Jordana Fabuliner Liquid Eyeliner in 01 Black

This stuff. This stuff RIGHT here is what made me seek out and go into my first Walgreen's. I'm all about breaking down barriers and experiencing new things so what was it that made me venture out of my CVS and Target comfort zone? The Jordana Fabuliner liquid eyeliner:

This stuff is popular in the beauty community and after the death of my Stila stay all day liquid eyeliner I've been on the search for a good replacement at a better cost than the steep $20 price tag. At $1.99, this Jordana liner certainly has Stila beat in price:

The packaging and appearance of the product is really similar with its sleek plastic casing and felt tip pen. The cap snaps closed really tightly so any concern about black eyeliner getting everywhere in a purse or a makeup bag disappeared!

The tip comes to a super skinny point giving you ultimate control of where this eyeliner goes. I like that! The thing I noticed when I swatched this bad boy is that the tip of the pen is VERY stiff. There is no give whatsoever which is a huge differentiation between this and the Stila pen.

Here is the Jordana liner swatched next to other faves of mine: Stila liquid eyeliner, Revlon colorstay liquid liner, and Urban Decay Perversion 24/7 eyeliner pencil. As far as color is concerned, this liner keeps up with the A team. It may not be as inky black as the Stila pen, but the differences are pretty minimal. I think it certainly knocks the gray toned Revlon out of the park.

When applying to my lash line, I definitely noticed the stiffness of the applicator... it was very pointy and required a light touch so I wouldn't poke my eyeball! That may take some getting used to but the overall effect I think is similar to the Stila stay all day liquid eyeliner pen. This stuff didn't smudge or budge after application and it stayed inky black all day. Also the firm tip gave me a very precise hand when applying so I could apply my winged out liner exactly how I wanted.

I'll have to wait and see how long this product takes to dry up, but as of now, it definitely has become a new favorite of mine and a product I will be repurchasing!

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Fashion Playground'

Gahhhhh I love this type of nail color! Let me contain my excitement for a sec and say that today's nail of the day is from the newest Essie collection. I allowed myself to get one color from this collection and I selected 'Fashion Playground:'

Essie describes this color as a 'plucky pistachio shimmer.' I think that's a pretty good description of this color with perhaps some minty blue thrown in the mix. I am SO attracted to colors like these, I just can't help myself! Something about them just screams Spring and gets me so excited for the upcoming season.

Though Essie describes this color as a shimmer, I really don't consider it so. You can see the shimmer if you look reaaaaally closely and also if the color is struck a certain way by some lighting. Otherwise, I consider this more of a creamy shade.

This color took 3 coats in some places for full opacity which wasn't so great. The color was very runny and sheer and a bit hard to work with. For me, the color is so gorgeous that a rougher application process is not a deterrent.

I found this polish at Walgreen's for about $8. Get it if you see it because this 'plucky pistachio' is one of the more popular colors from the new collection and will be gone before you know it!

Cheers to the upcoming Spring!
xxSJ

Jordana Easyliner Retractable Pencil for lips in 'Tawny'

Today's review is of a lip pencil from a brand I'm completely new to: Jordana. As far as I have found, this brand is only found at Walgreen's (at least in my neighborhood!). I've been wanting to try this brand out for a while after hearing good things about the fabuliner and lip pencils so when I finally wandered into my local Walgreen's, I knew I wanted to give this a try:

By the way folks, we goin' 70's style with the shaggy brown background for the products.  Anywho, the color I chose is a rosy brown color called 'Tawny.'

The pencil comes to a soft point and is retractable so you don't smush it in the cap. I like how the cap snaps on really securely so you can be sure the cap won't fall off.  The product simply twists up.

Swatched on my skin, I found this color to be a lot lighter than I thought it would be judging from the outer packaging. The pencil is also really soft and applies easily to the skin. This rosy color reminded me a lot of my all time favorite lip liner, 'Dervish' by MAC, so I decided to swatch them side by side:

Tawny is a bit darker and less pink than Dervish but I think they're pretty similar. I love colors like these because they are a very nice natural color on my lips as they are only a few shades darker than my natural lip color.

The top photo is of my lips outlined in Tawny, and the bottom photo is with Hue lipstick by MAC. I think the effect is really pretty and makes my lips appear full. The liner is smooth to apply and blends easily to the lip color I place on top.

Overall I really love this lipliner and I think it will become a new staple in my makeup arsenal. This liner only set me back $2.29. Makeup products DO NOT have to be expensive to be a nice quality and I can not wait to get my hands on more of these liners.
Another great thing to note is that these liners come packaged in plastic at the store. This does mean you can't swatch them in store, BUT it means that these pencils will be hygienic and clean when you use them for the first time. Good stuff!

Do you own any Jordana lip pencils??

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'For the Twill of It'

Today's nail of the day is a polish that I love... I'm just putting that out there right from the get go! It is 'For the Twill of It' by Essie:

Whenever I wear this I get so many compliments with out fail. This polish has an awesome reflective quality to it with out being shimmery or metallic-y. The base color is a blue-gray but reflects both green and purple depending on the angle of light striking it. So amazing!

Observe the reflective quality of this polish!

The wear time of this polish was pretty great lasting a few days and the application was really easy as this polish is not terribly thick but not runny either.

Jakey bear got in on the photo taking action...even he can't stay away from this gorgeous polish!

xxSJ

Review: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in 'Peony'

Today's review is of a lipgloss I picked up completely on a whim during my last visit to the drugstore. My 'on a whim' purchases are kind of crazy as I usually research products fairly well before purchasing...but sometimes when I see something I think is particularly pretty it's like I'm possessed. My eyes glaze over and all I can hear is 'pretty...sparkly...must touch' and with my blank expression plastered across my face, my arm (which I obviously have no control over whatsoever) grabs at the product and shoves it in my shopper.  When a product is in my shopping bag I have an established connection and relationship with it and it can't go back on the shelf. It's pathetic. But the truth. I have touched it and therefore I now must have it.  Anyway, all of the above happened when I saw the Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in 'Peony:'

See? Gorgeous. Go ahead and say 'gorgeous' with a New Jersey accent. Come on, don't be shy.  It's satisfying and it's what I want to do when I look at this lipgloss.  The packaging is this thick acrylic feeling plastic with a quilted black twist cap.  It's very sleek and pretty. 

The applicator is a nice spongey paddle tip applicator. Lerrrrrrv. It glosses the product on nice and smooth and its precise enough to get the product into the corners of your lips. Let's talk about the color for a sec:

Peony is a pretty peach color with peachy pink sparkles in it. I loveeee it. The consistency of this gloss is also great because its quite smooth (no globs here!) and has the perfect amount of stickiness to it so that it will stay on your lips and won't slide anywhere but you won't have any problems with your lips sticking together.

As you can see when I applied this gloss to my plain lips it adds just a little sparkle and a hint of color. This gloss really is best when on top of a lipstick. I want to wear it on top of corals and brighter pinks come Spring time for a really fresh look!

If everything in my life could be this beautiful peachy pink with golden reflects I would be so happy. Observe:

That's NARS Orgasm blush right there and as you can see, this lip gloss is that exact color. I'm always attracted to colors like these in the store and I'm so happy I have the right complexion to pull it off. These colors are so complimentary to a variety of skin tones but I like it best on me when I have a slight amount of color goin on on my skin. Hellooooo Spring and Summer!!

I found this lip gloss at Harmons in Bed Bath and Beyond for about $6. Good price for a large tube of product!

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'Demure Vix'

Today's nail of the day is a polish by Essie called 'Demure Vix:'

I have a weird relationship with this polish....lemme explain. This is one of those nail polishes that looks SO gorgeous to me in the bottle, but then whenever I wear it I'm just like 'ehhhhhhh I don't like you nails!!!' This polish is a really pretty taupe-y purple shade. I LOVE colors like that and they are probably my favorite neutral shade for the nail. This polish is different though because of the following:

Do you see it? Do ya? This polish has tiny bright holographic purpley blue reflective shimmer suspended in the pretty purple base. This is the reason I originally bought this polish since it is so interesting and pretty in the bottle. It's not my favorite on the nails, though, because it just kind of looks like I have cellophane or plastic on my nails... I just don't like the finish :( This color is also a bit watery on application and see through in some spots adding to the cellophane appearance.  For some people this might be exactly their cup of tea and that's fantastic! For me, however, it's just not my favorite.

What do you think? Would you rock this purpley reflective color?

xxSJ

NOTD: Zoya 'Vanessa'

Today's nail of the day is of a Zoya polish in the color 'Vanessa:'

In the bottle, this color looks like it would show up as a pure raspberry color on the nails. It ends up being slightly darker, however, and I consider it more of a burgundy color rather than a pinkish red.  This polish was super easy to paint on and was completely opaque in two thin coats. Kudos for that, but the wear time was unfortunately not so good...this stuff started chipping after only one day. Sad times.

I think this color is pretty, but I have so many other burgundy red shades that have better wear time. I think you can pass on this color if you already have similar shades and if you're looking for this type of color, I would pick an OPI color instead. This color isn't anything special.

xxSJ