Month: August 2016
Thank You, Julep!
When it comes to customer service, Julep has never disappointed.
I got an email a few weeks ago that Julep was unable to release the Gel Sunscreen that was missing from last month’s Julep box. No details, but an apology and a code for $50 off my next purchase. I only pay $19.99 for my box each month…and even though I got my two polishes, they sent me a code for $50. $20 would have been generous…but $50! I immediately got online and ordered all 3 of this month’s Mystery Boxes ($19.99 each). I paid just $9.97 for all three boxes – 21 polishes in total. That’s less than 50 cents a polish!
The Shimmer and Glitters box came with “Pepper”, “Neely”, “Queen Anne” (already got this one), “Oscar” (got this one, too); “Roxanne”, “Judy”, and “Tish” (and this one). The box also had metallic temporary tattoos.
The Metallics box has “Penny”, “Rachael” (got it).“Marika” (got it), “Sawyer”, “Joss”, “Missy”, and “Mia” (pretty sure I got this one in one of my first boxes). This box came with gold chevron nail decals.
The Brights box included “Jenna”, “Connie”, “Suzanne”, “Lee” (got it), “Sam”, “Ari”, and “Danica”. Light blue nail chevrons were included in this box.
21 polishes with only 7 repeats – not bad! Thank you again Julep – your customer service exceeds expectations yet again!
Sephora Play! August 2016 – The Eye Openers
Except for the perfume sample, this month’s box is entirely focused on eye products, hence “The Eye Openers”. The first thing I noticed was the adorable muslin bag with winking eyes – “Wink outside the box.” What can I store in this bag?
Inside this month’s box: Urban Decay Cosmetics Perversion Mascara (I love getting more of this); Caudalie Resveratrol [Lift] Eye Lifting Balm; Lancome Energie De Vie Smoothing & Glowing Liquid Care Moisturizer; Sephora Contour eye pencil 12HR wear in “Flirting game” (taupe shimmer); Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow in I-544 (iridescent pink granite); and CLEAN Reserve Blonde Rose (I love a rose scent, but I prefer a greener rose – this one is heavy on the musk…also, within 3 minute, it gave me a massive headache – UGH).
I am loving every single thing in this box AGAIN. If I had to pick one subscription box to keep and get rid of the rest – it would be Sephora’s.
If you haven’t signed up yet – get off your ass and DO IT! This is by far the best subscription box I get every month. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
I’m So Money
I’m so money…you don’t even know.
This combination reminds me of a crispy $20 bill – one of those new multicolored ones. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors “Moss Have” over Sinful Colors Base Coat. “Moss Have” is a creamy moss green pearl chrome – similar to “Tokyo Pearl”. I like this formula much better – fewer drag marks from the brush and it doesn’t leave streaks.
For contrast, I used Sinful Colors “Under Cover” on my thumb and forefinger – two coats. More glitter = more happy. I love glitters like these with a dense concentration of different sizes and colors of glitter.
“HK Girl” sealed the deal. I’m hoping that this manicure lasts a while…I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to paint them again…Shhhh…
Polishes and Potato Chips
Oh Walgreens, I love you so much…
I knew when I left for Mexico that Walgreens was running a 2/$3 Sinful Colors sale. I pushed it out of my head, which was all the harder since 90% of my polishes are packed away. Sigh.
But wait! On Friday, we were running errands and needed drinks…I commandeered the vehicle towards Walgreens…
…and was excited to find that this Walgreens finally had a new collection! I grabbed three polishes from the “Camo Glitter” collection – “Under Cover” (different sizes of black, gold, green and light pink glitter with tiny white skull and crossbones), “Cute Cadet” (black, white, gold and pink holographic glitter), and “Army Brat” (pink glitter with a mystery black shape I cannot determine).
I got another “Sugar Crush” called “Surreally Sweet” – I loved “Sugar High” so much, I had to get the pink version. The last two were “Moss Have” (reminds me of cold, hard cash) and “Purple Diamond” (oops, I already have this one…so I gave it to Lily – she’s the one who asked for it anyway).
…and then I saw the potato chips.
I am a sucker for those weird Lays flavors. Instead of the contests they’ve done the last few years, they rolled out a series of International chips called “Passport to Flavor”.
“Greek Tzatziki” was my hands down favorite – it has a rich cucumber dill flavor. I would love to eat one with one of last year’s Gyro chips. This one was also Lily’s favorite – I’m assuming it was close enough to Ranch Dressing for her to love it.
“Brazilian Picanha” was my husband’s favorite. To me, it was just all right…nothing special.
My son’s favorite was “Indian Tikka Masala”. To my knowledge, he’s never had real Tikka Masala, so I was kind of surprised. I need to get him to an Indian Buffet soon.
Walgreens didn’t have Chinese Szechuan Chicken, but I picked it up at Kroger this weekend. Although my husband thought they were yummy, no one else liked them – a bit too spicy and sour.
I ate half a bag of the “Tzatziki” chips last night. I’ll be sad when they discontinue them.
Moist Stephanie
Doesn’t Julep “Stephanie” look like juicy, moist strawberries? So wet, so…MOIST.
I don’t care if Julep describes “Stephanie” as juicy cherry holographic – it’s moist strawberry holographic to me. I’ll say it again…MOIST.
“Stephanie” has the same fantastic formula as “Pam”. After Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, I painted two coats of “Stephanie” – it went on like a dream. It seemed a bit thinner and easier to work with than “Pam”. My middle fingernail had peeled a bit and “Stephanie” covered it like a champ. I sealed the deal with “HK Girl”.
I need to get the rest of the polishes from August’s Collection – I am totally in love.
Just one more time…moist.
August Ipsy Bag – Sugar Highness
YASSSS Ipsy…give a bag that is not specifically summer themed!
This month’s “Sugar Highness” bag is all about living the glam fantasy. Inside this month’s adorable “makeup princess” bag: ciate London Paint Pot in “Dangerous Affair” (Finally – I’ve been wanting to try ciate SO bad); tarte tarteist Lash Paint (another YASSSS); NOMAD Makeup Eye Shadow in “Marrakesh – Spice Market”; thisworks In Transit Camera Close-Up Mask, Moisturizer and Primer in One (hold the phone – is this for real?); and Peter Lamas Supreme Radiance Complexion Booster.
This set of products FUCKING KICKS ASS. I am loving all of my products this month!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
August Birchbox – Endless Summer
Seeing double? For some odd reason, I ended up with two identical Birchboxes this month…I guess I better check my credit card statement…
“Endless Summer”? Whoa…deja vu. I guess there’s no way to know ahead of time that another subscription box will be using the same theme…
This month’s curated Birchbox was an easy choice – I wanted that stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in “Patina” – that will be my lipstick tomorrow. Also in the box: Living Proof. No Frizz Nourishing Oil (it will go nicely with all the Living Proof. stuff I got in last month’s box); Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle; Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow; Acure Organics Coconut & Argan Oil Cleansing Towelettes; and Hum Nutirition Raw Beauty Green Superfood Powder (not sure what the fuck I’m gonna do with this…maybe sprinkle on yogurt?)
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.
Doritos Locos
As I was eating my lunch today, I was struck by how my nails matched my lunch – a tasty Doritos Locos Taco. Seriously – that taco shell was an exact match for my nails. (I considered taking a picture, but I didn’t want to get Mild Sauce and Dorito dust all over my phone.) I’m quite sure that I shouldn’t be eating food this color, but…
This is Julep “Pam”, tigerlily holographic. (I love tigerlilys – almost as much as stargazer lilys.) It’s so rich and juicy…and a fabulous formula. This is just two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. The polish was slightly thick, but not goopy. I finished with “HK Girl”.
I’d like to team “Pam” with a dark green metallic for a tribute to my alma mater – UTD. Orange and Green are absolutely horrible school colors, but it eventually starts to grow on you…
Target Beauty Box – August 2016
I totally neglected the Target Beauty Box that arrived right before I left for Mexico…poor little beauty box, left all alone in my mail pile…
August’s box is “Make the Grade” and includes: Juice Organics Repairing Shampoo & Conditioner (more coconut – I am loving anything coconut in my hair right now); Secret Clinical Strength Smooth Solid Deodorant; Crest 3D Whitestrips Professional Effects; up & up Women’s 5-Blade Razor (I’m hairy as fuck – I can always use extra razors); Olay Makeup Remover Wipes; Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (this is my JAM); CoverGirl Katy Kat Eye Mascara (this might up being a collector’s item, since Katy and CoverGirl are being sued by Hard Candy for copyright infringement); and NYC Get It All Lip Color in “ExtraordiBERRY”.
This box is jam-packed with stuff – a good buy, for sure.
The box was $7 with free shipping and 5% off with my Red Card. As always, it included a $3 off $15 beauty purchase coupon.
Lock-It
That feeling when you come home from vacation to a Sephora box…
I just used up my pressed compact of Urban Decay Ultra Definition Finishing Powder and went to order another one from Sephora…and they don’t stock it anymore. What the fuck? It’s not discontinued, because Ulta and Nordstrom still have it…but I was already on the site and committed to ordering something…so I decided to take a chance with Kat Von D Lock-It Powder Foundation in Medium 52 (there wasn’t an exact match to my Color IQ, so I just took a wild guess). I’d been wearing my MAC Studio Fix lately and decided I needed a slightly darker shade to match my very slight tan…
I tried it out today with just a moisturizer underneath and was impressed at the coverage – very good coverage, but it didn’t cake up on me like the MAC Studio Fix. I think I may have found a new best friend for summer skin. I’m looking forward to trying it with a primer for even better coverage.
I used a code to get a free tarte Rainforest of the Sea Drench Lip Splash in “Cabana Boy” – it’s a beautiful matte mauve, but NOT drying. It felt like chapstick, but stayed almost all day! I did have to reapply after my Whopperito, but that goes without saying.
I used 100 points to try a Milk Makeup Gel Brow Pencil in “Pilsner”. A little of this baby goes a long way – it glides on and stays put. “Pilsner” is the perfect color for me – I got lucky. The full size comes with a spooly end, so I might be switching from Anastasia…if I ever use up all the brow pencils I already have…
I almost forgot my other free samples – Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation Mattifying Oil Free, Lancôme Energie de Vie Daily Aqua-Gel, and Dior Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (my scent of the day – it wears wonderfully over B&BW Peony).
Only $41 to Rouge in 2017…