June 2014 Ipsy Unboxing - Pretty in paradise

What a relief to have some cosmetics to try out since the last glam bag! Phew! I have used up most of my Hang Ten sunscreen, and the moisturizer is wonderful. The brush works despot it's stiffness. But man I am so excited to try the liner and the BB cushion. 

My photogenic dog is also excited. 

Be a Bombshell

Lash Out Mascara

Full size retail: $15 9g

From what I heard, this smells like burnt plastic in a nail salon. It certainly smells weird. 

Since I do not generally have sensitive eyes, I tried it out. While this is absolutely the least clumpy mascara I have ever used, it does little for volume. 

Additionally the mascara feels drying, as it does dry quickly on the lashes. The formula definitely could have used improvement. I am completely on the fence with this one. It's okay visibly, but the smell and the worry that it is going to burn my eyes is ever present. Perhaps this should just go in the garbage. A wipe will be taken to these after five minutes; how could I go a day?

Marc Anthony

Dream Waves Beach Spray

Full size retail: $8.79 4.2 oz

1.52 oz

Adjusted: $3.18

This is a decent size. I have a hair spray travel sized, and it's great. I am excited to try this. 

Beach waves were always a hair style if have pined to rock. Perhaps before my hair was cut, I would have died from sheer excited. Instead my past the shoulders hair would have to do. 

My hair is straight. Very straight. Waves appear when my hair dries over my shoulders and that is it. 

Nicka K New York

Shimmer Eyeliner in Green

Full size retail: $4.99 .1 oz

Thankfully I received green. I already have a blue liner, so this is great. 

Nyx

Butter Gloss in Creme Brûlée 

Full size retail: $5 8ml

The color is very pretty on, and it seriously smells like some sort of confectionary. It's sweet and not overpowing. As goes this name, this gloss is very smooth. It's not overly sticky either. Mostly it's comfortable and one that will be great to were when I am not around dust. 

Honestly, I think this color is just peachy enough that anyone could wear it. One swipe with the doe foot provides a sheer gloss, lightly tinted. Another coat gives color fairly close to the packaging.   

Laneige

BB Cushion in light, medium, and dark. 

Full size retail: $34 .5 oz

.21 oz (for 3 samples) 

Adjusted: $14.28

For kicks I used the dark puff on my face. It does feel soothing, and then a slight prickling. It's like I am wearing some sort if mint? It feels nice for sure. It smells nice and a little goes an incredibly long way.

 I covered half of my face with two presses. (What do I call it?)

The product also soaks into your skin quickly and does not transfer after it's finished. It borders on matte and dewy. As a bonus, this BB cream does a lovely job evening the skin and hiding a few blemishes. 

Now as nice of a product as this is, the so-called dark is not too far off from my face. It's far, but not on the actual end of the dark spectrum. 

See? It's totally orangey, but if you have any skin tone outside of a summer tan, bronze you  are SOL. 

Now I forgive the packaging of the sponge for its size; it's a sample. I would buy the full size. 

Total bag value: $42.45/$10

GlamRoom Reveal

Waiting for this danged thing to update all day, I was super excited about the NYX. I wanted any of the liners EXCEPT the Ofra. Score. And I wanted to try that Laneige bb cushion. I have wanted to try it for months now. This is joyful. 

Mascara I am not upset or elated. I love trying new (partial lie. I hate my UD mascara. That was new and not Maybelliene.) it can always go into my cache. I will use it in a century. 

The hair stuff had my heart sink, until I realized it was beach spray. Maybe. Just maybe we can style our hair less than crappy. So yeah, I am actually thrilled about that. 

I am satisfied like a hog eating corn. Win. 

So Revealing

Gosh, title puns about this palette are going to get so tired I bet?

My friend has the first Revealed palette from Coastal Scents. Nice dupe for Naked and Naked 2 right? Last week when my Facebook makeup group had posted Revealed 2 on sale for $9.95, I ordered immediately. Likely a billion other women followed suit. 

It is frigging gorgeous. Not perfect, but gorgeous. 

It looks like Naked 3, which of course I own not. I hear it acts as a fabulous dupe to 11/12 N3 colors. 

Finally after having it for two days I pulled the bugger out at 11:30pm to work on a quick look. With this 20 color palette you can go matte, shimmer, pink, nude, or full on gothed red. It's kind of perfect in the range of possibilities. 

Pink look on one eye. The phone camera is not the best, but this one relies on more of the light shimmer shades. 

And a darker look with more browns. 

Over the next few days I will be using this palette more exclusively to test it's versatility. Eventually I need to review my Glinda palette and do something with my Ammo. 

And here. Have both. 

Sounds totally perfect? Well it's not. 

The cons are minimal, but they exist. 

Firstly the palette has a distinct powder smell. It is not irritating, but it's curious. 

The second con involves texture of a few shades. Primarily I have been using my Bare. Minerals flat brush. It's big and soft, but it has revealed some super chunks in about three shades. While the shadows apply smooth from a finger's touch, they work a bit less well via brush. 

The final con is that they seem to fade even with a primer. You still get a full days of color from them, but working in a greenhouse upwards 9 hours (slowing down for the season) may play a factor in the less color. 

Regardless of this flaws, I really like this grouping of colors. I will repeat - this is not Urban Decay quality, but if you could ever find a drugstore makeup with half the quality for twice the price you will be lucky. 

Sales

No hide, nor hair for a while eh?

Barring the details, we had a death in the family and it hit pretty hard as the finality to a generation. Among the other issues going around, let me just say I am breathing easier knowing how far I have progressed with my schooling. I even made contacts with a partner and the head funeral director/embalmer for a potential internship/job shadow. 

Also my other dilemma is to complete the  full year program in a year (as 19,18, and 18 credit hours per semester versus 10,7,11,8... So on) have to make that decision. 

Additionally the closing of May is the busiest time of year. Much work and sales. 

Enough about me though, let's get on to the makeup! Around Memorial weekend, BareMinerals and Urban Decay both offered flash sales. I had to take advantage of it! From. Bare Minerals I gleaned one of their 8.0 palettes that I have lusted for. It came in a set with a loose powder blush, flathead eyeshadow brush, and a full sized Mascara. Also some sample packets of Marvelous Moxie gloss and a lipstick I already own and love. In addition a sample of the Bare Skin serum. Already having 03 Bare Linen, I elected for 04 Bare Ivory. I am curious if it will match or mud, as I do not remember if we tested that one I shade matching. 01 Bare Porcelain matched very well though. 

Onto the September Issue. 

Regularly this bad boy is $40, when it was in stock. Likely the sale was to clear out some overstocked product. I am not offended. The receipt of my transaction gave this a $10 value. The other products had various under $5 values. 

About the shades, each is beautiful. My favorite is surprisingly Glitterati, as it's peachy with a soft baby pink reflection. It's very pigmented. 

This photo is not an exclusive set of swatches. It also includes my four other Urban Decay palettes. 

While each shade does lean towards buttery, the shimmer shades tend to give more color to skin. I found a few shades inching on the less than opaque after applying them to my arm. Regardless, the registered beautiful for the looks I sought out. I had to dump my camera to my computer so I can post a few looks I have done. 

My biggest excitement with the palette is that there is no fallout, and if there is it's negligible. Fallout never really bothers me, as I can clean it up easily before leaving the house. Not having to do that though is pretty awesome. 

With primer the colors will stay all day, and I tested yesterday that on hot days without primer it will crease. I am not sure when it started to crease, but at the end of a sweaty ten hour day it was creased. Greenhouse work man. 

The blush is lovely, and softens up a face nicely. The mascara went into my cache of samples that I've acquired. Finally the brush works great for the crease. It's big. 

I will save the UD haul for another post. 

May 2014 Ipsy Unboxing - Fresh Picks

Am I late with my post? Yes I am. You see, I received my bag on Friday. Tracking said it was at my house by 2pm. To my dismay, we did not close up shop until 7:30pm (half hour over actual close time). Then my friend showed me some of the miracles of couponing.

ie; $75 pair of shoes for $3.60. And a butt ton of carrots and Miracle Whip for free. Basically I can eat as many tuna fish sandwiches as I want. Wow.

Anyways I finally got home around 10, and feeling progressively sicker since the morning I had a fever.
A little digression from Ipsy for a moment. For about a decade of my life, when I would get sick it was in May and one of the latter three months of the year. It was like clockwork. So being sick in May was nothing abnormal, if I hadn't already had two previous sicks this year. Since moving into my apartment I am sick every other month. Bad ventilation? Who knows. Hopefully we zip on out soon.

Well onto the Ipsy.

My spoils. Not too exciting eh? I'm not incredibly disappointed, in fact I am not disappointed at all. I am just not excited.

Let's start then with the Pacifica Shadow. I have not yet used it on my eyes. Overall though, this may be the least of all the products.

I tried to do both finger and arm swatch. My knee absorbed all light.

Let's talk about the colors first. Moonbeam (the purple) is a lovely soft purple, and I could see myself using it if I could see it. Unicorn on the otherhand, while somewhat chalky thrills me based on the name. It's kind of beautiful and shows up decently. As you can see in the above photo, a swipe on my fingers yielded quite fair for the Unicorn.

Two finger swipes without primer

Now as you can see, Moonbeam does stick closer to the skin. It is very faded compared to the pan. I'll just stick with UD's Grifter. Aaand that Unicorn looks like a powdery mess. So no, I am doing what I hate and just providing an arm swatch without an eyeball look (maybe that will be rectified when I shower)...but the frip am I going to do with these?

Insult to injury look at that chinsy case? It struggles to open and then pop! The lid detaches. It doesn't even pop off though, it just...off.
Dunno guys. This might actually go to trash land unless I feel bothered to work with it.

That Hey Honey! Mask makes a face shiny while it's on. It certainly feels nice, but not nice like those cucumber masks. My cheeks felt nice and smooth afterwards, but the areas that needed exfoliation like my bumpy forehead after a few days of sick laziness (translated to no shower. hi.). Still bumpy.

What did I expect? I don't even know.

The face moisturizer is really nice though. It's light and applies very easily without a lot of product. That one I am very satisfied with. It's a moisturizer and moisturizes. Good job little tube.

Sunscreen I have not yet used but I am sure it will block out UV rays like a champ. My shoulders and neck will love it. Words are not exactly bubbling from inside of me for a lot of my yield.

Finally I was pumped to get the brush. Is it a good one? I have no fekking idea. The lack of hygeine has also prevented me from trying it, but I am sure it will do brush things. Likely it's better than what I have so that's good. I was in the market anyways.

So this Ipsy bag was not amazing by any stretch. Still ll of the products (save for one) are incredibly useful for summer. Additionally, I do not need a constant supply of makeup. The mask was a good touch and so was the moisturizer. I am satisfied, and will be a subscriber for another billion years if the bags repeat March and April.

On a completely unrelated note... totally rad about that Titanosaur. 65 tons? Wow size. Just today I was watching this really awesome British program called Primeval, and Andrew and I assumed one creature was a T-Rex. Segue into small discussion about the largest dinosaurs, and the one of the program was actually a Gigantosaur. Cool, never heard of that.
Spinosaurus talk and then a quick look into social media and just this week they discovered an even larger predator? What perfect timing!

If you are interested in a truly interesting show, give Primeval a go. We have really enjoyed it so far because dinosaurs and and anomalies.

Lorac POREfectly waow.

My Ulta order contained some lovely samples.

 

I have very graciously posed them next to a pillow, to distract from my disgusting floor. 

 

The hair product is kind of lost on me. My ability to do my hair ends past a crappy braid or a sloppy pony tail. Something with curl and blow drying? Heck no. If I use the Matrix stuff, maybe Hell will freeze over - and I'm not talking about Hell, Michigan.

Next is the Lorac POREfection. This I was pleased as punch to get. The foil packet, when sealed with a paperclip has so far yielded enough for three applications and may allow for one or two more if I'm extra lucky.

So it's a gel, and rubbing it into my face it almost had a powdery feel. Incredibly fine powder. It left my face nice and smooth. With special attention to my chin, I dabbled that crap on top of my moisturizer with SPF 913. (false)

A big problem I had with my garnier BB cream was that it left my skin greasy. I could not use moisturizer with that or with my foundation. Sacrifice had to be made. With the POREfection, I was able to use moisturizer and foundation. And concealer.

Another problem I have had was just in concealer. My chin breaks out at a hairpin trigger. Hormonal changes during lovely weeks every month. Stress. Garnier BB cream. From my Tzone I am prone to some breakouts. Breakouts for me beget a bad habit. I impulsively pick at the breakouts, knowing full well that wound infections could happen with skin flora in the wound. That I'm exacerbating it. Scarring. That always ends in a crushing "Balls, I have this huge frigging zit here. It's the size of the world."

Self conscious, I dab concealer on in the manner you are supposed to. I blend it out and it's fine for about ten minutes. Ten minutes may be a little low, but whenever I look to the mirror later on there lays a crusty layer of dried skin and exposed red. Good. Now it looks like it's pussing or something.

With the Lorac primer, the concealer stayed all day. Additionally, no crusties. wow.
So let's see here results.

 

 

 

See? Very faint blemishes and smooth skin.

My foundation in this picture was the Almay, which looks nice but does register orange. My blush is my Ulta cheek tint, which I am really loving right now.

The last sample I was given was that lovely little perfume sample. Price wise, it's about $0.05. My gosh it smelled so good, like a fresh peeled orange. The smell was brief though, and I'm not sure I could sense it throughout the whole day. The smell was very fancy and made me feel clean. Maybe I would buy it, if the price were right.

Bareskin Pale.

I stayed late at work today with the express purpose of stopping at Ulta for a shade match with my budderoo.

That Bareskin though.
Almay makes a pretty decent foundation, but man it's not been what I really hoped. It's not the Holy Grail. It's not the carpenters chalice, the cup of the everlasting. Eh.

Ulta today our saleswoman was awesome. Normally Christina and I have been lucking out with fabulous employees, and only one we aren't that thrilled to see. We call her "That vampy lady" because her tightly pressed together lips are always vamped. Basically, she has some miserable disapproving look on her face as my frand and we browse.

Onto the shade matching, I was lined up with the lighest of all shades, 01 Bare Porcelain or 03 Bare Linen. Holy shoot am I that pale? Bare Linen has a nice nuetral tone, whereas Porcelain is of course cool. The neutral would make more sense in the high likelihood I am outside ever in the next few months. Plus, it nearly dissapeared on my face. Any redness I had made like the snow and was out of here (but dang. I'm in Michigan. We beat our snow record, and it could snow in May.)

See where the red starts on my cheek? That's where the serum was not. Holy flip.

Feeling splurgy with my monthly allowance, I also bought the brush. I asked if anyone mentioned the small size as a con, and she said that a lot of folks were rather pleased with it. I'll see how it goes.

I sort of bombed the whole "I do not need anymore makeup in May" thing.

Since this is a new product, finding a review was impossible. I read all the ones I could find, and while they were somewhat mixed - there were quite a few that convinced me to at least shade match. For my skin, I will say it's a win. It feels light - like nothing, and it airbrushed my cheek. Underneath the Bareskin, I know there were a few blotches. I just know it...

Of course, this I have not tested outside yet. In a week I will have a better feel for it. At least the price point is fairly reasonable. With the amount you use for each application (I may be a 2-4 dropper. IDK) for the $29, it seems like a product that has a lot of bang. Some other foundations I spied were easily $10 more with a lot more product usage. Granted, one of those worked perfect on my friend, whereas the Bareskin registered too sheer. Let's you and I see how well the value holds.

Did I just frifking spen $30 on a gal-dang foundation? Hot dang I did.

Tomorrow, we will try this over Lorac primer that we have.