Drug Store Nail Polish Haul

I know I wrote in my last post, which was 2 and half months ago, that I was back and ready to post. Well, just as I wrote that, not much time went by and aunt passed away as well. To make matter worse, my family and I are still dealing with legal matters on my grandfather's death which was over a year ago. I'm coping and handling things the best way I can, but I have just been spending a lot of time with family and to myself. - I have taken a lot of time off from blogging and social media lately and I do feel like I am ready to jump back on this "horse" though. I'm saying this now without a thought and with hope that my family and I do not endure anymore loss.

I thought I would start with an easy post to get back into the swing of things. This is just a nail polish haul that I did over the last 2 weeks. It's pretty simple. Everything was bought from drug stores.

The first 4 polishes in this haul were from the SinfulColors polish line. These are the "SinfulShine" polishes that are suppose to be super shiny like gel polish, only you don't need the UV lamp or any special top coat. The bottles state that they have "Gel Tech". These have been out for a few years and were first spotted in Walgreens. I never picked any up as they were $1 more than the regular SinfulColors line and just didn't seem worth it to me. Recently, displays at Walmart started popping up with these SinfulShine polishes that are priced at $1.50, which is less than the average SinfulColors polish and so I couldn't pass them up! I placed the names of the polishes on the bottles for you all for fast referencing. I have not yet tried these out though, but when I do I will make sure to review!

The next week, I found the Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear limited edition "Electric Summer" collection at Walmart, also. These were $2.97 a piece and this collection was released this year for Summer 2014. Unfortunately, it's the end of summer, but better late than never. Again, the names are on the bottles for fast reference. There are 2 more polishes in this collection that I did not get- "Pearl Up" that looked to be a very pale peachy pink, almost white & "You're Crabby" that looked a lot like "Peach Babe" only darker. I just felt like those 2 were not necessary for me in my collection and that I wouldn't use them. A lot of people were not excited about these when they were came out, because the colors are very similar and comparable to colors in the permanent line, but I felt like there was enough difference for me to go ahead and purchase them. I also do not own many polishes from this line, so that helped. Again, I haven't tested these exact polishes and when I do I will review. I've never had a problem with this line of polishes though.

Here are 3 random polishes I picked up last week and all 3 are from different Sally Hansen lines. Names are placed on the bottles for fast reference here, as well. They are all permanent shades. The first polish, "On Pines an Needles", is recently new this year for 2014, but it is permanent. The other 2 have been out for a while. I actually have never owned a Triple Shine polish before. When they first came out it seemed like everyone rushed out to buy them and within a few months it seemed like everyone had tossed them aside, which lead me to think they weren't all that, but I decided to pick this one up "Seanic" and test it out. If you have tried them let me know your thoughts!

Next up, these are the new "Miracle Gel" polishes that came out by Sally Hansen. (I promise this is the last of the Sally Hansen polishes!) I bought all 3 that have the "no light" written on the brush handle from CVS at $9.99 a piece and the "Style Maker" came in a 2 pack from Walgreens which included the special Top Coat that is suppose to help keep the shine and give durability to the polish and it was $14.99. These polishes claim to have the shine and look of a gel polish without the UV lamps, but last up to 2 weeks. These are what I am most excited to try! Around here these polishes have been selling out quite fast. It took me trying 3 different stores to find "Truffle Shuffle" after I passed it up the first time!

To finish this haul off, I'm showing off some Essie polishes. Essie is one of my favorite brands, they're a little pricey for drug store polishes, but I think the quality of them are great! Rarely do I need more than 2 coats and they last quite a while on my nails (more than a day or less, which is the result I get with a lot of drug store polishes). - "Fashion Playground" is a limited edition color from this years Spring 2014 collection and I still see it floating around at Rite Aids and Walgreens. I purchased mine from Rite Aid for $8.50. "Mojito Madness" is a permanent color and I bought mine at Walmart for $8.47.

Save the best for last! Here is the last polish of my haul and it is an Essie polish. This is "On a Silver Platter" and this came out for the holidays last year (Winter 2013). I wanted it when it came out and for some reason it was sold out every where and then I sort of felt like I didn't need it after the holidays. Well, now that the holidays are approaching again, I picked it up! I bought this one at CVS for $8.50. 

Hope you like the haul! I'm real sorry for my absence and making it look like I had abandon this blog, but it was more like I just needed some personal space. I will say that I did still receive activity while I was away, which made me feel encouraged that the content of my blog was still good enough to reach people, even though I was gone for a while. Thank you for your kind words and support. 

On a side note, I am seriously backed up from early summer until now with blog entries. Some may be irrelevant by now, but I am thinking I may still post them anyway. Let me know your thoughts!

You Can't Prepare

I'd like to explain my long absence. The last post I made was the day that I found out my mother past away and after that it was everything I could do to pull myself together to get myself across the country to be with my family. With all of the commotion and stress that I had to deal with following the next few weeks of my life, I had no time to even think of this blog. Since then it has been just a list to tick through to get all matters settled legally and personally. And to top it all off, I've been trying to mourn through all of this. 

My mother has been sick for several years and in-and-out of hospitals for the later part of those years. When she was admitted this last time everything seemed to be going well. She seemed to be recovering just fine. However, the symptoms seemed to have just pushed her body over the edge and she passed away in the afternoon. 

Even though I had known that my mother's days were numbered and I felt that I would be relatively prepared, I found that I wasn't prepared at all. There's nothing you can say to yourself, there's nothing anyone can say to you either, that will make everything okay and will prepare you beforehand or after the fact. I really wish no one would have to go through this or have to deal with the legal crap that comes with it, but I cannot prevent what is going to happen. I just offer the advice that however you grieve or feel necessary to do to get through something like this -DO IT. Do not ever let others stand in your way or make you feel like you have to be a certain way, act a certain way, or do anything you don't want to do. This is as much your time as it is anyone else's.

With all of that said! I'm back. I hope to get posts up sooner or later and I feel this is the next step of my healing- being able to get back to being creative artistically with cosmetics, as well as narrative-ly through my blog. I appreciate all understanding and hope I have not lost complete communication to everyone I was in contact with. 

***As special thanks to Tammy at Chic and Alluring for checking up on me periodically. It's those who never give up on you when you are in your darkest moments that really shine.

Make It Pink

Well, I've been on a hiatus and it was very unexpected. I am going through very difficult times and it all deals with my family, so it's hitting me hard. It looks to be a bumpy road from here on out and I'm not sure when it will get better, but I'm doing my best to keep going and stay positive. Until everything is resolved, my posts will be sparse, I'm sure. - On the bright side, I have a string of posts I've been meaning to get up and I'm working on them now! Get ready to be pink-ified! I'm really not a huge "pink person", but for some reason, lately, I have been purchasing a lot of cosmetic products that are all in the Pink Family. It's okay though, because it does give me a break from my normal aqua and teal colors I usually purchase. 

I've also been reading a ton of new blogs and I'm starting to link to them. If you're a blogger lover and looking for something new to read then check out my right side of my blog where there are links to quite a few others!

Review: Wet N' Wild Limited Edition Polishes from "The Style Award Goes To..."

After reviewing the eyeshadow palettes from the limited edition collection from Wet N' Wild's "The Style Award Goes To..." for Spring 2014, I have a quick review on the 6 nail polishes that are also part of the collection from their Megalast polish line.

From Left to Right:

• #34357 Elegance -white frost.
• #34362 Champagne Toast -light champagne frost.
• #34359 Sophisticated Lady -light pink frost.
• #34360 Candid Affair -grey purple with pink iridescence.
• #34361 Valet Tag -taupe with silver shimmer.
• #34358 Silver Lining -dark grey purple jelly with silver shimmer and pink iridescence.

Here are swatches of the 3 lightest shades. All are only 2 coats. As you can see, none of the polishes are of opaque coverage. It takes about 3-4 layers to get opaque coverage. These particular 3 in the collection are nothing really unique, in my opinion. Similar shades have been made by Wet N' Wild in the past and some are very similar to their permanent line of Megalast polishes.

Here are swatches of the 3 darkest shades. Again, only 2 coats of each polish are on the nail. Silver Lining is a jelly, but I still feel it'd be better with 3 coats. Valet Tag & Candid Affair can get away with only 2 coats, but I feel 3 was better for my liking.

Final Verdict

Rather than rate each of these polishes individually, I am just going to rate the collection as a whole, because I feel for the most part that they all perform similarly. I'd give the collection a 5/10. These polishes are not that unique and similar shades can be found everyday or off-and-on by Wet N' Wild. They all take 3-4 coats to get good opacity and evenness. For $1.99 they are not bad, but they're also not something I'd rush out to buy. All of these polishes look better over darker shades or solid colors and that's how I would suggest using them.

Review: Wet N' Wild Limited Edition "The Style Award Goes To..."

I'm reviewing the limited edition Wet N' Wild palettes from their "The Style Award Goes To..." collection for Spring 2014. These are just popping up in Rite Aids around my area, so if you feel like you missed out then try checking out your stores again. This collection came out about a month ago and it seems like Walgreens received these first and now they're popping up in CVS & Rite Aid. Last year, the Spring collection was released twice, again in the summer, because it was in such high demand. So, keep your eyes peeled in July or August if you missed out now.

(Feel free to skip all the way to the bottom to read the Final Verdict and skip the details.)

I purchased these palettes for $4.99 each at Walgreens and they only allowed me to buy 1 of each item from the collection, as they only had 1 display and it was in high demand. When I stopped at Rite Aid this week and saw the collection there, they had no problem with you buying multiples. I guess it just depends on location. - Personally, I love the packaging on these. The white "sparkles" (which really are just white printed images to look like glamour and sparkles) are a nice touch and I've never had a Wet N' Wild palette look this cute before.

There were only 2 eyeshadow palettes released in this collection. On the right you have #34356 "Flirting at the After Party", which features multiple shades of purple. On the left you have #34355 "Walking the Red Carpet", which features neutrals and earth toned metallic colors. Each comes with double-ended brush that has a soft applicator and a bristle brush.

Here are swatches of "Walking the Red Carpet". The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. There are no names for these shadows, which is disappointing, but that's typical for Wet N' Wild. I was most excited about this palette when it came out, because of the metallic glitter-like shades, but this was actually a pretty disappointing pallet. Swatched, the shades do not look so bad. The brow bone colors and the eyelid color from the left column matches my skin tone almost exactly, and they're also not greatly pigmented. Most of this pallet is really powdery and makes a mess. The fallout of this powdery pallet makes for a challenge in applying the shadows as well. The gold color is very stiff and doesn't work for much more than a bright top layer over other shadows. The copper color isn't very bright either. Overall, I was highly disappointed in this pallet.

Here is a look I created using MOST of the colors from the "Walking The Red Carpet" pallet. Overall, I don't feel these shadows performed that well. You get about 4 hours with primer before fading and in my opinion- you can get similar colors every day.

Here are swatches from the "Flirting at the After Party" pallet. This pallet was pretty to look at when I first saw it and it definitely goes with the "Orchid" theme of 2014, but it didn't excite me too much before I opened it. I was more intrigued by the glitter and sparkle of Walking the Red Carpet, but after swatching and using the pallets I changed my mind. This pallet here is the winner and definitely worth the $4.99. The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. Again, no names for the shades. The only real disappointments from this pallet are the "definer" shades -they're not as dark as most would like and they're a little powdery. These shades are soft, pigmented, blend well, and have decent staying power with primer. There is a bit of fallout, but nothing too bad. I was very impressed with this pallet.

Here is a look I created using "Flirting at the After Party". I think it turned out quite well.

Final Verdict

Walking The Red Carpet - I give this pallet a 4/10. The packaging is about the nicest thing I can say about this pallet. The outside is cute, the shades are pretty to look at, but the performance is way below a normal Wet N' Wild pallet. The shades lack pigmentation and are messy. The powdery mess really makes it hard to apply the shades and they do not last throughout the day, even with primer. Unless you're a beginner or a just a collector, I cannot recommend this pallet. The only other reason one would want this pallet is 

perhaps for experimenting or if one does not use these types of shades often.

Flirting at the After Party - I give this pallet a 8/10. For the price, this is a good deal. Aside from the outside being cute, the pallet itself is pretty to look at and the performance of the eyeshadows is very good. With the exception of the definer shades being a little light and hard to work with and a couple of powdery shades, this pallet overall performs well. With primer, you will get a days wear out of it and experience just a little fading. I would recommend this pallet beyond collectors and beginners, because it works well.

Review: Maybelline "Dare To Go Nude" Color Elixirs + Bonus

I'm now reviewing 2 of the Maybelline Color Elixirs from the limited edition "Dare To Go Nude" collection. I already reviewed ALL of the Color Tattoo eyeshadows from this collection. 

(Feel free to skip to the very end of the post to read the Final Verdict and skip over the details.)

Left is #105 "Polished Petal" & Right is #110 "Radiant Bloom".

I picked up 2 of the 6 shades that were limited edition. These are the 2 pink shades in the collection. I want to note why I only picked up 2: 

1) They were over a $1 more than the regular Elixirs and I'm not sure why......? They cost around $9.25 and the regular Color Elixirs are around $8. 

2) Up until this part I had never used these before and I was a little skeptical. I heard a lot about these when they first came out, but not a word since. I wasn't sure if they were a fail or just over hyped.

First, let me start off with an official description of these lip products for those of you who are like me and are a little late in trying them out. Maybelline describes these as:

A trio of concentrates that delivers the color of a lipstick, the cushionry care of a blam, and the glass shine of a gloss.

In other words, this is a higher concentrated lip gloss, in my opinion. -With that said, you can not expect the highest of color payoff with these, but do expect more color than the average gloss. I assumed it would be thick, because how else would you get the shine and "cushion balm" texture. Also, while this may last longer than the average gloss while wearing, I didn't expect it to last more than 4-6 hours.

Starting with #105 "Polished Petal". The left is the Elixir swatched just 1 time and basically just kind of globbed on. The right side is smoothed out. It's pretty pale and light. This is the cooler of the 2 pinks.

Here is what Polished Petal looks like on the lips. It's a milky pastel and it definitely excentuations any lines, dry patches, and uneven-ness on the lips. This color is much lighter than my natural color, so this actually gives a light color on my lips.

Here is an up-close view of Polished Petal. You can see this does not give a full opaque coverage on its own. I highly recommend putting this over lipstick. The good thing was that I didn't find this to be sticky, just thick. It does take some work to even out the product on the lips and I did not care for the odor. It seems like the perfume they put in this product is very minimal and doesn't last very long. If you happen to get any in your mouth, you will have an unpleasant waxy taste in your mouth and that's no fun. Overall, I found this to last an average of 2-3 hours on its own depending on conditions.

Here is #110 "Radiant Bloom". This is the warmer of the 2 pinks. The left is when I smoothed the product out and the right is is where I swatched it just 1 time and it just sort of globbed on. Again, these are thick. 

This is what Radiant Bloom looks like on the lips. This is my favorite of the 2 pinks in this collection. It is much more opaque and gives better coverage. This is not as milky and shows up as more of a pastel color. It does show dry patches and uneven-ness if you have any on your lips though, but not as bad as Polished Petal.

Here is an up-close look at Radiant Bloom. As you can see this provides much better coverage than Polished Petal on its own. It's darker and warmer too. It has an average of 2-4 hours of wear time on its own depending on conditions. I did not find this to be sticky either, just thick. The real problem with this color is one that it shares with Polished Petal- the odor or smell is not pleasant. The perfume in this Elixir is not long lasting and its not long after being applied that you will get that heavy wax smell that is not pleasant. It almost smells like crayons. If you get any on your tongue it will be unpleasant too, leaving that waxy taste in your mouth.

Here are side-by-side swatches of the 2 limited edition pink Color Elixirs. From the swatches there is not much difference. It's more of a choice of weather you want a cool toned or a warm toned pink. However, once applied, Radiant Bloom is the clear winner here.

Here's the bonus- After having disappointing experiences with the limited edition Color Elixirs, I went out and bought one from the regular lineup. This is #60 "Nude Illusion", which is a matte nude color that is pretty neutral in tone to me.

Here are swatches of "Nude Illusion". The left is were I just swatched 1 time and the right is where I smoothed it out. I found this particular Color Elixir to be much faster and easier to smooth out then the 2 limited edition pinks.

Here is what Nude Illusion looks like on the lips. I found the "nude" part of the name to be quite true. It pretty much is just a gloss on my lips, which is okay for every day/casual use. This Elixir alone was much more opaque and easier to deal with than the 2 limited edition pinks. I also did not find any issue with unpleasant taste or smell. It has a bit of that same perfume smell as the limited edition ones and then it just fades away as time goes on.

Here is an up-close view of Nude Illusion. It is a little lighter than my actual lip color, but not enough that you can tell from a normal view. It's a thick gloss that I feel goes good on its own or over lipstick. I also feel you get more wear out of this one than you do the limited edition ones I reviewed. This averages more of a 4-6 hour wear depending on conditions. 

Final Verdict

#105 Polished Petal - I give this a 4/10. The formula makes for streaky and uneven application. It takes quite a bit of work and product to even out and give decent coverage. It is not a product that can be worn on its own; it should be applied over lipstick. While it is thick, it is not sticky. The wear time of this particular Color Elixir is less than that of one from the regular product lineup. I did find that this product was less nourishing than other Color Elixirs, but did not dry out my lips. The smell and taste are unpleasantly overwhelming. 

#110 Radiant Bloom - I give this a 7/10. The coverage is decent and this can be worn alone, although it looks better over lipstick. The wear time is less than a Color Elixir from the regular lineup though. It is thick, but not sticky. The formula is nourishing and does not dry the lips. Unfortunately, the smell and taste are unpleasant and overwhelming, and give this product a lower score.

#60 Nude Illusion - I give this product an 8.5/10. This not limited edition and seems to perform better than the limited edition Color Elixirs. It performs well both on its own and over lipstick, and the wear time is quite good for a gloss. It is thick, but not sticky. The formula is quite nourishing on the lips and does not dry out the lips at all. While there isn't an aftertaste to this product, the smell is almost of a chemical-like perfume and does eventually fade. It would be nice if in the future they could improve the smell of the product.

After trying out 2 of the limited edition Elixirs, I passed on buying anymore. However, I am not opposed to trying more from the permanent line as the only permanent Elixir I have tried turned out to be quite good.

Review: Maybelline "Dare To Go Nude" Color Tattoos

I'm reviewing the limited edition Color Tattoo eyeshadows from Maybelline's "Dare To Go Nude" collection that was released about a month ago. This collection started popping up in early February for some people. I live in the Northern part of the West Coast and I didn't see it around here until mid-February. The rest of the USA didn't see it until March. I'm still seeing displays pop up around here, mostly in CVS stores. It seems like CVS was the last to get this collection and a lot of people were saying they found big end cap displays in Walgreens, but I never found any.

(Feel free to skip to the very bottom of the post to read the Final Verdict and skip the details.)

I personally found the entire collection untouched (lucky me, I know) at Rite Aid. I picked up all 6 limited edition Color Tattoo eyeshadows and I was lucky enough to score it on a week when it was Buy 1/Get 1 50% off. I also picked up 2 of the limited edition Lip Elixirs that I'll be reviewing later. I passed on the limited edition lipsticks and the limited edition eyeshadow quads; I'm not a fan of Maybelline's powder shadows and the only solid lipsticks I've enjoyed from them are the Vivid's collection.

The shades in the picture starting from left-to-right and from top-to-bottom are:

• #80 Pure Nude
• #85 Beige-ing Beauty
• #90 Nude Compliment
• #95 Sleek & Spice
• #100 Caramel Cool
• #105 Stroke of Midnight

Here are swatches for the first 3 shadows. From left-to-right:

• #80 "Pure Nude" -this is a shimmery light peachy pink color. My skin tone is a medium-to-tan shade and when I wear this it looks very light on me, almost more on the white side. My undertone also really brings out the peach in it. I only state of all of this, because most of the swatches I've seen on other blogs make it appear more pink, because the authors of those bloggers have a lighter skin tone than myself.
• #85 "Beige-ing Beauty" -this is a shimmery nude color with gold glitter in it. If you're not a fan of gold then you'll want to stay clear of this one, but the glitter is pretty subtle due to the colors complimenting each other well. This color almost blends into my skin. It applies very sheer and takes a few layers if you're trying to get am opaque look out of it.
• #90 "Nude Compliment" -this is a cool shimmery brown color. It's a tiny bit streaky when first applied, but is easy to work with and not hard to smooth out. You hardly notice the streaky part.

Here are the swatches of the last 3 colors. From left-to-right:

• #95 "Sleek & Spice" -this is a warm toned brown with a red tone. This is a metallic. I'm not sure if it was just my pot, because I've not heard anyone else mention this, but this is the smoothest Color Tattoo I've ever purchased. The formula of this shadow is so creamy and smooth, it's like butter. Hands down, the best Color Tattoo ever.
• #100 "Caramel Cool" -this is a metallic-frost orange-copper color. This was the most sought out color from what I read when this collection came out. I personally am not a huge fan of these kind of colors, but I will say this is a nice color and it applies, blends, and performs well.
• #105 "Stroke of Midnight" -this is a matte black with silver glitter. Again, if you're not a fan of glitter, you definitely want to stay away from this, as the glitter almost appears chunky because of the matte black contrast. This color was another highly sought color, until people saw swatches. It is true that this color is patchy and streaky. It's not smooth sailing when applied, but it's not something you can't work with for certain looks. I'm not sure if Maybelline intended for this to be more of a finishing shadow than one to be for an opaque look, but I would use it as a finish/top layer. I would also suggest putting it over a black liner too.

Here is a macro view of "Stroke of Midnight". You can see it's matte and the pieces you are seeing are the silver sparkles. It's quite pretty too look at in the pot.

Final Verdict

#80 "Pure Nude" - I give this shade a 9/10. This is a very nice color that performs well. It is smooth and creamy and lasts throughout the day. It blends so well and easy.

#85 "Beige-ing Beauty" - I give this a 8/10. This color looks good blended with others. The glitter might turn some people away, but I personally feel the gold glitter compliments the base color. It's a bit on the sheer side, but that's nothing an additional layer or 2 cannot help. It's not a color to be used on its own.

#90 "Nude Compliment" - I give this a 9/10. This shade performs well and blends nicely. The only reason I took a point away is because at first it is a bit streaky/chunky, but it levels out well.

#95 "Sleek And Spice" - I give this a 10/10. This particular shadow is rated more on the formula than the actual color. As I stated before, I have never purchased a Color Tattoo that has formula that feels so smooth and creamy as this one does. This is like butter for the eyes! Still great color payoff and amazing staying power!

#100 "Caramel Cool" - I give this a 10/10. Another great performing shade that blends like a dream and gives great color payoff! The saying power is also amazing! Nothing to complain about here.

#105 "Stroke Of Midnight" - I give this a 6/10. This shade is streaky and patchy. Since Maybelline has not stated this was just a finishing/top coat shadow, I have to grade it based on a regular eyeshadow. While pretty in the pot, it is not that easy to make opaque and it takes a lot of work and effort to get even and a smooth layer by itself. It does work well over other colors and liner.

Fashion Look: LC by Lauren Conrad Sweater

I'm sharing a *Fashion Look* today. I always say this is a fashion and beauty blog and in the 50+ posts I've created on this blog, I have yet to really show any fashion. This is something I recognize I need to work on and progress is going to start right now!

This is an Early Spring Look featuring a sweater by LC Lauren Conrad, which is sold exclusively at Kohl's. You cannot buy this sweater anymore, but it retailed for around $40 when I bought it. I believe it was originally $54, but Kohl's is a department store and you know they never sell their clothing at the full retail value that is marked on the tag. The sweater is a mint green cable knit that is very light and leans towards the grey side. It may vary color depending on your screen settings.

I have paired it a pair of ripped jeans by Bullhead, which is sold exclusively at Pac Sun. They were around $45. I feel the ripped jeans give this look a little edge.

As for LC Lauren Conrad- I find her line to be on the vintage side. If you're into the vintage, boho, or classic fashion scenes you'll like her line of clothing. I find her clothing to fit true-to-size in most cases with a few items running a little big. I have heard her dresses run a size small, but I have never bought any of the dresses from her line.

Here is a closer look at the sweater. You can see the see-through lace that is so delicate at the top. I love when you see 2 extremes paired together that set each other off just right. In this case, it's something elegant with something edgy.

Here is a a close-up of the make-up. The eyes and blush are from the New Year's Countdown palette from em Michelle Phan. The foundation is the Amazonian Clay Foundation by Tarte and the contouring is just simply the bronzer from a Few of My Favorite Things palette from Too Faced. The lips are Instigator from MAC.

Make-Up Look: On Trend - Neutral Eye & Red Lip

I'm sharing a look I did that follows the current trend of a more neutral eye-look that is paired with a bright lip; the trend seems to be leaning towards a bright red lip, which is what I'm wearing in the pictures.

I used Tarte's Amazonian Clay Foundation for my face and Too Faced Shadow Insurance to prime my eyes. My lips are MAC's RiRi Woo. The eye look and cheeks come from the em Michelle Phan Ice Bunny palette. I lined my eyes with Buxom's Lashliner in "Leatherette". 

I wore this look out for dinner with my fiance. I think it turned out pretty well and I'm really impressed by the way the blush complimented my skin tone.

Spotted & Review: Salon Perfect - Love Lacquer and Lashes

Last week I spotted a new display by Salon Perfect at Walmart. It reads "Love Lashes and Lacquer" and I'm assuming this was meant for Valentine's Day, but my Walmart must have been late putting it out. I've not heard too much about this display or it's contents anywhere else in the blogosphere. I read a couple of sources that said they also spotted these, fully stocked, in March and not February. Oh, well. Better late than never.

The display had both lashes and nail polish on it. It was at the very end of an aisle and it was on the side of an endcap. (In retail, we call these type of displays "Sidekicks", as they go on the sides of an endcap to "enhance" it and/or the aisle.) The display had both limited edition and permanent products.

All of the lashes and lash products on the display are permanent. No limited edition items there, which was a little disappointing. I really like the limited edition eyelashes they have come out with in the past for Halloween and the holidays; there is so much they could have done here.

The polishes on the display are are mixed of permanent and limited edition. Whoever set up the display did not put the polishes in the correct order. Not 1 row was correctly done, but let me do my best to tell you which polishes are limited edition and which are not. They retail for $3.98.

• "One Love" Limited Edition (top coat) -this is the very 1st polish on the left.
• "Hearts a Flutter" Limited Edition (top coat) -this is the 3rd polish from the left.
• "Touchy Feely" Limited Edition (top coat) -this is actually the 4th to last polish and they left out the "y" on the name on the display.
• "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" Limited Edition (top coat) -this is the 2nd to last polish.
• "Cosmic Black" permanent (top coat) -3rd polish from the end.
• "He's With Me!" permanent -very last polish.
• "In Love" permanent -2nd polish from the left.

So, now for the good part- Swatches! I did some quick swatches on my nails. The paint job isn't perfect, but it's the swatching part that counts!

Here is "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" on the Thumb and Pointer fingers. This is a pink-purple micro-dot top coat. I found this top coat to dry fast and so multiple layers were no problem. On my thumb, you can see I put it over black and the pink/purple color comes through okay. On my pointer finger, it is just simply 3 layers of the top coat alone and I feel it basically just looks white and black.

"Touchy Feely" is on my Middle finger and Pinky. This is a black and white micro-dot top coat. My ring finger sports 3 coats of it by itself and 2 coats over black polish on my pinky. This was also a very fast drying top coat and multiple layers were no problem.

An up-close look at "Touchy Feely". Pretty simply and ordinary if you ask me. Nothing too special. I think this is an easy $3.98 to save.

An up-close look at "Loves Me, Loves Me Not". It's kind of hard to see the pink-purple hue, but it is there. This is the better of the 2 micro-dots, but nothing to rave about.

Another comparison of "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" and "Touchy Feely". Really, not enough difference in my opinion.

"One Love" is a multi-holographic glitter top coat. You can see it with 3 coats on it's own on my Pinky, I put it over a light mint color and over black. I love the effect when putting it over black polish.

"Hearts A Flutter" is a basic fuchsia glitter top coat mixed with gold hearts. The gold hearts are a pain to get out of the bottle. You really have to scoop to get them. Took me several attempts just to get these 2 you see on my Pointer finger and by the time you dig out a heart or 2, you will have a nice big gob of polish, making your top coat really think.

A close-up look of "One Love". This is the winner in the collection, in my opinion.

A close-up look of "Hearts A Flutter". This is cute, but it takes too much work. 

Final Verdict: While the top coats were the only limited edition products in the collection and the only products I picked up, I found they performed well, but were not really all that unique. For $3.98 a bottle I feel you could easily skip on these and similar products are on the market that you can purchase every day.

Make-Up Look: St.Patrick's Day Inspiration

I didn't have a chance to post this yesterday, because my fiance finally came home from his trip and it was a lot of hassle between Sunday night and Monday morning to get him home. However, today I'm bringing you the inspiration that I wanted to share yesterday. I realize this would have been way more effective yesterday, but what can you do when Delta ruins your night and morning? - This is a green smokey eye, but the shade of green is a little different than what you usually see.

• I started from the inner corner of my eye and worked outwards, using "Clock Strikes Midnight" by EM Michelle Phan from the Holiday Life Palette New Year's Countdown edition. I made sure to blend well and really fade it out at the end of the eye.
• I took "Mint Julep" by Meow Cosmetics from their Summer Spirits collection and put that over the dark Clock Strikes Midnight. This color is a light green with gold iridescence. It is a little sheer and light and looks best over another shade to amplify it. (This is also a limited edition collection that is released every summer.)
• I used "Tease" from the Naked 2 Palette by Urban Decay as the crease color, just to give some depth and dimension to the eye. I blended really well!
• Also from the Naked 2 Palette, I used "Foxy" as the highlight color.
• I lined only the bottom of my eyes with Tarina Tarantino's Eye Dream Hyperline in "Spark of Envy".
• The lipstick is "Pleasure Bomb" from MAC's RiRi Hearts MAC holiday collection released in 2013.

Again, apologizes for this being late, but I still wanted to share. Comments are always welcome and I'd love to see your green inspired look for the holiday this year!