Luke’s Debut on My Channel
Give it a watch. Tell him he’s pretty.
Beauty
March 2018 ipsy Glam Bag Review
This video was fun to make. I expected it to be shorter than my last Glam Bag review because I wasn’t doing a whole look but apparently all of my videos are going to be around 12 minutes now.
As I said in the video, I love the bag itself. The idea of coloring it yourself and making it your own is fabulous to me.
I’m super impressed with everything that I received too. The Hikari eye shadow is amazingly creamy and super pigmented. The Tarte Sex Kitten eyeliner is great for tightlining and doing a wing, as long as it doesn’t break on you. You can always sharpen it again though. The Benefit BADGal Bang is obviously a favorite of mine. I love the small deluxe size too because it’s great for travel. I’ve always been curious about the brand Glossier and with this balm, I have a pretty good first impression. The Contour Cosmetics lip pencil is a great color. Somehow, I have a million and one liquid lipsticks in similar dusty mauve colors, but no pencils. This will make them stay longer and look better.
Hikari Cream Pigment Eyeshadow in Shine
Received: 2g | On sale: 2g for $13 at hikaricosmetics.com | Approx. value: $13
Benefit Cosmetics BADGal Bang Mascara in Pitch Black
Received: 3g | On sale: .3oz for $24 or .14oz for $12 at ulta.com | Approx. value: $8.47
Tarte Cosmetics Sex Kitten Eyeliner
Received: 1g | On sale: 2g for $20 at ulta.com | Approx. value: $10
Glossier Balm dot Com in Coconut
Received: 7ml | On sale: 15ml for $12 at glossier.com | Approx. value: $5.60
Contour Cosmetics Lip Kit Pencil in Stud
Received: lip kit pencil | On sale: lip pencil and liquid lip for £22 at contouring.com | Approx. value: £11 or $15.58
Approx. overall Glam Bag value: $52.65 | Current Glam Bag price: $10 | Approx. savings: $42.65, 81%
I can’t wait for next month’s bag! And I promise, Luke will be in a video soon.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Here’s my second video. It’s another make-up video even though I don’t want my entire channel to be make-up. This time I’m swatching the Morphe 35O palette and using it to make a St. Patrick’s Day look along with the bhCosmetics 120 Color Eyeshadow Palette 1st Edition.
This video was super fun to make because the swatches came out really well and creating the look was a ton of fun. The lip was something I was debating back and forth on doing. I kept thinking of getting a green lipstick at work and just going with that but I knew I would never wear it again and couldn’t bring myself to spend money on one so I decided to use eyeshadow instead. I think it makes for a bolder, more trendy lip anyway. It’s probably not safe to eat, but it’s probably not super safe to eat any make-up anyways.
If/When I do future swatches, I’ll be sure to have a better set-up so that you can actually see me swatch the shades out. I’ll also be sure to turn on my external light again so that you can just see better in general. I’m still learning so bear with me. Please feel free to leave me constructive criticism.
Luke may or may not be in the next video.
January ipsy Glam Bag
Now that I’ve been able to peek at my February Glam Bag, it’s time to write this review. I’m going to start comparing the value of the Glam Bag with that of the items you can buy retail, so that we can all see if it is really worth it. All prices and costs are before taxes as sales tax varies location to location and the Glam Bag is only taxed in some states (TX is one of them).
The design of the January bag was inspired by workout clothes and shoes. Its outside is made of mesh and had a shoelace and aglet zipper pull. In it I got a REAL CHEMISTRY Fresh-Start Foaming Cleanser, bellapierre Cosmetics StayPut Brow Gel in Licorice, SO SUSAN Liquid Matte in Raisin Flesh, TRUST FUND BEAUTY Lip Scrub, and the Balm Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer.
REAL CHEMISTRY Fresh-Start Foaming Cleanser
I love exfoliators but they’re not great for every day use because they can be abrasive and dry out your skin. Cleansers are better for daily use but they aren’t as fun. They are easier to use outside of the shower however, which is really how you’re supposed to wash your face anyway. This is the way I use this cleanser- at the sink. It is a creamy formula, foamed up easily with water and some massaging, and came off easily with a damp washcloth. After removing it, my skin felt soft and smooth and was not super dry. It looked whiter than usual, but I think that it was due to a) the fact that I wasn’t wearing makeup, and b) my cheeks are usually pink and somehow, this must have neutralized that, at least at the time.
Received: 15 ml | On sale: 4.2 oz for $24 at Ulta | Approx. value: $2.86
bellapierre Cosmetics StayPut Brow Gel in Licorice
I have a pretty clear opinion on this. Eyebrows are important. Look at photos of 90’s fashion or celebrities without eyebrows and you will understand. With that in mind, mine are a tad wonky, but eyebrows are sisters, not twins. They still need to be full and fabulous however, so I do what I can to ensure that that is true. This entails using pencils, pomades, and gels to fill in my brows. This product looks a lot like the Benefit ka-BROW pomade, something I am familiar with from work and that many make-up instagrammers swear by. I was excited for it because the ka-BROW is $24 and this was part of a (roughly) $10 subscription box and I’m on a budget. It was not exactly like the ka-BROW.
The main difference that I could tell was the brush. Usually you’d do your eyebrows with an angled brush which is what comes in the ka-BROW. This came with something closer to a lip brush. I tried to use it but it didn’t pick up the pomade or distribute it as well as an angled brush would. When I used my angled brush in it, it worked like a charm so the pomade itself is great. It’s disappointing that I can’t just carry this to do my brows however, and have to also bring another brush along as well.
Received: 2.2 g | On sale: 2.2 g for $25 at bellapierre.com | Approx. value: $25
So Susan Liquid Matte Lipstick after a full day at work
SO SUSAN Liquid Matte in Raisin Flesh
I was so ready to be unimpressed by this liquid lipstick. I’ve been through liquid lip after liquid lip and loved the colors but absolutely hated the formulas because they didn’t go on well or didn’t stay very long. I was pleasantly surprised by this one because I loved the color (like usual), it went on easily, and it stayed on all day. Even at work where I do a lot of talking, and through drinking and eating, this liquid lipstick stayed on my lips. The main issue I have with it is that it started out super sticky. It wasn’t sticky like a sticky lip gloss, it was almost like there’s glue in it that literally makes your lips stick together. As it dried it got less sticky but it never fully went away. Still, with the longwear formula, I can put up with the stickiness.
On both of the straws I used while wearing it, there was minor transfer. It was so minor that I had to use my DSLR and macro lens to even start to see it in photos.
Received: 5 ml | On sale: 5 ml for $14 on sosusan.com | Approx. value: $14
TRUST FUND BEAUTY Lip Scrub
Just like a like exfoliating facial cleansers, I love basically any kind of scrub. Lip scrubs can be particularly fun because they usually taste good. When I saw that this was in my bag, I was super excited. My lips get super dried out and peely because I don’t drink enough water. Water and proper hydration are the best moisturizers. With this scrub, I was able to exfoliate my lips and make them super soft and get rid of a lot of the peely dead skin on them. After I used this, I applied my IT Cosmetics lip treatment and had pillowy and kissable lips the rest of the night and into the morning. The only think I’m not a fan of with this is how small the tube is. With one use it felt like I was already running out, something I thought was just because it was a sample size but when I found out this was the full size, it seemed like a bit of a rip.
Received: 8 ml | On sale: 8 ml for $8 on trustfundbeauty.com | Approx. value: $8
the Balm Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer
I’m not a huge fan of highlighters. When other people use them I always admire their work but I never feel like my highlight comes out as well as their’s so I tend to just not try. Whenever I get a new one, I have to try it though. One of the problems I have with highlighters is that I’m a lot lighter-skinned than I think I am so I have to use really light highlighters to get any results. This one looked like enough for me to get that blinding cheekbones look but it wasn’t. The color was still super pretty and I think I might be able to use it as an eyeshadow, but it just did not do what I needed it to.
Received: 1 g | On sale: 8.5 g for $24 on thebalm.com | Approx. value: $2.82
Approx. overall Glam Bag value: $52.68 | Current Glam Bag price: $10 | Approx. savings: $42.68, 81%
December ipsy Glam Bag
December is a busy month for most people. That said, here’s my ipsy review.
The bag itself is super cute. It’s simpler than some of their other designs but it’s a nice silver color with the stripe of glitter at the top and the zipper and pull are a turquoise color that I love. In the bag I received Purlisse Beauty Coconut + Rice Nourishing Sheet Mask and Green Tea + Ginger Treatment Sheet Mask, Smashbox Cosmetics Be Legendary Lipstick in Legendary, City Color Cosmetics Shimmer Shadow in It’s a Girl, NYX Professional Makeup Faux Blacks Liner in Midnight, and Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel. Overall, I’m fairly pleased with this bag. Onto the specifics!
Purlisse Beauty Coconut + Rice Nourishing Sheet Mask and Green Tea + Ginger Treatment Sheet Mask
I’m not including photos of me using/wearing these sheet masks because they look the same as the rest-white and wet. From what I can tell, they pretty much perform like the rest as well. My skin felt nice and refreshed after using them but only for about a day. They smelled nice and were very relaxing and cooling while I wore them. Sheet masks, to me, seem to be a good thing to do when you need to take a load off but aren’t quite as beneficial to your skin as we make them out to be. Good skin comes with good hydration and good everyday care. But they’re still fun and when I get them from ipsy or when they’re on sale, I’m still going to use them.
Smashbox Cosmetics Be Legendary Lipstick in Legendary
Without flash
Smashbox is a brand that I tend to like but also question heavily. I like what I’ve used from them such as their Photo Finish Primers and X-Rated Mascara but I never want to try their other products. That said I wasn’t mad at this lipstick. It’s a nice, normal red, and it’s not a matte but could easily be made one with some setting powder (I’ve been swaying away from mattes lately because I’ve been trying to take better care of my lips). It applied easily and stayed on the rest of the night while I was moving around my apartment cleaning. I’ve yet to wear it out or to work, but it was a solid 4-ish hours that I wore it inside.
City Color Cosmetics Shimmer Shadow in It’s a Girl
Without flash
With flash
Since I’ve started doing more eyeshadow, I’ve been more excited to get them in my ipsy Glam Bags. Getting bright colors like this one is especially exciting because I can use them as a pop of color in my otherwise dark and monochrome work outfits. When I swatched this one on my arm, I was very excited because it was super pink and it had a good amount of shimmer to it. When I finally used it the first time on my eyes however, I was rather disappointed. It gave a nice pink for my crease into upper lid area to layer on top of, but the shimmer seemed to disappear and it did not seem nearly as pigmented as when it was on my arm. It still works as a pretty nice base to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Romance palette that I recently bought, as well as the tarte Magic Star palette that I got for my birthday. A customer at work even asked what it was and I had to tell her that it was, unfortunately, not something that we sell in our store.
NYX Professional Makeup Faux Blacks Liner in Midnight
Without flash
The tip broke
With flash
The NYX Faux Blacks and Faux Whites Liners have intrigued me since I first saw them at Ulta. As someone who loves all things black, especially her eye makeup, I have never understood why people use brown eyeliner or mascara. When I was younger, I dabbled with colored liners, picking out a bright turquoise one, but when I wanted black, I wanted black. Recently however, because I wear black on black on the daily, I have been branching out with my make-up and looking for it to make my color statement recently. This eyeliner doesn’t do that, but I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. It’s a nice navy blue color and goes on pretty well with some pretty good staying power. Without really looking at it when it’s on, you’d never tell that it wasn’t black besides the fact that it’s not quite as intense. For comparison of color, I swatched it on my arm next to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, UD’s blackest shade. The reason it seems kind of messy is because in the middle of the swatch, the tip broke off. Regardless of the fact that you can easily sharpen this pencil, the product breaking is not great because it may be dry which would make it more difficult to use and it might tug and get stuck while you are applying it. I intend to sharpen this and keep using it, but that took it down a tick in my book.
Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel
I really don’t have much to say about this one. I like eyebrow gels because they do tend to help tame my brows a bit but when I really need the help because I slept on them all night and they’re incredibly unruly, no gels really do anything at all. This one has been pretty great however because I have been using it before and after filling in my brows and it a) may be helping my product go on a little better/stay a little longer and b) doesn’t seem to be taking product away when I use it after filling in, something that other brow gels and spoolies tend to do. Now if only it could grow hair back where I over-plucked it…
Make-Up Wipes Don’t Remove the Ugly
I love make-up. It’s fun and it makes me feel good. What I don’t love is taking it off at the end of the day. Regardless of how little I’m wearing, it always feels like too much when that time of night comes around and an immaculately white wipe or cotton ball turns brown. As someone who doesn’t really wash their face every night either, save for make-up removal, sometimes I still feel dirty when I go to bed. I also hate the amount of waste I make using make-up wipes every night and how much I felt I had to scrub using them. I used micellar water for a while but while it worked better and felt less abrasive, I was still using too many cotton balls for my liking. I wasn’t raised in a home that used disposable dinnerware regularly and that always recycled, so throwing away wipes and cotton balls day after day feels wrong.
Some time last year, my mom gave me make-up removal towels that worked well but still felt rather abrasive and had to be washed with a special soap that was rather expensive so I stopped using them and went back to my wipes and micellar water. I still felt bad, but had to worry about my finances. If I end up in the hole because I was worrying too much about the environment, I’d be even worse for the environment because I would be living directly in it.
When I started working at Ulta, I got to see many new products. One that I was always on the lookout for was new make-up remover. Something cheap but works well and maybe wouldn’t create a lot of waste. I found other micellar waters that worked well. I also found the Urban Decay make-up removers that are amazing but expensive. Both of these products would still create a bit of waste however. In the Ulta Beauty line, I knew of make-up removing towels, similar to something I’d seen some YouTubers use in the past. They are little grey towels that are super soft and supposedly remove all make-up, including waterproof mascara, and only need water to be activated. On Associate Appreciation Weekend, when we received an extra 10% discount, and the Ulta Beauty Collection was Buy 2 Get 2 Free, I decided I’d buy a set and try them out.
In order to test them, I went to work with a full face of make-up on and then used one of these wipes to take off the make-up on one half of my face and used a traditional make-up remover wipe to remove the make-up on the other half of my face. I was surprised by how much I liked these and how well they worked.
I used the towel first and it felt that I mostly removed the make-up I had on that day. I was satisfied. Then I used the wipe on the other side and both sides of my face felt about the same. They both removed my eyeliner and mascara, some of the most difficult make-up to remove, and neither felt super roughed up though the wipe side did feel a bit more raw, especially around the eye.
After removing everything that I felt I could with the towel and the wipe, I took a cotton ball with micellar water to both cheeks to see how much make-up was leftover. This showed results as expected.
Leftover make-up after using a wipe.
Leftover make-up after using the towel.
There was more make-up left after using a towel than a wipe. I figured this was because the wipe has make-up remover in it while the towel is just using water and its fibers to remove all of the gunk on my face. Regardless, I think that the towels are a good replacement for wipes because they are less abrasive and less wasteful. If you use them however, you should definitely wash your face afterwards, though you should be doing that anyways.
October/November 2017 ipsy Glam Bag
Since I never did an October review and my November Glam Bag is here, we’re mushing the posts together. Hopefully that means the reviews will be short and concise. There will also be less pictures.
October
As always, I received five beauty items and a make-up bag in the shiny, pink bubble wrap packaging. The bag is red with lace detail and a black bat zipper pull. It is “mysterious” for this October, different than last where the bag was a light pink, patterned with cats and witches, and was a bit more fun.
HANALEI Papaya Enzyme Powder Cleanser
I liked this cleanser. It came in little packets of powder that you mix with water in order to form a paste that you scrub in. It felt good, smelled good, and didn’t leave my face dry. I still applied moisturizer after my face was dry anyways, as you always should, but it was less necessary than I have found with other powder cleansers like the Biore Baking Soda Powder Cleanser (which I received free from PINCHME; we’ll talk about that in a future post).
PRETTY WOMAN Nail Polish in Wine With Ice, Garcon
I’m a pretty big fan of nail polish. Like lipstick, though many may be very similar in shade, there is always a different formula and difference in the shade that makes me want to have all of them. This is also one of my favorite colors though. Deep burgundy is a color I like to wear in my shirts, dresses, hair, and apparently nails. The consistency of the polish itself is pretty nice too. It goes on well but you might need two coats to really get the deep color you want. I had to do two coats on Luke’s pinky finger to get this color.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion
This is an eye pencil that I have wanted to try since I was 12 and only used black eyeliner on my lower waterline without any other make-up. It stays pretty long (I can’t attest to 24 hours) and it also glides on fairly easily. It doesn’t pull and, though I don’t usually use pencils for winged eyeliner, I tried with this one day and it went on really well and stayed. It is also very black, something that I love, because when I want black pigment I expect black pigment. It’s not charcoal or grey, it is black.
TARTE deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara
I do not endorse every mascara that ipsy sends me. There have been a few that I have not been very impressed with at all. That said, I’m a big fan of this mascara and usually wear it without primer, something I would never tell anyone to do. It adds length, volume, and curls. Conditioning is the last of the “4” they talk about, but from my experience and knowledge, primer is what conditions your lashes (the reason I would never tell you not to wear primer).
MDMflow Liquid Matte Lipstick in Retro
The formula of this liquid lipstick was much like any other. It went on pretty smoothly but the color was absolutely horrible on my lips. It was much too pink and orange at the same time and I think the matte finish just didn’t suit this at all.
November
November ipsy Glam Bag
THE WHITE COMPANY White Lavender Body Lotion
Lavender is such a wonderful scent. It’s relaxing and helps you sleep which is why they put it in so many bath salts. This lotion smells wonderful and, since it’s a full body lotion, not just a hand lotion, it’s pretty thick. This means that I didn’t have to use a lot to cover my hands which now feel very soft, something difficult to keep up in these colder months.
Wearing IT Cosmetics CC Cream, Nomad Cosmetics Brow Powder, and ColourPop Satin Lippie
NOMAD COSMETICS Multi-Perfection Duo Brow Powder in Brunetta Brillante
Brow powders are interesting. I like pomades and pencils better because I feel like they show better and are easier to use. That said, the powders aren’t bad, they’re just not as good. That said, this brow powder isn’t quite as dark as I want it to be. They say that you’re supposed to use a brow color two shades lighter than your hair color. My hair is black. This brow powder is a bit lighter than two shades lighter than black.
IT COSMETICS Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ in Medium
BB and CC creams are pretty great. They’re super easy to use when you’re not someone who wants to do a full face or you don’t have time. IT Cosmetics is a pretty good brand too. ipsy has sent me a few of their other face and eye products before and I’ve been pretty happy with all of them. As far as this CC cream goes, it holds up to the Mary Kay one I used to use. It gives about as much coverage as CC creams do and it doesn’t feel heavy. The main issue I have with this is that it’s just a little light for me. I didn’t notice until I used it at work the other morning when I was getting ready in the store (one of the most fun parts of working the morning shift) and I just looked so washed out.
COLOURPOP COSMETICS Ultra Satin Lip in Baracuda
I love the color of this lippie. One of my friends recently bought some ColourPop lippies and said she liked them, so I was excited to try this one. I was also pretty excited that it was a satin finish, not a matte, because my lips have been super dry with the change in the weather lately so I wanted something less drying. It was pretty matte though, and pretty drying. I’m still on the market for a less drying matte lippie. I will report back when I find one.
SKYN ICELAND Berry Lip Fix with Wintered Red Algae
I love lip balms. Luke can tell you, I have too many of them and I am constantly applying them. I especially love lip balms that make my lips tingle and it was a surprise but this one does. I was a bit concerned about the berry scent. I’m usually not a fan of berry scented anything because it can get too sweet but this one isn’t bad. It is also just a scent, not a flavor, so depending on how you look at it, that’s a good or bad thing. I think it’s good because then the flavor doesn’t transfer the way my Sun Bum lip balm does. Onto the actual quality, I’ve had it on for about half an hour now and my lips have changed drastically. I woke up with extremely dry lips (I’m kind of sick) and they are already so much softer and plumper than they were. I applied it again because I’m kind of a crazy person, but I’m a big fan. Now I wish I’d gotten a full size instead of a sample.
September ipsy Glam Bag
It has occurred to me in all this time that I’ve been writing “Glam Bag” as “GlamBag” and I am embarrassed… onto the products! (I don’t have a ton of photos of every product this month because I’ve been busy (read: lazy) and opened it all and got too excited to take photos before using everything. So you get the photos from the ipsy website. Some of them have my photos though!) Also, I’m trying out a slightly different format for these that make it a little longer but you get to see everything individually and separated, so let me know if this is better or worse and we’ll go from there!
The September Glam Bag
ipsy September Glam Bag
Hello September Glam Bag. It’s pretty. It is black and studded witha gold zipper and is right up my alley. The theme they were pushing with it is professional. I know black and professional are synonymous for some reason, but the studs give it the extra edge that I need for it to be something I would use as a young “professional” out in today’s world. That said, I don’t use a lot of the Glam Bags I get for anything other than make-up and most of them don’t leave my house. I have two in my purse right now- the Gudetama bag and the clear one with ice cream cones on it, because I can bring that one to Ulta. I have a number set aside to use as clutches should I find myself going out on the town and in need of a small bag for my phone and ID, but we all know I stay in most nights. Still, this one will be added to the pile of “usable” Glam Bags.
SKINFOOD Black Sugar Mask Wash Off
SKINFOOD Black Sugar Mask Wash Off
I love exfoliants! Exfoliants are 100% my favorite product to receive from ipsy because I love trying new ones and learning about what works with my skin, especially when it is one like this one that I have seen before but never tried because I’m cheap. This stuff is great. To start, it smells like a can of Coke with a lemon wedge in it- my favorite way to drink Coke. The downside to this is that it makes me want one, but as I’m usually using it at night and we don’t have Coke in the apartment anyways, that’s pretty irrelevant. It is also suuuper thick. This is a good thing though, because it’s thick because it’s just full of stuff that is going to clean your face. As you could guess from the title, the exfoliating particles are sugar, something that I love because they dissolve as you scrub and won’t be washed down the drain to be consumed by marine life. It also uses shea butter and macadamia oil so after scrubbing all the grossness out of your face, it won’t be left dry. That’s one of my biggest problems with exfoliants but this one has not had that issue at all.
According to the ipsy website, you’re supposed to apply the product, let it sit on your face for 10-15 minutes, and then wash it off. I don’t follow these directions. I use it like any other facial scrub and apply it in the shower, the only place I wash my face, and then wash it off when I feel like I’m done being so abrasive to my face. I’m sure if you do it the way they say your skin will be even softer because you’ll give it more time to sink in, but I’ve honestly been super happy with the moisture and softness of my skin after using this the way I do, plus I still have a good coconut milk moisturizer to use if I need it.
Smashbox Cosmetics PHOTO FINISH RADIANCE PRIMER
Smashbox Cosmetics PHOTO FINISH RADIANCE PRIMER
I was very excited to try this primer. I love my L’oreal Magic Perfecting Base primer because it makes my skin so soft but I’d heard so much about the Smashbox primers. I also tested the original Smashbox PHOTO FINISH FOUNDATION PRIMER on my hand one night at Ulta, and it felt like it had a finish similar to the L’oreal, so I was pumped that I was receiving one in my Glam Bag.
This one is not like the original. It squeezes out of the tube more like a cream than a gel and the application doesn’t leave the same finish on your skin, even after letting it dry. The ipsy website says that you can apply it to you T-zone if it starts to get shiny during the day and it will mattify it, but with the shimmer that is in this (hence the “radiance”) and the feel of the formula, I think I would rather use blotting sheets and a powder. I also think I’m going to stick to the primer I use now, L’oreal hasn’t let me down yet.
Teeez Cosmetics Eve’s Ready to Wear Lipstick in Romantic Red
Awkward photo of my lips in the Teeez lipstick in my bathroom lighting.
You get a real photo of this one! I have less to say about this. It’s just another red lipstick in my opinion. The color isn’t really a true red, as you can see in the photo. The lighting in my bathoom still doesn’t show you its true color either, but it is rather pink.
It stays on alright. After it dries it doesn’t really transfer but it also looks more like a stain at that point. When I wore it to work the first day I got it, I received a couple compliments on it. Luke thought I’d over drawn my lips but it actually just made them look super full.
Teeez Cosmetics Eve’s Ready to Wear Lipstick in Romantic Red
My favorite thing about it is definitely the container. It’s that fun all the way around, unlike other lipsticks that are too sophisticated to be fun and instead are just black… and boring…
ColourPop Cosmetics Brow Boss in Dark Brown
Awkward photo of my brows with the Brow Boss pencil.
Brow products are another thing that I love getting in my Glam Bags because, as Luke learned quickly, I don’t like to leave the house without my brows done. Ever. Instead of give you a picture of the product, it’s a white tubed, brown eyebrow pencil with a spoolie on the other end, I just went with what it looks like on instead. I used it rather lightly because the tip is super thin and usually, that means you’re supposed to use it to make small strokes that look more like hairs to make your brows look more natural. On a day that I’m only wearing eyebrows, I could definitely rock this look. My brows still look pretty natural but are fuller and that’s what we’re all after- fuller brows. The color matched perfectly to what I usually do too. On days that I have a full face of make-up on however, like when I am working at Ulta, this just won’t cut it.
P.R.M.I.T. Beauty GELlusion in Virgo
P.R.M.I.T. Beauty GELlusion in Virgo
Back to the ipsy photos. I could have taken a photo of my nails after I painted them using this, like I usually do, but I didn’t. No idea why. I am a big fan of this nail polish though. It’s a really nice dark blue, deeper than it looks in this photo or even in real life, but takes two coats to get to said richness. It also dries pretty quickly and keeps a really nice smooth and shiny finish without a top coat. I would still, however, suggest using a top coat because I didn’t, thinking it would stay since it’s supposed to be “gel effects”, and it started chipping off the next day. Of all of the nail polishes that ipsy has sent me so far, I think this is probably my favorite.
Next month’s Glam Bag will be for October and while I’m not super impressed by the bag design, I’m excited to see what new fun products I get! Until next time!
I’ve Been Busy
My last post was over a week ago. I’d been meaning to post in this time, but life has been rather busy. Because of that, this is going to be a rather long post, but it’s going to be pretty all-encompassing. And I’ll break it down into the different categories and keep them short-ish. To start:
Beauty
I got my August GlamBag around the middle of the month. This one had three different bags that you could have received and I got the one I wanted. In the bag I received two CLIV Max Hyalruonic Masks, theBalm Cosmetics theBalm Voyage Vol. 2 Eyeshadow in Willkommen, MAKE UP FOR EVER EXCESSIVE LASH Aressting Volume Mascara, Hikari Cosmetics Shimmer Bronzer in Flush, and Hey Honey Come Clean: Propolis & Minerals Face Scrub.
So far I have used one of the masks and don’t have a lot to say about it. I like these masks, they are refreshing and for at least the next day after using them, my skin feels softer and looks brighter. Since I don’t use them regularly though, I can’t really say anything more than that. I know that these having hyaluronic acid in them is supposed to be a good thing too, but honestly, the word “acid” used in the same sentence as the word “face” makes me uncomfortable. I’ll probably stick to the green tea masks.
The left is the bronzer and the right is the eyeshadow. This is under a light in the apartment.
The eyeshadow and bronzer I haven’t actually used. I swatched them, because that’s what you do, but I don’t use a lot of eyeshadow and bronzer. They just aren’t my jam. I thought the swatches looked pretty nice though.
I like the mascara. I use it with a primer, obviously, but it works. I think most mascaras work pretty well with a primer, but I have found a few that didn’t work super well, and this was not one of them.
As for the face scrub- I’ll be tossing this out before I finish using it. The description on the ipsy website says that every people with sensitive skin love it but I don’t see how. I have pretty normal skin- gets oily when I don’t wash it for a bit but is generally okay. THIS STUFF BURNED. I love face scrubs. I looooooove the way my skin feels after exfoliating. Unfortunately, after exfoliating, it felt like there was salt poured all over my face. This was not a good feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever given anything from ipsy one star until now.
Food
The only full meal from BA we could make- but it was really good.
I am a Blue Apron customer. I originally signed up because I was curious and with a Rooster Teeth promo code, I could get $30 off, making my first box half price. Because I am stingy, I didn’t finish signing up at that point. I held out and they sent me an email for $40 off. Still wasn’t enough. Then I got the email for $50 off and I finished my membership and got my first box. Since then I have had a love/hate relationship with them. I believe that $60 is too much to be dishing out monthly for these meals so most of the time, I’ve been skipping weeks and only getting the boxes when they’ve got meals that look especially tasty in them. Since my first box however, all the of the boxes I have received after were boxes that I didn’t actually want and only received because I forgot to skip them. On 9/1, I received one of these boxes.
I was upset a) because $60 that I was not expecting to spend was now going to be spent and b) because I forgot about it, I didn’t even get to pick which meals I received and I got the default meals, one of which was barbecue baked chicken breast, sweet potato salad, and sauteed green beans. I spent $20 on barbecue baked chicken breast, sweet potato salad, and sauteed green beans. You can’t see my face, but it is unamused.
Since the box came in on Friday morning, I was at work so I asked Luke to bring it in and put all of the ingredients away. He did so and didn’t say anything was wrong with any of them. That Saturday, we decided to make one of the meals that turned out pretty well. On Sunday morning, I decided to go through all of the ingredients, just to see what we had. I pulled the sweet potatoes out of the pantry to find that one of them had turned completely to mush. What’s worse, somehow there was liquid in the bag that proceeded to leak all over the kitchen floor. I was livid. Luke then informed me that the sweet peppers in the fridge had also looked a little funky. I pulled them out and surely enough, they were moldy. I immediately took photos of it all and sent Blue Apron an angry email stating that for $60 I should not be getting bad produce (this wasn’t the first time) and would be cancelling my account. They responded the next day saying that they credited $10 to my account and how to cancel my account should I choose to proceed that way. This confused me as I have never seen a company actively tell people how to stop being customers. I guess they have so many that they figured they didn’t need me anymore.
I have yet to cancel because I don’t want that $10 to go to waste, but I will after I use it up.
Life
My job hunt is still active. I am still working part-time at Ulta, though not many hours. I am still working temp in the same office I have been since August and today, I had an interview for the permanent position. In about a weekI also have an interview for a different position at a different company. I don’t want to jinx any of it so that’s all the information I am currently putting out there, but I’m nervous and pretty scared. A lot of what’s currently scaring me is the potential to have to choose which job I want because I don’t know right now. I’ve been talking to many people about this and I haven’t come up with a clearer decision. I suppose that is a bridge to cross when I get there however, because I could only get offered one or neither and then all of this anxiety was for nothing. We’re hoping for a much better outcome than that though.
Besides that, I’ve been dealing with needing to get a TX driver’s license and that has been a whole process that I can’t wait to be over.
Luke and I also bought season passes to Six Flags Fiesta Texas which is in San Antonio. The passes we bought will get us into any Six Flags though, so whenever we’re home, if anyone wants to go to Great America, we are there. The passes were supposed to be a birthday gift to Luke, but I just didn’t have the money to cover it so the surprise was ruined. So I still have to find a gift for him. If nothing else, I’ll bake him a cake. I can do that.
No Time Like the Present
It has been a little while since my last post and there is good reason for that… which will not be disclosed at least for another week… for reasons…
In the meantime, I got an email from ipsy that my new GlamBag items have been picked so I thought it’d be a great time to share the reviews on my last one.
If you recall, I received a liquid lipstick, lip balm, gel-kohl hybrid eyeliner, eyeshadow, and face masks. Below are photos of me wearing all of the products, though not all at once- the masks were after washing my face.
In this photo, I am wearing the eyeliner on the left, eyeshadow on the right, and lip balm and liquid lipstick on, you guessed it, my lips. Luke said I looked funny only having done the eyeliner on one side, but I wanted to make sure the products were shown separately.
In applying all of these products, they were nice. I don’t like trying to do a cateye with kohl or gel liners because I never think it comes out very good, but that’s probably just user error. SPOILER ALERT: I’m not good at make-up. I left them all on for a few hours, just trying to see how they lasted and the eyeshadow was the only thing that held up. After about three hours, the eyeliner had smudged to my bottom lid and the lipstick, which is supposed to be 24-hour, had run outside my lips. I was disappointed. What the lipstick did not do however, was get on any glasses or utensils I put in my mouth while eating dinner. This was pretty impressive. Verdict: the eyeliner and eyeshadow worked as expected, the lipstick would probably work best with a liner applied first.
Onto the masks. I’ve only heard good things about Tony Moly masks so I was excited to see that I had received some for July. As you can see, Luke put one on as well. I’m not the type to have a hard and fast skincare regimen that I perform every night and every morning. I wash my face when I need to wash my face and I put moisturizer on where I am dry. Luke does even less than that. That said, these masks are usually pretty fun and he and I could use a spa day.
As with all face masks of this sort, they are cold and goopy when you pull them out of the package. Luke was not a fan of this but put it on anyways because he’s a trooper. They also feel like you shouldn’t touch any sort of fabric with them, something that was hard for me since the hood of my robe likes to bunch up around my neck. While we waited for them to do their thing for half an hour, we watched another episode of Doctor Who. Once the time was up, we peeled them off and rubbed the remaining goop into our faces. Mine felt tighter and looked a little brighter immediately but Luke didn’t see much of a difference.
The next morning however, he told me that his skin looked too “pretty” and that he wasn’t a fan of what the mask had done to his face… just being a silly boy. I liked my face.
Currently, I am using the lip balm as often as I need to and while I like the smell of it, I don’t really know if it’s helping my lips or hurting them. It’s been a long debated myth/truth that lip balms actually dry out your lips more and there are definitely some that I believe do- the cheap kind you get for free with a company’s logo on them. I would expect more out of a product I receive from ipsy however. As I said in my all-beauty blog before, the best way to keep your lips from being chapped is to stay hydrated. For now, I will attribute my dry lips to my lack of hydration until further proof arises on this balm.
