Nails of the Moment - 2nd grade seal of approval!

I think this looks like birthday cake. Funfetti, even.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Lavender Cloud
OPI by Sephora Spark-Tacular topcoat
Essie Good to Go topcoat.

It's been 48 hours and so far still holding up well. Also, the girls at school were FASCINATED by it yesterday. If only my subject was so fascinating...

November 2011 Used It!

I used up 14 things in November, 11 of them full size. Let me talk about a couple winners:

1. Silk Naturals Apricot Cleansing Oil. If you love the concept of the oil cleansing method but hate the idea of having to painstakingly steam oil and crud off your face, you probably should try this. Unlike most cleansing oils, this one has a rinsing aid added to it that allows it to rinse off with water.

This stuff is GREAT for getting off makeup, even eye makeup, without stripping your skin. I usually use it before using another cleanser, just because I like to make sure all the gunk from the day is off. The only reason I'm not buying a replacement is because I bought some of the emulsifier they use and am now making my own cleansing oils.

2. Desert Essence Daily Essential Moisturizer. I liked this a lot, for summer. I found that it moisturized my face and got rid of the post-cleansing "tight" feeling and did not break me out, make me an oil slick, or smell weird. Winner! I also like that it has actual moisturizing ingredients. I did not like the packaging - a jar, and also did not love how it seemed to almost leave me feeling still too dry after it started getting cold out. But I would recommend this to anyone looking for a basic, inexpensive night cream. It also makes a fantastic base for evening makeup, but don't use it during the day because there's no SPF.

Here's the complete list:

Garnier Nutrisse 3-way daily cleanser*
CVS brand non-acetone nail polish remover*
Crazy Rumors Mocha lip balm*
Silk Naturals Apricot Cleansing Oil*
Aromaleigh Glissade foundation 2W2L*
Neutrogena Sheer Liquid sunblock - spf 55*
Yes to Tomatoes Daily Clarifying facial cleanser*
Oily face serum sample
Fresh black tea age-delay face serum samples
Korres white tea cleanser sample
Korres yogurt aftersun lotion*
Garden of Wisdom Magic Lockes leave-in*
Ecotools Heel Cream*
Desert Essence Daily Essential Moisturizer*

Wet'N'Wild swatches for your viewing pleasure

Nothing you haven't already seen, probably, but I wanted to play with my cheapie shadow collection. If you're trying to decide whether to buy these, I'd probably only wholeheartedly recommend the 8-pan palettes. Also, I tried something a little different with some of the swatches - faking the "look" the company recommends for their shadows.

Evil Shades Haul and Swatch Pics! Finally!

Something is wrong with my computer. Maybe age or a lack of RAM. And also I blew out my Internet and spent an inordinate amount of time monkeying with wires and resetting things before finally unplugging everything and letting it take a nap before I tried again. So here, finally, are the pictures! You may want to click on them for full effect - they're a little small on this page.

My haul. Mmm. Hauley goodness.


The lip swatches. I wrote the shade name on my hand before taking the picture. I think I NEED a full size of More Synth (the glitter one on the top).


The blush swatches. From left to right: Skon, Ravishing, Ceylon, Gossamer. I bought the middle two in full size, and I'm glad I did. I'm such a blush addict!


Eyeshadow swatches part 1. I think it's awesome that they have a shade named Wyvern. Wyvern is one of my favorite SyFy Original Movies.
Before I did these, I put a big stripe of the Vitrum spectrum pot I ordered on the left and a big strip of the Opal eye primer sample I also got on the right. So that's what these babies are swatched over.


The purples. Same deal on the primers as the first batch.


What do you think? Review to come.

Flu

So, I finally have pictures of the Evil Shades stuff. It's all gorgeous!!!

I also have the flu, so it might take me a bit to go camera-cord scrounging.

Jello is a nice change of pace from saltines.

Don't get this!

Still here!

Has it been over a week since I posted already? Never fear, I'm working on a swatchfest with my new Evil Shades goodies. Also, I now own the (in)famous Naked palette¡ I'm going to have to tell you what I think about that.

How're you all doing? Hope you're well. I'm doing ok - just tired. Work seems to take a lot out of me.

October 2011 Used It!

In October, I used up 18 things, nine of them full size. I would buy the alba facial cleanser, aloe gel, and tresemme conditioner again. Even though I would not buy them again, I can still heartily recommend Darling Girl's products.

1. Josie Maran Protect sunblock - spf 40 with argan oil. - Good, expensive enough I don't think I'll repeat, though.

2. Frankenlotion. The frankenlotion kind of sucked. So let's talk about the Alba Mineral Facial Sunblock spf 20 that went into it, and how goopy it was, or how good it would be if you were dressing up as Casper for Halloween. Or let's not.

3. Sahara eyeshadow from the Sephora Pure Wanderlust palette. Good basic shimmery beige. Can't repurchase.

4. Korres Guava Lip Butter. Eh. I did not like the pot. The product itself was ok.

5. Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake 3-in-1 (birthday freebie from Sephora). Decent shampoo, ok body wash. Nothing that special, though.

6. Liza's Lotions Blotch-Be-Gone with Salicylic Acid. A little sad that she's closed for the time being now. Get well, Liza!

7. Alba Botanica Sea Minerals Cleansing Gel. I might buy this again. But only if the cheapie I'm waiting to use doesn't work well.

8. VO5 blackberry sage conditioner. I need to stop buying this. It doesn't smell or condition that well.

9. CVS brand clear aloe gel. I will probably buy this again, if only because it's a pretty good hair gel/makeup remover/sunburn remedy, and it's dirt cheap.

I also went through some samples.
- Garden of Wisdom sulfur clearing mask (.25 oz size). Not bad.
- Biore nose strip. I liked it enough to swap for some more. Gunk be gone!
- Darling Girl Cosmetics Belle shadow sample. This was really pretty - don't need another pale shadow, though!
- Darling Girl Cosmetics Chimera shadow sample. Also really pretty, great texture.
- John Freida full repair shampoo and conditioner samples. Eh. I don't think it repaired anything. It did clean and help detangle my hair, though. But not so much that the sample worked.
- Too Faced absolutely flawless concealer sample decant - vanilla. I did not like the concealer because it creased. It does make me curious about the foundation.
- Tresemme "Naturals" aloe vera and avocado shampoo and conditioner samples. Did not like the shampoo. The conditioner is something I might pick up sometime.
- Silk Naturals Juiced sample shadow baggie. I don't think this is the best color for me, and I would have liked the sparkles to stay a bit longer.
- L'Oreal Youth Code day/night cream sample. This was fine. I'm pretty sure a pile of dimethicone is not going to do gene therapy on my face, though.