Sunday, August 18, 2013

August 2013 Ipsy / MyGlam Bag Reveal

When my August Ipsy bag came this month, I opened it and looked at it, then put it down and fell asleep. I've been beat the past few weeks so this post is a few days late but I hope you enjoy it anyways.


I'm a fan of the bag this time around, super cute. It also informs me that I am, in fact, part of the Glamour Academy. Which I didn't even know existed, so this is huge news.

This bag consisted of 5 items, one of which I've decided is the flub of all flubs, a disappointment AND a head scratcher. Stay tuned. First up is the pixi Last Booster Mascara.


I didn't wear it yet but the brush seems stiff, which I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  It's black, super black. I'm sure I'll get some use out of it in the future; I love getting products in shades that are universal like this.

Next is Noya Natural Lip Balm in Cherry. Ok, so this is just some standard looking lip balm, but holy cow it smells SO GOOD. I didn't even know I was a fan of cherry scented things, but it turns out I am. It reminds me of black cherry soda.  It feels nice as well, but I don't think I've encountered a poorly textured lip balm yet so I'm not sure if that's saying much.


Last of the items that I liked from this bag is the Mica Beauty Cosmetics powder in Bronze.  It's so pigmented/strong/I'm not sure of the proper term.   It's a color I'd wear too, so this is a major plus!



So here is where the questionable products come in. The first one I can't really blame as it's my own quirk.  It's the Michael Todd Pumpkin Facial Mask.  I have discovered as of lately that I have an intense aversion to putting food scented/organically grown/natural recipe stuff on my face. Can't do it. I tried, multiple times. I bought this Yes to Tomatoes face wash stuff and I was trying to use it in the shower, and it just didn't go over well. I felt if whether it was ranch dressing or the tomato face wash, they were equally gross and I was having a hard time doing it.

So when I opened this pumpkin mask and sniffed it, it was a flashback to the tomato massacre that occurred in my shower.  It smells like pumpkin, and I was hoping for pumpkin pie, some nutmeg scent or something. Cinnamon, even. Nah, it's pumpkin.


There it is.
So this last item which is the flub I was previously referring to, is City Color Cheek Stain in Pink.  I didn't realize it was City Color at first because every time I've seen a City Color product it looks like the labeling/packaging was an afterthought on a Friday, five minutes before punch out.  But the packaging here is cute.  I'm surprised to see this brand in this bag because I just associate it with.. lack of quality? And the items I've received thus far are usually pretty good.



So where is my issue here? Aside from my preconceived opinion about the brand, there was a black dot of something, could be anything really, right in the surface of the item.


You see that? What is that? I know, I know - it's miniscule. But what if it fell out of a factory employee's nose or something. OK, overkill, but still. I think more importantly than the mystery of what it is, is the fact it's there - the quality thing I was talking about before. It doesn't equate to the previous and current brands of items in the bag. I also don't tend to put stuff on my cheeks, so this isn't a huge loss for me or anything by any means.


It's also really really REALLY pink. This was one quick swipe on my forearm. Pretty pigmented, which is good. But it came off just as easily as it went on. I wasn't too busted up about that, but definitely worth mentioning.


Thanks for reading! :)

Saturday, August 10, 2013

American Apparel Nail Polish Mega Haul + Skittle Manicure

Sooo you may have heard of the large lot of American Apparel polishes on sale on Ebay, which is where these are from.  The lot was for 17 polishes for $15.99 with free shipping.  Considering I haven't gotten any new polishes lately for any kind of deal, I was super excited but a bit skeptical.  I want to share with you what the lot contains as well as skittles mani I did with them.

Group Shot
Pinto - Passport Blue - Peacock - Mount Royal - Hassid
Berry - Poppy - Rose Bowl - Dynasty - Coney Island

Mouse - Factory Grey - Cotton - Palm Springs - Manila
Downtown LA - Hunter
So I naturally wanted to wear all of these at once but since that isn't possible, I settled on five that stood out to me the most.

Manila - Peacock - Poppy - Dynasty - Coney Island
All of these are over Orly Bonder and Sealed with Out the Door.  Each are two coats except Manila and Coney Island, which took three coats.  The formula on these were excellent; I'm thrilled to have 17 new cremes in my collection that will certainly get lots of use!

Manila - Peacock - Poppy - Dynasty - Coney Island
Manila - Peacock - Poppy - Dynasty - Coney Island


Sunday, August 4, 2013

NEW! Oopsie Daisies Back to Nature Summer Camping Trio

Hi everyone! I apologize for being so behind with announcements and postings in general, I've been struggling to find a balance but I do have some new polishes that are now available to share with you today.

Camping is one of my favorite things in the world to do, so for the second half of summer, I thought a camping inspired collection would be perfect.  This trio consists of three polishes inspired by some of my favorite aspects of camping. 

Photo courtesy of http://lavishlayerings.blogspot.com/
The first polish in this trio is S'mores. S'mores is a yummy representation of the iconic camping treat. This polish is a brown based creme with brown, white and caramel glitters in various shapes and sizes, with both matte and metallic finishes.  S'mores is a revamped/reworked version of a previous Oopsie Daisies polish, Fawn.  There are two additional glitters in this polish as well as some slight formula adjustments.

I've had some bad nail breaks from working so much lately, and wasn't able to properly swatch S'mores this time around, but I will get around to it when my nails are in an acceptable shape.  The swatches today were provided by two amazing nail bloggers.

Photo courtesy of http://idanailsit.blogspot.com/  - 2 coats of S'mores
Photo courtesy of http://lavishlayerings.blogspot.com/ - 2 coats of S'mores


 
Next up in the trio is Campfire Tales.  Campfire Tales encompasses the colors of a cozy campfire. This polish is a red jelly with orange, red and yellow glitters in various sizes and both matte and metallic finishes. Shown below is two coats.

 


The final polish in this trio is Cloudless Night. Cloudless Night captures the starlit sky you can only see when camping. This polish is a black jelly polish with grey and blue glitter with silver shimmers/microflakes. Shown below is three coats.


 

All three of these polishes are now available at the Oopsie Daisies Etsy store for $8.50 a piece.  Click HERE to shop and browse!