Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Essie- Peach Daiquiri

Essie Peach Daiquiri is one of my all time favorite polishes.  It is a perfect summer polish for both manicures and pedicures.  It's currently sold out on Essie's website but is still available at Amazon as well as other places online like Target.

Outside, Sunlight

Peach Daiquiri is a pinky-coral creme polish.  I've owned it for several years and get compliments on it everytime I put it on.  For it's name it actually doesn't come off very peach to me as it doesn't have any orange tone to it.

Indoors, Natural Light

The formula is good and it is opaque in two coats.  When I did this manicure I hadn't used the polish in a while and probably should have added a couple of drops of polish thinner before I started, but it still leveled out nicely.  All picures are a coat of Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus, a basecoat of Essie's Grow Stronger, 2 coats of polish, and  top coat of Seche Vite.

Outside, Shade


*Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links*

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Flower Polish - I Lavendare You

I received this polish in my Allure Summer Beauty box and finally got around to trying it a few weeks ago.  It's part of the Flower Beauty brand by Drew Barrymore and is the first product I've tried from this line.  The nail polish is 3-free, retails for $4.98, and I believe it's available exclusively at Walmart.

Indoors, Natural & Overhead Light

I Lavendare You is a very pale lavender polish that tends to look pink in most lights.  It has a slight shimmer to it but it was more noticeable in the bottle than on the nail.

Outside, Sunlight

The polish itself was nice, though it did take three coats for full coverage.  The handle of the bottle is square so that did make it a bit tricky to hold onto, as cute as some nail polish bottles are I really wish companies would stick to a round handle.

Outside, Shade

I wore this polish for 5 days before I saw any chipping and since it's so light in color tipwear wasn't very noticeable.  I was a little bored after a couple of days so I added an accent nail to my ring finger by adding 2 coats of OPI's Pirouette My Whistle which is one of my all time favorite glitters to use on top of other polishes.

Indoors, Natural Light

I skipped the coat of Nailtiques on this mani since I was expecting I might need 3 coats of polish, so all pictures are a basecoat of  Essie's Grow Stronger, 3 coats of polish, and a top coat of NYC In a New York Minute in Grand Central Station.  (This was my last use from my almost empty bottle of the NYC before trying the Seche Vite top coat I used in my Fourth of July mani.)

Outside, Sunlight


*Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links*

Monday, July 21, 2014

Beauty Box 5 - July 2014

My July Beauty Box 5 arrived a few days ago, but I've been procrastinating on getting this post up.  As I mentioned in my last Ipsy post, I've started a Makeup Miscellaneous You Tube Channel and I did unbox the BB5 in a video as well, which you can view here & I'll also embed the video at the end of this post.

July's box theme is Defining Moments and except for the one spoiler item that is posted on the Beauty Box 5 each month I managed to avoid other unboxings and keep the contents of the box a surprise.


The first item was the one spoiler item I knew about, which is the Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara.  While a black mascara isn't the most exciting item to receive I was happy that it's a full size product and will definitely try it out.  This is described on the BB5 card insert as both a lengthening and volumizing mascara.  It is also supposed to lift lashes without a curler and not smudge or flake.  That's a lot of claims so I'm curious to see how it works out.  This mascara has a value of $7.99



The second product in my box was the Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian.  I own one other Starlooks product which is a a lip liner I received in my April Ipsy Bag.  Once I opened this box I watched some other unboxings and what's funny is it looks like Beauty Box 5 sent out a lip liner as well because I didn't see one other person who got the eye liner.  I'm actually glad I got the eye liner because the lip liner looked very similar to the one I already have.  Obsidian is a soft black pencil liner, and i'm not a huge fan of these regular pencil liners because there is usually some tugging and pulling.  That said I haven't actually tried this on my eyes yet I'll give it a fair shot before making a decision.  The card says it can double as a base for your entire eye.  I definitely think that would be too dark of a base for me but if you were doing a very dark, smokey eye look it might work.  This is also a full sized item worth $12.00, which covers the whole cost of the box in itself.



Next I received a full sized Body Drench Candylicious Lip Balm in Peppermint Stick.  It is a clear lip balm, which is always handy to have around for either use on it's own or under other lip products.  It is infused with beeswax, conconut oil, and vitamin E.  I have used this a couple of times since opening it and it is definitely peppermint and even made my lips a little tingly.  This lip balm is worth $3.99.


The fourth item in my box was a packet of the Hask Argan Oil Intense Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment.  I use a deep conditioner on my hair a couple of times a week so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  While foil packets aren't my favorite packaging there is easily enough product in this packet for 2 uses and it retails for $2.49 per packet.


Finally I received a sample size of Glowing Mama Walnut Face and Body Scrub from Anna Naturals.  This is a vegan scrub that doesn't have parabens, harsh cemicals, or artificial fragrance.  It has a very smooth creamy base with exfoliating beads of crushed walnut.  I am still loving my Derma E Microdermabrasion scrub from May's Ipsy bag but will see how this scrub compares.  The full 4 oz size is $10.99 and while the container isn't marked I'm guessing this as about 1/2 oz so I'm going to estimate the value at $1.37



This box was a big improvement on last months for me so I think I"ll stick with Beauty Box 5 for a few more months and switch to a 3 month subscription to bring my cost down to $10/month.  I estimated July's Box total value at $27.84.  As I said above I unboxed this my new You Tube channel & have embedded the video below.


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Ipsy July 2014

My July Ipsy bag arrived yesterday!  July's theme is Sensationally Sunkissed and as with the past few months there was a ton of variety in the spoilers.  Of course I couldn't resist looking at my Glam Room so I knew what products I was getting before I received my bag.  My only disappointment was that given the items in the spoilers there were 3 possibilities to get nail polish this month and I didn't get any of them despite having nail polish checked off on my Ipsy profile.  That said I didn't get anything I dislike either, so onto the bag...


The first item in my bag was the Bare Minerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow.  This is a new item from Bare Minerals, and while I think the whole "BB" everything trend is getting out of control, I was happy to get this since I've just started trying out creme shadows and am really liking them.  This also has SPF 15, which is a nice addition since I typically don't put my SPF moisturizer on my eyelids.  The color I received is Divine Wine and it is a dark taupey brown color.  This seems a bit dark for me for a full lid color but could work okay for a simple one color look.  This also feels very much like a fall color to me, and I've been doing lots of pinks & light shimmery golds for daytime summer eyes this season.  I'll probably try it out and then put it away until fall.  This is a .03 oz sample size worth $5.40.


Unblended
Blended
Next I received the Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry.  I own sample sizes of Benefits Lollitint and Posietint and really like them (in fact I have a review of the Lollitint all written up and just waiting for pictures) so I'm hoping I'll end up liking this brands version just as much.  Color wise I'm not sure it's right for my skin tone but it did seem to sheer out quite a bit as a swatch so I'll have to play around with it.  This is a full sized product worth $22.99


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Blended

The third item in my bag was the Faith Aromatherapy Citrus-Ginger Anti-Oxidant Body Lotion.  The name is definitely an accurate description of the scent of this lotion and it smells very strongly of ginger.  I prefer my lotions unscented, so I'm not sure about the scent of this but when I tried a small amount it absorbed really quickly and left my hands feeling soft but not at all greasy.  Since it worked so well I'll have to keep using it to see if I can deal with the scent.  I went to their website in hopes of buying a different scent with the Ipsy discount code but unfortunately this is the only scent in this lotion.  If you like a spicy ginger scent with a hint of citrus though I would recommend this.  This came in a 1 oz sample size which is worth $2.11.


I also received a full sized POP Beauty Sunkissed Bronzer in Secret Sunshine.  I am fair skinned and  used to think bronzer wouldn't work for me, but when I started using Bare Minerals my starter kit came with a small size of their Warmth bronzer, which made me realize that when applied lightly even fair skin can use bronzer. Currently I've been using Wet n' Wild's Color Icon bronzer in Ticket to Brazil and this POP Beauty Bronzer is similar in tone but with a slight shimmer that the Wet n' Wild doesn't have so I think it will make a great summer bronzer with the shimmer. The POP Beauty website also suggests using this as an eyeshadow. This .25 oz bronzer is worth $10.00.



Unblended

Blended
Finally in my bag was the Pur~lisse pur~protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30.  I swatched this on my hand. and it's a very smooth untinted lotion and has a slight sunscreen smell but no other noticeable sent.  I use a moisturizer with SPF on my face daily before applying my makeup so I'm sure I'll use this up.  It does say it's for normal to dry skin though and I have combination skin so if it makes my t-zone too oily I may save it for winter when my skin gets drier.  Unless this performs wrinkle vanishing miracles though I can't see myself repurchasing this as the 1.7 oz full size is $55, which makes this .5 oz sample worth $16.17.  That's too steep for moisturizer for me since I've found several drugstore ones that work just fine.



The bag itself this month is cute, though I've seen many people online referring to it as pink ravioli, which seems accurate.  I'll probably use it in our beach/pool bag for the rest of the summer to hold sunscreen & chapstick, it's not completely waterproof but it has a vinyl type material that would prevent it from getting soaked and is easily cleanable.


I estimated the overall value of my bag this month at $56.67, which is a great deal considering the $10/month subscription fee.  Of course that's assuming it all gets used but based on first impressions I think I'll use most if not all of the items I received.  I'm also still loving my Ipsy subscription in spite of the questionable "Ipsy Match" profile effectiveness.  Send me nail polish in August Ipsy!  If you'd like to sign up for an Ipsy subscription you can do so using my referral link here.

I decided to try something new this month and started a Makeup Miscellaneous You Tube channel.  I am not entirely sure how often I'll post videos but love watching subscription box unboxings so figured I'd start my first video with my Ipsy bag "unbagging".  If you'd like to see me open and swatch this months items I've posted the video below or you can view it on You Tube here.  My Beauty Box 5 is out for delivery today so expect that blog review & video unboxing in the next few days!


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Fourth of July Manicure

While I love painting my nails I'm not a nail art person.  Adding the occasional accent nail with glitter is about as advanced as I get.  However I've been seeing a lot of cute nail art lately so I decided to give it a go for the Fourth of July tomorrow.  I'm terrible at free hand drawing so I made it easier on myself by purchasing some nail striping tape to use as a guide.


The colors I used were Wet n' Wild Fast Dry 'Saved by the Blue', Essie's 'Blanc', and the Nicka K 'Ripe Apple' that I just got in my June Beauty Box 5.


I started by painting all my nails with a base coat of Essie's Grow Stronger, then two coats of Saved by the Blue on my thumbs and two coats of Blanc on the rest of my fingers.  I added a top coat of Seche Vite (first time trying this top coat) to my thumbs since initially I wasn't planning on doing anything more to them, but didn't top coat the white nails.  After this I let my nails dry completely for a couple of hours.



In order to speed up the process I tried out Sally Hansen's Dry & Go Drops on the white nails (which is why my fingers look a bit oily in some of the pictures) but I'm not sure if it did much.  Since I was striping over the white I didn't worry about the nails being perfect, which is good because Essie's Blanc is a fairly thin, streaky white.  If I was using it as a full mani I may have even added a 3rd coat.  If you're planning on buying a white I would recommend something different, I've heard good things about both China Glaze's 'White Out' and Sally Hansen's 'White On'.

After my nails were dry I added 5 stripes of nail striping tape to each white nail, making sure it was firmly pressed on so polish didn't seep under the tape.


I painted Ripe Apple on one nail at a time, immediately removing the striping tape after I finished applying the red polish to each nail.  Even more so than with the white, a thicker, opaque red is important here because I'm not sure how well having to apply two coats on top of the striping tape would work.


Once I finished the red stripes on my nails I added a top coat of Seche Vite.  I did this a little to quickly on some nails so you can see some streaking, especially on my pinky nail.  At the last minute I decided to add some white dots to my thumbnails with a dotting tool I'd picked up a while back and never used.  A toothpick would probably work just as well.  After the dots dried I added a second coat of Seche Vite to my thumbs.  I really liked how this mani turned out, and while the striping tape is a bit time consuming I found it easy to use for my nail art challenged self.  Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!




*Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links*