Ricky’s NYC Haul Part 2 Featuring Makeup + Nail polish!

July 17, 2012 By StephanieLouise 766Leave a Comment2012-07-17+17%3A55%3A00StephanieLouise

I was SO excited to get part 2 of my shipment because I had deemed Je’Taime as a must have polish online…& in person it certainly didn’t disappoint! In this shipment was also the makeup bag deal so I have a nice variety to try. Keep reading to see more! If you missed the first half of my haul, CLICK HERE! Its not to be missed, lots of glitz!

Left to right: Mattese Elite Nail Polishes in Je ‘Taime, Lapis, & Baise Moi.

Do you even need to ask why I wanted any of these? For reference, Lapis is a mini so it was only 99 cents!

So if you think even FURTHER back to when I announced the Ricky’s NYC Mattese Elite deal, well, here it is! Okay, well the blue powder shadow & the bright purple eyeliner were separate…but everything else!

Let’s talk about the deal set first shall we? (Here’s THAT post as well!) So I posted about it & honestly probably only picked it up because it was a bargain & I was buying polish from them anyway.. Why not right? Well, it featured 5 full-sized products & a mesh type bag. All of these shades were built for fall most definitely. From berry lips to jewel eyes to the nude based blush…this screams fall. I haven’t tried out most of these full-term yet but the blush is especially a stand out for its buttery texture!

Now the blue loose shadow is Mattese Elie Pure Color in Pure Blue. I’m a bit bummed because I didn’t think it would have shimmer in it & it leans more periwinkle than I thought it would. The purple liquid liner is actually in the shade Purple from Mattese Elite & I’m blown away. This does NOT come off. The swatch I put on my hand in the morning wore well into the night…impressive!

Top row is the Ricky’s NYC Mattese Elite Kit & from left to right: Mattese Elite Lip Liner Pencil in Henna, Moisturizing Wand Lip Gloss in All the Way, Smooth ‘N Wear Blush in Nudity, Long Wear Matte Shadow in Dark Alley, & Luminous Pearl Effect Eye Shadow in Emerald.

Swatch Below are Mattese Elite Liquid Liner in Purple & Mattese Elite Pure Color in Pure Blue.

What do you think? I already have “Nutty Hat Guy” & “Mysterious” as requested to swatch first from my other post. Anything from this post grab your fancy that you want to see first? Anyone else pick up something from Ricky’s NYC?

Ricky’s NYC Mattese Elite Haul Part 1! LOTS of Glitter!

July 12, 2012 By StephanieLouise 769Leave a Comment2012-07-12+14%3A01%3A00StephanieLouise

When I told you guys about the Ricky’s NYC deal on Mattese Elite deal, I knew I was definitely ordering some items. Mainly…nail polish. This is only part 1 of a 2 part order but I definitely figured I better break them into 2 anyway. I got a LOT of items so this seemed easier!

Mattese Elite Mini Nail Polishes left to right: Orange Revenge, Neon Almost Famous, Cosmic Blue, & Extreme Jealousy.

(The orange is WAY brighter & I consider it a neon although it isn’t labeled as one. It dried with a somewhat matte top when swatched on one nail & is CRAZY bright!)

Mattese Elite Nail Polish left to right: Mysterious, Silver Glitter, & Dirty Slut.

Silver Glitter reminds me a lot of some of my Milani Glitters! Maybe similar to some Essie ones too?

Mattese Elite Nail Polish left to right: Legendary Alice, Nutty Hat Guy, Last Night, & Wet Dream.

It looks like the first 2 are influenced by OPI’s Alice in Wonderland Collection & the 2nd 2 from OPI’s Katy Perry Collection.

Mattese Elite Fairy Dust Glitter in Red & Mattese Elite Lip Gel in Cherry Pop.

I am SO excited about both of these that I am saving it for the review! Let’s just say…LOVE!

So there’s part 1! Any of these especially appealing to you? Feel free to request swatches of your favorites first! Ah, I’m so excited about these guys!

February 2012 Birchbox Featuring an Update Video!

February 16, 2012 By StephanieLouise 8694 Comments2012-02-16+14%3A09%3A00StephanieLouise

So my Birchbox this month was great quality wise. It wasn’t as thrilling as some because I use my Beauty Blender rather often, but otherwise I was super happy. At least I made my money back right? Birchbox is my form of gambling…but with cosmetics!

February 2012 Birchbox Contents:
1. Beauty Blender
First Impressions: Love using my Beauty Blender for foundation, thanks for another backup!

2. Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant
First Impressions: So random! I am very intrigued…a powder exfoliant…

3. Eye Rock Design Liner
First Impressions: I’m wary of these but also very interested to see how long they wear. I see them either being hard to remove or peeling off…but I’ll be giving them a shot!

4. Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint in Pearl
First Impressions: Tiny sample I’m too afraid to open and swatch because there is so little in here.

Lifestyle Extra- Heart Shaped Nail File
First Impressions: Super thin & not great quality so its likely I won’t be using it.

Random Extra- 6 Free Music Downloads
First Impressions: Really? Why?

I would love to hear about what you guys got! Feel free to link below to your post or video!

Old Navy Tip Toe Nail Polish in Navy Marine & Glitter Trio

January 11, 2012 By StephanieLouise 885Leave a Comment2012-01-11+19%3A11%3A00StephanieLouise

Remember when I showed off the gorgeous taupe shade I picked up at Old Navy? Well meet its marine blue sister, plus a cute little holiday trio, are what I have to show off today.I know we had a long discussion on twitter & facebook about where I got them, but I’ll throw it in here so there’s no questions. Up by the registers, there is a clear cylinder filled with nail polishes. They even had some of my beloved taupes inside, but the rest were pinks & this blue. I wasn’t feeling the pinks that day so here we go! The trios were hanging below them, LOTS of them. These were the only 3 colors available at my store…to my knowledge. If YOU spot some more, please do let me know!

All the nail polishes I saw had CLEARANCE TAGS on them. If you loved the Tip Taupe or are interested in any of these shades, go now! I don’t know if it was a fluke, repackaging, eliminating….

Tip Toe Nail Polish from Old Navy in Navy Marine. On Sale for $1.99.

Tip Toe Nail Polish from Old Navy in “Sparkle Nail Kit”…what? That’s what they said on the bottom I swear. This little set (the bottles are slightly smaller but are still of decent size) was clearances down to $2.99.

Tomorrow I’ll swatch & show you the blue & the glitters. I wish I had time today, but I simply do not. Till next time!

XOXOXO

Sunday Haul: Sally Hansen & Revlon Holiday!

November 13, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9023 Comments2011-11-13+22%3A28%3A00StephanieLouise

So today I was at the BX (military version of a Walmart…but wayyyy smaller) and spotted these. I wasn’t wanting to go cosmetics shopping but these popped out at me. The main purchase was the Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Decadent. A violet with blue shimmer? Need. So…do you think I could pick up just one thing with all the fantabulous Christmas packages? Oh no, stop being silly! Please do keep in mind its 4:30 and the color swatches won’t be as dead-on as they usually are. Don’t worry, I’ll be reviewing them soon!

I guess we’ll start with the releases from Revlon in the Spice It Up Collection. Here are the 2 Revlon Colorburst Lipglosses in Decadent (violet with blue shimmer) & Cocktail Dress (nude with champagne and light bronze shimmer, superfine rainbow shimmer, & possibly superfine champagne flakies? I might be crazy though we’ll see in the review with better lighting ). I had my pick of the entire Spice It Up Collection, but these were the 2 I deemed ‘Must-Haves’ obviously.

& the 2 nail polishes I picked up Mistletoe (a blackened green with olive shimmer and golden/olive tiny flakies) & Spice It Up (blackened maroon with a fine shimmer throughout ranging from golden to orange). Hello FALL!

So, here are the 2 Sally Hansen Holiday Sets I snagged. I already picked up the 10 Piece Set which I reviewed, but this was tougher. There are 4 sets of nail polish minis but this is the one I wanted the most. The HD collection is one of my favorites.

The other set was more of a random pick-up. This one has 2 plumping glosses and one nail polish in Night Lights. Night Lights is a super gorgeous gray jelly with silvery gunmetal and rainbow holo glitter. It was a must.

The glosses are new for me and actually not what I expected. I was thinking of my Lip Venoms but these are completely different, must more water based but still with a crazy shine. The all gold gloss is Sally Hansen Lip Inflation in ‘Extreme’ which is a clear gloss & the colored gloss is in ‘Sheer Bare’ which has spaced out micro rainbow sparkles in it. I kind of like that the shimmer has such a light touch, makes it a lot more wearable.

Are you hauling anything today? See anything you especially like?

Haul: Wet n Wild I Heart Matte & Baked Palettes!

November 8, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9071 Comment2011-11-08+16%3A24%3A00StephanieLouise

This was an accomplishment, let me tell you! The I Heart Matte Palette is gorgeous but it was in a ridiculous place. The hair aisle? Seriously?Anyways, mine was chipped, scratched, and multiple eyeshadows were cracked. You know I didn’t think twice about buying it though! So here’s the shots, swatches to come later on. I’m pretty sick, don’t want to touch all my makeup at the moment honestly!

& the coveted back eyeshadows I knew I wanted. Lovely aren’t they? The containers are weird though, like canals almost. Some bloggers/gurus don’t like them but I think they’re great. My product will finally stay in the packaging! Which palette is your favorite? I can’t wait to play with these!

Mani of the Day: Fright Night Claw Polish in Phantom + Mini Haul

November 2, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9141 Comment2011-11-02+15%3A31%3A00StephanieLouise

So I picked up 4 polishes at Target yesterday. I had been desperately wanting these as Fright Night is a huge chunk of my childhood. My dad and I watched it EVERY year without fail. So when I couldn’t find these, I was pretty upset. Hunting around yesterday I found two duo packs! Both of them had Sinister (although one is completely different print?) which was fine with me, I’ll use one for marbling.

Voodoo reminds me very much of Ruby Stilettos, my hands down favorite sparkly red which is from Sally Hansen. I’ll have to see it swatched, but I am hoping it will be glorious.

My favorite is Phantom, a rainbow shimmer gray. This is only 2 coats and its beautiful. In the store, it looked gray with silver shimmer but when I put it on today it was a real stunner! Keep your eyes open for these if you like what you see! I know there is at least one more that’s a green/teal shade, but unfortunately it wasn’t there 🙁

Nail Life from Sally Beauty Review

July 22, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9734 CommentsNail+Life+from+Sally+Beauty+Review2011-07-22+22%3A52%3A00StephanieLouise

Hey guys! I was sent these to review and I have been so thrilled with them so far! Mind you, this is just my first impressions.

First, some background info! So Nail Life bran was formulated for Sally Beauty Co by FingerMates out of Belmar, NJ. You can only purchase these through Sally Beauty in store/online. These bottles are HUGE! When you compare them to an average polish bottle, you’ll understand what I mean.

Nail Life bottles are 1 oz and most of my average nail polishes are 0.6 oz. Big difference!

So let’s look at pricing next. These nail treatments are all $7.99 on Sally Beauty’s website. If you have a Beauty Club card (WHICH YOU SHOULD!!!!) then they are even less! So were are some of my other top/base coats I have tried and liked and their prices/amounts (may vary). Keep in mind, usually my nail treatments are more expensive that top/base coats so this is my way of showing the most frequent low-cost base/top coats.

Some of my most frequently used:
Nail Bliss Base Seal: $8.99 for 0.4 oz
Orly Primetime Primer Basecoat: $7.49 for 0.6oz
Sephora by OPI Top Coat: $9.50 for 0.5oz
Essie Good to Go Rapid Dry Top Coat: $8.00 for 0.5oz
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Wraps: $5.50 for 0.4oz
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat: $8.99 for 0.5oz

After doing the math, you save quite a bit with Nail Life products. But, obviously, that means nothing if I don’t like the product. So, that’s the next step!

First Impressions After 2 Uses Each:
1. Nail Life Hide Ridges Ridge Filler- Normally I don’t buy ridge fillers very often, but I’m loving this. So, right before vacation my dog jammed my big toe. As much as it hurt, the pain faded. However…the dent did not. After arriving home to these goodies, I immediately used this to fill in the lovely dent and it worked! I had tried multiple things while on vacation, all unsuccessful.This one kicked butt. Worked great on my thumb when the very tip started getting a bit peely-looking. Both applications left me with a great, smooth surface so my nail polish didn’t look funky.

2. Nail Life Speed Demon Polish Dryer- I was SO excited to get this! Cutest name ever right? I applied it to a top coat on my ever-changing nails and it dried them fast while leaving a nice shine. I had this top coat on for one day the first time and 2 the second time. No chipping, which is amazing for me. Online, it also says it prevents polish from fading. I’ll be excited to try this out as soon as I stop changing my nail polish color so often!

3. Nail Life Aromatherapy Drop-On Polish Dryer- I’ve never had Drop-On polish drips that smelled this good! They don’t have what the scent is exactly on-line, but I am 98% sure it is cucumber/melon. If its not, well that’s my take on it! So not only is it one of my favorite scents, but its ridiculously convenient. It doesn’t dry as fast as Speed Demon, but using the little glass dropper on my toes is awesome. So quick, so easy. Smells SO good.

4. Nail Life Nail Revitalizer Treatment- So after using the Ridge Filler, I realized I needed to use this on my couple of peely nails because they were getting really weak. I am still testing this because it takes 7 days. I’ve been using this on my nails as a base coat. You can also use it as a top coat, but I opted for the Speed Demon Dryer. This isn’t exactly a base coat, its thinner. Its like a mix of base coat and nail oil. Very nourishing. My nails soaked it right up.

5. Nail Life Gripper Basecoat- I have been using this for my pedicures. I don’t change colors nearly as often as my toes, and this seems to be really lasting! It seems to truly “grip” the polish to my toes. I’ll let you know how it stands up to my 7 day test in my upcoming video!

6. Nail Life Jojoba & Tea Tree Cuticle Remover- Loving this! I have LOTS of cuticle removers, but the smell of this is so perfectly natural! As you guys know, I don’t like using cuticle trimmers, so remover is all I use when pushing my cuticles back and such. This worked great, especially since I forgot my cuticle remover while on vacation….I was in desperate need.

More info and my 7 day challenge video review are coming up soon! If you want to know more about the Beauty Club card and why I HIGHLY recommend it, let me know!If you have ANY questions/comments, let me know!

For more information or to purchase products click the links below:
Visit Nail Life’s Website
Like Nail Life’s Facebook Fan Page
Nail Life Twitter
Nail Life Available from Sally Beauty Supply

Forever 21 Nail Polish Haul!

July 21, 2011 By StephanieLouise 975Leave a CommentForever+21+Nail+Polish+Haul%212011-07-21+18%3A51%3A00StephanieLouise

& I’m BACK!!!! Get ready for tons of new hauls and such…I had a blast!

First off, here are my polishes from Forever 21. I had a ton I wanted to try, but seeing them in person is always 1,000% better. I changed my mind about a few and fell for some that looked plain online. I must warn you sometimes its hard to catch the light right so you can see the finish/shine/coloring/shimmer so some of these might be awkward angles so you can see the color in all its glory.

Here are the nail polishes I ended up with:

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Rose

I honestly wouldn’t have bought this online. It looked like a ton of other colors I already have even though its scented. That would have been a mistake. As you can see in picture 2, it has an incredible orange/gold very fine shimmering quality to it. It is gorgeous.

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Teal to Turquoise.

I love my teals, maybe a bit too much. However, somehow I have never bought one of F21’s Mood Changing polishes so I snagged this. I’ll be sure to post pictures of how I like it/how it works.

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Light Green.

I seriously wish they didn’t have the most boring nail polish names ever because I know I would’ve passed this up. From the picture online, I couldn’t even tell it was a flakie! You know how obsessed I am with these so I was practically doing a happy-dance in the middle of the store. Beautiful green (I use these as a top coat) and the flakies have a ton of orange-bronze to them. I can already tell it will look amazing.

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Melon.

Yet another I would have passed up!!! I love melon scented everything, but it looked like just a plain pink. Its not. The gold undertone on this is stunning. The color reminds me of a Frankin I did that was hot pink mixed with coral.

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Gold.

Yes, this is mostly gold, but can you see the flecks I caught with my flash? They’re like itty-bitty disco balls. There is also very fine silver glimmer throughout. Gold? Yes. But so much more than the name suggests.

Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Blue/Green.

Worst. Name. EVER! How dull for such an edgy color! I must admit, this was VERY tough to photograph but I think it is my favorite. I put this on as soon as I was done photographing so I’ll be posting those next. Almost a navy combined with turquoise, this bottle reminds me of peacock colors. As I turn the bottle, violet jumps into the picture as well. Inside my nails look gorgeous, but outside? Spectacular.

On a random side note….is it just me or is there a ton of excess glass at the bottom of these bottles?

Review: The Body Needs Eye Candy Eyeshadow Collection

July 8, 2011 By StephanieLouise 9842 Comments2011-07-08+04%3A02%3A00StephanieLouise

Ok so when I was surfing the web last week I stumbled onto The Body Needs website. I’m always a little wary of new companies, but I decided to pick up some of their eyeshadows anyway. These were on clearance, but they have similar stuff that comes in and out. If you’re interested in buying some of these products, they usually have sale codes and stuff so watch out for them! I also have another set I’m super excited to show you guys! Anyway, along with these two sets, I got a jar for only 1 penny! They call it their penny sample sale? The colors change often I guess because I’ve seen them have 3 different colors since I ordered. These are all without primer! They’re awesomely pigmented over my ELF eyelid primer! The penny sample is the eyeshadow labeled “Purple Pop” and yes it is the same size as the others!

I am not affiliated with them in any way, I bought these on a whim haha.