April Glambag Review

Hello lovelies!! It is that time again! As always, if you would like a Glambag of your very own please, please use my referral link:  http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk  !

This month's theme is beauty rocks. Since it is my birthday month (where are all of my fellow April babies at? April 30 for me!) I was so excited to get a theme like this. Rockstar beauty is basically my style. I am heavily influenced by my favorite rock/metal/alternative bands.

I love the bag for this month, it is so cute! I will definitely find a use for it. Now on to what I got in it:

                         Cover FX Mattifying Primer with Anti Acne Treatment (Travel Size)

I was a little confused when Ipsy gave me this product. In my introduction survey, I put my skin type as dry. My skin does, however change to combination during a certain time of month and during the summer months so I can find a use for this.

I happened to have a little breakout when I got my bag this month so it was as good a time as ever to try it.
The tube I got is a travel sized tube, the smallest one (.5 oz) available on the Sephora website. It is a pretty good size for travel sized. This primer is a clear silicone based one. It glides on nicely and absorbs quickly. It didn't feel drying at first, but after a few hours of wear it started to feel dry. It also started flaking off towards the end of the day. It did keep my skin matte.

As for the anti acne aspect, this primer contains willowbark extract, ancient African tree bark extract, and Vitamins F, C and E. This primer claims to be able to help heal acne, soothe inflammation and protect the skin. I personally felt none of these benefits, but you probably need to continue using this primer every day for a certain amount of time for it to work.

                                       Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide On Pencil (Travel Size)

Although travel sized, this is about 3/4 the size of the full sized pencil. The shade is called Black Velvet. As with any other UD eyeliner I've tried it glides on like butter. I really loved the velvet like, more matte finish. The color is very black! It is the blackest I've ever worn. It stays on all day even on my waterline. I would definitely buy the full sized.

City Color White Gold Shadow and Highlight mousse (Full Sized)

                                                    (Inner cap to keep product protected from air)

I was really excited for this product, but personally it was a bit of a let down. This can be used as a highlighter or a cream eyeshadow. The amount of product isn't much, but a little goes a very, very long way. It is very pigmented, but for me anyway too pigmented to use as a highlighter. This also is a messy product to work with. You need to dip your finger into the little jar to use and the product can get everywhere. It may work out better for those of you reading this, but personally it didn't work great.

Demeter Jasmine Perfume Oil Roll On (Roll On - Basically Travel Size)

I'm normally not a huge fan of floral perfumes. I favor sweet and fruity scents. However, I surprisingly loved this! It smells like fresh cut flowers, a perfect spring scent. The scent lasts all day and isn't over powering. The fact that this is an oil is a big part of that, as oil tends to stay on skin better. I would love to try the spray version to compare.

Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloaa in Teddy Bear (Full Size)

I'll be blunt: I really did not like this product. For starters, I'm not much of a lip gloss person. It has to be a really good lip gloss for me to use it. This is not one of them. It was pretty horrible: very sticky and thick. The color is sheer, but it felt heavy. The shade, Teddy Bear is a nude color. I didn't test wearability because I couldn't stand the stickiness of the product.

Overall, I was kind of disappointed with this bag. I didn't get any of the products that I really wanted (The Lollitint, the Rainbow Honey nail polish and the Acid Pink Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm) but I luckily found some products I did like.

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.

Nyx Mega Shine Lip Gloss review

When thinking of a product to review for this week that I haven't yet, these lip glosses immediately came to mind. Not sure if you can tell, but I'm not a huge lip gloss fan. Most of them are sticky and barely last an hour.  At one point when I was trying to build my personal makeup collection up a bit, I decided to add some lip glosses. I saw one shade of the Nyx gloss in particular while browsing online and I had to buy it. This was my gateway into Nyx products.

 Anyway, that shade was Dolly pink. It is the perfect, bright Barbie pink lip gloss. From there I got  Perfect Red, a gorgeous red shade and beige, which despite the name is a lovely milky nude pink. The colors in the picture above are the true colors. The lighting in my lip swatches made the colors look off.

                                                                            Beige

                                                                       Dolly Pink

                                                                      Perfect Red


These are the best lip glosses I have ever worn. They are not sticky at all. They also feel very light. They feel pretty amazing compared to every other lip gloss I've tried. They are extremely pigmented as well. Very glossy. They last the normal amount of time as any lip gloss.

I love the packaging. It has the Nyx logo printed on the side with the shade name printed on the other side. On top of the cap is a really cute bow. To apply, it has  a doe foot applicator.

Even though personally I'm not a big lip gloss fan, I love these. They are an amazing product and the price of them (Usually $5, it depends on where you buy them) makes the quality just that much better. If you are a lip gloss junkie you absolutely need some Nyx Mega Shine Lip Gloss in your collection.

Smashbox Try It Kit Review and Primer Comparison

When I saw this kit at Sephora, I had to buy it. I had never tried any products from Smashbox. I love little try it kits like this so of course I was so happy to get it.

This kit costs $19 and contains deluxe sample sizes of 5 products.

Photofinish Lid Primer: 

(Please ignore the background of some of these pictures, I had to take them outside)

This is a great primer. Every time I have worn it, my eyeshadow has lasted all day. The color is darker than the primers I'm used to using ( Elf Essential eyeshadow primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original and Eden) I wish it was lighter like these primers. It has a doe foot applicator (show above) and is very easy to apply.

Hyperlash Mascara:

This is my new favorite mascara, it is literally the best I have ever used. It separates, volumizes and lengthens. With my already long lashes, this mascara makes them look like false lashes. I also love the brush on this mascara. It has a kind of comb on it and it works wonderfully. Whenever all of the mascara samples I have from various sampler kits run out, I definitely want to buy this.

Limitless Eyeliner:

At first, I loved this eyeliner. It is a great shade of black, it's creamy and it glides on smoothly. But it didn't last long and it runs.


Photofinish Foundation Primer:

I have wanted to try this primer for so long. So many people rave about it. I have been using Elf Mineral Face Primer, which people claim is a dupe for this Smashbox primer. But how do they compare?

The Smashbox Photofinish foundation primer is clear, like the Elf primer. The Smashbox primer is thicker than the Elf primer, it also doesn't feel oily like Elf's primer can. I think the Smashbox primer is better than Elf's. Elf's primer is still a good primer, though.

I love the Photofinish primer. It keeps my foundation on all day and it eases application. This is now my favorite primer. I definitely want to buy the full size, but this is a really expensive primer.

Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume:

This is an alright lip gloss. It is pretty and in a universally flattering color. It is very shimmery. It isn't as good as some other high end glosses that I've tried (Urban Decay Lip Junkie and Too Faced Glamour Gloss). It is a tad bit sticky, while the other glosses aren't. I feel that someone who absolutely loves lip gloss would really like this. I'm not a lip gloss junkie, so I am very picky with lip gloss when I decide to wear it.

Overall this is a good kit if you want to try some Smashbox products, I'm so glad that I bought it.