Month: March 2021
Low-Key Lavender
Why yes, I did paint my nails to match my kitchen.
After deciding on a shade of pinkish purple for my kitchen – “Lover’s Knot” – I picked a similar shade of purple for my nails. This is Sinful Colors “Low-Key Lavender” from the Essenchills Collections. It’s a light lavender polish with a striking ultraviolet shimmer. The lavender scent is very light and faded quickly, which I was thankful for – lavender gives me a major headache.
This is two coats of “Low-Key Lavender” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. I was surprised at how well this polish lasted without a top coat – I wore it for 8 days, with just a bit of edge wear on my right hand.
March 2021 Allure Beauty Box – Full Refresh
March’s Allure Beauty Box is…interesting.
So, this month, Allure sent me another pricey serum – 111Skin Vitamin C Brightening Booster ($155) – but I haven’t used it, because I’m still using the pricey serum from February’s box. So is that what this box is gonna be now?
Also in this month’s box: Eyeko Double Act Shadow Stick (it’s hard for me to get excited about black and brown eyeliner pencils, but it DID come with a super cute sharpener); b.glen Clay Wash Mild Facial Cleanser (it works well, but smells weird – kind of vinegary); pixi by petra LipGlow Tinted Lip Balm in “Ruby” (I’m all about balms right now); Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Hand Cream; and Mudmasky Serum-infused eye mask (nope, have not tried yet).
Not a bad box, but a very odd mix of products.
The Allure Beauty Box recently increased their price from $15 to $23/month. They also offer an option for $250/year – a savings of $26. Sign up via my referral link.
Chance of Rainbows
I know I am supposed to be sampling all of my new Sinful Colors polishes, but this little Color Club beauty was SCREAMING at me from the clearance aisle at Walmart. For just $3.75, she came home with me.
This is Color Club “Chance of Rainbows” is gold glitter floating in a clear base with hidden blue shimmer – there’s a lot going on! The polish is PACKED with glitter – I got 75% coverage in two coats. This is two coats of “Chance of Rainbows” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. I used Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on my thumb and ringer finger and regular Glisten & Glow Top Coat on the rest. I think I like the way the matte nails look better.
I was disappointed at how quickly this polish chipped, but I don’t think it was the polish’s fault. I feel like the Mani Me decals really damaged my nails. I cleaned my nails with rubbing alcohol, but I still felt like the top layer of my nails was pitted and stripped from the adhesive. I also got the majority of the chips while unpacking some boxes from my garage. The newspapers the junk was wrapped in was from July 2006 – that stuff made it through fifteen years and three moves! My poor nails…they need some TLC.
Mani Me
January’s Allure Beauty Box included a $30 code to try out Mani Me – a site that sells custom-printed nail gels. No joke – you submit pictures of your fingernails and they 3D print a set of nail gels just for you.
I was skeptical, but these really are the best fitting nail decals I’ve tried. The thumbs were a bit on the small side, but other than that, each nail fit great. To be fair, the only other brands I’ve tried are Jamberry and Color Street – Mani Me Gels are like a cross between the two. They are thicker than Color Street, but not as thick as Jamberry and they don’t require a heater.
The one mistake I made was using a file to remove the excess from the tips instead of cutting with nail scissors. The file made the edges rip unevenly, which made them peel up more than they normally would have.
There were some really cute designs, but I was limited to picking out a specific Mani Me x Allure Set. Each set runs from $15 – $25, which is inline with Color Street on the low end. Even so, I cannot imagine spending $25 on a single set…unless they were AMAZING.
Oh! I forgot to mention that my order came with a free bottle of Mani Me Shimmer Top Coat, which is meant to add a shimmer to the matte designs. I used it on my pinkies, and to be honest – I couldn’t even see it. I also didn’t notice a difference in how long the decals lasted on my nails. After a full week, the edges were peeling up enough that I had to rip them off. I cannot imagine them lasting two full weeks like the website claims.
February 2021 Allure Beauty Box – Making Time
Uh oh, Allure Beauty Box is back on their bullshit again…
February’s box is another boring box, with weird products. The last few have been so good…but now this weird stuff…
U Beauty Resurfacing Compound is a beauty serum with retinol…and supposedly $148 for the one ounce bottle that came in my box. $148 an ounce! It’s a perfectly serviceable serum, but I haven’t been using it every day – I’m afraid to use retinol too often on my sensitive skin.
Also in the box: Christophe Robin Daily Hair Cream; Floss Lip Advocate in “Your Honor” (what an odd product name); Madeca Derma Revitalizing Mask; La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-In Milk Sunscreen SPF 100 (and it’s water resistant!); and Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask (I’ve been using this on my face at night – it smells nice).
I hope next month’s box is better – I bet it gets here tomorrow.
The Allure Beauty Box recently increased their price from $15 to $23/month. They also offer an option for $250/year – a savings of $26. Sign up via my referral link.
Turnt-quoise
I am not even gonna lie – this is one of the lamest nail polish names I’ve ever come across. I give you…Sinful Colors “Turnt-quoise”.
We gonna get turnt!
Is that right? Is that how you use it?
Even though the name is ridiculous, the polish itself is a winner. It’s a very sheer turquoise, with just a hint of shimmer. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, with one coat on my index finger, two coats on my middle finger and three coats on the rest. I topped all of my nail (except the pinky), with Sinful Colors Demi Matte Top Coat. My pinky got Glisten & Glow Top Coat, and it’s SO much shinier than the rest of them.
This is my favorite Tulle Temptation so far.
Naked Wild West
When a new Naked palette launches, you know I’ll be there.
Urban Decay Cosmetics Naked Wild West ($49) launched in stores last Sunday, after launching online at urbandecay.com a few weeks ago. I had my husband drop me off while running errands – the store didn’t even have the display set up yet! I had to ask someone and they grabbed one out of the storeroom.
The palette is coppery neutrals with a few blues thrown in, reminiscent of a southwestern color scheme. I’ve only gotten to use it once, but so far so good. The turquoise was a nice compliment to the coppers – I have high hopes for this palette.
It was also the last day of my birthday month – the birthday gift this year was lame…a tiny vial of Dermalogica Daily Exfoliator. Meh. I didn’t even bother getting my Sephora gift. I’m burnt out, I guess.
Because the palette was $49, the salesgirl only let me redeem $36 – she kept looking at a chart and I think it was her first day, because she wouldn’t let me apply $50, even though I’ve done it online several times. I didn’t want to go all “Karen”, so I just paid my $14 or so and left…I am still annoyed though. I should just stick to online.
$1,052 to Diamond status in 2022.
Coffee Drip
Sinful Colors “Coffee Drip” does indeed smell like coffee…but there’s an underlying creamy sweetness that’s more like a latte than a straight cup of joe. It’s part of the new Essenchills Collection.
This is two coats of “Coffee Drip” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. I was surprised at how long this polish lasted without a top coat – it only started to chip after a long bout of dishes when my son was sick.
I also did my toes, but topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. No one will be sniffing my feet, so I don’t need coffee scented toes.