April Ipsy Review: Beautifully Bohemian

This month's theme was "Beautifully Bohemian", a theme right in line with festival season being in full swing. 

Overall Rating: 3.8 stars. Not bad, but not great either. 

Best Product: Hands down, Jor'el Parker Femina perfume. 

Worst Product: Starlooks lip gloss in "Cuddle". 

Most Expensive Product: Hikari Cosmetics blush in "Tango". 

Glam Bag Total Value: ~$42

Hey Honey "Good Morning: Honey Silk Facial Serum"

Hey Honey's "Good Morning: Honey Silk Facial Serum" is a nice way to prep your skin for the day, if you can afford it. A full-size bottle of this goes for $41, although a little does go a long way. This product is great for brightening and smoothing your skin, and is a good base for makeup application. There are a lot of other products you could use for this purpose, but this is still a nice one. Since it uses honey as an ingredient, you cannot use it if you have a honey allergy. I give this product 3 stars, and my Ipsy sample was worth $11.58. 

The Balm Nude Dude eyeshadow in "Fit"

I've heard a lot about the Balm from my favorite beauty blogger, Vampy Varnish, so when I saw I would be getting a sample from their Nude Dude palette, I was pretty excited. I got the color "Fit", and the product did not disappoint! Even at sample size, the packaging was cute, and the shadow itself has great color payoff and consistency. It reminded me of my favorite Urban Decay eyeshadow, "Trick", so I swatched a few shadows side by side for comparison:

Top to Bottom: the Balm Nude Dude in "Fit", Urban Decay Naked 2's "Chopper", Urban Decay Naked 3's "Trick". 

The full-sized palette goes for $36, so my single shadow was worth $3. 5 stars. 

I have received Hikari products in previous glam bags. This blush is actually really great. The color, "Tango", is very complimentary to my skin tone, and it is HIGHLY pigmented. You definitely have to use a light hand when applying this product, but that's good, since you won't go through the product as fast. It's a great color for spring. This sample was full sized, and retails for $15. 4 stars. 

This was my least favorite of the bunch. I can't exactly put my finger on why; the color is nice, it looks good over other colors, and has a subtle shimmer to it. Aside from the fact it's a bit tacky on the lips, I don't have a good reason for not digging it. I just don't. It feels like a cheap product to me and overall there was nothing exciting about it. My sample size was worth $3.27, and I give it 2 stars. 

This was the gold star product of this month's glam bag. I had just recently spent two hours in Ulta looking for a new fragrance to no avail, when a couple weeks after I saw I was getting this in my glam bag. I rolled it on my wrists, and loved it. I would have never discovered it if it weren't for Ipsy. The fragrance notes include fruits and florals (my favorite combo), like lemon, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria, with Tahitian vanilla and musk. I was super happy to have this new fragrance to wear this upcoming summer. A full size bottle goes for $55, but my sample was worth $9.68. 5 stars!

Overall, my April Glam Bag didn't knock my socks off in the excitement department, but it did have a few outstanding products. I'll be using the blush and the perfume well into the summer! 

Did you get a glam bag this month? Were you happy with what you got?

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March Ipsy Review: Floral Fantasy

March's Glam Bag had me so pumped up this month. The products were fantastic! Let's get to it. 

Floral Fantasy Glam Bag

Overall rating: 4.5 stars, my highest rating yet! 

Best product: This was so tough to pick, so I considered what I will use the most and what I'll be likely to buy again, and chose NYX Butter Lipstick for best product this month. 

Worst product: Again, it was hard to pick a "worst" product, but I decided on Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter for reasons I'll get into later in this post. 

Most expensive product: Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter, which is valued at $18. 

Glam Bag Total Value: $47.34

Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo in "Apricot Glow"

Pixi by Petra's Mesmerizing Mineral Duo was just that: mesmerizing. I literally gasped when I swatched it on my hand. These shadows have gorgeous shimmer, are great neutral colors, and the pigments are soft and blendable. I'll definitely be using this one a lot. This retails for approximately $5. 5 stars. 

NYX Butter Lipstick in "Pops"

I'm already a HUGE fan of NYX cosmetics, especially their lip products, so it is really no surprise that I enjoyed this lipstick. The color is a nude with pink undertones. I don't like to purchase nude lipsticks, but I do need them, and this shade is really great. The formula is also, well, buttery, which is wonderful because it gives my poor chapped lips the moisture they need without having to compromise color. And the best part? It retails for an affordable $6. 5 stars. 

Acure Day Cream

When I first used the Acure day cream, I loved it! It smells incredible (like citrus and cloves) and goes on thick but not greasy. However, after a few uses, it made my skin react, so I had to stop using it. I maintain it's 5 star rating however, since I think it could be a great moisturizer for somebody else. It is formulated to help build collagen and elastin, fight against environmental factors and free radicals, and firm your skin. It retails for $19, but my sample was worth about $11. 

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter

The Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter is a multi-use pencil that you can use for concealing, highlighting, or as an eye pencil or lip liner. I have used it as a concealer mainly, and have discovered that it is not satisfactory at covering blemishes, but does a pretty decent job of covering under eye circles. I wasn't overwhelmed with it, and probably wouldn't buy it again, but it does the job. 3 stars, and retails for $18. 

I was excited to receive 2 pair of Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels in my glam bag. I have heard good things about them and was looking forward to trying them out. They boast the ability to firm and de-puff the under eye area within 10 minutes. While my under eye area isn't usually puffy, I popped these on and let them sit. After ten minutes I noticed a slight difference in firmness of the skin, but overall the cooling sensation of the gel really refreshed me and made me feel more awake. I give them 4 stars. They retail for $30 for 8 pair, so my sample was worth $7.50. 

I was so pleased with my Glam Bag this month. I was looking forward to the products before they even arrived at my doorstep, and the bag itself is so cute! 

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OPI Little Northies Swatches and Review

OPI's Fall/Winter 2014 collection, Nordic, was inspired by the contrasting sights in Norway. The entire collection didn't knock me so off my feet that I wanted to buy them all. However, their minis pack of Little Northies had all of the colors I wanted the most, so I grabbed it! 

OPI Little Northies 

L to R: "My Dogsled is a Hybrid", "Do You Have this Color in Stock-holm?", "My Voice is a Little Norse", "How Great is Your Dane". 

"My Voice is a Little Norse"

First up from the lineup is "My Voice is a Little Norse". It's a gorgeous silvery holographic glitter topper in a slightly grey tinted clear base. It's not like I really need another glitter topper like this, but honestly, it is just SO beautiful. The color can be worn alone, as shown, or over other colors in the collection. 

"My Dogsled is a Hybrid"

"My Dogsled is a Hyrbid" is a blue-based green creme. The formula on this was smooth and covered great. I absolutely love this shade. I'm a sucker for turquoises and teals. 

"Do You Have this Color in Stock-Holm?"

"Do You Have this Color in Stock-Holm?" is a blue-based purple creme. The shade borders on cobalt, and it's a stunner. I feel like it is such a flattering shade for all skin tones. And that glitter topper on it? 😍 Amazing!

"How Great is Your Dane?"

I am not a big lover of brown nail polishes, and "How Great is Your Dane?" was the only shade in the pack I wasn't really excited for. However, as far as brown polishes go, it's a really nice, cool-toned color. It's got some grey undertones to it, and it is unique. I was also happy with the formula. 

The Nordic Collection has a great balance of deeper fall shades as well as some unexpected bright ones, but if you're on a budget, the Little Northies set is not a bad option to get a taste without breaking the bank! It sells for $13.95 at all major OPI retailers. 

Zoya Fall 2014: Entice and Ignite Swatches and Review

With fall officially in full swing, I thought it would be a great time to swatch and review Zoya's fall 2014 line of polishes! This was the last polish purchase I made before my no-buy about a month ago. This year Zoya released two collections for the season: one collection of 6 shimmery polishes, and one collection of 6 cremes. I have the entire Ignite line and 4 out of 6 Entice polishes for you today. 

Zoya Fall 2014: Top row - Ignite, Bottom Row - Entice

First, I'll start off with the Ignite line. Most of you know by now that I am a sucker for glitter. If it sparkles and shines, I tend to gravitate toward it more than a basic creme polish. The Ignite collection was no different. Each gorgeous fall hue is loaded with amazing gold shimmer that resulted in some classic color combos as well as some unexpected new favorites! 

L to R: Teigen, India, Autumn 

Zoya "Teigen"

 

Teigen is described as a pink-toned cranberry with copper liquid metal. I'm not crazy about pinks, but the color is rich and is a beautiful jewel tone to have on hand (ha! On hand!)

Zoya "India"

India is described as a deep red with gold metallic liquid shimmer. It is a BEAUTIFUL vampy red, there is just something straight up sexy about this color. I can also see it getting a lot of use in Christmas manis. 

Zoya "Autumn"

Autumn is described as a varnished copper liquid metal, and could it be more appropriately named? This color was the first one I bought of the fall line. It is such a gorgeous color and it reminds me of turning leaves and pumpkin spice everything. 

L to R: Remy, Sansa, Yuna

Zoya "Remy"

Remy is described as a brilliant indigo with copper and gold liquid metallic. I gotta say, the second I put this on my fingers, I actually gasped. This color quite literally took my breath away. It almost has an ILNP style color shift to it, switching subtly from blue to green. And the copper and gold sparkle really sets it apart! 

Zoya "Sansa"

Sansa is described as a deep eggplant with gold metallic sparkle. Any Game of Thrones fans out there? This one is for you! Sansa is such a great name for this polish. Purple and gold are historically representative of royalty. This is another vampy one. I almost wish it were just a hair lighter, because to the casual observer it may not appear purple at first blush. 

Zoya "Yuna"

Yuna is described as a warm grey with copper and gold liquid metal. Another stunner here. I was really surprised at this color combination. I love the copper and gold within the grey. It is truly unique and completely gorgeous. 

And now for the cremes from the Entice line!

L to R: Claire, Ryan, Margo, Genevieve

Zoya "Claire"

Claire is described as a warm, rich burgundy. This color reminds me of a great Pinot noir. It is a beautiful dark Oxblood color, a definite must have for any fan of red!

Zoya "Ryan"

Ryan is described as a classic indigo. I, personally, consider it more of a navy. I think of it as the blue counterpart to Claire; deep and sexy! 

Zoya "Margo"

Margo is described as a modern red plum. I found this color the most "spring-y" of the bunch. I actually thought it would be more fitting for Zoya's transitional line, Naturel Deux. But make no mistake, I loved this color! It was actually my favorite of the cremes. 

Zoya "Genevieve"

Genevieve is described as a cool leather grey. I do not own a lot of grey polishes, and I really liked this one. I can definitely see me matching it up with my grey winter boots and charcoal cardigan :) this color reminded me of a creme version of Yuna. In fact, I wouldn't at all be surprised if this was the base to Yuna before they added the sparkle in. 

Overall, I am loving these fall lines. I am into Ignite more than Entice. Aside from Entice's lack of sparkle, I really just felt as though many of the colors could have been in a Naturel 3 or 4 collection; I was not impressed by the variety of shades. However, the colors in Ignite more than make up for it, and Entice still has some great fall staple cremes. My favorites of the whole lot are Remy, Autumn, Yuna, and Margo. Honorable mention to Claire! 

Have a favorite? Did I convince you to pick any of these up for yourselves? Post it in the comments below!