Month: January 2017
Pavement
I wasn’t joking – as soon as I saw this polish, I had to try it.
This is Pretty Woman “I Can’t Deal” from this month’s ipsy bag. It’s a medium grey cream, the color of a freshly poured parking lot – no one’s parked in it yet and there are no oil stains.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and got full coverage in just one coat. I went ahead and did two coats – just to be safe. The polish was super shiny on it’s own, but I finished with “HK Girl” – again, just to be safe. Safe from what – I do not know…but being safe seems really important to me right now.
January Ipsy Bag – Metropolis
“Metropolis” is January’s futuristic city theme. Did Superman create this beauty bag for Lois Lane?
The first product that drew my attention was the Pretty Woman Nail Polish in “I Can’t Deal” – it’s a pavement grey cream. So weird – I don’t own any polishes like this at all. Also in this month’s bag: Beaute Basics Contour Blush Brush; Trust Fund Beauty Lipgasm Lipgloss in “Blame Game” (I hope it lives up to it’s name); Naked Cosmetics Mica Pigment in “Desert Sunset #02″ (I got a similar shade in last February’s bag) and Jelly Pong Pong Lip Scrub in “Coffee + Coconut” (looking forward to seeing if this scrub rescues my abused lips).
A very odd bag, but I’ll use most of the items.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Under Cover
After Boring Pink, I needed more excitement in my life…or at least more glitter.
I’ve got to be honest – my nails are still half stained from several polishes ago – I think it was Zoya “Bobbi”. So after Sinful Colors Base Coat, I painted a single coat of Sinful Colors “Social Ladder” to even out the color of my nails. THEN comes the glitter. I painted two coats of Sinful Colors “Under Cover”, from the “Camo Glitter” Collection. It’s baby pink, baby blue and black glitter with iridescent sparkles in a clear base. There were white little skulls, but I didn’t waste time fishing – if they ended up on my nails, fine. I finished with “HK Girl”.
The thing about black glitter over a light base – it just looks like I have ants crawling on my fingers.
January Birchbox – New Year, New Perspective
I skipped the curated box and went for the sample choice this month. I chose R+Co. OBLIVION Clarifying Shampoo, which also came with a bonus foilpack of R+Co. Restorative Gel Conditioner. Ugh, my pet peeve – unequal amounts of shampoo and conditioner.
Also included n January’s “New Year, New Perspective” box: Arrow ENDURE Water-Resistant Mascara (nope – who are these people who use all this waterproof mascara?); Dermalogica Daily Superfoliant (yassss); Milk Makeup Lip + Cheek in “Perk” (I was disappointed that this wasn’t the Blur Stick – I might break down and buy it); and NUXE Moisturizer Cream Creme Fraiche de Beaute.
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Boring Pink
So…and be honest. Is Makeup Revolution “Love Etc.” a boring pink?
I guess it’s not boring exactly – yeah, it’s boring. It’s a perfectly serviceable medium pink. No sparkle – totally creamy. I guess I’ve been spoiled by the exciting Julep and Sinful Colors polishes I’ve been using lately.
I feel like the polish chipped exceptionally easily. I started with Orly Bonder, but it just didn’t seem to stick. (My Orly Bonder was almost empty and I had a hard time getting a full brush – so my application might have been lacking. I gave up and threw away the bottle when I was done.) I also finished with “HK Girl”, but I feel like the formulas did not mesh well. I got a few bubbles and it didn’t dry as quickly as it should have.
Even though I’m whining a bit, my nails still looked pretty fucking good. The girl working the pizza joint on Friday was shocked that I had done them myself – she was convinced they were salon nails.
Target Beauty Boxes – January 2016
Target started out 2017 strong with two great Beauty Boxes for January. Both are themed as “Beauty Goals”.
Beauty Box 1 (on the left) was $10 and included L’Oreal Revitalift Volume Filler Serum & Cream (sample card, boo); Nexxus Comb Thru Finishing Mist (a repeat from my Advent Calendar); ChapStick Total Hydration Sugar Scrub (I am so excited to try this – I think it will work well to remove my liquid lippies); eb5 Facial Cream; Beautiful Nutrition Lemon Clarifying Treatment (I got this in a Beauty Box 5 a while back – never tried it); Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion; AmLactin Moisturizing Body Lotion; and Revlon Kiss Balm in “Sweet Cherry”. I feel like this box was definitely worth $10.
Beauty Box 2 (on the right) was $5 and a bit smaller, but much heavier. This box included Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner (smells good); Colgate Enamel Health Whitening Toothpaste (full size!); Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo (I would’ve preferred the conditioner); Vaseline Cocoa Butter; SheaMoisture Peace Rose Oil Shampoo & Conditioner (YASSSS); Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes (I used to hate getting these and now I LOVE getting wipes – they’re great for cleaning up shadow fallout); Palmer’s Coconut Oil Body Lotion and Miss Jessie’s Quick Curls (I have no curls.) I may not use as many of the products in this box – why so much cocoa butter – but still definitely worth $5.
EACH box came with a $3.50 off $15 coupon! I saved my 5% with my Red Card. Looking forward to next month’s box(es).
Darcy
Oh Julep, you got me this time. What color is this polish?
Their website describes Julep “Darcy” as Baja Sunrise Sheer Iridescent Shimmer. I’ve never been to Baja, but I’m really interested in going if that is what the sunrises look like – blue/purple/green/gold. It’s almost like Mardi Gras on my fingers! Inside, it looked more cloudy, but in direct sun, so many colors bounced off my nails.
This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. Like “Pacita”, I was able to get almost full coverage in two coats.
Whiteout…with Glitter in it
Look at this polish. Look closer. NO, closer.
Put your face up to the screen. Do you see that? No, it’s not whiteout with glitter in it. It might look white, but it is a pale purple with gold shimmer. This is beyond pastel – there’s the slightest bit of tint.
This is another one of those Kylie polishes – Sinful Colors “North Star” – from the “Trend Matters” Collection. I am inexplicably drawn to these matte polishes. The Sinful Colors matte polish formula is so good. It is the perfect consistency – not too thick and not too thin. Perfect, full coverage in just two coats. It sticks like glue to Sinful Colors Base Coat – I feel like I get a really long wear out of it.
I could have done a better job around the cuticle. Will I ever get better at dealing with my goddamn cuticles?
Allure Beauty Thrills – December 2016
I never did figure out who to call to change my address, so I had to wait for USPS to forward the box to me…and it wasn’t free – it cost me another $15.90 to get this last box.
The first thing I noticed is that this last box was TINY – about half the size of previous boxes. What the fuck, Allure? The boxes have gotten more expensive, but have less stuff. And the stuff is mostly weird brands I’ve never heard of.
Inside the TINY box: Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Clean & Fresh Battery-Operated Spinbrush (No complaints – can always use a back-up); Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Clean & Fresh Toothpaste (Also will be used); Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream; ChapStick Total Hydration Moisture + Tint in “Merlot” (another good inclusion); Dessange Professional Hair Luxury Oleo Miracle Replenishing Oil (my grandmother used to call margarine “oleo” – is this hair margarine?); Glov On-The-Go (I’ve been curious about these makeup removing mitts); an Invisibobble (looks like a telephone cord you put in your hair); imPress Gel Manicure (NO – I am NOT wearing press-on nails); KISS Salon Acrylic Nude French Nails (I guess my daughter gets two sets of fake nails); Not Your Mother’s Plump for Joy Thickening Hair Lifter (nope.); Redken Triple Take 32 Hairspray; Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in “Crystal Mauve”; Rimmel London Moisture Renew Clear Lip Liner (I do not see the point); Rituals Happy Buddha Shower Foam in “Sweet Orange & Cedar” (I got this in the last box – using this sweet smelling stuff in my shower now); Simple Skincare Hydrating Cleansing Oil (I wish I wasn’t grossed out by Cleansing Oil); WEN Hair and Body Care by Chaz Dean SIXTHIRTEEN Ultra Nourishing Intensive Body Treatment (if this stuff made my body hair fall out like the shampoo allegedly does, I’d be all over it); and Unwash Bio-Cleansing Conditioner (again, skeptical of these co-washes).
What a dinky box! I won’t be blindly buying the next Allure box that comes out – I’ll be reviewing the contents closely. SO disappointed in this box!
Pacita
The anticipation of opening each month’s Julep box….even though I pick the contents each month, I manage to forget what polishes I picked in the 2 weeks or so before it arrives.
This month, the first polish that caught my eye was Julep Wonder Maven “Pacita”, Honey Ginger Sheer Iridescent Shimmer. Great – now I want Thai food. Even though it is a very sheer polish, I got fairly full coverage with two coats. I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat (my bottle is almost empty, but I have a back-up.) and topped with “HK Girl”.
The only shortcoming of the polish is that as it dried, it drew away from the edges of my nails, leaving a thin bare edge. This happened within an hour of drying, so it wasn’t normal edge wear. It didn’t look horrible, but it made my OCD flare up.
“Pacita” reminds me of Paquita, the heroine of Dead Alive. “Your mother ate my dog!”