Month: January 2015
Love/Hate/Ulta
My 20% at Ulta coupon expires today, so of course I had to use it – I can’t let it go to waste!
After gymnastics, I carted Lily straight to Ulta. I sat her in a stool beside me and started in with the foundation. I knew that I wanted to get Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup – I just wanted to check the colors. I had sampled 3.5, but I wanted to check the lighter colors. Ultimately, I stuck with the 3.5 I also wanted the Good Karma Optical Blurring Blush, but they were out of stock. I went ahead and picked up Naked Skin Beauty Balm in “Light” as well – even though this Ulta still doesn’t have a sample of it out. I, too, like to live dangerously. (I washed my face as soon as I got home and put it on – I like it! It’s light coverage, but blends well and doesn’t accentuate my winter dryness too badly.)
I tried out their new powder foundation – Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation, but my skin is too dry right now for a powder foundation. I wanted to get the Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder in “Medium Light” – but of course, that was out of stock, too. That’s what I hate about the Copperfield Ulta – they are always out of stock! They didn’t have the Vice 3 when I wanted it either!
I checked the clearance polish, but nothing jumped out at me. There was another clearance kiosk by the checkout and I couldn’t resist a Revlon Electric Chrome Super Lustrous Lipgloss in “Killer-Watt”, from the Amazing Spider-Man Collection. It rang up $1.97. I tried it this afternoon and absolutely love it.
Luckily, I received another 20% off online only coupon today, so I didn’t bother driving across town – I just ordered the rest of what I wanted off the website. Grrrrrr…the Willowbrook Ulta always has what I want. Luckily, I’m moving offices within the next few weeks and it is just barely close enough to Willowbrook to be able to bop over during my lunch hour…
HEB Enabler
I love my enabler husband. All we needed was yogurt for smoothies, but he let me meander through the cosmetics department first…just in case there was a polish I missed.
Of course there was…I found Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer “Work of Tart”. I also spied a Milani Runway Eyes wet/dry shadow in “Girls Luv Pink”. The sticker on the shadow said $3.34 – a good deal – but it rang up for $1, just like the polish. Score!
Rubberman
I bet you thought I forgot about my beautiful “Scream Supreme Collection” now that the 4th season of American Horror Story is over – nope!
This is Delush Polish “Rubberman”, inspired by the first season of American Horror Story. It’s a deep black jelly with holo glitters embedded. Instead of going slick and shiny, I decided to go matte with Zoya Matte Top Coat. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat, then two coats of “Rubberman” and then one coat of Zoya Matte. It looks amazing, except for the Zoya Matte got a little crusty around my cuticles – blah. The formula is great – the first coat was thin and I was afraid it would be streaky, but the second coat created perfect full coverage.
Only one more Delush to try out…I need buy MORE……
$1 Sucker
I was so proud of myself yesterday – I had gone to Big Lots for lunch snacks for my kids and managed to leave without any polishes…although I did dig through the buckets, I showed restraint. My restraint was gone when I stopped by HEB after work for some tasty, fresh tortillas – I passed an endcap labelled “Final Clearance”. I couldn’t resist any longer.
I got Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer “Sugar Cloud” & “Mint Tint” (I’ve tried Sugar Coat, but not Sugar Shimmer), Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Scale Up” (is there such a thing as too many flakies?) and Nicole by Opi “Party Bus” from the Carrie Underwood Collection.
When my husband was unpacking the groceries, he took one look inside the polish bag and groaned, “Really???” Uh oh…I must have crossed some imaginary line…
Déjà vu
Imagine that – wearing a birthstone polish in the correct month!
With all the polishes I have, I guess I shouldn’t repeat – but I just had to break out Julep “Betty” – Garnet for January again. Here’s what it looked like the first time…
This time, I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat – gotta have my nails last longer than 24 hours. I can’t believe how far I’ve come in the last year – base coats, top coats, nail art. I never would have tried that stuff before I started this site!
Neither Fast, Nor Furious
So I decided to humor my husband and do the muscle car manicure that he asked me for. He wanted me to do one in green, with matte black racing stripes.
I decided to have little fun with different designs. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat. On my thumb, I did two coats of Julep “Tatum”, one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash (to make it dry quicker), then two strips of nail striping tape and then a single coat of Zoya “Dovima”. This wasn’t the best idea – it crinkled a little bit. On my other thumb, I did a single coat of “Tatum”, then “Dovima” and it worked a lot better. On my index finger, I just did two coats of “Tatum” and a coat of Diamond Flash. On my middle finger, I did two coats of “Dovima” and a single coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash” – no top coat. On my ring finger, I did two coats of “Dovima”, striping tape and a single coat of “Tatum” – no top coat. On my pinky, I did two coats of “Tatum” and a single coat of Butter London “Dosh” – no top coat.
This is not my husband’s car – but this is about what it should look like when it’s done. Right now, it’s a sickly shade of piss test yellow.
It’s a 1975 Dodge Dart Swinger. He originally said neon green, but I am pushing him towards this more sparkly Kermit green. There’s no way I’ll get another pink car, but Kermit green is the next best thing!
First Anniversary!
I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for a whole year!
I really figured that I’d be sick of it by now, but I’m still out there, looking for polish. I happened to be in Lufkin this weekend – visiting my LaLa – and we went to the T.J. Maxx in the Lufkin Mall. They had an awesome beauty selection, but I controlled myself and just picked up a single clearance polish – Butter London “Dosh” for $2! It’s metallic apple-green!
I wish I had more time to poke around at the Lufkin Mall – it was like being back in the 90s. All of the stores had never been remodeled and looked like they did in the 90s. The Victoria’s Secret still had the white molding with gold highlights and the Bath & Body Works still had country wood shelves and cabinets. It was just WILD. They even had a Corn Dog 7! That was my favorite when I was a kid!
Dahlia Dovima
I found the solution to edge wear – a fancy french mani!
Zoya “Dovima” still looked decent, but since I washed dishes last night, I had some edge wear.
No tape – I crossed my fingers and painted the tips freehand – you seriously do NOT want to see my right hand. I used Zoya Pixie Dust in “Dahlia” – it looks so good!
My husband had a fit when he saw me doing the tips – he wanted me to use the neon green. Whomp whomp.
Black Dove
Regardless of what plans I have made regarding my nails, if I get a new polish, I might just drop all those plans and go for the new polish.
I LOVED Zoya “Harlow” and I love Zoya “Dovima” even more. It is a soft matte black, like the wings of a black dove. As my husband said, “It’s fucking badass!” He wants me to do a manicure of the color he is gonna paint his project car – neon green, with matte black racing stripes. Finally – he’s interested in my nails…
I’m a rulebreaker, so again I used a base coat – Zoya Anchor – and then two coats of “Dovima” – application was smooth and almost flawless.
I was curious about the name “Dovima” so I googled her and immediately recognized her…or maybe not her specifically, but her image as the epitome of 50s high fashion – “Dovima” is the perfect name for this polish.
Review – Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup
I am *almost* 39 years old and I still haven’t found the perfect foundation. Most of the time, I just wear moisturizer and translucent powder, hoping for the best. I think I might be closer though…
My samples have started piling up, so I’ve been making a concerted effort to start trying more of them. Yesterday morning, I came across a sample of Urban Decay Naked Skin that I had gotten back in March. The description from Urban Decay’s site makes it sound like magic:
Naked Skin uses light-diffusing spheres to ‘blur’ imperfections for a luminous, demi-matte finish that feels invisible but looks professionally retouched.
I started with the Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Complexion Primer Potion ($31). I was very similar to Benefit The POREfessional – it made everything smooth and closed those pores right up. I then applied Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup in 3.5 ($39) – what a long name! I just used my fingers, but it glided on smoothly on top of the primer. Luckily, 3.5 was a pretty close match. It covered all the redness and didn’t stick to my peach fuzz too badly. I finished with Ulta Minerals Finishing Powder – it looked amazing! (I tried to take a few selfies, but my bathroom lighting is shit.)
$39 is a lot of money to spend on foundation – I have several other samples that I want to try before I make a final decision. Also, I’m not positive whether the success was from the foundation or the primer. I want to try the Naked Skin Beauty Balm, too. Within the next few weeks, I want to try to go to Sephora and try their Color IQ system to help me verify the color I need – it’s a computer that takes pictures of your skin and tells you what brands and shades will match. Science and shit!