Author: Lara
Sephora Play! October 2018 – Scary Good Beauty
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Scary good beauty? Count me in!
I am always happy to get products from First Aid Beauty. This box has First Aid Beauty Coconut Water Cream. I love smelling like a coconut.
Also in this month’s box: Urban Decay All Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray (I keep getting this and I never use it – I need to stop being so lazy); Benefit Gimme Brow Brow-Volumizing Fiber Gel (I’m too far gone for this); Anastasia Beverly Hills Banana Stick Contour (interesting – I might give it a spin); Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum; and Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eau de Parfums (two fragrances is a good deal, even though I already have them).
I guess the switch to ziploc baggies is a permanent one. That’s OK – I have at least 2 dozen fabric pouches that I don’t know what to do with.
Goshdarnit! I went to Sephora today and I forgot to use my Play! card. You’d think I’d be better than this by now.
Sephora Play is THE bestest box I receive every month. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
October 2018 Ipsy Bag – Ipsy After Dark
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This bag! I must work it into the rotation immediately! Blood red pleather, embossed with a stunning masquerade mask – I love it!
Other than the bag, the first thing that I noticed about this month’s products was the MAC Little Lipglass in “Love Child”. Even though I have not been loving glosses lately, I am digging the shimmery plum color. My lips look the best in plums and fuchsias.
Also in this month’s bag: Naked Cosmetics Loose Pigment in “Heavy Metal HE-03” (I’ve gotten a bucket of pigments and shadows from Naked Cosmetics and never played with them – I need to either try them or trash them); Murad Essential-C Cleanser; Eyeko Skinny Travel Size Liquid Eyeliner in “Carbon Black”; and a Beau Gachis Eyebrow Brush (oooooh, another one – when it rains, it pours).
A so-so set of products this month, but the dynamite bag makes up for it.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Marjorie Merkin
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Fall hit SO late, I’ve just not felt very Halloween-y lately. These delightful Merkin Nails are just the thing to get me into the Halloween spirit – it’s just a week away!
First off, Merkin is the name of our little black cat – so don’t get any wacky ideas about me gluing pubes to my fingernails. I’m not saying it will NEVER happen…but it is highly unlikely.
I decided to use Julep “Marjorie” as the base. I could have sworn that I’d tried “Marjorie” before, but I couldn’t find any posts with it, just the Maven box that had it – in the summer of 2014. That was back in the early days of my collection, before I consciously set aside my “untried” polishes. I bet it just got put in with the rest of the Julep polishes!
This is two coats of “Marjorie” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat. I carefully placed each black cat decal with tweezers, then sealed with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I have lots more kitties left – I’ll have to do this one again!
Spellbound
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Let’s have a moment of silence for my luxe long nails. After spending several days helping my sister look through boxes and pack and move, my nails were starting to see the signs. I’s already snagged and ripped two nails while washing my hair and I could tell that several more were approaching that point. even though the new hair and nail vitamins I got from Amazon have made my nails stronger than ever, they couldn’t take all that abuse. I just went ahead and cut them short…some of them TOO short. I foolishly decided to try cutting my nails BEFORE removing the polish, thinking that without being distracted by my nail line, I could get a more symmetrical shape. Nope – didn’t help, plus – I just ended up cutting them too short. Look at my index finger – I cut it almost to the quick!
Excusing the short toddler nails, what do you think of Sinful Colors “Spellbound”? It’s a lavender shimmer from this Halloween’s “Conjured Color” Collection. This is two coats of “Spellbound” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
At first, I thought “Spellbound” was a dupe for Zoya “Leslie”, but “Leslie” is more purple – if that makes sense? “Spellbound” also has far more shimmer – it’s not just a flash, like “Leslie”.
Target Beauty Boxes – October 2018
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Two boxes for two months in a row? Yes, please!
The “Hello Bright Eyes!” box is ALL eye products – I have two of them! The product that excited me the most was the Sonia Kashuk Brow Line + Fill Brush with Spoolie. I don’t have a full size Brow Brush – I’ve been using the tiny brush that came with an ABH Dip Brow Sample. This product alone is worth the price of the box. Also in this box: Acure Radically Rejuvenating Under Eye Hydrogel Mask; Lumify Eye Drops; Covergirl Get in Line Liquid Eyeliner; and Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara Mini. This box is the total package!
The other box is “Hello Autumn Groove” – products for the changing seasons. I squee’ed when I saw the Olay Total Effects Whips Moisturizer – I love this stuff. The Love Beauty and Planet Coconut Water & Mimosa Flower Shampoo and Conditioner also went straight into my shower. Also in this box: Tom’s Luminous White Toothpaste with Flouride (not a fan of this stuff – tastes weird); bliss Makeup Melt Dry/Wet Gentle Jelly Cleanser with Rose Flower; and Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion.
And you cannot really see them in the picture, but even the boxes themselves are fancy. They have designed on them, kind of like Birchboxes.
Both boxes had the usual $3 off a Beauty/Personal Care purchase of $15 or more. (I already used one of them yesterday – both my kids were out of shampoo/conditioner…and OF COURSE they each demand a different brand.) Each box was $7, with free shipping and 5% off with my Red Card.
I’ve got a Fetish…or Two
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I found myself pleasantly surprised last week, when a friend in one of my fb groups added me to her list for Sephora’s Friends & Family Event – a day of 20% off shopping!
I may have splurged a little bit…not only did I order the Kat Von D Fetish Eyeshadow Palette ($63), but I also got the Kat Von D Fetish Blush + Highlighter Palette ($43). I thought there was supposed to be a lipstick set to, but it never launched…probably because people got their panties in a bunch over “Underage Red” again.
I’ve been using both palettes this week and let me just say…neither of them are subtle! The matte eyeshadows are VERY pigmented and the shimmer/glitters are pigmented AND super glimmery. I am struggling with how I would wear this palette to work. The lighter matte colors in the palette are deceptive – they are NOT light once they get on your face. I do feel that there is sort of a disconnect between the eye palette and the cheek palette. The cheek colors are almost neon, but the shadows are all dark and goth. The cheek colors are seem to lean cool, as well – no warm colors. I’m still experimenting with the blushes and and highlighters, but I’m not sold on the cheek palette yet.
I also splurged on a Bite Beauty Sweet Treats Agave Lip Care Set ($12). It’s a Xmas set that includes Agave Sugar Lip Scrub Packette, Agave Lip Balm and Agave Lip Mask – I am addicted to the Lip Mask that I picked up in Vegas.
I used 250 points A Rosy Duo by Fresh Beauty, which comes with a Rose Deep Hydration Face Cream and Sugar Lip Treatment in “Rose”. (I know I just got one of these – shut it.) The other samples I got are Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream, Clinique Self-Heating Blackhead Extractor, and Klorane Soothing and Anti-Irritating Gel Shampoo & Conditioner with Peony (looking forward to trying this one – I love peony almost as much as rose).
Just $106 to Rouge Status for 2019…it will be a breeze!
Nita
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Julep “Nita” is muy bonita, eh? It’s my first pick from this month’s box.
“Nita” is cinder ash microglitter – I think microglitter is my favorite finish by Julep. No other polish brand does this fine-grit, sandy finish like Julep does. It adds a dimension to the polish that is unlike any other.
This is two coats of “Nita” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat – no top coat.
You know what else this polish reminds me of? It’s something my children have never seen – and probably never will see. TELEVISION STATIC. They will never know the harsh sight & sound of TV static, while accidentally switching between Broadcast TV and the VCR. They will never know what it was like to adjust an antenna “just so” to turn static into a somewhat watchable channel. There’s an art to it! I almost want to find out how to get static back onto my TV, just to fuck with them. THEY’RE HEEEEEEEEEEERE.
October 2018 Julep Maven Box – Up All Night
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Oh hey – I got some boxes piling up! I’ve been helping my sister move this week and been a little preoccupied…
I know I already have a bottle (somewhere) of Take a Breather Oxygen Nail Treatment – but this one is a new color – “Sheer Orchid”. Maybe after Halloween, I’ll let my nails breath and have a little break from polishes…
For polishes, I had a hard time choosing from all the rich Fall colors. Ultimately, I chose Bombshell “Nita”, Cinder Ash Microglitter, and Bombshell “Cecilia”, Nightshade Microshimmer. Microglitter, Microshimmer – why does everything have to be so tiny?
OH! And at the bottom of the box, a page of black cat nail decals. I can make Merkin nails!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Witch, Please
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Of course, Sinful Colors “Witch, Please” was the first polish I sampled from my score last week. I love a sassy nail polish name.
“Witch, Please” is a bright blue jelly base, filled with iridescent flakies. Although a single coat was somewhat sheer, I got nearly full coverage in two coats. The sheer quality of the polish gives the finished look a certain depth of field, since you can see the flakies layered upon one another.
This is two coats of “Witch, Please” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I admit, “Witch, Please” is very similar to a Halloween polish from last year – Pure Ice “I Want You to Haunt Me”. The Pure Ice one is more purple leaning, while “Witch, Please” is a truer blue.
On Wednesday, We Shop at Walgreen’s (and Ulta)
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Sinful Colors were 5/$5 this week – only 6 weeks or so since the last sale!
I set aside my entire Wednesday to Walgreen’s hop, so I’d be sure to find Halloween polishes. As luck would have it, I found most of the 2018 Halloween Collection, “Conjured Color”, at the first Walgreen’s. I picked up “Witch, Please”, “Mist-erious”, “Bitten”, “Bad Witch”, and “Spellbound”. Score! I also grabbed a few Wet N Wild Liquid Catsuit Liquid Lipsticks from the Halloween Display – “Bewitched” and “Shady Witch”. No “Zombie Blush” in the Halloween Display though. I didn’t realize it, but I had accrued $10 in Bonus Bucks – Score again!
I hit three more Walgreen’s in search of “Zombie Blush” – nothing. (That might sound like a lot of driving, but it was a really tight circle in the Richmond/Katy area. Plus, I drive a Hybrid, so…) I made a quick stop at my Ulta, but no luck there…at first. I immediately spied an OPI Grease Collection Mini Set ($10.97, down from $14.50) and grabbed it for Lily (and myself, I admit). I was about to leave, when I checked a random aisle of hair ties and stuff…and there was the Wet N Wild “Zombie Blush” Display!!! It was $5.99, plus I grabbed another Halloween Liquid Catsuit – “Pink Your Poison”. I hate when ulta has the lame 20% off one item coupons. I couldn’t use it on a clearance item, so I got 20% off my “Zombie Blush” – a measly $1.20 off. At least they have a 3x points for Platinum going this week.
The “Zombie Blush” is amazing! It looks like a grungy grey-green in the pan, but shifts to a rusty reddish shade on your cheeks or eyes. Be warned – a little goes a long, LONG way. It is reminiscent of the color shifting shade in the “Plaid to the Bone” Quad I got a while back.
On a side note, on Friday, I went to a fifth Walgreen’s, still searching for more colors. I found 4 polishes, plus the Matte Top Coat from the “Radical Matte” Collection…but when I went to check out and this collection wasn’t included in the sale. I had to walk away…