Author: Lara
Lock-it, New & Improved
I was a bit surprised when I saw that Kat Von D was releasing a “new & improved” version of her Lock-It Powder Foundation ($36). I had tried the old Lock-It Foundation a few years ago, but it didn’t work well for me – I picked the wrong shade, plus it seemed to oxidize quickly and just sit on my face. I crossed my fingers and ordered a lighter shade (120 – Fair Linen)…
The new Lock-It formula is now my holy grail powder foundation. I LOVE this formula. It buffs out to a matte finish and my pores almost disappear. It lasts ALL day. The compact is also supposed to be refillable, although I haven’t seen the refills for sale yet. It was well worth the $36…but I still have at least 4 powder foundations I need to use up – an It Cosmetics, a BareMinerals, a Sephora and a Laura Geller Baked. Argh.
I also used this order to pick out my Sephora Birthday Gift. There was a Kat Von D option, but it was foil-pack lipstick samples – um, no thanks. I picked the Drunk Elephant Gift, which includes Protini Polypeptide Cream and Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser.
I also used a promo code to get a vial of Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate – it smells so good! Sephora is still only giving out two samples right now – I feel personally betrayed. For samples, I picked Bite Beauty Agave Lip Balm & Agave Sugar Lip Scrub and Benefit The POREfessional Matte Rescue (I’m excited to try this version of the product).
Just $906 until Rouge in 2020.
Sephora Play! January 2019 – Your Beauty Future
Ooohhh, this is the first Sephora Play box that has me like, what? Honey, what is you doing?
I hate it when Subscription Boxes try to give me vitamins or food or drinks or shit. We tried to be a good sport – Logan made up a mug of the Four Sigmatic Golden Latte Mushroom Mix with Shiitake & Turmeric. It tastes exactly how I imagined it would taste – HORRIBLE. It tastes like a…mushroom latte. Damn, I still have 2 of these packets left (Sephora gave me three) – anyone want them?
Once I got past that fuckery, the rest of the box isn’t bad. Sephora and Allure are pushing Sunday Riley HARD – I’ve been getting their products every months. This month was Sunday Riley C.E.O. Rapid Flash Brightening Serum – it’s an okay product. Another one of my favorite products is this month’s bonus – a foil pack of Bite Beauty Agave Sugar Lip Balm and Scrub.
Also included in this month’s box: Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayon in “Glace”; Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (another love); and a Beautyblender Blendercleanser Solid Pro.
Sephora Play is usually my favorite monthly beauty box every month – mushrooms aside. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
Ho, Ho, NO
Xmas is long past, but it’s taken me this long get my hands on my daughter’s Grinch polishes! I got her the set of minis for Xmas, but she is insisting on trying the polishes before letting me try them. Can you believe that? The nerve…and that is exactly what I would do.
The first one she allowed me to sample is China Glaze “Ho, Ho, No”. It’s an orangey red polish, with a thick gold shimmer. How can a shimmer be thick, you ask? I don’t exactly know – the polish just seems to have more of a texture than the usual shimmer – it’s like the shimmer is actually chunky? I don’t even know how to explain it, except that I felt like it snagged on stuff – even with a top coat.
This is two coats of “Ho, Ho, No” over Glisten & Glow Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Three nail posts in a row – I better start mixing things up!
Godiva Leopard
Okay, I think I did it right this time!
This time, I started with Glisten & Glow Base Coat and then two coats of Zoya “Godiva” PixieDust. I then did a quick, thin coat of the Zoya Leopard Spots Topper and it worked! By worked, I mean…crackled into slightly smaller spots than when used over regular polish.
I know, I know – it’s not really impressive. But it still looks cool to me. No top coat, so I could enjoy the Pixie texture.
My favorite thing about “Godiva” is that when the polish on my tips gets worn down, you cannot tell at all. Nude polish FTW!
Lara Leopard
I told you, I was READY for the Zoya Leopard Spots Topper. But maybe I should’ve done some research first…
I started with Glisten & Glow Base Coat and a single coat of Zoya “Lara”. I then topped with the Leopard Spots Topper. I was expecting a petite spread of spots – but I was disappointed to see that the topper was acting like a regular old shatter polish. Whaaaaaat?
I actually don’t hate this. I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat and wore the Leopard Lara look for several days.
I did some googling…and DUH, the Spot Topper was designed to use over Zoya’s PixieDust polishes. Good thing I have a bunch of those – let me try it over one of those…
HUE19
Oh Zoya, it’s been so long…
I get all kinds of good information from my fb Groups. I had somehow missed the HUE19 promotion – no emails, nothing on from the brand on Social Media – but an online friend clued me into the HUE19 sale – any 4 polishes “FREE”, just pay $15 shipping. I took advantage of a similar sale in 2015, except it was just 3 polishes. Nice!
I only picked one from the newest collection – “Winter Holos” – and that was “Everly”, diamond holographic fuchsia red. I skipped straight to the “Jubilee Holiday 2018” collection for the last three: “Juniper” – sparkling teal textured PixieDust, “Kateri” – midnight brown cream, and the one I’d been lusting after for months – the Leopard Spots Topper.
Of course, I jumped on the Leopard Spots Topper first – I’ve already used it twice!
January 2019 Ipsy Bag – Recharge
I am getting total summer vibes from this month’s ipsy bag. I mean, look at this summery bag – baby blue chambray stripes with a hint of coral lining…ugh, why are my feet so cold? Maybe because it’s January.
Inside this month’s “Recharge” bag: Fluide Lip Gloss in “Elsewhere” (brand is new to me…and um, will this blue gloss make me look like Elsa?); Color Club Nail Polish in “Williamsburg” (this blackened blue glitter is HAWT); Illumasqua Colouring Pencil Eye Crayon in “Honour”; Pure Brazilian Leave-in Conditioner; and H2O+ Beauty Oasis Hydrating Treatment.
This is a rather random assortment of products. The brands are kind of off as well. Is ipsy the next subscription box to get the boot???
I haven’t gotten my Allure or Sephora boxes yet this month…I wonder what that means?
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Angelique
I did it – I found a glitter nail polish that doesn’t look as good mattified!
This is Julep “Angelique” – dragonfly wing iridescent glitter. It’s a mix of green and gold glitter – and shockingly, it looks better with a glossy top coat than a matte one.
This is two coats of “Angelique” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat. I used Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on my thumb and ring finger, and regular Glisten & Glow Top Coat on the rest.
I bet this polish would look nice over a red or turquoise base. I need to experiment with it.
Bad Witch
I’ve been waiting for someone to tell me to put down the matte top coat and slowly step away…but it hasn’t happened yet, so I guess I’ll just keep going.
I’ve been sitting on Sinful Colors “Bad Witch” since around Halloween. It is a gorgeous royal blue jelly glitter. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and got absolutely full coverage in two coats. I used Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on all of my nails, except for the ring finger. I had to see what it looked like glossy, so I topped it with regular Glisten & Glow Top Coat. It looks great both ways!
I have no idea why, but my ring finger and pinky nails grow just out of control – they make me look like a cokehead! I trimmed them down to match the rest of my nails and then reshaped my index finger to be less pointy. What do you think?
First Ulta Haul of 2019
I follow enough drag queens on Instagram to know that Sugarpill is one of THE makeup brands to use – besides Jeffree Star and Anastasia Beverly Hills, of course. Ulta just started carrying their lipsticks, so I loaded a bunch in my cart and waited to see what else I needed. Originally, I had Sugarpill “Trinket” in my cart, but it sold out. I also had some other ones, but I decided to try just one and scope out the quality before buying more. I settled on “Pillow Fight” ($18), a dusty mauve with gold sparkle. It smells like a dreamsicle! The formula wasn’t super drying, but more drying than I’m used to. It lasts about as long as my other liquid lips…I’ve got a new brand to stan!
I also needed to stock up on face washes. Pacifica was BOGO 40% off, so I got Crystal Beam Foaming Crystal Face Scrub ($16) and Coconut Milk Cream to Foam Face Wash ($6, down from $10). I am VERY disappointed in the Crystal Beam – it is NOT a scrub. There is NO grit to the exfoliant – a total waste. Boo.
I also got two of my favorite eye brow pencil at BOGO 50% off – Ulta Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” (one at $10 and one at $5). Until I can afford microblading, I’ll keep buying these.
I got a 19 piece Beauty Bag with my $25 purchase. Inside the bag: Juice Beauty Phyto Pigments (and there’s actually a picture of the GOOPtress on the sample – ugh); L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion (nope); Benefit They’re Real Mascara (HUGE Deluxe Sample); Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-aging Shampoo & Conditioner; Maybelline Great Lash Mascara; Ahava Mineral Mud Clearing Facial Treatment (yes!); Organic to Green Coco Oil; Caroline Herrera Good Girl; Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask (yasss); Mario Badescu Herbal Hydrating Serum; Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream; Living proof. T.B.D. multi-tasking styler; Clarins Extra-firming Nuit Night Cream; Chloe Chloe; Sexy Hair Love Oil; Boots No7 Early Defence Glow Activating Serum; Trilogy Rosehip Cream Cleanser; Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser; Perricone MD H2 Elemental Energy; and PUR Get a Grip Endurance Eyeshadow Primer. Oh, and a $5 off Ulta Beauty Collection Coupon. This is the best sample bag in a bit!
Ulta is STILL not including samples with their orders. Jerks. I used a $3.50 off coupon on this order.
$399 to Platinum for 2020.