Month: June 2020
On the Catwalk
I love a good red nail polish and Color Club “Catwalk” does not disappoint.
“Catwalk” is from this month’s ipsy bag. I am shook – it is a the perfect Morticia Addams shade of red.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. The polish is shiny on its own, but a glossy top coat makes it POP.
“Catwalk” was a long lasting polish, too – it lasted on my nails nearly a week with only slight edge wear. I still have it on my toes.
June 2020 Ipsy Bag – Make Waves
Ooooh, now this is a nice ipsy bag.
For this month’s product choice, I decided to go out of character and pick Sugar Cosmetics Matte as Hell Lip Crayon in “Scarlett O’Hara”. I admit that I was drawn to the name, not because I like Gone with Wind – I don’t care for it – but because my son’s name would’ve been Scarlett Uhura if he was a girl. Not only is is a pretty, neutral toned red…but it has staying power! I was shocked that it last all day and didn’t transfer much. It was a really good pick.
Also in this month’s bag: Color Club “Catwalk” (I love trampy red nail polish); Malin+Goetz Grapefruit Cleanser (I got this in a Birchbox 5 years ago – I love the scent); Eddie Funkhouser Domed Blending Brush (who is Eddie Funkhouser?); and Pureheals Ginseng Berry 80 Overnight Mask (it’s not really a mask, just a light moisturizer).
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $12/month. If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link. I am starting to get tempted to subscribe to the yearly plan…
Pride Skittles
June is Pride Month, so how about Pride Skittle Nails?
Technically, I guess these aren’t Skittles – I blended the colors on my nails instead of using one color per nail. I pulled out the Sinful Colors Pride Collection and got to work.
I am terribly boring and blended the colors in ROY G BIV order, starting with red “Tainted Love”, orange “Tight Squeeze”, yellow “Natural Blonde”, green “Filthy Rich”, blue “Love is Love”, and purple “Drag Queen”. I layered two coats of each over Glisten & Glow Base Coat. The unique finish is from topping with Sinful Colors Rubber Top Coat – it’s basically just a slightly rougher matte top coat.
The shades blended really well, except for the yellow and green. I feel like the yellow and green blended really awkwardly. My favorite blend ended up on my right thumb, the red and purple. I don’t normally take pics of my neglected left hand, especially my stunted and damaged thumb nail, but I really wanted to show the blend in this post.
Vroom, Vroom MF
I heard on the internets that Sinful Colors added two more shades to the new Quick Bliss Collection…I mean, I needed some Walmart stuff anyway…
No need to go on a scavenger hunt – my closest Walmart had both of the new shades. The red is “Speedster” and the lavender shimmer is “Vvvroom”. Both have stickers denoting that they are “Bebe’s Shade” – oh hey, more Bebe Rexha collabs.
I even paid full price for these – $2.98. That’s a far cry from my 2/$1 hauls from Dollar Tree.
Spark
Oh hot damn, this polish is FIRE.
I’ve been swimming in Sinful Colors lately, so I decided to pick a neglected polish from the back of the cabinet…I cannot believe I’ve been sleeping on Formula X “Spark”. I was expecting a sparse topper, but this is no topper – this is a full coverage glitter, baby!
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Base Coat. I used Glisten & Glow Top Coat on my first three fingers and Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on my ring finger and pinky. It will surprise no one that I like the matte look better.
Dare I start checking Tuesday Mornings to see if there are any Formula X bottles left? The one by me is NOT going out of business…
Double Dollars
I may have hit two more Dollar Trees over the last week, searching for more nail polish.
I did find two more two packs worth getting! The first one had Sinful Colors “Thera-pewter” from the “Stoned Crystal Shimmer” collection and “Bite Me”, which I feel like was from a Halloween collection. The other pack had Sinful Shine “Rule My World” and “Clay Me” from the “Stoned Crystal Shimmer” collection.
I also found a two pack of nameless wet ‘n wild polishes. I HATE nameless polishes – but I got em anyway. There was a blue shimmer and a pink and red glitter.
It’s hot as hell here in Southeast Texas, so I definitely recommend picking up a few $1 fans from Dollar Tree. I found a “Shade” fan to match my “Slay” fan.
I do NOT recommend picking up hair clips from Dollar Tree – these cheap shitty plastic clips did not hold all of my hair and they scratched my scalp. I gave them to Lily.
Do you have any hot Dollar Tree deals to share?
Smurf Queen
Remember “Smurf Pox”? THIS is what I was expecting when I got “Smurf Pox”. I really like the light blue jelly base – it looks great on my nails.
Sinful Colors “Pop Queen” is also from the 2017 Moon Metal Collection – I think I have all of them now. This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Base Coat.
I topped ALL of my nails with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat – I love the gummy bear look of a mattified sheer/jelly polish.
Sephora Favorites Hello! Beauty Icons Set
Just a month after Sephora unceremoniously killed their $10 monthly Beauty Box subscription, they release a $10 sample set. OhhhhhhKAY, I’ll bite.
Yeah, I picked up the $10 Sephora Favorites Hello! Beauty Icons Set. Honestly, I wouldn’t have bothered if I had to pay for shipping with it, but Sephora is still offering free shipping for COVID.
Why do I have so much Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb? I get samples from every service, month after month. It’s fine, I even wore it today. I’d never buy it, but it’s an okay scent if you have half a dozen samples of it.
I used the Living proof. Restore Repair Mask on my hair this morning – it smells so expensive, but didn’t make is noticeably softer.
Also in the kit: NARS Lipstick in “Toléde”; Youth to The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleaner (I’ve gotten this in a box previously – it’s good); Nudestix Nudies Matte Blush & Bronze in “Sunkissed”; and Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream (love this stuff, going to put it on before bed tonight).
Oh, and the set included 15% off coupons for full sizes of the included products. Yeah, I will never use them.
I also got regular Sephora samples: Verb Ghost Shampoo & Conditioner and Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask. Just $198 to maintain my VIB status.
FYI, the set is currently still available on Sephora’s site, so go get it here.
Berry Blue
I buy so much cheap nail polish, that sometimes I forgot what all I’ve got!
I reached WAY back in the TV cabinet and found Sally Hansen Insta Dri x Jelly Belly “Berry Blue”. I cannot believe I let this beauty sit for nearly a year without trying it! It’s a beautiful opaque blue, smooth and self leveling.
This is two coats of “Berry Blue” over Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat. I tried it glossy, using Glisten & Glow Top Coat on my first three fingers and matte, with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on my last two fingers. Hands down, I prefer the matte look – it’s that much more sophisticated…well, as sophisticated as blue nail polish can be.
Back to Back Ulta Hauls
I know I just ordered, but June 1st was Diamond Day, with a whole load of Diamond Exclusive Offers…
I shopped so long that I missed a Special Diamond Gift Bag and Nail Purchase Bag – they were both sold out by the time I placed my order – well, shit. I did still get the Makeup Revolution “Fierce Mind” Eyeshadow Palette for free with $25 makeup purchase. It’s got 4 huge pans of neutral shimmer shades that can easily be used as blush, too. The makeup I picked to get it was a mix of new products. I wanted to try Colourpop Ultra Blotted Liquid Lip ($7) in “Cypress Chill”, a bricky red. It is a matte liquid lipstick, but with a muted finish – it does appear to be blotted down and soft focus. I want more shades! I also tried the new NYX Dip Shape Go Longwear Brow Pomade in “Dark Brown” (usually $11, but all NYX was 40% off, so it was $6.60). This is similar to Julep’s Don’t Leave Your Brows at Home, but in a pomade form. If I’m gonna use a pomade, I’d prefer this all in one form, instead of the brush and pot being separate. That being said, this product did give me fuller brows, but I did have to finish them off with a slim pencil for definition. This product is not one and done.
Coincidentally, I did buy a back-up of my favorite brow pencil – the Ulta Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” ($10) – it counted as makeup towards the free eyeshadow AND towards an Ulta 4 piece gift, with $19.50 purchase. The gift contained a HUGE clear tote bag, a small palm tree patterned makeup bag, Ulta Watermelon Makeup Remover Facial Towelettes, and Ulta Watermelon Waves Juicy Gloss. Oh, the other purchase was Ulta Brush Cleaning Solid Soap ($10). I am devastated that Ulta no longer carries the Japonesque Solid Soap, but I’m holding in my tears and trying another brand.
I went all in on stocking up on skincare to get ANOTHER Skincare gift with purchase. My son has been breaking out lately, so I got him Garnier SkinActive Clean+ Blackhead Eliminating Scrub ($8.49) and Biore T-Zone Targeted Deep Cleansing Pore Strips ($9.99). I was all excited when I showed him, but he said he felt personally attacked. Rude!
For myself, I got Sagely Naturals Relief & Recovery CBD Cream ($9, but I swear it was $28 when I looked at it a few weeks ago). I’d gotten this sample a few times, and although CBD seems to be a bullshit ingredient, the tingly menthol in this moisturizer is not bullshit – it feels AMAZING on my face. I also got Freeman CBD Balance Jelly Mask + Scrub ($9.99) and Dr. Organic Rose Restoring Face Scrub ($15.99). Both are bit more pricey than I usually get, but I am a sucker for scrubs and roses.
The “Be Your Own Sunshine” Sample Bag includes Ulta Beauty Makeup Remover Facial Towelettes, Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water All-in-1 Waterproof; Clinique Pep-Start Eye Cream (more eye cream!); proactivMD Deep Cleansing Face Wash; it Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream; Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate; Peach & Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum; and Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel. That’s a lot of skincare!
The only coupon available was $3.50 off – but hey, better than nothing. I’m now $784 to Diamond Status and I have accrued $50 in points!