Category: Face
April 2019 Ipsy Bag – Bloom
Oh ipsy, you give me months and months of great bags…and then you confuse me with a bag of bizarro products.
The only mainstream brand included is tarte – it’s a sample of tarte base tape hydrating primer. It must be a new product? I’ll give it a spin I guess.
Also in this month’s super cute lemon bag: Law Beauty Essentials 100% Vegan Nail Polish in “PURRRRPLICIOUS” (fooled me with a bottle that is an exact dupe of Butter London’s); Vasanti Contour Eyeshadow Brush; Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics Lip Oil in “Watermelon” (it’s like a watermelon Jolly Rancher); and 111SKIN Y Theorem Repair Serum Nac Y2 (I do not understand the name on the tube – I am doing the best I can).
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Sephora Play! April 2019 – Winning Beauty
April is spilling into May, BIG TIME. Oops.
April’s Sephora Play! theme is “Winning Beauty” – and I tend to agree, based on Urban Decay Perversion Mascara in “Black”, which is one of my favorite mascaras and happens to be the one I am using currently.
Also in “Winning Beauty”: Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask Extreme Detoxifying Hydrator (I feel like the product is over-named); Youth to the People Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream (it’s made of fungus, hrmmmm…); It Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Brow Pencil in “Universal Taupe” (I feel like it is too light for me, but have not had a chance to try it); and Sephora Collection Triple Action Cleansing Water.
Instead of a fragrance, this month’s bonus is a card sample of Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm. Ugh, I don’t feel like cleansing balms work on my skin – but I’ll give Clinique a chance.
Sephora Play is a reliable subscription box with high-end products. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
Fanny Pack Haul
I never thought I’d see the day that my children would be fighting over a fanny pack!
I really try NOT to buy things just for the “gift with purchase”, but there was a little bit of that in this purchase. A $20 NYX purchase gets you a Coachella hot pink NYX Fanny Pack with NYX Pore Filler and NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray. I was gonna use it myself, so I could be like my bestie Sally…but Lily is BEGGING to use it for Frightmare next weekend. My son says he wants it too, but I think he is just being annoying – I’ll probably let Lily “borrow” it. Good thing I am IN LOVE with all four lippies that I picked up – no guilt. The NYX Soft Matte Metallic Lip Creams were on sale for $5, down from $7. They are my absolute favorite NYX formula – I picked up “Rome” and “Budapest”. I’ve been alternating them the past few days. I also tried out two of the new lippies. NYX Glitter Goals Liquid Lipstick in “Cherry Quartz” was a bit pricey at $9, but worth it. It starts out matte, but turns to glitter with friction and wear. It lasts well. NYX Line & Load All-in-One Lippie in “Ride or Die” was $8 and a genius product. It’s a super thin doe-foot applicator that alllows you to line your lips with precision and it DOES NOT BLEED. I need this in red – ALL red lipstick bleed on me.
So…last week, I found out that my son was scrubbing his face with a toothbrush (not the one he uses in his mouth – ew). I freaked out and ordered him an Ulta Advanced Cleansing Rotating Facial Cleansing Brush ($12.50, on sale from $25) and replacement heads ($4, on sales from $8). I mean, if I was rich, I would’ve bought him a Clarisonic like mine – but he can rough it with the Ulta version. Lily was bugging me for some bobbie pins the other day, so I added some of those, too. All Ulta Skin was on sale, so I added a few Single Use Face Masks to my cart ($1.50 each, down from $3) – a Calming Rose Sheet Mask and a Soothing Calamine Mud Mask. I used the Calamine Mask yesterday and it was wonderful. It applied like a regular mud mask, but it didn’t dry down like a normal mud mask – it stayed flexible and felt almost hydrating.
Did I forget to mention a few bottles of Zoya Remove+? My Holy Grail…
No order is complete without a freebie bag. The coolest thing in the bag is the Real Techniques Travel Sponge Case – I’ve just been throwing my Beauty Blender into my makeup bag like a savage! Also in the freebie bag: Sun Bum Revitalizing Dry Shampoo; Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk; OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Dry Shampoo; Vichy Liftactiv Supreme Anti-wrinkle and Firming Correcting Cream; Wunder2 Wunderkiss Essential Lip Scrub; Tweezerman Browmousse (weird); Maybelline MasterPrecise All Day Liquid Liner; L’Oreal Pure-Clay Cleanser Detox-Brighten (m y favorite one); and wet n wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder in “Royal Calyx” (interesting – a blue highlighter).
On top of all the freebies and gifts with purchase, there was that 20% off coupon. I’ve just one or two more orders to get to Platinum status – $64. I’ve also managed to accrue another $33 in points. Diamond Status isn’t out of the question this year…
Target Beauty Boxes – April 2019
Two boxes for April – an “Au Naturel Beauty” box, with natural products and an “April Showers” box with rainy day products.
Inside the “Au Naturel Beauty Box”: SheaMoisture African Black Soap Clarifying Facial Wash & Scrub (I like this stuff, even though it smells odd); The Good Stuff Repair Balm (a no-rinse conditioner for hair); Schmidt’s Cedarwood-Juniper Bar Soap (hmmm); Love Beauty & Planet Muru Muru Mask Sachet (oh yeah, I love this scent); Love Beauty & Planet Coconut Water & Mimosa Flower Hand Cream (another scent I love); and Burt’s Bees Enamel Care Mountain Mint Toothpaste. I will try ALL of these, except maybe the conditioner.
The “April Showers” box is far less impressive: TIGI Bed Head After Party Smoothing Cream (a tiny ass little foil pack); Soap & Glory Puffy Eye Attack Under-Eye Brightening Hydrogel Patches; Dove Dry Shampoo Volume & Fullness (the lid was cracked); Crest 3D White Brilliance Toothpaste in “Vibrant Peppermint”; Degree for Women Black + White Dry Spray Antiperspirant; and Bliss That’s Incredi-peel (another damn foil pack).
The “Au Naturel Beauty” box is a good value for $7, but the “April Showers” box is kind of a rip-off for that much. As usual, free shipping, 5% off with my Red Card and both came with a $3 off $15 coupon. The weird thing is that one box had a bar code to scan the coupon into the app, but the other box had an old fashioned coupon. So weird. I did not manage to use my coupon last month either, but I have high hopes for this month’s coupons.
Rebel Rose
I waited and waited and WAITED for the new wet n wild beauty Rebel Rose Limited Edition Collection to hit Ulta, but only the individual products are carried, not the box sets. I cannot figure out how Ulta decides which boxes to carry. They did not get the Midnight Mermaid or Goth-o-Graphic boxes, but did get the Fire & Ice Dragon box and the Flights of Fancy box. I added all of the products to my basket and it was around $90. Ew, no. A week later, WnW was BOGO 50% off and it went down to $60-something, which was only slightly more than the full box set. I had heartburn about it, so I let my cart sit…and the very next day, the wet n wild website had a 40% off everything sale – that clinched it. I was able to get the full box set for $35.99, down from $59.99 – and free shipping!
There are two layers of products in the Full Rebel Rose box. The first layer is skincare: Photo Focus Rose Multi-Use Oil (smells divine and light on the face), Photo Focus Rose Toner, Photo Focus Rose Primer Serum (reminds me of the Farsali Unicorn Serum, but FAR more affordable), Perfect Pout Jelly Balm (another black gloss that turns into your own perfect pink – I like this one on me better than the essence ones), and Perfect Pout Lip Scrub (this is NOT even comparable to Jeffree’s scrubs – not tasty and very greasy, very disappointing).
I have been LOVING the products in the makeup layer of the box: 3 Color Icon Eyeshadow Quads – “Bed of Roses” (my favorite, with rose gold shimmer), “Secret Garden Rendezvous”, and “House of Thorns” (I tried with the dark green eyeshadow and looked like my husband slugged me); Color Icon Cream Blush (remember your mom’s cream rouge? This is like the black color change version); 2 MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipsticks – “Kiss of Death”, a dark maroon, and “Deviant Damsel”, a dark navy; and 2 MegaLast Liquid Catsuit High-Shine Liquid Lipstick – “Petal Poison”, a dusky pink and “Bud Romance” a dusty purple. I am shocked to REALLY like the high-Shine lipstick – they stay on until about lunchtime, which isn’t bad. Oh, and I cannot forget about the brushes – a Rose Eyeshadow Brush and a Rose Blush Brush. Honestly, the Eyeshadow Brush is poorly designed. Every time I use it, I stab myself in the eyelid with the leaves on the rosebud. It’s a shame, because the brush itself is wonderful.
Oh, and a Foundation Sample bag – 6 shades of wet n wild PhotoFocus Foundation to try out, plus MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipstick in “Sea Seduction”, which I already have, but oh well.
The Rebel Rose Full Collection Box is still available on wetnwildbeauty.com for $59.99, no longer on sale. You can also buy the Rebel Rose Skincare Collection Box for $24.99 or the Rebel Rose Makeup Collection Box for $39.99. Even though I wasn’t able to get Ulta points from the purchase itself, I was able to put the purchase on my Ulta card, which will get me a few points.
Sephora Play! March 2019 – Beauty in Bloom
What a weird ass box from Sephora this month. Why do I need 2 Dry Shampoos? They sent me Drybar Triple Sec 3-in-1 and Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo. Do they think my hair is dirty?
Also in this month’s “Beauty in Bloom” box: NARS Bronzing Powder in “Laguna”; Sephora Collection LashCraft Big Volume Mascara, Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40; and Versace Bright Crystal (one of my little sister’s scents).
The assortment of products seems kind of random, but whatever.
Sephora Play is usually a really good subscription box with high-end products. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
March 2019 Allure Beauty Box – All-Star Lineup
Oh shit, I was wrong – this month’s clutch is WHITE, not BLUE as I predicted. Boo.
Oh, so Mamonde again? This shit is gonna be in every box, huh? (Like Sunday Riley?) That’s fine, I love rose. I don’t use toner as much as I should, but I will use Mamonde Rose Water Toner.
Also in this month’s box: Au Naturale The Anywhere Creme Multistick in “Grapefruit”; Biossance Squalane Vitamin C Rose Oil (ooooh, roses again); Acure Seriously Soothing Night Oil; Derma E Microderm Abrasion Scrub (Oh, they changed their packaging); Ren Evercalm Overnight Recovery Balm; and Vichy Mineral 89 Fortifying Daily Booster.
Except for the Blush Stick, it’s an all skin box – I used to hate getting skin products and preferred makeup, but now I am happy to get the high dollar skin products.
The Allure Beauty Box is $15/month, but they give you $5 off your first box. They also offer an option for $150/year – a savings of $30. Sign up via my referral link.
One-Step
I’ve found it. I’ve finally found the single hair tool for a perfect blow-out. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with blow-outs for well over 20 years. Around the time I graduated college, I ended up with a hair cut that necessitated a blow-out with round brush (it may or may not have rhymed with ‘the Bachel’). It happened probably 3 times before I was like ‘FUCK this’. I’ve tried everything from ionic dryers to diffusers, but everything takes too damn long – and makes my hair frizzy. About 10 years ago, I picked up a Conair Wet-to-Dry Styler, which works okay, but again – it take forever. Several years ago, I stepped up to a Revlon Paddle Style Dryer Brush, but there was still something lacking…
…until I tried the Revlon Pro Collection Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer ($59.99). I can literally give myself a salon quality blow-out in about 5 minutes. 5 fucking minutes. I feel like I’ve suffered through decades of bad hair before this tool was invented. Run, don’t walk, to buy this tool. One exception, I give you permission to wait until you get a 20% off coupon like I did.
Oh and pro-tip – definitely use a blow-out spray or primer before you use it. I am using Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer Spray and it protects my hair while making it dry faster.
I also threw in a Revlon Nail Buffer ($3.49) because the 99 cent Diamond Brand ones I bought last time are SHIT. You get what you pay for!
My purchase qualified for a “Skinfatuation” gift with purchase, which included Exuviance Super Retinol Complex; Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Anti-Wrinkle Moisturizer; Murad Resurgence Retinol Youth Renewal Serum (fancy); Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum; StriVectin Advanced Retinol Intensive Night Moisturizer; and Yes to Grapefruit Brightening Vitamin C Glow Boosting Paper Mask. That’s a lot of fucking retinol!
$138 to Platinum. It’s looking like I might have a chance to hit Diamond with Ulta this year, instead of Rouge with Sephora this year…
March 2019 Ipsy Bag – SHEro
When I first started with ipsy, I felt like the brands were amazing, but as the years went on, there were more and more weird brands and less prestige brands…but now ipsy is getting better again! The last few months have had better brands and better products overall – good job, ipsy!
This month’s “SHEro” bag is rose gold (my current fave metallic), embossed with “and off she went to change the world” – I love it. So, I have at least half a dozen samples of Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and I STILL have not tried it. I’ll try it, I promise.
Also in this month’s bag: Tarte Maneater Voluptuous Mascara (will probably get sold on Poshmark); Ciate London Mini Lip Lustre in “Wildfire” (this color is fire); PUR Afterglow Mini Highlighting Skin Perfecting Powder; and Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm (I am not all in on cleansing balms, BUT I found that they are GREAT for melting longwearing liquid lipstick).
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Target Beauty Box – March 2019
I almost didn’t purchase this month’s box, because of the Love Beauty & Planet Smooth and Serene Argan Oil & Lavender Shampoo and Conditioner – lavender sometimes gives me a headache, but then I remembered that I received them in a Birchbox last year and they were fine.
Also in this month’s “March Into Spring” box: Bliss Rose Gold Rescue Gentle Foaming Cleanser (rose gold everything!); TRESemme Botanique Nourish & Replenish Mask (for hair); Shea Moisture Matcha Green Tea & Probiotics Soothing Toner & Hydrating Mist (I never know what do do with these); and Shea Moisture Silicone Free Miracle Styler Leave-In Treatment (it smells super good). These products are a bit out of my comfort zone, but I am here for it.
This $7 box is heavy, but with a smaller number of products. As usual, free shipping, 5% off with my Red Card and it came with a $3 off $15 coupon. I did not manage to use my coupon last month, but I have high hopes for this month’s coupon.