Month: July 2020
Hufflepuffery
When I got my last Ulta order, I thought my daughter was going to have a seizure from how excited she was about my Gryffindor palette, so as soon as the Hufflepuff version was back in stock, I had to get it for her.
So yes, I ordered her the Harry Potter x Ulta Beauty Hufflepuff Eye Shadow Palette ($16). A few more products dropped, so I also got her a Hufflepuff Cosmetic Bag ($16) and the House Pride Hair Accessory Set ($18)…I admit, I stole the Gryffindor scrunchie and my son stole the Slytherin one.
I came across a new product that I found intriguing – The Sign Tribe Remove and Chill Reusable Nail Polish Remover Pads ($16). I spend a small fortune on cotton rounds, so I was curious if I could save some money using these pads. I’ve used them a few times and they seem to work just fine with regular polish remover. I still need to try them with Remove and Chill Nail Enamel Remover. Each pad is supposed to be able to be used 25 times, whereas I use between 2-6 cotton rounds each time. So…this pack should replace roughly 300 cotton pads, or 3 packs ($3 each or so). If I get 50 uses out of each pad, it might be worth it?
I have a hard time saying “no” to clearance nail polish. It’s rare to see Orly on sale, especially for a price as low as $2.38. I picked up 3 different shades – an iridescent pink pearl called “Beautifully Bizarre” (somehow I added 2 to my cart, so someone will get gifted); a rose gold shimmer called “Lucid Dream”, and a hot pink called “Top Down”. I also got a few cheap Sally Hansen Mega Strength polishes – a pinky gold glitter called “Mermaid Parade” for $2.68 and a matte fuchsia called “Like a Girl” for $1.50.
Oooooh! I qualified for a free pink tote with my $75 purchase. I do not know what I am going to tote with it, but I’ll think of something. I also used a $3.50 off $15 coupon – stacking deals.
$608 to Diamond – almost exactly halfway there!
Semi Annual Soap
So…as disappointed as I was about how underwhelming this summer’s Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale is…I can get a little bit excited about a free shipping offer.
To be honest, I could take or leave 50% off select Hand Soaps – $3.75 isn’t that great a deal…BUT it is better than 4/$20/$5 each or 6/$26/$4.33 each. I would’ve passed the free shipping offer on by…but I was excited to find “Rose Water & Ivy” for 50% off. I never thought I’d see it again! I didn’t go crazy – I just picked up a single Shower Gel ($6.25, down from $13.50).
I went ahead and got 11 of the Summer Soaps to refill my under-sink stock. I also added a half price Wallflowers Refill in “Orange Sunset” ($3.75).
Did you know that you can now use your Victoria’s Secret Credit Card to shop at Bath & Body Works? I didn’t know until I checked out – that’s a nice perk.
Clay Me
Sinful Colors “Clay Me” reminds me of terra cotta pottery, but shimmery. The sticker says “Stoned Crystal Shimmer”, but it’s from the 2017 “Desert Diva” Collection. It was another cheap Dollar Tree find…
This is a THICK polish – this is two coats, but I could’ve gotten away with just one. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat.
I had a hunch that this polish would look better with a matte top coat, so I used Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on all of my nails, except the pinky. It’s not bad looking shiny – the regular Glisten & Glow Top Coat makes it look like wet pottery!
July 2020 Ipsy Bag – Take a Break
Take a break and get away…Run away with us for the summer…
I know, I know – I STILL have Hamilton on the brain. This month’s ipsy bag includes products for a beauty staycation. Jokes on ipsy – we’re ALL on a staycation right now. Summer is CANCELED.
This month’s product choice was Mudmasky Facial Detox Purifying Recovery Mask. I will be trying it before my shower tomorrow…
Also in this month’s totally 80s “Escape” bag: Firma Beauty 201 Tall Blender Brush (Okay, I am gonna start painting shit with all these brushes); TheBalm Cosmetics Will Power Blush in “Perseverance”; BASD Body Lotion in “Seductive Sandalwood” (I do not care for sandalwood, so I gave it to my daughter); and Space Case Cosmetics Eye Shadow in “Karma is a Beach”.
A good assortment of products this month!
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. I am starting to get tempted to subscribe to the yearly plan…
July 2020 Allure Beauty Box – The Little Things
Allure is back on the skincare kick again, giving us an all skincare box for July.
The star of this month’s box is a full size – 40ml – Peach & Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum. I’ve gotten a few samples of this before with Ulta GWPs and even used up one of them. It’s a nice, light serum full of hyaluronic acid. The only downside is that it doesn’t smell like peach…or lily, for that matter. I’ve been using it every morning before work.
I’ve also been using the Osea Ocean Cleanser. It has a really odd, slimy texture and smells very…green? It smells like seaweed or something? It’s okay, but I wouldn’t buy it for myself.
Also in this month’s box: Beautaniq Beauty Butter Lip & Cheek Balm; Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Calming Gel Cream (a different product than the Correcting Cream I got in April, but I did get this gel in a Sephora Play! box in 2017); Lapcos Daily Skin Mask in Charcoal; and Avarelle Acne Cover Patches.
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.
Tint for Tat
Sheer polishes are gamble. Unless your nails are immaculately clean and exquisitely shaped, you run the risk of a sheer polish revealing every flaw. My nails are far from perfect, but they’re in better shape than usual…
I went ahead and took the risk to try Funky Fingers “Tint for Tat”, a sheer purple. This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. On its own, the polish was very shiny, so I decided to go matte instead. I topped ALL of my nails with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
I thought this polish would chip away to nothing immediately, but it lasted pretty well, with only minor edge wear after three days.
Ultraviolet Gryffindor
The new Urban Decay Cosmetics Naked Ultraviolet Palette ($49) launched at Ulta on July 5th, several weeks after the launch at Sephora, but I wanted to wait to buy it at Ulta so that I could use points to get it. Patience is a virtue…
I’m glad that I used points to get the Ultraviolet Palette – it’s somewhat underwhelming. The color story is…odd. I never would’ve put peach and purple together, but it is doable. The shadows are not as “buttery” and soft as the first several Naked Palettes – I had a harder time blending them on my bare skin. The brushes included with the palette is very nice though. I’m still experimenting with this palette, but I feel like it will be easily forgotten, kind of like Naked Smoky.
Ohhhhh, Ulta just launched a Harry Potter Collaboration. Several items were already sold out – include all of the lip pencils and the Vault with all of the House Shadow Palettes. I did get the Harry Potter x Ulta Beauty Gryffindor Eye Shadow Palette ($16) for myself. The color story is reminiscent of the rosy chestnut tones that I love. The quality was very good, similar to last summer’s Frida Kahlo collaboration. I knew that my daughter would be Slytherin GREEN with envy, so I picked her up 2 of the Harry Potter Lip Glosses: “Hedwig” (a clear glitter topper) and “9¾” (a peachy topper). Normally $10, they were BOGO Half.
I cannot say no to inflatable Flamingos, to I snagged the Ulta Meet Me Poolside Kit ($10, down from $20). The inflatable Flamingo Drink floatie looks like the perfect size for Barbie. The kit also includes the Meet Me Poolside Eye Shadow Palette, You’re Golden Matte Bronzer, Dive-In Bouncy Blush, Summertime Shine Lip Jelly, all in a cute Cosmetic Bag.
Another reason that I’m glad I waited to order from Ulta is all the gifts with purchase I was able to rack up on my order. I got ANOTHER Palm Tree Tote 4 piece gift like the one I got last month with $25 in Ulta products purchase – I gave it to Lily. I also got a Platinum/Diamond Exclusive Gift with a $30 Makeup purchase…turns out it was the Fall 2019 gift with purchase that I got in November. The Zebra Beauty Bag (free with an $85 purchase) was NOT a dupe though. Inside the rainbow zebra bag: Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Profundo; Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Smoothing Anti-Frizz Dry Oil Mist; Kenra Prime Conditioner Style Enhancing Shampoo & Conditioner (deluxe sizes!); Kate Somerville ExfoliKate (yes!); Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream; Bumble and bumble. Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil; MAC Fix+ Magic Radiance; Sunday Riley CEO Vitamin C Rich Hydration Cream; Becca Ignite Highlighter; Tan Towel Plus (NOPE); PÜR 4-in-1 Correcting Primer; Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Hand Cream; Mamonde Rose Water Toner (good, I’ve almost used up my last sample); touch in SOL No Poreblem Primer (Ooooh, I’ve been wanting to try this one); Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask; and philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar Peeling Mousse (intrigued). Yeah, this bag is packed with cool new products I’ve never tried before and few ones I really love.
So I managed to use $50 in points and a $3.50 off coupon, ultimately only spending $39.51 for the whole box…$682 to Diamond.
Juicy
Juicy is one of those words…some people cringe at the word “moist”, but “juicy” is the word that makes me gag. The worst is when someone refers to their ass as “juicy” – no ma’am!
Sinful Colors Quick Bliss “Juicy”, on the other hand, is a perfect pink creme. It reminds me a plastic pink flamingo!
This is two coats of “Juicy” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. It’s very shiny alone, but it looks even…juicier…with a shiny top coat. Yeah, I went there.
Be warned, this polish is definitely a streaky one – prepare yourself to be cursing the drag marks in your nails during application.
Lucky Libra
Libra, Libra…do I know any Libras? I cannot think of any of any Libras in my life, off the top of my head…my life is full of Virgos and Scorpios, but I cannot think of any Libras…
This is Julep “Lucky Libra”, a prosperous teal iridescent. I LOVE it. Teal is really an underrated shade. This is two coats of “Lucky Libra” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat…except for my ring finger, which was topped with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
Dark polishes like this usually stain my nails, but I got lucky with “Lucky Libra” – no stains at all.
A. Ham
Have you watched Hamilton yet? If you haven’t, beg/borrow/steal a Disney Plus account and watch it. Even though I brought my son to see the touring version a few years ago, there’s nothing like seeing the original cast shine in their roles. Shortly after watching, I had the idea for Hamilton nails.
I was shocked to find that I had NO nail polish with black star glitter. I had silver and gold, as well as red, white and blue – but not black. I also didn’t have any black star decals. I then started raiding the kids’s stickers, nope. I sure as hell wasn’t going to try to paint stars freehand, but then I remembered the moYou London stamping plates that I got in Vegas all those years ago…
I didn’t have a plate with a single star, but one of the plates had a small grouping of stars, so I went with that one. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors SinfulShine “Nola Way” over Glisten & Glow Base Ridge Filling Base Coat. I stamped the stars over my nails and I was shocked that it worked better than I remembered. I’d been avoiding playing with stamping because it seemed too annoying before…but it was kind of fun. I even got cocky enough to try a little fairy stamp on my pinky.
I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat, which didn’t smear most of my nails. I must have stamped too heavily on the middle finger of my right hand (not pictured), because it looked like a cluster of shooting stars.