Better Than Sex or Mega Effects?

The review you've all been waiting for is here. The verdict is in!

I can't say I hate the Better Than Sex mascara, but I have a lot of problems with it when I look at it and its packaging in comparison to my ride or die drugstore mascara.

My Mega Effects mascara from  Avon completely blows my mind. It gives me the best volume, length and curl I have ever seen for a drugstore mascara that's only 10 bucks. The wand was terrifying looking at first, but after a few cautious applications I am completely in love, and it is absolutely effortless. The handle bends so that you can apply it from whatever angle makes it easiest for you, and the wand it three dimensional with longer rows of bristles faded to shorter ones towards the ends. The formula is very liquid-y which I think helps it to apply smoothly and avoid clumping. The black part of the tube where all the product is is pliable so the product gets low you can get the most of the it out by squeezing it. I have a little bit of trouble with transfer while the product is wet, but once it sets it is almost impossible to remove without an oil based remover which is awesome. When waiting for the product to dry I usually just hold something under my eye to help keep transfer from getting on my face, but it's easily removable.

The amount of times I have stabbed myself in the eye with the wacky bristles on this wand is far too high. It's not a day with this mascara until I've poked my eye out at least once while using it. I've got a lot of problems with this mascara, but the formula is not one of them. It's the perfect consistency, and lasts all day, but I did have some issues with transfer over the course of the day where it smudged on my lower lashline. The bristles on the brush aren't nearly as straight as they are in the picture, and the curve is so minute in the wand that it's hardly noticeable and does little good to help with application. I know people rave about this mascara, so please don't hate me, but this is not one of my favorite formulas, and for the price of a full size I can't see myself being willing to shell out the dough to get another tube.

Stay Beautiful and enjoy the summer heat!

BNB

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.

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

The Perfume Trials

Over the years I've received various perfume samples with my orders from beauty companies. Though I've been hooked on my current perfume for years and I never wear anything else on the shelf, it felt like maybe it was time to try a few other options and see if I've picked the right one. I'll tell you what decision I came to at the end of the post, but for now here is the list of samples I tried.

Cotton T-shirt by Clean
Imari Mystique by Avon
Bali Bliss b Avon
Just Play by Avon
Far Away Dreams by Avon

Each of these perfumes were very different in scent profile from my normal perfume with Imari Mystique being more similar to my favorite perfume with musky and floral notes. Cotton T-shirt is a very subtle clean, fresh scent very different from my normal scent profile. It seems much more suited to someone who doesn't like floral or fruity perfumes. Just Play was a more fruity note with a clean and fresh finish somewhat similar to cotton T-shirt, also suitable for someone who doesn't like strong perfumes. Far Away Dreams was a very powdery fresh scent, almost like baby powder. Bali Bliss was a floral fresh scent

My perfume is a musky, slightly spicy, floral perfume from Avon and Fergie called Outspoken. I am completely in love with it after many trials of perfumes in the first few years of wearing perfume and buying makeup. The perfumes I've bought have all come from Avon or companies affiliated with them, like Mark. The only perfume close that I tried before Outspoken was Rebel Rose by Mark, which was a lovely musky, rose scent but it was missing something that Outspoken has which made me fall in love with it and made it my holy grail perfume for years now.

One Goopy, Sticky Mess

My mom was sent a free gift with the Christmas present she bought me from Avon this past year. (Which I can discuss in another post for anyone interested.) Avon sent this lovely Extra Lasting Lip Gloss, which she added to my gift since she doesn't wear makeup. The color is gorgeous, but it's a very pinky red, which I wasn't really expecting when I looked at the color in the tube. In the tube it looked a bit more true red. The name is Always Apple. The smell of the product is kind of sweet, but definitely doesn't have a particular scent.

While it applied smoothly, I wasn't entirely happy when it began to dry on and felt a little like my lips were covered in a kind of tape. The other problem I have with the product is that while it is supposed to be long wearing, no amount of attempts can take it off of my face once it's on. I'm going to keep giving it a try here and there and see if I can make it work for me and actually begin to enjoy using it, but so far it's just a mess for me, because if I make a mistake I can't get it off and fix it, and it turns itself into a kind of "armor" on my lips the longer it stays on me, and gets kind of tacky as well. I'm not totally sold on the color on myself, but I keep trying to like it regardless.

Check back to see what happens, and as always Stay Beautiful!

BNB