June Ipsy Bag Review and Swatches

Hello Lovelies! 

 I came home today to find my package from Ipsy stashed in my mailbox and after opening I knew I needed to get the review and swatches done asap, so here we go!

This month's theme is "On the Wild Side" and features a lovely animal printed bag that I happen to love, and some products from brands I have never heard of before.  

To start off my review I am going to begin with the product I was most curious about, the Sparkling Cream Palette from J.Cat Beauty. I had never heard of J.Cat before seeing this product, and I don't have much glitter in my collection so I was eager to test it out and swatch it. At first glance I expected this glitter to be an eye shadow, but it is actually not safe to use around your eye so it is definitely not for everyone, but I know it will come in handy for me when I am working on more creative makeup pieces. Although it is described as cream the top layer of the glitter is just like regular loose glitter, but as I rubbed the brush in a little bit I could tell it did have a slight creamy texture, but nothing like I expected it to be. Overall I feel these palette would be awesome for someone who does a lot of creative types of makeup, or body painting, because they are quite cheap ($4.49ea.) and they come in a variety of different shades.

BONUS TIP: For my lovely readers who received this in their Ipsy Bag and don't see yourself using body glitter, you could always mix it in with some nail polish to create a lovely glittery shade of polish.

Although I think the body glitter was a bad choice to add into the Ipsy bags I do find myself still curious about the J.Cat brand so I was excited when I realized the fake lashes in my bag were also from J.Cat. At first glance these lashes are perfect to add some drama to any look, and they are a great choice for my favorite styles of makeup. Although I didn't like the lash glue that came along with these lashes I think they are a pretty good pair of cheap lashes ($3.99ea.), but you can also find the same quality lashes around the same price at drugstores.

If you have read any of my previous posts you would know that I absolutely love NYX Cosmetics and am always excited when I receive a new product from them, this time I received a blush named angel. Angel is a soft matte pink shade that looks nearly nude on my pale skin tone, and I absolutely love it. This blush is perfect to add just a little emphasis to the cheeks, but not go over the top with color. I absolutely love NYX products because they are high-quality, and affordable, these powder blushes are only $5.

I am not sure how I have never heard of Starlooks before, because if the rest of the products they offer are anything like the lip liner I received, they are definitely quality. The liner I received was in a shade called Tipsy which is a lovely shade of coral that I would more than likely never choose for myself, but I absolutely love. When I tested the liner I realized that is quite smudge-proof, and long-lasting, which is something that's very important to me. These liners are a little pricier compared to some lip liners, but at $12 I think they are still pretty worth it. I would love to test more products from this company, and hopefully will be making an order in the near future.

Last, but not least, there is the gel eyeliner from Cailyn Cosmetics, another company I have never heard of, so thank you Ipsy for introducing me to a bunch of new things this time around. Before I get to reviewing this product I must tell you that these sell for $21 each, so if this doesn't make you want to subscribe to Ipsy, I don't know what will. I received the eye liner in purple, which is an odd shade for me, but it will be wonderful when I am working on more creative looks. I love gel liners because they are easier to work with when trying to create a precise line if you use the right brush, I believe the brush that is paired with this liner is a little thick, but it will get the job done if you don't own an eye liner brush already. This liner is definitely long-lasting, smudge-proof, and waterproof, which makes it harder to take off, but if you are in the search for a good resistant eyeliner this is the one for you.

If anyone is interested in joining Ipsy, sign up here . I absolutely love Ipsy and would never cancel my subscription, the products are amazing and definitely worth the small price a month. If you have any reservations about joining just remember that most months you receive $30+ worth of products and adorable makeup bags, and you also get to try new things. :)

April Ipsy Bag Review

Hello Lovelies!

This month's Ipsy theme is called "Pretty in Pink", I am not sure exactly why they decided to go with pink this month I would have much preferred a more spring inspired theme. Overall the products were okay, but this month was not as impressive as other months have been, although we did receive a couple full size products. I would really like to see some new brands in the near future, possibly some fragrance, and more hair products.

I was really excited when Ipsy finally gave us a printed bag last month, but it looks like they are back to the boring old plain bags, at least for this month. I absolutely hate the concept of a white makeup bag, if I actually used this I would have to wash it so often because I would always be leaving little stains, it's inevitable. 

This peachy pink shade of polish is called Love at First Byte, and I wasn't impressed at all. I decided I wanted to create a look using this polish but as I applied it I realized it was very sheer, it took me FIVE coats to really achieve a color payoff. I did read many comments on the Ipsy website of people saying it quickly peeled, but mine has lasted a week so far with minimal chipping, below is the nail look I am wearing right now using the polish and Kiss nail stickers.

I absolutely adore Be a... Bombshell Cosmetics , but this blush in a shade called Sweet Cheeks is definitely too heavy and bright for my pale skin. I think it would look lovely on someone with darker skin though, and it does blend out quite well. 

Another product from Big Sexy Hair, although I do love the products they offer I wish we would get more hair products from various companies. I naturally have volume to my hair, but occasionally I need a little help creating a good pompadour "poof", especially when my hair is freshly washed and this volumizing powder is the best I have came across. I have tried the volumizing powder from Got2B, but that makes my hair feel sticky and hard to style, this powder from Big Sexy Hair is easy to style and works well.

In the past couple months I have been stocking up on mineral eye shadows, I especially love the shadows from an Etsy shop called RoseMarie Shadows, check out my review on them here. I love this shimmery pink shade by Mica Beauty called Earth. Some people may be thrown off by the fact that it's pink, but it is very subtle.




This month I chose to skip my Beauty Army, because they weren't offering anything new for me to choose, so hopefully I will have a Beauty Army Box to show you next month.

March Beauty Army Review

 Hello Lovelies!

I normally do my Ipsy and Beauty Army reviews at the same time, but this month Ipsy shipped extra early, which is always a nice surprise, so this time around they are separate. Overall this month I was pretty excited about my choices, I had a good selection of brands and products.

Amlactin Moisturizing Body Lotion 

According to Amlactin's website the body lotion is a special formula that contains 12% lactic acid. Lactic Acid is a naturally occurring substance that promotes retention of moisture that even Cleopatra was rumored to use in her skin regimen when she bathed in sour milk. Although it is a natural product during my research I found it can still irritate skin, especially on allergy-prone skin. I have never heard of this brand personally, but after my research I found it has wonderful reviews and they happen to carry it at Walmart for $14 for a 7 ounce bottle. (Also at Target, Walgreens, and CVS) Now, that is a little expensive in my opinion, but it is a well working lotion. Amlactin is non-greasy, fragrance free, and works really well at moisturizing skin.

Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polish

Now if you have been sticking with my reviews you would know I had a decently bad experience with the last product from Grand Central Beauty even though many people's reviews were spectacular so I was quite hesitant to test this out, but I knew I just had to. After doing a little research on the website I found that this is a brand new product and doesn't have much of a following yet, which makes me a little excited yet scared to try it, my skin is so sensitive. The polish is suppose to smooth, moisturize, reduce-redness, unclog pores,  and invigorate tired skin, and it has a built in neutralizer so you have the option to rinse or not. 

Directions (copied from the package)

•  Apply 1 pump (dime-size) onto clean, dry face.
• Massage face lightly and thoroughly for 30 seconds until clear sponge beads emerge, rolling away trapped dirt and dead skin cells.
• Buff off gently with fingertips. Rinse optional.
• Use at least 3x week on clean face.

I tested this polish on freshly cleansed skin and applied the dime-size like directed, but it didn't seem to be enough, and the sponge bubbles didn't emerge, so I added a little more and continued to massage. Eventually little bubbles were created, they kind of felt just like the beads in an exfoliating wash, and were slightly difficult to buff off. After I went through the process my skin begin to feel a little itchy so I decided it was best for me to go ahead and rinse. At first I noticed my skin seemed smoother, but the morning after I noticed my skin was greasier than it has ever been. I am not sure if it's just my skin type, but I do know that I will not be testing anymore products from Grand Central Beauty.

Yes to Tomates Daily Pore Scrub

As you know I love this brand and put my full faith in the products they make and the acne daily scrub didn't change my mind one bit. I have been having a lot of little break outs lately due to stress overload so this sample came at about the perfect time. I was concerned at first if it would be tomato-ish scented, because I do not like the smell of tomatoes, but it was a quite pleasant scent. Even though it's a facial scrub it was gentle enough to be non-irritating and worked well at leaving my skin feeling smooth, clean, and refreshed. I actually picked up a tube at my local Walgreens the same day that I tested this little packet and have been using it since and adore it. Some of the YesTo products are a little pricey, but I found this one for $7 for a decent sized tube, but all of the products I have tested are well worth price.

New York Streets Dry Shampoo

This is my absolute first dry shampoo and I was quite unimpressed. New York Streets is a brand I have never heard of before, but they specialize in hair products. For this size bottle of dry shampoo on the website is $17 which is a little pricey in my opinion compared to other dry shampoos I have heard a lot about, such as Freeman Beauty's Psssssst Dry Shampoo. One thing I did not like about this company is the website, they do not have customer reviews, and ingredients listings, and I find that it's important to have those open to the public. I tested this product in two day hair and the only thing it did for me was leave my hair smelling like my grandma. (I am not saying my grandma smells bad, just old, ya know?) Now, my hair doesn't really get greasy, even if I do skip a couple washes, so it's hard for me to tell if it adequately disguises greasy/shiny hair. I can say that it was easy and quick to comb through my hair, and it did seem to make a little difference when restyling. In conclusion I think that if you have styling products in your hair this will be no help to you, and it's not really worth the money if your hair doesn't get greasy.

Karuna Eye Renewal Mask

I am always excited to try items like this because I don't often get a chance to relax and these "spa-like" items are as much of a chance I can get. I applied the masks like instructed, on a freshly washed face, and let them sit for twenty minutes. At first they irritated my eyes a little bit and made them feel slightly itchy, but after a couple of minutes a cooling sensation set in and they began to feel good. After twenty minutes I removed the masks and rubbed in the leftover product around my eye area. I didn't notice an immediate dramatic difference, but I noticed that my skin felt softer. They are suppose to help fight signs of aging, decrease puffiness and discoloration, and improve firmness and tone around the eyes. Honestly this product may be amazing if used regularly, but for $36 for a small pack of four I can't see myself ever purchasing and giving them a good test.

Skinn Cosmetics Color Touch Eye, Cheek, and Lip Glow

I have never been a fan of cream blushes, but this one by far is the best I have tested quality wise. This shade is called "teen tone" and is perfect to create a slight flush, or a nearly nude lip. Typically I have issues blending cream blushes, but this one blends better than the others I have tested and seems to last quite long. My favorite use for it so far is to create a nearly nude lip combined with my favorite lip primer by Too Faced Cosmetics and a touch of gloss. With all that said after developing my thoughts about this product I pulled up Skinn Cosmetics website and realized that it is $17, which is quite pricey in my opinion.

 



Coastal Scents Sweetheart Collection Review

Hello Lovelies!

 As you can see I recently received a lovely package from +Coastal Scents which included the Sweetheart Collection. I didn't plan on making any big purchases of makeup anytime soon, but I just couldn't pass all this up for just $34.95. Plus, my lovely daughter decided to attempt to eat my favorite eyeshadow palette so I needed to find a replacement. Now the only products I have used from Coastal Scents in the past were eyeshadow samples I received in my monthly subscriptions, so I decided I definitely had to post a thorough review of everything.

These little samples were extras and not included in the collection. I love that Coastal Scents provides such wonderful samples. I used the "Butterfly Garden" sample set to create the look pictured below, along with the brushes, blush too palette, and liquid eyeliner from the collection.

I fully believe you can never have enough good brushes so I was excited to test this little set, but they didn't really leave me wanting to purchase any more brushes from Coastal Scents. Personally I thought that all the brushes were a little too stiff and that they were cheaply made, as I was applying my makeup I had little hairs from the brush left all over my face. Sold separately for $1.95-2.95 each.

My first blush palette! I just recently really started to experiment with different shades of blush, and this palette has a great range of shades. Now, I am not a fan at all of the orange blush, but I bet there are women out there that can pull it off, I tend to lean to the lighter pinks on a regular basis. Sold separately for $19.95.

Yay for more eyeliner! This liquid eyeliner has a standard stiff applicator that makes it easy to get a good straight line and create a winged eyeliner look, and at first I absolutely adored it. The liner is highly pigmented and dries quickly, but I find it flaking off after a couple hours of wear. Sold Separately for $2.95.

I have never really been a fan of these gloss lip quads, mostly because they typically don't provide enough pigment for my liking, and because the gloss normally leaves my lips feeling waxy yet dry. This lip quad is pretty much just like the rest in my opinion, they do work well though for travel and on-the-go makeup. Sold separately for $6.95.

Now onto the biggest most important part of the collection that makes it worth it, the eyeshadow palette. This palette includes 88 jewel toned shadows, and inlcudes more natural shades than any of my other palettes. These shadows blend well and are highly pigmented, especially when paired with a good eyeshadow primer/base. I have been using the shades of blues/greens the most and have been loving this palette. Separately this palette is $24.95.

Overall I think the collection is a pretty good one, and separately everything adds up to about $65.