Thursday, March 27, 2014

Review: MAC Lipstick in Please Me

Hey guys! Today I'm going to be reviewing my very first MAC lipstick in the shade Please Me. I won this over at Kate Spitz's blog when she was doing a giveaway. If you haven't checked out Kate's blog, I highly recommend you do so! She's gorgeous, posts frequently and is just amazing! Anyways, this is the first MAC lipstick I've ever had so it was pretty exciting when I received this in the mail!

 Now I had to look up info on this product because I'm not typically a MAC girl. Online, this shade is described as a muted rosy tinted pink. I don't particularly see the rosy side to this. On me, it looks sort of like a Barbie pink, but not quite as bright. 


When I swatched it, I see a bit of a mauve color coming through, but maybe that's the muted rose they're talking about? I don't know, I'm bad at describing colors. 

 Here, I definitely see the toned down Barbie pink I was talking about. It's actually a color I really like for my fair skin. This lipstick is one of their matte colors, and I do feel like it's a bit drying by itself. Most times I've worn this, I've had to put on lip balm first, or wear lipgloss on top. 


This picture was taken with lip balm on top of the lipstick. I personally like how it looks better here than by itself above. I'm still on the fence about whether or not MAC products are worth the hype because you can usually find dupes in the drugstores. MAC lipsticks retail for $16 on the MAC website, although I could've sworn I saw they were $14.50 somewhere. One thing I'm really fond of is the smell. It's got a light vanilla scent but no taste whatsoever. I could probably sit here and smell this thing all day, as weird as that sounds!

Overall, this is a nice lipstick, but I do have to wear lip balm to keep it from feeling too dry on my lips. Would I go out and purchase one myself? Meh, maybe, maybe not. I haven't fallen into that MAC trap where all I use is MAC products. I spread my love around :)

Thanks again to Kate for having a MAC lipstick as the prize for winning her giveaway! It was fun trying out something new that I normally might not buy for myself :)

What do you think about MAC lipsticks? Or their products in general?

Also, check out my blog sale!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Beauty Haul! Feat. Makeup Geek, Sephora, Walgreen's and More!

Hey everyone! I hate to admit, but I've done a bit of beauty shopping. I should really be saving my money for more important things (like rent and bills) but I see so many lovely products, I just can't help myself. I think after this haul I post, I'm putting myself on a bit of a spending ban. I'm going to try and do it until August 1st. That'll be 4 whole months of no beauty shopping! I picked August 1st because my husband's birthday is August 6th, and I'm hoping to get him something nice. Lets hope I can go that long without buying anything, unless it's absolutely necessary! Anyways, lets get on with the haul!

I finally decided it was time for me to buy a Z Palette along with some Makeup Geek eyeshadows! I love this hot pink Z Palette so much, although I'm not sure if I want to de-pot eyeshadow singles I already have. I don't feel brave enough I guess! 

I decided to play it safe and buy six neutral colors. The colors I ended up getting from left to right are Shimma Shimma, Beaches & Cream, Creme Brulee, Moondust, Hipster and Taupe Notch. I've already given a few of these colors a try and I must say, I'm definitely impressed. They're great quality for only $5.99. If you want the pan in the little containers they normally come in, they're $7.99. 


Oh, Sephora. How I love thee! I was so excited when this Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette came out, yet I held out on buying it for a while. I needed another eyeshadow palette like I need a hole in my head. 

This palette is wonderful! It's got the perfect amount of shimmer and matte colors, and there are great neutrals with just a bit of color. I left the plastic sheet that came with it in the palette so I can remember the names of the shades. This also has that chocolate scent that their Chocolate Soliel Bronzer has, which is amazeballs! This has quickly become a favorite of mine and I reach for it often.


Then I went to Walgreen's. I had some coupons and points to use, and I found a couple other goodies in the makeup section! I was browsing through their clearance bins when I found one of the Maybelline Eyestudio quads in the limited edition shade, Fall Temptation. This was only on clearance for $5.50 so I snagged it up! There was another quad that had purples in it, but it was opened and messed with. 

Then I decided to pick up the new Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in the shade Fiery Coral. I tried this on already and holy Nicki Minaj, is it pink! Seriously, the first thing that came to mind was Nicki Minaj because she loves her Barbie pink lips. I'm still on the fence of whether or not I like this, but it was on sale, so I wanted to try it.


Next up is the Dollar Tree. I tend to like looking in dollar stores for some reason and I came across these Physician's Formula Baked Collection Wet/Dry Eye Shadow trios. Honestly, I never remember seeing these in store, but only because Physician's Formula tends to be a little more expensive than other brands, so they're not normally a brand I seek out. As you can tell above, I already opened one to try, and I like it, but don't love it. These are good if you're just starting out with makeup because they seem really neutral, but they're not incredibly pigmented so you won't mess anything up. 


I also bought a quick dry top coat that apparently is by Seche Vite, and three Sinful Colors nail polishes in the colors Beautiful Girl, Cream Pink and Ciao Bella. Not bad for a dollar a piece! 

 Last but not least, we have a purchase from Big Lots! They have so many darn nail polishes on sale, it's ridiculous. I found three of the Revlon Colorstay polishes in the colors Spanish Moss, Indigo Night, which I did a NOTD post here and Rain Forest. All of those polishes were only $1.50 

They also had a bunch of the Sephora by OPI polishes strewn all about on the shelves but only one caught my eye, and its in the shade Shiny Dancer, which cost me a whopping $1.80. 

That's everything I purchased within the past month or two! I know I went a little nail polish crazy, but I've been in the mood to do my nails more, so now I have a few more options to choose from. If anyone wants to see reviews of any products I've shown today, please let me know! 

Have you hauled anything lately?

Also, please be sure to check out my blog sale!

Monday, March 24, 2014

NOTD: Revlon Colorstay Indigo Night

Hey guys! I did my nails yesterday (so excuse the horrible job I did. I'm still rubbish at painting my nails!) and I'm so happy with the color and everything, so I wanted to share!

I picked up the Revlon Colorstay nail polish in the shade Indigo Night at Big Lots yesterday for only $1.50. I have no idea if this is a discontinued shade, but I'm surprised I actually bought this. Blue isn't typically a color I go for, but something about this stood out to me. I figured for just over a buck, if I don't like it, it's no big deal. The first thing I love about this is the color. I just love how this works with my fair skin. Once I put it on my nails, I was amazed at how pigmented this shade is! I probably could've gotten away with only doing one coat, but I did two just to be safe. The brush is interesting too. No matter how much polish I tried to get off of the brush, it still picked up alot and I was able to coat all nails on one hand without having to dip it back in. That can either be a good thing or bad thing. Since I'm not the best at doing my nails, the polish did get a bit messy for me, but I was able to work with it. 

Overall, I really am so happy with this nail polish! I did get a couple more Revlon polishes during my little shopping trip, so I have high hopes for them as well!

Have you tried this nail polish before? If so, what do you think of it?

Sunday, March 23, 2014

March 2014 Ipsy Bag

Hey everyone! I decided to take a mental health day from work today because I'm not feeling too well so I wanted to finally get this month's Ipsy bag post up! I'll start out by saying that I'm not too impressed. Anyways, onto the bag!

The theme this month is called Destination Beauty and the print on the bag is from an artist named Klari Reis. Ipsy is apparently doing an Artist Series asking artists to design prints for upcoming Ipsy bags. I think it's a neat idea but I don't like this print to be honest. It's too busy for me. Now lets see what products I received!

The first product is the Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter. I remember getting one of these body butters in the blood orange scent which I did really like. I'm pretty obsessed with coconut and this stuff smells really amazing, so I'll definitely be using it!

Then I received a bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in the color Get Ready. I don't think I've ever tried these lipsticks before but this shade is really pretty, kinda like a my lips but better shade. I'm more of a gloss girl but I'll try this and see if I like it. 

Next up is probably my favorite product in the bag, and it's the Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow quad in Bora Bora. When I saw we were either getting this or a NYX trio, I was secretly hoping for this and I'm so happy I did! The colors are beautiful and they're actually not bad quality pigmentation-wise. I haven't used these on my eyes yet, but I did swatch them and am very pleased with the colors.

Last product I really just wanna throw away. I got ANOTHER damn nail polish, and it's the Nicole by OPI Roughles nail polish in the shade On What Grounds?. I can't say how many times I've retaken the quiz and reviewed any nail polish I've gotten negatively. Even though I just bought some nail polish today, I really gotta be in the mood to do my nails, and today I actually am, but I really don't want anymore polishes in my bags for a long, long time! If I get another nail polish next month, I'm gonna scream. I probably won't even use this because I'm not a huge fan of the textured polishes anyways. 

Swatch of lipstick and Bora Bora quad
Well that's everything! In the scheme of things, this isn't a terrible bag. For only $10, it's actually a pretty good deal. You get good sized samples and most of the time, the bags are pretty nice. If you'd like to sign up for Ipsy, click here! It's only $10 a month, plus shipping for some!

If you're already subscribed to Ipsy, what did you receive?

Also, check out my blog sale!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

February 2014 Empties!

Hello everyone! I know it's over half way through March and I have yet to post the products I used up in February. So sorry it took incredibly long! Life's been getting in the way again and I'm trying to figure a good balance between that and blogging. Anyways, February was a good month for empties, and I went through alot of stuff and got rid of really old products as well. 

The first product I used up is my Renu contact solution. This is the only contact solution I can use because everything else I have used has made my contacts feel like I'm sticking acid on my eyeballs! I don't know what it is, but I must be super sensitive to contact solution. This stuff isn't cheap, so I try to buy the double pack at Walmart when I have a coupon for it. 

Next up is the Bath & Body Works Signature Vanilla Shower Gel in the Coconut Vanilla scent. I purchased two of these when they were having a sale, and while I did like the scent, it didn't clean very well. I've been noticing that with a few of the B&BW shower gels I used before. I'll use up the shower gels I have, but I most likely won't repurchase. 

Another B&BW product I used up is the Vanilla Berry Sorbet Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap. This stuff smells amazeballs! My husband and I had a friend stay with us for a weekend, and even he said how awesome this stuff smelled. I really love these handsoaps that have the little scrubby particles in them. I feel like they clean better, and with my husband working in construction, these are great for him too! Definitely a repurchase many times over.


I also used up an E.L.F. Therapeutic Conditioning Balm in the scent Vanilla Cream. This stuff sucked! It left a major white cast on my lips so I only used it before bed. It also only lasted maybe three weeks, and it wasn't at all moisturizing. I think this was only a buck, but don't waste your money. I think I have two more of these to use up, but I will never repurchase!

My next empty is one of the best mascaras I've tried, and it's Maybelline's The Rocket Volum' Express in the Blackest Black shade. Love love love this mascara! The only thing is I feel like it dried up way too fast. While I think mascaras tend to get better as they dry out, this one just seems to get too dry too fast and it ended up getting all clumpy on my lashes, so I decided to toss it. I'll most likely repurchase once I go through the tons of mascaras I have to use up!

I also used up these Make-up Remover Facial Wipes that I got from the Dollar Tree. I got what I paid for, which was a horrible wipe that barely removed any makeup. These were so hard to use up so I mainly used them to remove product swatches, which also did a horrendous job! I'll never get these again, even though they were only $1.

I finally used up the Own Lifting Eye Cream, which I did a review on here. iFabbo sent this to me, but it was a pretty decent eye cream. I used it only at night because it was a tad bit heavy for me for daytime use. Now, I'm only 25 years old and I've been using eye creams since I was a teenager (thanks mom!) so I think I have semi-decent undereyes. I do have dark circles (thanks dad!) so I'm trying to find a product that helps mainly with that. I did like this eye cream though because it kept my undereyes hydrated and didn't irritate at all. Not sure if I'll repurchase since I am on a hunt for a good eye cream for dark circles. I'll keep looking!

I decided to throw away the Rimmel Moisture Renew lip gloss in the shade Pink Remedy. This was gifted to me I don't know how long ago and it started to smell funky, so in the trash it goes! 

I'm also throwing out a mini Anastasia Hydrafull Gloss in the color Sugar Pink because it burned the crap outta my lips! I got this in either one of those Sephora holiday lip kits or a monthly subscription box. Not sure how else to describe the burning, but it just felt like I was putting something really hot on my lips. I had to take it off right away, it was that bad.

I'm saving this container just in case I want to put something else in it, but the First Aid Beauty Dual Repair Face Cream got all goopy and smelled really weird, so I dumped it out and cleaned the container. Not sure what I'll use this for yet, but it may come in handy eventually!

I decided to go through my brushes one day and came across these Kat Von D brushes that I had gotten in a kit years and years ago. I don't know what happened to these brushes, but some of the bristles look like they were cut off or chewed up. I honestly don't know what it is, but I never used these, and they look all deformed so it's time to say goodbye. 

Last two products! I used up a Nature Made Multi for Her vitamin bottle. I know this probably isn't an exciting empty, but it can be tough for me to get through taking vitamins. I still don't know if they actually do anything, but I guess deep in my brain, it thinks they do something because I keep buying multis when I run out.

Now I actually didn't use up this whole bottle of Sephora 3 in 1 Perfecting Base Coat, it actually fell over when I didn't realize, and most of it leaked out onto my coffee table. I was kinda pissed because I did like this product and now I don't have another base coat as a backup, but I've decided just to use a top coat as a base coat for now until I decide to buy another one.

Well that's everything I used up/ threw away for being too old! Hopefully you all can forgive me for getting this up super late. I did get my Ipsy bag in the mail a couple days ago, so expect that post soon!

Also, don't forget I have a blog sale going! Take a look because there are alot of nice products!

Monday, March 3, 2014

February 2014 Favorites!

So it seems like my theme last month was dry skin. I mean dry skin everywhere! My whole body basically from head to toe is dry. All of my favorite products from last month are meant to help with dry skin, so lets see what have been my favorites!

First up, we have the Shea Body Butter from The Body Shop. This is one of their really big tubs of body butter that they carry in my store. There are only a few scents in this larger size, but the Shea in particular keeps my skin so hydrated in this nasty, cold weather. We've had snowstorm after snowstorm here, and it's been freezing cold at night, therefore my skin has been a dry, crackly mess! I slather this stuff on after I take a shower. It goes on my arms, legs, stomach, and I even have my husband get my back for me. I've never had dry skin like this before, but I don't need alot of this, so I'm hoping the massive tub lasts me a while!


Next, we have another amazing product from The Body Shop, and that's their Hemp Hand Protector. Best. Hand cream. Ever! I kid you not, this stuff is fantastic! It is a bit heavy and it can just sit on your skin for a little while, but I pretty much only use this before bed, and when I wake up my hands feel so incredibly soft and hydrated. This hand cream is great if you have a job that requires alot of hand washing, or you just work alot with your hands. I work retail, so this stuff is magic in a tube for me when I come home after washing my hands all day with harsh soap. I can't get enough of this stuff!

My last favorite is the Rosebud Strawberry Lip Balm and moisturizer. My poor lips have been so dry and they peel all the time from being so dry. I was looking in my stash for a lip balm to use at night before bed, and this one jumped out at me. I had purchased this from Sephora ages ago and forgot about it. I'm so glad I'm using this now! It makes my lips feel much softer, it takes away the peeling and it makes them feel a bit more plump than normal too. 

That's everything! I know it wasn't much, but with it being freezing, I haven't been really playing with makeup or doing anything fancy with my routine. Even the water in the shower gets freezing cold within 10 minutes! Hopefully March is a bit warmer and nicer to us here in Pennsylvania!

What were some of your favorites in February?

PS. Don't forget my blog sale I have going on! There are lots of good products!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Blog Sale Time!

Hey everyone! I know it's been ages again since I've posted anything. The weather here still stinks and life has been getting in the way again. I just wanted to write up a quick post today letting you all know I'm doing a blog sale! I have it posted here and there's also a tab above that you can click on as well to see everything.

Also, I'm not sure if anyone would be interested, but I'm trying to reorganize everything in my house and get rid of some of my Coach bags. I was thinking of trying to list them on Ebay, but wanted to ask here if anyone would like me to post them on a blog sale first? Let me know in the comments if that's something you'd like to see!

Thank you all for supporting this little blog of mine! :)