Mercury Rising
Cuccio Colour is a new brand to me – it was an add-on to last month’s ipsy bag. I giggle every time I say it…you know, because coochie. I am a child trapped in a woman’s body.
Cuccio Colour “Mercury Rising” is a dark violet creme. It covered well and was not streaky. It also lasted without chips.
This is two coats of “Mercury Rising” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. It’s shiny alone, but I topped all but my pinky with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. My pinky got the matte treatment with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
Is this polish misnamed? Isn’t Mercury known as “the red planet”? Just a thought…
Energetic Snake
Fresh off “Witchy Snake”, I couldn’t wait to try the other Bebe Rexha Snake-like Top Coat. Check out Sinful Colors “SSS Sparkle”.
I wanted a bright primary color that would pop against the gold, so I started with a single coat of Sinful Colors “Energetic Red” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Top Coat. I then topped all of my fingers, except the ring fingers, with “SSS Sparkle”. I finished the job with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I wasn’t expecting the glitter crackle to dissipate so much – it crackles, but also shrank onto the nail, leaving bigger crackles than her black sister.
I really liked the orange leaning “Energetic Red” – it’s still on my toes!
OUTLET B&BW
I always forget that the Bath & Body Works in Katy Mills Mall is an OUTLET.
I guess the outlet stores get all the stuff that regular stores didn’t sell during the Semi Annual Sale, because this store had a mountain of 75% off stuff!
I’ve had my eye on “Rose Water Meringue” for a while. 50% wasn’t good enough, but 75% was just right. The scent is VERY sweet and eggy, almost like cotton candy. It’s not an every day soap – it is for special occasions only. I got two shower gels, a fine fragrance mist and a body cream.
I also picked up a back-up “Rose Water & Ivy” Body Cream, as well as a “Pink Watermelon” Shower Gel for Lily, a “Strawberry Pound Cake” Hand Cream and Raspberry Lip Gloss for me. I also got two “Ballerina Rose” Three Wick Candles – I’d never even seen that scent before! Again, all this stuff was 75%.
A few tables worth of hand soaps were $3 each, so I picked up five. The stand out was “Lavender Rose”. Again, another headache-less lavender – it smells amazing.
I did buy a few things at full price: a few bath poofs and some Hand Sanitizer for Logan.
According to my receipt, I spent around $53 and I saved $145.50, thanks to 75% off outlet pricing and my 20% off + free product mailer.
August 2020 Allure Beauty Box – On Balance
Allure Beauty Box wants to bring balance to my beauty routine this month.
I am never sad to get a rose scented product, but I am still not fully sold on facial oils. I have not yet been brave enough to try the Pixi Rose Oil Blend, but at the very least, I could use it to remove lipstick?
I have not tried the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum yet either…but that’s because I’m really liking the Peach & Lily Serum from last month’s box – I use it every week day! Same goes for the Erno Lazlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar, Floss Brighten Up Highlighter in “Sunlit”, and the Looks & Meii Brightening Lift Up Perfect Fit Mask. I’ll get to them…
I HAVE tried the H2O+ Hydration Sensitive Gel Cream Moisturizer and the Whish Botanical Primer. They are both really nice products and gentle to my skin. Powder foundation sticks really well to the primer!
So…I’m going to have to make a decision about whether to keep Allure Beauty Box soon. I just got an email warning me that the price is going up to $23 with October’s box. The email promised more full size products, but I’m skeptical…they’re already on probation…
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.
Turned Up Turquoise
It’s so difficult to get good sunlight polishes of turquoise nail polishes and China Glaze “Turned Up Turquoise” is no exception. The pictures I was able to get are straight blue, but the polish has a bit more green in it in real life. It is absolutely a chameleon of a polish.
The polish was a gift from my dear friend Lisa and I was excited to try it immediately. I was not expecting a pearly matte finish! From the bottle, it appears to be a plain old creme polish, but I was pleasantly surprised with the pearly qualities.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat. Even with the top coat, it chipped rather quickly – I was disappointed.
“Turned Up Turquoise” is originally from the 2008 Summer Ink Collection – no wonder it’s so thick! The collection is modeled on tattoo colors, which is right on with the turquoise in blue rose tattoos on my arm. I was very fortunate to get my hands on this classic and sought after polish.
August 2020 Ipsy Bag – The Future is Yours
August’s ipsy bag contains futuristic products in a futuristic holographic bag.
My product choice this month was It Cosmetics Confidence in Your Beauty Sleep Night Cream. I didn’t read the description when I picked it – I wouldn’t have picked it if I had realized that it is lavender-scented. Lavender usually gives me an immediate headache, but this product was fine. I’ve been wearing it to bed with no ill effects!
Also is my cool little holographic bag: Araceli Beauty Jalisco Eyes Single in “Sombrero” (a good neutral base color – it applies like butter); Hey Honey Take Away the Drama Youth Boosting Honey & Copper Peel Off Mask; Jersey Shore Cosmetics Moisture Rich Hydrating Lip Balm in Watermelon; and MOTD Cosmetics Pigment Packer Small Shader Brush.
I also splurged on a $5 nail polish duo add-on with Cuccio Colour “Mercury Rising” and Color Club “Ghosted”. The add-ons are SUPPOSED to be shipped with your ipsy bag, but they arrived separately, about a week before my bag. What’s the point of that???
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $12/month. If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link. I am starting to get tempted to subscribe to the yearly plan…
Witchy Snake
I found them! I found the new Bebe Rexha “snake-like top coats” at HEB. Girl, you cannot fool me, those are crackle top coats!
Surprisingly, I don’t own a black crackle, so I was happy to get a pure black crackle in Sinful Colors “Snake it Happen”. (I do have a black with silver glitter, but that DOES NOT COUNT.) There’s also a gold glitter, which you’ll get to see soon.
I finished off my bottle of Glisten & Glow Base Coat and threw away the bottle. It was okay, but I much prefer the Ridge Filling version. I started with one coat of Sinful Colors “Witch’s Brew”, a neon green. I should’ve done more than one coat, because as soon as “Snake it Happen” hit it, the green almost disappeared! Why??? Even though the green nearly disappeared, “Snake it Happen” crackled beautifully.
I finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat, except for Sinful Colors Radical Matte Top Coat on my ring finger. The main difference is that the matte top coat is snug to the polish and leaves ridges you can feel, whereas the glossy coat is super smooth.
Sinful Station
Is there is a Dollar Tree in the same parking lot as the Honky Bucket I’m eating lunch at, I’m gonna find an excuse to drop in and search for Sinful Colors, even if it’s all the way in College Station.
This particular location had a decent selection of Sinful Colors…except for the fact that almost all of the packages contained “Energetic Red”. I picked a package that paired “Energetic Red” with SinfulShine “Guilty Pleasures”.
I also found a package with rather new polishes – “Witch’s Brew” from last Halloween’s Bebe Rexha “Wicked Neons” collaboration. It’s a blacklight reactive neon green. The package also had the Radical Matte Top Coat. I already have several matte top coats, but what’s one more?
Prosecco
I don’t actually drink Prosecco – almost all wine products give me an immediate headache and throat inflammation to boot. If only I could be one of those “wine moms”…
Sinful Colors SinfulShine “Prosecco” is one of the most popular shades from the core collection, and I can see why. It’s a beautiful taupe-y greige with a gold, bubble-like shimmer. It’s a great polish for vacation, as it’s neutral enough to hide chips.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Sephora Favorites POP – Beauty Cred
Well how about that…just a few weeks after Sephora releases a Hello! box, they release a POP box. I feel like they are playing around with price points and configurations to see what performs the best. I am not helpful at all – I’ll buy anything.
The “Beauty Cred” box contains “the next big thing in beauty”…hmm, okay. By far, the best sample in the box is the creamier than creamy Natasha Denona Eyeshadow in “Moonstone”. No wonder she charges $129 for a palette – this is some of the highest quality eyeshadow I’ve ever used. It pairs well with the Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Volume, Lift & Curl Mascara. The brush is super fluffy, but somehow doesn;t leave my lashes clumpy.
Also in this box: Lord Jones High CBD Formula Body Lotion in “Fragrance Free”; Fresh Rose Petal-Soft Deep Hydration Lip Balm (yasssssss, more lip balm); Amika Flash Instant Shine Hair Mask; and Maison Margiela REPLICA Beach Walk fragrance (I swear, I’ve gotten this sample 50 times from Sephora – get over this scent, it’s boring).
The set was a slighty higher price point, at $15, which is still pretty cheap. Oh, and it also came with a bunch of beauty-themed stickers.
I was over the moon to try the other samples I picked for my box. I love the scent of Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and now they have shampoo/conditioner. I IMMEDIATELY used the samples of Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Joia Strengthening Shampoo & Conditioner – it smells AMAZING! Ugh, they are $25 each. I also got a sample of Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, which I have not tried yet.
$148 to VIB in 2021.