Author: Lara
Target Beauty Boxes – August + September 2019
I don’t know how I managed to miss ordering the August Target Beauty Box – but I did. If an email was sent out, it got lost in my inbox and I didn’t see any social media posts either…BUT, it was still available to order when I went looking for the September box (which I also did not see an email on). I went ahead and ordered both boxes.
August’s box is “Hot for Fall” and includes products to help transition from summer to fall: MyBite Vitamins in Dark Chocolately Peanut; Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioning Treatment (I’ll have to hide from my son – this is his brand); hello Activated Charcoal + Hemp \Flouride Free Toothpaste (sounds GROSS, but I’ll try it); Oral-B Interdental Picks (Ooooh yeah!); Herbal Essences Birch Bark Extract Sulfate-Free Shampoo/Conditioner (I tried it out and it was fine – not nearly as exciting as the old commercials want you to believe – no hair-washing orgasms for me); and Dove Men + Care Fresh and Clean 2 in 1. This was a stuffed box!
The September “Glow Into Fall” box seemed kind of skimpy: Schick Intuition Sensitive Care Razor (not a fan of the Intuition line, so gave it to my daughter); Trim Salon Emery Board (I can always use one of these); TRESemme Botanique Color Vibrance and Shine Shampoo/Conditioner (I liked this one slightly more than the Herbal Essences one, but it’s hard to get use to the low foaming formulas); Miss Spa Hydrate Facial Sheet Mask; and Dove Dry Serum Powder Touch. I was intrigued by a serum antiperspirant and tried it immediately. It was okay, I guess – but I did NOT like getting it all over my hands. I feel like it left a residue on my fingers, even after washing my hands. I did like the smell, but I don’t know that I’ll be buying this one.
Each box was $7, free shipping, plus 5% off with my Target Red Card. Understandably, the coupon in the August box had already expired, but I am annoyed that the September coupon doesn’t seem to be usable either. My app won’t recognize it when I try to scan it, and the code to use online doesn’t work either. Bummer.
Julep Labor Day
I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing my monthly Julep boxes…back on Labor Day, I got an email with a killer sale – 50% off polishes, plus an additional 60% off $35 orders. Since I was previously a Maven, I had to “reactivate” my Julep account – they basically reset everyone’s account when they dismantled the Maven program. When I logged in, it said I didn’t qualify for the 60% deal…but my previous Maven status gives me 25% off, plus activating gave me an additional 35% off, so it worked out to 60% off anyway. Long story short, I got 6 polishes for a few cents less than $20 – a killer deal!
I picked up the “Surreal World” 2 polish set, which includes Bombshell “Azalea” – pink sunrise holographic microglitter – and It Girl “Bri” – Purple Ember Holographic Shimmer. I picked just one from the Intention Collection, “Growth” – sprouted green creme. (I have no idea what that means.)
I wanted to get the whole Zodiac Collection, since I already have “Virgo” (for my mom) and “Taurus” (for my sister), but they didn’t have them all still available. I was able to get “Stirring Sagittarius” (my husband) – introspective mauve iridescent – and “Passionate Pisces” (both my kids) – shimmering seaside sunset metallic. I was irritated about not being able to get an Aquarius polish, but I was able to get one from the newer Birthstone Collection – “Bernadette – Black Onyx for February” – black onyx birthstone microshimmer with silver glitter.
I’ve been getting emails that Julep is now being carried at Target – I’ll have to check it out.
Glam N’ Roses
I couldn’t resist trying another Sinful Colors x Bebe Rexha Velvet Obsession polish – this one is called “Glam N’ Roses”.
That name sounds familiar, huh? It’s very close to “Gold N’ Roses”, a different Sinful Colors polish. The tone is very similar, but the finishes are different.
I used a different base coat this time – I used Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. I noticed a very slight difference in the streakiness – but this polish is still really fucking streaky.
Again, this is two coats with NO top coat. This polish lasted quite a while longer than Dark Romance, but I think it is because I didn’t do any dishes while wearing it?
September 2019 Ipsy Bag – #DiscoverYourself
Ipsy is really taking it to the next level. Not only have they added Product Choice over the last few months, but they now have added additional product tiers – Plus (5 full size products for $25) and Ultimate (12 products for $50). I am content to stick with the regular Glam Bag for now, but maybe if I win the lottery, I can upgrade?
September’s bag is a cute Constellation printed canvas bag, filled with new discoveries. My product choice this month was Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask. It was an easy pick – all of the other choices were Ofra products. No offense intended, but it is kind of a “blah” brand to me. AND I got a product anyway – Ofra Cosmetics x Madison Blush in “Sweet Stuff” (I have no idea who Madison Miller is – do you?).
Also in this month’s bag: Haruharu Wonder Honey Green Aqua Bomb Cream (but it looks like a lip balm?); Sundays Nail Polish in “No. 35” (it’s a dark navy blue); and The Beauty Crop Eyeshadow in “Halcyon” (ugh, a dark metallic army green – so weird).
A strange collection of products, for sure. What are you even doing, Ipsy?
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Dark Romance
I couldn’t wait to get Sinful Colors “Dark Romance” on my fingers!
“Dark Romance” is from the Bebe Rexha/”Velvet Obsession” Collection. It is a brownish burgundy matte shimmer. This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Base Coat, with NO top coat. The first layer was very, VERY streaky. The polish dries very quickly, which is great…but that also make the polish prone to cracking. I had to be very careful with the second coat – I think I filled in all the cracks. I suspect that the base coat didn’t smooth the surface of my nails enough, so next time I’ll use the Ridge Filling Top Coat.
Like all matte polishes, the lack of top coat means that the polish chips quickly, I feel like this one chipped even more quickly than usual, but it may just have been so obvious because it is a dark polish.
At first, I thought this might be a dupe for Sinful Colors “Haute Koffee” from Kylie’s Collection, but it’s not very similar at all. The base colors are similar, I guess – and they are both matte, but “Dark Romance” has a bold silver shimmer that is very prominent.
Velvet Obsession
I ran ALL around Walmart last weekend, looking for the new Sinful Colors x Bebe Rexha Collaboration, as well as a new Blacklight Halloween Collection. I didn’t find them at Walmart, but I found three of the Bebe Rexha polishes at HEB for $2.98 each.
The Bebe Rexha Collaboration is called “Velvet Obsession” and is a collection of eight velvet-y matte polishes, three of which were chosen by Bebe herself. It seems that I found the three Bebe shades: “Glam N’ Roses” – a light pink, “Twisted Obsession” – a bright purple, and “Dark Romance” – a dark brownish burgundy.
Okay, now I need the other five…I really don’t give a shit about Bebe Rexha, but these polishes are noice.
Rose Flush
So, I’m still working on my National Nail Polish Day haul…
This is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte in “Rose Flush”. “Rose Flush” is a peachy rose gold polish, with a matte finish. It reminds me of NARS “Orgasm”.
I started with Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and then two coats of “Rose Flush”…and NO top coat! The polish lasted just fine without the top coat, but since it was generally neutral, the chips blended in.
Exes & Oh’s
Okay, this was a total impulse buy – there was a huge Colour Pop display on the endcap where I was waiting in line to check out…so I didn’t hesitate to drop the ColourPop Cosmetics “Exes & Oh’s” Palette ($16) into my bag. I’d been wanting to try their eyeshadow for the longest time. Their palettes are super affordable for a lot of colors! My only complaint is that the lighter shimmer shades all turn into the same copper color on me. I find this problem a lot with budget beauty brands, like Wet n Wild or Makeup Revolution – very little color differentiation on the skin. Even so, the colors stay vibrant all day. The biggest issue I have is the name of the palette. I guess it’s not the name itself – I love the song “Exes & Ohs” – it’s that extraneous apostrophe! That apostrophe indicates that “Oh’s” is either possessive or a contraction…bullshit! I took a DNA Test and it turns out I am 100% that grammar nazi bitch.
The rest of the bag is stuff I picked up, while waiting for Lily’s haircut. I picked up a Headband/Shower Cap Set ($9.99) from The Vintage Cosmetic Company, because PINK FLAMINGOS. I also picked up a new mask from Freeman Beauty – Canadian Hemp Seed Clay Clay Mask ($4.29). The clay was weirdly plastic feeling, but I really do feel like it worked well on my skin. I also grabbed a few clearance hairbrushes for my kids.
My purchase was just big enough to use a $10 OFF $40 coupon. $517 to Diamond…
Punk the Town
I wanted some fun purple nails on Labor Day, so I decided to play with Sinful Colors Hypnotic Transforming Top Coat “Punk the Town”. I’ve had it over two years and have never played with it! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it do anything with any of the polishes I chose.
I’m not sure if the fact that I started with Glisten & Glow Base Coat contributed to the top coat not transforming….hmmm.
The first thing I tried was mixing with a glitter on my thumb – Sinful Colors “Drag Queen”. No luck – it barely changed the polish at all. Then, I thought a super light polish would work – I chose a pastel blue for my index finger, Sinful Colors “Under the Inbluence” – nope, it barely mixed. I even tried another purple on my middle finger – Sinful Colors “Amazon Woman”. Nada.
I tried reversing the orders of the polish on my ring finger and pinky – still nothing. I declare that “Punk the Town” is a dud.
I do like the way my nails turned out, however, after topping with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat. Matte forever!
Blame it on my Juiced
It’s September…Summer is supposed to be in its last gasps…yeah right, this is Texas. It was over 100 degrees today. So instead of a pumpkin, this bright, juicy orange is just an orange.
This juicy orange is Sinful Colors “Juiced” from the matte Neon Collection. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat (ooooh, I’m running low). I painted two coats of “Juiced”. There were a few streaks remaining in the second coat, but not enough for me to risk a third coat and a goopy mess. I finished with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat for extra matte protection.
I took pictures in my kitchen and on my back porch, in varying levels of light. It doesn’t even look like the same polish from picture to picture!
You cannot see it in the pictures, but the thing I love about this matte collection is the faint touch of a shimmer in the polishes.