Author: Lara
Allure Beauty Thrills – August 2015
It’s that time again – Allure Beauty Thrills time!
There are a few really top shelf items in this quarter’s box, a few repeats and many items I’m curious about. Inside my box: Yes to Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes (same as in my last Target Beauty Box); Butter London Nail Lacquer in “Violet’s Revenge”; it Cosmetics Hello Lashes Clinically Proven 5-in-1 Volumizing Mascara with Lash Ball Detailer; LANEIGE Advanced Hydration Trial Kit (I loved their water gel sleeping mask, so glad to get more); Milani Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipstick in “Matte Love”; Clear Scalp & Hair Intense Hydration Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner (I haven’t tried the last set of Clear I got); John Frieda Frizz Ease Beyond Smooth Frizz-Immunity Primer; HASK Monoi Coconut Nourishing Shine Oil; Curel Itch Defense Body Wash (Hmmm…ok); Pureology Colour Fanatic Instant Deep-Conditioning Mask; Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer; Redken Frizz Dismiss FPF 10 Fly-Away Fix Oil-Infused Finishing Sheets (now THIS is a good idea); Sonia Kashuk Nail Colour in “Jewel Orchid”; Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Rejuvenating Toothpaste, Truly Radiant Rinse (my son can have this), and Spinbrush Truly Radiant Deep Clean Manual Toothbrush; Caress Love Forever Body Wash (I’ve been wanting to try this – it is supposed to release fragrance for 12 hours); Dove Dry Spray Antiperspirant; Dove Purely Pampering Shea Butter with Vanilla Bean Beauty Bar; Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream (Ugh, they keep sending this shit and I keep giving it away); BAN Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths (I could have used these today at the Snake Farm); The Revlon ColorStay Collection – ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow in “Romantic”, ColorStay Overtime Lipcolor in “For Keeps Pink” (like the Molly Ringwald movie?), and ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in “Cardshark”; Suave Professionals Luxe Style Infusion Smoothing Light Weight Weather Proof Cream; and Aloxxi Texturizing Spray.
The box is still just $45.95 + $10 shipping – even if I only used half of it, it’s worth it.
August Julep Maven Box – Muse Montreal Collection
Sooo…did you notice that I never posted a review of Julep’s July box? That’s because I didn’t fucking get it. I canceled my card because I suspected fraud (turns out it was a false alarm) and I figured I would get an email to remind me to change my card number, but I didn’t fucking get that either. Oh well. It’s fixed now…
August’s collection is called “Muse Montreal”, inspired by the Canadian city. The new beauty product this month is Skip the Brush Crème-to-Powder Blush Stick. I chose “Moonlit Sand”, a glittery taupe. For polishes, I chose Wonder Maven “Laure” – blazing red-orange stardust – and Boho Glam “Cally” – festival fuchsia iridescent chrome. I added on a few polishes from last month’s “Drenched” Collection – Wonder Maven “Lainey” – summer berry shimmer – and Boho Glam “Magdalene” – blue curacao shimmer. I also grabbed this month’s “Back from the Vault” shade – “Mila” – charcoal multi-colored glitter. Since I got three add-on’s, I got Wonder Maven “Lee” – spitfire red crème – for free! I also got a set of “metal marks” – mini temporary tattoos. (Very similar to the ones in last month’s BB5.)
This month’s box also included as card to fill out and share what #BravePretty means to you. To me, it’s all about my daughter – she’s NEVER going to see me hesitate to put on a swimsuit and play with her because I’m afraid of how I’ll look. Maybe because I’m lazy, but never because I feel fat.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a FREE Welcome Box with code FRIEND!
Ursula, The Sea Witch
Wearing Sally Hansen Pearl Crush “Clam Digger” – I feel like Ursula, the Sea Witch!
There’s just something about purple/green shifting polishes that I cannot resist – I have several. But there was just something about “Clam Digger”, with those iridescent mother of pearl glitter discs. They’re large and stick up at weird angles – but there were a lot of them. I ended up having to just dab them on, since they tended to end up on the tips of my nail. At least I didn’t have to go fishing for them.
This is just 2 coats. I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine for the base coat and “HK Girl” for the top coat. “HK Girl” did a great job of smoothing out the edge of the discs and hiding my dab marks.
Oh Walgreens, How I Love Thee!
I can’t let a Walgreen’s 99 cent Sinful Colors sale go without stopping in and grabbing a few. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat, which was NOT on sale. I was conservative – only picking 4 colors: “All About You”, a gold and copper glitter; NEON “The Bright Thing”, because I want my nails to look like highlighters; “Hazed”, a Limited Edition puce demi-matte; and “Pride”, a rainbow glitter.
I also came upon some $1.49 clearance polishes – Sally Hansen Pearl Crush “Clam Digger” and “Rainbow Fish”. I almost bought one at Target this past weekend, on clearance for $2.74 – I’m glad I waited.
I also did some super secret birthday present shopping…shhhhhh!
Matchy Matchy
I found the perfect polish to match all my new lipstick – Ulta “Sunset Bronze” – a tiny little bottle from one of my old gifts with purchase.
Although it was thick, the polish went on smoothly, but there were a few bubbles on the second coat. I couldn’t decide on shiny or matte, so I did both – “HK Girl” and Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat, with Orly Bonder as the base. I like the matte better, but my husband likes the shiny better.
I found an eye shadow that matches perfectly – theBalm “Flirty”. I even wore a sweater and shoes to match – matchy matchy!
On a Mission…
When you’re on a mission and you still don’t find what you’re looking for…but still come home with several bags of goodies…
My mission – to find some dupes of Kat Von D “Lolita” (Sephora exclusive) and Anastasia Beverly Hills “Veronica” (Macy’s exclusive). As painful as it would be to spend $20 on a lipstick, it’s more annoying that both are very hard to come by – forever out of stock in stores and online. So I did some googling and found some cheaper alternatives. I hadn’t used my 20% off Ulta coupon, so I went in search of some NYX and Essence dupes. I saw online that NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in “Cannes” and NYX Intense Butter Gloss in “Chocolate Crepe” were close. Nope – no luck. I did, however, pick up another Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in “Soft Brown”, another Zoya Remove+ and Ulta Dual Tipped Foam Applicators (I can’t quit foam applicators). I also hit a Target and HEB looking for NYX, Essence and wet n wild dupes – but no luck.
That was Saturday. On Sunday, I scammed my husband into dropping me off at a different Ulta – I did manage to find NYX “Chocolate Crepe” – but no “Cannes”! I did grab NYX Butter Lipstick in “Pops” – it looks close, too. And then I saw the Fall Ulta Gift with Purchase (a leatherette bag with the usual – eye shadow quads, blush, mascara, polish, brushes, eye liner, lip gloss, etc.)…I picked Ulta Shiny Sheer Lip Gloss in “Smoky” (I thought it would be darker, but it just made my lips vaguely gray and glittery) and Ulta Liquid Liner in “Black Pearl” (Glittery black eye liner is good, but they were out of the Rose Gold I wanted). That was only $19 and I needed $19.50, so I grabbed Ulta Cotton Pads.
Last stop, HEB to grab some soda for my M-i-L…and I found wet n wild Megalast Lip Stick in “Spiked with Rum” ($1.93). Still no “Cannes”, I’ll keep searching, but look forward to some lipstick swatches coming soon…
Moscow Mule
Okay, I’ve never actually had a Moscow Mule, but it sounds really tasty…and Sinful Colors “Copper Pot” looks like like one of those fancy copper mugs.
This is two coats – smooth and full coverage – with Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”. I also did my toes, but I haven’t taken a pic yet. There’s a slight hint of green sparkle – where did that come from?
“Copper Pot” is somewhat similar to Julep “Tatiana”, but it’s a tad darker and less sparkly.
I’m Gilty
Sinful Colors “Gilded” has been sitting in my “untrieds” basket since…oh, OCTOBER, so I decided to take it for a spin.
“Gilded” is a gold shimmer with red microglitter. I was able to get almost full coverage in two coats, with Sinful Colors Base Coat (almost empty!) and “HK Girl”. The red and gold meld together to give a rose gold effect.
Just as I expected, “Gilded” is very similar to Julep “Love”, except the glitter is red, not fuchsia and there’s more of it.
HUGE Ulta Haul
Those “gift with purchase” deals get me every time. Last week, Ulta was offering a pink plastic Beauty Bag, filled with samples – free to Platinum Members with a $60 purchase. There just happened to be $60 of stuff I needed…a back-up Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Finishing Powder in “Medium Light”…2 more Freeman Beauty Masks that were BOGH (I’m a total mask addict now) – Avocado & Oatmeal Clay and Golden Grain Brightening…5 Ulta Brilliant Color Lip Glosses on sale for $3 each – “Rich Plum”, “Toast” (a back-up), “Spice”, “Guava”, and “Cupcake”…and I broke down and tried Poo-Pourri in “Rosy Cheeks” (I tried it earlier today – although I didn’t smell poo-poo, it seemed to be a mostly non-offensive load – more research is needed).
Inside my beautiful pink bag (perfect for my upcoming Vegas trip): Lancôme Defincils Mascara in “Black”; Ulta Sweet Fantasy Vanilla and Caramel Silky Smooth Body Lotion; it Cosmetics No-Tug Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in “Black-Brown”; Juice Organics Brightening Shampoo and Conditioner; Dolce & Gabbana “light blue – Sunset in Salina” (reminds me of my mom – smells a little bit like “Lauren”); it’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In for Blondes (I gave away the last one I got, but I’ll give this blonde version a try); Thierry Mugler “Angel” (I think a friend of mine wear this – so I never will); Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (I have SO many samples of this shit); Whish Body Butter in “Almond”; Biolage Matrix Exquisite Oil; dermalogica Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum; Laura Geller Baked Liquid Radiance Foundation in “Golden Medium”; Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Booster Serum (good stuff – I used up my last sample); Kate Spade “Live Color Fully” (I might actually wear this one); Benefit It’s Potent eye Benefit cream; and a mini Ulta Brilliant Gloss in “Toast” (I guess I didn’t need that back-up I ordered?). Gee, I’ve got finger cramps from typing.
Two more samples came with my order – HASK Coconut Monoi Oil Shampoo and Conditioner and Cargo HD Picture Perfect CC Cream. I also used my $3.50 coupon. Excited to play with my new stuff!
Piss Piñata
Never one to shy away from the most grotesque descriptions possible, I cannot resist comparing this particular combination of nail polish to the after effects of killing a piñata over a toilet. A “piss piñata”, if you will.
I do admit that Sinful Colors “Otaku Anime” is the loveliest yellow I have ever used. I usually hate yellow polish – I don’t often try it – but this shimmery polish manages not to look like a fungus. It is, however, reminiscent of a urine sample. I added Sinful Colors Piñata Blast “Fierce Fiesta” to my thumb and ring finger to jazz it up. “Fierce Fiesta” is a very sparse topper – red, blue and yellow dots, with giant pink hex pieces.
I used Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl” – smooth as silk.