Category: Nails
August Ipsy Bag – Prep School
School started up yesterday, so Ipsy’s August theme is fitting – “Prep School”. (Ugh, I was SO not a prep – give me black eyeliner or give me death.)
Inside this month’s cute houndstooth bag: La Fresh Eco-Beauty Good Night. Night Cream; Skone Cosmetics Luxe Doubler Eye/Lip Pencil in “Wine” (how has no one ever though of this before???); Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Ginseng + Biotin Volumizer; Noyah Natural Lipstick in “Desert Rose”; and Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in “Elegantly Wasted” (eh, ok).
I also finally got my j. cat Beauty Hydrating Lip Stain – points!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Purple Pride
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Sinful Colors “Pride” has to be the most jam-packed glitter that I’ve ever come across. It’s a rainbow of glitters of all different sizes. This is just one coat of “Pride” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of OPI Sheer Tints “Don’t Violet Me Down” – I wanted a color underneath the glitter for a little pop. I feel like 2 coats of “Pride” would have been 100% full coverage.
“Pride” was a fairly smooth glitter, but I used “HK Girl” to protect it. This has to be one of the longest lasting manicures I’ve had – I did it…Wednesday night? It’s Sunday and it still looks perfect, except for a few spots on my right index finger. That being said, I’m not looking forward to taking it off – I’ll probably need a fucking jackhammer.
Datsun 210
Nancoco “Orange Wonderland” reminds my of my mom’s very first new car – a 1980 Datsun 210. That little car was a big deal to her…so it was a big deal to us. She had a Gremlin before that and it was a piece of shit. Even though it was probably the cheapest car on the market at the time, it was NEW.
I was able to coax the last few drops out of my bottle of Sinful Colors Base Coat – I get to use my new one next time! Then I painted 2 coats of “Orange Wonderland” – it’s a swirly shimmer, so there were a few brush marks…and bubbles, oh the bubbles! At least with a shimmer, the bubbles aren’t too noticeable. “HK Girl” for the win.
I wish I could remember what happened to that Datsun – I’m thinking she just traded it in when she got a Sales Rep job that required a lot of driving or maybe it was because I bitched too much about having to wiggle my long legs into the backseat.
August Beauty Box 5 – Primped
Life is like Beauty Box 5 – you never know what you’re gonna get.
August’s theme is “Primped” – and it is an odd, but cool grab bag of products: Donnamax Printed Nail File with Case (very cute – it says, “hey did you just hashtag me?”); Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eyeliner Pen in “Plum”; HASK Beauty Monoi Coconut Oil Nourishing Deep Conditioner (to match the shampoo/conditioner and oil I’ve recently received?); Jerome Alexander Hot Stuff Go Pop Compact (a bright yellow compact with 3 shadows – in colors I would actually use – golds and browns, 3 glosses + applicators); and Pur~lisse Pur~Moist Hydra-Balance Moisturizer.
Good stuff!
Do You Like Fishsticks?
I LOVE fishsticks. But that’s a story for another time.
Sally Hansen Pearl Crush “Rainbow Fish” is an all around frustrating polish. It was thickish and goopy out on the brush, but I had a hard time building the color on my nail. I waned it to be as blue as the polish in the bottle, but I was only able to get a bluey opal color. (This is two thick coats.) The shimmer was unforgiving of any polish mistakes and the opalescent glitters gravitated towards the edges of my nails. The base coat – Sally Hansen Diamond Shine – might have been too smooth. Luckily, “HK Girl” hid my worst flubs.
Once on my nails, it was really frustrating to get a good pic. I literally took 50 or so pictures before I just said, “Fuck it.” All my whining aside, I REALLY like the way the polish looks. It’s like fish scales and slime stuck on my fingernails after gutting a fish – but in a beautiful and not at all macabre way.
August Birchbox – Candidly Nicole
It’s not that I give a rat’s ass about Nicole Richie, but the curated box option looked kind of cute. It’s called “Candidly Nicole”, with products picked by Nicole Richie, promoting her reality show. The box itself is the cutest ever – very Betsey Johnson flowery.
Nicole’s box comes with dr. brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant; LAQA & Co. Cheeky Lip in “Humble Brag”; OPI “Worth a Pretty Penne” from The Venice Collection (LOVE); Rene Furterer LISSEA Leave-In Smoothing Fluid; and St. Tropez Gradual In-Shower Tan (nope, nope, nope).
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Lainey is Spelled Wrong
Don’t they know that’s NOT how you spell “Lane”??? Gosh.
I picked this polish because it is my sister’s name, even if it’s not spelled correctly…although she would never every wear this color. Julep “Lainey” is summer berry shimmer – but it looks fuchsia to me.
I used Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat with two coats of “Lainey”. I waited between coats, but there are still a few dratted bubbles! I topped with “HK Girl”.
Notice my little nubbins – usually I would have had a break by now, but the Biotin has made them strong. But I’m going fishing this weekend, so I’ve got to be prepared for baiting and gutting…
Allure Beauty Thrills – August 2015
It’s that time again – Allure Beauty Thrills time!
There are a few really top shelf items in this quarter’s box, a few repeats and many items I’m curious about. Inside my box: Yes to Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes (same as in my last Target Beauty Box); Butter London Nail Lacquer in “Violet’s Revenge”; it Cosmetics Hello Lashes Clinically Proven 5-in-1 Volumizing Mascara with Lash Ball Detailer; LANEIGE Advanced Hydration Trial Kit (I loved their water gel sleeping mask, so glad to get more); Milani Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipstick in “Matte Love”; Clear Scalp & Hair Intense Hydration Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner (I haven’t tried the last set of Clear I got); John Frieda Frizz Ease Beyond Smooth Frizz-Immunity Primer; HASK Monoi Coconut Nourishing Shine Oil; Curel Itch Defense Body Wash (Hmmm…ok); Pureology Colour Fanatic Instant Deep-Conditioning Mask; Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer; Redken Frizz Dismiss FPF 10 Fly-Away Fix Oil-Infused Finishing Sheets (now THIS is a good idea); Sonia Kashuk Nail Colour in “Jewel Orchid”; Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Rejuvenating Toothpaste, Truly Radiant Rinse (my son can have this), and Spinbrush Truly Radiant Deep Clean Manual Toothbrush; Caress Love Forever Body Wash (I’ve been wanting to try this – it is supposed to release fragrance for 12 hours); Dove Dry Spray Antiperspirant; Dove Purely Pampering Shea Butter with Vanilla Bean Beauty Bar; Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream (Ugh, they keep sending this shit and I keep giving it away); BAN Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths (I could have used these today at the Snake Farm); The Revlon ColorStay Collection – ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow in “Romantic”, ColorStay Overtime Lipcolor in “For Keeps Pink” (like the Molly Ringwald movie?), and ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in “Cardshark”; Suave Professionals Luxe Style Infusion Smoothing Light Weight Weather Proof Cream; and Aloxxi Texturizing Spray.
The box is still just $45.95 + $10 shipping – even if I only used half of it, it’s worth it.
August Julep Maven Box – Muse Montreal Collection
Sooo…did you notice that I never posted a review of Julep’s July box? That’s because I didn’t fucking get it. I canceled my card because I suspected fraud (turns out it was a false alarm) and I figured I would get an email to remind me to change my card number, but I didn’t fucking get that either. Oh well. It’s fixed now…
August’s collection is called “Muse Montreal”, inspired by the Canadian city. The new beauty product this month is Skip the Brush Crème-to-Powder Blush Stick. I chose “Moonlit Sand”, a glittery taupe. For polishes, I chose Wonder Maven “Laure” – blazing red-orange stardust – and Boho Glam “Cally” – festival fuchsia iridescent chrome. I added on a few polishes from last month’s “Drenched” Collection – Wonder Maven “Lainey” – summer berry shimmer – and Boho Glam “Magdalene” – blue curacao shimmer. I also grabbed this month’s “Back from the Vault” shade – “Mila” – charcoal multi-colored glitter. Since I got three add-on’s, I got Wonder Maven “Lee” – spitfire red crème – for free! I also got a set of “metal marks” – mini temporary tattoos. (Very similar to the ones in last month’s BB5.)
This month’s box also included as card to fill out and share what #BravePretty means to you. To me, it’s all about my daughter – she’s NEVER going to see me hesitate to put on a swimsuit and play with her because I’m afraid of how I’ll look. Maybe because I’m lazy, but never because I feel fat.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a FREE Welcome Box with code FRIEND!
Ursula, The Sea Witch
Wearing Sally Hansen Pearl Crush “Clam Digger” – I feel like Ursula, the Sea Witch!
There’s just something about purple/green shifting polishes that I cannot resist – I have several. But there was just something about “Clam Digger”, with those iridescent mother of pearl glitter discs. They’re large and stick up at weird angles – but there were a lot of them. I ended up having to just dab them on, since they tended to end up on the tips of my nail. At least I didn’t have to go fishing for them.
This is just 2 coats. I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine for the base coat and “HK Girl” for the top coat. “HK Girl” did a great job of smoothing out the edge of the discs and hiding my dab marks.