Gelish Nail Polish Swatch in Night Reflection

Gel nails. They are huge right now. Among the claims sported by gel manicure companies are such statements as: no chipping, no peeling, 3 weeks wear, no fading. This is everyone’s dream right? Up until recently, you had to get yourself to a salon to get one of these manicures as well as pay around 25-35 a pop. Being one of those who doesn’t go to the salon, ever, I bought the Gelish kit when it was released at Sally Beauty Supply. I’d been sitting on the kit until today as I thought the manicure would take forever. However, I discovered that this manicure isn’t as complicated as I once thought. Read on for more!

Gel Polish Starter Kit

What do you need for this gel manicure? You need the Gelish starter kit, a curing lamp (UV lamp), gelish nail color, an orange stick, a buffer, a cuticle pusher, and nail file. So, the upfront costs seem to be high but you must consider that you can use most of these tools for manicures other than gel. Simply said, inside the starter kit, you get a nail prepper, a base coat, top coat, cuticle oil, and the solutions for both cleaning and removing the manicure. In addition, you must pick a gelish nail color that you like. the orange stick, buffer, cuticle pusher and nail file can be purchased anywhere and can be used on more than just gel manicures.

Gel Polish Selection

I’m so impressed with the color lineup from Gelish. They have many colors as well as other limited edition colors depending on the season. You can buy gelish at Sally Beauty. My color of choice is Night Reflection. I love dark, vampy colors, and this one is a darkened purple.

Ease of Use

With all the steps involved in a gel manicure, it can seem daunting at first. This unfamiliarity with the gel process is what held me back from doing this manicure earlier. After reading the instructions through and doing the first few nails, the process becomes intuitive and simple. I did my whole manure in about 45 minutes and please consider this was my first attempt. I feel the total time will shorten with more use. I’m going to oversimplify this and break it down for you.

1. Prep nails – File, buff, and apply nail cleanser to create a clean surface.
2. Apply Ph bond to help the base coat adhere
3. Apply base coat, being careful not to apply to cuticles directly. Cure nails under lamp.
4. Apply thin layer of nail color and cure. Repeat this until desired coverage is achieved.
5. apply top coat and cure.
6. Wipe nails free of tacky layer with cleanser and apply cuticle oil.

Done and done!

My Thoughts

I love this system! I got great looking coverage with an awesome color and my manicure was rock hard right after that last cure. I’m talking about no chips, no nicks, no smearing! The polish leaves a high gloss shine and it ain’t moving anywhere! LOVE it! I’m only on day one at this point, so I’ll have to update on the polish longevity later. However, from my initial impression, I’m very pleased. After you get the ‘hang’ of the process, it becomes very easy and gives awesome results. There are other diy gel nail systems out there but this one definitely stood out for me. From what I’ve seen, Gelish also has one of the best color ranges out there for gel manicures. I love that I can do this at home without a salon! More pictures below.

Gelish Nail Polish Swatch in Night Reflection

Gelish Nail Polish Swatch in Night Reflection

Revlon Sculpting Blush Palette in Berry, Outside Packaging

Another Revlon Review! Boy, do I love this brand! This product is part of the new line of photoready products hitting the shelves for spring of 2012. This sculpting palette comes in four shades and each includes a bronzer, blush and highlighter. The idea of the palette is that it does your countouring, blush, and highlighting within the one palette. Read on to see what I thought…….

Revlon Sculpting Blush Palette in Berry Description

This palette includes a berry blush, a medium contour and a creamy pearlescent highlight. I chose this palette of all the shades due to the cool toned berry blush which I thought would work well with my skin tone (NW 20).  The blush is the largest product in the palette with the bronzer and highlighter being half the size of the blush. There is a brush which is included but I didn’t think it would be useful at all. These palettes can be found anywhere Revlon is sold and cost around $13.00 (based on CVS.com price)

Pros:

• Love the convenience of having all your contouring products in one palette.
• Really nice shade selection. I believe there’s a color for everyone in the line.
• The colors all go well together, so this is pretty darn foolproof.
• The colors are pigmented but not too much so. Oftentimes, with very pigmented bronzer/blush, it’s difficult to apply evenly and blend.
• Love that the bronzers have very little shimmer to them if any. The color choices are great for contouring.
• The highlighter shade is just about one of the nicest ones I’ve found at the drugstore, period. A close second would be Physician’s formula.
• Very nice packaging. Sturdy and functional.
• Easily accessible and cruelty free!

Cons:

• The bronzer and highlighter shades are in such small pans that it makes it very difficult to work with a large/medium blush brush. This really is the only big downside I found for this palette but it’s a pretty big one. It does take a much smaller brush to work with the small pans.
• If you are looking for a very pigmented bronzer and blush, you may want to skip this one. Personally, I prefer a lower pigmentation on a bronzer, but if you need a higher level, you may not be happy with this product.

So, overall, I’m very happy with this product if only for the colors and convenience. I do use a small Essence of Beauty face brush to work with the small pans, but it would be nicer to have more flexibility here. Would I buy it again? Yes.

Revlon Sculpting Palette in Berry – Open Packaging.

Revlon Sculpting Palette in Berry. Macro of the product. You can see here that the blush is twice the size of the contour and highlight.

Swatches of the Berry Palette. From left to right: Bronzer, Blush, and Highlight. The highlight is so close to my skintone that it’s hard to capture on camera.

Swatches. From bottom up: Bronzer, Blush, and highlight.

Almay intense i-color shadow sticks in blue and hazel eyes

Almay is kicking out some really awesome stuff lately! It isn’t a brand I’ve typically been drawn to, but with the new releases, I’m lovin’ the company! One of their new spring products are these shadow sticks. They are a cream shadow in twist up form and Almay claims they are ‘crease proof.’ They are also rumored to be a dupe for the MAC shade sticks. I can’t speak to that, since I haven’t tried the MAC, but as a cream shadow lover, I think these are great! Read on for more….

Description

For each eye color, almay has a dual ended shade stick. I have brown eyes but didn’t pick up the one designed for brown eyes. Why? Well, I liked the other colors better and they seemed more wearable. There are four sticks altogether. I noticed that the shade sticks do vary on pigmentation. The blue eyes stick is very pigmented whereas the pink in the hazel eyes stick is poorly pigmented. It took so many swipes to get that pink to show up and it wasn’t the color I expected it to be.

Pros:

• They actually wear very well without creasing. I’ll often use the gold in the ‘blue’ eyes set as a base with a powder crease color and it lasts all day (with primer).
• The color selection contains many wearable colors.
• Make excellent bases for other colors.
• Cream shadows aren’t too thin or sticky – just the perfect consistency.
• Easy to apply with packaging
• Easily accessible
• Great price point for a cream shadow

Cons:

• I wish there were more shades to choose from.
• I was disappointed with the pigmentation in the hazel eyes’ pink shade. So, the pigmentation does vary between colors.

Overall, I really like these. Despite the pigmentation variance, I do plan on buying more. Pictures below!

Blue eyes, gold end shown

Intense i-color shadow sticks for hazel and blue eyes

Swatches. From Left to right: Blue eyes (gold and brown), Hazel Eyes (charcoal and pink)

Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer in 001

Yay for new drugstore products and double yay for new Revlon products! Y’all know I love my Revlon. They make my favorite foundation, concealer, and tons of other products that I love. The photoready line was extended for spring to include a new airbrush mousse foundation (review coming soon), brightening concealer, bronzing palettes, and primers. I love a primer that does more than just prep the skin, so I picked up the perfecting primer. I’ve been using this for a good week now, so read on for the review and more pics….

My Overall Impression

This primer is very similar to L’oreal’s magic perfecting base, if you’ve tried that one. It smooths fine lines and fills in pores while prepping the skin for foundation. Unlike the Magic Perfecting base (which was my favorite up until I discovered the Photoready), it comes in a pump, the texture is more smooth, and works with more effectiveness with less product. So, overall, I love it.

Pros:

• Comes with a pump dispenser which lets you control the amount of product you use and is super sanitary!
• A little goes a long way. Less than one pump works for my entire face
• Fills in pores for a perfectly smooth canvas.
• The texture is very smooth, unlike the Magic Perfecting base, which is more flaky.
• Doesn’t have an odd smell
• Doesn’t cause me to breakout
• Keeps makeup on longer
• Good price point, especially with drugstore sales.
• Easily accessible
• Revlon does not test on animals!! Yay for Revlon!

Cons:

• I really don’t have any. This wouldn’t be good for one what doesn’t care for primers at all.

Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer Pump

Swatch of the Primer – Unblended. This amount is what you get in one pump.

Swatch, partially blended. You can see that it has a creamy consistency.

Swatch blended out all the way. You can even see a difference in the pictures as far as the texture on the back of my hand is concerned.

LaSplash glitter eyeliner in Pink Sparkles

I recently made a trip to Ulta for a good sale and picked this little baby up on the haul. I love LaSplash as a brand and I really love their glitters. They make the best glitter base and loose glitter around for the money. So, I saw this Pinky gold glitter eyeliner and snatched it up. I offically declare that this color is the most wearable glitter for any occasion! I love to wear it on my lower lash line for an extra little bit of sparkle. The cool thing about this color is that it doesn’t scream “hey, I have glitter on my face!”; however, it still looks awesome. Read on for more….

What I love about this:

• The pink and gold colors of the glitter look fabulous together.
• The glitter goes on easily with the brush applicator.
• Once it dries, the glitter stays on all day.
• The color is subdued enough that it can be worn to most all occasions
• Easily accessible at Ulta or via Cherryculture.com
• Good price point

What I don’t love:

• Not good for people that don’t like glitter on their face! Other than that, I’m stumped.

LaSplash eyeliner in Pink sparkles, brush applicator shown

LaSplash eyeliner in Pink Sparkles, up close (macro) shot. Look at all that beautiful glitter!

Swatch 1 – close-up shot

Swatch 2 – close-up shot

Sally Hansen Gem Crush Glitter Polish in Razzle Dazzler to right and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City on left

I have a bling-tastic manicure for y’all today! I just bought Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Celeb City on a great CVS sale. This polish is so pretty – it is a true silver foil polish that looks both bright, metallic, and shiny on the nails! Love! I went to paint my nails with this color last night and realized a colorful glitter with silver accents would look fab on top of the foil. So, I chose one of the new polishes from the Sally Hansen Gem Crush line in Razzle Dazzler. I love this manicure so much and it’s perfect if you want a sparkly, glittery, blingy manicure! Read on for more pics…..

Nail Color Breakdown (all products used for manicure):

1. OPI Chip Skip
2. ELF Cuticle stick
3. American Classics Gelous Base Coat
4. Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in Celeb City (2 coats)
5. Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Razzle Dazzler (2 coats)
6. Sally Hansen Mirror Shine Top Coat

Xtreme Wear on the Left and Gem Crush on the right

Swatch with Flash

Swatch without Flash

Macro Swatch

Swatch

Swatch

Macro Shot of the Glitter in Razzle Dazzler

Revlon Colorstay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Precocious, outside packaging

More new drugstore reviews! So exciting! This is one of Revlon’s new offerings for spring. These quads are intended to be the next generation of the colorstay quads that have already been around for a while. The biggest difference I notice between the old quads and the new one quads is the color range! These new quads have more bright and other non-neutral colors to choose from. However, for my first purchase, I tried to stay a little neutral with Precocious…. Read on for more!

What I love about this:

• Wider selection of colors overall in the quads. I even spotted some teal! The previous colorstay quads were all neutral, IMO.
• The formula is still great. These colors wear all day long!
• Still great pigmentation. I wouldn’t say these are as soft as say Wet N Wild’s eyeshadows but they are very pigmented indeed.
• Quads are grouped well and all the colors in the quad work together well
• I love the Revlon brand, they have awesome products and NO animal testing!
• Good mix of matte and shimmer in the palettes!

What I don’t like:

• Umm……Ummm……..nothing.

Overall, love the eyeshadows, I plan to buy more! Pictures below!

Open packaging

Macro of the colors in Precocious. These are berry tones with a shimmery white and gray to balance them out

Swatches without flash

Swatches with flash

Almay Clear Complexion Concealer + Treatment Gel

It’s that time of the year when the drugstore makeup brands are churning out all the new, exciting products for Spring of 2012. With my love of drugstore makeup, I’ve definitely scooped up some of the products that are appealing to me. The concealer I’m reviewing today is one of Almay’s newest products, and I’m going to go ahead and tell you this is a rave review. Read on for more…..

What is it?

This is a dual sided concealer. One side is a blemish treatment gel and the other is a medicated concealer. Both sides contain salicylic acid but in different strengths. The idea is that you put the blemish gel on blemishes and cover them with the concealer. Essentially, you are treating the acne while you cover it up. The concealer comes in three shades and my shade is ‘light.’ My skin tone, for reference, is NW 20 in MAC.

My Skin Type

When talking about acne treatments and giving any sort of review, the skin type of the reviewer must be revealed. My skin type may be the same as some of you but for many it will vary; hence, you’ll get different results from the acne treatment itself depending on this variance. I do have combination, acne prone skin. My facial care regimen is determined by my dermatologist. I’m on 2 prescription acne meds which are both topical and one can dry out the skin. Because of my dermatologist, my skin is acne free 98% of the time but I do occasionally get breakouts.

Why is it so great?

I used the treatment gel and concaler when I had a blemish I felt coming on this week. Lo and behold, the next day, it was gone. The best part about this whole deal? The concealer was actually good! It covered well and didn’t cause any flakiness like other medicated concealers I’ve tried. This one’s a winner! Other Great things? Here’s my list:

• Alamy is a brand I trust, and they are…..Cruelty free. Love that!
• The concealer matches my skin and covers opaquely
• Easily accessible in the drugstore and easy to find on sale!
• Ultra convenient, throw in your makeup bag and you have acne treatment and concealer in one product!
• Concealer doesn’t make my skin flake like other medicated concealers I’ve tried.
• Concealer isn’t watery like other medicated concealers I’ve tried

Cons?

• Not what you want unless you’re looking for a medicated concealer
• Not a good choice if you don’t tolerate salicylic acid

Conclusion

As you can see, I really love this product. I’d definitely reccommed giving it a try, and just return it if you find it’s too drying for your skin! Pictures below….

Treatment Gel side of the Concealer with applicator doe foot

Concealer Side, in the color ‘light’

Swatch of ‘light’ in natural light.

Zoya Kristen and Jesse’s Girl Stiletto

For you today I have a swatch of Zoya’s ’Kristen’ (I got it in my birchbox this month) and Jesse’s Girl in ‘stiletto’ from the JulieG Collection for rite aid. Read on for more….

Zoya Kristen is a blue-gray pastel, so I chose to use Jesse’s Girl in ‘stiletto’ as the accent color on my ring finger. Stiletto is a brown gray color, so I think it looks good paired with Zoya. Both polishes were opaque in two coats and no more. Great formula for both. Great first experience for me with zoya!

Swatch 1

Swatch 2

Maybelline  Master Drama Eyeliners in Midnight Master and Bold Brown

Oh, maybelline master drama, how I love thee! I’m going to go ahead and tell you that this is my absolute favorite drugstore pencil liner. Love love it! It is the creamiest, most pigmented eyeliner I’ve found. Read on to learn more….

Description

Maybelline master drama is a pencil eyeliner that twists up vs. being sharpened. It comes in 6 shades and I have both the brown and black. The one flaw of the packaging is that once you twist the liner up, it won’t retract, so keep that in mind when using it. The liner has a creamy consistency and reminds me of a cross between Urban Decay’s 24/7 liners and Tarte’s emphasEyes eyeliners. They can be bought anywhere that sells Maybelline, although I find that some retailers carry more shades than others.

Why is it so Great?

• Super creamy and easy to apply.
• Stays where you put it! Long wearing, this eyeliner is…. (yoda reference)
• Wears well on the waterline as well as both upper and lower lash lines
• Easily smudged before it sets
• Easily Accessible
• Very pigmented. You barely swipe this on and you get color!
• Easy to create more detailed eye looks with the ease of a pencil and the texture of a gel.
• Just try it, you’ll love it!

What’s not so great?

• Packaging: once you twist the liner up, it doesn’t retract.
• Only 6 shades – I wish there were more colors to choose from (as in urban decay’s line)
• Maybelline tests on animals, so this is not cruelty free.

Overall

In my opinion, this is the best drugstore liner out there. I would say that the Milani liquifEye liners rank up there with a VERY close tie. If you’re looking for a good cruelty free eyeliner, go with Milani. I’ve been impressed with maybelline stepping up their game with all these new, awesome products but I do wish they would transition into the cruelty free world. Physician’s formula pulls in with a close third in the drugstore liner game. The maybelline master drama is as close as I think you’re going to get to a high-end liner at the drugstore.

Maybelline Master Drama Tip

Maybelline Master Drama Swatches. From Left to Right: Midnight master, Bold Brown