Anya's Ipsy/MyGlam October 2012

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I signed up for MyGlam/Ipsy in August. My first bag came in October.

Here's what it had in it:
  • COASTAL SCENTS - Eye Shadow
  • COUTURE COLOUR - Pequi Oil Treatment
  • BE A BOMBSHELL - Eye Liner
  • MIRENESSE - Lip Bomb Glossy Lacquer Stain
  • THEBALM -What's Your Type? "the body builder" Black Mascara
  •  

I was pleased with how much stuff I got and how cute the bag is. The bag is definitely getting used (mostly to hold all my samples).

I haven't had a chance to try the eye shadows yet--mostly because they're not colors I ordinarily wear.

The lip bomb in pink made me look like some sort of demented Barbie doll. I didn't keep it on for long.

The eye liner is easy to use but dries super fast so its a little difficult to fix problems if you mess up (and I often mess up). Once its on there, whoa baby, it's on there!

I love the mascara. I signed up for these beauty boxes because I was in need of mascara and didn't know what to try...so I was psyched to get a bottle in a bag. (Incidentally I gave in and bought mascara before this arrived).

The Pequi Oil Treatment is on par with argan oil. It smells nice and does make my hair soft.

Conclusion, Ipsy this month was more than worth the $10 but I'm not sure I'd pay full price for any of these when I run out.

Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish, Flash Black

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My guy was kind enough to buy me a bottle of Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish in "Flash Black" at Ulta in Dayton. Here's a shot of my nails with two coats on top of Sinful Colors "Vacation Time"

I have a video of it but it's not a very good indication of how cool this looks. But here it is:


Target Fall Beauty Bag

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I got home from my short vacation to find this sweet thing in my mailbox. It's the Target Fall Beauty Bag! I got this baby free at Samples.Target.


And here's what's inside in the bag:




That's a coupon book up there with coupons for $1 to $3 off loads of products, not just the ones in the bag. As you can see, this is all I've tried so far:


Anya's October Birchbox

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Here are the contents of my October Birchbox:

  • Jouer Lip Enhancer
  • LUNA Bar "Lemon Zest"
  • Supergoop!® City Sunscreen Serum
  • Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Eye Cream
  • essie® fall picks Nail Polish Collection "Lady Like"



Supergoop!® City Sunscreen Serum
I doubt I'll actually try this until next year.


Jouer Lip Enhancer
This works about as well as any other lip moisturizer. 
The sample size isn't terribly big but its enough to get the idea that I don't need to pay for a full-sized.


LUNA Bar "Lemon Zest"
It tasted okay but the price on these is just too high for me to even consider buying more.


Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Eye Cream
I've used this twice but haven't noticed this doing anything for me.





essie "Lady Like"

This month's Birchbox came with a full-sized bottle of essie. The color is pretty. I'm pleased with it.
Here's a photo of my nails with the polish on it.
The index finger has 1 coat. The rest have 2 or more.

Given the requirement for more than one coat, this wouldn't do well as the stamp color.

MAC Magnetic Palette

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Last week I bought an empty palette from MAC to test out. I'm losing a ton of counter space with all of my make up and needed something to help. I bought the face palette (without the insert) since I wanted all the space available and loved that it had a see through window on top. Much to my dismay when I depotted one of my Urban Decay eye shadows, only to find out the MAC palette doesn't have a magnetized bottom. You can stick a magnet to the bottom and it will be fine, but it isn't a magnet itself.

After a few days of searching for magnetic sheets at Home Depot and craft stores I wasn't satisfied. All of the adhesive magnetic sheets were flimsy and wouldn't hold my make up pans in place. I needed a solution, and I found one at Home Depot. I wanted a strong magnet that I could glue or just stick to my make up pans. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before but duh, a magnet! I wound up buying a 12 pack of small super magnets.



To make the palette slightly prettier, I cut up a piece of card stock and put that on the bottom. I then put the super magnets under my make up pans and put it in the palette. Here is what I came up with, and I need to depot more of my make up.



Ipsy/MyGlam November 2012 Sneak Peek

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I'm in LOVE with benefit They're Real mascara and just ran out of mine! Isn't the bag cute this month?

Sephora Samples - September (late post)

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I got a few samples with a recent Sephora order. Here's my write up of them.

Korres Quercetin & Oak Age-reversing Primer - $33 1.01oz tube


Smells like freshly peeled oranges. The consistency goes on heavier than Smashbox's Photo Finish Light primer but a little lighter than the regular Smashbox Photo Finish primer. I got 4 applications out of the sample. I really liked it but I'm not sure I'd pay full price (I'd like something that minimizes pores).

Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel - $10 for 3.3oz bottle

Smells a little like roses. Does a fine job of cleaning make-up off. I'm not sure its worth paying full price over other cleansers but I'd definitely use the heck out of it if someone gave it to me for free :)


Ouidad Climate Control® Heat & Humidity Gel - $9 2.2oz bottle

I have loads of little hair tonic bottles for controlling frizz so I haven't had a chance to try this one yet. I'll do a specific post if this product is awesome.


Benefit Cosmetics/ Hello Flawless! Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation deluxe sample in 'I'm Plush and Precious' Petal - $33 1oz bottle

This stuff is on par with MFE Mat Velvet foundation but feels lighter. It's not full coverage, at least on my skin, but it's decent. It lasts about as long as well, which, again, on my skin isn't all day (I don't have any finishing powders or sprays yet so I'm sure that contributes). I wouldn't pay the full price for this just as I don't plan to buy the Mat foundation again either. (I'm very cheap, it's got to seriously WOW me for me to spend that kind of money.)


Fresh Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo

These moisturize about as well as any lip moisturizer. The tint is barely visible on my lips, which might a good thing?


Manicure - October 18

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Basecoat: Essie - Lady Like
Stamp color: ORLY Decoded
Stamp plate: BM-206

Manicure - October 6

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Basecoat:
butter London "Bluey" on top of ORLY "Decades of Dysfunction"

Stamp polish:
Essie "No Place Like Chrome"

Stamp Plate:
BM-218

Manicure - October 3

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Basecoat:
butter London "All Hail The Queen" on top of ORLY "Decades of Dysfunction"

Stamp polish:
Maybelline New York Color Show Denim "Styled Out"

Stamp Plate:
Mash-49


ELF Villainous Villains - Cruella

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I've been hearing about the ELF Villainous Villains palettes since they came out earlier last month. I didn't have high hopes when I went to Walgreens today, but I was in luck, they had all 3 palettes. I wound up getting the Cruella one since they are $10 each.

When I opened it up I saw a cute little mirror on one side, and a night and day look on the other.
You can open the mirror side and it describes how to achieve a day look and night look.

The day look has 1 matte shade, and 3 satin shades.

The night look also has 1 matte shade, and 3 satin shades.

The two lip pencils are amazingly soft and goes on easily and super pigmented.
I can't wait to play around with this palette since this is my first ELF purchase. Have you found these in your local Walgreens?





MyGlam/Ipsy October 2012 SPOILER

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Here are the items that will be in the MyGlam/Ipsy October 2012 bag.

Be a Bombshell Eyeliner - Onyx
I've actually tried this brand before and fell in LOVE with the eye liner. It has a felt tip type of pen, gives a smooth dark line and dries and STAYS on until you remove it with make up remover.

theBalm Mascara
Darn, I was kind of hoping this would be on the of full size items.

Minenesse - Lip Bomb
The color choices look like red or pink.

Coastal Scents - 4 Customized Eye Shadows
I personally haven't tried this before, but a lot of people are griping how they got this for free when they ordered from that company. Colors will vary in the bag.

Couture Colour Hair Treatment
Haven't heard of before or used.


Urban Decay Eye Shadow Palettes

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This past weekend I found some amazing make up deals at Nordstrom Rack. You can see my other post about the Stila Dream in Full Color Palette HERE. These are the final two eye shadow items I bought while shopping last weekend.

Urban Decay - Skull Shadow Box
Original Price: $36
Sale Price: $11.97

You can find this palette on Urban Decay's website for $12 right now.

Click on pictures for larger image

I've used several of these shades before and absolutely love them. Chopper is my current favorite, so I am glad I have a few more pans of it before I need to buy it at full price.

Urban Decay - Wallpaper Shadow Box
Original Price: $34
Sale Price: $11.97

Click on pictures for larger image

Maybelline Color Show Polish -- Excellent Value

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This was another find today at lunch. 

I've already bought the "Go Go Green" polish from Maybelline Color Show (it's in one of the earlier posts).

So when I spotted these metallics for $2.97, I couldn't resist.

One is called "Denims" but it's more of a glittery metallic than anything denim I've ever seen.

These are:
Amethyst Ablaze 90 (Metallics)
Styled Out 20 (Denims)


And here they are on my nails (roughly one coat):



As you can see, the Denim polish dries with an almost matte finish. The metallics polish reflects the light well.

I've yet to try stamping with these, but at $2.97 a bottle, I don't care if they stamp well or not.
These are amazing and an excellent value.

But be careful. Not all of the Color Show polishes are 1-coat polishes.

I did a stripe of the neon pink and it was very thin (as most of the neons I've tried are).
It would be fine as long as you're okay with applying a base coat color first.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

October Julep Maven

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I couldn't resist this month's Julep Maven box.
I've gone with "It Girl" since the start. Mostly because I prefer polishes to products.
But this month I had a tough choice because the product was fast dry drops.

So I got the drops as an add-on.

Add-ons ship separately. Here is what arrived:


The main box looked like this inside:


I love the Halloween details with the orange crinkled confetti and the candy corn. The drops were packed with black crinkled confetti.
This month they sent glitter pots. I didn't expect those so that was a nice surprise.

Here is how the polish was wrapped (that's a black paper bag):


And here are the polishes.

Leslie (a dark gray metallic)
Glenda (silver crackle)
Caroline (a dark ruby/blood red metallic)


Here's everything I got this month (with the add-on of the drops):


Swatches of Leslie and Caroline:



Leslie coats very well with one coat. I suspect it will stamp well. 

Caroline would need 2 coats. And when it's not under a bright light, it looks almost black.
Sometimes that's a neat effect...at least as a base coat. I don't think it would be as neat as a stamped color.

The crackle is a standard crackle. I've had my fill of crackles. They're so hit or miss, even from one sitting to another in the same bottle. But I really wanted both the colors in the It Girl box so I went with it.

The drops worked very well. So far. 
If these turn out to be the holy grail of fast dry, I will definitely devote an entire post to them :)


I'm going to experiment with everything in this set (stamping, crackling, glitter pots, & quick-dry polishing). More pictures may come later.

Sally Hansen Lustre Shine

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Imagine my glee when I spotted this display at Walmart today at lunch:

Iridescent? 
I'll admit my hopes were high. I'd put back a bottle of Essie I'd lusted after for weeks to get this one instead (for $6.97). 

I picked "Plume"
Here it is:


And here is a photo of it on my nails in the light:


It's nice as a base coat.  Very metallic looking. But this polish is nothing I haven't seen before.
And it requires at least 2-3 coats to look like this. That means no stamping with it.
And that means I don't like it.

Gosh, I'm such a polish snob now.