Archive for July 2013

Why Change a Good Thing? Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I was recently at Sephora were I wanted to pick up another bottle of my favorite cream cleanser- the Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser. This is my third bottle in a little less than two years, an absolute staple in my skincare routine.

I immediately noticed that it had changed packaging. A cheerful Sephora sales associate chirped that it was indeed the same product. Actually, it wasn't. Unfortunately I didn't find that out until I went home and washed my face for the first time. Though subtle and completely inoffensive, I noticed it definitely had fragrance where the old formula did not. Naturally I compared the two ingredients list side by side.

The new Gentle Hydro Cleanser has fewer ingredients. Most of the fruit and herb extracts and oils were completely eliminated. Fragrance was added. They are both nonfoaming and white, but other than that they are pretty much completely different products. The new version doesn't feel as soothing. I know it's bizarre to say that face wash can be calming (especially when used with an exoliating tool such as the Clarisonic brush) but truly the old Gentle Hydro Cleanser would help soothe my skin when it was irritated from allergies or breakouts. It would immediately look less red and help with puffiness. This new version doesn't irritate my skin, but it really doesn't do anything for my skin at all.

While the packaging did change, it was rather subtle; same color scheme, same bottle shape, same product name. In short, I just wish that when companies reformulated products there would be a "New!" sticker or some sort of indication that the ingredients have changed.

Has a favorite product of yours ever been changed without warning?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Four Fabulous Bottles of Nail Sauce by Feliifel

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Hi friends!

Tonight I'd like to show you four shades from the brand Nail Sauce, made by the hilarious and awesome @feliifel (on Instagram).

Peachy O. A peachy crelly with matte yellow, red orange and pink glitter. This polish captures the essence of peach rings perfectly! I really love it. Shown here is three coats.

Salted Caramel. A very pretty warm tan with small caramel and satin white hex. Every time someone brings this polish up, my mouth instantly starts to water! Three super thin coats.

Accent over Zoya Hunter.

Cali. A tribute to the amazing state that I now reside in! The colors are from the California state flag- dark chocolate hex, small green, white rectangles and red stars. This is one coat over CQ Vintage Grey, no fishing or anything, just dabbed on. I really love this one because of how much I've fallen in love with this state. I'm never moving!

Last but not least, Franken Berry! A super pretty cool lavender with really pretty hot pink and light green hexes and tiny teal blue glitter. This one is my favorite. Shown here is three very thin coats. I wasn't allowed to have the fruity breakfast cereals as a kid but on those rare occasions that I did - this reminds me of the purple milk left in the bowl with a few bright pieces of cereal left! The formula is really nice and glossy.

Actually all four had really nice formulas, very fluid and easy to work with. I find all four shades to be really unique; I can't think of a single indie or mainstream brand that even comes close to any of the colors. I'm definitely getting some full sized bottles of these!

Nail Sauce is sold here. Prices start at $8.75 for full sized bottles. Be sure to follow @feliifel on Instagram for all the newest updates on restocks. You'll definitely also want to check out the newest collection, Sneakerhead Part I especially if you're a die hard fan of shoes!

Which one of these appeals to you the most?

Products featured were given to me to review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Wicked Polish Giveaway Winner

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Congratulations, Debbie D.! Email has been sent. Thank you to all those who participated. If you didn't win, don't worry! I have more giveaways coming in the next few days with great prizes.

Shimmer Karen

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Hi folks,

It's been a while since my last Shimmer Polish post because of CosmoProf North America but I'm glad to be posting about one today. Today I'm featuring Shimmer Karen.

Karen is mixture of different metallic purple and holo glitters. One of my favorite ways to wear silvery glitter is with a matte top coat, so that's precisely what I did. I only needed one coat when wearing it as a topper because Shimmer Polishes are just so dense with glitter. Here, I have Bettina Viola underneath.

Shimmer Polishes are $12 and can be purchased here at the Shimmer Etsy Store. Be sure to follow the Shimmer Facebook page as well as the blog for all the latest updates and swatches of these awesome glitterbombs.

Products featured were sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches and Cream & Cherry Pie

Friday, July 26, 2013

One of the products I've been trying out ever since the lovely folks at NYX sent me home with a package of goodies was their much loved Butter Glosses. I had two shades; the pinky Peaches and Cream as well as the red Cherry Pie.

The Butter Glosses come with a fairly standard doe footed applicator. The formula is very glossy, not sticky at all but a bit cushiony. There is a light sweet smell but very non-offensive.

Peaches and Cream on the left, Cherry Pie on the right. Though Peach is in the name, Peaches and Cream is rather pink (maybe a tad guava but definitely not peach). Cherry Pie is a nice blue based red, but not too cool at all.

Lip swatches are not exactly my forte but I think you get the idea! There is a fair amount of pigment in the glosses, the lighter shade does sink a little bit into my lines. The wear time is fairly good but because they are emollient rather than sticky, they do transfer off pretty easily. Overall, I like these quite a bit. I think that if you catch them on sale, they are definitely worth trying! They are $4.99 but go on sale fairly regularly at Ulta.

Have you tried NYX Butter Glosses? They're coming out with Butter Balms and Lipsticks! What are your favorite shades?

Products featured were given to me to review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Rainbow Nails

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Just a quick post, this is actually a rather old manicure from a couple weeks ago.

I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as the base, then two coats of Wicked Polish Drunk in Public. On my middle and ring fingers, I used neons and a bit of tape to create the accent. Drunk in Public is just fantastic, it's a milky white crelly with neon glitters in all colors of the rainbow. It was given to me by Rylee of Wicked Polish the first time I met her at Polished by KPT's nail party earlier this month.

Bright and cheery for summer.

Thanks for checking it out!

Products featured were given to me as a gift. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Oopsie Daisies Tiki Bar Collection

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Hi folks! Tonight I have the summer Oopsie Daisies shades to share with you. The collection is called Tiki Bar and it is a mixture of six polishes that range from cremes with subtle shimmer to bright glitter toppers.

Fuzzy Navel is a super light colored orange creme with very subtle sparkle. The sparkle is pink and gold, making the creme really glisten in the sunlight but can be a tad bit hard for others to see/photograph. I liked how this shade made me look really tan. Three generous coats.

Pina Coloda! One of my favorite drinks, ever. No seriously, just bring me a never ending pitcher please. This is a off white crelly with white, butter and yellow hexes in various sizes (all matte). Three coats shown here. I used two coats of topcoat to really smooth it out and added a bit of thinner so that it would be a little easier to apply in thin, careful coats. This color is one of my favorites, it also reminds me of the only flavor of Jelly Belly beans that I eat; buttered popcorn.

Mojito Mist is a minty green creme with green shards, green and white hexes. Three coats.

Blue Hawaiian. A powder blue with different shades of blue and white hexes. I love the super big hexes in this one! Three coats.

Conch Shell. Super soft and comforting, like a favorite white sweater. White crelly with irregular shaped sparkle that is predominately blue This is two coats over a white base, I wanted to try to make the sparkle pop as much as possible.

I'll admit, I saved my favorite for last. Electric Lemonade. Two coats over a black base. I LOVE matte glitter, particularly fun shades like this. I also really like the mixture of small and medium pieces in different shapes. So fun to wear, it absolutely is great for summer.

Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish are $8.50 and can be found here at the Oopsie Daisies Etsy shop. Be sure to follow the OD Facebook page for the latest updates!

What are your favorite shades from this collection? And while we're at it, what is your favorite fruity bar drink?

Products featured were sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

A FOTD

Monday, July 22, 2013

I've had a lot of polish posts so I just wanted to sneak in a FOTD post today. I wore mostly boring makeup last week so wanted more fun colors once I got home from Vegas (how ironic is it that I looked boring in Vegas?).

Brows: NARS Bali shadow
Eyes: LORAC Behind The Scenes Primer, Femme Fatale Swamplord, Sandscale and Jewel Scarab. False lashes, Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara, Laura Mercier Vanilla Nuts, Rock & Republic Fatalistic
Face: Revlon Colorstay Combination Foundation, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk, NARS Douceur, NARS Light Reflecting Powder
Lips: Stila Convertible Color in Peony

I've really been enjoying my Femme Fatale Cosmetics samples, will share swatches and review them soon.

CosmoProf North America 2013 Recap, Part III

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hi folks! Tonight I'm finishing up the official recap of CosmoProf North America 2013, though tomorrow I'll have a post dedicated to various blogger, indie and etailer meetups /drinks.

Check out the new stuff NYX is going to be releasing soon. The circular eye shadows in the black packaging have various finishes. The brown palettes in the back have baked shadows.

The clear packaged shadows are MATTE! Also, they are supposed to be very intense in pigmentation.

Due to the success of the Butter Lip Glosses, NYX will have Butter Lip Balms launching soon! Also be on the lookout for Butter Lipsticks (not pictured).

NYX is also expanding their Powder Blush line, augmenting the range with fun new shades including colors that will really show up and look beautiful on darker skin tones.

Check out these Royal & Langnickel brushes. Though they are synthetic, each "hair" is etched so that they grab and apply product the same way natural hairs do. Innovative, right?

Color Club and Ruby Wing have A LOT going on this year. Check out the Cupcakes & Champagne Collection by Ruby Wing.

Ruby Wing polishes are UV changing, just look at the difference! These are two stages of the same polish.

Here's another change for you. Indoors (left) and UV exposed (right).

Color Club's Girl About Town Collection is fabulous, a mixture of different finishes including a flaked polish!

Check out the shade, "The Uptown". Rainbow flakes in a purple jelly base.

Harlem Nights is the winter collection. Also a fun mix of shades and finishes.

Last but not least, this four polish set is full of jelly toppers with pretty opalescent flakes.

I stopped by Royal Apothic to sniff their lovely products and snap pics of their insanely beautiful packaging.

Impala, the Brazilian polish brand is available in the US now! I'll have swatches of some of the Impalas they generously sent me home soon.

I haven't tried bhcosmetics yet, but looking at their new palettes made my eyes pop out. Such pretty vibrant shades! These new palettes will be available very soon.

Swoon is a new, brilliant product. Designed to be both an applicator and a scoop that will get that remaining product out of your nearly empty lipgloss. After all, if you buy a Dior gloss - you want to get every last bit right?

Serenity + Scott is a new makeup line based out of Asheville, NC. They were all so friendly! For some reason my images of their makeup became corrupted on my camera, so I don't have them to show you. Their line is very makeup artist friendly as well as great for any makeup lover. You can spot some of their lipsticks and powder compacts in the background- they had beautiful sleek white packaging.

That's all for today! I hope you've enjoyed this first look at upcoming products and collections. What really got your attention?