December Manicures

I can't believe how quickly December went - but it's already time for another monthly manicure wrap-up!

Working two retail jobs over the Christmas season was extremely busy, so my nails stayed the same for longer than usual, and there were a few that I neglected to photograph. The week prior to Christmas, I also did silver nails and then added on little red and green Christmas lights on a string on each nail - it was super fun and easy! I just used a dotting tool for the red and green lights and a black striping polish for the cord that connected them. I'm sad I didn't get photos of it, but I could post photos of the trial run I did on my nail wheel if anyone would like to see! For Christmas day, I just red and green on alternating nails.

Now that shopping has calmed down a bit, I should have more time to make January's manicures more interesting! Especially since I've added some polishes to my collection over the past month that haven't gotten a chance to get used yet!

For larger photos of each manicure and the polishes used, keep reading!

Secret Santa Haul - More Photos & Swatches

In case you missed yesterday's post, these are the items I received from my Secret Santa! If you want to see closer photos of the products and some swatches, keep reading!

Secret Santa Haul!

I am so, so, so excited about this!! Although it's been a few weeks since I received it, I opened my secret Santa package yesterday! I have never tried any of these products before, and some of them are impossible/difficult to get in the US. I can't wait to start using them! I'll definitely post swatch posts soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my lovely secret Santa!!! I am seriously so excited to start using these!

November Empties

It's time again for one of my favorite features on this blog! The monthly empties! I am especially excited for this month's edition. Using up products always feels like an accomplishment to me, and for the past few months I've really been trying to use up the many hair and body care products I'd accumulated the past two years living in my apartment.

I finally used up all of the shower gels and Lush soaps and my bottles of shampoo and I'm still working on various small lotions...but as of the end of November I'm DONE with all the shampoo samples I'd accumulated! I had to buy shampoo for the first time in MONTHS and I must say it was pretty exciting!

I like shampoo samples, though - it's a great way to determine whether or not you'll like a product without having to get an entire bottle. I wish samples were easily accessible for every product - that'd probably eliminate a lot of my product clutter!

Out of all of the samples I had, the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean was definitely my least favorite. John Freida Full Repair was my favorite - and what I ended up purchasing when all the samples were gone! I always have liked the L'Oreal Sulfate Free line and would definitely consider going back to one of them eventually, especially if I color my hair again. The others were all just so-so. Nothing terrible about them, but nothing that convinced me to get a full-size bottle either.

In addition to the packet sample of Clear, I also had a little bottle of the shampoo. I did like it, but not quite as well as the John Freida or the L'Oreal sulfate free shampoos I've used in the past. It's a great size bottle though. I really wish more brands had samples like this - more than a packet to get a better idea of how it works at a fraction of the price & product of a whole bottle!

I also finally got a new hair brush. This one I'd had since I was ten years old...and most of the little protective tips on the bristles had come off and were poking my head every time I used it! It was time for it to go. It served me well for the past twelve years, though! 

For face products this month, I used up Pond's Bio-Hydratante Makeup Remover and another jar of Garnier's Moisture Rescue Gel Creme. I'm currently working on samples of other products in these categories. I liked the makeup remover, but didn't love the scent, so I'll probably either try a new one or go back to Sonia Kashuk next time. I plan to repurchase the Garnier once my samples are used up.

The makeup products I finished this month were Revlon Colorstay foundation and under eye concealer, Milani Minerals compact makeup, L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes mascara, and my Prestige Brow Perfection pencil. I will absolutely get the Colorstay foundation again in the future - it remains a favorite after my second bottle of it. Unless I see it on a major sale, I'll probably just use my other foundations for awhile, though.

I liked the concealer well enough to use up, but not sure if I'll repurchase it. It was a great texture for under the eyes, but in an ideal situation I'd have just one concealer for everything, and this just didn't cut it for concealing on the face.

I loved the texture of the powder but the color was wrong for me - a bit too dark and much too yellow. I'm hoping to try the Multitasker powder from them next - it seems to come in a lighter, pinker shade than this one did.

I really did love this mascara. I always like trying new ones, though, so I'm not sure I'd get it again. The brow pencil was good too - It seemed to last a really long time, and I love that it had a spoolie on the end! Again, I like trying new ones so I probably won't repurchase it.

The final sample I used up this month was Marc Jacobs' Lola perfume. I really like this perfume, but given the choice I think I'd get Oh Lola! for myself instead. 

If you have any questions on these products, let me know!

November Manicures

OPI You Only Live Twice (Skyfall)

Zoya - Pinta

Revlon Colorstay - Cayenne

Illamasqua - Noble

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year 2012 Nail Lacquer Set

Maybelline Color Show - Twilight Rays

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent, OPI - The Living Daylights (Skyfall)

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent, OPI - The Living Daylights (Skyfall), Butter LONDON Matte Finish Topcoat

Pixi - Paradise Pink, L'Oreal - The Bigger The Better (Diamond Collection)

No Repeat November - Thoughts

Since November is over, my few-weeks trial of "No Repeat November" is too. I'm really glad I did it! It got me using some products I'd been ignoring, and by having assigned products to use daily until they were gone, I successfully finished quite a few products.

I learned some things about my collection during this challenge. There are many products I have that I really, really do not need! For example, multiple black eyeliners, quite a few blushes that are almost identical, and more lipsticks than I even got close to getting through during these weeks.

There were products that I did not include as daily products initially, but after trying to rotate others in, I realized they were necessary, such as my MAC Painterly paint pot. At first, I tried rotating in some other cream products and eye primers, but most of them failed to prevent my shadow from creasing as well as Painterly does, so after awhile I added Painterly to my daily products so I wouldn't look like such a hot mess halfway through the day!

I also discovered a few products that I'll be eliminating from my collection:

Jordana Best Lash Extreme, Jordana Best Lash, Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume
NYX Cream Blush - Boho Chic, NYX Concealer in a Jar, ELF Studio Blush - Pink Passion

Although I never realized it before, I guess I'm pretty picky about mascaras. I just did not enjoy the days I used these. Personally, I don't like the look of very thick lashes, as I don't find it flattering at all. The Clinique and the Jordana Best Lash Extreme had that effect. I liked the Jordana Best Lash better, but not enough that I find myself reaching for it over any of my other mascaras.

The NYX concealer is one I've had a very long time, and it simply has gotten too dry to work well anymore. I used to love it, but the texture no longer works.

The NYX cream blush in Boho Chic and the ELF Studio blush in Pink Passion were the only blushes that remained unused. Although I love the color of Boho Chic, it has a sheen to it that I couldn't see in the pan at all, but once applied it made my skin look like it was extremely oily. Pink Passion used to be a very vibrant, almost neon, cool pink - but it seems to have gotten paler and more powdery over time and no longer shows up the same.

Final Thoughts:
I'm really glad I chose to participate in this challenge for a few weeks. Although I'm not going to continue it in the same way, I am going to use the idea of rotating products more in order to determine which I like and which I don't. I have quite a few perfume samples to work through still, as well as some samples of face primers and some lotion and skincare samples. I would definitely consider doing a similar challenge in the future, perhaps limited to lip products or eyeshadows, in order to choose which to keep and to keep myself from ignoring certain products. If you're in a rut or find yourself only using a few certain things, I'd recommend giving this project a try!

See also:
If you want to see my Face of the Day and the products I used each day during this challenge, visit the photo album on my Facebook page!

Face of the Day

Today marks the first day I decided to join in on the No Repeats November challenge! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit Lauren's video here or my previous blog post here!)

Today's products were: 

ELF Cream Eyeshadow in Bronzed
Wet n Wild Vanity palette
NYX Concealer in a Jar
Physicians Formula brown eyeliner from the Blue Eyes trio
Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush - Natural
Jordana Best Lash Volumizing Mascara
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick  in Fuchsia
Bulgari Omnia Coral perfume

My thoughts on today's products:
I really need to use the Vanity palette more! It's so pretty. As is the ELF cream eyeshadow! It applies so easily. I think the blush is a bit more shimmery than I usually like, but I don't hate it. I think it seems more summery maybe? I've never been very good at determining when to use certain blushes. The mascara is okay - it doesn't do anything great for me, but I also don't have anything against it. I just never find myself reaching for it.

 I also like this perfume! Probably not enough to buy one - I don't LOVE it - but certainly enough to keep using this sample eventually. I love the color of this lipstick and really need to use it more. The concealer, on the other hand, I think I'll get rid of. I used to love it! It's quite old though and seems to have dried out a bit. It no longer goes on easily, and ends up not looking good. The coverage isn't impressive and now that it's drier it doesn't leave a nice finish.

No Repeat November!

Although cutting back on makeup & beauty product spending is something I want to do, I've so far not been that successful at setting up limitations to do so. I liked the idea of "Project Use-it" that some people in a Facebook group I participate in are doing, where they rotate which products they're using on a weekly basis in order to stop ignoring many products in their collections. I tried this, but would always either get bored before the week was up and start using other products, or I wouldn't be very good at choosing often ignored products from my stash. 

Then I saw this video from one of my favorite beauty vloggers out there - Lauren at RedheadPhD - where she described the challenge she's doing called "No Repeats November." As soon as I saw the video, I knew that's what I needed to be doing! Basically, she's rotating through all of her makeup products once before going back and using things again. I thought this would be a great way to rediscover some products and make myself use some things I've been ignoring, like the many perfume samples I've collected over time! 

So although it's almost halfway through the month, today I'm starting "No Repeats November" - and I plan to keep going as long as I can! There are a few things I won't be rotating through, at least initially. I'm trying to use up my Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer, Revlon Colorstay foundation, Prestige Brow Perfection pencil, and Milani Minerals Compact Makeup. Until those specific products are used up, I won't be rotating in any other foundations, primers, powders, or brow pencils. 

I also only have one clear brow gel (The Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara) and one setting spray (Urban Decay's All-Nighter) so those are also products I won't rotate with anything else.

I've included photos of the products I'm using daily below. I plan to post either on here or on my Facebook page every day's set of products, but I'm not going to include these products. Once they're used up and I'm using something else, then I'll include it! I'm excited to do this challenge. Hopefully it'll help me find old favorites and finally get rid of some products I just don't enjoy. If you find yourself ignoring much of your collection, feel free to join in!! And of course, feel free to tweak the "rules" to suit you (for example, if you're good at rotating your eyeshadows but always wear the same five lip products, maybe just use a different lipstick every day, or something). 

Wet n Wild Sparkle 'Til Morning Palette

Part of the most recent limited edition products from Wet n Wild, the Sparkle Til Morning 8-pan eyeshadow palette is one that some people are trying hard to find in their area. I found mine this week at CVS. I already have the matte palette from its previous release, and the other palette just didn't interest me that much based on the swatches I'd seen on blogs. Although the shades in this palette are also not particularly unique, they're all very nice and certainly ones I'll use!

Swatches are done on my arm with sponge-tip applicators over the NYX white eyeshadow base. The top photos are with flash, the bottom without.

What do you think of this palette? Is it one you'll search for or pass on?

Look out soon for a post comparing these shadows to others from previous Wet n Wild palettes!

Sonia Kashuk Eye On Dazzling Color Palette

This palette is one of my favorite things I've gotten recently. The colors are gorgeous and really pigmented! They are kind of soft, though, which means if you don't tap off the brush, you'll get fallout on your face. It also makes the shadows get used quicker! I haven't had it that long, but you can see dents in many of the shadows. The color selection is amazing and the shadows are easy to work with. The only thing I think it's missing are blues! Usually I like palettes to have some matte shades, but it doesn't bother me in this one! 

As always, my swatches are done on my arm using sponge-tip applicators over a layer of NYX white eyeshadow base.

For larger photos of each row of shadows and swatches, keep reading!

October Empties

It's that time again! I feel like I have a ton of stuff I used up this month. Most of the hair things were partially used already. The mascaras and eyeliner got dry - they weren't completely gone, just not usable anymore.

If you'd like to see the pictures a bit closer and see some of my thoughts on them, check out the album I made for empties on my Facebook page! 

Candy Corn Manicure

I have always loved Halloween and doing themed manicures is one of my favorite parts! I think I do candy corn nails every year, but they're just so fun, and pretty easy!

Products I used: 

China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Whirlwind White

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow

Maybelline Express Finish - Orange Blazes

Seche Vite Top Coat

To get this look, I started with one coat of the white polish on every nail. This white is my favorite because with a fairly thin coat you can get reasonable coverage that's not terribly streaky - perfect for layering! Next, I used the yellow. I just did a few strokes up from the bottom of the nail, stopping between a third and halfway up the nail. Because I knew I'd be layering the orange over it, I didn't make the top edge especially neat. The orange layer overlapped the yellow a bit. I tried to make the bottom edge of the orange somewhat neat, but also not stressing too much about getting it perfect because, let's face it, actual candy corns are never perfect! The white layer started in the same way, but I tried to make it closer to the tip since usually the orange is the thickest layer on candy corn. Since there was already some white on the tip from the bottom layer, all the polishes only needed one coat, so this manicure was actually pretty fast to do!

Clinique - Black Tie Violets Set

On a recent trip into Macy's, I spotted this set from Clinique. I was immediately intrigued because it included a few products I've been curious about - the mascaras and Chubby Stick - and the eyeshadow colors looked lovely. As an added benefit, it was also bonus time, and as this set was $39.50, it qualified for the bonus! I'll save the gift with purchase for another post, though.

Since there are so many, the detailed photos of each product will be after the cut!

Face of the Day - October 22

This was the first time I used the Sonia Kashuk Eye On Dazzling Color palette. So far, I'm loving it! Can't wait to try some of the other shades!

For product photos and a list of the things I used, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - butter LONDON Wallis

L-R: Safari Gold over Stone Cold, Safari Gold, Wallis, Zombie Zest over Stone Cold

For more photos and detailed information and comparisons, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Medium Pinks

This is the final post of pink polish comparisons! (For now at least!) 

L-R: China Glaze - Strawberry Fields, Covergirl - Fuchsia Girl, SXY (Payless) - Pink  Prestige

The Covergirl is a long-time favorite of mine - I've had a bottle of it for YEARS, and this is actually the second bottle! I had another one that I probably used about half of before the cap split and the polish dried out completely! It's a very opaque and easy to apply color.

Although I haven't had Strawberry Fields as long, it's definitely one of my favorites as well. It's so beautiful, especially in the sun. Although its base color is similar to the other pinks, the gold shimmer in it really makes it quite different. It's one polish I'd recommend everyone have in their collection - at the very least for summer pedicures!

Nail Polish Comparison - Neon Pinks

This group is definitely the least color-accurate of all the pinks! Neons are notoriously hard to get photographed correctly, and these are no exception. 

L-R: China Glaze - Light My Tiki, L.A. Colors (no name), China Glaze - Shocking Pink (Neon), Essie - Lights

Light My Tiki is the least "neon" of the bunch. It has glitter and dries to a shiny finish. It's very bright though! The L.A. Colors shade and Shocking Pink are both true matte/slight satin neons. The L.A. Colors one in particular is really opaque and even for a neon polish. The Essie dries to more of a satin than a matte finish, and isn't quite as in-your-face vibrant as the others, although it is still very, very bright. It also applies really beautifully. 

Nail Polish Comparison - Pale Pinks

Today's installment of pink nail polish comparisons features the pale/pastel pinks of my collection!

L-R: Revlon Colorstay - Cafe Pink, OPI - Pink Friday, China Glaze - Something Sweet, Revlon - Flirt

Cafe Pink and Pink Friday are very similar. I haven't actually worn a full manicure of either yet, so I can't say how they wear yet! Flirt is definitely the thinnest formula, but it's not actually that sheer! It is also the most purple of the four, but it fit into this bunch the best.

Face of the Day

Since I'm opening the store where I work most days this week, it sometimes will lead to me not having a lot of time to get ready in the morning! When that happens, I usually end up doing a fairly simple and/or neutral eye look and focusing on the lips as the color of the look, since that doesn't take as much time and patience. This was the case today.

 For photos and a list of all the products and tools used, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Light/Medium Pinks

I was enjoying picking out similar-looking polishes and taking comparison photos, so I did quite a few over the same weekend. The ones I'll be posting first are all the pinks I compared, since the color seems to be everywhere for breast cancer awareness currently! 

China Glaze's 'Naked' polish is one that was included in a set with Seche Vite topcoat and a little keychain. I believe 5% of the set's sales went to Susan G. Komen for the cure, which is a nice bonus. I just liked the pink and can always use another bottle of Seche Vite! Especially for $7.99 for the set!

L-R: Pixi - Pirouette Pink, Revlon Top Speed - Candy, China Glaze - Naked, China Glaze - Sugar High

China Glaze Sugar High is one of my favorite pink polishes of all time. Candy is a nice color, but I don't particularly enjoy the Top Speed formula - they seem to be tacky and actually dry slower than the regular Revlon polishes!

The Pixi polish is much brighter than it appears here, and I'm not sure if you're able to see it but there is a little bit of glitter/shimmer to it as well! It's interesting - like a neon pastel pink!

Face of the Day

Sometimes, even if I don't feel like doing much of anything with my hair or my outfit, I still make the effort to do my makeup! Today was one of those times.

For photos and names of all products and tools used, keep reading!

Face of the Day

 For photos and lists of the products used, keep reading!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Collection

Because the Complete Salon Manicure line of polishes from Sally Hansen has been spotted on clearance at Walgreens, I figured now would be a good time to post my collection! I only have five from them since they're my least favorite line of Sally Hansen's, yet they're the most expensive. I prefer more opaque formulas. They're not difficult to work with if you don't mind sheerer polishes or putting on several layers, and as long as you don't have tiny nail beds, because the brush is quite wide.

The swatches are all done with about five coats.

For the names of the polishes and bottle photos, keep reading!

Nail Polish Comparison - Yellow-Greens

L-R (in all photos) : China Glaze Electric Pineapple, OPI Did It On 'Em, Sinful Colors Innocent

Once again, none of these are dupes for each other, but they're all very similar. Innocent is more green whereas the others have more yellow to them, and the OPI is a bit more vibrant, although certainly a very similar shade, to the China Glaze.

The Sinful Colors is a bit more opaque in one coat than the other two, but none of them take many coats to get even and opaque coverage. They're all a pretty nice formula to work with as well. I love fun, bright colors like these and would definitely recommend having one of them in your collection! They're great as accent nails or in nail art if you're not sure about wearing an entire manicure with a color like these, too.

Face of the Day - Studio Crawl Day 2

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Revlon Photoready concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Wet n Wild blush - Heather Silk
Physicians Formula Happy Booster - Translucent
Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray
MAC lipstick - Moxie
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Sleek i-Divine Original palette
Physicians Formula eyeliner trio for blue eyes - black eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Face of the Day - Studio Crawl 2012

Today is the first of the two days of the Studio Crawl in Fargo-Moorhead. My mom's studio is in our house, so our family helps out. I figured I'd better look presentable! Of course, my job ended up being to stay upstairs with the dogs, so mostly just the internet gets to see my FOTD today!

It's kind of playing off the dress I'm wearing, which has an interesting pattern made up of several colors, including coral, teal, grey, and mustardy yellow. I chose my favorites from that to put on my face!

Products used:
Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Revlon Photoready concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Wet n Wild blush - Pearlescent Pink
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Covergirl Lip Perfection - Fairytale
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Wet n Wild Brulee Eyeshadow
Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette (Left: Browbone, Eyelid, Crease. Right: Crease.)
Wet n Wild Blue Had Me At Hello palette (Right: Eyelid)
Milani Shadow Eyez pencil - Aquatic Style
ELF Jumbo Eye Pencil - French Fries
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Nail Polish Comparison - OPI vs China Glaze

Recently I realized that I could be using the many similar shades and near-dupes in my somewhat extensive nail polish collection to help other people avoid buying such similar colors, or deciding which one they want more! I plan to do several posts like this with different colors. 

First up, China Glaze Innocence vs. OPI Bubble Bath. I've heard OPI Bubble Bath mentioned quite a bit, but rarely have I seen Innocence brought up! I don't think they're 100% dupes, but they are very, very similar. 

L-R: Innocence on its own, Bubble Bath on its own, Innocence over white, Bubble Bath over white.

On their own, I had to use about six coats to get the opacity shown. I did use very thin coats to avoid streakiness or pooling, so it's possible that it could be done with fewer. Or, of course, if you don't mind the visible nail line, you could definitely get away with fewer coats! 

I also decided to test them over white. For this, I used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On as the base, and then I still used two or three coats to get a nice uniform coverage. I'm not very used to using sheer polishes, so there may be a better technique to apply them in fewer coats, but I think the color showed up well this way. 

The difference between the two polishes is most clear over white, but even then the difference is barely noticeable. I'm not sure if they're dupes if they're not 100% identical, but they are certainly close. The formulas performed equally in application, neither required more effort or more coats than the other.

September Manicures

These are becoming my favorite posts to put together! It's fun to see all the colors I used throughout the month. I was definitely in fall mode this month! Although For Audrey is always a favorite & I suspect it'll make an appearance most months.

1. Butter London Aston
2. Essie Your Hut Or Mine
3. Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!, OPI Swimsuit...Nailed it!
4. Sonia Kashuk Two Cent
5. Butter London Wallis
6. China Glaze For Audrey
7. Zoya Shawn, China Glaze Zombie Zest
8. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White, Wet n Wild Through the Grapevine, Revlon Impulsive
9. Butter London The Old Bill
10. L'Oreal Spice Things Up
11. Zoya Caitlin
12. Wet n Wild Wet Cement, OPI The World Is Not Enough
13. China Glaze For Audrey, Milani HD, Milani Gems, Essie Set in Stones, China Glaze Fairy Dust (I did a more specific post on just this manicure here.)

Face of the Day - With Falsies

I have quite a few pairs of fake lashes, but I rarely wear them because I don't normally bother to wear contacts, and when I wear my glasses, the falsies bump into the lenses! Besides, it would be very difficult to even tell I was wearing them. Today, however, I felt like putting some on! So I put on contacts. They may be a pain to put in and not that comfortable to wear, but they sure do make applying makeup easier! I'm not bumping all the ends of my brushes into the mirror!

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Neutrogena Shine Control Foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Maybelline Superstay Concealer
Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sheerest Cream Blush - Bloom
Jordana Powder Blush - Tawny Beige
Pixi Flawless Beauty Powder
Covergirl Lip Perfection - Flame
Tweezerman Brow Powder Duo
Maybelline Great Lash clear
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Jordana Powder Eyeshadow - Bronzeville
Jordana Powder Eyeshadow - A Classic
ELF Beautybook Smoky Eye Edition - Matte nude
Physicians Formula Gel Liner Trio for Hazel Eyes  - brown
Covergirl Lash Perfection mascara
Ardell Invisiband Natural lashes - Babies