NOTD: Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy 'Pocket of Aces'

Revlon just released a new addition to their Colorstay nail polish line called 'Gel Envy.' These polishes all have casino related names and are supposed to give your nails a gel-like finish.  I found these polishes for BOGO 50% off so I thought I'd give them a try.  I picked out 'Pocket Aces,' a hot, hot coral color!

I really liked the formula of this color! It was really easy to apply and was basically opaque in just one coat.  As always, I do two coats for good measure, but one coat would have gotten the job done.  The color was gorgeous and was a true coral.  The nails definitely looked similar to a gel manicure because they looked so perfect!  The manicure stayed chip free for 3 full days before I removed the polish.

I would definitely recommend this polish and its one that is going to come with me to New York! It is the color that I want Essie's 'Cute as a Button' to look like every time I use it but am always disappointed to realize it just isn't quite there.

This polish is around $6 a bottle but definitely buy it when Revlon is on sale at the drugstore or Ulta!

xxSJ

How to Use: An Eyeshadow Sample Card!

I have so many free samples from shopping online and from shopping in store and, unfortunately, many of them wait in a little bin for me to one day feel adventurous enough to test them out.  One sample that I'm offered time and time again are eyeshadow cards with a teeny, tiny amount of shadow on them to use.  I usually pass these guys up because I haven't felt like they were a worthy sample to truly try a product out.  As fate would have it, I was given one of these cards by chance in a Sephora purchase a while back, so I decided to try this out today and see if these eyeshadow testers serve any true purpose to a makeup junkie like myself!

The eyeshadow sample I have is for Smashbox trios.  This card came with three different trios, each covered in a plastic so the powders don't smudge or mix.  The first trio is Dark Room, a smoky look consisting of a shiny cream, a matte gray, and a matte black:

I used these shadows as the tester instructed; I washed color 1 all over my lid, color 2 blended into the crease, and color 3 smudged into my lashline and into my crease.  I quickly realized with this sample (and this held true for all of them in this card!), that there was only enough shadow for one eye.  There is such a thin film of shadow that for color 1, sweeping the color all over the lid means using all of it! This is the look I achieved on one eye:

I did the same with the other two samples: 

I really liked this one! For a purple, I found it to be quite pretty and easy to work with!

I liked this trio the best as it created a very pretty, muted, smoky eye.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing around with this eyeshadow tester card.  It was a little odd that I could only do the look on one eye, but I think it was enough to see how the colors would blend together and look on my skin and against my eye color.  In the future, if I have the option to receive these eyeshadow testers as a free sample I will definitely take the opportunity!  I really enjoyed getting to play with some sterile eyeshadow in the comfort of my own home rather than testing in store with a beat up sample product.  This also is a good marketing tactic for Smashbox as I now want to get my hands on the Filter and Vignette trios since I enjoyed them so much!

Don't be afraid of eyeshadow testers and don't pass them up! They could end up being your best friend, not to mention they will make you look utterly fabulous with a different eye look on either eye...haters gonna hate, so werk it.

xxSJ

Review: LA Girl Pro Conceal HD Concealer

The LA Girl Pro Conceal Concealer is under the magnifying glass today, folks! This cheap and hard to find concealer is often raved about and compared to MAC concealer, so about a week ago I decided that I had to try this out! I found this concealer on Amazon for only $2 plus $2.99 for shipping. I was of course skeptical of the huge claims and the inexpensive price, but hey, I'm willing to try most anything out...it's just going to have to impress the hell out of me.  So go on, LA Girl...I'm listening.

The product comes in a little  plastic tube that houses 0.25 oz of concealer.  Squeezing the tube pushes some of the concealer out of the brush tip. 

I got the color Classic Ivory and I'm a little disappointed in the color. When buying makeup online, your only option is to look up as many color swatches as possible and of all the ones I saw of this color, I thought it would be far more white and less beige.  

Here is the color swatched next to my other favorite concealers.  From left to right is the LA Girl concealer, NARS radiant creamy concealer in vanilla, Maybelline Fit Me concealer in Fair, and Maybelline Dream Lumi touch concealer in Radiant.  The LA Girl concealer is far thicker and is more of a color match for the Dream Lumi concealer than any of the other ones I own due to its peachy color.

Top: No concealer, Bottom: Concealer under eyes

This concealer blends pretty easily and erases quite a bit of pigment from my undereye area.  It is pretty comfortable to wear all day and lasts a lot longer than my Maybelline Fit Me concealer which can wear off in only a couple hours.  My only real complaint about this concealer is that because of its thickness, if you don't take extra care in blending it in it will crease on your skin after a while.

My final verdict is that I'm not exactly shouting about this product from the rooftops.  It's a pretty good concealer that isn't quite as good as my NARS but also beats out some drugstore options. I really don't like the fact that I have to buy this on Amazon since the brand is so obscure, but I do think I'll buy it again in the future given that with tax and shipping this product only set me back $5.

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Urban Jungle'

I'm undecided about this polish to be completely honest!! Essie's 'Urban Jungle' is a beige, off-white cream color.  In some lighting it can like like a light gray or a light purple.  I'm undecided about whether or not I love this because this can look really unattractive and just 'blah' in certain lighting..like I just dipped my fingers in cement or clay. Other lighting it can look really pretty and sophisticated, though!

I think I'm definitely going to wear this polish again because I did like it enough with certain outfits. It's a very grown up color and I like the touch of class it can give an outfit that a metallic purple or bright fuschia can't quite achieve.

The formula of this polish was okay--patchy and uneven on the first coat but evened out by the second. A couple nails required 3 coats for full opacity.  The wear time of this polish was amazing though as it lasted 4 days with zero chips before I finally took it off!

Essie polishes retail for about $8 each! Get your hands on Urban Jungle if you're looking for an off-white.

xxSJ

NYX Round Lipstick in 'Fig'

NYX is a brand that is ultra hit-or-miss for me.  They have some great products like their blushes, jumbo eye pencils and butter glosses to name a few, but then they have some products that just aren't any good.  I only own one NYX lipstick (review here!), so I wanted to pick up another one to see if I like them! I chose the color 'Fig,' a deep rose color.

This lipstick is like paint! It is SO creamy and a bit thick in consistency.  It is super pigmented.

This color was a bit warmer on my skin than I thought it would be, but I still think it is quite pretty.

As you can see, this is a full color, full impact lipstick.  It is really moisturizing which makes it very comfortable to wear.  I really like wearing a light wash of this over my lips and then putting a lighter color like MAC Hue on the center of my lips for a pouty and multi-dimensional effect.

I would recommend this lipstick because I think it is a high quality product for only $3.99! NYX can usually be found at BOGO discount prices so I would recommend snagging this and another color for some variety.  Spice up your life!

xxSJ

How I Use: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 'Milk'

I love talking about the inexpensive secret weapons I keep in my makeup arsenal! One that I've kept in my stash for a long time is the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 'Milk.'

This eye pencil is a super pigmented white and is very creamy making it easy to blend and use.  I like to use it for a couple purposes, mainly for eye makeup.  It is great to use as a foundation for your highlight. I like to put some of this on my inner corner and browbone:

I blend it out and then add my shadow. The milk pencil underneath makes it pop that much more! This is a super helpful trick for those sleepy mornings that you need an extra pick-me-up.  The other use for this pencil is to swipe it all over the eye before putting on a particularly glittery or chunky eyeshadow.  This creaminess of this pencil mixes with the shadow and changes the texture to more of a satiny finish instead of glittery and also makes the color pop a bit more since it's layered over white:

On the left is Smashbox's 'Flirt' eyeshadow on my skin and on the right is the same shadow layered over 'Milk' eye pencil.  It makes the color so much more vibrant and smooth!

The last use for this pencil that I have is for costume purposes! A thick, white, pigmented liner is so useful for different looks. I did a comic book character look recently and the white pencil came in handy for the cartoon lips:

This eye pencil is not good for certain things such as being an eyeliner since it is such a thick pencil and it is creamy, but for all your other white makeup needs it does the trick!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils cost about $3 each and can be found at Ulta and where ever NYX is sold!

xxSJ

Spotlight on: Smith's Rosebud Salve

Smith's Rosebud Salve is a multi-use product that I've carried in my purse for years.  It can be found at Sephora for only $7 for a 22g tin of product.  I love this stuff because I have perpetually dry lips and cuticles so this blend of essential oils is great for hydrating my skin.

Since this is a tin of product, you have to just dip your fingers right in. If that grosses you out then this probably isn't the product for you.  This salve leaves a very thin oily residue on your skin that doesn't necessarily feel that moisturizing, but rather more of a slick, slippery feeling.  However, when the salve rubs off, your skin is left incredibly soft and feeling healed! You could probably also rub this on other dry areas of skin, but since this stuff isn't necessarily heavy duty and is more useful for sensitive areas, I use this strictly on my fingertips and lips.

I'm experimenting with some other hydrating cures for my dry cuticles, but for now, this stuff gets the job done and is my favorite product for that purpose!

xxSJ

Review: L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

I've been trying out this mascara for about two months and I have some pretty definitive thoughts about it! It is the L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly mascara, and, to be completely honest, I bought it because I love butterflies.  I also really like the silver and black packaging. I think it looks quite elegant and sleek on my makeup vanity.

The mascara is labeled as Butterfly mascara because of the wand. It is a four-combed wand; two of the combs have longer plastic spindles that taper off to short ones, and two of the combs are short plastic spindles for your lower lashes.  The formula of this mascara is fairly wet when applied, but it dries very quickly. 

Here are my au natural eyelashes:

And here we are with one coat of the mascara applied:

I found this mascara super easy to apply as the curved wand fits my eye shape really well.  This mascara really bumps up the volume of your lashes at their roots and then separates the lashes at the tips. I do think this mascara gives a winged effect to the lashes. 

I really like this mascara! My one complaint is that it has a smell...it smells like artificial roses, or like really old makeup.  It's kind of odd but you can only smell it while you're applying and then it goes away.

I would definitely repurchase this mascara in the future!
xxSJ

Steph Reads: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

Before I even go into my review, I'm going to say that I give this book a 9/10, and I give its epilogue a 100/10...just, amazing.
      This story follows three different women: Rachel, an older woman plagued by loss and haunted by a mystery from her past; Tess, a woman whose quiet and smooth life has been disrupted by a startling realization by her husband and cousin; and Cecilia, a tupperware goddess whose husband has a very big, life-altering secret.  I went into this book expecting it to be a light, chick-lit read with light-hearted, simple issues and silly female tropes. What I got instead was quite a complex book following three women's intricate relationships that are in some cases very surprisingly intertwined.  The husband's secret isn't found out until about half way through this book. I liked having to wait for the secret because it allowed for the characters to be completely developed before a wrench was thrown into my ideas and thoughts on these characters.
      This book was a very fun read and had me addicted to learning more about these characters and fascinated with their reactions to different situations.  The reason I love the epilogue so much is because it discusses the butterfly effect.  How much does one decision, one interaction with one person, one minute longer spent at a place where you shouldn't be--how much do these seemingly insignificant moments effect the rest of our lives? Do all our decisions really matter, or are we destined to end up in the same place eventually no matter the decisions we make?  The epilogue of this book, though only 2 pages, left me impacted by this book, and for that reason, I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

NOTD: Essie 'Go Ginza'

Move over, Lilacism! I have a new favorite nail polish and it is Essie's Go Ginza. Oh my goodness this color is perfect and is what I want my wedding color to be! Go Ginza is a muted, milky lavender color that is so pure in the sense that it has very little blue tones in it. 

This polish is pretty watery so it takes some finesse to get it right.  I used three coats on some nails to make sure they were totally opaque but some nails only needed two coats to get the job done.  This polish looks really nice on my pale skin, but I think it would look really eye-catching and poppy on a tan as well!

Let me know what you think of this cool lavender color! I'm so excited about this discovery!

xxSJ

Spotlight on: MAC 'Flamingo' lipstick

In the past, MAC has released collections with much lusted after lipsticks that some makeup lovers will go to the end of the world and back to get their hands on because when they're gone...they're gone! MAC has done a brilliant thing in the past year which is re-release some of those lusted after lovelies by adding them to the permanent collection, and today, I got my paws on one of them!

Flamingo is a lipstick that was released with the MAC All About Orange collection. It is a light, milky coral that looks seriously terrifying in the tube! 

This lipstick looks straight up orange in the tube and I would have never purchased it had I not swatched it and tried it on in the store. 

As you can see, this lipstick shows up on the skin as the light coral it is described as.  It also can look a bit different depending on the lighting:

This lipstick is the definition of a pinky coral! Look at that! Flamingo lipstick is an awesome way to rock some color with out being too vibrant. It may look scary in the tube, but on your lips, it will come off as the perfect pinky coral color.

This lipstick is a lustre finish lipstick which are definitely my favorite MAC lipsticks. They are super hydrating and moisturizing on the lips and they don't feel heavy at all! They're the most comfortable and most flattering lipsticks in my opinion.

For some fun color this Summer, make sure to snatch up flamingo! You'll be so pleased with it!

xxSJ

New Favorite: Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

When I bought the bulk of my eyeshadows in my collection I was all about the glitter and shimmer! I have a TON of pretty shades but not a lot of matte shadows that will create a pretty, sophisticated, and basic look. I thought the least expensive and quickest way to get me a nice array of shadows would be to purchase the Naked Basics palette by Urban Decay. 

This little palette was so perfect for what I needed! It was $28 at Sephora for 6, 1.5g eyeshadows (for reference that is the same size as Urban Decay single pot shadows, the shadows in the Naked palettes, and MAC single eyeshadows). 

The colors from left to right are Venus, the only shimmery shade in the palette that is a great highlighter; Foxy, a yellowy bone-toned highlighter; Walk of Shame, a beigey pink shade; Naked2, a  taupe gray shade; Faint, a deep brown color; and Crave, a blackest black charcoal color.

All of these shades are buttery soft to the touch except for Crave which feels like a piece of charcoal. I don't mind it, though, because I think the texture helps make it so inky black! These shadows work so wonderfully on their own for an all matte, sophisticated look, and they also work fantastically to begin a look which you can add shimmer or colors to later.  This little palette is a seriously amazing addition to my makeup collection because I feel like I can just use this little guy for a work or school-appropriate eyeshadow look.  No fuss of reaching for a bunch of different palettes since everything I need is all in one place!

I highly recommend this little palette for its practicality, quality, and affordability.

xxSJ

Review: Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

The Rimmel London display is always so tantalizing to me when I'm at the drugstore! The products are inexpensive, wrapped up in my favorite color (purple lovers, heyyyyy!), and many are raved about by beauty gurus everywhere! I wanted to try out a new Summer foundation as my beloved Revlon is running low. I decided to try this Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation as I recall a couple good reviews and for only about $6 for an ounce, this stuff sure is budget friendly.

I really like the tube packaging of this product, similar to my Smashbox BB cream and beloved Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation. You get the expected 1fl oz of product in this tube.  I really enjoy the graphics and appearance of this product on my makeup vanity! Something about it looks really neat and cute. The actual product itself can be squeezed easily out of the screw off top:

The product is very thick and mousse-like.  The mousse consistency makes it so this foundation has NO shine to it whatsoever! I found the best way to apply this was to dot my chin, cheeks, nose, and forehead with this and then blend from the center of my face outward using my RealTechniques expert face brush. The results:

This foundation does a great job at mattifying the face which is what I'm looking for in the Summertime. It also does some pretty great color correcting and concealing which leads me to label this as a medium coverage foundation.  I LOVE the finish this foundation gives the skin, as it sets up to an almost powdery feeling and appearing finish creating a blurring effect on any imperfections. I set this foundation with the Rimmel Stay Matte powder and I was good to go for about 6 hours before I needed any powder touch-ups on shiny areas!

This foundation was also super comfortable to wear through out the day. It didn't give me a greasy, sliding around my face feel that other foundations can give me in the Summer. I don't know if this will be the best foundation for Fall and Winter, as the mattifying effect may be a little too intense for dryer skin, but for now this stuff is perfection!

I would definitely repurchase this product!

xxSJ