Category: Nails
Mostly Purple Haul
The fact that most of the products in this order were purple was entirely coincidental!
The intentional part of the order is the purple hair dye – I’m sampling a few different semi-permanent dyes to see if I can get my hair purple enough to claim the title of MEGA-MOM. I mean, dying my hair school colors would make me the MEGA-MOM of the year, right? I picked up a sample packet of Lime Crime Unicorn Hair in “Pony” for $2.50 (I have reservations about Lime Crime, but since they’ve sold out, I’m less concerned about supporting the questionable creator) and Keracolor Travel Size Color + Clenditioner in “Purple” for $8.99. I’ve only tried the Keracolor, but it did NOTHING to my hair. I only left it in 5 minutes in the shower, so I am going to try it again for 30 minutes before making a final verdict…but I’m not optimistic. I may have to break down and try Manic Panic – but I’m hesitant to stain every single thing I own.
The other purple products I picked up: Zoya Remove + (always needing this) and Nexxus Frizz Defy Active Frizz Control Shampoo and Conditioner. I’ve had a bad case of the frizzies lately, so decided to try these while they were 40% off. What I don’t understand is why the Conditioner is so much more than the Shampoo, $19.99 ($11.99 on sale) for the Conditioner, versus $13.99 ($8.39 on sale) for the Shampoo. Fingers crossed for smooth hair soon.
I also picked up some other 50% off products – my holy grail eyebrow pencil, Ulta Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” ($5, down from $10) and a wet n wild Megalast Liquid Catsuit Metallic Lipstick in “Life’s No Pink-Nic” ($2.49, down from $4.99). The lipstick looks reddish in the tube, but is a dusty rose/copper – neither of which are pink, as the name implies. So confuse.
I got two different sample bag with my order, a hair sample bag and a brow sample bag. Inside the hair sample bag: HASK Cactus Water Shampoo & Conditioner (excited to try this); Alterna Haircare Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture CC Cream; Wella Professional Invigo Volume Boost Crystal Mask; Seed Phytonutrients Scalp & Roots Oat Mask (WEIRD); System Professional Smoothen Shampoo Hair Structure Softener (WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN? This product scares me); Curlsmith Scalp Stimulating Booster; and Macadamia Professional Essential Repair Daily Deep Conditioner. Inside the brow sample bag: Urban Decay Brow Endowed Brow Volumizer in “Brown Betty”; Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil in “3.5 Neutral Medium Brown”; Tweezerman Micro Mini Tweezer (OMG, it’s miniscule); Covergirl Clear Brow Setting Gel; Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel; and essence lash & brow gel mascara style & comb. What am I going to do with all this clear brow gel???
No good coupons when I ordered, just the usual $3.50 off $15 coupon. $460 to Diamond status.
Azalea
Oh my fucking GAWD, Julep “Azalea” is fucking beautiful. I could just stare at my nails for HOURS.
Julep says it is pink sunrise holographic microglitter – there is A LOT of gold in the glitter, but really there are hints of every color in the rainbow.
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, then painted two coats of “Azalea”, and finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. There was a bit of texture to the microglitter, so it was a thick layer of top coat. It’s lasting FOREVER. I want to change polishes, but it still looks too good, even after 4-5 days and a shit ton of dishes.
W*tch Please
Time to try the Bebe Rexha “Wicked Neons” Collection!
So I never did find a blacklight – I know there’s one in this house somewhere, but it probably is in a mystery box that never got unpacked after the move…three years ago. Oop.
I’m just going to assume that Sinful Colors “W*tch Please” glows like a motherfucker under a blacklight. For a little extra, I added Sinful Colors “Glow for It” on accent nails.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and did two THICK coats of “W*tch Please”. It’s a very thin polish, nearly a jelly. Three fingers got an extra coat of “Glow for It” and then I finished with a thick goat of Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
This combination of colors lasted very well on my nails. I really like the Neon formula, although I am fairly certain it is a dupe for Sinful Colors “Let Me Flamingo”.
Twisted Obsession
…and Sinful Colors “Twisted Obsession” is the last of Bebe’s Shades from the Velvet Obsession Collection. It’s a matte dark, dark purple with silver shimmer. I put it on to honor my son’s school colors, since I would be helping out with his Marching Band competition last weekend, but he haughtily responded that it’s NOT Charger purple. Whatever, kid. I got compliments from the other moms, so THERE.
This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat, with NO top coat. I got the best results with the Sinful Colors Base Coat, so I better figure out where to purchase more – my bottle is almost empty! There were hardly any streaks in the first coat and the second coat was perfect. I didn’t notice the polish lasting any longer with this base coat, but it was definitely smoother.
Wicked Neons
Ooohhh…HEB has a mini display with the Bebe Rexha Halloween Collection – “Wicked Neons” for $1.98 each. I am so glad the prices are not inflated to $2.98 like the Vanessa Hudgens polishes – and they are blacklight reactive!
There are 8 polishes in the full collection – 4 cremes and 4 glitters – but like Velvet Obsession, the mini display only had the 3 designated “Bebe’s Shade” and a bunch of re-promotes from the Core Collection, like “Black on Black” and “Queen of Beauty”. Bebe’s shades are (left to right) “Blue in the Dark”, “Glow for It”, and “W*tch Please”. What’s with all the asterisks in shade names these days? First Lady Gaga, now Bebe Rexha…and witch isn’t even a curse word???
I was able to find one of the other cremes – “Techno Violet” – at Target today. I’ll have to pick the rest up at Walmart.
Growth
After taking advantage of Julep’s Labor Day sale, I couldn’t wait to jump into my new polishes. I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing my monthly Julep fix.
The first polish I grabbed was Julep “Growth”, sprouted green creme, from the Intention Collection. I was expecting a thin jelly polish, but “Growth” is a thick, full coverage creme polish. It was almost full coverage in one coat! This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat, except for my mattified pinky.
I am really loving this polish – it is a very unique color that you don’t ordinarily see in polish. I was reminded of toothpaste, and then mint chocolate chip ice cream, but ultimately, I decided that this polish color reminded me of a polished jade necklace that I inherited from my grandmother.
Target Beauty Boxes – August + September 2019
I don’t know how I managed to miss ordering the August Target Beauty Box – but I did. If an email was sent out, it got lost in my inbox and I didn’t see any social media posts either…BUT, it was still available to order when I went looking for the September box (which I also did not see an email on). I went ahead and ordered both boxes.
August’s box is “Hot for Fall” and includes products to help transition from summer to fall: MyBite Vitamins in Dark Chocolately Peanut; Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioning Treatment (I’ll have to hide from my son – this is his brand); hello Activated Charcoal + Hemp \Flouride Free Toothpaste (sounds GROSS, but I’ll try it); Oral-B Interdental Picks (Ooooh yeah!); Herbal Essences Birch Bark Extract Sulfate-Free Shampoo/Conditioner (I tried it out and it was fine – not nearly as exciting as the old commercials want you to believe – no hair-washing orgasms for me); and Dove Men + Care Fresh and Clean 2 in 1. This was a stuffed box!
The September “Glow Into Fall” box seemed kind of skimpy: Schick Intuition Sensitive Care Razor (not a fan of the Intuition line, so gave it to my daughter); Trim Salon Emery Board (I can always use one of these); TRESemme Botanique Color Vibrance and Shine Shampoo/Conditioner (I liked this one slightly more than the Herbal Essences one, but it’s hard to get use to the low foaming formulas); Miss Spa Hydrate Facial Sheet Mask; and Dove Dry Serum Powder Touch. I was intrigued by a serum antiperspirant and tried it immediately. It was okay, I guess – but I did NOT like getting it all over my hands. I feel like it left a residue on my fingers, even after washing my hands. I did like the smell, but I don’t know that I’ll be buying this one.
Each box was $7, free shipping, plus 5% off with my Target Red Card. Understandably, the coupon in the August box had already expired, but I am annoyed that the September coupon doesn’t seem to be usable either. My app won’t recognize it when I try to scan it, and the code to use online doesn’t work either. Bummer.
Julep Labor Day
I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing my monthly Julep boxes…back on Labor Day, I got an email with a killer sale – 50% off polishes, plus an additional 60% off $35 orders. Since I was previously a Maven, I had to “reactivate” my Julep account – they basically reset everyone’s account when they dismantled the Maven program. When I logged in, it said I didn’t qualify for the 60% deal…but my previous Maven status gives me 25% off, plus activating gave me an additional 35% off, so it worked out to 60% off anyway. Long story short, I got 6 polishes for a few cents less than $20 – a killer deal!
I picked up the “Surreal World” 2 polish set, which includes Bombshell “Azalea” – pink sunrise holographic microglitter – and It Girl “Bri” – Purple Ember Holographic Shimmer. I picked just one from the Intention Collection, “Growth” – sprouted green creme. (I have no idea what that means.)
I wanted to get the whole Zodiac Collection, since I already have “Virgo” (for my mom) and “Taurus” (for my sister), but they didn’t have them all still available. I was able to get “Stirring Sagittarius” (my husband) – introspective mauve iridescent – and “Passionate Pisces” (both my kids) – shimmering seaside sunset metallic. I was irritated about not being able to get an Aquarius polish, but I was able to get one from the newer Birthstone Collection – “Bernadette – Black Onyx for February” – black onyx birthstone microshimmer with silver glitter.
I’ve been getting emails that Julep is now being carried at Target – I’ll have to check it out.
Glam N’ Roses
I couldn’t resist trying another Sinful Colors x Bebe Rexha Velvet Obsession polish – this one is called “Glam N’ Roses”.
That name sounds familiar, huh? It’s very close to “Gold N’ Roses”, a different Sinful Colors polish. The tone is very similar, but the finishes are different.
I used a different base coat this time – I used Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. I noticed a very slight difference in the streakiness – but this polish is still really fucking streaky.
Again, this is two coats with NO top coat. This polish lasted quite a while longer than Dark Romance, but I think it is because I didn’t do any dishes while wearing it?
September 2019 Ipsy Bag – #DiscoverYourself
Ipsy is really taking it to the next level. Not only have they added Product Choice over the last few months, but they now have added additional product tiers – Plus (5 full size products for $25) and Ultimate (12 products for $50). I am content to stick with the regular Glam Bag for now, but maybe if I win the lottery, I can upgrade?
September’s bag is a cute Constellation printed canvas bag, filled with new discoveries. My product choice this month was Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask. It was an easy pick – all of the other choices were Ofra products. No offense intended, but it is kind of a “blah” brand to me. AND I got a product anyway – Ofra Cosmetics x Madison Blush in “Sweet Stuff” (I have no idea who Madison Miller is – do you?).
Also in this month’s bag: Haruharu Wonder Honey Green Aqua Bomb Cream (but it looks like a lip balm?); Sundays Nail Polish in “No. 35” (it’s a dark navy blue); and The Beauty Crop Eyeshadow in “Halcyon” (ugh, a dark metallic army green – so weird).
A strange collection of products, for sure. What are you even doing, Ipsy?
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.