Tang Mimosa
Oh it looks like a Mimosa alright…a Mimosa made with Tang…thin and watery – a supernatural kind of orange not seen in nature. The cocktail of astronauts.
I’m referring to Sinful Colors “Mimosa”, an orange jelly with gold glitter dots and bars. This is three thick coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat. It’s a thin jelly, but easy to work with. I’m guessing I could just keep layering it on until it’s opaque…but why? I topped with “HK Girl” for super shine.
Target Beauty Box – March 2016
This month’s Target Beauty Box is giving me “Vacay Vibes”.
So much stuff for just $5 this month! Inside my box: Clairol Hair Food Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner; Not Your Mother’s Texturizing Sea Salt Spray (I had stopped getting so many of these…but here we go again); Sinful Colors Professional Nail Color in “Poisonberry” (I don’t have this one – yassss!); Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (Always happy to get this product – will be gone in no time); Banana Boat Sun Control Comfort SPF 30 Lotion (Yup, need to start stockpiling sunblock for the summer); nügg anti-aging Face Mask; you are AMAZING Juicy Grapefruit Body Lotion (Mmmmm, smells juicy); and Caress Adore Forever Body Wash.
I wonder if I can use my $3 off $5 coupon on next month’s box? But then, wouldn’t I have to buy 3 of them?
Take to the Sky
I’ve done pink and green within the last week, so I decided to try my new blue – Julep “Skylar” – first.
My husband says it’s silver, but it’s clearly blue, right? RIGHT?
“Skylar”, harbor blue chrome, is one of the smoothest chromes I’ve ever applied. Of course, there were streaks and lines in the polish, but not nearly as bad as the others I’ve used. Even though I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, there were a few pinprick bubbles – I don’t think there’s any way to avoid those bubbles in a chrome. I finished with “HK Girl” for extra shine and protection.
Smell Like Summer
I’m so ready to smell like summer!
I was downright belligerent the last time I went to Bath & Body Works, because the bath stuff was “Buy 3, Get 2″ – fuck no! I actually let my coupon mailer expire before I’d pay those outrageous prices! Luckily, when the deal went back to Buy 3, Get 3” – I got a 20% coupon in my email.
I was going to try one of the Italian Summer Scents, but “Mediterranean Blue Waters” smelled very similar to “Pure Paradise” and “Seaside Pink Jasmine” had too much pink smell…so I picked “Endless Weekend” in new packaging. I also got back-up Shower Gels in “Mad About You” and “A Thousand Wishes”.
Even though it wasn’t on sale, I HAD to get this new Scentportables Pink Flamingo ($6.50). HAD TO.
Oh…and even though I don’t wanna smell like a coconut, I picked up the Aloha Hawaii Bucket ($25) – it comes with mostly “Waikiki Beach Coconut” bath stuff, plus an extra lotion in “Aloha Waterfall Orchid”, two hand soaps – “Honolulu Sun” and “Fiji White Sands”, some antibac and a pouf. My husband was really interested in the paint bucket…he can’t have it!
Oh…and I was feeling generous and let Lily pick 3 travel sizes – she chose “Beautiful Day”, which surprised me. Before I was even finished paying, so was coating her arms with the lotion – right there in the store. Kids are weird. She ran off with them, so I couldn’t get them in the picture.
March Julep Maven Box – Lighten Up
March’s theme is “Lighten Up” – I’m guessing a nod to switching to spring pastels and not a demand to lighten one’s mood?
I didn’t feel like yet more blue eyeliner, so I chose all polish this month. I immediately grabbed one of their new holographic jellies – It Girl “Cecile”, Caribbean breeze holographic jelly. Then I grabbed It Girl “Skylar”, harbor blue chrome. I had a hard time picking the last one…but finally settled on Classic with a Twist “Abby”, honey almond sheer creme – it *might* be the perfect pinky nude? We shall see…
I wonder if I have a friend with a daughter named “Cecile”? I’ve got friends with an “Abby” and a “Skylar”…Which one will I try out first?
Oh…and a cherry Blow Pop. Ick.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Use the Force
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So…”the force” is black, white, gold and pink? I never knew…
Funky Fingers “Use the Force” is anyway – black, white, gold and light pink bar glitter. I decided to use it over Nails Inc. “Bruton Street” (Bruton Street is the birthplace of Queen Elizabeth – yup, I googled it). “Bruton Street” is a dusty rose similar to “Lovecraft”, but leaning more mauve than pink.
“Bruton Street” went on like a dream over Sinful Colors Base Coat. It was nearly full coverage in one coat – no streaks. I did two coats just to be sure. Then – of course – “HK Girl”.
My husband said my nails look weird – like plastic. Now THAT’s the sign of a good manicure – so perfect they look fake!
Bonus Ulta Haul
For the past few years, I’ve had a ritual. As soon as I find out what my yearly bonus will be, I go online and buy the makeup that’s been on my mind. I only spend around $50 – nothing huge – it’s just a fun, immediate way to celebrate.
This time, I immediately went to Ulta’s site and started adding.
First was another Makeup Revolution Palette and another Salvation Lip Lacquer in “Nothing Like Anything”.
In addition to 3 more NYX Lip Lingerie and another Lip Ombre Duo in “Rags & Riches”, I also decided to try NYX HD Finishing Powder in “Banana”. Yup, I’m gonna try Banana Powder…the Kardashian Holy Grail for contouring. I’m not going to contour, per se…I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it.
There was also a Skincare Beauty Break – it was free, so why not? It came with a Clarisonic brush head (I don’t have a Clarisonic…yet); Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel; Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser; Exuviance Purifying Clay Mask; and Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt. My freebies were Benefit Air Patrol and Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer (I think I have enough of this to paint my house now).
I promise – these NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks are NOT all the same color. From top to bottom, they are “Push-up”, “Corset” and “Bedtime Flirt”. The formula is creamy, although a bit drying, and last almost all day
I wore “Push-up” today – it looked great with a dramatic matte eye. It did feel dry after a few hours, so I did a bit of lip balm over it to replenish my lips. It didn’t melt away and didn’t leave any weird residue on my lips.
I couldn’t resist swatching the Makeup Revolution Salvation “New-trals vs. Neutrals” palette. It’s a bit frustrating that all the Salvation palettes come in identical plastic cases…although this palette is matte black plastic and “Girls on Film” is shiny plastic. Other than that, the only way to tell them apart is to look at the stick on the back. This palette also comes with the shadow names printed on the plastic liner – I love that! It also came with a good quality, dual-ended brush – instead of the sponge applicator in “Girls on Film”.
The quality also feels better than “Girls on Film”. I wore it this morning, sticking to the lightest matte and the orangey matte for my crease. It went on flawlessly with the brush and blended beautifully. I’m looking forward to trying the shimmers tomorrow – they look very similar to the UD Gwen Stefnai palette. I’m in HEAVEN…at least until my monster order for the Makeup Revolution site makes it across the pond…
Mermaid’s Dream
Deborah Lippmann “Mermaid’s Dream” is the #1 reason I picked up Sephora Favorites Summerstash! Just look at it…such a perfect polish for summer. I don’t care if it’s February – it’s feeling like summer in Texas!
“Mermaid’s Dream” is a light turquoise shimmer, with flecks of gold and dark turquoise glitter. In a word – it’s amazing. Every girl needs this in their collection. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, it took just two coats for full coverage. The polish is thin and covers perfectly. I finished with “HK Girl” and was left with a slightly pebbley finish. It’s been over 24 hours and I haven’t gotten a single chip or edgewear – is the Deborah Lippman curse broken?
Julep “Shay” is somewhat similar, but without the dark turquoise glitter.
Oh…and I trimmed my nails down to nubs again. Several nails on my right hand had peeled and broken (probably from opening the shrinkwrap on all the new makeup I’ve been buying) and I went ahead and made them all match.
The New Normal?
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So is this the new normal at Walgreens?
The Sinful Colors sale is 2/$3 now? Pfffpht.
Even so, I went ahead and picked up a few – it feels like it’s been forever since Walgreen’s has had a Sinful Colors sale – this is the first one of the year!
I picked “Gold N’ Roses”, “I’m All In”, “Feeling Lucky?” and “San Francisco”.
I also grabbed another Sinful Colors Base Coat – can’t risk running out.
Just a warning…this Walgreen’s deal ended yesterday…you’ll have to wait for the next one.
Of course, the first one I grabbed was the rose gold – “Gold N’ Roses”. Plus…the name!!! Guns N’ Roses was my very first concert – a gift for my 16th birthday.
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First – Sinful Colors Base Coat. “Gold N’ Roses” went on like a dream – it was smooth as buttah. This is a super high quality polish – comparable to the Zoya shimmers. There is a bit of glitter in the polish, not too much. I finished with “HK Girl”.
“Gold N’ Roses” would look really fantastic matte – I’m going to try it soon.
The Makeup Revolution
I’ve been curious about Makeup Revolution since it launched in the US at Ulta last summer. It’s a UK brand, famous for their prestige dupes and ridiculously low prices. Seriously – palettes for $5-$10 and lipstick for $3-$5. I hadn’t gotten around to trying out the brand…until my fellow makeup enthusiast in the UK, Sally, placed an order…then I had serious makeup envy.
I was out shopping with my big sis this past weekend, so of course there was a stop at Sephora and Ulta. I didn’t see anything new at Sephora, but I went directly to the Makeup Revolution display at Ulta. It was pretty well picked clean, but I managed to find a few things…
The first thing I grabbed was the Makeup Revolution Salvation “Girls on Film” palette. 18 eye shadows – 12 shimmer and 6 matte – for $10! The colors are smoky neutrals, leaning towards copper and bronze. It’s not a dupe of any well known products, but it reminds me of the Urban Decay “Mariposa” Palette.
For the last few years, I’ve been dutifully detailing my purchases, but I’ve decided to try branching out and swatching some of my purchases. My palette is no longer pretty after swatching, but I have already used it the past three days, so it was no longer pristine anyway.
After three days, I’ll say that the quality is fairly decent. The shimmers are buttery and blend well. They do tend to fade through the day, but I haven’t been using any primers – they tend to feel heavy and itchy on my eyes when I wear them through the work day. The matte shades aren’t as vivid as I would like, but still better than the usual drugstore or store brands.
I also tried one the Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquers in “Vamp” ($5). I wore it today and it applied smoothly and dried matte…but disappeared on my inner lips right after coffee. I tried to perk it up with lip balm, but the balm totally dissolved it, so I had to wipe it off. I am not thrilled with the staying power, but it would work for going out.
I also found a single NYX Lip Lingerie in “Exotic” ($6.99) – just one in the entire store, stashed among the Soft Matte Lip Creams. I grabbed it quick! I wore it Sunday – it is an almost perfect dupe for Kat Von D “Lolita”! It, too faded after a hearty Taco Bell meal…but I was able to revive it with lip gloss. Since it is a lighter shade, it still looked good with gloss on top and didn’t dissolve.
I was rather irritated that the current coupon was 20% off one item – I only got $2 off my palette.
I’ve also been spying on the Makeup Revolution Website…so much more than what launched at Ulta! They have Too Faced Chocolate Bar, Urban Decay Naked/Electric and LORAC Pro dupes, plus well-reviewed foundation. I am having a hard time stomaching the $12-$15 shipping, so I signed up for their emails…hoping for a sale that makes the shipping worth it…until then, I’ll just have to buy EVERYTHING available through Ulta.