Nails of the Day - 3.8.16

Okay, I'll admit it - not the most perfect mani. But I'm really happy about how springy this looks! The glitter is loose glitter patted onto a layer of damp polish. A thick layer of top coat on top of the glitter seals it in! (Just be careful, it may stay smudgy longer, even with a quick dry top coat.)

Here's what I used:

• OPI Nail Envy (trying to strengthen!)
• Formula X Harmonics
• Lit Cosmetics glitter in Angel Eyes
• Seche Vite

I've been having super good luck with my nails for the most part - only one or two breaking on the edges. With the Nail Envy, I'm hoping to grow them out again.

(mini) Sephora Haul!

I have a whole bunch of excuses ready as to why I placed this Sephora order. It was my birthday (month...), I got my tax return, I really wanted one of the new Bite lipsticks. All of them are 100% valid because I'm trying not to guilt myself for shopping! I kept the bill in check, at least.

First up is Cinema Secrets Makeup Brush Cleaner. A repurchase! I love this stuff. It isn't a replacement for a good brush washing, but it's perfect for spot cleaning when there's a brush you really need and it's already been used. This is my favorite spot cleaner by far - I've tried a couple and none measure up to Cinema Secrets. 

Bite Beauty recently pulled their Luminous Creme lipsticks to much disappointment. However, they then dropped an entirely new line! I picked up the new Amuse Bouche lipstick in Pickled Ginger. As soon as I saw swatches on their instagram I knew I needed it, since I live for bright, pink leaning corals. When swatched, the formula felt smooth and creamy, and had great pigmentation. I can't wait to wear it!

After receiving Burberry Light Glow blush in Cameo for Christmas (which I haven't reviewed because I'm actually the laziest AND the worst), I knew I wanted another blush in the Burberry Light Glow formula. After poring over the shades, I wound up with Earthy. I was lucky it was in stock, as it has been out of stock ever since I started lusting after it (...on December 26th.) It's a beautiful light pinky brown. Since I'm on the lighter side, the pink shows up a bit more when applied, but just barely. It blends out like a dream, and is not powdery in the slightest.

A new beautyblender was in order as well, since it had been well over six months since I replaced mine. With daily use, it gets pretty grungy. It may seem like a boring item, but I'm super excited to have a newly squishy sponge to bounce on my face each morning. 

I also used a promo code for a 3 pack of Dr. Dennis Gross Extra Strength Alpha Beta Peel Pads. These things are so expensive to actually buy, with a box of just five being $16. I think I've used this code like four times now, since I really like the product but don't want to drop the cash on actually buying it. Maybe during the next sale. Maybe.

I'm sure I'll come up with more excuses to pick up some more goodies soon. (Easter?) Have you picked up anything cool lately?

beautyblender - Old vs. New

I recently purchased a new beautyblender! Mine was over six months old and looking pretty sad. Because I had both the old and new at my disposal, I decided to see how a used and abused sponge vs. a shiny a new sponge looks.

Here's the two sponges while dry. You can see that the old one is much bigger dry than the new one, which is compact and...clean.

I went ahead and wet the two sponges, since that's how they're supposed to be used. The new one is still a bit smaller. The old one has more visible cracks in it from use. The newer one definitely had more bounce in it as well.

When I wet my beautyblender before use, I also clean it using a bar of Dr. Bronner's soap. (It's cheap, lasts forever, and works like a charm! Save money!) As you saw in the other photos, the used beautyblender had some stains on it near the top and bottom, since I did not wash it this time when I wet it. I cut the old one open, and you can see how much product was leftover from my foundation that morning. However, the rest of the sponge was pretty clean, meaning washing as often as it is used is a pretty good way to keep the sponge clean. There's no product at the top, since I had used the tip to blend in my concealer only. The bottom of the sponge seems to have soaked up a decent amount of product, though.

There you have it! The quick and dirty differences between a new and an old beautyblender. Can't wait to break this new one in!

February Empties aka Hoard My Trash!

In an effort to use up things that I have, I started keeping track of products I finished throughout the month. Hoarding my trash in a bag in the bedroom was really weird and somewhat annoying, but I am shocked and impressed at how much I used up!

If you haven't noticed, I LOVE sheet masks! I used up a whole bunch last month. Here's a quick rundown:

• TonyMoly I'm Real Rice
• Tosowoong Pure Aloe
• Tosowoong Pure Green Tea
• Tosowoong Pure Propolis
• The Face Shop Real Nature Mung Bean
• Etude House I Need You Tea Tree
• Etude House I Need You Olive
• My Scheming Mandelic Acid
• My Scheming 7 in 1 Brightening
• Benton Snail Bee
• My Beauty Diary Black Pearl

My favorite that I used this month was the My Scheming Mandelic Acid, which I waxed poetic about in my monthly favorites. All time favorites are the Benton Snail Bee, and the Tosowoong Pure Propolis and Pure Green Tea. I'm also fond of the Black Pearl mask!

Here are some cosmetics, samples, and another sheet mask that I forgot to include in the other photo. 

• Nature Republic Green Tea
• Alterna Caviar Instant Repair Shampoo & Conditioner
• Drybar Texas Tea Shampoo & Conditioner
• Bumble and Bumble Surf Shampoo & Conditioner
• Tatcha Cleansing Oil
• L'Occitane Amande hand cream
• Dr. Dennis Gross Extra Strength Alpha Beta Peel Pads
• Inglot #77 gel liner
• MAC Prep and Prime Lip
• Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack
• Performance Colors lip balm
• Tarte Lights Camera Flashes mascara

The Inglot liner I've already repurchased - I didn't really finish it, it's just all yucky and old now, so I got a new one! It was well over a year old and needed Duraline to reconstitute it. The Pumpkin Sleeping Pack was nice, but I hated the overly floral scent of it. I LOVE the Dr. Dennis Gross peel pads, and I use and abuse Sephora promo codes to get them since I refuse to shell out big $$ for them, even though they work really well for me. The Tatcha oil was a solid meh, which was a relief - it's also expensive!

I've already repurchased this Tigi conditioner, and this is my nth bottle of in shower lotion. The Cosrx A-Sol is a product that seems to be hit or miss for a lot of people - it's a definite hit for me. I used it as a toner whenever I sensed some trouble brewing under the skin, and I found that it really kept things in check. I've repurchased this as well!

Look at all these empty jars! I really am impressed with how much I was able to finish. What we have here:

• Haus of Gloi body emulsion mini in Cozy Sweater
• Alterna Plumping Strand Expand
• Haus of Gloi whipped soap in Eggnoggin'
• Banila Co. Clean It Zero
• Sunsets and Seas sugar scrub in The Crunch
• Vice and Velvet lotion in Honey Trap
• Haus of Gloi whipped soap in Pumpkin Queen

I've gone ahead and repurchased the Alterna plumper because I really do feel that it makes my hair thicker. This was my second jar of the Clean It Zero, but I've picked up a different cleansing oil to try next. I love Haus of Gloi's whipped soap! Eggnoggin' didn't smell like too much, but I am obsessed with Pumpkin Queen, and have about...oh...three or four more jars of that scent in whipped soap form. I wish Sunsets and Seas would restock their sugar scrubs, as I loved the consistency of this one - it was like a pudding, almost.

I'm happy to have made a dent in my huge hoard of beauty products last month. I hope to keep it up this month and find new favorites and get through some eh products. 

February 2016 Favorites

Happy Leap Day! Another month over, which means another month of favorite products!

1. Haus of Gloi Body Emulsion - Haus of Gloi is somewhat known for their pumpkin butter, which is available in their seasonal scents as well as general catalogue scents. However, I prefer their lighter body emulsion. The lotion, though light, is still very moisturizing and absorbs quickly. My bottle is labeled with their unscented version, but it's actually First Blush - my favorite Haus Valentine's collection scent! I dumped a sample vial of perfume oil into the lotion and shook it up, and it came out perfectly! I'll definitely be doing this with other scents I need a lotion of.
2. MAC Face and Body foundation - I'm not trying to brag, but my skin has been really good lately. Like, really good. So I decided to pick up a lighter foundation to just help with any light redness that may come up, instead of using it to cover imperfections. MAC Face and Body is very, very light coverage - exactly what I was looking for. It's very liquidy and applies easily using a beautyblender. The coverage is buildable, and since it's so light, it doesn't get cakey. I've really enjoyed using it, although sometimes I need to mix in a bit of liquid highlighter since it can be a little flat.
3. My Scheming Mandelic Acid sheet mask - My first My Scheming mask - I received this as a gift from a friend, it didn't work out for her. Her loss is my gain, because I LOVE this mask! My skin is so hydrated and BRIGHT after using this, not to mention free of redness! The mask is silk and so clingy, it fits very well. They're a bit fragile but I am excited to see what other masks My Scheming has to offer! (I may or may not have ordered a sampler set - whoops!)
4. Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow in I524 (Pinky Beige) - Since I'm really boring, I tend to do the same eye look a lot - warmish smokey eye with a shimmery lid. I'm always looking for new shimmery lid shades, and I picked up this one this month and love it! I'm a huge fan of the MUFE Artist formula, they're wonderfully pigmented and blendable. This shade has an iridescent finish, and looks wonderful alone or layered on top of a matte shadow for a bit more sparkle. I apply this with a flat brush just in case there's some sparkle fallout.
5. Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask - This mask...I hate that I love it. I hate it because it's ridiculously expensive ($52!) for something you put on your face at night and gets rubbed all into your pillow. I love that it was gifted to me - I couldn't spend that type of money on this sort of thing. But what I love the most about it is how soft and radiant my skin is in the morning. I know that there's a ton of skincare out there that works just as well as high end stuff for cheap...but this sleeping mask is the real deal. It's light yet very moisturizing - it sinks in to my skin quickly which means less mask on the pillow. It's scented - lightly floral - but not overly so. (Unlike the Too Cool For School sleeping pack...) I mentioned that my skin has been looking super great lately, and I don't want to credit this...but I recently started using it nightly and the effects are there.

A lot of focus on my skin this month! It's really paid off - I'm enjoying makeup even more now that I have a beautiful canvas to work with! Hopefully March brings more spring-y colors to next month's favorites.

Beautylish Haul!

So I needed to pick up a new pot of gel liner, and as you may or may not know, Inglot's gel liner in #77 is my favorite black liner. Of course, I hate paying for shipping, so I needed a few more items to reach the free shipping threshold on Beautylish...and this is how I wound up with this fantastic mini haul!!

As I previously mentioned, Inglot gel liner in #77 is my favorite black gel liner. I've used a few others, but Inglot takes the cake. It's smooth, ridiculously pigmented and rich, and doesn't budge. No really, it doesn't budge on me unless I scrub at it with a makeup wipe or take a cleansing oil to it. The formula glides on, allowing for perfect winged liner. The gel is a very rich, warm black that I find preferable to liquid liner which can seem thinner, in a way. The size is also ridiculously generous - my old pot dried out way before I had even used half of it. It can be revived easily using Inglot Duraline or a similar product, but it was time to retire my old one.

I decided to pick up the Wayne Goss #18 brush because out of all the brushes I own, I only have one other flat brush to pack color onto the lid. (It's an old Sephora Professional brush. I'm talking like 6-7 years old! It's a great brush, though!) I have small eyes and therefore small lids, so the #18 fit my needs. I had heard some talk about how the brush was a bit too "pokey," but after several uses, I can say that it is not so for me.

Unfortunately, as large as my collection of colored eyeshadow is, I cannot resist picking up a new shade when the opportunity arises. It's a problem, I admit it. (This is even more true for green and aqua shadows.)  Sugarpill Chromalust eyeshadow in Hug Life made its way into my order, and I love it! Sugarpill's loose shadows make fantastic colored eyeliners when mixed with something like Inglot Duraline, and that's exactly how I broke this one in. I've yet to be disappointed by Sugarpill, and I hope that keeps up. I definitely plan on wearing this one through spring and summer.

The last product I picked up was OCC Lip Tar RTW in Black Dahlia. I have this shade in the original lip tar packaging, so I probably didn't need it in the new doefoot applicator packaging, but the heart wants what the heart wants! I haven't used it yet, but I'm excited to see if I fall back in love with the lip tar formula with the new applicator.

I can't wait to put all my new things to good use - until the next haul! (Just kidding, I use all of my babies always!)

Haus of Gloi Valentine's Haul! (it's all First Blush...)

Last year, I did my very first indie perfume review. That scent was Haus of Gloi's First Blush, from their Valentine's collection. As a quick refresher, First Blush has notes of Tahitian vanilla bean, white tea, lavender and peach. In other words, it's lightly fruity and slightly floral perfection. I fell in love with the scent, but I had only ordered a bottle of perfume oil, and a mini sugar scrub. Haus of Gloi has been becoming more and more popular, with more and more releases getting cleaned out. Which is amazing for them, but it makes it harder to get the things you want! This year, I got snowed in on release day, but managed to snag all the goodies I wanted when I finally sat down to order. Here's the damage:

• First Blush Hair Oil
• First Blush Whipped Soap (2x)
• First Blush Sugar Exfoliant (2x)
• Aether Body Emulsion
• First Blush Perfume Oil sample
• Rose Gold Lip Tint
• Chamomile Oak Butterbomb

I HAD wanted a Pink Champagne butterbomb, but I'm happy to have even gotten one at all! I liked the pumpkin one I picked up in the fall release, so hopefully this is just as nice. The whipped soap formula from the Haus is pretty high on my list of favorite whipped soap formulas, so I made sure to stock up. (I did not make the mistake I made with my fall order...where I bought five Pumpkin Queen whipped soaps. No ragrets.) I prefer the Sugar Exfoliant to the Haus Bubbling Scrub, so I made sure to get two of those. I really like the hair oil, and I needed a lighter scent than my wintery Cozy Sweater one. 

Instead of the ever popular Pumpkin Butter, I bought a full size bottle of the Body Emulsion. The emulsion is lighter and sinks in much more quickly than the heavier butter, which I prefer. As an added bonus, the emulsion comes in a squeeze bottle, which (to me) is better than the scoop out tub. Unfortunately, Haus of Gloi only releases their seasonal scents in the Pumpkin Butter formula. To try and get my First Blush lotion fix, I picked up a perfume sample and dumped it into the lotion bottle. To me, it seems like the perfect amount of scent for the amount of lotion, and I've been using it often! I can definitely see myself picking up another bottle or two of the body emulsion to keep myself stocked.

I did notice that this year's First Blush scent is a little different than last year's. It isn't bad in any way, and I still love it, and it could be that my perfume oil has aged a year...but the scent is a tiny bit different. I still recommend it, though! First Blush is a lovely springtime scent, and I'm very glad I loaded up!