Author: Lara
Saisei Ulta Haul
It’s been a bit since I’ve taken advantage, but I still love Diamond Love List Mondays…
I POUNCED on a new hair routine – it’s been a while since I did that, but a new product line from NatureLab. Tokyo had me intrigued. I used a few of their lines a few years back, before I switched to Sol de Janeiro. I grabbed NatureLab. Tokyo Saisei Stress Defense Amino Acid Shampoo and Saisei Restoring Therapy Conditioner ($22 each), as well as Saisei Biomimetic Peptide Treatment Essence ($46). This line is supposed to destress your scalp and minimize fallout and color loss – my husband will appreciate it, based on the labubu-sized clump of hair he recently pulled out of the shower drain. It’s only been a week, so no results to report yet.
My current favorite lippie was in my purse when it got stolen several months ago and it wasn’t re-released with products for the second Wicked film, so I decided to try r.e.m. beauty Wicked So Popular pH Adaptive Lip Oil ($25). It gives long lasting color…but it is fucking GLINDA pink. It’s fine with my skin tone, depending on what I’m wearing, but not as good as Tulip Fields. Ugh.
A few other “add to cart” moments: Thayers Soak It Up 80HR Liquid Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin ($14.99) and Alcohol-Free Witch Hazel Facial Toner in “Rose Petal” ($10.95); and wet n wild Bare Focus Tinted Hydrator Tinted Skin Veil ($6.99) – this is fucking foundation, why did they lie? Not quite full coverage, but definitely medium coverage – NOT a veil.
I racked up 4 gifts with purchase on this order! Just for being Diamond, I got a Free Diamond Exclusive belif The True Cream – Moisturizing Bomb with select $50 shipped purchase.
Inside the Free 11 Piece Beauty Bag with $85 shipped purchase: a blue sequined makeup bag; ANOTHER belif The True Cream – Moisturizing Bomb; Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray; mixsoon Soondy Centella Asiatica Essence (I have no fucking idea); Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Conditioner; DIME Luminosity Eye Serum; 2 Wella Invigo Brilliance Vibrant Color Mask; L’Occitane Amande Concentrate de Lait; Gucci Flora “Gorgeous Gardenia” (NO); Smashbox Pore-Vanishing Primer; Lancome Genifique Ultimate Serum; Shiseido Clarifying Cleansing Foam; Billie Eilish “Your Turn” (it smells like new shoes); and Paris Hilton “Iconic” (I actually like this one – I hate that I like it). Please no one tell Ulta that I got 15 items in what was supposed to be an 11 item gift.
Inside the Free Diamond & Platinum Exclusive 22 Piece Beauty Bag with $135 shipped purchase: a blackish green makeup bag; Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 59 Fragrance Mist (I’ve been wanting to try this one – woody vanilla); Tirtir Milk Skin Toner; Bondi Sands Self Tanning Foam in “Dark” (nope); ma:nyo Pure Cleansing Oil; NYX Fat Oil Chillz in “Strawberry Slush”; Dolce & Gabbana “Light Blue” (deluxe size); Redken One United Multi-Benefit Treatment; Mixsoon Bean Cleaning Oil (why do I need to clean my bean?); tarte tartlette Tubing Lash Primer; No7 Future Renew Night Serum; Farmacy Deep Sweep Pore Cleaning Toner; Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical; RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream; NOYZ “Only Human”; Marc Jacobs “Daisy Wild”; Azzaro “The Most Wanted”; Billie Eilish “eilish” (deluxe sample); Good Molecules Lightweight Daily Moisturizer; COSRX The Retinol 0.1 Cream; CECRED Moisture Sealing Lotion (for hair? wut?); Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel; Peter Thomas Roth Peptide Skinjection Amplified Wrinkle-Fix Serum; and Olaplex No. 6 Bond Smoother. 24 items in this bag!
Finally, inside the Free Diamond & Platinum Exclusive 9 Piece Skincare Gift with select $25 shipped purchase: bareMinerals Skin Rescue; Murad Environmental Shield Superactive Moisturizer; Benefit The POREfessional Deep Retreat Pore-Clearing Clay Mask; Estee Lauder Nutritious 2-in-1 Foam Cleanser (um, nutritious?); Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 50; it Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream Barrier Boost; Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 50; Fur Ingrown Concentrate; and Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench SPF 45. Awww…just the 9 items in this one.
Since I knew this order would take me to Diamond Status for 2026, I used a $5 off coupon and $20.50 in Ulta points. How am I going to try all 48 samples???
The Life of a Showgirl
A few years back, my kids turned me into a Swiftie. I took them to The Eras Tour. I handled their cringe when I declared that my favorite songs were ‘You Need to Calm Down,’ followed by ‘Anti-Hero.’ I made fucking personalized friendship bracelets for every person in my group at work (with the help of my fellow Swifties in the Culture Club, of course). Now they don’t even care about Taylor anymore…my son has moved on to country music and my daughter has moved on to KPOP. Yet here I am, enjoying ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ by myself.
I truly do have a nail polish for every occasion. I created this look starting with Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and two coats each of Sinful Colors “Turnt-Quoise” and “Cloud 9”. I applied a glitter gradient using my favorite glitter – Nicole by OPI “Pick of the Glitter” (which is super thick and chunky – girl needs some thinner). I finished off with a coat of Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
One of my favorite songs from the album is ‘Opalite’ – and I just happened to have an opalite egg handy. It was my mother’s – she was obsessed with eggs in her artwork – and I’d like to think that she would’ve been a Swiftie, too.
…and I don’t care what anyone says – this album slaps. Tay Tay can sing about her man’s dick for a full album and I’m here for it.
Heidi HO! HA HA HA
If you heard, “Heidi HO! HA HA HA…” coming from your child’s doll – would you laugh? Or would you fucking RUN as fast as your little legs could carry you?
I would fucking RUN, because that means CHUCKY is after you. Chucky is one of my favorite horror icons. I’ve seen all of the original films, as well as the SyFy series (which was cancelled too soon, IMHO). I haven’t had the stomach to watch the remake, but I’d watch Aubrey Plaza watch paint dry, so I need to make a point to watch it this spooky season.
Hearts & Promises “Heidi HO! HA HA HA” is from September’s PPUWeen and is, of course, inspired by Chucky. I have many, MANY sparkly red polishes – HELLO RUBY RED SLIPPERS – but this one might be the best one I’ve ever had. It’s absolutely opaque and shiny as fuck, even without a top coat. The sparkles are so fine, that there is no texture to fight with. This is a PRIMO nail polish.
This is two coats of “Heidi Ho! HA HA HA” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
Polish Pickup September 2025 – PPUWeen
It was quite hard not to fill my shopping cart with ALL of the PPUWeen Polishes…I trimmed down my cart quite a bit and somehow ended up with almost all red polishes? It’s fine, I promise…
Haunted Polish “Coven” ($13.50) is inspired by moonlight shining through red stained glass. This is my first Haunted Polish and I am intrigued.
Hearts & Promises “Heidi HO HAHAHA” ($13.50) is inspired by the man himself, Charles Lee Ray, AKA Chucky.
Sweet Heart Polish “There are Ghosts in the Basement!” ($13.50) is inspired by Matthew Lillard’s character in Thirteen Ghosts. I think it’s time for a rewatch!
Penelope Luz “Vampire’s Blood” ($13.50) is inspired by the bloodlust of vampires. Not only is it a magnetic polish, but it also changes colors with a top coat!
Finally, I picked up another Baroness X Acetone Additive in “Cacao Crystal Vanilla” ($8.50). I cannot wait to crack open a new dipping jar of nail polish remover!
I hope some of the other PPUWeen polishes come back next Rewind…
The Owls are STILL Not What They Seem
An 11 year old nail polish and it’s still good!
That’s right, I got Hare Polish “The Owls are Not What They Seem” back in 2014. I actually wanted to use “Wrapped in Plastic” for my trip to Twin Peaks (um, I mean North Bend, WA), but it was super thick and dried out. I think I can revive it with nail polish thinner, but that is a project for another day.
You can see how it looked 10 years ago here – virtually the same!
This is two coats of “The Owls are Not What They Seem” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
Happy 2025
Happy 2025? Oh, the irony…
I picked up DRK Nails “Happy 2025” from July’s Rewind Polish Pickup, but it was originally released in December 2024’s Maker’s Choice, which I missed. It’s a super shimmery magnetic polish with a dramatic blue base with a green magnetic shift. The magnetic shift was strong with this one – the magnet actually made bare spots on a few of my nails, but it wasn’t enough to ruin them. I’d like to try this one with a weaker magnet next time.
This is two coats of “Happy 2025”, magnetized with a neodymium magnet using DRK Nails Magic Effect,over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under DRK Nails Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
September 2025 Ipsy Bag – More is More
Another pink glam bag…perfect for storing Barbie clothes!
My product choice this month was Elemis Superfood Midnight Facial. It’s a botanical scented night cream and it is very hydrating. I’s like to say that it smells like…dragonfruit…but the description says banana fruit flower.
Also in this month’s bag: a FULL SIZE Eva NYC Stay Hydrated Leave-In Conditioner (no complaints here, I use Leave-In Conditioner to slick back my hair when I clip it up every day); Hey Honey Wrinkle Smoothing Multi Peptide Serum (great for WFH days); Pinklipps Cosmetics Everlasting Lip Liner in “Rose Brown” (I LOVE the sharpener in the cap – and it looks great with my skin tone); and SONÄGE SKINCARE Gommage Exfoliating Gel (this is the only piece I haven’t tried yet – soon I will).
This is a better bag than recent months – I’ve been needing new skincare!
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Oh Behave!
I know I have a pile of Polish Pickup polishes from previous months…but August’s polishes are SO good…
BCB Lacquers “Oh Behave!” is a vibrant fuchsia jelly with purple to blue shimmer. It’s inspired by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and the shifting shimmer makes this polish look like his silly velvet suit.
This is two coats of “Oh Behave!” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
Back to the Fuchsia
I couldn’t wait – I had to try Cuticula “Back to the Fuchsia” immediately!
“Back to the Fuchsia” is from August’s “Time Travel” Polish Pickup, and is inspired by Back to the Future. Is there a more iconic Time Travel film? I don’t think so. It’s a vibrant fuchsia polish and it’s magnetic! I used a neodymium magnet diagonally across my nails and they turned out beautifully.
This is two coats of “Back to the Fuchsia”, magnetized with a neodymium magnet using DRK Nails Magic Effect,over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under DRK Nails Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.
TITSOAK Bella
This is not a polish for soaking your tits, sorry. TITSOAK is the abbreviated version of “This is the skin of a killer.” You know – one of the cringiest lines from the Twilight movies.
Sweet Heart Polish “TITSOAK Bella” is from August’s Time Travel Polish Pickup and is inspired by the maker’s desire to travel back in time and watch the films for the first time again. Would she be envious of me, having never seen them?
I didn’t remember that this is a magnetic polish when I applied it – I guess I’ll have to wear it again.
This is two coats of “TITSOAK Bella” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Froot Loop“.