Category: Face
Naked Reloaded
My sweet Sally sent me an Ulta giftcard for my birthday last month. At first, I wasn’t intentionally saving it – I almost used it on a haircut a few weeks ago – but I’m glad I did save it. The new Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Palette ($44) was released at Ulta on March 4th – I ordered it that day in order to get the gift with purchase.
Sure, I have the first six Naked palettes (OG, Naked 2, Naked 3, Naked Smoky, Naked Heat, Naked Cherry), plus a dozen other Urban Decay palettes – but I need THIS one, too. There are a few interesting tweaks to the Naked “formula” – first off, there’s no brush – I guess that’s why it’s $5 cheaper than the rest of the Naked palettes. They also changed up the pan sizes – the lighter base shades have large pans and the dark and glitter shades have smaller pans – brilliant! That’s exactly how it should be! I’ve used it three times so far, and other than having to decide which brushes to use, the experiences have been great. I haven’t used it with primer yet, because it doesn’t need it. The shades are neutral enough for any skin tone, although they seem to lean olive, strangely enough. It’s the perfect neutral starter for someone just getting into prestige brands of makeup. I’ll be reaching for this palette often.
The gift with purchase was an Urban Decay Makeup Bag, in signature black, white and lilac. The bag included a deluxe sample of Eyeshadow Primer Potion Anti-Aging and a full size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in “Perversion”. For some reason, I expected there to be a lipstick – nope. Free is free though.
For shits and giggles, I added two new Feeling Beautiful Freeman Masks ($4.29) to my cart: Deep Clearing Seaweed + Sea Salt Mud Mask + Scrub (I really liked the scent and how exfoliating this mask was) and Soothing Watermelon + Aloe Cooling Gel Mask (not especially cooling, but I did feel like it calmed my skin before my shower).
I also qualified for another freebie bag, which had a really strange assortment of products. The standout sample in the bag is the Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in (what I believe to be) “Crimson Chrome” – it’s not labelled, so I’m making an educated guess. I love the color and how it looks on me, but it gets on EVERYTHING – my poor hamburger ended up wearing most of it today. Also in the bag: Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels; Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm, Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant/Anti-Antiperspirant (why?); First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream; and Clarins Multi-Active Jour SPF 20. See what I mean? Odd.
$193 to Platinum…
Sephora Play! February 2019 – Lovestruck Beauty
Oh hey – I’m still doing February stuff. Shut up, I haven’t even received any March boxes yet.
This month’s box is all products I’ve received before – or at least, similar products. Like the Bite Beauty Amuse Bouhce Lipstick in “Rhubarb” – I’d received not the lipstick, but a pencil in “Rhubarb” in my 3rd Play box.
Also in this month’s box: Milk Makeup Mini Blur Stick (I have a full sized one I use all the time – this will be great for travel); Fresh Rose Face Mask (I haven’t used up the first one of these I got); Wander Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks (yup, have bunches); Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet (love the way this one smells); and Stella McCartney Stella (have a full size).
A great box because even though they aren’t new products to me, they are products I’ve enjoyed.
Sephora Play is a really good subscription box with high-end products. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
February 2019 Allure Beauty Box – Stronger Together
So there’s my answer – we’re getting a vinyl clutch from Allure every month, but in a different color. January was red and February is black. Hmmm…I am gonna guess BLUE for March.
I am not particularly wowed by any of the products that month, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad – it just means that I haven’t heard of them yet. There’s something to be said about fresh, new products.
Included in the February box: Wander Beauty Mile High Club Mascara (plus a code for 20% off at wanderbeauty.com,– in fact, there are discount codes for ALL of the product websites, except Mally Beauty); ModelCo Metallic Eyeshadow Trio in “Mykonos” (Isn’t that the island where Lindsay Lohan runs a beach club?); Moda Metallics Triad Eye Brush; Mamonde Petal Spa Oil to Foam Cleanser; Mamonde Flower Lab Essence Mask; The Browgal The Instatint Tinted Brow Gel (I don’t have enough brow for this); and Mally High Shine Liquid Lipstick in “Orchid”.
I feel like this is a pretty high value box – I’m excited to try the Mamonde products especially.
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..
February 2019 Ipsy Bag – Swoon So Hard
Oh shit, Ipsy has finally joined the 21st century and started including the products included, with descriptions, on the insert in each month’s glam bag. Hallelujah!
Inside this month’s “Swoon So Hard” bag: Elemis Superfood Facial Wash; Chella Eyeliner Pen in “Purple” (I wonder how this would work on eyebrows?); Glamglow Glowstarter Mega Illuminating Moisturizer in “Nude Glow” (will be using this definitely); Meech N Mia Pressed Eyeshadow in “Caramel”; and F.A.R.A.H. Brushes Powder Brush 50F.
Speaking of swooning so hard, this lipstick bag is the tits – I need to switch it into my purse. The contents are just so-so this month, but the bag makes it worth the $10.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Target Beauty Box – February 2019
Oh hey, I found this Target Beauty Box hidden on my counter, under a pile of mail.
February’s theme is “Love Yourself” and is all about pampering. I definitely will be pampering myself – the box includes: Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo & Conditioner (cannot wait to try these); Love Beauty & Planet Citrus Peel Dry Shampoo (I still haven’t figured out how to use dry shampoo right); Pantene Airspray Hairspray; Boots No7 Laboratories Line Correcting Booster Serum; Que Bella Professional Selfie Ready Sheet Mask; Dove Shampoo/Conditioner 2-in-1 Clean+Fresh; and Native Coconut & Vanilla Deodorant (interesting).
This $7 box is packed . As usual, free shipping, 5% off with my Red Card and it came with a $3 off $15 coupon. I did manage to use one of the coupons I received last month – I bought a bunch of St. Ives face scrubs and washes for my kids. You’re never too young to start a skincare regimen!
February 2019 Julep Box – A Star is Born
This is it – my very last Julep Maven box.
Yes, it’s true – Julep has shut down their monthly subscription box program. Customers were notified of the decision on February 15th. Not only is the program canceled, but we also lost all of our Jules – I think I had close to $40 worth. It’s a bummer, but not shocking after hearing that they had declared bankruptcy and were closing the physical salons in Seattle. I am disappointed, but also slightly relieved – that’s $20/month I can pump back into my beauty budget.
My first clue that the program was coming to a close was that there was no February Collection – the curated boxes included makeup and the new version of “love your bare face” Replenishing Creme-to-Foam Cleanser. I kept the cleanser in my box and added two polishes from last year’s Zodiac Collection – “Vibrant Virgo”, luxe rose gold multidimensional, and “Tranquil Taurus”, grounded honey wheat metallic. My mom was a Virgo and my younger sister is a Taurus, but I don’t believe any of that shit.
The face wash is rather nice – it’s a pretty big tube and it rinses clean. I still prefer the stick formula – it works well with my Clarisonic and leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean, but this one will do.
According to the breakup email I received, all Mavens will continue to get a 25% discount off of regular prices, but I don’t know how much I’ll be shopping at Julep. I do need more Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, but they’ve been out of stock for months. So frustrating!
Yes, it’s the end of an era.
Target Birthday Shopping
Nothing burns a hole in my pocket like a Target coupon. For my birthday last week, Target sent me a coupon code for an additional 5% off a shopping trip – I had to use it before it expired!
I really didn’t need anything specific, so I just wandered. The first thing I grabbed was a replacement up & up dip-it and a bag of Exfoliating Cotton Rounds. That was the point that I noticed the rack of Sinful Colors Nail Polish. I’ve been so bummed that Walgreen’s no longer carries them. Walmart will have the new collections soon, I’ve heard – but until then, I had consigned myself to going without. What did I spy, but random bottles with “New Shade” Stickers in the Core Collection Display. Don’t mind if I do! I picked up three of the new shades – “Hot Toffee”, “Raisin the Roof”, and “Spring Fling”. I also picked up an older shade I had never seen before – “The Full Monte”.
As I moved on through the aisles, I came upon a HUGE display for Flamingo Products. Flamingo is a service similar to Dollar Shave Club – basically, a subscription box for razors and wax strips. We’re quite happy with Dollar Shave Club, but I thought I’d give the Flamingo Face Wax Kit a try. At $9.99, it was a bit more expensive than the Nads Kits I had been using, but I feel like it was much more gentle to my face AND I was able to use less strips to get the job done. Nice!
And yes…that IS a Spongebob Squarepants Outfit for my Barbies. It says, “Sponge On!” – it was very important for me to have it!
January 2019 Allure Beauty Box – Thrill of the New
I’m not even gonna apologize for running late on reviews – I been busy as shit.
2019 brings big changes to the Allure Beauty Box – gone is the shiny red box, instead replaced by a generic cardboard mailer. That’s okay though – because now the monthly goodies are coming inside a sleek plastic pouch. No word yet on whether we’ll be getting the same red pouch every month, or they’ll mix up the design – stay tuned.
In this month’s all new pouch: Mally Shadow Stick Extra in “Burnished Bronze”; OUAI Scalp & Body Scrub (Hmmmm, not sure if I’m ready to be picking sugar out of my hair for a month – also includes a 15% off code for theouai.com); Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow Face Oil; Sunday Riley A+ High-Dose Retinoid Serum (How did they know I’m retinol aged now?); Doucce Relentless Matte Lip Crayon in “Winterberry” (with a code for 25% off at doucce.com); and a pack of 2 Beautyblender Micro Mini Sponges.
And as a bonus this month, each subscriber received a nail polish from NCLA. I got and orangey red called “Call My Agent”.
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..
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.