Month: October 2015
Teal Midnight
Oh Sinful Colors…how I love your bad puns.
This is Sinful Colors “Teal Midnight” from the “Bling it On” Collection. Although it is a HILARIOUS pun, this polish doesn’t look overly teal on my nails. The hue is almost right, but it’s not quite dark enough and a touch too blue. This is just two coats (with Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”), but maybe 5 or 6 coats would give a true teal. If I had to name the color, I’d go with aqua.
It’s not that the polish is sheer – it’s a somewhat goopy jelly, with iridescent glitter suspended in the base. It’s smooth though and not at all bumpy. I can’t wait to try the rest of the blingy polishes.
October Ipsy Bag – Alter Ego
Ipsy’s October theme is “Alter Ego”, as in transformation. Everyone likes to transform for Halloween…but I like to transform 365 days a year.
Inside my snazzy black vinyl and gold pleather bag: Eau Thermale Avène Soothing Moisture Mask (yassss); MicaBeauty ipsy EXCLUSIVE Cream Eyeshadow in “Bronze”; AYRES ipsy EXCLUSIVE Pampas Sunrise Hand Cream (mmmm…smells yummy and lemony); theBalm Cosmetics Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long-Lasting Liquid Lipstick in “Committed” (excited about this – texture and color); and Coastal Scents Xpress Line Cosmetic Pencil (It didn’t say what color it is, but I am assuming black.)
No offense, ipsy – but these don’t seem like very transformative products. At least not to me.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Halloween Whopper
So…I broke down and ate one of those Halloween Whoppers from Burger King – you know, the one with the black bun? Turns out, the black bun turns your poop green. Not the muted green after a tasty blue snow cone, or the dark green after a spinach salad – but GREEN – bright green. Of course, Buzzfeed is all over it.
Instead of sending poo pictures to my friends and relatives, I figured that the easiest way to communicate the effect of the Halloween Whopper is through my fingernails. Here is is folks, THIS is the color I was stuck with for two whole DAYS. It’s China Glaze “Four Leaf Clover” and it is MAGNIFICENT. Bask in the glory of my poo color.
I’ve had this polish since before I even started this site. Lily picked it out for me for Christmas one year. It’s almost as if she KNEW. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat with “HK Girl”. I got a bit of crusties – I need to be more careful. (I mean on my nails, not on my butt.)
October Birchbox – Power Pose
It’s October and you know what that means…PINK. The entire country is drowned in Pepto Bismol pink, a massive marketing event purportedly intended to raise breast cancer awareness, but really designed to sell pink versions of every product possible, from KFC to NFL. I don’t apologize for my cynicism. My mother died of breast cancer a decade ago and I don’t need a pink bucket of chicken breasts to remind me to get MY breasts squished between plexiglass plates on a yearly basis.
In any case, Birchbox offered the choice of two curated Estée Lauder boxes. I picked the “Power Pose” box, which contains Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in “Mega Melon” (is that some kind of ironic joke about breasts?); Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief; Darphin STIMULSKIN PLUS Multi-Correction Divine Cream; Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Synchronized Complex II; and Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer (I think I have 4 of these now). OH! And an obligatory pink ribbon. Yay.
I know I sound like an asshole – normally, I love the color pink – just not that trademarked Komen pink. One of the organizations that I do admire is The Rose, a local organization that provides Breast Cancer screening and treatment for those who cannot afford it. They are able to do this, not by donations or pink marketing – but by also servicing women (like me) that have insurance and using those funds to support their initiatives. They DO something.
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Devilish Lee
Sometimes, two polishes from different brands come together just right…
Julep “Lee”, spitfire red creme, and Sinful Colors “Devil’s Stare”, a red jelly with flakies – were separated at birth. My thumb and index finger have two coats of “Devil’s Stare” and my ring finger and pinky have two coats of “Lee”…but my middle finger has one coat of “Lee” and one coat of “Devil’s Stare”. You can’t even tell the difference between them! I did dots of “Lee” on top of the “Devil’s Stare” on my index finger and vice versa on my ring finger – again, you can’t even see it. A perfect tonal match!
What else did I use? Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”, of course.
Matte Lips!
Finally! NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in “Cannes” is mine!
Last week, Ulta had NYX on sale for Buy 2, Get 1 Free, so I went ahead and ordered it. I also got 2 of the new NYX Liquid Suede – “Sandstorm” and “Stone Fox”. I don’t know how the slate gray will look on my lips, but Halloween is coming…
For my samples, I ended up with single use cards of Benefit The POREfessional and tarte Smoother Operator Amazonian Clay Tinted Finishing Powder. They were also running a deal for free shipping with a $1 breast cancer donation…and of course, the usual $3.50 off coupon. I got all this for $12.34!
Ants? Spiders? Babies? Skulls!
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I don’t consider myself dim…but when I bought Sinful Colors “Skele-bration”, I thought that the tiny glitters were spiders or maybe ants. Once I got it home, I realized they were supposed to be tiny skulls – like a skull & crossbones. Then again, they also could be mistaken for a baby – those glitters are a dead ringer for the baby emoji on my phone.
Notwithstanding the confusing glitter, this polish kicked my ass. I was expected more coverage, but it is exceedingly sheer. I’m wearing three coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat. On top of that, I had to play ‘Go Fish’ to get them out of the bottle. They sink to the bottom, so I had to shake the bottle every two nails. Even so, I like the zombie-ish green cast. The polish by itself tends towards matte, so I topped it with “HK Girl”.
So these tiny black things on my nails are driving me nuts. I’ll catch one out of the corner of my eye and think there’s a bug on my finger. Do you know what it’s like to have a freak out every 30 minutes or so? My heart can’t take all that adrenaline!
Oh, did I mention that it glows in the dark? So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice…
I Can Stop Any Time I Want
I don’t HAVE to hit Walgreen’s every time that Sinful Colors are 99 cents. Who am I kidding – yes I do!
My work Walgreen’s finally had the “Bling it On” display! I got “Starlet Fever” (the pink), “Hit the Dance Glow” (the fuchsia), “Just Glisten” (the white), and “Teal Midnight” (the teal). I also got 4 polishes from the Halloween display – “Skele-bration” (glow in the dark green with skull & crossbones glitter), “Go Batty” (glow in the dark blue with holographic moon glitter), “Devil’s Stare” (red glitter), and “Stone Cold” (gray with black glitter).
I can stop any time I want!
Punk Pirate
I feel like a gosh danged ole punk rocker pirate!
I decided to jazz up Julep “Michaela” with the NEON yellow skull and crossbones nail decals in this month’s Julep box. First off, these decals are VERY delicate. I only got one or two of them on my nails in one piece. Luckily, it was easy to match up the skull bones to make it look like one piece.
To keep it from peeling up, I topped with “HK Girl”. One coat was not enough – I did two thick, sloppy coats…and there were still a few edges that stick up – but they are frozen in place from the goop!
My husband says it looks like wallpaper. I usually hate wallpaper, but I would LOVE wallpaper like this!
Raisin Rave
Julep “Michaela” reminds me of the California Raisins…at a rave. Julep describes it as blackcurrant microglitter shimmer – aren’t all currants black? Currents are baby raisins, right?
“Michaela” is so purple that it appears black, but the shimmer is green! I’m dying!
This is a smooth polish – it went on like a dream…and NO bubbles. This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, with “HK Girl” on top. This is a GREAT Halloween polish.