Month: August 2015
Pewtery Black
Is it me, or do all blacks look the same?
Pick your jaw up off the floor…I’m talking about NAIL POLISH. Although you can’t tell from the picture, Zoya “Anais” is not your average black. It has a pewter shimmer to it that is wholly unique. A tiny bit of that glimmer is evident on the bottle. This is just two coats of “Anais” with Zoya Anchor and “HK Girl”. (I would have used Zoya Armor, but it was 30 minutes before bedtime and I needed my nails dry immediately.)
I love the way black polish looks against my skin, but it’s so hard to apply neatly – every flaw is immensely visible. And normal edge wear appears abnormally shitty. Even so, I keep doing it.
Worth a Pretty Penne
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Penne, like Penne Pasta – oh OPI, I just can’t get enough of your stupid, puntastic polish names.
This is OPI “Worth a Pretty Penne” from The Venice Collection – I got it in this month’s Birchbox. I’ve been obsessing over Rose Gold lately (someday, those Rose Gold Tieks will be mine) – so I was happy to get this color.
After Orly Bonder, I did two clean coats of “Worth a Pretty Penne”. It went on smooth, with no bubbles after the second coat. If you look closely at the polish, you’ll notice that it’s not solid rose gold, but a fine mix of gold and copper pigments. I topped it with “HK Girl” – gotta have my quick dry shine. I have a love/hate relationship with those little sample bottles. They’re hard to hold and manipulate, but the smaller brush is perfect for painting the edges of your nails without getting polish all over your fingernails. I almost prefer them to full size!
I LOVE Orange
I thought I hated the color orange, but Julep “Laure” showed me the light and the way. I LOVE orange. “Laure” is a blazing red-orange stardust polish – it just comes alive on your fingertips. It’s somewhat similar to “Jacqueline” – but a little more orange than red.
This is two coats of “Laure” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. No top coat, because that would defeat the purpose of the stardust finish.
Orange! Orange! Orange!
August Ipsy Bag – Prep School
School started up yesterday, so Ipsy’s August theme is fitting – “Prep School”. (Ugh, I was SO not a prep – give me black eyeliner or give me death.)
Inside this month’s cute houndstooth bag: La Fresh Eco-Beauty Good Night. Night Cream; Skone Cosmetics Luxe Doubler Eye/Lip Pencil in “Wine” (how has no one ever though of this before???); Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Ginseng + Biotin Volumizer; Noyah Natural Lipstick in “Desert Rose”; and Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in “Elegantly Wasted” (eh, ok).
I also finally got my j. cat Beauty Hydrating Lip Stain – points!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Purple Pride
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Sinful Colors “Pride” has to be the most jam-packed glitter that I’ve ever come across. It’s a rainbow of glitters of all different sizes. This is just one coat of “Pride” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of OPI Sheer Tints “Don’t Violet Me Down” – I wanted a color underneath the glitter for a little pop. I feel like 2 coats of “Pride” would have been 100% full coverage.
“Pride” was a fairly smooth glitter, but I used “HK Girl” to protect it. This has to be one of the longest lasting manicures I’ve had – I did it…Wednesday night? It’s Sunday and it still looks perfect, except for a few spots on my right index finger. That being said, I’m not looking forward to taking it off – I’ll probably need a fucking jackhammer.
Target Beauty Box – August 2015
…and another Target Beauty Box – are we going to be getting these every month now? I hope so!
August’s box was more summer stuff – Hello Sunshine! Inside were: CoverGirl Super Sizer Mascara by Lashblast in “Very Black”; Fekkai Pre-Soleil Hair Mist (sounds like suntan lotion for my hair – I’m in!); Clairol Hair Food Moisturizing Mask (I got this in another Target Box – it smelled quite nice and I used it up a few months ago); Olay Active Botanicals Moisturizing Toner & Moisturizing Day Lotion (love that Olay); and Crest 3D Whitestrips 1hr Express (Sure, why not?).
As always, I got an extra 5% off with my Red Card and a $3 off $15 coupon was included. Fingers crossed for a new box next month!
Datsun 210
Nancoco “Orange Wonderland” reminds my of my mom’s very first new car – a 1980 Datsun 210. That little car was a big deal to her…so it was a big deal to us. She had a Gremlin before that and it was a piece of shit. Even though it was probably the cheapest car on the market at the time, it was NEW.
I was able to coax the last few drops out of my bottle of Sinful Colors Base Coat – I get to use my new one next time! Then I painted 2 coats of “Orange Wonderland” – it’s a swirly shimmer, so there were a few brush marks…and bubbles, oh the bubbles! At least with a shimmer, the bubbles aren’t too noticeable. “HK Girl” for the win.
I wish I could remember what happened to that Datsun – I’m thinking she just traded it in when she got a Sales Rep job that required a lot of driving or maybe it was because I bitched too much about having to wiggle my long legs into the backseat.
August Beauty Box 5 – Primped
Life is like Beauty Box 5 – you never know what you’re gonna get.
August’s theme is “Primped” – and it is an odd, but cool grab bag of products: Donnamax Printed Nail File with Case (very cute – it says, “hey did you just hashtag me?”); Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eyeliner Pen in “Plum”; HASK Beauty Monoi Coconut Oil Nourishing Deep Conditioner (to match the shampoo/conditioner and oil I’ve recently received?); Jerome Alexander Hot Stuff Go Pop Compact (a bright yellow compact with 3 shadows – in colors I would actually use – golds and browns, 3 glosses + applicators); and Pur~lisse Pur~Moist Hydra-Balance Moisturizer.
Good stuff!
Do You Like Fishsticks?
I LOVE fishsticks. But that’s a story for another time.
Sally Hansen Pearl Crush “Rainbow Fish” is an all around frustrating polish. It was thickish and goopy out on the brush, but I had a hard time building the color on my nail. I waned it to be as blue as the polish in the bottle, but I was only able to get a bluey opal color. (This is two thick coats.) The shimmer was unforgiving of any polish mistakes and the opalescent glitters gravitated towards the edges of my nails. The base coat – Sally Hansen Diamond Shine – might have been too smooth. Luckily, “HK Girl” hid my worst flubs.
Once on my nails, it was really frustrating to get a good pic. I literally took 50 or so pictures before I just said, “Fuck it.” All my whining aside, I REALLY like the way the polish looks. It’s like fish scales and slime stuck on my fingernails after gutting a fish – but in a beautiful and not at all macabre way.
Birchbox Limited Edition – CEW Insider 2015
I loved last year’s boxes, so I snatched up this year’s CEW Insider boxes as soon as I got the email. Again, $28 for both boxes…but I had $20 in Birchbox points, so I got all this for $8. And since I’m now a Birchbox Ace, free shipping!
The Prestige Headliners Box has these fancy products: Benefit They’re Real! Push-Up Liner (time for a friendly game of eye liner chicken); COOLA SPF 50 Sport in “Mango” (this stuff ROCKS – waterproof protection with NO breakouts); Fekkai Hair Fragrance Mist – “Creme Vanillee” (actually smells good – like Blue Bell Natural Vanilla Bean – craving it so bad now, but I can’t have it); GlamGlow ThirstyMus Hydrating Treatment with a bonus foil pack of PowerMud DualCleanse Treament; Marula Pure Marula Facial Oil; and NUDESTIX Lip/Cheek Pencil in “Blush”.
The Mass Appeal Box has drugstore finds, but certainly not the cheap stuff: Burt’s Bees Lip Crayon in “Sedona Sands” (can’t tell if the color will end up nude or not); Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths; LANEIGE Water Sleeping Mask (Yes!); Olay Regenerist Luminous Dark Circle Corresting HydraSwirl Eye Cream (I still haven’t cracked the jar I got in my last Target Beauty Box); Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin’ Eyes Curves Mascara in “Black”; and Simple Skincare Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer (I am loving the new gel moisturizers).
You can still get these boxes from Birchbox – get to clickin’.