Month: August 2014
Monsters Ball
Remember when I said “Don’t try all the colors!” Don’t listen to me – I was clearly wrong.
This is a combination of some of the polishes I got in my last Ulta order. I totally feel like Lady Gaga…without the pointy witch nails, of course. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and then 2 coats of Pixel “The Midas Touch” on all my nails. The polish was much sheerer than I expected, but dried quickly – leaving only 2 or 3 bubbles. I’ve never heard of Pixel Cosmetics before, but a quick Google told me that it is a newish line, exclusive to Ulta and similar to Prestige or Essence. I used China Glaze “Boo-gie Down” on my pointer and middle. No fishing glitter out of the bottle – it went on perfectly right out of the bottle. I want to put this polish over EVERYTHING to see how it looks. My pinky got China Glaze “Bat Your Eyes”. Again, this is a beautiful polish – black with different sizes of gold glitter. Both China Glaze polishes are from the Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball Collection. I’m excited to see what Halloween polishes China Glaze releases this year – for me…every day is Halloween!
Ulta Makes Me So Happy
I can’t pass up a gift with purchase…I’ll tell myself that it’s virtually the same as the last gift with purchase, but it does no good.
Ulta’s purchase requirements are go strange – $19.50 of Ulta products to get the gift. I got Ulta Oil-Free Makeup Remover, Ulta Precision Liquid Liner in “Plum” (I know, weird), and Ulta Double Duty Lipstain & Blam in “Romance”. The gift is a makeup bag filled with the usual stuff – but DIFFERENT usual stuff. I am most excited to try the Ulta Super Stretch Fiber Mascara and the eye shadow topper…which was unfortunately shattered during shipping…fuck.
I also got the two 97 cent polishes I saw on Nouveau Cheap – China Glaze Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball “Bat My Eyes” and “Boo-gie Down”.
Since I used my $3.50 off coupon, I had to find one more thing to qualify for $25 free shipping. I picked Pixel Lip Tint in “Addictive”, which also came with the choice of a free nail polish – I chose Pixel “The Midas Touch”.
Finally…my free samples. I picked the Variety Sampler again, because I am scared of the perfume samples. I got three little foil packets – Smashbox Photo Finish More Than Primer Blemish Control Salicyclic Acid Acne Treatment, The Body Shop Nutriganics “Drops of Youth” and Dermelect Cosmecuticals Timeless Anti-Aging Daily Hand Treatment. Meh.
The most exciting thing in the box was the new Ulta Catalog – for the 21 Days of Beauty that starts 9/7! So many good deals! Ulta makes me so happy…
Influenster Virtual Vox – Ice Cream Stock-Up
So…I joined Influenster. Influenster is a site that links to your Social Media accounts. You can participate in campaigns to trial products and programs, in addition to giving opinions on products, services and entertainment on their website. Sometimes, you have a chance to get free stuff. They even do whole boxes of free stuff. I figured I could give it a spin to try it out…
The first thing I qualified for was the Ice Cream Stock-up Virtual Vox. Influenster sent me a coupon for a free box of ice cream from Target – score! I was a bit disappointed that the coupon I got was for Fruttare and not Magnum or Klondike. Luckily, Target was having a “Buy 3, Get 1 Free” sale…
You know that commercial where Rachel Bilson is stuck in a traffic jam, but then she goes berserk and carjacks an 18 wheeler full of ice cream bars? Totally realistic, because Magnum is that fucking good. I only buy them when they’re on sale AND I have a coupon – even at $3.49 each on sale, that’s pretty pricey when there are only 3 in a box.
Obviously, I bought 3 boxes of Magnum and used my free Fruttare coupon, so really – I got 2 free! Fruttare is actually pretty good. I got Coconut & Milk – there were chunks of real coconut in it!
There’s No Such Thing as a Cheap Trip to Target
After I got home from work last night, my husband informed me that I forgot to buy cat food. I offered to run to Target real quick – it will just take a few minutes to run in, grab it and get home for dinner. Yeah, right.
I can’t walk into Target for less than $100 – it’s just not possible. I only intended to grab a new “dip-it”, but then I decided to also grab the Sally Hansen “Kwik Off” to compare – it was even cheaper than the Target brand! Then I saw the Q-Tips…for anyone else, 750 Q-Tips would last 2 years, but that’s about 3 months worth for me. (Lots of eyeliner mishaps). Plus, it came with a St. Ives “Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange” travel scrub – my new favorite! Then I saw that I could get a $5 Target gift card for buying 2 Olay products, so I picked up another Olay Night Firming Cream (my go-to product when I’m not using a sample size from one of my subscriptions) and decided to try Olay’s Tone Correcting Moisturizer CC Cream. NADS facial wax strips…because…well, you know why. My last beauty purchase was a new tray to store all my single eye shadows.
Add to that…laundry detergent, fabric softener, boxer briefs for my son, My Little Pony socks for my daughter (I got berated because the pack didn’t include Apple Jack, so obviously, I’m a horrible mom) and a bunch of other miscellaneous crap. I also cashed in an Influenster ice cream coupon…but I’ll cover that in an upcoming post.
At least I remembered to get cat food. So yeah, there’s no such thing as a cheap – or a quick – trip to Target.
Taco Cabana Bathroom
Milani “Sugar High” reminds me of the fancy mosaic tile you sometimes see in the bathroom of a Mexican Restaurant. It’s buttercup yellow, peachy pink, baby blue and dark blue glitter in a clear base. I learned today (via Googling) that the style is really called “Talavera” – all this time, I’ve been calling it “Taco Cabana Bathroom”. I learn something new everyday!
After Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I used one coat of Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” to mask the yellow in my nail tips (it’s almost gone – yay!) It took a good three coats of “Sugar High” to match the concentration of glitter in the bottle. There a nice shine to it and it dried super fast, so I didn’t even bother with a top coat. Now I must have the whole Milani “Sugar” Collection…
Product Review – They’re Real Push-up Liner
The sole reason I picked The Everygirl box for this month’s Birchbox was so I could get my hands on a sample of Benefit “They’re Real” Push-up Liner. I have a love/hate relationship with eyeliner and I’m still searching for “The One”. I’ve tried all kinds of pencils, liquids, markers and gels and I haven’t found the perfect eyeliner yet.
During my teens and 20s, I wore a fair amount of liquid eyeliner, often giving Robert Smith and Siouxsie Sioux a run for their money. I usually used the cheap stuff – like wet ‘n wild – but it served its purpose. I think I still have a bottle of e.l.f. liquid eyeliner stashed somewhere. I’ve had occasional good results with Julep’s Gel eyeliner and Laura Geller Baked Shadows, but not consistently good results. I’m looking for something that doesn’t require a game of eyeliner chicken and Q-tip cleanup.
How good are your plumbing skills? Are you skilled with a putty knife, able to spread a thin, straight line of caulk like a butt-crack-bearing pro? Or are you like me, smearing caulk everywhere, adding more layers to try to get a straight line and then suddenly…you realize that the tube is empty and the bathroom is only half done.
That’s how I felt the first time I used Benefit “They’re Real” Push-up Liner. The applicator is like a tiny putty knife and the gel eye liner squirts out of the tip. You smear it on your eyelid and attempt to smear it into a straight line. That being said, once I figured it out, it wasn’t hard to get a thin layer, but getting both eyes to match was – again – a game of eyeliner chicken. I ended up applying twice as thick a line as I wanted – I actually went to the grocery store like this – I looked like a Raccoon Hooker.
That being said, this is a pretty decent eyeliner. It lives up to the claims of being “lash-hugging” – which is the number one complaint I have with some eyeliners…visible skin around my eyelashes. I feel like I could master it with practice, although I feel more comfortable using a brush with gel eyeliner. I don’t feel like “They’re Real” Push-up Liner is worth $24, but I would be more likely to purchase a product like this if it was half the price. Come on, knock-offs!
Balinese Bay
Revlon “Balinese Bay” looks like that fancy speckled garage floor paint or maybe some crazy 50s linoleum that you’d find in a retro diner. Or maybe some wild colored glass in the bottom of an expensive fish tank. It’s a mix of black, silver, lavender and red glitter in a matte lavender base. It’s slightly pebbled…because it’s literally a shit-ton of glitter.
“Balinese Bay” is from Revlon’s Spring 2014 Haute Rocks Collection. Now I’ve got to search for them all – they’re spectacular. I got full coverage in just two coats. Of course I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, but I didn’t use a top coat – that would ruin the whole point of matte?
Sunday Shopping
Lily and I usually go shopping on Saturday, but since my husband and son went to see Guardians of the Galaxy this morning, I figured why not do some shopping that doesn’t involve school supplies.
I struck out at Ulta. They were out of Zoya Remove+. I was also thinking about getting Michael Kors “Glam Jasmine” now that it’s back…but then I smelled it and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I did. That’s ok – I placed an amazing order online on Friday, so I have that to look forward to.
I fared much better at Bath & Body Works. I had a 20% off coupon, plus a free travel size. I got 2 three wick candles at 2/$22 – “Wasabi Apple” & “Turquoise Waters”. I got 11 hand soaps – 6/$24, plus “Sweet Clementine” on special for $3. I’m not going to go through all the scents I got, but I am really excited about “Brown Sugar & Carrot” – that’s just WEIRD. My total was $49.36, so I went ahead and used the $50 debit card I got from Acuvue for a contacts rebate. I know I threw away 64 cents…sigh.
HEB is becoming my favorite place to find beauty deals. They had $2 off Revlon coupons again AND $2 off Milani. Lily is a bad influence on me. I was trying to decide between 2 Revlon Quick Dry Top Coats – “Hearts of Gold FX” and “Celestial FX” – she asked why I couldn’t I just get both? So I did. I also picked up “Balinese Bay” from Revlon’s Limited Edition Haute Rocks Collection of pebbled polish. I’ve been wanting to try one.
I’ve been eyeing Milani “Sugar High” for a while, so I grabbed it…the multicolored glitter will look great over “Glass Pink”. I also decided to try out one of the Milani Baked Marble Shadows I’ve been hearing about. If they’re anything like Laura Geller Baked Shadows, I’ll love it. I picked “Green Fortune”, which I’m not exactly sure how I’ll wear – it’s green, pink and copper!
My house smells great, my hands smell great, the kids start school tomorrow and I have new polish and makeup to play with. Life is good!
Girly Nails
Before you even say it…I know. This is girly…WAY girly – like little girly. My fingernails look like a Hello Kitty Valentine – but I like it.
Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” may be my new favorite light pink. It’s like the pink version of “Cinderella”. “Glass Pink” is sheer, but it masks my stained nails.
Sinful Colors “Decadent” may be my new favorite red glitter. I don’t say that lightly – I have at least a dozen different red glitters. I have an idea…I need to have a GLITTER-OFF! Red glitters fight to the death!
Again, I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat – they work well with most polishes and don’t seem to cause bubbles or curtaining…
Click Your Heels
When I first heard about Julep “Martina” – Ruby for July, my first though was Martina Navratilova. That makes no sense at all, does it? “Martina” is actually named for Martina McBride…again, I am drawing a blank.
“Martina” is even more Ruby Slippers-like than Julep “Ruby Slippers” – how is that even possible? It’s a deep ruby glitter – almost matte. It’s very similar to Zoya “Chyna” – but without the texture.
Like I did with Julep “Claudia”, I started with Sally Hansen Diamond Shine and did two coats – no top coat. Next time I’ll try a top coat, because it wasn’t shiny at all.
It’s time to cut my nails – after less than 12 hours, the tips are already starting to chip. The tips of my nails have peeled too much and nothing will stick. I guess I know what I’m doing tonight…