September 2013 IPSY Bag

I just received my October IPSY bag Tuesday, which tells you how late I am at showing everyone what came in my September bag......heh. Well, I loved my September bag, but I received it late. I wasn't able to change my address in time before moving for IPSY to send it to my new address. So, I had to wait for my family to send the bag to me and I didn't get it until a couple of weeks ago. By then I thought it was too late to do a review or showcase what I received, but I see that I'm not the only one who is late on this so I'm going to share anyway!

I wasn't too crazy about the actual bag. The pattern just isn't my style, but I will say this is probably my favorite bag, in terms of contents, this whole year and this is why I keep this subscription!

Products

1. Jessie's Girl Waterproof Eyeliner ($6.99 on website) -This is the product that you see all the way to the left in a plastic cover and it's a silver tube. Not much for me to say about this, because I am not going to use it. Instead I will be sending it to Budget Splurge Beauty and she'll probably do a review of it, so check that blog out!
2. NYX Single Eye Shadow in the color "Cryptonite" ($4.50 on website) -I may be the only person in the whole world who doesn't have much experience with NYX products, but they were never easily available where I lived (until now, since I just moved). I did wear this product one day and it was okay. It's a typical charcoal color that leans towards the black side with some sparkles. I did experience a little bit of fallout at the end of the day, but other than that it was okay. 
3. Butter London Nail Lacquer in "LA Moss" ($15.00 on website) -I had never used a Butter London polish until now. While the color is not really something I'd normally go for, it's nice for fall & Halloween. It is a deep blood color and with 2 coats I had the opaque look I wanted. It lasts fairly well and is a real nice formula. I believe I will be trying more from this company!
4. Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in "Big Apple" -I received one of the Cailyn's gel eyeliners earlier this year and loved it! So, I was super happy to receive another one of their products. Most people will feel this balm is more like a lipstick, but if you read what the company says about then you will know that they made this to be "ultra matte", kind of like MAC's Retro Matte lipsticks. This stuff goes on and stays on! Also, the term "tinted" is a huge understatement! The color is very vibrant and pigmented. It is moisturizing, but not a lip saver. If you're having severe dry lips, I'd suggest going with an actual balm or something with more oil. This comes with a great brush that gives you great precision though and I have found that it works great under lipstick to help keep it in place and last longer (almost like a lip liner).
5. Elizabeth Mott It's So Big Volumizing Mascara (full size is $19.99; the IPSY trial size is a little under half the size of a full one and is equivalent to about $7.96) -Again, not much for me to say about this product. I have no plans to open or use it.

Total value: $53.45 -All products were full size, except the mascara. I paid $10 for everything and no extra for tax or shipping. I saved $43.45 by being an IPSY member, not to mention if I decide to use any of the codes to get discounts on the sites from the products I received, I'll be saving even more.

Let me know what you all received in your bags and if you were as happy with yours as I was with mine! Stay tuned to see my October bag post coming soon!

October 2013 Julep Maven Box

I bring to you the contents and review of my Julep Maven box for the month of October. I know 99% of people know what the Julep Maven program is, but for anyone who doesn't I will give you a quick break down right now! Julep is an independent company who started out producing nail polish and nail & hand products. Recently, the company has ventured into cosmetics, skin care, and hair care. The Julep Maven program is a monthly subscription service that you can opt into at $19.99 per month. There are 4 different profiles and after you take a quiz it will put you under 1 of them. 1 is only cosmetics or beauty products, 1 is only polish, and the other 2 are a mix. You can choose your own profile though if you're not happy with the 1 they classify you under. You also have the option every month to Skip and not pay the fee. They have a new option where you can buy all the products offered under all of the profiles for an extra $35 + the $19.99. Unlike most subscription services that come out on the 1st with their monthly picks and make you choose by the 5th, this service comes out on the 20th of every month and you must choose by the 25th. The boxes are usually sent out on the 27th, unless it falls on a Sunday or holiday.

Feel free to use my code. It'll help me get points towards a free box! You don't have to if you don't want too. Also, Julep always has some sort of sale where you can get a box free and just pay shipping or get a box for $0.99. If you need help finding a code for your first box to try, let me know!

Now, onto my box! As always, Julep puts together a beautiful presentation and is always pleasing to the eye.

I'm normally a Bombshell (which is one of the boxes that mixes polish and beauty products), but I went with the Modern Beauty box so that I could try both the mask and the eyeliner, or "eye glider" as Julep calls it. 

The mask is great! I like that it exfoliates and seems to help clear out the pores without leaving residue or make my face breakout. I have had a lot of problems in the past with excessive breakouts from masks. This is a peel mask, however. Once you let the mask dry on your face for about 10-15 minutes you peel it off and I have also found that peeling masks don't break me out as much as ones you wash off. The mask does make your face completely black and if you do a search on Instagram or Google you can find some funny pictures posted by others while they're using it. - The company claims that the mask:

Features and Benefits of Mask Noir:

Black volcanic ash boasts anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial peptides.

Kaolin Clay is as gentle as it is deep-cleaning.

Incredibly clean, visibly brightened skin upon removal

Enriched with Julep’s proprietary Power Cell Complex™, a trio of skin-boosting superstars:

1. Rosehip seed oil – a nourishing oil (and natural source of vitamins A and C) that helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and post-acne marks. Contains natural fatty acids that bond moisture to skin
2. Malvaceae Lipid Extract™ – a lipid complex that provides immediate and long-lasting hydration and works to rebuild skin structure from the inside out
3. Green coffee bean oil – a natural anti-inflammatory that promotes cell turnover

So far, I find these claims to be accurate. The price tag is $32 or $25.60 if you're part of the Maven program. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep buying it or not, but so far I really like it and I feel that the price tag could be worth it consistently if it keeps proving to improve my skin. 

The Eye Glider is what turned out to be most disappointing. First off, this is just an eyeliner pencil. Julep is pretty good about taking products that are already on the market and changing their name, like their "DD Creme" which is really just a BB Creme. It is a 2 sided pencil; one side is black and the other side is brown. The company claims:

Two intensely pigmented colors—carbon black and brown shimmer—that glide on smoothly and blend like a dream.

Features & Benefits of Kajal Eye Glider:

Two colors

Ideal for inner rims, tightlining, and smoky eyes

Blends like a dream—won’t drag or pull on delicate skin

Opthamologist-tested

Kajal-friendly, round-tipped

The black color is titled "Carbon Black" and in my opinion it is your typical black eyeliner pencil, leaning more towards the higher end side. It's definitely a step up from most drug store brands, but I would not put it up there with my favorites- Urban Decay & Buxom. For the most part, I felt it stayed on decently. I have really oily skin and as the day goes on I have an issue with most of my makeup, especially eyeliners & foundation. A lot of people complained a lot about the wearing off and raccoon look after 2-4 hours, but for me the black wasn't too bad. Just a little bit of smudging after about 4-6 hours. I will say that I wear a primer every time I wear makeup and that may have helped me out.

I always say if you want to judge an eyeliner don't use black. It seems to me that it's pretty easy to make a good to decent black liner, but when it comes to colors, especially grays or browns, it seems to be a challenge. So, the brown color, "Brown Shimmer", was the one I was most intrigued to try. Unfortunately, it has very bad wear. Less than 2 hours and I ran into problems with it running and it did not let up as the day wore on. The primer didn't seem to help much either. 

The nice thing about the eyeliner is that it is a very fine point and it does go on very nice. You don't feel a lot of tugging or pulling and it doesn't hurt you to put it on. However, for $22 (or $17.60 if you're a Maven) it doesn't really seem worth it. That's $11 per pencil and that's only half a pencil. Honestly, I feel like Wet 'N Wild's standard pencil has better staying power; while it doesn't go on as smooth or have as natural of an ingredient list, it does stay for the greater part of the work day, for me and I can't say the same for Julep's glider.

Overall, I was pleased with this box. I even was given a sharpener (which the sharpener comes with the pencil if you were to buy it today, it's standard). The sharpener is pretty nice. If I had wanted to try these products outside of the Maven program it would have cost me $54 and instead I paid $19.99 (including shipping and tax) to try 2 full sized products, so it was worth it. - If I were to give my best advice I'd say definitely try the mask, especially if you have any major skin problems, acne, wear makeup a lot, or have dry skin. However, I'd skip the eyeliner and spend the high price on your favorite high end liner.

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!