March Julep + swatches!

 I was so excited when I saw the colors for Julep this month, I just couldn't decide what to get. So, I did it again, I got the whole wardrobe! I'm so excited! There's only one color that is kinda meh...but the rest are gorgeous!!

 I didn't get a tracking email from Julep and I was so scared thinking I wouldn't get my box in time! But, it came, on Saturday, but that day I was heading over to a local anime convention with the bf. I'm not really into that stuff, I don't judge or look down on anyone, but the bf likes it, so we went there and had a good time. It was super cold though! Anyways, back to Julep, I didn't get to try anything out, so I just took the lip balm and put it in my pocket...more on this below on the lip balm review.

Gorgeous packaging as usual!

Loved the color combination for the pack of polish! Then again, I wuvs purple!

Minnie: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. It's a warm pastel pink opalescent shimmer. This color is gorgeous in theory, but the "opalescent shimmer" part doesn't really show up on your nails. Also, it's a bit thick and not too easy to work with, but besides that, the color is really pretty. It looks really girly and really Barbie-esque. 

Swatch: 

2 coats under natural light, it's a bit more pink than how it looks in the picture.

 

 Leila: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. This is a lemon yellow opalescent shimmer. The shimmer is definitely easier to spot in this polish. It's really pretty, sadly the swatch picture couldn't capture the color true to life, my camera takes off all the blue in pictures most of the time, so I couldn't really show the color as it looks in real life, but it's close.

Swatches:

2 coats, natural light, I'd say the color is a mix of both pictures.

 Simone: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Soft pastel lilac opalescent shimmer. Such a pretty color! I die! It's purple!! It's a really pinkish purple though, still super pretty. The shimmer doesn't show in the picture, but I can definitely see it in the swatch.

Swatches:

2 coats, natural light. The real shade has more pink than purple, still pretty!
 

Joy: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Smokey mauve crème. Gorgeous color! It's definitely not something that I would buy by myself, but that's what I love about the subs, stepping out of your comfort zone! If done carefully this can be a one coat wonder!

Swatches:

2 coats, picture taken under natural light.

Shenae: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Pastel mint green opalescent shimmer. This guy is right in between blue and green, it's so pretty. Sadly, the opalescent effect doesn't really show much on nails.

Swatch:

2 coats under natural light.

 

Debra: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Smoky taupe crème. This guy is the one I said I don't "love" much, but it's fine, I'm sure I will wear it. It's a really pretty color, I'm just more of a colorful shades type of gal!

Swatch:

2 coats, natural light.

 Adrianna: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Smoky pistachio crème. This is a gorgeous green, sadly my camera makes it look yellow, so not close! I love this color, it's so delicate and pretty, it's an amazing pastel green.

Swatch:

2 coats, natural light.

Teri: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price: $11.20. Tropical coral pink crème. This color is pretty, I have a bunch of corals already, but the quality on them is not the greatest. I hope this one is different.

Swatch:

2 coats, natural light.

 

 Julep - Straberry-Mint Lip Balm: First of all, can't link to anything, since apparently they don't have this in their store. I will say that probably the price will round the $4 mark for Maven's. That is an estimate based on the price of their other lip balm. This was the first thing I tried out, as I said in the beginning of the post. It's OK, one thing I didn't like though is that is a little bit too soft. I don't know if you get what I mean, but it melts really easily. I had it in my pocket and when I went to use it, it was really melted. Not the whole thing, but at least the top of it was, as melted as another lip balm I had after circling around in the dryer...Oops! I like the scent, but it's a bit too intense. I think a softer, not so obvious scent would have been better. Overall, it's just another lip balm, nothing impressive.

 Rock Star Hand Crème: Regular Price: $20/Maven Price: $16. First thing I like about this hand crème- is that it doesn't leave an oily residue on my hands, that's always a plus. I loved the scent at first, but now I feel like it might be a bit over powering for my taste, meaning it might potentially give me a headache, which is never good. I don't like the cap design, I think product might dry out and get stuck in there, let's just hope that doesn't happen. The cap is a twist cap with a small hole in the middle for dispensing product. There is no flap over it to cover the opening, so some product may get dry and caked inside. I do like this product though, I just don't love the container or the scent too much. I do feel like it does it's job and moisturizes my hands, without making them greasy.
Update: I wrote this last night and as I was writing I applied this hand cream...I got super dizzy, I felt sick, this definitely has a scent that is way too over powering and lingers on for way too long! It's not a bad scent, it's just too much. I felt so nauseous and so sick! I definitely won't be able to use this lotion, which is really sad because I actually like it. If you are sensitive to scents/smells, this might be a problem for you. I hope it's not and I'm just too much of a PITA ^^ .

Glycolic Hand Scrub: Regular Price: $23/Maven Price: $18.40. I used this yesterday and I didn't feel a major difference. That might be because I had just used a scrub on my feet, which I rub in with my hands, so I guess my hands were already scrubbed from that. However, I do love the scent of this, it's really refreshing. I guess this will work, because it is a scrub and it does have scrubby thingies(things that scrub, sorry technical lingo, you know!LOL). I love the scent, which means I'll likely love the product. The price, I don't love so much, then again, I don't like the price of most Julep products since I think they are a bit overpriced.

Value and overall review:

Paid: $49.99 for full wardrobe.

Value for Mavens: $128

Value for non subscribers: $161

 I love the colors I got this month, I don't love the formula though. One coat takes ages to dry. After 40 minutes, it was still tacky, which is odd for Julep polishes. Also, some of these are streaky and end up looking clumpy. I wish the formula was like last month's, but as opaque as these are and of course without changing the shades. C'mon Julep, you can do better!!

 The colors didn't disappoint me, I absolutely love them, but the formula is not the greatest. Will that stop me from using them? Nope, not for a minute, it might just give me headaches and piss me off, but I'll still try because they are just so pretty.

 I've been subscribed to Julep for 5 months and so far this is the only thing I could actually complain about. Overall I absolutely love this subscription and plan on keeping it for a while. I don't see myself canceling any time soon!

 As for the products, they are OK. I needed a hand crème and didn't have a hand scrub, so that works for me, I'll just try to live with the smell...(that sounds gross!). The lip balm will be used because my lips dry like crazy, but it's definitely not my favorite. It's just too soft!

  If you want to subscribe to Julep, you can click here or copy and paste this link on your navigation bar: http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/68437/

Which was your favorite for this month's Julep box?

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :) Link is a referral link.

NOTD: Feb 28th

 Since I picked my dotting tool, and had some new colors, I decided to venture into some nail art. This was one of those manis that was cursed since it was thought up...I smudged my nails a ton of times! And I kept on doing it, I painted them way late at night and had to go to bed and of course that ruined it. I had to repaint my nails again and when I did, I smudged 3 nails when they were ready to just dry and wait for the dots...Oh well, I didn't give up, however. This chain of misfortunate events affected the mani, because I was tired by the time I had to put the dots on and it's not as perfect as I would like it to be, but it's still cute, I think...

 I picked both colors that I got at different times separately from each other. I got the pink one on this haul and the white for free as you can see here.

All pictures taken with natural light, no flash. Both colors took 3 coats to look opaque and even. The pink shade is Essie - We're in it Together and the white is Orly White Tips. 

The dots on the accent nail look like they are a different shade, but it's the same polish, I think it looks different because the background is white.

I really liked this mani and thought it was really cute and really girly too ^^

Hope you liked this :)

Drugstore haul Feb 23rd (and some reviews)

 I had to pick a few things up at the drugstore. Not only that, but the bf and I were on the hunt for a moisturizer to help with his black heads. We were looking for Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Hydrating Acne Treatment, which has been discontinued by Neutrogena and we were hoping a local drugstore would have it. 
  
 Sadly our quest was an epic fail, because we couldn't find it anywhere, so sad. It's like the world wants my bf to keep his black heads...Universe? Why do you hate on the bf? He's nice...most of the time! Ha-ha. 

 Anyways, thought I'd tell you the end of our sad story and tell you we failed looking for this stuff. I think if we were pirates...we would never find any treasure lmao(how lame did that sound?).  

First stop: Walgreens:

 I went to Walgreens because I had a coupon for $0.99 off of a Sinful Colors polish. I wanted to pick one up and of course because of the "main quest" mentioned above. While there, one of the girls that works there, told me they had some clearance products in the back of some aisle(bf editing: end cap of aisle sale)! Of course I had to check that out. They had a lot of polish, but mostly boring colors, so I didn't pick any  up.

Studio 35 - Premium Cotton Squares: I ran out of cotton rounds, so I decided to pick some up. I got these cotton squares, they are OK. I like them, they don't get destroyed the second the toner hits them, lol. And they are lint free, big plus when removing polish!

Nailtiques Formula 2: As I mentioned in this post, I have been using Nailtiques Formula 2 to make my nails stronger and it has worked! So I know I love it and mine is half gone. Might as well pick some up since it's regularly $9.99.

Nail Polish Remover Pads: I found these things for $.25, which is super cheap and thought they would be a good idea for emergencies. I don't like them for regular use, because they are oily and stain my nails, but I guess I could use them for an emergency or something. Just in case I might need to save the world by removing nail polish or something, you never know!

Sinful Colors - Hottie: This color caught my eye, it has holo glitter and it's just such a pretty blue! Had to have it!

Almay - Oil-Free Makeup Eraser Sticks: Another "in case of emergency" product. I thought this would be great to have because I constantly screw up while doing my eye make up and it would be handy to have, just in case. Well, since I got this, I find myself reaching for them constantly! I love them, they are super effective, it's just too bad that the package has only 24, because I'm almost out. They became a must in my make up bag.

Neutrogena - Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes Hydrating: These things! They allow the bf to be lazy and not wash his face before he goes to bed, seriously that's what we get them for. I use them sometimes, but mostly I just get one and clean his face when he's half asleep, because he's too lazy to wash his face and just wants to go to bed. I don't really need much of a make up remover, because my cleanser does the job pretty well( Purity by Philosophy). But these are nice for those nights where I just want to pass out in bed and not get up and wash my face. I know I shouldn't, but sometimes you're just so tired, you know? These towelettes are not only gentle and remove the make up, but they also moisturize a bit, which kills two birds with one stone for the bf(he doesn't really wear moisturizer or likes to).

Second stop: CVS:

    I walk into CVS and the first thing I see, a table full of make up products on clearance that was definitely calling my name! I don't need any dupes or polishes that are one shade off the other one...(that's what the bf says, "they all look the same").  But that cute Essie caught my eye and it was only $2 and some change.

  Revlon - Nail Polish in Enchanting(220): This guy was on my Revlon nail polish wish list and it was the one I wanted the most (except for Girly and Heavenly which I already had by then), so I HAD TO pick it up. It's so pretty, but I haven't used it yet.

 Essie - We're in it Together: This polish is a gorgeous soft pink with shimmer, I love the shade, but it's really sheer. It took 3 coats, took forever to dry just for it to show opaque.

Wet n Wild - Teal of Fortune: I've been obsessed with mermaid shades lately, so I had to have this one for sure! It's a dupe of Zoya Charla, Spoiled Deeper Dive, OPI Catch Me In Your Net and probably others.

Third Stop: Target:

 By this point I was super tired, I was in what the bf and I call "zombie mode". Zombie mode is when I wander around stores without a destination, with a blank mind just walking through aisles(bf editing: pretty accurate, i know).

 I picked up a bottle of much needed Nail Polish Remover. I picked the Up & Up one to try out, I mean not like it really matters, it's just nail polish remover. I Also got  E.L.F Brush Shampoo, because I was about to run out of brush cleanser and wanted to try this one out. The bf got two bottles of Goo Gone...I don't know what he needs that for, but OK. We also got Strawberry and Chocolate Yan Yan, but by the time I took this picture the chocolate one mysteriously disappeared...into my belly! Also, I got a baggie of Big League Chew, because I didn't have that in a while(and by that I mean since I was a kid...like 5 minutes ago!lol). Oh and cupcake stickers, to sticker plaster my Nintendo DS.

Fourth stop: Walmart:

 By this point I literally just wanted to get home! Like, yesterday!

The only thing I bought there, after finding out they didn't have that thing we were looking for, was brush guards. I don't have the originals, I bought something that is alike, so I wanted to try them out. I can totally tell the difference, these are much stiffer and have more material(?). You can tell they are much better quality, I will try to get more of them to just have these instead of the other stuff.

 We did go to Rite Aid too, but their Makeup section is so big, it was more like an in and out. We checked if they had what we were looking for and since they didn't- we left. Otherwise I would've been there for over an hour and I was just too tired.

 Hope you enjoyed this little haul with some reviews ^^.

 What are your must have drugstore products?

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :)

Feb 16th Weekend "shopping"

 I wanted a dotting tool, so I dragged the bf to Sally's. I was "just" looking for the dotting tool, but I always look at polish and beg the bf to buy them for me XD

 Well he said no! That meanie! Which is totally fine, but then I saw a bunch of Orly bottles at the register and I asked the girl about a promo I heard they had involving Orly polishes. She told me I could grab two, then she said I could grab three, well, I ended up getting 4! For free!! Woooot! 

 Literally just spent like $5 and got 4 polishes and a dotting tool! How cool is that? It's as if each item was $1. 

  I got a white because I really needed one to try to do some nail art...key word here is "try".

 Blue Collar

 Wild Wisteria

 Two-Hour Lunch

White Tips

Odd enough these are my first Orly polishes. I've heard of the brand, I know they are good, but I just haven't gotten to try them yet, until now. And this doesn't mean I have a small polish collection, right now I have over 100, which I think it's a decent sized collection, I just didn't get a chance to try them until know.

I think it's funny that the only reason Sally was giving these away is because Orly is changing packaging...not changing formula just changing the bottles! Lol.

Maybe I could have grabbed more polishes, but I thought it would be too much, I got enough, I was greedy enough, didn't want to be more greedy! 

Weekend purchases Feb 9th

 I'm super delayed with these posts, so I'm gonna try to post all my recent purchases constantly now, so I can catch up.

 I heard on MakeupTalk, that Big Lots had 2 Revlon polishes for $2, so I went to my local Big Lots to check it out. To be honest, I don't care for the store, if they have cute polish cheap, I'll buy it.

 Also, I've noticed most of my weekend purchases are either polish or polish related lol! Anyways...

 I was expecting a bunch of cute shades, they only had the scented ones, which I guess they are launching new ones or something and have to get rid of these? Don't quote me on that, just guessing here.

 Anyways, they had like 6 different shades or something like that, but most of them were muted and really boring, I just bought one pair to say I bought something.

  I got Strawberry Cream and Sugar Glaze. They smell amazing! Which I don't think it's a good idea for polish, specially with kids...Luckily I don't have kids! Hah!

 They are really sheer, so I know they will take a couple of coats, or maybe even more, but I think both shades are quite cute :3

 OK, now that I looked this up a bit more, it does seem to be discontinued, because I think they launch new colors, like every year or something like that. Either way the shades I saw on Ulta for the current scented ones look amazing! 

 On a funny note, I spilled Sugar Glaze on my house pants and...well at least it's smells nice and not like regular polish!

  I tried one of these, Sugar Glaze, I think and it was taking forever to dry, that mani didn't get to see the light, but I'm sure I will eventually try it out!

Which Revlon Scented Polishes would you love to have? I'm in love with Ocean Breeze! 

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :)

February Beauty Army (Reviews+Swatches)

 I had to get this month's box, because I forgot to get the mascara last month. Also, I was hoping I would get to try the Olive Oil soap and get the last of the Whip Hand Camo Collection pigments, so I could complete the collection.

 This one arrived on time, but I'm lazy and forgot to write about it. To be honest, I rather have a good or at least decent opinion about the products before I talk about them. And by that I don't mean I have to have a positive review about them,I mean I formed my opinion after trying them out.

I wish all my boxes were black, they are so much prettier!

Looks like so much when it's all together like that!

Grand Central Beauty - Smart Skin Perfecting Mask (1 mask): $18.75, full size has the ingredients for 4 masks and goes for $75. First of all, this mask stinks! Like fish! Seriously, I kinda gagged a bit when I put it on. This is supposed to smooth, moisturize and tone skin, reduce redness and have anti-aging properties. Clearly, I wasn't able to tell a difference after one use. I could say that my skin felt a bit more moisturized, but that's about it. However, I can say this provided the bf with a good laugh lol. For some reason, he loves when I put on peel off masks and then peel them off. This looked like skin, because it was like peach colored. Either way, I won't be purchasing this, because $75! Is just too much for a mask.

Karuna – Renewal Eye Mask (1): $9, full size goes for $36, for 4 sets of eye masks. This felt cool, literally cool! I don't think it really made a huge difference, then again, I don't have a lot of puffiness, but it was fun to try. I took before and after pictures, but I'm a genius and took them in different rooms with different lighting, so they look...different of course! I've heard the other eye mask Beauty Army has is better, so I will definitely try to get it next month.

 Olive Natural Beauty – The Olive Bar Lemon and  Lavender (1 oz): $1.25, full size is 8oz and goes for $10. Isn't this packaging the cutest? I haven't noticed anything special or different about this soap, besides the scent, it smells amazing! I've been using it in the shower to wash my face in the morning. I haven't gotten any bad reactions to it and my skin is somewhat sensitive, so I would say it's OK on sensitive skin. However, I would still advise you to try it out on a small spot on your face or somewhere else and see how your skin reacts. Smells nice, but it's not wowing me enough to make me want to buy it full size.

Yes to – Tomatoes Daily Pore Scrub (.1 fl oz/3ml): $0.26, full size is 4oz/113g and goes for $9.97. I liked this scrub, it wasn't too rough on my skin and did just what it was supposed to do, exfoliate my skin. However, some of the "scrubby" product, what ever this uses to scrub, stayed in the package and I couldn't take it out. I do think I will be getting this full size, because I'm willing to try anything to take my blackheads away. I didn't see any improvement, but then again it was just one use.

Whip Hand Cosmetics – Loose Pigment Eyeshadow in Medal Of Honor(.02 oz/.75g): $2.80, full size is 0.10oz and goes for $14. The color of this shadow is gorgeous! It's shimmery and super vibrant. BUT and this is one big but! The fall out! OMG, it's insane, I've never seen an eyeshadow with as much fall out as this one. It's really sad too, because the color is so pretty. If you want to use it for a shimmer effect, it will work out well enough, but if you want the color to actually show, it might be a bit of a challenge. I had to apply a cream eyeshadow as the base, because it wouldn't just stick to regular primer(Too Faced Shadow Insurance). I won't purchase a full size, because the sample itself will last me a while. Either way, I'm sure I would be able to find a shade close to this one without the insane amount of fall out.

Swatches:

Look: I did a little look inspired on some of the pigments from the Camo Collection.

 I applied Special Force (January box) to the lid, next to the inner corner. Medal of Honor to the middle of the lid and Lock + Loaded (December Box) to the crease.

mark.– Scanda-Lash Hook Up Mascara: $6.50, full size. This mascara basically just gave color to my lashes, no length, no volume, nothing extra, just color. I, ofcourse, won't repurchase knowing there are far better things out there that will provide volume or length, or both.

Swatch(?): 

Boo–Boo Cover-Up - Boo-Boo Covers(3 1x1" squares): $1.66, full size is 6 2x3" covers and goes for $19.99. This did cover my boo boos! However, none of the colors matche my skin tone D: Like, not even close! I think this is a cute idea, it's basically a temporary tattoo type thing that is just skin colored. I wore this on my hand for a day, until I applied Argan Oil to my hands and I accidentally removed it(yeah you can remove it with baby oil, so I guess any oil will do). Foundation didn't cover this or even out the color. Only a lot of concealer did, and for that matter, I could just apply concealer with a heavy hand. This might be tough, because it wasn't the right shade for me and it might work correctly on someone with the right shade. I like the idea, but I won't buy this, I can just wear concealer instead.

Value and review: 

 The value of my box this month is: $40.22. Really decent, considering is $12 a month.

 

 It wasn't hard to get the products I wanted to show up this month, but that is because I did it at 9' O clock PST, otherwise, the stuff in my selection window would be only repeats. Even doing it at 9, I found some repeats, which means I might be exhausting my selection of products and might need to start skipping months for Beauty Army.

 So far, I've been really happy with this subscription, it does accomplish it's purpose, to get me to try new products and new brands. I definitely recommend Beauty Army, it gives you the "bang for your buck" and you get to try different brands you probably wouldn't try otherwise. Also it's fun to be able to pick what you get yourself and get a little box of surprises every month.

 I really hope they add more new stuff to their selection window so I don't have to skip my box! 

 

If you want to subscribe to Beauty Army, you can click here, or just copy and paste this link on the navigation bar:https://beautyarmy.com/account/registration/?referral_id=4ac4804c5a82a5427d88b75ca6031bcc
 

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :) Link is a referral link.