Frugal Flop: Beauty Treats Lip Scrub

I snatched this up at Five Below during the end of winter to help cope with dry lips when my Elf Lip Exfoliator was too harsh for me. Its in a squeeze tube, so it's nice for sanitary application and travel. The formula was much softer and gentler than the Elf one, but still worked well enough to get the job done.

It was claimed to be mango scented, but it has a rather soapy smell and taste to it which is unfortunate and somewhat disgusting. On the tube it also proclaims that it is all natural and no animal testing was done, but for the price of the product as well as the fact it was manufactured in Taiwan I am not so sure I believe these claims.  Also, the mango label is a sticker, so it could be very easily mixed up with another scent on accident, which isn't all together terrible, but could explain the smell of the product. Finally, it states in the directions that the product should be removed with a washcloth or washed off the lips, which doesn't speak to the product being all natural in my mind, but it still may be.

I'm about a third of the way done the tube, and will be finishing it up, but I think I will find another scrub to use once this one is done. I still stand by my Elf exfoliator, but it's often to harsh for my always dry and peeling lips. Because of the smell and taste of this product alone it was a complete flop. I'll finish it because it's not horrible, but I don't see myself rushing out to buy it a second time.

Stay Healthy, And Beautiful!

BNB

Bonus: Behind the Times

So I know I'm behind the curve on this one, but I picked up a few of the Star War/ Covergirl collab lipsticks on clearance the other day at Walmart. I picked up 10, 20 and 40; the silver, lilac, and orange shades. I'm by far the most in love with the orange, but they're all great and unique shades.

I have a few qualms with this product, and I know almost everyone has mentioned them... the packaging is nothing special, and the whole collaboration was completely unimaginative. But all in all the colors that weren't part of the regular line were great. My biggest issue with the lipsticks themselves aside from packaging was definitely pigmentation... it takes a lot of work to get color out of all of these shades, and even when you get color they're not particularly opaque. This is especially true for the silver color (10), which I had high hopes for a shimmery grey lipstick and I ended up not loving it in the least.

I absolutely love the metallic nature of the shades though, and the the gold-toned orange was a total must have for me. Honestly, I was shocked to even find these in a store, because every time I went looking for them they were all sold out except for the red and the dark purple, which are boring and probably comparable to shades in their permanent line. They're super creamy and comfortable and the weartime is comparable to other lipsticks in the drugstore. The glitter isn't chunky or gritty when you rub your lips together like some shimmery drugstore products can be.

While I remain unimpressed by the packaging and creativity with such a landmark collaboration, I enjoy two of three shades I purchased enough to call these products a fave. Though I think only the orange has earned its place on the top shelf of the lipstick cabinet, because I just can't get enough of it.

May the force be with you!
Grab them while you can, Beautifuls!

BNB

Happy Birthday To Me! - From Sephora

I picked up my birthday gift not too long ago and I am overly excited about it. It's quickly become a favorite. I had a choice between a Marc Jacobs mini makeup set (lipstick and eyeliner) or a deluxe sample set of Fresh skincare product. Even though I'm in the market for some new skincare, I'm always a little hesitant to try things without doing thorough research on what's in the products because my skin is so sensitive to so many ingredients in skincare products. With that being said I went for the Marc Jacobs set which came with a mini Le Marc Lip Creme in 216 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and a mini Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer.

Let me tell you... This is a wonderful birthday gift to get when you're someone who has trouble splurging on yourself. This lipstick is so long wearing, creamy, and opaque. It's a fun pink that's a few shades brighter than my natural lip color. It's easy to apply, and let's be honest, the mini size of it is absolutely adorable. Even for a deluxe sample size it will still last a long time!

The eyeliner stayed in place all day on the waterline without smudging or ending up in my eyelash roots giving me raccoon eyes, but it's just a mini matte black eyeliner. While I can't justify spending money on this expensive of an eyeliner, you can bet that I will be using this one up without complaining. It's opaque and creamy, and probably well worth the price for it's quality, but I can't do it.

Thanks Sephora for a lovely birthday gift on my first month back in Sephora stores!

Stay Beautiful!

BNB

Be Gone! - The Lip Pampering Color Removing Savior

I love wearing liquid lipsticks, but I hate having to take them off. It's often a hassle and requires a lot of scrubbing, even when using an oil based makeup remover, which is said to be the best way to do it. That often ends in a lot of irritation to the lips and makes even wearing the products a hassle.

Well, HASSLE NO MORE!

Nyx came out with a lip color removing gel named with gusto. It claims to condition and pamper while removing long-lasting lip color.

I find that this product stick true to it's name, It removes even my toughest colors with minimal staining from the liquid lip color. the product itself is quite thick and you have to squeeze it hard to get the product out, but it's well worth it for the actual effectiveness of it. It comes in a lipgloss squeeze tube with mattefied white and black packaging. There's none of that fuzzy stuff on the nib, which I think is great for cleanliness and sanitation since the fuzz tends to lock in color as well as germs. I personally apply this product to my lips with a cotton bud or my finger and the spread it out some before rubbing my lips together. I tend to leave it sitting for a few minutes while I remove the rest of my makeup to allow it to penetrate through the color and my lips. To remove both the color and the remover, I fold a tissue in fourths and rub it between my lips and then use a cotton pad covered in makeup remover to help remove the remnants of the product.

The name of this product speaks true to its purpose: Be Gone!

And it definitely does just that.

I will definitely always have this product on hand when liquid lipstick is at play!

Stay Beautiful Ladies!

BNB

Drugstore Haul and Mini Reviews

I picked up a bunch of products in the last few months from Milani than I had been eyeing and gave them all a try.
I picked up 3 blushes, 3 single eye shadows, 2 liquid lipsticks, 2 lip oils, a lipstick and an eye shadow palette. The gold packaging feels very elegant and expensive and I love to have these products around on display. Some of the packaging I find to be bulky (like the blushes) but regardless they are wonderful.

The first blush is from the rose blushes line and is in Romantic Rose (01) and although it has a slightly weird and chemical scent it is a gorgeous color and very difficult to over apply as it had a lighter pigmentation and a buildable formula. The cool toned mauve color is perfect and very unique at the drug store.The next two blushes are from the baked blush line in the shades Red Vino (09) and Bella Rosa (11). Red Vino is a red blush with gold shimmer and Bella Rosa is a vivid bright pink matte. This formula is by far my favorite baked blush formula. Unlike most baked products these are still soft and extremely pigmented. Red Vino does require an extremely light hand on fair skin, but the color is gorgeous even when applied lightly, just be careful of overdoing it. Bella Rosa also requires a bit of a light hand, though less so than the other color. but both colors last a long time on the skin and apply evenly and easily.
The single eye shadows I haven't played with too much, but they're from the Bella Eyes collection of gel powder shadows. I picked up specifically shimmers and metallics because they seemed like things I would use the most. First up is Bella Rouge, a metallic red; then Bella Gold, a metallic yellow gold; and finally Bella Chiffon, a metallic creamy white. The formula is very interesting and is said to be simlar to the colour pop shadows, so before springing for those I decided I would test the Milani formula first in case I didn't like it. It's definitely applied best with the fingertips in my opinion, but a brush may work well for some colors. All of the colors are very pigmented and blendable with each other and other shadows. I find I like them best as an accent on the center of the lid or in the inner corner of the eyes to bring dimension. I plan to pick up Dolci the 31st shade in the line which is a beautiful rose with a gold metallic shimmer in an order online in which I will hopefully pick up some of the new metallic liquid lipsticks.
The Amore Matte Liquid Lipsticks I have a love-hate relationship with. I own Loved (12) and Obsession (18). Loved is a medium nude brown color, which I love, and obsession is a red-toned purple. Both colors definitely dry completely matte, however they may dry too matte. After a drink of water I can feel the lipstick suck the leftover moisture out of my lips. The formula is quite patchy when I apply it, but I find it to be less noticeable in the nude color than in the deeper purple shade. Before it dries it looks fine and then when it dries it becomes streaky and patchy. the mousse-y formula is wonderful and soft to apply without dragging, but stains outside the lipline if it finds its way there so be warned. The scent is to die for; it smells like vanilla cake icing.
The lip oils are definitely one of my favorite products. I use them before applying lip products to help moisturize, and then again after I take off my makeup to replenish moisture and repair any damage or irritation from longwear products. I have moisturizing coconut (01) and repairing rose (05). Each oil is supposed to do different things, and while I haven't seen these do different things from each other I still think they are a great product to help hydrate and care for your lips.
I also picked up the Milani Color Statement Lipstick in 38 Double Espresso. This deep brown with gold shimmer is the perfect 90's lip color in my opinion. It is glossy and moisturizing but does not find its way outside the lipline or fade quickly after application. It is not long wearing, but doesn't require constant touchups either.The scent of this product is also delicious, but is more of a fruit candy scent.
Finally, the palette I chose was the Everyday Eyes palette in Earthy Elements (05) which consists of 6 shades of warm tones. 2 shades are matte (a burnt orange and a warm fawn brown) and 4 are shimmers (a deep reddish brown, a peach champagne, a warm dark brown, and a cream). All the colors are pigmented and soft. They kick up a little bit of powder when used with a brush, but not extremely much. I wish one of the darker shades was matte instead of shimmer because the palette feels slightly off balance without it. This palette is one of my go to's for when I need warm colors, but I do have to pull other colors in due to the lack of mattes. The brush in this palette is not cheap and useless like most palettes in the drugstore. It's one of the few brushes I have actually have kept and frequently use during makeup application.

Quite the pile pf products!
Always enjoy your beauty and whatever products you choose to use.

BNB

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!

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

Go-To Greige

This is my absolute go-to this season, and I'm planning on buying a few extra of this lipstick while it's on sale in order to have it for a long time to come. I've been looking for the perfect grey-beige lip color in the drugstore ever since Jeffree Starr launched his liquid liptick line and I saw swatches of Posh Spice, and I've finally found a combination that is absolutely gorgeous.

I've fallen in love with Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Silverstone (760) paired with a nude lip liner. Currently I'm using a very beige lip liner from Avon in the shade Nude, from their Glimmerslicks Lip Liner collection, but I plan to purchase several others to see what I like best.

Silverstone is a very metallic, slighty purple-grey color. Though I'm not completely fond of the metallic finish of it, I am in love with the way it looks when paired with the nude liner. It gives off the perfect grey-nude color, without looking like I'm dead, the purple hint adds just a touch of life to the traditional "greige" that most people are loving these days. The color is semi-sheer, lending it to all sorts of play with colorful lip liners underneath. However, since it's a regular lipstick, be ready to reapply as it will wear off after eating, drinking, or hours of wear.

Lately I've been in a lip color rut, and this new color has brought some life into my routine. I'm interested to see what else comes out in the near future that may fall into the "greige" category.

Stay Warm, Cozy and Beautiful

Until Next Time,

BNB

Ombre with Ease

Hard Candy Ombre Lipstick in Playful

I'm iffy on this one to be totally honest with you, ladies. I had heard a lot of good things about this lipstick before I went out and purchased it for my own use. However, I am not as happy with it as I thought I would be. I'm not entirely crazy about the color I bought, because for whatever reason the peachy tone on the one side comes off very orange on my lips. I'm also a bit upset with the smell of the product, because it reminds me of crayons which kind of turns me off to wearing it. Finally, the sheer size of the packaging versus how much product you get is upsetting. The casing takes up almost twice the space that the actual product needs.

The formula is super creamy, but stays in the lines of the lips very well without lip liner and doesn't bleed. The colors ombré together very easily. Before I come to a complete conclusion on this product I may go out and purchase another color and see how I feel about it once I like the color more.

There are a lot of things I like about it, but some fairly important ones I could do without. I'd love to see either more product or less packaging...

Hautelook by Nordstrom (and Lorac Review)

I was introduced to Hautelook about a month ago, and when I was shopping around I came across some Lorac products on sale. I decided, after much indecisive flip-flopping, to purchase the Rockin' Red Hot limited edition mini lip gloss collection. which comes with 8 different shades varying from nude to pink to red and even one light purple. It did take a while for me to receive my order from Hautelook once it was placed, but since I was in no hurry it wasn't so bad.

Shade names are:
Amp (Nude)
Electric (Pink Nude)
Groupie (Baby Pink)
Tour (Petal Pink)
Backstage (Fuchsia)
Solo (Magenta)
Encore (Red Coral)
Rock (Sheer Purple)

Overall I wasn't impressed with the glosses, they were a lot more sheer than I expected, and the color practically disappears on the lips once applied. Some of them have a bit too much glitter in them for my taste, and it wasn't all that finely milled either. The packaging of the product is extremely cute, but I still wish that the colors were more opaque and pigmented. I'll keep trying them and see if my opinion changes, but thus far the colors I have tried have not made me all that excited.

Stay Beautiful
BNB

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

I Take it Back!

Ok NYX, you remember how I bashed your matte lipstick in Nude a while back?

Well I was wrong...

Though the first time I used it it was kind of chalky looking and an unpleasant tan color, I recently tried it again assuming I would confirm my suspicion that this was not the lipstick I'd been hoping for. AND I LOVED IT! I don't know why the color was so tan on my first try, or why it was too chalky (ok, this one I have my suspicions) but it was a beautiful color maybe one shade darker than my skintone (And I'm a pale little girl, so Kudos to you guys) and there was no sign of chalky or graininess anywhere to be found. I am so excited to wear this out with a gorgeous bold eye look. I was so excited in fact that I threw away the concealer I had been using as a nude lipstick.

That's right... The concealer I've used for YEARS as a nude lipstick has LEFT THE BUILDING!

Now as for my suspicions about the chalky texture... I started obsessively using my moisturizing lip balm again a few weeks ago, which may have contributed to removing the weird texture because I have heard a lot of other gurus say that using matte lipstick on dry lips shows all the cracks and dry loose skin very easily and can look chalky and weird if you are not careful to exfoliate or moisturize well. Hopefully the texture stays as gorgeous as it is now, I love it so much and I can't wait to start wearing it out all the time. This may be a holy grail product for me. Let me know if you're interested in the posting of my list of holy grail beauty products.

I'm planning on picking up two more shades from this line as soon as Ulta has them in stock. If you want to know what my next shade purchases are leave comments below or send me an email.

I may also be posting a list of the products I would kill to own if that is of interest to anyone. Let me know what you guys want to see posted next!

Stay warm and cozy, kids!

And as always, Stay Beautiful.
BNB