Thursday, September 18, 2014

Empties #2

I feel like my empties are piling up on a horrible level.

Anywho, some of these aren't really EMPTY empties, I'm just sick of them.

Also, don't mind my messy table. HA

Got these as a sample from Sephora [of course] and I was really impressed. I thought this would weigh my hair down and amp up the oil production but really, this shampoo and conditioner [I'm now super annoyed I didn't put them in that order in the photo] really made my hair feel healthy and the scent lasted forever. I definitely think I'm going to pick up the full size bottles.

I got the Ole Henriksen wipes in an ipsy bag a month or two back and I had heard these were good so I was excited to use them. I liked them but they left a weird residue on my face so I felt like washing it anyways. And after a few uses, the stick factor on the packaging wore off and they got a little dry. 

The Neutrogena wipes never disappoint me and I actually like this version more than the one in my last empties. However, I haven't been able to find these ones lately so I've just gotten whatever was at the store.

Mmmkay, the Cetaphil cleanser came with a bag of samples from Ulta and it was a solid everyday cleanser. Nothing too special, nice and gentle. I already use Origins High-Potency Night-A-Mins most nights after my cleansing routine, so I just used this sample when traveling. It smells so good and when you wake up, your skin feels amazing. Also from Origins was this Plantscription cream with SPF 25. I just used this for moisturizer in the morning because it had sunscreen. It was pretty thick, obviously because it's a cream, so I didn't use a lot. 

Speaking of sunscreen, I also used this CoTZ sunscreen sample from Ulta and this stuff was pretty cool. It felt exactly like Benefit's Porefessional primer. It also had a tint to it, which was nice. Also this sample bottle of Peter Thomas Roth All Day Moisture Defense Lotion. This smelled like sunscreen but went on very lightly and lasted a good long while. 

I finally used up this sample bottle of Tarte's Maracuja Oil. I don't know why but I fell out of love with it and eventually just started to use it on my hair at night. 

So recently I bought a travel sized version of Make Up For Ever's Mist & Fix setting spray. I liked it, but I'm not sure if I like it more than my Urban Decay. Also ran out of my Urban Decay b6 prep spray. I love this stuff. It could act more like a placebo effect on me, but I just got another full sized bottle and I feel a lot better. 

Holy moly lots of Origins, eh? I had been using the Make A Difference Plus Rejuvinating Treatment as my morning moisturizer. I loved this stuff. I'm trying a new moisturizer at the moment but I would definitely consider repurchasing this. And then we have my favorite lip scrub ever, Mint Julips from Lush. This smells [and tastes] amazing and I will purchase more. This was almost empty but some water got into the pot and solidified the sugar. I do have another pot of scrub going, but it's a different flavor. 

Recently I bought an Herbal Memebox and there was this packet of bath salts. This stuff smelled super strong and I am not a huge fan of honey so I put some spearmint eucalyptus salts in with it but this stuff made for a great soak. =] 

Almost used up a bottle of Seche Vite fast dry top coat. It's at that goopy stage that sucks. Also used up some hand cream from Bliss. I love their lotions and creams! This was a great purse friend!

And this year I gave in to the hype on The Body Shop and the wonderful things they sell. They were having a sale on their raspberry scrub and I bought 2. I should have bought 10 because I am IN LOVE with this body scrub. It's so nice and scrubby. It looks and smells like raspberry jam. I find it hilarious that the tub even has a little icon that tells us not to feed it to children. HA. SO good, I need this forever. 

Well I obviously ran through some mascaras. I used up this MUFE sample of their Smoky Extravagant, which I always like to get. They make overnight trips nice and easy. I tried this Maybelline Great Lash mascara in Blackest Black, which I have loved since high school. However, I tried this Lots of Lashes wand, and I did not like it. I tried to use it up but just gave up on it. Also used was Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara. I love the wand on this and the formula. One of these times, I really should get the full size. 

As far as the Tarte lash primer, I got bored of it. It didn't really help my mascara that much. The Mac Opulash Optimum Black was pretty good. The wand was huge though! It's been a long time since I've used one that big. The one with the pretty packaging was Kat Von D's Immortal Lash in Puro Amor. I didn't like the wand and the formula lacked a little, but once it dried out a bit, it wore a lot better. The last mascara, was Be A Bombshell mascara. It was black, and it was just mascara. Did not do anything for me. Did not like at all! The little silver tube was just a sample of Anastasia Brow Gel. I love this stuff and just bought myself a full size. =]

I cringed when I finally ran out of my all time favorite liquid liner, Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper. Best ever and I hated the few days I waited before repurchasing, but now a new one is safely in my liner drawer and is used almost daily. 

A while back I had bought a sample set of the different BB creams from Dr. Jart. So far, Dr. Jart BBs are my favorite. They always look so nice on days when I don't need tons of coverage. I have already repurchased the Benefit Porefessional Primer, and I bought the huge one at that. I love this stuff so much.. 

For eye primers, I used a sample of UD Primer Potion, one of my favorites! [Can you tell I love Urban Decay???] Also used my sample of eye primer from Lorac that came with the Pro Palette. It's pretty comparable to UD and Kat Von D's.

OOOFH. Finally at the end. 2 candles can pretty much sum up my summer, because now I'm burning Fall candles. haha. Both are from Bath & Body Works and first was Island Margarita. This smelled SO GOOD I wanted to drink it. I should have bought more of this scent. The Mango Dragon Fruit was okay, just sweet and fruity but I eventually got sick of it. 

Sorry for such a long post, but hope you enjoyed reading. =]

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Picture Polish Gravity

I can't remember how I got into reading blogs, but after a while of reading beauty blogs and nail art blogs, I eventually started to purchase some of the new things I read about.

A while ago, I noticed this company showing up in posts frequently: Picture Polish.

So I've been a fan for years now. They make some of the most beautiful polishes ever. 

Either last year or very early this year, they put out a collection inspired by outer space. I just thought my manicure this week was beautiful so I took some photos.

This polish is called Gravity. It's a blue to purple to pink shifting scattered holo. SO PRETTY.

I have it layered over OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue!







Flash


If you have never purchased any Picture Polish products, you really should. Here's their site.

Unfortunately, this was a LE shade, so I apologize but they alway shave unique shades for sale.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

SKOL

Feeling pretty good right now because I have finished all of my math modules. That means, tomorrow will be my math final and if I pass, I don't have to go to class anymore! THANK GOD.

I'm happy that the Vikings won today but I am so bummed I didn't get to watch.

Why you ask?

Because I had to be at school. On a SUNDAY. PRINTING. For hours.

While it sucked, it felt good to be 90% done with my Late Program Review Portfolio. I'm going to be shooting tonight for my Digi Darkroom finals so hopefully one of those finals will be good enough for my portfolio.

Oh and I have to make a list of 25 (!!!!!!) contacts for Business. I can do this.

I can totally do this.

Right?

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Ipsy August '14

Eek late with this post but whatever.

August's ipsy bag was not a dud but it wasn't the greatest in my opinion. It just kinda was a bag of samples.


So, first off the bag isn't ugly. But I definitely would not have picked it haha. However I think I'll use it for a pencil case for school.

See? the bag is just not me. I did get a can of Klorane Dry Shampoo with oat milk. Honestly, I have yet to try this as I've got like 3 dry shampoos open right now, but I may stick this in my gym bag or bring it with me next time we go out of town just for its convenient size. 

The lip balm is Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Lip Conditioner. The scent is mandarin green orange ginger. It smells nice and is moisturizing. A little slippery, but I just keep it around to use it. It's a nice summery scent/flavor compared to my usual minty balms. 

I also received Dr. Brandt Pores No More primer. I still haven't tried this but I probably will like it. I love Dr. Brandt products like the BB creams, but I have a ton of primers open and ready to be finished, so this will have to wait. I know, this post is super informative. ha

So, I was super excited to see this mascara in my bag! I LOVE Urban Decay and actually had bought the 2 pack of this Perversion mascara + Subversion primer but had yet to open it; I hate hate hate opening mascaras before I intend to use them. Since I had finished a few mascaras, I opened this sample size and I love it. It really is super intense black and very creamy. However, that creaminess doesn't help my lashes look super long and full of volume. I have to use 2-3 layers of this stuff to achieve that. I don't mind though. I like that the brush isn't anything crazy, either. 

 The eyeshadow I got ended up being the star of this bag, for me. It's J. Cat Beauty Flying Solo Eyeshadow in Half Naked. This was a bit hard to photograph, but it looked like a muted version of the orange polka dots on the bag with a real pearly/opalescent, pinky, yellow, sometimes green finish. I thought I would hate it, but I swatched it on my hand and was excited. I can't wait to depot this and put it in a Z Palette because this will be so useful in various ways. In some light, it does look like this orange, but then when the lighting or angle shifts, it looks like a champagne shimmery shadow or even a high lighter. Now, I don' know if I'll use this as a cheek or face highlight, but I will try this as an inner corner highlight and also to try topping other eyeshadows to change the finish.

Natural Light

Flash 

So, yuuuuup. Overall an okay bag. I'm resisting temptation in peeking into my Glam Room online to see what September's bag has to offer, but judging by the look of the bag itself? I think I'll love September's bag. 

Being Minnesotan... GO SEAHAWKS. haha.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Fortune Cookie Soap 2014 Fall Soap Box

Ok I still suck balls at posting regularly, but tonight, since I cannot log onto my math to finish that up, I figured I would get some ready to go! =]

I've always heard about Fortune Cookie Soap from other bloggers and have been interested in their [I think] quarterly Soap Boxes, so I finally gave in and signed up. I'm extremely impressed!

This box was for Fall '14 and the collection is called Witch Please! so it is Wicked/Wizard of Oz themed. Super cute!!!


 So this is what my box had in it. Along with the green paper shreds, there was black dot glitter and black witch glitters!


First off, there's this little jar of Whipped Cream. The scent I received was BFF's. I wasn't hoping for this one, but it smells pretty good. The guide that came with this box says the scent is blueberries and pumpkin. It definitely smells like a crazy blueberry pumpkin muffin [and like Bath & Body Works blueberry pumpkin scents]. This stuff is pretty thick and rich, so I am saving it for when the weather gets colder and crisp. I'm sure this has great moisturizing power. 


 Second is this OCD Hand Sanitizer in the scent Roy G Biv, which is a name I love [go art nerds!]. It smells really great for a hand sanitizer. I only like using scented ones because I can't stand the alcohol smell. My guide has a pretty cute description for this scent: "A full spectrum of bright citrus notes and florals against a cool fall background. Dusky breezes and bonfires, wind-blown leaves and charred woods brightened by notes of lemon, mandarin, cotton blossom and soft vanilla." Ha! Pretty spot on I suppose. ;]
This is a Personal Space Air Freshener in the scent Flying Monkeys. This stuff, I use like Febreze however it doesn't last very long. The scent is described as a "breezy blend of peach, watermelon, neroli, jasmine and banana." I like it though even if it doesn't last long... I definitely like to keep it in the bathroom when we have company. 

The baggie has Bubble Bath Powder in the scent Miss Popular, which is honey nectar, star anise, star jasmine, orange and violet. I like it and I have yet to use it, but I'm sure I'll love it. 

The teeeeeeeensy tiniest little bottle I've ever seen contains Perfume Oil in The Shiz. The scent is balsam, new dawn blossom, laurel and sweet clove. This is an odd scent, and it definitely is earthy, but I REALLY like it. It's very very different from what I usually wear and the scent lasts for a long time. I like to dot this on my wrists and behind my ear or on the back of my neck. It just smells like fall. Love it. 

On the left is the Hair Oil in Hair Flip. This hair oil is very nice and the scent actually pairs nicely with the Perfume Oil. The scent is hazelnut and vanilla. I only use this on the ends of my hair as of lately, but I can see myself maybe using it overnight at some point.  

On the right is the Walnut Facial Scrub in Swankified. Swankified is described as banana, cake batter and walnuts. I really like this stuff. It's nice and creamy and the walnut bits aren't as rough as I thought they'd be. I also expected this to leave a greasy residue on my skin after I washed my face, but it didn't. It definitely smells like banana bread or just baked goods in general. 

Finally, we have the Fortune Cookie Soap in There's No Place Like Home. This thing smells incredible. It's apples, cinnamon, allspice and clove. I love any apple cinnamon scent, so this was used straight away and is already gone. To be honest, I used this as a body soap and not a hand soap as I hate using bar soap for hand washing. This did leave glitter in the suds and sometimes on my body but I don't care. There's so much glitter littering my house, Kesha would probably love it. 


Overall I'm super happy with this box and happy that these samples last a while. I'm definitely looking at what is left of the collection and purchasing full sizes of my favorite scents and looking at new stuff to try!!!