September 2013 Ipsy My Glam Bag

Hey Gals!

Typically I rush to get my Ipsy bag up the day I get it. But this time i decided to wait a week and try out everything before i blogged about it. 

This months theme is:

Great theme imo! The classic Marilyn Monroe makeup looks are timeless. 

I was a tad bummed that the Em was a sample card. I did appreciate the sample none the less. I will be purchasing the life palette down the line. Right now I have a TON of e.l.f. stuff on the way to my house that I will be blogging about next :D
Anyhow heres the Em Sample card:

 The size of the actual sample is about palm sized. I wasn't able to really use this for an eye look. But it was enough to see the texture and pigmentation. Fingers crossed that we will see actual samples of Em in the future!

This months bag pattern is super cute and I love the hue of blue!

First up are the paper masks:

I already love this brand. They have a blue seal salt mask I use about once a month. I was very excited to use the paper masks. Im having some issues with acne right now so I thought it was the perfect time to use the purifying mask. It was very awkward to unwrap and I found that the eye cut outs were super close together! The serum on the mask was amazing! It soothed my inflamed skin and definitely purified. I also liked that this did not need to be rinsed afterwards. I will be getting more!

Next up:

Cailyn lip stain. I already love this brand because of the eyeliner a few months back. This feels so nice on and its matte! You can make it as dark or as light as you want. It does stain and it is hard to wipe off however.  But on the upside it does stay put and lasted all day!

Third item is:

Its so big mascara. I didn't open or use this yet. I currently have three mascaras open and rotating ( flower beauty, pixie, and milani) Opening up a fourth mascara seemed wasteful so I cant tell you if this was a yay or a neigh. 

Fourth:

love love this! charcoal seems to be a strange name for this color. Its more a silver color but its not super shimmery. Last month I met nyx in the form of blush and loved it. And this month eyeshadow is another hit.

Last but not least:

Starlooks black eyeliner. This is a nice smooth eyeliner pencil. Nothing outstanding and honestly I have a NYC one that was 2.00 and they seem exactly the same to me. Im happy to have another liner though! 

I love Ipsy! great value and I love getting to try a new things. 

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What did you get in your bag this month?

Did you blog about your bag? id love to see it. Hit me in the comments!

Nars Cosmetics Sample

Hey Gals!

Some of you may not know this about me but I LOVE Freebies! I have no problem shelling out cash for products that work for me. But I am a huge supporter of TRY before you BUY. There is nothing more heartbreaking than laying down 30 bucks on a eyeshadow pallet that everyone loves, but once you put it on you it looks dreadful!

Anyhow I do sign up for lots of freebies and I follow Budget Savvy Diva. She's so adorable and on top of the real vs fake freebies on the web. She also posts super cute recipes and DIY crafts. So do stop by her page, you won't regret it!

As I was walking out to my mailbox I found this!

 On wednesday of last week I signed up with NARS Cosmetics to try their new Radiant Creme Compact Foundation. Ive heard good things about this company. I just have not had the chance to try them. I signed up for the shade Gobi. 

It is so hard to judge shades on a screen. I have an iMac and it has amazing quality of a screen. But still with foundation so many things can alter the appearance of a shade. like screen brightness, the brightness of my house, even the angle I look at the screen. 

NARS not only sent me Gobi, but the shade before and after it!

Just that blew me away.... but wait...

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A nice sized sample of your primer too?!
Wow NARS you guys are the bomb! Seriously not only did you have samples to give away but you executed it immaculately. Thank you so much! Nothing speaks louder than a company that knows once you try it you WILL buy it. 

 They also had some pamphlets with very high quality prints of the shades as well as some of the products they offered. 

 There was also an instruction card on how to apply this. 

 And lastly here is my hand with the three shades over primer. I'd say Gobi is a perfect fit. The top shade has a tad too much yellow and the bottom a tad too much pink :D

I hope you ladies get a chance to try this !! The sampling is still going on on their fb page!

Cherry Blossoms Mani

Hey Gals!

So i came across this wallpaper and I thought ooh! lets make a cherry blossom mani!

 If you are new to dotting and free handing like I am it may help if you used acrylic paint for some of your nail art. Theres a few reasons for this:
1.) its cheaper. This whole bottle cost 97 cents for 2 whole ounces. Julep costs 15 bucks for .27 mL
2.) it takes longer to dry. This is helpful because nail polish dries faster and makes a stringy like thing and thats no good unless your going for the sugar spun look :p
3.) You can wash it off with water and try again if you weren't happy with how it looks. this is much easier then trying to remove polish with acetone then having to reapply the base coat and color and then give the design another go.

Okay on to the tutorial!
You will need a top and a base coat, a color for the flowers, a base color and a color for the branches.

I used white acrylic for the flowers.
Julep's Zelda for the branches.
Julep's Char for the base color.

As for tools, use what you have and what you feel comfortable with. CutePolish made a great video for this here :

I tried both the dotter and the paintbrush and i felt i did a better job with the dotter. Don't be afraid to practice on cardboard or notebook paper. It is a really simple design but it takes time to master the placement and the thickness of the dots :D

Paint your nail with base coat and after that dries apply your base color.

Next use a small paintbrush to make your branches.

At this point I used a top coat and let it dry so that I could use acrylic for my flowers. This way if i messed up I wouldn't have to start over.

I decided to fill in the center with pink !I wasnt planning on doing it but I think it needed it. 

I also found this in my nail stuff. A sample of Juleps hand creme that I hadn't tried yet

After trying it now I want a bottle of it! It was super gross and greasy for about 10 minutes. But once it soaked in. So this is definitely not a everyday use kind of thing. I have medium eczema and this did stay on and kept my skin nice feeling ALL day! even through washing my hands!

I hope you like it! comment me your pics if you did this I'd love to see!

My first Indie polish!

Hey Gals!

I have been into nail polish since I was 6. When I was 10 I had one of those make your own nail polish kits. It never dawned on me that people actually MAKE their own polish as a business and sell out of their home. When I think about needing new nail polish my thoughts go to julep, sephora, ulta, and Zoya!

But the past two weeks I have been enlightened! Cirque, Lacquer Lust, Polish TBH, Mentality are just a few I'm dying to try!

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this hot little number:

  Its called Sorcerer's Stone and its made by Polish TBH

  ITs a jelly thermal glittery wonderland imho!

 Coldness makes it more brown/ black

 And warmness makes it more rosey colored

 All of these shots are with 3 layers of Sorcerers stone, a clear base coat and a clear top coat.

I love love love this!
You will DEFINITELY be seeing more Polish TBH in my future posts and here is the link to her store.

And to her FB.


Isn't it gorgeous?! Do you have any indie brands you love that I should try next?? Comment me!

Proactiv 30 day Trial August 5 - Sept 5 2013

Hey Gals! 

I know most of my posts are full of pretty pictures but this one will be all text. I could have taken a ton of pics but I think when it comes to skin care the pictures don't really help. Good skin care routine helps your skin to look and feel good. Even still there will be times when hormones, diet , or outside pollutants get through. So lets get down to it! :D

Background:
*I was lucky in my teens. I had really good even skin tone and the occasional pimple. I just wore eye shadow and mascara most of high school.

*Somewhere around 25 my skin started to become a stranger to me. My typical my normal face wash started irritating my skin. My occasional pimple turned into groups of them in spots. Mostly around my nose and cheeks. My forehead and chin/jaw stayed clear. I carried my face cleaner around with me and washed my face 4-5 times a day to keep the oil under control but it just didn't seem to help. 

*When I hit 30 this year  again my face did a complete 180. I now struggle with dryness!
At that point I began to use oil cleansing. I bought some Pure Coconut Oil and in the morning rubbed it in for about 2 minutes then rinsed with warm water. 

*This helped tremendously and felt great! Then at night i put the oil on and let it stay on overnight.
 it did not get rid of the blackheads or the under the skin pimples that you can't see but you can feel. 

Coconut is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial so it will not clog your pores. Yet i felt i needed something to deep cleanse.

ENTER PROACTIV!

The business:

Proactiv has come a long way since it first came out. In my early teens a friend used it and she was very frustrated that she would be charged and auto shipped when she hand't even used the product she already had. But i can tell you that customer service was very kind to me. The trial price of $20 was refunded with no questions asked and their auto ship program is very customizable. You can spread out your shipments to your liking. You can also customize your kit to what you want. The standard subscription kit is steps 1, 2, and 3 in a 60-90 day amount depending on how often you use it.  You can add or remove any of the products in their line. 

The Trial:
Thirty days ago I received my proactive 30 day trial. I opted for the rotating face brush as my free gift, and they also included the blackhead dissolving gel and tea tree moisturizer.

Cost:
The trial cost was $20 dollars and came with three steps 1. Cleanser (two ounces) 2. Toner ( two ounces) 3. Repair cream (one ounce).  I used all of the product in 30 days. So if you use it twice a day then your trial should only last two weeks. 

FaceBrush Vs. Washcloth vs. Hand:
There is no right answer to this. Which ever you pick does need to be sanitized and allowed to air dry before and after use. Also whichever you pick needs to be used gently. 

The Result:
In one sentence, Yes, but not daily!

The Reason:
*Proactiv absolutely clears blemishes, excelerates cell turn over and, removes blackheads. I only used proactiv steps 1-3 once per day and the black head remover twice per week. I used the additional moisturizer twice per day. My skin felt great during and after cleansing. 
*If any sun touched my skin it was VERY painful (even with 60 spf sunscreen on) There were times that my face felt like it had been severely burned. 
*On the third day i had to apply ice to my face to stop the burning sensation and this was at night without any sun exposure. This happened two other times during the 30 days. 
*The first two weeks the break outs were the worst of my life! I expected this because the cleaner was bringing all the deep clogs and dirt to the surface. Luckily I am a stay at home mom so I was able to go most of the first two weeks without make up or much sun exposure. 
*After the initial two weeks my skin did start to clear up but it remained very sensitive.

The Conclusion:
I did end up returning the system at the end of the trial. I feel like this is a great system to use once a **week** in conjunction with oil cleansing. 

Did you try Proactiv? What were your thoughts on the system? I'd love to hear it!

Julep Boho Glam September 2013

Hey Gals!

Last month I skipped Julep for the first time EVER because i just wasn't that impressed with the colors, and in my humble opinion i didn't find a garden theme good for the end of summer. I would have loved to have seen something like that for spring.....

Anyhow!

This month the overall collection is gorgeous! The theme of the collection is Cityscape it is all about bright lights and bold dreams. This collection has two amazing micro glitters and some really nice bold cremes. 
If you have the time to read it Kristy is inspired by an amazing woman who passed on in May. 

This month I got my usual:

They changed their polish packaging. Now there is a recyclable paper box as opposed to a shrink wrap plastic on top. I don't care about the packaging either way. Some are saying this will make it harder to know if your polish has been used or not. 

 I love these little cards with sayings. They go great in gift baskets or notes to friends and family. I also like to just keep them around. Seeing on on my desk makes me smile. 

This months "extra" was a polish remover pad. I'm somewhat underwhelmed by this considering in the past the extra has been artesian saltwater taffy, or rose bobby pins.  I think something like a tea light candle or a bold lip sample might have gone along better with the theme.

Tatiana:  This is an AMAZING orange micro-glitter. Micro-glitters are full coverage in two coats and when you put them on top of darker colors they have an amazing depth. 

One upside of the box packaging is that it gives information that would help a new customer.  Such as the polish is 4-Free and not animal tested :D

Kristy:  This is a night midnight creme color. These two pair together very well!

Here are a few shots with Kristy as a base and Tatiana as a top coat. There is only one coat of each!

Isn't it stunning?!


And last but not least we have a face cleansing oil. I just finished my 30 day Proactiv trial. I will be posting about that next. This product will be my next 30 day trial. I used it real quick to wash this morning and it smells and feels heavenly! However I was not wearing any make up so I can't attest to its cleansing abilities just yet! But look forward to a 30 day review next month!

Did you get Julep this month?
Link in the comments what you thought about the post or your box!!