July Glam Bag Review

 This is being posted later than I planned, but I wanted as always to test these products out for a good amount of time so that I could give you all a detailed review. Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription service that sends you 4-5 products in a mixture of full sized and deluxe sample sized for only $10. You also get special discount codes for each month's brand. If you would like to sign up, please be awesome and use my referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051r3lzwoa89xn . I should also mention that each bag has a theme. This month's theme was Beach beauty.

I love the bag its self for this month. It is a clear, waterproof plastic bag. It keeps with the beach theme, being a perfect makeup bag for the beach. In my bag I received a sampler palette from BH Cosmetics California Collection, a full sized Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon, a sample sized Derm E Microdermabrasion Scrub, a sample sized Coola Mineral Face SPF Unscented Moisturizer and a sample sized Sexy Hair
Soy Renewal Beach Spray Conditioning and Texturizing Spray.
Here are my thoughts and reviews on each individual product:

                                                  Derm E Microdermabrasion Scrub

To start with, microdermabrasion. Many people have no idea what this is. If you break it down it basically means small skin abrasion. A micro derm scrub is a scrub meant to get rid of the dry skin cells on your face to reveal newer, glowing skin. This scrub has very small (and do I mean very small!) pieces of Dead Sea salt and volcanic sand. It reminds me of a more broken down version of Lush Ocean Salt. It smells really good, like lemons. It gives a harsher exfoliation than Lush Ocean Salt. This scrub does as it should and makes my skin feel soft and wonderful. A little bit goes a long way. I had my mom, who is in her late 40s try this. She has dry mature skin and (finally!!) she is listening to my advice on skincare. After using this scrub, she says that her skin has been less dry, it feels softer and looks better. The sample size I got of this was smaller than expected, but I was glad to try this scrub. It won't replace my beloved Ocean Salt but I really did love it, my mom did as well.


Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon

This next picture I know is blurry and it was taken in haste (I didn't have much time to take extra photos for this post). I am only posting it so that you can see what color this crayon actually is, since the lighting in the picture above makes it look orange when it isn't.

I was most excited for this product in my glam bag. I have been seeing these crayon shaped pigmented lip balms EVERYWHERE and I had yet to try one! I received this in Coral Crush, a beautiful coral color (although it looks pinker on me). On first thought when applying it feels wonderful. It is moisturizing, as I expected it would be. It is also very pigmented, which as a lipstick lover makes me happy. If you apply too much it may appear a little streaky. They don't stay on long and will come off when eating and drinking, so you'll need to reapply. This isn't a problem for me, any time I wear a lip product I bring it with me (even lip tars). I really want to get more of these, but these balms are only available in a kit that costs $25. The kit only contains one other color that I would wear so it doesn't make sense for me to buy it, which is disappointing because I loved this and I want some more colors.

Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray Conditioning and Texturizing Spray

Wow that's a mouthful! I had never tried a Sexy Hair product, though I have seen them raved about so I was happy to see this. I love texturizing sprays (such as Not Your Mother's Beach Babe) so that was a bonus for me.  It comes in a pump bottle with a tab to position to open or close the bottle. The packaging is just like Beach Babe. The directions say this spray can be used over damp or dry hair. For dry hair it recommends also spraying at the roots for volume. When used on my dry hair, I sprayed to the roots and throughout my hair. I then put my hair up for about 10 minutes into a claw clip. When I took it down I have some nice, soft waves and a little volume at my roots. I haven't been able to try this on damp hair yet, but I'm sure it works just as well.

Coola Mineral Face SPF  Unscented Moisturizer

It's like Ipsy read my mind! I have been looking for a moisturizer with SPF and what appears in my glam bag? This. I was extremely disappointed in the travel size that I received. I wish it were bigger so I could've tested it out more.  This is a mineral moisturizer with SPF 20. It is unscented and not tinted. It blended well, didn't feel oily and it didn't leave any sort of white cast on my face.  I wore this yesterday when I went to the fair that my town has every year underneath my makeup. It was a hot day, the sun was out and it was beaming as I walked from my house to the fair as well as many sections of the fair. On a day like this, I normally would've worn BB cream, but I wanted to test the protection of this product. I wore it underneath a foundation without any SPF and I didn't apply any extra moisturizer over it. It did moisturize, but I wish it moisturized better. The SPF protection is good. I spent probably four or five hours at the fair and I didn't get any sunburn. I feel that this protected my skin well. I liked it.

BH cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Samples

 I was really excited to try these, having heard about BH cosmetics a lot though I had never had a chance to try them.  In the sampler palette I received three eyeshadows in Hollywood (deep purple color), San Francisco (a sparkly brown) and Malibu (a gorgeous gold color). Here are swatches of each color over Elf Essential Eyelid primer:

I was a bit disappointed in these shadows. Malibu had great pigmentation, but I feel like San Francisco was a little flat and Hollywood definitely fell flat. Sam Francisco could've had a bit better pigmentation and the pigmentation of Hollywood is horrible. When worn over primer on my eyes, Malibu and San Francisco lasted all day. But when I rubbed the swatches on my hand (which were put over the same primer) they wiped off completely. If I could buy Malibu as a single eyeshadow, I would. I love the color and the pigmentation. However since I wasn't fully impressed by the other two colors I don't think I'll be buying one of the California palettes.



Over all, I did really like this bag. Even though I wish some products were a larger size, it is great for what I pay. Also, I think Ipsy made everything travel sized so that it will fit in the bag to go to the beach. It is a great assortment of products that could be used at a day (or weekend) to the beach and it is perfect for travel.

Weekly Beauty Tip #54: Cream or powder - Which is right for you?

Cream based makeup products (such as cream blush, cream eyeshadow, even liquid foundation) are best for dry skin while powder products are best for oily skin.

Benefit High Beam Review

Finally I have gotten to this review! High Beam is probably one of the most well known luminizers out there. What is a luminizer? It is basically a highlighter to add some luminance or a glow to your face.

 High Beam is a light, pinky liquid luminizer. It comes in a bottle with a brush, very similar to nail polish. I love this packaging so much, it makes this product so much easier to use and it makes less of a mess. To use, just dab a little on and blend.

Although this is a pinky liquid, when blended out you don't see any color. You are left with a nice dewy glow. High Beam definitely lives up to expectations. It doesn't make my face look like a glitter ball. It blends easily and nicely. It feels great and lasts a good amount of time. It's not sticky. A little bit goes a long way, so this product will last you forever.

                                                  (High Beam dabbed on, not blended)

                                                           (High Beam blended)


I love High Beam so much, it is my favorite luminizer ever. The color is perfect for my fair skin. For you ladies with more tan complexions, you may want to check out Moon Beam which is a golden colored version of High Beam.

I should add that there are many dupes out there for this product. Some of those include Nyx Liquid Glow Illuminator, Elf Shimmering Facial Whip and Hard Candy Glow All The Way Luminizer. I am not sure how the Nyx and the Hard Candy products compare. I do own some Elf Shimmering Facial Whip and I feel that High Beam is better and works better for me. High Beam's packaging makes it easier to worth with while the Shimmering Facial Whip comes in a tube (as do the Nyx and Hard Candy products).

Weekly Beauty Tip #53: Set concealer

If you don't wear foundation, just concealer in spots or wear concealer over your foundation, set it with some powder. It will keep it from traveling and it will help it last longer.

Olay Fresh Effects preview

Hi everyone, I have some pretty exciting news. I was one of the Influenster brand challenge winners for Olay Fresh Effects. My prize was the entire Olay Fresh Effects line plus one to give to a friend.

                                  (Not pictured, I also got some more of the Va Va Vivid brushes)

I will be reviewing Bead Me Up, Long Live Moisture, the BB cream, and Swipe out once I have used them for a good amount of time. I have already reviewed Shine Shine Go away and the Va Va Vivid brush, you can read that review here: http://lipstickxzombie.blogspot.com/2013/03/olay-fresh-effects-vava-vivid-cleansing.html 

I will also most likely include feedback on each product from the person that I shared the second line with. Keep an eye out, these reviews will hopefully be posted soon!

Not Your Mother's Girl Powder Volumizing Hair Powder review

My hair doesn't have much volume. In high school I used to (attempt to) tease my hair. It was always time consuming, included mass amounts of hairspray and it just didn't look great. I really wish that I knew about products like Girl Powder back then!

Girl Powder is a volumizing hair powder. It is essentially a tease in a bottle. No teasing comb needed and your hair won't look like a rat's nest. Simply unscrew the top, sprinkle a little powder at the roots of your hair where you want volume then lift and fluff up. Now you're done and have instant volume.

The packaging is cute, which is what I expect from Not Your Mother's. It comes in a shake bottle with holes at the top for product to come out of. It is extremely light weight. It feels as if it's empty. The cap secures well, so this is a good product to travel with. It can easily fit into a purse. The product its self is a very lightweight, fine powder.

This is such a great product. Not only does it work but it's super cheap.  I have loved every single Not Your Mother's product that I've tried and this is no exception. Your tease will last a long time, though you may need to fluff it a little more as the day goes on.

Weekly Beauty Tip #52: Makeup expires

Yes, it is true makeup indeed does expire! Look on the packaging for a little symbol with a number in it, this number will tell you how long the product is good for. Also keep in mind when your product starts to look funky or just doesn't preform as well as it used to it is time to toss it.

Lush Grease Lightning Review

I got a sample of this product from Lush some time ago. Within the past two years my skin has changed a bit and I get more pimples than I used to. Nothing I used got rid of them effectively or quickly, so I needed another option. I found this product on Lush's website and had to get a sample from my local store. When that sample was running low, I absolutely needed to buy this.

Grease Lightning is dubbed a tea tree cleanser by Lush. It has many uses, but it is intended for acne prone skin. It is made with tee trea and witch hazel, which is really good for acne.

I use this as a spot treatment. Whenever I see a pimple, I put a little bit of this on it and it is usually gone the next day. Nothing else has worked as well for me as Grease Lightning has. Even better, it is made without the harsh chemicals many acne medications are made with.

There  are several other uses for this product. If you have oily skin, you can use it to soak up the oil. If you have acne prone skin you can use it to prevent and treat your acne. A sales girl at Lush also recommended using this on mosquito bites. A friend of mine has tried this with several bites and it definitely works.

This is a very easy product to use, the packaging makes it this way. It comes in a pump bottle. Just pump some product from the bottle and use. A little bit goes a long way, so if you aren't applying it on large areas of your face, I recommend pumping it into a little container (such as a Lush sample jar) and applying from there with a qtip.

Yes, this product really does work and I love it. I have gotten a few friends to try it and it has worked just as well for them. It is completely worth the price and so much better for your skin. If you're a lushie and have any sort of problem that can be solved with this product, it is a must have.

Alucard Cosplay Makeup

Hi everyone! I have something different for you today. I haven't posted any of my work in a long time. On Wednesday I was helping a friend pick out some makeup to use for his cosplay for the local anime convention. He didn't know how to apply the makeup so I had to put it on him and show him how to apply it. From there we decided to take some pictures of the complete costume.

I thought it would be really cool to share it with everyone, I think it turned out great. Please forgive the photo quality, this was done without any planning so I had to use my cell phone camera. This is my friend Beckman cosplaying as Alucard from the anime Hellsing. I of course did the makeup for this shoot. 

Weekly Beauty Tip #51: Moisturize before makeup

You should always apply moisturizer before applying your makeup.