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!

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.

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.

Multi Purple Star Mani

I don't share my manicures very often, because I do them myself (except for like 2 times out of the year) and I do not consider myself a manicure expert. I am working at improving and hopefully you can see some improvement as time goes on from the pictures I post, but when I receive a lot of positive responses on a nail look I do then I like to share.

Today, I bring you a manicure I did using 3 different purple polishes and a silver tinsel sparkle on top! The 3 purple polishes are in the picture above.

From left to right:

• China Glaze in "#987 Crimson" (This is a limited edition color from their 2011 "Haunting Halloween" collection.)
• Wet N Wild in "Who Is Ultra Violet?" (This is a limited edition color from their "Pop Art Craze" collection from 2013.)
• SinfulColors in "#1180 Sweet Tooth" (This is a limited edition color from their "Sugar Rush" collection released in 2013.)

I apologize for the glare in the picture. I had to use the flash to get the true colors to show up. 

Here is how I painted my nails. I used "Sweet Tooth" on the thumb and pinky. I used "Who Is Ultra Violet?" on my pointer finger and ring finger. I used "Crimson" on my middle finger. (The mark on my pinky finger is actually not polish, but bleeding I had underneath the skin.)

The purples looked good on their own, but I'm the type of person who loves glitter and sparkle and I finish off most of my nail looks with glitter or some sort of a different finish. I don't know why I didn't take a bottle shot of the last polish, but I used "Stars At Night" by Nicole OPI. I'm not sure if you can see on the bottle, but this color was from the Selena Gomez collection released in 2013 which has since been discontinued. You can still find this collection around in some stores, but for the most part it has been clearanced out and discontinued.

I received a lot of compliments on this look and feel free to leave your comments below!

Pink Tinsel Mani

If you read my last post, you will see my review and my nails done in the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat "#700 Cotton Candies". - I just wanted to show you my finished look with that mani. While, I didn't put a top coat on it, I did put a tinsel finish on it!

Using SinfulColors' "#1394 Pink Icicles", I made a cascade effect on my nails from the top. This polish was part of the limited edition holiday polishes released last year (2013). This polish looks just like a reddish-pink tinsel combined with black and white tinsel. 

I quite like how it turned out. Not necessarily a holiday-only look in my opinion. If anything, someone might associate more with Valentine's Day than Christmas. The tinsel polish is pretty easy to apply and dries fairly fast.

Beauty Battle: SinfulColors Crystal Crush vs Sally Hansen Sugar Coat

Today I bring you Beautiful Details' first ever Beauty Battle, where I put 2 similar products up against one another and compare to see who the winner is.

First, I bring you- SinfulColors Crystal Crushes in "#1365 Ruby Mine". This is a ruby red and dries to a textured finish that is pretty fine; feels like a very mild sandpaper finish. The "crystal" part of the title holds quite true. From a distance you cannot even tell it is textured. Many people asked to feel my nail, because it does not appear that textured. It applies very easily and this picture is sporting only 1 coat on each nail! The one thing that the picture does not capture well is that there is sparkle to it. I did a blog post about these limited edition crushes when they first came out and after trying out this gem here, I would highly recommend them if you can still get your hands on them or have not yet used them. This also dried quite fast. I did not use a topcoat here, because I didn't want to ruin the texture finish. I did have decent wear time with this polish. It was about 3 days before serious chipping and I wore it for 4 days before removing.

Next, I bring you the competitor: Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat in "#700 Cotton Candies". This is also a limited edition polish, but I still find these available at quite a few drug stores around here.

As for the performance- This polish was much more difficult to apply then the the SinfulColors one. It's not as smooth going on and I had to kind of blob it on at some parts to get the full nail to have complete coverage. This polish took 2-3 coats on each nail. Once dry, the polish is very textured and you can tell from the picture. It finishes to a strong sandpaper finish or kind of like spackle you would see on a ceiling. I quite like the texture and don't get scared by my descriptions, it is not rough and does not hurt anyone, however, it is much more of a texture than the Crystal Crushes. The dry time on this polish is quite fast so it does make for fast application and the coats aren't too bothersome. I did not wear a top coat with this, so I would not ruin the finish. I also had decent wear time with this polish. About 4 days before serious chipping and I went 5 days before removing.

The winner is......SinfulColors Crystal Crush in "Ruby Mine". While, I don't mind the work it takes to get the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat to be opaque, I have to hand it to SinfulColors. The major factor to me that makes the Crystal Crushes an overall winner is that fact that it took me only 1 coat! When you combine that with the fast dry time, it's a clear winner. I do like that the texture on the Sugar Coat shows up much better than the Crystal Crushes, I feel the overall performance, while similar, is edged out by the Crystal Crush. 

Pink Mani

This is a quick post about a recent mani I did myself. I was really surprised how much I liked the combo of the colors and even more surprised at how many compliments I received. I decided to share, because so many people liked it.

Alright, so I'm not a great nail artist, but I'm getting there. I'm actually proud at the progress I've made so far in the past year. Anyway, I'm a simple person who does simple nail combos. I just alternated colors on the my fingers, but it turned out to be cute.

Polishes:

• "Pink Friday" by OPI from the Nicki Minaj collection. (This is a limited edition color you cannot get anymore and is the lighter pink.)
• "Make An Entrance" by China Glaze (This is the darker pink.)

Both polishes only took 2 coats for full opacity and went on fairly easily. If you're familiar with OPI for China Glaze then you know their formulas are pretty good and easy to work with.

Leave comments below and let me know if you want to see more nail posts.

Christmas Nails & Make-Up 2013

As I stated in my last post, I was on vacation and I'm back now! So, I have a lot of catching up to do! Christmas is not a big holiday to me. I do not personally celebrate this holiday, but for family and friends I do. I spent most of Christmas day on the phone and internet connecting with my friends and family who were far away. I did go see the movie "47 Ronin" that day, which is a movie based on a true Japanese story, and I highly suggest you see the movie if you like action; skip the 3D though, because it was clearly not made for 3D viewing.

First let me start by sharing my nails and also asking that you ignore my Pinkie. I damaged my finger Christmas Eve and it bled under the skin. It has since healed. - I painted my nails in "Emerald Rock City" from Wet 'N Wild's Fergie line. This polish was part of Fergie's holiday collection from 2013.

My makeup is all from the Too Faced limited edition palette released over the holidays entitled "A Few of my Favorite Things":

• I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance to prime my eyes.
• First I used "Creme Colored Ponies" as a highlight color.
• Then I took "Melt Into Spring", which is actually a blush, and used it as the crease and blending coloring.
• I finished with "Pure Glam", a sparkly black, and that was all over the lids. 
• I lined my eyes with Tarina Tarantino's Eye Dream Hyperliner in "Spark of Envy".
• I used both bronzers from the palette and the blush I used on my face was "Raindrops on Roses".
• My lipstick is the color "RiRi Woo" which is part of the Rihanna collection from MAC.

Hope you enjoyed this look. Leave questions, comments, and links to your Christmas looks below!

Stay tuned for a load of reviews!

Drugstore Nail Polish Haul #1

I picked up a bunch of nail polish this week and thought I'd share what I bought. Everything is drug store! The top row is the limited edition Crystal Crush collection by Sinful Colors. I thought I had missed this collection all together. I saw it posted on Nouveau Cheap almost a month ago and had seen no sight of it anywhere around here, thus leaving me to believe that somehow I just missed it all together and the whole collection had exited my mind by now. I was so excited when I saw it at Rite Aid this week and even more delighted when I realized the display had been completely untouched! There was no price on the display and I wasn't sure if these polishes were going to be more than the regular $1.99, so I went and asked the sales associate and she told me they were $1.99. I was so excited, I picked up 6 of the 8 shades, which is what you see in the picture above! However, when they rang up $2.99 at the register I was really disappointed. The cashier was so nice that once she confirmed that the sales associate had messed up, she called a manager to make sure I could have them for $1.99 and so I got a lucky break on that collection.

Colors from left to right: 

• #1370 Purple Gleam
• #1367 Treasure Chest
• #1365 Ruby Mine
• #1368 Emerald Envy
• #1366 Face The Facets
• #1364 Got A Blush On You

There are 2 more colors in the collection; one is an orange shade and the other is a blue shade with purple sparkle in it. I was not interested in either of them and decided to skip them, even though the hoarder in me told me to take them anyway to complete the collection. -I over came the urge! If you're still trying to get your hands on this collection then I say don't give up just yet! Like I said, I just spotted this at my Rite Aid this week and I know they were also available at Walgreens and I have yet to see them at the Walgreens around my home, so there's still hope! The funny thing is that I was so excited to move out to the West Coast, because they always seemed to get things first. It seemed for the most part, the West Coast spotted things first, followed by the East Coast and then it all just sort of trickled inward from the bottom. Now that I'm out here, I'm finding that most collections come out quite late around here.

The second row in the picture is from the the limited edition Wet N Wild Fergie Heavy Metal collection for the holiday season this year. I found this display at CVS, also untouched! How lucky, right?! I scanned my card at the kiosk when I entered and not only did I get a coupon for $4 off a $12 beauty purchase, but I also had a 30% off all regular priced items coupon! There was no sale on Wet N Wild this week, so I basically bought 4 polishes and received 2 free. Pretty good deal.

Colors from left to right:

• #34269 Titanium Crush
• #34268 Mountain High
• #34267 Emerald Rock City
• #34266 Mazel Toy Madness

There were 2 other colors on the display I was not interested in. One was a bronze color and the other was a clear polish with silver sparkle pieces. I felt neither of those were unique or anything I didn't already have/couldn't buy on a regular basis.

Review: Salon Perfect #908 "Fade Out" [LE]

First, let me start out with why my posts continue to be so far apart and very few at that, lately. -I'm still working on adjusting to the West Coast. Also, we had pretty much a month delay on the moving company bringing our stuff. (If you ever move and decide to use a moving company, I do not recommend Armstrong.) Recently, my fiance went on his first business trip too, so I had to hold down the fort for a week by myself and that was a disaster! Hopefully, next month thing will be smoothed out for the most part.

I have been taking pictures and gathering things for posts, so hopefully I'll get these all up sooner rather than later. - Today, I'm bringing you pics and my thoughts on my current nail color that I'm about to take off. This is my first experience with a holographic polish. I do have some of the China Glaze ones that came out this year, but I haven't used them yet. I bought them right before I moved and I did not have time to try them out.

This is #908 "Fade Out" by Salon Perfect. I purchased this from Walmart recently and it said it was limited edition. There are other colors too, but I'm trying to scale back on how much cosmetics I buy and so I only bought one. After packing up to move, I realized I had way too much and even after I gave away items and threw some out, I still felt I had too much. Anyway!

The color isn't bad. I actually enjoy deep browns and what really compelled me to buy this is that I felt it was going to be a good shade for fall. It is nice to look at, but it's not the color I have a problem with, it's the consistency and formula that I did not like. I will say, I have a few Salon Perfect polishes, but never used them, so this is my first time working with this brand as well. I found this particular polish to be thick and almost on the gooey side. It was not easy to spread out and I could see thin spots even after 2 coats. I needed 3-4 coats on each nail to get an opaque finish. It does dry fast though and that's a nice feature, especially when you have to apply more than 2 coats. 

I took a picture with the flash so that you could see the holographic-ness of the polish. I feel like the holographic effect was much better as the week wore on and my top coat wore off -in other words: I don't think a top coat really benefited the effect of the polish, it more hindered it. Again, I've never used a holographic polish before, but I've never heard of anyone saying they didn't use a top coat with it. I used OPI's top coat and I don't know if that had anything to do with it either. 

Overall, I would not recommend this particular polish. I'll hold on saying anything negative about other holographic polishes or other Salon Perfect polishes, because this is my first use for both. I believe this polish was around $5.98 and it's definitely not worth the price. If you have any advice or experience with this brand or type of polish feel free to leave comments. Hopefully it won't be so long until my next post! Hope you all a great weekend and your week is even better!

$5 Essie Nail Polish

I wanted to get this out quickly, because I have no idea how long this will last! I just came back from Walgreens, literally just came in and they have their Essie nail polish for $5. The signs do not say how long this sale will last, so I suggest you go out there and get the polish now if you want it. The sign specifically says that it does not include Essie nail treatments or the magnetic polishes from Essie. - When I went in, I first saw the sign on the cosmetic counter and it had some Essie polishes on it, but all the polishes were from their core line; no limited edition polishes were there. So, I was just going to skip the sale, because honestly I do not need any more Essie polishes right now. However, when I went around the corner, on the display in the back of the cosmetics checkout counter there was the limited edition 2013 summer collection and it ALSO had a sign on it, so I grabbed some. When, I went to the register they all rang up the regular $8. The cashier told me that not all of the polishes are on sale, especially the new ones. I asked to speak to a manager, because I swore there was a sign on the actual display. The manager checked and sure enough, I was right. The manager said that this was something that just started and was not in the system yet, so all of polishes I bought had to be manually marked down by her. It was the worth the wait though, because at $5 a bottle that is less than I can buy any higher end polish at Walmart. (Around here Essie is $7.75 at Walmart and Nicole by OPI is $7 at Walmart. All other places are about $8 for both brands or sometimes even more, depending on where you go.) I did feel bad that I held up the line though.....for a long time. There is more to that story and I'll share everything I bought today later. Let me know if you happen to buy anything off of this sale! I have not seen anyone else mention this sale and I would not have known if I had not gone in today.

Late Night Find: Sinful Colors Heart & Soul Collection

So, there's nothing like staying out late and stopping by a Walgreens on the way home to see what you can find. I really didn't find much that was new or that I absolutely had to have. Unfortunately, I have been feeling this way for about a month here in Knoxville. It seems like we are getting less and less limited edition and features for beauty products and we are definitely getting them last. I'm seeing bloggers and v-loggers in states around Tennessee get them in, but it seems to take forever for this state and especially this area to receive anything new.

Last month, a blog I follow, Nouveau Cheap, talked about a new collection by Sinful Colors that had come out. Most of the colors in this collection were new or hard to find. There were actually 3 collections that went together- "Country Chic", "Heart & Soul", and "Glam Rock". Most people saw the Country Chic collection pop up first and a lot of people had the Glam Rock display in their stores. Some stores (as you will see if you click the second link I provided) had a huge endcap with all 3 collections in it. I have been waiting for about 4 weeks for my area to get them and had not spotted this collection anywhere, until tonight. 

The only display I saw was the "Heart & Soul" collection, but the polishes that were displayed were from the whole line they just put out.

Honestly, I'm not thrilled by this collection, but I decided to pick up 2 of the polishes while Walgreens is having their 2/$3 sale on Sinful Colors polishes.

Here are the 2 colors I picked up: #1205 Glimmer & #1199 Song of Summer. Both of these colors are new.

The lighting makes Glimmer look a lot more red than it really appears. It's actually more of a berry color. Also, Song of Summer is brighter than it appears here; the picture actually makes it look very dull. I'm not sure when I'll use these, I'm in no rush, but I thought these would be the ones I would use the most out of the collection.

CVS Haul & Reviews

Every once in a while I receive coupons or discounts at CVS, because I have a CVS discount card and I enrolled in their Beauty Club Rewards program. I rarely use these, because the most convenient CVS for me does not have the best product selection and these coupons usually last about 2-5 days, so not much time for me to get there. However, this time I did use a $5 off of a $25 purchase and I thought I would share with you all out there. Everything I bought was beauty related and with my own money.

Warning: This entry it pic heavy and very long!

My first selection was the limited edition Wet N Wild Hot Rocks collection. I have been eyeing these since they first appeared around my city and always passed on them, but this time I decided to scoop them all up before they disappeared for good. These didn't seem to sell out around here and I don't see too much talk about them around the beauty community, but I think they look like fun. This is the complete set, all 6 shades. If you have any, let me know if like them!

Next, I picked up 2 of the Revlon Colorstay quads. On the left you have #580 Free Spirit and the right you have #585 Sea Mist. 

These quads were part of the Spring 2013 collection from Revlon. However, I'd like to point out something- I work for Walmart and when we changed our permanent displays for Revlon early this year, these 2 quads were set in our permanent displays. We have not received much more of these quads in our shipments in the past couple months, but we did have them regularly this year. I'm thinking this may change once they change the modular again and new quads will take their place, but I'm not sure if these quads would really be considered limited edition. If anything, a better term would be "seasonal". I will say, Walmart did not receive all of the Pacific Coast collection; we did not get the gel liners, cheek tints, or limited edition lip butters that I saw on the displays in CVS and Walgreens around here. - Above is a pamphlet that was free that you could take with you from the display they had in Walgreens and inside it explains the collection by Gucci Westman and gives you looks you can create with the palettes. 

Before I get to the swatches, I'd like to say that I have never purchased or used any of these Colorstay quads before, so I had no idea what to expect. Obviously, I was hoping for good results and I must say I was surprised. Also, I'd like to add right now- I did not use any primer in any of these pictures. These are all straight from the palette to my hand!

This is the "Free Spirit" palette. I swatched this one first, because initially I thought this would be my favorite palette of the 2; the colors go together well and I like the overall look of the colors better than the other one. The picture above is with just one swipe of color with my fingertip. The colors didn't perform so great, at least not as I had hoped. The black color was the only color that really seemed like it had any staying power without primer. The lightest blue was a little on the powdery side, but overall these colors are not bad with fallout, just kind of drier than average. I do want to add that I swatch all 4 colors, but the tan shade really blends into my skin (it is the first swatch and really hard to see), but I foresee it being a very good base and all-over color for my eyes, and is actually my favorite of the 4 colors, which surprised me.

This second photo is the same palette ("Free Spirit"), but I went over the swatches a few times to build opacity. The colors are definitely buildable and look better with a few more swipes than just 1. Overall, I'm not that impressed with this palette though. I'd like to wear it on my eyes though and actually try it out. Like I said before, I think the tan color is going to be my best friend as an all-over color and it seems really blendable. These colors do go together well though, but they're also colors that you could get else where in either higher-end companies, as well as in drug store brands. These colors all came out matte, except the black has some sparkle in it, but still looks pretty matte when applied.

Here's where the real surprise came in- Initially I thought I would not like the "Sea Mist" palette. These colors do not look that appealing at first glance and I really didn't feel they went with each other that well. I almost didn't buy this palette at all, but decided to get both since they were a collection together. - Well, after swatching these babies, I still don't feel they go together that well (at least not for my style), but they perform well. The photo above is of just one swipe of color with my fingertip. These colors are shimmery, not matte and you can see the shimmer a little in this photo. They do not have sparkle and you do not need to worry about it being "too young" or "too party-like"; they just have a hint of shimmer that gives it a nice glisten. 

This second photo is of the "Sea Mist" colors with a few layers applied. Buildable colors, but unfortunately, because of light you cannot see the shimmer a little in this photo. The pink color is the very first swatch and it is nice, it's just hard to see on my skin, because I'm tan. (I always forget how tan I am until I do swatches, lol.) Honestly, I probably won't use all of these colors together, but they are the type of colors that give a nice pop of color to a look or give a little pick-me-up for a look without being too dramatic and they perform wonderfully.

Final verdict: These palettes have been around since spring and they are still available. I am finding them still around at Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart. However, the Pacific Coast displays are going away, so they are mixed in with the regular Revlon products, with the exception of Walmart, obviously. So, if you're interested I suggest scooping them up soon, because as I said before- I think they are going to disappear as fall and winter shades roll out. If you're on the fence, I would skip the "Free Spirit" palette. The "Sea Mist" palette performs much better and the colors are nicer, in my opinion; the colors will be nice for fall too. 

Side Note: Like the pamphlet from this collection, on the back of the palettes it has looks you can create with directions using these palettes.

Last, but not least, I bought a lipstick! The Revlon beauty products were "buy 1, get 1 50% off", so I needed to purchase 1 more thing to meet the $25 goal.

I purchased one of the new Milani Statement Lipsticks. I first saw these from YouTube beauty gurus and they were raving about them. Then Nouveau Cheap reviewed them and they all looked so great, so I wanted to get my hands on them. They are selling fast around here, so it's hard to get your hands on them. I have yet to see a full display, as I feel they are selling fairly fast as the stores receive shipments.

The color I bought was #16 Flirty Fuchsia. Let me say, that this was not my first choice in color. Sadly, most of the colors has been tested by customers before me. These tubes, thankfully, have a protective label on the back which you have to peel off to open. -I love products that have safety seals on them, because there are a lot of people out here who contaminate products and it makes me really weary. But enough of that! Someday I will rant about this though, so get ready!

The top swatch is just 1 swipe and the bottom swatch is with a few swipes. It doesn't have the best initial payoff, but obviously a few coats will solve that problem. For the price, about $5.50, it's not a bad buy. If you don't normally wear bright or noticeable colors on your lips, I suggest trying this line of lipsticks so that you aren't spending too much money, especially if it's just for a certain occasion; outfit; or costume. The lipstick has a nice smell to it. As I wrote in previous entries, I cannot stand the smell of Revlon lipstick and if a lipstick has a nasty smell, I won't wear it. There is a hint of that waxy/crayon smell, but it's not too bad. 

Review: Circus by Andera's Choice "Ringmaster"

Fresh paint! (Also, a review.) I just did my nails this morning in the color "Ringmaster" by Circus By Andera's Choice. I received this in one of my Glam/IPSY bags a while ago, but never felt it was a good time to use it until now.

This is a bright pink color, as you can see. Very bright. It has an orange hue to it. Unfortunately, this is not a favorable review. I had heard a lot of complaints about this polish when IPSY started sending them out in their bags, but I paid no mind; I had received the white shade, Reverso, in a previous bag and love it! Reverso is thick, which I know a lot of people do not enjoy that type of formula, but I really like it; I can get away with 1 coat, but usually use 2 just to smooth out. However, Ringmaster is not like Reverso. While they both dry fast, which makes layering easy, this one is very streaky and after 3 coats I gave up on making it look 100% opaque. It has a semi matte finish to it, which I find neat. Other than that, I can't see myself using it or even giving it away. Since neon colors are so popular now, I'm sure I could find a similar shade from another brand, so no loss tossing this one. From a distance or just a glance it looks fine, but if you look up close you can lines and the fact that it is still quite see-through in some parts.

The picture above is a natural, outdoor photo with no flash or filter. You can see the patchy, streaky, spotty parts better too. The bottle is nice looking. For those interested in purchasing- official website says "sold out", but they sell all 5 colors they offer for $29.95 + shipping. The bottles are .45 fluid ounces and it is the Big 3 Free. Like I said, I received mine in my IPSY bag and I have no idea if or when Andrea's Choice will restock. I would say this color is not worth restocking though.