New Sinful Shine Polishes from Sinful Colors (Swatches and Review)

Hello Lovelies!

Now that my fashion week is over I am working on some fun things to share with you guys, but in the meanwhile I stopped at Walgreens a couple days ago and picked up some new polishes I wanted to share with you. I absolutely love Sinful Colors polish, it is cheap, it doesn't chip easily, and it comes in a lot of amazing shades. As I was browsing I came across a display featuring the new Sinful Shine which has gel tech to make the polishes appear glossy (found exclusively at Walgreens) so I decided to pick three of my favorite colors and test them out. I expected them to be amazing and of course they were. I painted my nails on Saturday with the pink shade called All the Rage and it's now Monday and they still look fabulous, no chips and they are nice and shiny. This polish is actually so shiny that when paired with my long nails they actually look kind of unreal, and they definitely look professionally done. The Sinful Shine polishes are a little more expensive then the regular ones but they are definitely worth it. I would love to have one of everything from Sinful Colors.

L to R: All the Rage, At Sea, and Rendezvous

Must Have Summer Beauty Products

Hello Lovelies!

 

Basics

Water! Duh!

 

Skin Care

Sunscreen- I use Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Lotion Spf 70

Julep Daily Defense for Hands and Face

Banana Boat Aloe After Sun

Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter

EOS (evolution of smooth) Pomegranate Raspberry Shaving Lotion

Yes to Tomatoes Clear Skin Daily Cleanser

 

Fragrance

Viva La Juicy La Fleur

 

Nail Polish

Sinful Colors Rise & Shine, and Sweet Tooth

Circus by Andreas Choice in Ringmaster

Julep Natasha, and Rose

 

Hair Care

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment (protects from uv rays)

Chi Heat Protectant

New York Streets Dry Shampoo

Bandanas

 

Cosmetics

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam

Maybelline Shine-Free Loose Powder

Maybelline BB Cream

Urban Decay Naked BB Cream

E.L.F Blush in Tickled Pink

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Blush in Sweet Cheeks

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Hard Candy Naturally Gorgeous Palette

Urban Decay Moondust in Space Cowboy

Coastal Scents Mirage Palette

Mark Scanda-lash Mascara in Brown-Out

Too Faced LashGasm

Urban Decay Lip Junkie in Naked

Julep Lip Balm

NYX Lipstick in Iced Honey

NYX Lipstick in Shiva

NYX matte lipstick in Summer Breeze

NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in Chaos

E.L.F Matte Lip Color in Rich Red, and Natural

Mirabella Sheer Colour in Posie

E.L.F Mist and Set

Urban Decay All Nighter Spray

 

 

 

 

May Beauty Army Box: A big let down

Hello Lovelies!

After this month I am unsure if I will be continuing my subscription with Beauty Army , because in the past couple of months I haven't had many good products to choose from and a lot of the products have been repeats of what I have already tried. Although there are some products that I do love to receive multiple samples of it is hasn't been worth the $12 a month. I will show the products I received this month but since I didn't receive the greatest selection I honestly won't have a lot to say.

Cotz Face is a mineral sunscreen for natural skin tones with an SPF of 40. The tube I received is absolutely tiny and only included enough for maybe five to ten applications if I am lucky. When I first squeezed the sunscreen out of the tube I was surprised to find it the same shade as my skin tone and I initially tested it on the top of my hand. At first it has an almost mousse like consistency and when blended it turns into a lovely matte finish. This sunscreen would be great for days where you want to skip a couple makeup steps because it also offers a little coverage. I may find myself having to purchase this for this summer. 

Once again Beauty Army is filling it's boxes with tiny samples such as this one, they are so small that it's near impossible to give a good review. The Wild Rose Cream is suppose to moisturize and brighten the skin for 24 hours, and it's meant for normal and dry skin types. When I first ripped open the package I noticed that it is heavily scented and kind of smells between something floral and my grandma, I also notice that the majority of the package is not in English. Although this product did make my skin feel quite smooth, I honestly  didn't have enough to really offer a good review. 

I was honestly curious about the skincare line from Own receiving this small sample has me feeling defeated. Although the statistics of the skin line seems to prove that there products are wonderful I have actually heard a lot of negative reviews recently, and they say it takes up to 8 weeks to see results and this sample definitely will not last that long. Once again I can't really say much about this product which bums me out because I want to be able to fully review everything I receive for everyone.

 Another product I can not get any use of is this gel polish from Nail Luv because I do not own a LED or UV lamp which is required and I do not plan to purchase one. Although gel manicures look fabulous I would rather not raise my chance of getting skin cancer in the long run. Using UV lamps frequently for nails has the same effects as using a tanning bed frequently. Although some people don't seem to notice that these beauty regimens are risky, I am the type to avoid things like this. Basically if you do decide to follow this trend please apply sunscreen to your hands before your nail appointment. 

Last but not least, these products are ones I have chose before and decided to choose again for lack of better choices. I absolutely love the scanda-lash mascara from Mark, it has become my ultimate favorite because it makes my lashes look fuller and longer in one quick application. Although I do like the Teen Tone Color Touch Eye, Cheek, and Lip Glow, I find myself rarely using it because I do not like cream blushes and I own so many better pink lip products, but it is a very good product for on-the-go or travel purposes because of it's multiple uses. 

May Ipsy Bag "Spring Fling"

Hello Lovelies!

I received my May Ipsy Bag two days ago and once again will be reviewing the products. The theme of this month's bag is of course "Spring Fling" and it's filled with products that are good for looking good in spring/summer. I also noticed that it seems a lot of people received different products this month which makes it kind of fun for us bloggers. I absolutely adore the print of the bag this month, it is bright, colorful, and fun.

My favorite product this month is the Moondust eye shadow in the shade of Space Cowboy from Urban Decay. I received this as an extra because I am an active member of the Ipsy community. This shade is a light champagne color with TINY flecks of silver glitter and has quickly become a favorite in my makeup collection. The collection of Moondust shadows consist of six different BEAUTIFUL shades that I would love to own. From the container the Moondust appears to be a cream, but it actually is a powder and applies easily and looks wonderful. These little shadows are $20 each from Urban Decay which makes this $10 Ipsy Bag so worth it. Below is a look I created using the Moondust, and a brown shadow, called Roo, from RoseMarie Shadows.

I always love adding new lip products to my collection, especially in red/pink shades like this one from Mirabella called Posy. Posy is a color sheer lipstick and applies very lightly and provides about as much color as a tinted lip balm, but it does go on smoothly and lasts long.  For $22 I would much prefer to purchase a tinted lip balm to wear if I wanted this little color, but if price doesn't matter I think these would be a nice everyday lip product.

Juice Beauty  is a great company that offers organic alternatives for cosmetics such as this pink reflecting gloss. The gloss itself smells wonderful and is quite moisturizing but I do have a little thing against the texture that comes with it being an all-natural product. I can get past the issue with the glosses texture, but I can not see myself paying $15 for the gloss although it's organic.

When I first opened the little box I wasn't sure what to think of this color of polish from Zoya called Blu. Obviously pastels are part of the trend for this spring/summer but being as pale as I am some shades just don't work well for me and this seems to be one of them. Although I am not a huge fan of the shade personally I do like the color and the polish is wonderful. I created the look pictured below using two coats of Blu topped with a 3D accent bow from Kiss Nail Designs. These polishes can be found on the Zoya website for $8.

I already have a love/hate relationship with this concealer from Yaby. I love this concealer because it provides great coverage, but I hate it because this particular shade Ipsy sent me isn't right for my skin tone. Ipsy sent me a shade called Buff which seems a little too dark for my skin I typically would have chosen the shade of Ivory for myself. I also dislike when Ipsy sends us refill tins, because I honestly just don't have a place to put them, one day I need to purchase myself a concealer palette. Setting the hate aside the concealer itself is quite wonderful, it is perfect to cover up flaws and applies smoothly. I also love Yaby concealers because they offer a wide range of skin tone choices. These refill tins are $4.85 each, but a full concealer palette from Yaby is $100.



This is one of those products that I will never be testing and I will be giving away to some lucky friend unfortunately.  As I have said before I love having an ivory complexion and do not wish to have a tan. The reviews for this Wash Off Instant Glow Lotion are kind of all over the place, mostly I see bad reviews from people with fair skin like myself saying it was too dark for them, but others say it is amazing. Although I don't have much to say about this product if you would like to try it for yourself you can find it here and the full sized bottle is $18. I wish Ipsy would really take the little quizzes they give us more into consideration so people like me wouldn't receive products like this, but even though I don't like this particular product this month's bag was definitely worth it. 

In the end this bag adds up to about $80 worth of product (not including the price of the bag itself) and is obviously worth the small price tag of $10 and being active in the Ipsy community to receive bonuses such as the Urban Decay Moondust. 

April Ipsy Bag Review

Hello Lovelies!

This month's Ipsy theme is called "Pretty in Pink", I am not sure exactly why they decided to go with pink this month I would have much preferred a more spring inspired theme. Overall the products were okay, but this month was not as impressive as other months have been, although we did receive a couple full size products. I would really like to see some new brands in the near future, possibly some fragrance, and more hair products.

I was really excited when Ipsy finally gave us a printed bag last month, but it looks like they are back to the boring old plain bags, at least for this month. I absolutely hate the concept of a white makeup bag, if I actually used this I would have to wash it so often because I would always be leaving little stains, it's inevitable. 

This peachy pink shade of polish is called Love at First Byte, and I wasn't impressed at all. I decided I wanted to create a look using this polish but as I applied it I realized it was very sheer, it took me FIVE coats to really achieve a color payoff. I did read many comments on the Ipsy website of people saying it quickly peeled, but mine has lasted a week so far with minimal chipping, below is the nail look I am wearing right now using the polish and Kiss nail stickers.

I absolutely adore Be a... Bombshell Cosmetics , but this blush in a shade called Sweet Cheeks is definitely too heavy and bright for my pale skin. I think it would look lovely on someone with darker skin though, and it does blend out quite well. 

Another product from Big Sexy Hair, although I do love the products they offer I wish we would get more hair products from various companies. I naturally have volume to my hair, but occasionally I need a little help creating a good pompadour "poof", especially when my hair is freshly washed and this volumizing powder is the best I have came across. I have tried the volumizing powder from Got2B, but that makes my hair feel sticky and hard to style, this powder from Big Sexy Hair is easy to style and works well.

In the past couple months I have been stocking up on mineral eye shadows, I especially love the shadows from an Etsy shop called RoseMarie Shadows, check out my review on them here. I love this shimmery pink shade by Mica Beauty called Earth. Some people may be thrown off by the fact that it's pink, but it is very subtle.




This month I chose to skip my Beauty Army, because they weren't offering anything new for me to choose, so hopefully I will have a Beauty Army Box to show you next month.

Spring Bling: Nail look using shades of blue, gold, and 3D accents!

Hello Lovelies!

Here is a little spring inspired nail look I created using Sinful Colors All About You (the gold shade) and Sweet Nothing (the blue shade),3d accents and stickers from Kiss, and some gems from a craft store. 

How to:

1. Apply two coats of All About You on nails, let fully dry.

2.Apply a small strip of Sweet Nothing on Middle Nail, fully dry.

3.Apply a thin coat of Top Coat, I use Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat.

4.Apply stickers and top the nails you apply them to with another thin coat of top coat.

5.Apply gems with nail glue included in the 3D Charms nail kit using tweezers. I applied them randomly at the base of my thumb nail, and in a patterned strip on top of the streak of Sweet Nothing.

6.Let the glue fully dry then apply a thin coat of top coat over the gems, make sure it's as smoothly applied as possible so you don't have lumps around the gems.

7. Let them fully dry and you have a fun look for spring.

Amazingly enough I was able to get a full week out of this look before gems began to fall off and the paint started to slightly chip.  

Hard Candy Nail Polish Review

Hello Lovelies!

My local Walmart just started carrying the new Hard Candy nail polishes and I decided I would test out a couple, I wasn't sure about the different shades they offer and if I would like them or not so I decided to go with just the three pictured below.

Left to Right: Jubilee, Fireworks, Little Bo Pink          $4 each

 I was quite bummed out with the outcome of this polish called Jubilee, from the bottle it appears to have a darker green tint to it instead of this yellow-ish green that shows on my nail. In the picture above I applied two coats of Jubilee and as you can see the glitter flecks are quite sparse and it definitely looks much better in the bottle.

 After testing out all the colors of the polishes on my nails I created this look pictured below using two coats of  Julep's olive green polish called Laura, and two coats of Jubilee.

Once again another polish that looks much better in the bottle, Fireworks. On my nail pictured above I have two coats of the polish and the it's quite sheer with just a slight touch of pink. I absolutely love the different shades of glitter though, I just wish they would show up more.

 Out of the three polishes I tried this is my definite favorite, and it's called Little Bo Pink. It is part of Hard Candy's Itzy Glitzy Collection, which I am considering trying more of, and it is pretty much the perfect shade of playful girly pink. I am typically a red polish kind of girl, but this is perfect when I am feeling like expressing my girly side. On my nail pictured above I used only two shades, but for future use I think I will be using three to create a better brighter pink. My favorite part of the polish is that it is shimmery, but not over the top.

Overall I am not that impressed with the Hard Candy nail collection from testing these three polishes, they also seem more appropriate for younger girls. If you are looking for more budget friendly polishes I would stick with Sinful Colors, they are half the price of Hard Candy's polishes and much better quality.



Walgreens Haul

Hello Lovelies!

About a week ago I had a little time to spare between when I got out of work and when I had to pick up the kids so I decided I would take a little trip to +Walgreens, I wasn't sure what I planned to purchase, but I just was in the mood to browse. Now, I don't often head to Walgreens considering I work at Walmart, but when I do I almost always find something I just have to have, and this was one of those days.

New Nail Addiction

So while browsing I happened to stumble across (almost literally) a display of nail polish by Sinful Colors and was amazed by the beautiful selection of shades they offered so I decided to pick up a few, at only $2 a polish they are DEFINITELY worth it. I was not sure what to expect, but I absolutely loved the colors and wanted to try it and I am glad I did. I purchased six different shades, and so far every one only takes one coat and dries quite quickly. Pictured above from left to right is Lush Life, Kissy, and Rise & Shine (Matte). After doing a little research about the company I also found out that they are made right here in the United States, which is always a plus in my opinion. Pictured Below from left to right is sweet nothing, sweet tooth, and sugar sugar. Another reason I absolutely adore Sinful Colors is because every polish from them has a wonderful name.

Where to Buy:

Walgreens

Walmart (not in all)

Target

Meijers

Rite Aid

On my way out of the beauty section of Walgreens I happened to spot this little beauty from Wet N Wild's Fergie Collection called Make Them Boys Go Loco.

Now, I have been curious about blending sponges since the release of the Beauty Blender, but I never seen the point of paying $20 for a sponge I wasn't sure I would like. So, when I came across this blending sponge by Studio 35 Beauty for only $6 I knew I had to try it. Now when opening the package the first thing I noticed was that it didn't include any instructions, so before I could even use the sponge I had to do a little research. I noticed some people use the sponge wet, and some use it dry, so I decided I had to test it both ways. The first time I applied foundation with the sponge dry and although I did get an even application I felt that the sponge was absorbing up too much of my foundation. The second time I tested it wet and it worked so much better, the sponge didn't absorb my foundation and the application looked smoother, and I didn't have to work at blending as hard as I do when using a brush. Now to get the sponge wet I ran warm water and just placed the sponge underneath until it filled with water, afterwards I squeezed as much of the water out as possible leaving the sponge only damp, you do not want the water to be able to drip out while applying your makeup. These sponges can be used for all sorts of makeup applications and they have the big rounded end for larger areas, and the small pointed ends for smaller areas. I have been using this sponge for a couple days now and I do like it much better than any previous applicator I have used.

I have heard many other drugstore hauls mention Revlon's Just Bitten Lipstain and Balm, but I have no clue what they seen in it, I purchased it in a pink shade called Desire and I wasn't that impressed. For starters the lip stain took quite a few applications before you could even see a hint of color, and it made my lips feel extremely dry (maybe that is why they include some lip balm). The lip balm is just a generic simple balm that didn't last long, but did give my lips a little shine.

I have been searching for some peel-off facial masks in a couple local stores so when I seen this I just had to grab it. I have tested a couple products from Freeman's before and liked them, so I wasn't hesitant at trying the brand, and I like the scent of cucumber. This mask is suppose to clarify and renew skin, and it leaves my skin feeling refreshed, soft, and clean.

 For the past about eight months I have been a rocking a lovely shade of natural red called Hot Tamale, and it takes A LOT of upkeep, so I bought this John Frieda Radiant Red Shampoo and Conditioner in hopes that it will help prolong my color. I have been using this for about a two weeks now and I have noticed that I have A LOT less washout of color, and my hair has more shine to it. This shampoo and conditioner also has a wonderful scent and leaves my hair softer, and less frizzy. They offer this shampoo for all hair colors and I would especially recommend it to women who have problems with washout.

February Julep Maven Box + A Nail Creation

 February is all about the "A-List" and this has to be the best Julep Maven Box I have ever received. I actually typically skip every month because I have a decently large nail polish collection that I am not really looking to expand at the moment, but this month I didn't even get an option to skip and I am kind of glad I didn't.

I believe a top coat is key to completing a nail creation and this polymer top coat called Freedom is spectacular. This top coat gives the appearance of gel-like shine without the hassle and health issues. (Used in the nail creation at the bottom of this post) 

 This nail treatment works to make nails stronger, smoother, and thicker . The directions say to use on clean nails once or twice a week to promote healthy nail growth. I had this on my nails for about three days, it has a subtle pink glow to it and made my nails look healthier.

 Just a simple and cheap eyelash curler.... I have a couple of these in my makeup storage that I rarely use because they just don't work as well, but they are great for travel.

 

 This AMAZING shade of olive green is called "Laura" and is perfect for any bombshell.

This shimmery holographic shade is called "Ginger" and I absolutely LOVE it. I like to pair it with shades of red and pink, but it also looks wonderful on it's own. (Used in nail creation at the bottom of this post)

Julep polishes almost always only require one coat and they dry quickly. Top these polishes with the Freedom Top Coat and you have yourself a simple and beautiful nail creation. Another positive aspect of Julep polishes is they do not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, or DBP. 

And now for a little nail creation of my own...

What I Used for This Look

Julep's Freedom Top Coat

Julep's Nail Polish in Ginger and Rose

Kiss Nail Dress in Bustier

Scissors 

 First I applied one coat of Rose, which is a bright shade of pink.

 Second I created this design on my nails using one coat of Ginger.

 Then I applied a thin coat of the Freedom Top Coat and let it fully dry for five minutes.

 I cut the Kiss Nail Dress into these strips and applied right between the two shades of polish and applied another coat of the Freedom Top Coat, once again drying it for five minutes.

 And this is the finished look.....