Month: April 2020
Instinct + Transformation
Makeup Revolution Palettes at 40% off? Don’t mind if I do!
I’ve had my eye on the Revolution x Alexis Stone collaboration since it launched. I hesitated, not because of the price, but because of the unlikelihood that I would get much use out of it. But FOMO and a great price convinced me. The Instinct Palette ($15, down from $25) is a 28 shade matte palette with a rainbow of colors. Makeup Revolution has really upped their quality – these shadows were super pigmented and wore well without primer. (I did get a little bit of staining with the pink shadows, so be warned.) The Transformation Palette ($9, down from $15) has 7 shimmery shades that can be worn alone or over your Instinct shades, which is what I did.
I also snagged the I Heart Revolution Tasty Avocado Palette ($10, down from $15) and Tasty Hot Dog Palette ($7.49). I know that I look horrible in green eye shadow, but I couldn’t resist that cute avocado packaging. When I tried it out, I wasn’t wrong – my husband refused to go get ice cream with me while I was wearing it. The Hot Dog Palette was a nice surprise – I never knew that mustard and ketchup vibes would look so good on me.
My hair is growing out of control, so I got a few new hair tools – the Pattern Hair Clip ($10) is bigger than the octopus clips I’ve been using and it holds ALL my hair. It’s designed for curly hair, but works just fine on straight hair, too. I also got the Invisibobble Bunstar ($8 for 2). This little sperm-shaped piece of plastic screws in and holds your bun! I don’t exactly understand how it works, but it does.
I also got my son another L’Oreal Colorista Highlight Kit and myself an Ulta Tinted Juice Infused Lip Oil ($4.50, down from $9).
This 5 piece Benefit gift with purchase was the last Beauty Break I’ve seen – two weeks ago. A $60 purchase got me a Benefit makeup bag with my favorite mascara – Benefit Roller Lash, as well as The POREfessional Hydrate Primer, Precisely My Brow Pencil in “Warm Light Brown”, and Gimme Brow Brow-Volumizing Fiber Gel in “Warm Brown”. A $75 purchase got me a Benefit “Laughter is the Best Cosmetic” Canvas Tote. I want more Beauty Breaks – where did they go???
Just $935 to Diamond status!
Slow Down
This is it – I’ve found the perfect polish to match Kat Von D “Lolita” – my favorite shade of lipstick. (It’s even better than Sinful Colors “Vacation Time”.) This is Context Skin “Slow Down”, from this month’s ipsy bag.
“Slow Down” is a chestnut mauve creme. This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. It was smooth and self leveling, and the brush was great. I topped my thumb and ring finger with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat and the rest with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. This polish is so drastically different with the two top coats – I love it both ways – and I cannot decide which one is better!
Do you like how it perfectly matches the brick on my house?
“Slow Down” will be my new go-to shade for my toes – I cannot wait to try it out after my next pedicure!
April 2020 Allure Beauty Box – Spritzed Up
Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb is far from one of my favorite scents, but I’m impressed by the size of the sample included in this month’s “Spritzed Up” box. It’s not one of those stupid little vials – this is a Deluxe Mini with 7 whole mL! I may have to give it another try…
Also in this month’s box: Thrive Causemetics Lip Filler Long Wearing + Plumping Lip Liner in “Valisia” (I actually tried this one out – it’s okay, but there was no plumping to be had); Eva NYC Mane Magic 10-in-1 Primer (I like this brand, but I haven’t done my hair since…Vegas?); Lué by Jean Seo Balance Hydrating & Calming Serum; Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment (I’ve gotten this in a couple different Sephora Play! boxes – it’s nice); Akar Skin Balance Toning Mist (I’m not a toner girl, but the smell of this one brings me back – it reminds me of when I thought I was making “perfume” by letting rose petals ferment in water bottles – that sounds negative, but it’s not, it’s a really earthy scent); and a Pūrlisse Watermelon Energizing Sheet Mask (Yes, I have enough sheet masks to wallpaper my bathroom, what’s one more?)
Kind of a grab bag of items this month – I like it.
The Allure Beauty Box is $15/month, but they give you $5 off your first box. They also offer an option for $150/year – a savings of $30. Sign up via my referral link.
Chester Cheetah
My nails are…dangerously cheesy!
I had a spark of inspiration to create “Chester Cheetah” nails that actually SMELL like Cheetos!
After Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, I did two coats of Sinful Colors “Cheese Puff”. I didn’t know how the two brands would interact when I topped my nails with Zoya Leopard Spots Topper, but I was pleasantly surprised that the topper not only worked, but crackled even better than over Zoya Pixie Dusts.
I wasn’t exactly surprised that this manicure chipped exceptionally quickly. It was fine though – my fingers were super stinky.
April 2020 Ipsy Bag – Full Bloom
April’s ipsy bag is super bitchin’! I love the big wooden ring on the zipper and the soft lavender flowers.
For this month’s product choice, I selected Oryza Beauty Foiler Alert – Metallic Eye Shadow in “Rosé”. I have not tried it yet – maybe for my next video conference? I also haven’t tried the Araceli Beauty Ojos Perfectos Gel Pencil Eyeliner in “Black/Negro”.
I have been able to try the rest of the products in this month’s bag. I used the Ahava 24K Gold Mineral Mus Mask over the weekend. Even though it didn’t clear my pores as well as traditional mud masks, it made my skin so soft and glowing.
I’ve also been using the MURAD Nutrient-Charged Water Gel as my go-to moisturizer – it smells WONDERFUL. I’d actually pay for this one.
Stay tuned to see Context Skin Nail Lacquer in “Slow Down”.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $12/month. If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Therapewter
There’s something magical about metallic nail polish – it’s my favorite.
This is Sally Hansen Color Therapy “Therapewter”. The bottle says “Argan Oil Formula”, which is even MORE magical…because argan nuts travel through a goat’s digestive tract before being expressed into argan oil!
I got beautiful coverage in just two coats. This is two coats over Sally Hansen Double Duty and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. It lasted a looong time without chips – honestly, I was impressed.
Pewter is an underrated finish. I used to have this pair of Naturalizer shoes in pewter that I wore literally until the soles wore through. I also appreciate pewter jewelry, but it’s rare these days. Bring back pewter!
Easter Egg Hair
I didn’t dye eggs on Easter…but I did dye my hair.
Shortly after the quarantine started I ordered 3 new samples ($11 each) from oVertone: Extreme Teal, Pink for Brown Hair, and Purple for Brown Hair. Shipping was slower than usual and it took a bit to get here, and then…procrastination. I finally got around to dying my hair on Easter Sunday.
I just went for it and used all of them. I didn’t mix them all together – I sectioned my dry hair and applied separately. I used Extreme Teal on the right side – it did not take well on my hair. It wasn’t teal, as much as a swampy grey-blue. I used Purple for Brown Hair on the center and Pink for Brown Hair on the left side. I am much more impressed by the “for Brown Hair” formulas. The “Extreme” formula did not color the brown portion of my hair at all, just the highlighted portion. There is a “Blue for Brown Hair” – maybe I’ll try that one?
I can get about one more use out of the remainder of the three sample jars. $16.50 per dye session is a bit pricey – but that’s because I bought samples. The full size is $29 and I can get 2.5-3 applications, (if I remember correctly), which is $11.60 to $9.67, if I stretch it, which is a bit more affordable. It’s still more expensive than Clairol Color Crave or L’Oreal Colorista, but my hair feels so much better after using oVertone. It’s definitely a luxurious product and absolutely worth it.
Donut Even
Here it is, the final scented polish from the Sinful Colors Sweet & Salty Collection – “Donut Even”. Even though it smelled DELICIOUS, I hated this polish.
I have always hated long bar glitters. They invariably lift up and snag things. “Donut Even” was no exception. The bar glitters bunched up in the edges of my nails, which then led to them to lifting up and either peeling up or getting snagged in my hair. It also chipped the easiest of all the scented polishes. I assume it was due to the lifting bar glitters? This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Base Coat.
“Donut Even” did have the strongest smell – it reminded me of sugary donut glaze. Doesn’t it look just like a Homer Simpson donut?
Genie
It’s been a while since I’ve ordered directly from Black Moon Cosmetics (dang, three years) and I’d forgotten how beautiful their packaging is.
A few weeks ago, they were offering free shipping on orders $15+, so I used this opportunity to order “Genie”, an iridescent fuchsia lippie ($18). I absolutely love this lippie – I wore it to the grocery store, because that is the only place I get to go right now.
My order also came with a free set of Black Moon Lynx Lashes ($14 value). Um, thanks?
Clearance PSA
This is a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!
While you’re searching the aisles of Walmart for toilet paper and hand sanitizer, please be advised that a SERIOUS nail polish clearance is going on. I found these in the Clearance aisle by the garden section (I was loitering there, while my husband was looking for something in the the garden section), but they might also be on the endcaps in the Beauty aisles. In addition to Sally Hansen, I saw some essie and L.A. Colors.
I paid $1.50 for Sally Hansen Color Therapy “Therapewter” and $1 each for Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear “Fantaseas” and “Confetti Craze”.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled quarantine activities.