February Glambag Review

 Yup, it's that time again. Time for me to review all of the products I received in my Ipsy Glambag this month. If you would like your own (They're just $10!) please, please, please use this link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk

The theme this month was a love/Valentines day theme. It came in this really cute bag:

 There was also a really cute pattern inside:

Without further ado, here is everything I got in my bag followed by my thoughts on each. 

                                                Pop Beauty plump pout lip gloss

This is the best lipgloss I have ever tried. I even like it better than Nyx's! Im not a huge lip gloss fan, but I can see myself wearing this one a lot. 

I got this in the shade Peony Petal. It goes on very pigmented, so you don't need to cake it on to get good color payof.. I only used the smallest amount possible. It is very smooth! Not sticky at all. It is also very lightweight. The formula is great. This is the best lip gloss formula i have ever tried. I even forget that I'm wearing it.

 

The only con: the size. It is a nice size for travel or to put in your pocket. But it's on the small size. Retailing at $16 a piece, there is way too little product for the price. However, despite the size this lip gloss is worth the price if you are a gloss lover.

                                         Jessie's Girl eye color collection in Behind Blue Eyes

I am not a big fan of the colors in this palette. I have blue eyes, so I do not really wear blue eyeshadow. This palette wasn't anything too spectacular, just ok in my opinion. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had gotten a different color selection. I haven't tried every single shade, but I did try a few. What I did try was a little chalky. I used them without primer, I didn't get super pigmentation. With a primer, however I'm sure the pigmentation would be great.

                                                             Zoya nail polish in Odette

Zoya is my favorite nail polish brand, I am always happy to get more. This color is from the new Natruel line. Zoya describes this color as being "Sultry orchid maroon cream". I would say that it is a mauvey purple. It is a beautiful color. As always with Zoya, it has amazing pigmentation and wear. I have never gotten better wear from any other brand.

                         Mally Beauty Evercolor Starlight waterproof eyeliner in Starshine

I was really excited to try this product, I will from time to time watch HSN and QVC when they show makeup. I have seen Mally Beauty featured a few times and I have always been curious as to how their products are. 

That being said, I was hugely disapointed. I first tried to use this on my waterline and it would not even show up. It was too rough and wouldn't leave any pigmentation. I tried  using it in the corner of my eye and got much better color payoff, but the eyeliner wasn't creamy as I expected. 

                                                    Uberbliss Straight Efect Rituoil 

This is a hair oil made to tame frizz. I don't really have an issue with frizz, but I do have a problem with staticy hair. I didn't try this as directed (applying to hair, blowdrying then straightening) but I did try it on my ends. It seemed like it helped to moisturize my ends and it smells really good.

October Glambag Review

Yes, it is November and I'm finally reviewing the Glambag for October! I got my bag a lot later that usual. If you would like to get your own glambag, please be super awesome and use my refferal link ( http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk ). I'll give you a shoutout if you do. If you still don't know what a Glambag is, for $10 a month (plus free shipping) you get 5 beauty products full and deluxe sample sizes in a cute makeup bag. The bag values are always way over $10.

This month's theme was the art of beauty. The bag its self is white with pink writing on the front and a pink zipper. Ipsy (the company that makes glambags) purposely made the back of the bag blank so that your own artwork could be put on it. I of course, decorated the back of mine:

                                     I did this by just sketching it out and painting it with acrylic paint.

Anyway, here is my review of the products I recieved:

Zoya Nail Polish in Giovanna

 

I already love Zoya's nail polish. I had a few prior to this bag and was really excited to get another. Everyone received 1 of 3 nail polishes from the fall 2013 Cashmeres and Satins line. I got Giovanna, a beautiful metallic teal/green color. I honestly was hoping for one of the other colors (seemingly a purple and a pink) because I own so many green nail polishes. But this one was different than any other green I own and it is beautiful. 

I don't have many metallic polishes so this was a nice change. The formula as always is great. Zoya nail polish always applies opaquely and evenly. It also lasted as long as any zoya polish. I kept it on for about 5 days before removing (for Halloween) and I didn't have a single chip. Zoya is the longest lasting nail polish brand I've ever tried and they are allso free of the "big 5", the most harmful chemicals found in nail polish.

Bella Terra Mineral Cosmetics Mineral Shimmers in Navy 

I had never heard of this brand before. I thought it was just a typical mineral eyeshadow. I was in fact right that this is a loose mineral eyeshadow, but it isn't typical. It is very versatile, the Bella Terra website boasts that this eyeshadow is an 8 in 1 product that can be used as creamy eyeshadow, eyeliner, nail polish, mascara, matte eyeshadow, lip color, body glitter and hair streaks when certain bases are added to them.

I used mine as an eyeliner. I mixed a drop of Elf Makeup Lock & Seal (a great eyeliner seal) with some eyeshadow and applied as a liner. The color is more blue than navy, i expected it to be darker. But it is still lovely. It lasted all day. This is a pigmented eyeshadow, I did not need to use much of it.

Coastal Scents Medium Eyeshadow Brush

This one product I haven't been able to use. My mom saw this brush in the bag and immedietely took it. I can say when I felt it while taking photos for this post, the brush bristles are very soft and the handle seems pretty sturdy. It seems like a great eyeshadow brush.

Ole Henriksen Truth Creme advanced hydration

I got a small deluxe sized jar of this. It is a moisturizer. I actually really love it. A little goes a long way. It is very moisturizing and it smells really good. Many people don't like the scent, but I love it. It has a spiced orange scent. This product provides anti aging benefits, I'm not old enough to need or even notice any. This overall is a great moisturizer. I would totally buy a jar if it wasn't so expensive.

Sexy Hair Spray Clay Texturizing Spray

Ok, I'm just going to say it: I didn't like this product. at first I saw the word "texturizing" and thought sarcastically "great, another texturizing product" as I have too many already. But when I actually got this I was baffled...what is it that I actually use this product for?

The words Spray Clay really threw me off. There also weren't any directions on the can. I did a little research on how to use it and tried it out. I went to sleep in damp braids so that I would have some waves to work with (my hair is very straight) and I liberally sprayed. The scent of this is horrible and very overwhelming. It is a hairspray. I didn't notice any texturizing effects, but it did hold the waves all day.

If you want a good texturizing spray, but Sexy Hair's Soy Renewal Beach Spray or Not Your Mother's Beach Babe. They actually do what is promised and smell great.

Overall, this was a good bag although not my favorite. I liked the Truth Creme, the Zoya nail polish and the Bella Terra eyeshadow. Many sneak peaks for the November bag are already out, that bag looks like it will be great, at least for me. We will found out how good everything is at the end of next month or beginning of next month when my review will be posted, so stay tuned! 

Blood splatter nail tutorial

Hello lovelies! I apologize for not posting anything at all last week. Truthfully I needed to take a break for a week from posting. But, even though I didn't post anything, I worked on this little nail tutorial.

Halloween is my favorite time of the year, even though every day is Halloween for me, I take it to the extreme in October. One of my favorite things to do besides some theatrical makeup is Halloween nail designs. I usually do a blood drip sort of design, but this year I tried something a little different.

I wanted to do some Halloween themed posts and I thought this nail tutorial would be perfect.

For this tutorial you will need:
-A paper plate
-A straw (I recommend using a smaller rather than a larger one)
-White nail polish
-Red nail polish
-Some sort of tape
-Normal topcoat
 -Optional glow in the dark topcoat
-Nail polish remover and Qtips

I used Zoya Purity which is the best white nail polish that I have ever used. For the red, you can use any generic red color that would look good for a blood splatter. I used the red from my Migi nail art pens because it is the only red that I have right for this design. 

First what you want to do is paint your nails with the white nail polish. Get them fully opaque and completely dry. This step is optional: if you have a glow in the dark top coat (like China Glaze Ghoulish Glow or Sinful Colors Glow in the Dark) you can put a coat over the white. Next, you will want to cover some areas of your fingers around the nails with some tape. You can use any sort of tape, I used painters tape because it was what I had at the time. Make sure not to cover the nails themselves.

 Take the red nail polish and pour some onto the paper plate like this:

 I would pour more initially than I did. Take the straw, dip it in the paint. Put the straw over your nails, nail polish towards your nails and blow through the other end of the straw. It took me a while to get the hang of this and to get it to work. Once you get the hang of it, you will get a paint splatter effect.

After you are done and the nail polish has dried, take off the tape and clean up any areas where nail polish shouldn't be with some nail polish remover. And of course, apply a topcoat.

And here is the finished product:

May Glam Bag

This month I subscribed to Ipsy and got my very first Glam Bag!

Ipsy is a beauty subscription service that will send you 4-5 products in a makeup bag each month. They always include a mixture of full sized and deluxe sample sized products all for just $10 a month! It is definitely worth the money, the total value of products you receive most of the time (if not all the time) is worth more than what you pay. The Mirabella lipstick I received alone is a $22 lipstick.

You don't personally get to pick your products, but that's part of the fun! This is a great way to try new products. There is, however a quiz you take when you sign up that will heavily influence the products and shades you get.

If you like what you see and want to get a Glam Bag, please use my referral link:
http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051r3lzwoa89xn

If you do sign up and use my refferal link, please let me know. I can at least post something thanking you.


The featured brands this month are: Nume, Macadamia, St. Tropez, Zoya, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Pacifica, Juice Beauty, Mirabella and Yaby.

I received all of these products, the makeup bag and a gift certificate/coupon to Nume.

 Zoya Gie Gie Nail Polish (full sized)

                                                  Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia roll on perfume

                                            Mirabella Colour Sheers in Daydream (full sized)

                                                 Yaby concealer pan in cc008, Buff

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel (deluxe sample size)

My thoughts:

I am extremely happy with this bag, it was a great introduction to Glam Bags.

The Zoya nail polish: I already loved Zoya before getting this bag. It is actually what drew me into subscribing after kicking around the idea for a while. Gie Gie is a beautiful cute ballet slippers - like shimmery pastel pink. A very nice color for spring.

The Pacifica perfume: It smelled pretty good to me, but it just doesn't suit me so I gave it to my mom. 

The Yaby concealer: I actually really liked this concealer, although I only have had a chance to use it once. It goes on and blends very nicely. The coverage is good, it would cover everything except a  red spot or two. 

The Mirabella lipstick: When I first saw this lipstick, I can't lie I was a little disappointed. I saw pictures on instagram of girls getting this really pretty bright pink shade in their Glam Bags...and then I got this. To me it looked like a color that  a much older woman would wear. But, once I tried it on, I really liked it. It is actually a very beautiful color. It is sheer and buildable. Very moisturizing and light. 

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel: This is great! I have heard so many great things about their brow products and I'm so glad I was finally able to try one. This tamed my eyebrows really well without the stiff feeling that my normal brow gel gives me. 

As I said above, if you want to get a Glam Bag, please use my referral link. It is such a great and cheap way to try new products. 

Nails by Vicky: Haul Post

A couple of days ago I went shopping with my best friend Heather, the owner of this blog. I wanted to make a post about the nail related products that I bought. As with any post that I make if you would like to see me use these products in a design, would like a review, or if you have a nail related question I would be happy to answer it!

Now onto the products I bought.

This is a Blackheart nail polish from Hot Topic. I have a couple other nail polishes from Hot Topic and they are actually very nice. I love the packaging too. It works with the Hot Topic brand. Unfortunately, this particular nail polish does not have a name on it and I bought it on clearance so Hot Topic does not carry it anymore. It is a pinkish glitter nail polish. Normally Blackheart nail polish costs $5.

Next is a Duo Nail Polish in White Lie. This was also a clearance product from Hot Topic and is also not carried anymore. It is a combination glittery orange polish and a white nail polish. I really like these duos because it gives you two different shades in one. This normally sells for $6.99.

I am really excited to try this next product out because I have heard very good things about the Essie line. I got the color Good as Gold which is a shimmery gold color. I had been looking for a gold color for my nail polish collection and this polish was the perfect color to add to the collection. I bought this polish at a Beauty Supply store near me but Essie polish normally sells for $8.

Another nail polish brand that I have been wanting to try is Zoya. I am so excited to be able to try out the Zoya Pixie Dust polish in Chyna. It is a nice ruby red color. I also bought this polish at a Beauty Supply store but Zoya polish normally sells for $9.

The last product I bought was from Sephora and is called a nail protector. This product helps keep you from accidentally painting your skin along with your nails. If you follow my posts you will know that I am not the cleanest painter in the world, so I am hoping that this product will help me.

That is everything! Please let me know if there is anything that you would like me to review or make a post about. 

Zoya Nail Polish Review

It amazes me how many people don't know about Zoya! Zoya is a nail polish brand free of five harmful chemicals ( toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde Resin, DBP, and camphor) that can be found in nail polish. Zoya nail polish is also long wearing and has so many different colors.

I had been eyeing Zoya's nail polishes for months on their website (www.zoya.com). One day on their twitter ( www.twitter.com/zoyanailpolish ) they had a contest to caption a picture. I was one of the winners of that contest! I was so excited when I won, not only did I win a really cool nail polish but it was Zoya, the brand I had been lusting over trying for months.

The day I got my package from Zoya I was in awe. I thought I was just getting one bottle of nail polish but to my surprise I got the Gilty Pleasures gift set. This set included the shades Raven, Purity and the Gilty top coat.

 

 

  I could do a review alone on the Gilty top coat. The gold of this topcoat is real 18K gold! It is so beautiful! Best of all it can be used with so many different shades of nail polish. I like it best over Zoya Raven. 

 Zoya Raven is a perfect black nail polish, I wear black nail polish a lot so this will definitely get a lot of use!

 Zoya Purity is the perfect white nail polish. It is so much better than the China Glaze White on White polish I had been using.

I also have Zoya Holly, a really pretty emerald green. This nail polish is perfect for this year, since Pantone's color of the year is emerald.

Zoya Holly with Zoya Gilty topcoat. I didn't realize until Vicky (she writes the Nails by Vicky posts on this blog) pointed it out that this would make a great St. Patrick's Day nail look.


The quality of these nail polishes is very consistently high. They are all very pigmented and they do last as long as they claim to. I was very impressed by Purity, I had never had a white nail polish that stayed so long.

The only con I have about Zoya nail polish is accessibility. It hasn't been as easy to get my hands on as OPI, Essie or China Glaze would be. The easiest place to find Zoya is through Zoya's website. You can find some colors on amazon and possibly eBay. Some beauty supply stores carry it as well. I am lucky enough to have a beauty supply store near me that has a regular supply of Zoya.

If you are a nail polish addict (like myself and Vicky) then you absolutely must have some Zoya! If you want to try Zoya, do it, these are great nail polishes!