Month: August 2021
All Lined Up
So…after figuring out the trick to applying Color Street Nail Strips, I thought…why not try all the strips in my stash???
First up is Dashing Diva Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Nail Strips in “All Lined Up”. I believe I got these in an Allure Beauty Box last summer, but Ulta sells them for $7.99. Most of the strips are light gray, but a few of them have gold stripes or geometric shapes. There are also accent strips with a stained glass pattern of white, gold and silver, as well as clear with a gold geometric pattern. I liked the accent strips much more than the plain gray strips.
The Dashing Diva strips are like vinyl sticker, more like Jamberry or Mani Me than Color Street. Application was fairly easy, although the strips did not file off as easy as Color Street.
A nice as these looked the first night, the light gray strips started lifting off my nails the very next day. I did not, however, have that issue with the accent nail strips. I had not had this issue with any other brand of strips! Ugh, I would NOT recommend buying these, at least not the solid color strips.
U Got the Look
Urban Decay released their Prince Collaboration back in May…but I patiently waited for the sale that I knew would come…
I don’t need new brushes or more eyeliner…but you know I’m always down for more eye shadow. I picked up the Urban Decay Cosmetics Prince U Got the Look Palette for 50% off ($27.50, down from $55). There are just 10 shadows, which is not many for $55…but not so crazy at half the price. There’s a nice mix of neutrals and purples and the quality is on par with other Urban Decay palettes. I’ve been enjoying using it this week. There is also a Let’s Go Crazy Palette, with more purple, but Ulta is sold old. Sephora has it, but since it is just purples – as one would expect – I’m skipping it for now.
I added a few other items to my order – a full size Megababe Rosy Pits Daily Deodorant ($14) and Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Balm ($8.99).
Even with the $3.50 coupon, my order qualified for a free Platinum & Diamond exclusive 13 piece gift with Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels; Philosophy Nature in a Jar; CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser; Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (love getting this serum); Clinique High Impact Mascara; MAC Fix+; Smashbox Photo Finish Primer; It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In Product; Perricone MD High Potency Growth Factor Firming & Lifting Serum; Benefit Boi-ing Cakeless Concealer; La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum; Sunday Riley CEO Brightening Serum; and Good Molecules Clarify & Cleanse Bar. Lots of good stuff for my skin!
Just $352 to Diamond in 2021!. I also have $262 in Ulta Points saved up…dare I splurge on a Dyson Air Wrap???
Tealing Power
Sinful Colors “Tealing Power” has been kicking about my nail polish cabinet for several years…but I felt like blue fingernails, so it got lucky.
“Tealing Power” is a teal (obviously) sparkle shimmer. I don’t know what that means – I just made it up. The shimmery polish isn’t really a glitter, but there are specks of something in the polish that give it a 3-dimensional stone-like feel.
This is two coats of “Tealing Power” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
August 2021 Ipsy Glam Bag X – Halsey
Soooo…since Ipsy is my last subscription box standing, I decided to splurge and upgrade to Glam Bag X. Glam Bag X is $55/per quarter, or just an extra $43. I guess I could’ve gone with Fab Fit Fun or Boxycharm, but I’ve had such good luck with ipsy that I felt I should try Glam Bag X first.
August’s Glam Bag X was curated by Halsey. I only know a few Halsey songs, but there is one I really like, “You Should Be Sad.” It’s a top tier break-up song – one of the best I’ve ever heard. There were a lot of possibilities for inclusion in this bag and I really liked being able to pick three products.
My first product choice was Prose Hair Perfume in Corsica. It’s a light jasmine scent and I really like it. I also picked RÓEN Beauty Liquid Lip Balm in “Charlie.” It’s more of a gloss than a balm, but it’s not sticky like a gloss and it has really good staying power. My last product choice was the Slinky Stasher – yes, I actually chose yet another makeup bag. I don’t remember what my other choices were, but they must have been lame for me to choose another makeup bag.
The star of the box is the Ä€THR Beauty Moonlight Crystal Palette – I believe everyone got this one. It’s full of beautiful, vibrant purples and greens. I’ve been using it nonstop since I got it. The shadows are high quality and blend like butter. The close runner up was Volition Beauty Yaupon Tea Glow-Awakening Moisturizer – it’s very similar to my beloved Fresh Rose in texture.
Also in the bag: About-Face Light Lock Highlight Fluid in “Fight or Flight” (I haven’t sampled – who needs highlighters during a hot Texas summer?); Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Volume, Lift & Curl Mascara in “Cuz I’m Black” (this is a GREAT mascara – I’ve been using it daily); and Herbivore Botanicals Emerald Deep Moisture Glow Oil (I tried this before bed and my face stuck to my pillow – no thanks).
So far, I am very pleased with Glam Bag X – this is definitely worth $55, although I am skeptical that it is worth the $270 ipsy says it is.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $12/month and Glam Bag X for an extra $43/quarterly. If you’d like to try Ipsy –  click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Hiss and Make Up
Thanks to a one-on-one training session from my sister-in-law Becca, I am now an expert at apply Color Street Nail Strips.
First off, I learned that I was putting the strips on upside down – d’oh! No wonder my Flamingos were upside down! The other big difference was letting the strips cure. I was trying to file those suckers down immediately…but they need 20 minutes or so to cure before filing. This was the biggest difference in my application – I just needed a little patience.
This set is called “Hiss and Make Up”. I want to try reproducing it with a holographic polish and one of my crackle top coats.
When applied correctly, these strips DO last a very long time – I wore these for 10 whole days and they would’ve lasted longer, if not for my nail growth.
I’ve collected quite a collection of nail strips over the years – not just Color Street and Jamberry, but all kinds of brands. I’m going to start using them more, now that I’m an expert.
If you are interested in trying Color Street Nail Polish Strips , click here to visit Becca’s Store Front!
Crave the Chaos
Essie has launched a new line of 8 Free, Quick Dry Nail called expressie. I got a sample of essie expressie “Crave the Chaos” in the “Pampered Nails” Target Beauty Capsule. At first glance, “Crave the Chaos” seems to be a plain old pink polish…but it not a plain girly pink – it’s not exactly a masculine pink. Maybe mature is the word I am looking for?
This is two coats of “Crave the Chaos” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. Even though it’s supposedly a quick dry formula, I didn’t skip the top coats. My first four nails got Glisten & Glow Top Coat, while my pinkies got Glisten & Glow. I almost like it better matte. Almost.
Essie Expressie polishes are normally $9, so I was glad to get this one as part of that $14.99 box.
Flamingoals
A few months ago, I bought several more sets of Color Street Nail Polish Strips. I was planning to use these strips as a long lasting vacation mani – I *thought* I was going on a little extended weekend vacation to New Orleans last week, but COVID-19 kicked our plans in the ass. Oh well, I did my nails anyway.
This is Color Street “Flamingoals”. I am still kind of terrible at applying these – I keep wrinkling the tips. And why is the Flamingo upside-down??? I don’t care, I have Flamingo nails!
If you are interested in trying Color Street Nail Polish Strips , click here to visit Becca’s Store Front!
July 2021 Ipsy Bag – Stay Golden
I got an email today that August’s glam bag X shipped, so I better get on July! (Yes, I upgraded to Glam Bag X – more on that later.)
July’s bag design seemed plain and boring – until the zipper pull caught my eyes – it’s a gorgeous gold sun, with a vibrant blue (probably plastic) crystal.
I’ll be honest – I’ve only had a chance to try one of the products in this month’s bag and it was my product choice this month – Purlisse Beauty WATERMELON + CHARCOAL Purifying Cleanser. I really do enjoy Purlisse products – maybe I’ll actually buy some some day.
Also in this month’s “Stay Golden” bag: Dermedicine Advanced Skincare Retinol Detox High Potency Mask; OUAI Scalp & Body Scrub; Realher Dreams So Big Eyeshadow Duo in “Imagine” & “Ambition”; and Tarte Sea Quench Hydrating Primer.
Not a bad little bag this month…
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.