June Ipsy Bag – Pretty in Paradise
Ipsy came first this month…
June’s theme is “Pretty in Paradise”. This month’s bag is OUTSTANDING. It’s a a pretty Hawaiian pineapple design, made out of windbreaker material and designed by Rebecca Minkoff. (I’d never heard of her before this.)
Inside this month’s bag: Be A Bombshell “Lash Out Mascara”, Marc Anthony “Dream Waves Beach Spray” (At first I thought it was the guy who used to be married to J-Lo, but then Google helped me figure out that it is a Salon chain in Canada. DOH.), NYX Butter Gloss in “Crème Brulee”, OFRA Universal Eyebrow Pencil and Realtree for Her, which is the single most horrifying fragrance that I have ever tried. I accidentally got some on my hand and I couldn’t get the smell off after washing my hands with AntiBacterial Soap three times. It smells exactly how you would imagine a woman dressed in head-to-toe pink camouflage would smell – like a deer in heat. BURN IT WITH FIRE.
The most exciting thing in my bubble mailer, was my Ipsy points reward – NYX “Bronze Smoky Look Kit”. It’s just a little compact with 9 eye shadows and 2 lip glosses, but I love bronzes and browns right now. Retail price is $12, so not bad for free!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Violet Flicker
After 3 Juleps in a row, I was ready for some cheap thrills.
Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis “Violet Flicker” is a sheer glitter/shimmer. The base is a deep violet, but there is an undercurrent of green, with flashes of fuchsia and blue glitter. This is 2 coats with no base coat. There are still a few sheer spots – I really could have used 3 coats.
It dried amazingly fast and dried with no defects or bubbles. It’s a perfect bedtime polish. My only complaint is the super short brush – it was a total pain in the ass to use. even so, I may try to hunt down some more Cover Girl coupons to get more colors for 99 cents…
Semi Annual Sale: Round 2
Yeah, I totally went back today. My BFF and I purposely ate at the Panera near our office because there’s a B&BW in the same shopping center.
While my BFF filled up a sack with “Carried Away”, I actually branched out and picked up some 50% off 3 wick candles – “Black Sands”, an unforgettable blend of ocean mist and exotic amber finished with creamy cedarwood and “Grapefruit Pomelo”, a blend of tart grapefruit, sweet pomelo and juicy orange. (What is a pomelo?) Since these are usually on sale for 2/$22, I paid 25 cents more each. I also picked up 5/$10 Scent Portables for my car – there are only 4 in the picture, because I immediately popped a “Spring” into my car in the parking lot. I also picked up 2 75% off shower gels – “Morocco Orchid & Pink Amber” and “London Tulips and Raspberry Tea”. Last, I grabbed a “Lemon Chiffon Tart” AntiBac – even though it was $3, instead of $2.50 like yesterday.
I stopped my total at just above $40, so I could use another coupon…the sale runs through the first week of July, so you know I’ll be back…
AntiBac is Back
It’s that time again…Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale.
Just as I expected, B&BW pulled out the old discontinued Antibacterial Soaps for the sale at $2.50 each. I controlled myself and only bought 4…mostly because I know I’m going back and didn’t want to go far over $40, so I could use another coupon later. I snagged “Dancing Waters”, “Peach Bellini”, “Aloha Orchid” and “Berry Sangria”.
They also had discontinued shower gels and lotions for $3, so I got 2 “Black Raspberry Vanilla” Shower Gels. The shower gel is strangely more vividly purple than usual – I wonder what that means??? I also got a bath scrubby and a Strawberry lip balm – both 50% off.
This may look like a lame haul, but I also got a bunch of gifts…and I cannot exactly share those, can I?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but several scents, including “Carried Away” and “Be Enchanted” were 50% off…which is a sure indicator of impending discontinuation. My BFF was devastated when I shared the news with her…she is already making plans to order in bulk…
You Shop with Me, You Shop Hard
If my husband is crazy enough to go to the grocery store with me, then it’s his own fault that he has to stand there in the makeup aisle, while I decide which polish I want.
This is Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis “Violet Flicker”. (Why such a long name for a line of nail polish?) It was a movie tie-in with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which I have not seen and will probably never see. But the colors are awesome and it was on sale for $1.99. Of course, I had a $1 off coupon, so 99 cents is a pretty good deal, even if it is the smallest polish I have ever bought. I might be able to paint my nails with it 3-4 times, tops.
I’m thinking that this will be a good polish for my toes…
Dragonfly
If Julep “Jennine” is a blue butterfly, then Julep “Harlow” is a golden dragonfly with a hint of green iridescence.
I started with Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, and then added 2 coats of “Harlow”. This may be a one coat polish. It was stunningly smooth when I went to sleep last night, but this morning the finish was riddled with tiny bubbles. So annoying!
Mother Daughter Salon Day
I don’t normally get pedicures – I’ve had maybe 2-3 in my entire life. The last time I got a pedicure, Lily was with me, too – because I was 8 months pregnant with her. But when my BFF suggested a salon day with her & her daughter and Lily & I, I jumped at the chance to have someone else scrape the dead skin off my feet.
My BFF and her daughter regularly get their nails done. I tried it once in high school and it was a horrifying experience. I slammed my thumb in a door during PE and the damn thing cracked in half, horizontally across my thumb. Never again.
I played it safe and chose OPI “You Only Live Twice” from the 2012 Skyfall Collection. It is an insane magenta/fuchsia shimmer. Lily surprised me and chose Color Club “Almost Famous” – bright yellow. The lady painting them asked if she wanted a design on her toes and of course, she picked the one thing the poor lady couldn’t do – a heart. She tried several times, but she kept having to repaint and start over. Eventually, another lady came over and did it and she had a hard time, too! NOTE TO SELF: Never tried to freehand paint a heart on a 6 year old’s toe.
My feet are as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Lily was spoiled rotten, getting to sit in a massage chair for an hour and get her toes done. We had a wonderful day.
Invisible Wiener
I hate posing my hand like this, without polishes. It looks like I am holding an invisible wiener…or sausage…or um, frankfurter…cylindrical meat product? There is just no good way to say it.
On top of Julep “Natalia”, I tried 5 different glitters to see which one looks the best – I cannot decide! They all look awesome!
Thumb – Julep “Oscar” – Multi-dimensional gold glitter
Index – essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” – Shattered pink diamond glitz lacquer
Middle – Julep “Jane” – Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter
Ring – essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones” – Disco mirror ball chaos
Pinky – Julep “Antonia” – Light pink holographic diamond glitter top coat
My 1st Birchbox Purchase
Don’t you love it when you get home and there is a stack of shipments? I came home to 3 today…some Victoria’s Secret Yoga Pants, some Julep polishes and a Birchbox order!
My Birchbox points had been adding up and I had $20 in credit, so after hemming and hawing for 3 days, I ordered the Cynthia Rowley Beauty Collection No. 2. It came with Cynthia Rowley’s Eye Shadow Palette – No. 2, Mini Creamy Lip Stain in “Valentine” and Mini Eyeliner in Black, all in a Neoprene Confetti Bag. List price was $35, but I got an email with a code for 20% off of my first purchase. With $20 in Birchbox points, my total was $8 – what a steal! I was supposed to get 2 free samples, but for some reason, I only got one…more StriVectin Night Cream with Retinol. That shit WORKS. In another 10 years, I’m really gonna need it…
Even though I’m excited to try out my Cynthia goodies, it’s bittersweet. I wish I had waited a few days to use my points…I want that Modern Mermaid box in the WORST way. I need more points! Click my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join!
Priscilla & Kathy
I am loving Julep’s Birthstone Collection. They’re like Pokémon – gotta catch em all.
“Priscilla” – Emerald for May is a full-coverage Emerald glitter. It’s named for Priscilla Presley. She hardly stacks up to Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King, but they’ve got to be running out of names?
“Kathy” – Pearl for June is a pearl shimmer. It reminds me of mother-of-pearl, more than a regular pearl. It’s named for Kathy Bates, possibly the best thing about this past season of American Horror Story. I picked up 2 – one for me and one for my mother-in-law, also a “Kathy”.
I had already used my “BOGO” code, so I used “$10 off $30”.