February Ipsy Review: Ipsy Love

In honor of Valentine's Day, Ipsy themed their bags "Ipsy Love" this month, with lots of pink representing in the products. Let's get to it!

Overall Rating: 3.6 stars. A couple of really phenomenal products, with a couple "eh" products pulling down the overall score. 

Best Product: Mitchell and Peach Fine Radiance Face Oil

Worst Product: It was tough to decide between the two, but I'm going to go with the one I'll use the least, which is City Color Cosmetics Creamy Lip Stain in Flirtini. 

Most Expensive Product: Again, the Mitchell and Peach Fine Radiance Face Oil. A whole bottle of this goes for $46, but my sample was still worth $23!

Glam Bag Total Value (estimate): $63, over 6 times the cost of the bag. 

City Color Creamy Lip Stain in "Flirtini"

Let me preface this review by saying there isn't really anything wrong with this lip stain, per se. It's just that if I'm going to be reaching for a product like this, I'm going to be using my NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes (because, truthfully, this is more of a cream than a stain). The color is flattering. The formula is nice. That's it, it doesn't blow me away. 2 stars. This retails for $4.99. 

I was truly surprised by this product. Usually, I don't notice much difference in my hair when using a volumizing spray, but this one was really good. I sprayed it on my damp hair, blow dried as usual, and my hair had more body and lift. I also used it to give my hair more hold before curling it. It's a truly wonderful product; 5 stars. A full bottle goes for $24, but my sample was worth $3. 

I know what you're thinking: "it's an eyelash curler, what is there to review," right? Wrong. I've had curlers in the past that pinch my eyelids and pull out my delicate lash hairs. This curler does neither of those things. It's pad is cushy and soft, and it came with three replacement pads. It definitely gives my lashes extra oomph. I only took one star off a five star rating because I don't usually use lash curlers, but I may now. This retails for $14. 

This was another one of my lowest rated products. The formula is nice enough, but I feel like the color just looks unnatural on me. But still, I'm a little low on blush right now and this does the trick. It retails for an unbelievable $18; seriously, if I'm spending that much on blush, it better be amazing! I rate this 2 stars. 

This was another pleasant surprise in my bag, and personally it couldn't have come at a better time. I've been hearing a lot of hype over face oils recently, so I've been wanting to try some, and with the winter weather absolutely robbing my skin of moisture, I really needed it. It's really light and doesn't make my skin greasy. I put about 4 drops on my face and rub it before using moisturizer. It has a light lavender scent and I just really love it! I've been using it every day, and over time it's supposed to help even out skin tone. It retails for $46, but my sample was $23. 5 stars!

Overall, I'm pleased with my glam bag this month, despite the average rating. The 4 and 5 star products definitely made up for the 2 star ones, and the value of the glam bag far exceeded the price. 

Zoya Spring 2015: Delight

Hello, everyone! By now, you know I'm a huge Zoya fanatic (my iPhone even knows to capitalize it, for real). So obviously when I saw their gorgeous Spring 2015 line, I had to get it. Usually, I can take or leave their transitional lines, and this past winter's "Wishes" collection didn't speak to me, so I was really excited to see a line that I really wanted (then again, Zoya's spring and summer lines are ALWAYS on point). 

Because my aunt rocks, she ordered me the set as an early birthday gift, so last night I had a chance to swatch them for you. The line consists of six pastel shades, three with a creme finish and three with a beautiful blue shimmer throughout. 

Zoya "Delight"

Let's start with the cremes. 

L to R: "Eden", "Tiana", "Lillian"

"Eden" is a Barbie, bubblegum pink. Not the most unique shade, but pretty nonetheless. 

"Tiana" is a GORGEOUS pistachio green. The formula was a little streaky on this one, but easy enough to work through. I was curious to how this compared to Zoya's shade "Neely" from an older spring line, so I did a comparison swatch as well:

L to R: "Tiana", "Neely" 

"Tiana" on index and ring fingers, "Neely" on middle and pinkie fingers. 

Once swatched side by side, you can tell more easily that "Neely" definitely has a more grey undertone to it and that "Tiana" is significantly brighter. I totally think there is a big enough distinction to justify both in your collection ;) 

"Lillian" is a pretty, sky blue. Again, I had some streaking issues with this one. And again, I was curious about how it compared to "Blu", which was the blue shade in the same spring line as "Neely". 

L to R: "Lillian", "Blu"

"Lillian" on index and ring fingers, "Blu" on middle and pinkie fingers. 

There was really no comparison with this one; "Lillian" and "Blu" are two completely different shades of blue. Once side by side you can see that "Lillian" has a touch more green in it. 

And now for the shimmers!

L to R: "Daisy", "Rayne", "Leslie"

"Daisy" is a mid-tone butter yellow with color-shifting blue shimmer throughout. I really am not a fan of yellow polishes, but as far as yellows go, this one definitely brings something unique and special to the table. It's really difficult to capture this shimmer in the swatch, so I did a macro bottle shot for all of the shimmers in this collection. 

Wow. Check out that shimmer! At first it just looks blue/turquoise, but when I looked at the bottle again it actually shifts a bit to purple. Really neat. 

"Rayne" is a robin's egg blue with the same blue shimmer as "Daisy". The formula was really good with this one. Since the shimmer is essentially the same color as the base, it doesn't stand out as much in this one as the other two, but it still adds a nice element to it. 

"Leslie" is a pastel lilac shade with blue shimmer throughout. I really enjoyed the color combo of the base and the shimmer in this one; blue and purple are my two favorite colors so to combine them is divine :)

YOWZA! 

Overall, I am happy with this collection. I like that all the pastels they picked this year are bolder than they have been some previous years, teetering almost into summer shade territory. My favorites are "Tiana" (which I used for a mani immediately after swatching) and "Leslie". 

What are your favorites? Will you be picking up this collection? Comment below! 

Understated Valentine's Nails

For this Valentine's Day, Mike and I are keeping things pretty low-key. I'm making a steak dinner, we have some yummy smelling bath salts to use, and a boxed wine at the ready. But just because we aren't joining the crowds at a restaurant, doesn't mean I won't be dressing for the occasion ;)

I have this adorable black and nude dress that I got at a BOGO sale at Forever 21 a month ago. I haven't had anything to wear it to yet, so I'm using Valentine's Day as an excuse. But of course, I had my nails to think about. How could I get them to match my dress but still keep within the Valentine's Day theme?

I decided to use black and nude and add a pop of pink and hearts. This is what I came up with:

The dress

Bows! 

I think the manicure turned out really classy and fun, and it went perfectly with my dress! 

Enjoy your Valentine's Day, everybody. If you don't have a special someone to share it with, take yourself out on a date or maybe treat yourself to that handbag or new pair of shoes you've had your eye on :) 

Know Your Mushrooms Mani

I'm sure everybody is pretty familiar with Super Mario Bros. by now. If you haven't played some version personally, you at least know what the game is all about. Most people are probably familiar with the red power up and green "1up" mushrooms, but did you know there's even more 'shrooms running amok in Mario's world? 

It's pretty important to know your mushrooms. 

Most Mario players have hit a block to discover a red mushroom that makes Mario big or a green mushroom to give them one extra life. The block mushroom is in Super Mario Bros. 2, and can be thrown at enemies to defeat them or stacked to allow you to climb up to a greater height. The reverse mushroom was originally in Super Mario Bros. 3 and can cause players to either reverse their positions on the level OR reverse their size from small to large and vice versa. Finally, the poison mushroom will make a Super Mario small, or kill a small Mario. 

I was inspired to do a manicure like this while working on my power rangers mani. It was surprisingly easy and turned out pretty cute!