Super- Bright Summer Lips

I figured I would post a second time today, being that my first post was supposed to go up yesterday afternoon, but I was feeling quite under the weather and did not get a chance to post it. Feeling somewhat better today, but still not so great so I apologize if it's a short one.

A couple months ago in a Walmart, I came across a brand called RK by Kiss and was excited to see some lipsticks that are packaged in a tube similar to a lip gloss. But don't let that fool you, these are in no way lip gloss. They are the most opaque and long wearing lipstick formula I've ever seen. And they're perfect for carrying around during the summer because you don't have to worry about your lipstick bullet melting in the heat. The colors range from wearable to more bright and crazy colors. I personally own three shades currently, but will be purchasing the rest when I get a chance to pick them up. I own 06 Crush, which is a bright orange with a red undertone; 12 Glace, a bright yellow; and 13 Pool Party, a sky blue.

These colors are great for long wear with no retouching, as the color stains and the application is thick. But be careful when applying as the formula instantly stains so if you make a mistake you may find you can't get it off. Also, the formula doesn't dry so be aware that when you eat or drink it will come off and may end up outside the lip line. They are truly matte as they claim to be on the tube, and are labeled as a lip lacquer, but they're definitely much more like a liquefied lipstick.

They have colors from red and pink to purple to grey and white. Perfect for mixing to create the perfect color and perfect for taking on the go without the worry of a mess. No more melted lipstick bullets and messy purses!

Nail Polish Mega Haul

I cleaned out the vanity and reorganized, and along the way I found a lot of nail polish that was really old or I don't use anymore. Afterwards, I noted that I lacked cool tones and more neutral colors. Neutrals are my favorite lately and I only had about two, so I decided to make a few purchases.

Below I will list the colors I purchased and a description of the color and the finish. I will also let you know the place of purchase, though some were on clearance so they may be gone by now.

Creme colors:
Whim Nail Lacquer in 405 Faux Real - teal (Ulta)
Whim Nail Lacquerin 490 Thyme to Celebrate - blue-toned grey (Ulta - Clearance)
Ginger + Liz Color Collection in Grounded - slate grey (Ulta - Clearance)
Sally Hansen Insta-dri in 310 Slick Slate - grey-toned mauve (CVS)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 430 Royal Hue - purple blue (CVS)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 230 Pep-plum - warm-toned purple (CVS)
Avon Speed Dry Nail Enamel in Red Red - true red (Avon)
Maybelline Color Show in 115 Pretty in Peach - pastel orange (Ulta)
H&M Nail Polish in Go Lemon - pastel yellow (H&M)

Sheer colors:
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 215 Daydreamer - shimmery pink with a green shift (CVS)
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 565 Wild - shimmery green with a silver fleck (CVS)
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 933 Chameleon - shimmery dark green with an orange and yellow shift (CVS)

Metallic colors:
Wet n Wild Wild Shine in 446C Caribbean Frost - metallic teal green (Dollar Store)
Arissa Nail Lacquer in ABN374 Beaming Bronze - metallic warm brown (Dollar Store)

Shimmer colors:
Sally Hansen Insta Dri in 155 Making Mauves - soft beige with silver micro shimmer (CVS)
H&M Nail Polish in Precious - orange and yellow duochrome (H&M)
H&M Nail Polish in Amaranthine - red and orange duochrome (H&M)
H&M Nail Polish in Skylight - pastel blue-white and purple duochrome (H&M)

Clear Glitter colors:
Whim Nail Lacquer in 260 Midnight Wink - sheer blue with blue green and purple glitter (Ulta - Clearance)

Opaque Glitter colors:
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Rave - pink toned mauve with silver glitter (Avon)
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Absinthe - chartreuse green with silver glitter (Avon)
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Ruby Slipper - true red with silver glitter (Avon)
Sinful Colors in 1383 Gilded - light pink with pink and gold glitter (Big Lots)
Pure Ice in Purple Reign - lavender purple with gold glitter (Big Lots)
Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant in 80 Violet Flicker - deep purple with purple and blue glitter (Big Lots)
Maybelline Color Show in 240 Twilight Rays - black with gold glitter (Big Lots)
Whim Nail Lacquer in 425 Cable Knit - white with white glitter (Ulta - Clearance)
OPI Nail Lacquer in Cosmo with a Twist - navy with purple and blue glitter (Big Lots)

I've pretty much loved all of the colors. There have been a few I was slightly disappointed in. Starting from the top, Slick Slate from Sally Hansen was very hard to apply cleanly because of the wide flat shape of the brush, it applied way too much product despite being wiped off prior to application. I was not so pleasantly surprised that the Revlon colors were all sheer and had little color payoff despite looking very opaque in the bottles. They require multiple coats to get them to be opaque, but still do not have the best color payoff. Making Mauves by Sally Hansen has the same brush as Slick Slate and also applies way too thick despite my efforts to fix it. Whim's Midnight Wink was surprisingly sheer compared to how it looked in the bottle, and while it's pretty over Whim's Faux Real I was much more hopeful to wear it on its own, but the glitter is very sparsely dispersed during application and is not easy to create a sufficiently opaque coverage to wear it on its own. Still very pretty. Finally, Rave from Avon was far more pink than I expected, from the color swatch online it seemed like more of a purple than a pink so I was surprised to apply it and have it dry into more of a pink color. Other than these few things the formulas and colors of them all are true to color and easy to apply, requiring only one coat, maybe two to even out any areas of thinness.

Argan Oil Primer: Love or Hate?

I've been using the Physicians Formula Arganwear Argan oil primer with coconut water. It comes in the gold and white ombre glass bottle with the sprayer.
I enjoy the product formula itself, but the way the bottle sprays I often find that the products is badly distributed and I end up having to rub it into my skin to get it to actually melt in. My dry skin loves the coconut water and it does make my skin feel hydrated and prepared for makeup application. It's very easy to overdo this if you're not careful and end up oily. I'm not crazy about the smell, but it goes away shortly after spraying once the product settles.
It gives me a smoother application by removing the dryness from my skin, however I use this more as a skincare product than as a primer since I need a primer that really holds onto my makeup much harder. I definitely more prefer a silicone primer, but this may work as a primer on its own for someone else.
All in all not a fail, but I'm not completely in love with the application for this product. I'm also a bit annoyed with the biphase product because it seems to be hard to get it evenly mixed for long enough to apply it without having to shake it almost every spray. I've purchased the regular argan oil from them as well to see if I prefer that to the spray bottle version. We will see!

As always, Stay Beautiful
BNB

Sun Safety

Now, we all know it's important to wear sunscreen when we're outside in order to prevent cancer and early aging skin. But it's almost impossible to find one that's good for your skin and goes well under makeup. I think I finally solved this problem for myself, but it took all kinds of trial and error. No one sunscreen is right for everyone, and I needed one that had high SPF, no greasy feeling, and wouldn't leave my skin shiny and oily over time. With my sensitive, dry skin, it's important that my sunscreen isn't harsh while still working effectively to protect me from sun damage and sun burn.

On a whim I tried IPKN NewYork's Pore Apple Sun Cream sunscreen makeup primer. It has SPF 40+, is gentle on the skin, and  helps to control oily t-zones. It has a slight silicone feel, which is good for holding makeup on the skin. It claims to be moisturizing, which from my experience is true. It didn't leave my skin feeling tight, dry or tired after wearing it for the day at a festival. It's very lightweight and doesn't break down over time or become greasy out in the heat. It didn't melt and it doesn't have the horrible chemical smell that most sunscreens have.

I would recommend anyone try this product. I picked it up off of Amazon, and it cost only about $26. It's a little expensive for a sunscreen I'll admit, but for how little product you use at a time I find it to be worth it.

of course I haven't tried reapplication over top of makeup, but it worked well with my normal stick sunscreen that I carry for reapplication on the go.

Always remember to care for your skin, and Stay Beautiful.

BNB

Exciting Products to Come!

I have a lot of great stuff in the works for the next few months. I've got some things in the mail, as well as a few things I want to try out in hopes of working with my seemingly picky skin.

In the mail I have the mini size of the Hourglass dim light ambient lighting powder so I can try it out, by looks it appears my wet n wild bronzer in reserve your Cabana might be a dupe. We will see!

Also in the mail is the Becca travel set of the Opal powder and liquid formulas. I thought it might be worth a try since I seen to have a lot drier skin than I used to. I went into Sephora and got color matched because I couldn't decide between opal and moonstone. The opal set is going out of stock and the moonstone liquid travel size is new, so I wanted to be sure I was getting something I would like. With my skin I could have chosen either so I started with Opal.

In the works otherwise is purchasing the milani liquid metallics lipsticks before they go out of stock permanently. My goal is to pick up the nude and the brown shades. I'm in love with the liquid lipstick formula because I work in a hot warehouse and I need something that stands up to drinking and sweating.

And also soon I will be getting matched for a foundation because unfortunately for me my skin isn't very agreeable with drugstore foundations because they are generally either yellow or pink based and both of those tend to be off on my skin. So I am looking for a more neutral toned color or a way of making my foundation a better match instead of just going with what I can find that's close enough.

Take care in the sun and heat, and Stay Beautiful!
BNB

I'm Not On The Bandwagon

Lately everyone on YouTube has been all over the Better Than Sex bandwagon. And I agree that it's a good mascara, I can't knock it for anything except the price compared to the mascara I prefer over it. I can't jump on the bandwagon when my ten dollar mascara from Avon gives me falsie quality lashes from one coat where I have to apply multiple coats of Too Faced's and it still doesn't give me the same volume and length I get from my Avon Mega Effects. I wear mascara every day, and I hardly reach for Better than Sex because of my Avon mascara. I have to make an effort to use all of my mascaras instead of the Avon one. I've never had a mascara do this great, and it's hardly ever talked about (if at all) how amazing this product is compared to some of its more expensive competitors. And the best part about Avon is that often time their mascaras are on sale for Buy One, Get One for $1, so just like me you can stock up during the sales and have back ups waiting for the first one to wear out. I'll be posting a full review on both of these mascaras in the next few days to give you a better idea of what I find to be the best and worst about the products separately.

Stay beautiful

BNB

Beauty Steal: Michael Kors Nail Polish

I have been cleaning out all my drawers of polish to make room for colors I will use more and replacing old bottles with new ones. I've gotten rid of a lot and I'm learning what colors I lean towards when painting my nails. Lately I've been going for more neutral colors like greys and skintones, as well as leaning more towards shimmers and placing a matte top coat on everything. When I do go for colors I tend to lean towards jewel tones and deep colors. I used to pick warm colors over cool shades, but lately that has switched and I have been on the hunt to buy more cool toned polishes.

I picked up some beautiful jewel tones from Nordstrom Rack recently. I wasn't keen on buying anything from a higher end company at first because I'm completely satisfied with drugstore brands, but I was blown away by how beautiful the colors were and had never seen anything quite like them.

I purchased 3 shades: Cabaret, a wine red that had a golden shimmer(unfortunately no gold when dry)
                  Thrill, a beautiful teal green, more on the green side and unlike anything I own
                  Femme Fatale, a deep royal blue almost to the point of navy
(photos are below)

Instead of being 18 dollars a bottle it was only 7, so I decided that I would give them a try. the packaging was really cute at first, but when I went to open the bottles to use them I was annoyed to find that the gorgeous gold topper for the lid is just a cap you have to pull off before unscrewing the brush from the bottle.
While I don't think there's anything special about them to convince me to buy them full price, I find that I did enjoy the colors, and with a thick first coat they went on pretty opaque. The polish was shiny and had a nice fine metallic in it. With only one coat of polish and a top coat it lasted for about 3 days before it chipped. It probably would last longer if I wasn't working in a warehouse using my hands all day.

All in all, I would definitely run out and buy a few more colors of these from Nordstrom Rack if I could find some, but it's nothing to write home about and is hardly worth ordering the 18 dollar colors from the Michael Kors company unless there's something truly unique that I can't get somewhere else. I was dissapointed in how some of the finishes changed as they dried, and it was unfortunate that my favorite polish, Cabaret, morphed into something so normal compared to how it looked in the bottle. 0.3 fl. oz. seems like a pretty large amount of polish for me and I'm happy I got the chance to play with some of these shades before they disappeared.

Although I had higher hopes for some of these than they delivered, I am not at all disappointed in what I got for the price I paid, and if I see more colors of these in my local Nordstrom Rack I will be picking them up for sure.