Monday Questionnaire: January 14th, 2013

I am so ready for summer and the beach! It has been in the low 20s at night here and I can't take it anymore I moved here to get away from these cold temperatures. There is a light at the end of the tunnel however, it's supposed to be in the 70's by Thursday, might have to head to the beach for a few hours before work this weekend! Woohoo

1) Mood

      Blah. As I already mentioned, so over the cold

2) What is your biggest Beauty pet peeve?

      Sneezing after just applying your mascara, so annoying

3) What is one must have beauty product during the winter time?

      Carmex Healing Cream for my hands. Click Here for my review

4) Current nail polish

      Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss in Midnight Magic (NOTD review soon)

5) What recent sale has you the most excited? (Ex. VS semi annual. BBW semi annual, Target Neiman Marcus colab clearance, etc.)

       This year it was definitely the VS sale I found some awesome stuff because I went earlier this year than ever before. 

6) If you could only use one brand of makeup products the rest of your life which one would it be?

     I would have to go with Urban Decay because I have a lot of different types of products from that I already know I love.

7) Current Outfit

      Jeans, fake Costco brown uggs, grey tank and striped brown and dark blue button up cardi from old navy

8) What was your best beauty product discovery of 2012?

      Benefit Dr Feel Good Complexion Balm, when i get oily, which happens daily this stuff is a lifesaver. It's a Holy Grail product for sure.

(Photo Credit: Sephora)

9) What is your best all in one go to eye palette?

      lately it's been my Urban Decay smoked palette, I've been going with pretty dark eye looks the past few weeks

10) Weekly Goals 

        I have a long list of things I would really like to accomplish on Wednesday which is my first full day off from both jobs since before Halloween

Hope you all have a wonderful week and don't forget to share your answers with me in the comments section below! :)

1) Mood

2) What is your biggest Beauty pet peeve?

3) What is one must have beauty product during the winter time?

4) Current nail polish

5) What recent sale has you the most excited? (Ex. VS semi annual. BBW semi annual, Target Neiman Marcus colab clearance, etc.)

6) If you could only use one brand of makeup products the rest of your life which one would it be?

7) Current Outfit

8) What was your best beauty product discovery of 2012?

9) What is your best all in one go to eye palette?

10) Weekly Goals

 

NOTD: L'Oreal Colour Riche Members Only and Julie G Light it up Review and Swatch

Today's NOTD features one of the new Spring 2013 L'Oreal Colour Riche nail polishes. The other was limited edition and may be very hard to find. But don't worry I know of a few that aren't exactly dupes but they are very similar. 

I picked up the entire line of the new L'Oreal Colour Riche Trend Setter collection for Spring 2013 a few weeks ago. There are 6 total shades and I love them all. It's a little early to be wearing bright colorful polish, but I just can't help myself these colors are soooooo pretty. I am especially can't wait to try the purple and the turquoise polishes. 

 L'Oreal Colour Riche Members Only is a bright creamy Fuchsia pink. It is a bit lighter in the bottle than on the nails. This color is really nothing special there are many polishes out there that are very similar. It applies very smooth and is easy to work with. You only need two coats for full coverage. The brush is just your standard everyday nail polish brush, nothing special but it does the job. The overall quality of this polish is very good and it is well worth the $5.99 price tag. I always wait for a BOGO 50% off at RiteAid, CVS, or Walgreens for even better deal, they have them all the time. 

I love this JulieG limited edition polish in Light It Up. It is a multicolored large hex glitter in a clear base. This polish came out for the holidays in a limited edition collection (JulieG polishes are sold exclusively at RiteAid). I am a sucker for glitter polish, but my excitement reaches a whole new level when I see a chunky multi colored glitter like this one. Like all glitter polishes similar to this one, in order to get full coverage you must be patient and take your time when applying it. It took me about 3 coats to get full coverage, making sure i let each coat have plenty of time to dry in between each one. I know that Nicole by OPI, China Glaze and OPI all have a polish VERY similar to this and I'm sure there are even more out there.  

(Outdoor direct sunlight) 

(Outdoor Shade) 

(Indoor Natural Light)

I'll be posting NOTD reviews on all six of the L'Oreal Colour Riche Trend Setter Collection shades in the weeks to come. I have a feeling that I am going to love them all. 

Bye Bye 
xoxo Ashley

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation Review & Swatch

I am so overwhelmed with all of the new products that I have picked up from the drugstores. There are SOOOOO many new things hitting the shelves this time of year, since all of the brands are releasing their Spring 2013 collections. I picked the Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation a few weeks ago at RiteAid, after using it for a while now I am ready to review. 

When I saw the display I was very excited, I had been on the lookout for all the new products I had been hearing about for quite sometime and wasn't having much luck finding it. If you have read some of my past posts you will know that everything shows up later around here. So lame! Anyways I was trying to pick the right shade and then I saw on the display that there was a little flip chart booklet to help you figure out the right shade for you. I think that is a nice touch because it can be really hard to find the right shade at the drugstore. 

I decided to pick up the color 170 Natural Beige after consulting with the booklet on the display. After taking it home and using it I think it may have been a bit too dark for my skin right now, in the summer when I am MUCH darker I think it would work better. I used it anyway and just made sure to blend it into to my neck with bronzer really well.

Revlon Nearly Naked is a medium build able coverage foundation. The coverage is going to vary depending on what you use to apply it. You will get a lighter coverage if you use a brush and a more full coverage if you use your fingers. I also tried applying it with my soho beauty sponge to get a medium coverage. I really like the way this foundation applied and it had a semi-matte finish on my skin. I was a little worried because I have pretty oily skin.

(Outdoor Direct Sunlight)

(Outdoor Shade)

This is a very liquidy runny foundation. I think that it is very comparable to the Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation. It had about the same coverage. It did not last as long as the UD Naked Skin. I can get a full 10+ hours of wear from the UD and about 8 hours with the Revlon Nearly Naked. When you pour it out of the bottle it is comes out very fast and you must be careful. It would be much nicer if it had a pump on it. Other than that the consistency is very smooth and nice to work with. It also has a very lightweight feel on the skin and after letting it dry for a moment or so it is very soft and smooth to the touch.

As you can see in the photos above, well the one on the right, it blended in very nicely just a bit too dark for my current skin tone. The picture on the left is only slightly blended. 

 Overall I really liked this foundation but I returned it because it didn't control my oil as good as the Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation. If you are not super oily like me I can see this working really good. Like I said I really had no issues. The other factor in my decision to return this was the purchase of another new drugstore foundation that I have been using and I am pretty sure it is my holy grail foundation. 

If you are looking for a lightweight medium build able coverage foundation I say go pick up this foundation. If you can pick it up at CVS, RiteAid or Walgreens do so because you can return it if you don't like it or if you get the wrong color you can exchange it. :)

Bye Bye 

xoxo Ashley

Monday Questionnaire January 7th, 2012

Happy New Year! I know I'm a week late on that but hey that's how I roll. The weather has been so cold lately and I am sooooooo OVER it. It is way colder in Tahoe where I grew up so I probably shouldn't complain, and it doesn't snow here, thank god. I think I have started to adapt to the warmer climate because when it's even a little cold outside I am not a happy camper. On a more cheerful note I have found a ton of new makeup at the drugstores and I am going to try REALLY hard to do more reviews on all of it.

Just some of the amazing Spring 2013 displays

1) Mood

      Frustrated, I have a headache and it's not going away

2) Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? why or why not?

     Nope. LOL I use to make one or two every year and I never stuck to them, I haven't made one for the past few years.

3) What is your favorite color eyeshadow to use?

      I really like taupe and purple colors for my eyes. One of my favorites right now is Urban Decay Mushroom from the Smoked Pallete.

4) Current Nail Polish

     L'Oreal The Mystic's Fortune from the Project Runway Fall 2013 collection. Click here to see Temptalia's review

5) What is your favorite rainy day activity?

      I love staying in and watching movies, especially Harry Potter.

6) How do you feel about the current BB cream craze?

     I have tried a few and was not super excited about any of them since I have really oily skin and most of them just made it even more oily. However I have been trying out a few new one's that may have changed my mind. I will be reviewing them within a few weeks.

7) Current Outfit

     Old Navy skinny jeans, Target lace cami, baggy cable knit button up sweater from TJ Maxx, Leopard scarf from Target, Steve Madden boots from Ross

8) What is your favorite Christmas Gift?

      My Clarisonic Mia 2. So freaking excited about this thing. Thanks to my mom, sister and friend Ellie for my Sephora gift cards which I purchased it with. I've been using it for a week and a half and can already see a difference in my skin!

9) What beauty product do you buy the most of?

      Definitely nail polish, I love buying nail polish! Here's a peak at my collection from a while back, I have acquired a great deal more since then.

10) Weekly Goals

       LAUNDRY, it's been a few weeks.....yeah i know! lol

Hope you all have a great week, and if you need something to do leave a comment below answering this week's questions. Thanks :)





 COPY AND PASTE

 1) Mood
 2) Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? why or why not?
 3) What is your favorite color eyeshadow to use?
 4) Current Nail Polish
 5) What is your favorite rainy day activity?
 6) How do you feel about the current BB cream craze?
 7) Current Outfit
 8) What is your favorite Christmas Gift?
 9) What beauty product do you buy the most of?
 10) Weekly Goals

NOTD: Wet N Wild Megalast On A Trip Review and Swatch with gradient glitter nail art!

I finally feel like I've gotten the gradient glitter nail art thing down. WOOHOO! I've tried it quite a few times now and was never happy with my results until now! So of course I will give you some tips on how I got this to work for me. :) I'm also going to tell you my thoughts on Wet N Wild Megalast On A Trip. 

I have had Wet N Wild Megalast On A Trip for a long time and I have used it many times. I think I like it more each time that I use it. It may be a bit excessive but I used 3 different glitter polishes to get the gradient effect just right. 

The first one I used was from Urban Outfitters in After Hours. I used a very light hand with each coat of glitter that I applied. I applied After Hours from the base of my nail about 2/3 of the way up. I let that dry and then added a coat of the Color Club Purple tinted Silver Glitter (sorry I can't find the name f this polish, not sure if t even has a name)from the base about 1/2 of the up.  Not going as far up the nail with the second coat of glitter is the key to getting the gradient effect to work just right. The third and final coat of glitter was China Glaze Make A Spectacle which I once again lightly applied this time right in between the 1/2 way and 2/3 mark to sort of blend it all together.

Wet N wild Megalast On A Trip is a light bright purple creme. The brush on these seems scary and hard to work with at first, but after you try them you see how nice they are and how  easy they make applying your polish. This polish requires two coats for full coverage, you could also add a third coat if you wanted to. You can find this polish at most drugstores Walgreens, RiteAid Etc. for about $1.99. These Megalast polishes are some of the best formulated polishes that I own and they are so affordable, it's great.

Now all of the glitters I used to for the gradient glitter. Urban Outfitters Afterhours is a iridescent silver micro glitter, I picked this polish up about a year ago and I think it was $5, I don't know if they still hve it but I'm sure they are similar polishes made by other brands.

 The Color Club glitter polish does not have a name anywhere to be found, it is a silver glitter with a purpley tint to it. I found this one in a set of six glitters at ross for about $4.99.  score. 

And the last one is China Glaze Make a Spectacle which is a clear base with different size iridescent hex and regular glitter. It is very similar to Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Snow Globe, I like Snow Globe better because it is a bit more vibrant. I found Make a Spectacle at Sally's for about $7.99 (i think?) and I'm pretty sure it was limited edition. So if you like Make a Spectacle just go pick up Snow Globe which I found at CVS for $8.99.

(Outdoor direct Sunlight)

(Outdoor Shade)

(Indoor Natural Light)

I am very pleasesed with my work on this NOTD. hahaha It is always a nice feeling when you can finally succeed at something you have tried to do many times. Have a great day everyone!!!

Bye Bye

xoxo Ashley

Buxom Time To Shine Lip Gloss Set Review & Swatch(Limited Edition)

I recently tried out a Buxom Lip Gloss in the Superstars set from Sephora. I have seen so many Youtube gurus talk about them and always rave about how much they love them. I finally see what all the hype is about, these are some pretty awesome glosses. 

After using the Buxom gloss I got in the Sephora set for a while I decided that I needed MORE. Of course I did right? lol Anyways i saw this wonderful little set on Sephora's website and it was of course sold out so i checked my local Sephora store. No luck there either. I asked one of the girls who works there and she said that they had been sold out of them for a long time and she didn't think they were getting any more. :( Well lucky for me I went in a few weeks later to buy some Christmas gifts and guess what caught my eye as soon as I walked in. Yep that's right, the Buxom Time To Shine Set.

This set is a very reasonably priced at $29 ($54 value) and can be found at Sephora. I like sets like this because I never use a full product up especially lip gloss, and I am a huge fan of mini things, they are soooo cute.This set includes six mini glosses, 2 Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish (sheer) in Sugar & Katie, 2 Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish (Diamond) in Gina & April and 2 Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Creams in Berry Blast and White Russian. Each mini contains 0.07 Fl. Oz. of product. A full size Buxom Lip Gloss contains 0.15 Fl. Oz. of product. So the mini's are little less than half the size.

First up are the Lip Polish (sheer).....

 Lip Polish (Diamond)....

And finally Lip Creams.....

Here are some swatches...

(Sugar, Katie, Gina, April, Berry Blast, White Russian)

(Sugar, Katie, Gina, April, Berry Blast, White Russian)

(Sugar, Katie, Gina, April, Berry Blast, White Russian)

(Sugar, Katie, Gina, April, Berry Blast, White Russian)

Application is very easy with these, they have a doe foot applicator that is easy to work with and just the right amount of product comes out. If you are not a fan of tingly minty lip gloss then you won't like these, I however am a huge fan of that. The gloss it's self is very smooth and not sticky at all.

 

 These are some of the best Lip glosses I have tried and if I ever run out of these six I can definitely see myself buying more, however I almost NEVER make if through a whole product before it goes bad. If you can get your hands on this set I highly recommend it, if not a full size tube costs $19 at Sephora and is worth the price.

Bye Bye 

xoxo Ashley