May Ipsy Review: Jetsetter

May's Glam Bag theme was "Jetsetter", complete with travel essentials and an adorable bag to keep them in. 

Overall Rating: 4 stars 

Best Product: I really, really want to say Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-on Lip Pencil in "Ozone". But I'd be lying. This month's winner is BelláPierre Cosmetic's Waterproof Miner Gel Eyeliner Pencil in "Ebony". 

Worst Product: Bare Republic Naturals SPF 30 Mineral Face Sunscreen Lotion. 

Most Expensive Product: Pixi by Petra's Beauty Bronzer in "Summertime" (although this may not be totally accurate, as the pricing on their website included a kabuki brush and my sample did not). 

Glam Bag Total Value: ~$52.00

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Lip Pencil in "Ozone"; Revolution High-Color Lip Gloss in "Bittersweet" and "Failbait"

First up is this amazing pack of lip products from Urban Decay. I actually cheered out loud when I saw I would be getting this in my glam bag this month. Included in the sample was their 24/7 Glide-on Lip Pencil in "Ozone" and two samples of their Revolution High-Color Lipglosses in the colors "Failbait" and "Bittersweet". 

This translucent lip pencil is meant to be used as a lip primer. You can use it to line your lips to prevent bleeding of lip colors, you can use it all over your lips to make your lip color last longer, you can even use it to correct mistakes and fill in fine lines! It's a really cool product that goes on smooth and it doesn't feel like you have anything on your lips while wearing it. 

Revolution High-Color Lipgloss in "Bittersweet" 

The glosses were equally amazing, and I'd definitely be interested in picking up some full-sizes in the future. It is super pigmented, and really glossy. It didn't feel at all sticky. The color "Failbait" was especially beautiful and feminine, and definitely more wearable than it's edgy "Bittersweet" counterpart. 

The glosses are available in 14 shades and retail for $22. The lip pencil comes in both a thin and thick barrel option in prices ranging from $16-$20. I'd give both 5 stars. 

BelláPierre Cosmetics Gel Eye Liner in "Ebony"

As much as I wanted the UD products to be my favorite this month, this eyeliner just really hit all the right notes. Super black, it glides on buttery smooth, can be blended out for a sexy smokey eye, and does NOT budge until you decide to take it off. I was really impressed with the product, especially since it is from a brand I've never used or heard of before. I got a full-sized version, which retails for $14.99. 5 stars!

NUXE Rêve de miel Face Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Gel

I definitely had some mixed feelings about this Facial Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Gel by NUXE. On one hand, I felt like my face wasn't being cleaned while I used it. There were no suds to speak of. But when I stepped out of the shower, my eye-makeup was TOTALLY removed, which definitely impressed me. However, the smell of it made me feel like a hippie all day. I will finish the sample, but I wouldn't likely buy it again. This retails for $19, but my sample was worth $1.41. 3 stars. 

Pixi by Petra Beauty Bronzer in "Summertime"

This bronzer is just wonderful. When I first saw it, I wasn't to keen on the fact it had shimmer in it. Usually, I use bronzer just for contouring. But I decided to give bronzing my whole face a try with this product, and it was perfection! The shimmer is very subtle and adds a beautiful glow. The color of the bronzer itself isn't too dramatic or dark against my fair skin. It gave my whole face a gorgeous bronze glow, perfect for days when you don't want to fuss around with contouring or get tired of blush. This retails for $18 on pixi's website, but that price also includes a kabuki brush. 5 stars. 

This was another confusing product for me. The texture of it is... Strange. It says it doesn't leave your face oily, but the product itself feels really oily. Almost slimy, even. After putting it on, it is true that it did not make my face greasy, but I just wasn't digging the formula on this. Again, I'll probably use up the sample while poolside in the summer, but I don't anticipate using it again. A full size bottle retails for $15, but my sample was worth $4.41. 2 stars. 

I had a couple duds in my bag this month, but the winners truly made up for it. I already can hear my wallet crying from the inevitable purchase of those UD products! 

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Mani in Manhattan: Neon Tribal

This past weekend I went with Mike to New York City to visit friends in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. We always love seeing our friends up there, and, to be honest, it's the only type of vacation we can afford right now, so we try to take advantage about twice a year or so.  

I cannot emphasize this enough: seeing the city with people who live there is a COMPLETELY different experience than seeing it by yourself. Many people who visit the city go to the typical tourist attractions: Times Square, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc. 

There's nothing wrong with those places, and they are cool to see. But when you get shown around New York by a New Yorker, you get to see all the cool little hole-in-the-wall hot spots and restaurants that you wouldn't otherwise know about. 

Brooklyn Bowl is a great example of this. It is a bowling alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that doubles as a bar and concert venue. Pretty cool, right? Well they also do events, like Emo Night, which we attended Friday night. I got to dress up as a douche-y, 2005 teenager (let's be real, a former version of myself) and scream along to classic songs by Taking Back Sunday, Story of the Year, My Chemical Romance, and more. 

"Am I doing this right?"

Mike and I *did* do one tourist-y thing, and visited the Central Park Zoo. It was worth every cent, especially for the time I spent watching the harbor seals twirl around in their pool. 

There was also brunch. Lots of brunch. SO MUCH BRUNCH. I'm pretty sure by Sunday afternoon, my kidneys were swimming in champagne and orange juice. 

"Do you guys have pitchers of mimosas? Yeah, we will have one of those. That's right, just for the two of us. Thanks."

#NoShame. 

And, of course, I had to browse around a city Sephora. I'm glad I did, because I got to see, and hold in my hand, a Christian Louboutin nail polish in all it's glory. They retail for $50 EACH, so I really felt like I was in the presence of greatness. 

Which brings me to my final point: what I did with my nails for the weekend. I arrived in the city wearing a light sundress and wore a lot of black and white or tribal throughout the weekend, so I wanted to do something that would work with whatever I wore. 

Zoya in "Ali", "Purity", and "Willa"

Despite using my smallest detailing brush, the tribal still turned out a little messy, but not too terrible for my first freehand tribal. But, holy moly, that pink?! EYE searing. It's a great pink neon for the summer, it really packs a punch. 

Gradients and Dots Mani

I'm obsessed with neons right now. I just got my Zoya Earth Day Exchange order in the mail, and half of the polishes I ordered are screaming fluorescent. 

I haven't had a chance to use them yet, so I used another set of my favorite neon shades from Orly. 

I saw this manicure done by @duhmynails on Instagram:

Credit: @duhmynails

It was so adorable and fun I knew I had to recreate it, but since I love gradients a bit more than dots, I switched the design up a bit. 

I used Orly's neons from their "Baked" collection in "Neon Heat", "Ablaze", and "Saturated" for the gradient and dots with Zoya's "Purity" for the base. On the ring finger I used OPI's "Coronation" topped with Zoya's "Electra". 

This upcoming Thursday I'm headed up to NYC with Mike to visit amazing friends, so I'll definitely be putting my new Zoya neons to good use and writing a big blog post on the weekend, so keep your eyes open for that next week! 

I'll also likely dedicate an entire post to swatches of my Earth Day Exchange haul. 

Have a fabulous week! 

Scarf Inspired Manicure

Hello, everyone!

This past week I was doing ✨SCIENCE✨ on a research vessel. It's exhausting work, but I still managed to find time to do a pretty kickass manicure, if I do say so myself. 

I recently got $20 in rewards (i.e. Free money) from Pier 1, and we got a new scarf in that I fell in love with, so I used my rewards to pick it up. I realized it made great inspiration for a manicure. 

I then built a whole look around this scarf, matching my makeup and nails to it. 

The scarf, $16.95, Pier 1 Imports

Bold lower liner using Urban Decay Electric palette in shades "Chaos", "Fringel, and "Freak"

Scarf inspired colors: Zoya "Ryan", Sally Hansen "Pacific Blue", and Zoya "Bevin"

Entire mani polishes, including Zoya "Cosmo" and OPI "My Vampire is Buff"

I was thrilled to find a bottle of the discontinued "Pacific Blue", it was the perfect color to match the scarf and an essential color in any serious collector's stash, I'm told! 

I had intended for this to be a chevron gradient, but the only chevron vinyls I had left were the fat ones, so it just looks like individual colors with nude in between. I took that opportunity to place an order for more skinny chevron Nail Vinyls ;)

Regardless of the lack of gradient, I really loved the way this turned out and will definitely be doing variations of this mani in the future. 

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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Back to Basics: Dotticure

This week, I decided to use a tool I haven't touched much since I started getting into nail art: my dotting tool! 

Dotticures, or manicures featuring polka dots, are a great nail art option for beginners. They are easy, fun, and pretty hard to mess up. Once you get a good feel for dotting tools and the different size dots they can make, you can get pretty inventive with your Dotticure designs. 

These, for those of you that don't know, are dotting tools:

Forgive the fact that mine are dirty. They're double sided to give you size options. They are cheap to pick up on Amazon or eBay, and are a staple in any nail artists kit. 

I picked up three colors to decide between for my pedicure, and decided to use them together for my dotticure instead. 

Colors used: Zoya in "Purity", "Wendy", "Tiana", and "Rooney"

I really love how it reminds me of soda bubbles, like a really colorful ad for a cola company! 

Spring Stripes Mani

This week, the weather has been beautiful. It has really put me into full-blown spring fever mode! I wanted to do something light and fun for my manicure this week, so I turned to Instagram for inspiration and decided to recreate a manicure I've had in my favorites for months. 

The original, below, is by @thenailttrail on Instagram. 

Photo from @hbbeautybar, nails by @thenailtrail

I loved the look, so I recreated it without the studs. 

The look is super cute and simple to do. I think in the summer it would look really awesome with warmer colors! 

What are you doing to get ready for spring? Comment below!