Sinful Shines

I entered a contest to win the complete collection of the current Sinful Shines, and won! These nail polishes are my  absolute favorite on the market. Being a stylist, I have tried every brand under the sun from professional to cheap. NOTHING lasts like it promises, even those pricey no chip manicures. However, Sinful Shines are high gloss, decently lasting for an inexpensive price tag. So if they do chip off, no big deal because with so many  bold,  vibrant color options to choose from you're going to want to try them all. Not to mention I actually got about 8 days out of this last manicure, which is almost a miracle. This particular collection is a two step process. You have your nail lacquer which contains gel technology, and then the topcoat sealant.  Not all of their collections are like this, but this is definitely my preferred one. I generally do two coats of color, and let each coat air dry for about 5-10 minutes before applying the final sealant in step two. All their nail polishes are Toluene, Formaldehyde & DBP free and made in the USA. Each bottle usually is about $1.99 and they are available at any drugstore or big box chain.  Give Sinful Shines a try and you will not be disappointed! #sinfulshine #overthetop

This is "Yours Truly" after 5 days of wear.  Still going strong! .

Urban Decay

Back at Christmas last year I picked up the Naked On The Run pallet from Sephora. I had not tried it because I was still working on other things. Along the way I decided to pick up other items here and there. I will give you the low down on each one.

Naked On The Run is your basic take with you pallet. It contains 5 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, 1 highlighter, lipgloss, eyeliner, and mascara. The only thing this is truly lacking to make it super portable is brushes. For something they boast about being travel, you have to provide your own. It is however on sale EVERYWHERE. When I bought it, it was nice and the price was up there. Now  the average retail cost is $32 and available at any higher end store like Ulta, Sephora, Urban Decay itself, ect. Really for what you get, that's a total steal. Included in this pallet is eyeshadow: Dive (metallic rose w/golden micro-shimmer), Fix (soft taupe matte), Resist (medium metallic taupe), Dare (medium brown matte), Stun (metallic bronze w/light gold micro-shimmer) and 5050 (cool bisque satin). Bronzer: medium bronze matte. Blush: vibrant pink w/light shimmer. Perversion Mascara: blackest black. 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil: Stag (deep brown satin). Naked Lipgloss: Sesso (rose w/pink shimmer). The eyeshadows are absolutely amazing. Beautiful neutral shades in mixes of mattes & shimmers. The blush/bronzer combo is okay. It's probably the part I like the least about it in terms of make up. It's just falls flat. Neither color is flattering, but it's not horrible either. I would never seek out either one on their own. I tend to just swirl my brush around both, and then go over it with the highlighter a lil more. The lipgloss is very nice. Not overly sticky, and good color flattering for most skin tones.  Their eyeliner and mascara are hands down my favorite products they make. 24/7 pencils I have reviewed repeatedly on my blog. They NEVER disappoint. The mascara is hydrating, but not runny. No clumps. Washes off easily. All positives.
Now I'm going to tell you a lil bit about the other products I picked up a long the way...

Vitamin B6 facial setting mist~ Don't bother. It smells good and it's hydrating, but outside of that I do not believe it's doing a damn thing for me. It's supposed to reduce redness and appearance of pores while helping your make up adhere better. I can't say I notice those benefits at all! If you do decide you want to try this it retails for $15 for the trial size ( which is what is pictured above ).

Matte Revolution Lipstick. I reviews this entire kit a while back ( likely when I got the pallet too ). I'm not a huge lipstick fan, but these are so nice. They feel great. Soft. Smooth. Lasting color. Great selection. Full size lipstick retails for $22.

Eye Potion Primer. Again another long time  favorite. This one is original, but they have so many different ones to chose from depending on what shades you prefer to wear. This is pretty general for all types. I do NOT wear ANY brand eyeshadow without THIS primer! Makes your eyeshadow really adhere, not crease nor slide off, and colors pop and be more vibrant. It ranges in price from $12-24 depending on shade and size selection.

Naked Skin BB Cream. Again I do believe I have blogged on this before. I love how it feel going on, but the scent is well pretty medicinal. Even so it's worth it to endure ( the smell fades fast ) so get beautifully radiant skin.  It comes in a one color fits all self adjusting formula. It retails for $14-34 depending on the size.

Now the gem in all of this is the Naked Complete Concealer. I have finally found my holy grail of concealers. It goes on completely weightless. You feel like you have NOTHING on at all. Only every imperfection is now covered for flawless skin. It's buildable. It doesn't settle into fine lines and wrinkles no matter how much you apply. You can do a sheer wash, or you can really amp it up to cover bags or other imperfections. It comes in 8 different shades to chose from. I'm wearing medium light neutral. I love the wand applicator too.  It retails for $28 and total worth it! If anything this will be a repeat purchase. I haven't even used foundation in forever because there is enough coverage with this and the BB cream alone. My skin looks healthy, and feels breathable with this combination.

L'Oreal Infallible Pro

I got a Target beauty box ( $5 total steal ) and inside it was L'Oreal Infallible Pro setting spray and a coupon for $3 off $15. I decided that I really liked it, and I needed a new powder so I picked up the matching pro matte pressed powder.

It's rare that I am super impressed by a drugstore product. However this one has seriously blown me away. They also have a foundation and concealer that I will be looking to pick up and give it a shot. Right now I'm using this with my Cover Fx products.

So let me tell you WHY I love this stuff. I have combination skin. My cheeks are dry but my t-zone is oily. Like super oily. A total wet slick by mid day. Except with these  two products it isn't. But my cheeks aren't all cakey like some matte powders make them. It balances itself out. Plus it's available at my local Target ( or any big box store ).

The powder absorbs excess oil and reduce shine on the skin’s surface for up to 16 hours. It can be used alone, to set foundation after application, and/or throughout the day for quick touch-ups. It retails for $11.99 and comes in 8 different shades to chose from ( I wear 300 Nude ).

The setting spray is a total bonus. I spray a little on my clean dry face, apply my make up, and spray again when I'm finished. I was using Urban Decay and this is a fraction of the cost. It retails for $13.99. The mist is micro fine.  It's so light weight you can't even tell it's there other than it's doing it's job to make sure your make up stays in place.

Clairol iThrive

Recently I got a campaign through bzzagent for Clairol Professional iThrive. I got to sample a shampoo and treatment for free. I chose the blue Style Soothe. The shampoo makes my hair feel great and clean. The treatment makes it feel super conditioned, easy to comb, and repaired from the heat styling I do. It has a light, pleasing scent. Plus it doesn't effect my color, nor squash my volume. The price is reasonable at only $8.99 per bottle. The only things I wish are that they made bigger sizes, that it was sulfate free  and that you could purchase at more places than just Sally Beauty Supply ( mainly because my local one has witches for employees so it's not the most friendly place to shop ). I look forward to trying the purple Keratin, and pink Color Vibrancy. I did try their hairspray, and I didn't think it was anything special so  I'd skip that.

* I have to update how amazing Clairol's customer service is. When I went to redeem my coupons at Sally's I ran into a HUGE issue with the cashier. She was rude and unprofessional. I  complained to bzzagent, and Sally's corporate office. Sally's could not care any less, but bzzagent apologized and contacted Clairol. Clairol mailed out an apology, and a bunch of free product. I got the entire line of iThrive, a tshirt and a reusable tote bag. Like I said amazing customer service. Thank you Clairol!

Acne Woes

So by some miracle I was not that pimple laden teenager. Somehow I got to be that way as a 35 year old woman! Say what? My hormones must be going crazy because my face started to break about about 4 months ago like nobody's business. How can I as an adult be experiencing this??? I tried everything under the sun from changing my diet, to increasing my water intake, to every acne product available to man.

A friend recommended that I try Dermadoctor. She said that she had cystic acne issues, and that this helped resolve them. I checked out the bottles in person in Ulta and talked myself out of them simply because of the shock of the cost. But by the time I got home I checked out Sephora online to browse them again ( thanks free flash shipping ) and thought why not?   I was a step away going to the Dermatologist, so I figured I had nothing to lose. And lets face it an appointment with a dermatologist would have cost me $50 just to walk in the door before any prescriptions or treatments, and that's with my amazing insurance.

There are plenty of products in this line to chose from, but I mostly wanted a face wash, treatment, and moisturizer. $160 later ( Ain't Misbehavin face wash $27, Ain't Misbehavin acne serum $48, Calm, Cool, & Corrected moisturizer $85 ) I was ready to try it all out. I really wanted to try the sulfur acne mask, which I think I will but haven't yet, and that's an additional $48.  These have lasted me 2 months each, so $80 monthly is what it really amounts to. At least that's how I justify the cost.

The directions specifically state you must use this on dry skin. So I removed my eye make up with a cotton ball and remover. Patted my face dry. Squeezed a small amount of cleanser ( about the size of a nickel ) into my palm and dabbed it all over my face. Used circular motions to rub it in. At first it almost tingled, so I figured it must be working. Now I don't even notice it so I'm assuming you just get used to that. Thoroughly rinsed my face. Applied the moisturizer, then the serum. This is important. The first time I did it reverse, and I had all these lil product gooey balls on my face. You must apply the moisturizer first, THEN the serum. The moisturizer has a great application. You press down on the top once, and it dispenses the exact amount to use on your face. Same with the acne serum. One pump is enough to cover your entire face.

I do this twice a day. Once in the am ( just the face wash and moisturizer ), then once in the pm ( all three products ). Once I do purchase the mask, I believe I'll use it about 2-3 times per month. But the results are in, and my face is nice and clear. Even the marks that the acne had left are starting to fade. This is likely because of the aha/bha in the products. You are going to want to make sure that you are using a good sunscreen with these products. Dermadoctor does make one for $32, but there are so many on the market far cheaper that I never even thought about buying this one. Keep in mind this is non-foaming formula. Some people don't feel clean unless they see suds. You won't get that with this but your face will still feel nice and clean.

So again here are some details about the products that may help influence your decision:
Dermatologist Tested & Approved
Allergy Tested
Non-Irritating
Non-Comedogenic
pH Balanced
Soap Free
Oil Free
Fragrance Free
Dye Free
No Animal Testing

So if your skin is freaking out like mine was, give this a shot. Oh and my teenage daughter uses this as well and her skin looks nice and clear now too. So it's good for all ages.

Natural, Flawless Complexion

I came across a regimen that has given me a beautiful, natural, flawless looking complexion.

The first is Benefit's Flawless Four Kit. I'm naturally pretty pale, but even with that I chose PETAL vs Ivory ( there are 4 shades to choose from ). It was perfect! This kit contains Stay Flawless 15 hr primer, fake up concealer, hello flawless oxygen wow foundation, and hello flawless pressed finishing powder & brush.  I put them on in that exact order too. The kit is ONLY available at Ulta. It retails for $24. These are trial sizes of the product. Roughly about 2 months worth of make up. It lets you get acquainted with the products before you have to commit to purchasing the full size, full price. You will not be disappointed. Even though that seems like an awful lot of make up to be wearing, it  feels light on the face.

After I got everything on I dusted a small amount of Too Faced Sweetheart Highlighting Blush across the apples of  my cheeks. I picked up the shade Something About Berry, but there are three to chose from. It retails for $30. Pricey for a blush, but it will last you an entire year, and you can find it on sale quite frequently ( I picked mine up for $15 ).

Pictured below I only have these products on. Nothing else. As you can see it's a nice, natural glow/finish. I have combination skin, that is sensitive and lately acne prone. This hasn't been an issue at all with these products. No irritation, and the make up really lasts on my skin. Give the kit a go, and see if this is right for you.

Yves Saint Laurent Mascara

So once again life has gotten in the way and I haven't been able to update you like I once was. My apologies.  I wanted to come online though and take a minute to talk to you about the new mascara I tried. I got it free through Influenster. It's Yves Saint Laurent MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS. This mascara has quickly become one of my favorites. The nylon fiber brush coats each lash in deep color and maximum volume from root to tip, while B5 Pro-Vitamin strengthens and protects lashes. Giving you that false eyelash effect. It also doesn't give you those raccoon eyes, nor clumpy spider eyelashes. It's secret is the Triple-Intensity Formula: intense volume, intense color and now intense care. It retails for $32, comes in 6 shades and is found in department/specialty stores. Now I realize that is pretty pricey for mascara for some, but it's worth it. This is NOT a drugstore quality mascara. This is so much more than that. You will be able to tell the difference with your first swipe.

 @Love_YSL_PRGirl  @YSLBEAUTYPRGIRL