Author: Lara
August Julep Maven Box – Build. Blend. Your Way.
WHOA! This month’s box is all about skin. It’s called “Build. Blend. Your Way.”
The only polish that caught my eye was It Girl “Jonna” – Iguana Green Duochrome. I used 700 Jules to add it to my box, because I wanted the two new skin products: Cushion Complexion Skin Perfector in “120 – Linen” and Insta-Filter Translucent Powder. My choice was good – the Cushion Complexion works as the best under-eye concealer I’ve ever tried. I also used it to highlight – it’s a multi-tasking marvel. Insta-Filter is also the best translucent powder I’ve tried – and I’ve tried a bunch. I wore JUST these two products on my skin over the weekend and that is all I needed. That is WOW. They carry BOTH of these products at Ulta, too.
This box made me SO happy…keep it up, Julep!!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Peri-Twinkle
Ooooh…BLURPLE!
Sinful Colors “Peri-Twinkle” is a very sheer blurple shimmer. It leans more blue than purple, but the purple is definitely there. This is just two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. It was a thinner formula – very easy to apply.
“Peri-Twinkle” is from a Christmas Collection. It doesn’t feel very Christmas to me, but maybe Hanukkah? Yes, let’s say that this is a Hanukkah polish!
Cheeto Dust
My animosity towards the color orange is well known. It just isn’t my color. But for some reason, I intentionally chose this very orange polish in last month’s Julep box. Why? I do not know.
This is not Construction Paper Orange. This is not Traffic Cone Orange. This is not Tang Orange. This is not Pumpkin Orange. This is not Longhorn Orange. This is not Doritos Orange. This is…Cheeto Dust orange! Not Cheetos themselves, but that delicious dust…the best part really is the licking of the fingers, isn’t it?
This is two coats of Julep “Nadine” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”.
Jam Out with your Clam Out
I needed to clear my nail “palate” after the very glittery “Serenity”. I grabbed Sinful Colors “Jam Out”, a new addition to their core collection.
“Jam Out” looks like a washed out pastel pink on first glance…but there’s more. There’s a luminous green shimmer underneath that pink. Can you see it on the bottle?
This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”.
I can’t hear the phrase “Jam Out” without adding “with your clam out”. I am so sorry – I know something is wrong with me…but isn’t this polish kind of…”clam” colored?
Sephora Play! July 2017 – Beauty Staycation
Getting my last July box in right at the last minute…
July’s theme is “Beauty Staycation” and the pink gingham bag says “Glamp Out!” I prefer glamping to camping any damn day.
So pumped to get another sample of Boscia Charcoal Pore Pudding – I got a sample last year and it was a really good mask. Also in this month’s box: bare minerals Gen Nude Matte Liquid Lipcolor in “Swag” (every brand is coming out with one right now); it Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara (I don’t know if I want my eyelashes stretched); Milk Makeup Cooling Water (not sure about this – it seems to be a “cooling” moisturizer stick?); Briogeo Rosarco Milk Reparative Leave-In Conditioning Spray (not a bad leave-in – I’m still working on the bottle I got a few years ago); and Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine (I have several of these, but it’s good).
Even though the box contains several products I already have or have had, not complaints from me – it’s alll good stuff.
If you haven’t signed up yet, get to 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.
Serenity Now
Argh, matte polishes can be so frustrating.
Formula X “Serenity” is a glitter matte, but it’s kind of chunky – not smooth. It’s got purple glitter in a black matte base. It’s only slightly gritty, not a full sand polish like Zoya’s Pixie Dusts. It’s just weird. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat. It dried quickly and did not dent, but the finish was just weird looking.
Oh…and it did not last for shit. I spent Sunday morning taping off the trim in my living room to continue painting my Island Oasis…and it was gone.
At least it was only $2.
July Birchbox – One-Two-Punch
Another month, another curated box. The theme is “One-Two-Punch” – quick solution products.
I’ll be honest, I picked the box purely for Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser – I got in a Birchbox last summer and I really liked it.
Also in this month’s box: Juliette Has a Gun Anyway (citrusy and clean); Oribe Matte Waves Texture Lotion; MAC Cosmetics Prep + Prime Skin (I have a full size – maybe I should revisit it now that my skin is healthier); and Beautaniq Beauty Blush Serum.
An interesting box and my skin is looking forward to trying some new products.
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.
Jade Kat
Sinful Colors “Jade Kat” was the first polish I grabbed from last week’s haul. I needed a contrast from the pink of “Hayat”, so I went with this bluish green shimmer. It’s a new add to the core collection – I dig it.
“Jade Kat” was sheerer than I expected. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”.
I cut my nails back down to nubs. I should’ve trimmed my index finger more, but it’s growing in so strong – I couldn’t cut off my best nail!
So we painted our breakfast nook yellow. Or shall I say, “Equatorial”. New nail pic background #1!
Target Beauty Box – July 2017
Hot damn! Another badass $7 box!
Even if I didn’t want any of the other products (but I do), I would’ve gotten it for the Acure Day Cream. I’ve gotten it in several Target boxes – it smells SO good and doesn’t break me out.
Also in this month’s “Hello Fireworks” box: Conair Cashmere Headwraps; e.l.f. Illuminating Mist & Set; Neutrogenaa Hydro Boost Water Gel (Ooooooh, I like Water Gel); John Frieda Frizz Ease Touch-Up Creme (I think I have some of this – if so, it’s good stuff); Neutrogena Towelettes (I’ve started using these to clean up eyeshadow fall-out – it’s a magic life hack); Secret Clear Gel Deodorant in “Cool Waterlily” (I don’t care for gel deodorants, but free is free); and Que Bella Mud & Peel-Off Mask Duo (yassssss masks).
So $7 this month, plus free shipping and 5% off with my Red Card. And another $3 off $15 coupon. I am bummed that I didn’t get to use the two I got with last month’s boxes.
Shade + Light Glimmer
Oh Kat Von D, just take all my money…
I told myself that I wasn’t going to order this palette on release day (7/11)…I lied. I ordered it.
Kat Von D Cosmetics Shade + Light Glimmer Eye Contour Palette ($49) is the shiny sister to the original Shade + Light palette, which is entirely matte. I got that palette for Xmas a few years ago and I was not thrilled with it at first…until I learned how to use it. Once I learned how to use it and contour my eyes, I fell in love with it.
I tried it out several days in a row and the quality is fantabulous. It blends well without primer and the variety of finishes are fun to play with. I have not yet used it with the matte version – that’s next on my list. I DID use the eye shadow over lipstick to “glimmerize” a matte lipstick – it looked amazing. Definitely try it.
I’m torn – I have been trying to compare it in my head with the Naked Heat palette…but they are SO different. I couldn’t choose one as a superior palette – they do two different things! Ugh, you just have to get BOTH of them.
One of the hardest parts of placing a Sephora order is picking which promo code to use. I save all of my Sephora emails in a folder, so I can easily access the most current promo codes. I found one for free deluxe samples of Living proof. No Frizz Shampoo & Conditioner. As much as Jennifer Anniston annoys me, Living proof. is one of the best hair lines I’ve ever sampled. I say “sampled” because an 8 oz. bottle is $25. Fuck a bunch of that…unless I win the lottery.
I am obsessed with the perfume samples I got with my order. I’ve been wanting to try Jo Malone for a while and I received a sample of Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia. It is different than any other fragrance I’ve tried. I cannot even explain it. It smells like…luxury. It’s pricey at $65, but not too ridiculous. I want to sample more before I pick this one. The other fragrance I got was Maison Margiela REPLICA Lipstick On. This one blew my mind. It immediately brought back memories of this old Art Deco armoire that my mom had – I believe it was lined with Cedar. This perfume smells like a mix of the inside of that armoire and literally, an old tube of lipstick. I know I am not describing it in the most attractive way, but it’s what I imagine Bette Davis must have smelled like. I might have to sell a kidney for it…it’s $126.
Oh…and a little foilpack of Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream.
Just $383 left until Rouge for 2018…maybe I will buy that $126 perfume…