potion is such a dark color that has this gorgeous purple tint to it. I feel like Too Faced were going for that with Villain in the Melted line, and don't get me wrong, I love my Melted colors, but Potion is exactly the color I want when it comes to going almost black. I always get compliments when I wear Villain, but I feel like that is one of the colors that I have to keep reapplying throughout the day where I can apply Velvet once and be good all day long.

Then, there is Pure Hollywood. I absolutely love this color. I have never been a fan of nudes for lips. Agatha from KVD is a favorite, but it does not stay on like the liquid lipsticks do. Pure Hollywood is what I have been going for on a daily basis since purchasing. Part of it is that I really want to find a better lip liner for American Doll. The other part is that I actually really like how simple it is. However, with all nude lips, the color just does not stay on me all day like other colors do. I don't know why, but that is just how it is with all nude colors.


Is it fair to say that I have a new favorite brand for liquid lipsticks? ....Not quite. I love Kat Von D and her line too much to say that much for the Anastasia colors. However, I do love these lipsticks. I would rather sacrifice a little bit of drying on the lips for as long wear as I can possibly get. But, I will definitely be buying more as soon as possible. Just keep an eye out next month for the new colors launching with Kat Von D. I will probably go product crazy and just buy them all. =D