January Ipsy Review

Hello again!

 Just when I thought I wanted to switch from Ipsy to Birchbox, I changed my mind for the time being. Ipsy is great but I miss the idea of more higher end products that Birchbox offers, along with the amount of higher end skin care you can try. I also miss spending my Birchbox points on things on the site. I got some pretty good stuff for free from the site I bought with my points a while back. Maybe I'll switch next month.

This month's Ipsy was really good. I have been using almost everything on a daily basis from this months bag. Today I filmed some b-roll of my new Ipsy items for an upcoming tutorial I am going to film {it will be my first makeup tutorial!}. So soon you will get a chance to see everything in action. For now, let's talk about everything.

Mica Beauty

Tinted Lip Balm #6 Fiesta

I have received a loose eye shadow from Mica Beauty before in a previous Ipsy bag and it is still one of my favorite shadows to use. This tinted lip balm is also really great. I absolutely love the color! It's a cool toned mauve pink and I most likely would have never bought for my own self. That is the beauty of subscription boxes. It's a great way to branch out and surprise yourself. I am fair skinned and this comes off as a much deeper color and it works great for these colder months. I have been loving deeper toned lip colors lately. Aside from the color, the formula is very thin but extremely pigmented - not really lip balmy. A little goes a long way. Because of it's thin consistency, I tend to go over board and apply too much which it can accentuate the lines and cracks in my lips. The down side is the packaging.  I can't bring it with me and apply it just anywhere. I apply it with my fingers and because of that, it can get a little messy. It will last on my lips for a couple hours but will eventually fade away. 

Elizabeth Mott

Smooth Shadow Creamy Eye Pencil

Penny

This is another brand that I only of from Ipsy. This is a really pretty shimmery copper eye liner and I have been applying it underneath my bottom lash line and in my inner corner as well as on my upper lash line right above darker eye liner to brighten and accentuate my eyes. It seems to brighten or bring attention really well used this way. I can see myself also using this right on the balls of my lids to brighten that way too, like you would an eye shadow. It doesn't do very well at all in the water line. No pigment will really transfer. It isn't the best, most pigmented, most long wearing eye liner I have ever tried. Also not the worst. Then again, I am not even sure if it is supposed to be used as an eye liner. The name and format do not match each other.

Healthy Sexy Hair

Leave in Conditioner

I am not big on leave in conditioner- with one exception from Paul Mitchell . I am, however, partial to anything that can restore health to my otherwise over processed blonde hair.  Since I use so many products, it's important to me that my hair doesn't feel like I do or filmy. This doesn't leave any kind of film and I was really surprised at how much I loved this. It acts as a moisturizer {or conditioner} and really made my hair soft. Now I don't feel so bad about using up PM Forever Blonde Dramatic Repair - this can replace it. I read that this also has a mild protein in it and protein is really good for over processed hair. It has a very spa type of scent to it. It almost reminds me of the Aveda products. This stuff is really great. 

Absolute

Make-Up Cleansing Tissues

My absolute favorite eye makeup remover is from Avon. But to be honest, I never use a face makeup remover. I usually just wash my face or will use a toner to take off my makeup. These were really nice for taking off my whole face at the end of the day. They are really soft too. I really like using them. I think I need to buy some makeup wipes for the days when I am too lazy to wash my face.

3 in 1 

Revolution

I was excited to see this in my bag because I have been missing trying skin care from Birchbox. This is a toner, serum, and moisturizer. I am not really sure how that is supposed to work. I can understand the serum and moisturizer part. As for the toner.....? I wouldn't say this product is anything like a toner. It does have the consistency of a serum and moisturizer mixed. It feels a little oily on my skin and that isn't necessarily a bad thing but is much better to be used at night to repair your skin because of that. Adding foundation on top this may not work so well. As far as a serum goes, you pretty much have to keep on using it to see any changes but I have no clue what this is supposed to be a serum of or for. It didn't come with any explanation. I will keep using it and review it once it's gone but for now, it's not doing anything bad or good. Except for leaving an oily residue. But it doesn't break me out. It's nothing special. Maybe if you have extremely dry skin it might be good for you but I am not standing by that statement. It's just a thought.

here's the swatches of the tinted lip balm and the eye pencil.

thank you for reading!

xoxo

Erica

Stila Dancing With the Stars Kit Review

While shopping for Christmas presents, I knew I really wanted to buy the Lorac Pro Palette. Well, Ulta was out of it and wasn't getting it back for weeks. Thinking I wasn't even going to buy anything, I stumbled upon this kit. I love kits. This kit couldn't have been more perfect for me. It was only $15! Chump change, compared to this kit.

Dancing With the Stars Eye and Cheek Palette

The big show. This little palette comes with 7 shadows {3 mattes and 4 shimmers} and one blush. The blush {Perfect 10} is a matte peachy brown blush with chunks of glitter in it. I think it makes a great all in one blush and contour powder because of that. Once applied, the glitter either isn't noticeable.

As I mentioned in the video, I have been really wanting to try some of Makeup Geek's matte eye shadows. The matte shadows in this palette look extremely similar to a few of them. The 3 mattes are Sway {a deep brown with purple/red undertones} Action {a light creamy color} and Ovation {a warm toned brown}. If Ovation had some glitter in it, it would be the exact same color as Perfect 10 {the blush}

As for the shimmery colors, there is Take a Bow which is very similar to Kitten only a few shades darker. It's a pretty champagne color. Rise and Fall is very similar to Sway. They look different in the pan but honestly there isn't much of a difference. Sway {matte} is more pigmented than Rise and Fall {shimmer} when swatched. Other than that and with the exception of a little bit of purple glitter in Rise and Fall, they look almost identical when swatched. Glam, a gorgeous antique coppery brown shimmer and is the most pigmented of the bunch. Pirouette is a pretty shimmery red brown with glitter.

here's some swatches. I contemplated re-doing these swatches because this photo doesn't do any of the shadows justice but just remember that these are swatched once over with my finger- no primer underneath. Glam is the most pigmented and the rest are pretty much tied. Action has as much pigment as the rest but looks invisible only because it is very close to the color of my skin. They don't have as much pigment when swatched as, let's say, Kitten. But when your applying them to your eye, they work out great.

 Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick
Fiery
This really sealed the deal for me. When I got my Be A Bombshell Hot Damn Lip Crayon {a bright red}  in my Ipsy Bag, that was all I wore for weeks. This red is much more deep and vampy. It leans a little to the cool side. I would have never been able to tell if it didn't make my teeth look white. If a red lipstick makes your teeth appear whiter, you know there has to be a blue tone to it even if you can't really tell. A little goes a long way and I have trouble keeping it inside the lines, as you can see. If I use just a little bit right in the center, then blend it out with my fingers using no lip liner it seems to work even better. But without a lip liner, it tends to get a little blotchy. So yeah its a lose lose situation. I personally do not mind re-applying or wiping it off in the middle of the day because I really love the color. Looking at these photos, im not sure it looks as great as I thought it did, heh.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner
 Lion Fish

For years, up until last summer all I ever wore in my water line was black eye liner. Since I went blonde, I have started going towards brown eye liners. This eye liner is a medium brown with red shimmer making it appear a brick red brown color in some lights. When you apply it, it makes no difference and just looks brown. If anything, the shimmer maybe adds some depth. I already knew I loved Stila's Smudge Stick eye liner's. I like to line the outer bottom corner with it (using a nude liner in the waterline) and using this also in the upper inner rim. It has great pigment and stays put. I don't have to worry about it running down my face. The water-proof claim is true to that extent. I have yet to jump in the pool with it so I don't know if its that water-proof.

Stay All Day 10 -in -1
HD Illuminating Beauty Balm

As for this little thing, I can't really say i've tried it. Im really not into BB creams and would prefer a matte finish as opposed to an illuminating finish. I think im going to give it to some one that would actually use it. Sorry bout that. ( :

It has been I think years since I've done a FOTD. I thought this would a perfect opportunity because I wear these things on my face daily since I bought them {with the exception of the BB cream}. So here I blended Action all over the lid up to the brow bone. Ovation in the crease. Take a Bow on my lid. Sway in the outer corner and Sway blended with Glam in the outer 3rd of the lid as well as on the outer third of the bottom lash line. I used Lion Fish {eye liner} on the outer half of the bottom lash line underneath the eyeshadow and as well as in my upper inner rim. Stila Liquid Lipstick in Fiery on the lips over top Mary Kay's Lip Liner in Raspberry.

These has been truly my favorite makeup items for the past couple of weeks. It was only $15 at Ulta for everything {that is a steal} and if they have some left, you gotta try it out! If you love neutral shadows and matte shadows, this is perfect. The liquid lipstick, eye liner, and BB cream are all extra's. The palette alone is worth the $15. The smartest $15 I have spent in months when it comes to beauty items. Make sure to check out the video because not only am I talking about this kit, I also talk about a few things I bought at the CVS beauty clearance too!

until next time,
xoxo
Erica

My Favorite Glitter Nail Polishes

Lately I have been obsessed with glitter nail polishes. I bought a few from the Christmas 2013 OPI Collection which are both top coats. Also, CVS is having a sale on a ton of beauty stuff, and I bought a few Selena Gomez Nicole by OPI top coats there. $8 and I they were on sale for $2! I would go check CVS out if your interested. But there are some really great non-top coat glitter polishes too. And I talk about those too. These are my top 10.

 So the how I did this was took old NOTW's and put them in to go with this video. Every single NOTW, you can click on the link and it will take you to the actual blog post with a much better review.

 I didn't mention this on the video but I thought the matte top coat paired with a loose glitter looked really cool.

Essie's A Cut Above

over top Essie's Nothing Else Metals. I love glitters over duo chromes!

A Jelly Sandwich Mani is layered like so: a jelly nail polish, a glitter in the middle, and then over lapped with a jelly nail polish. Sheer nail polishes also give a great effect and that's what I did here. China Glaze Prizm is the glitter and I used Sally Hansen Hard Core Party for the sheer polish which is a sheer baby pink {weird name, right?} 

Another one of my favorite ways to use glitter nail polishes is the pair them with a matte top coat. I've done a few of these NOTW's on my blog. I looks like confetti. My favorite matte top coat is from Hard Candy. It's called Matte-ly in Love and is used in both of these Confetti mani's.

This Confetti NOTW is with Sally Hansen's glitter in Rock Star Pink .

My favorites are the big chunky glitters that come in all shapes and sizes. This is Hard Candy's Party Central

Sally Hansen Strobe Light. Great glitter top coat. Here it is over top of Sally Hansen's No Hard Feelings

When Monkey's Fly from OPI is so strange but so pretty. I bought this last Christmas (2012) but I seen a couple bottles at Ulta a few days ago. I love this pair too. It is over top China Glaze Refresh-mint along with Julep Portia which is a top coat kind of like Strobe Light.

Which one is your favorite?

What about your favorite glitter nail polish of all time?

until next time,

xoxo

Erica