Friday, December 27, 2013

December Ipsy Glambag + Glambag Review!

As you might know, I previously was subscribed to Birchbox for over a year. However, in the past few months I had been thinking about changing subscription services--I like getting a monthly box of surprise make up and beauty products in the mail, but Birchbox was sending me a lot of repeat products and boxes that were really not worth even the $10 that I spent for them.

I am a HUGE fan of Michelle Phan, so I decided to switch to Ipsy (note: not an affiliate link). It is the same price and I was hoping that it would have better products, plus it comes in a makeup bag! It is really hard to find a new use for those boxes, and I love makeup bags.

So far, I have not been disappointed! I was getting them both at the same time for a couple of months, and every time they would arrive,  it was clear which box was the better value. I still like Birchbox, and I would recommend it if you are a beginner to make-up products and just want to test out and play with some products.

Here is the December Glambag!

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The bag is a small black shiny quilted bag, with red on the inside. The zipper has a circle tag that says Ipsy.

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POPBeauty Bright Up Your Life eyeshadow palette in Naturally Bare. I am not a big fan of neutrals, but some occasions do call for toned-down make up, so I am happy to have this in my stash. Plus, I love the small size, since I can throw it in my travel make up bag that I stash in my backpack for when I am running late to class on a full day, that way I can do my make up in between classes.

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  NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in B52 (LSS565 soft mauve-pink). I love NYX, but I am not a big fan of this color. I am more of a red or pink lipstick kinda girl, but there is always re-gifting. And I was excited to see NYX in the box! This is a full-size lipstick, valued at $4.

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Snow by Demeter Perfume Oil Roll On. When I first saw this in my bag, I was not particularly enthused. I see this all the time at Walgreens and Rite-Aid (back when I used to go drugstore clearance makeup and nail polish shopping weekly in high school), so I was thinking that this was the first lower-quality Glambag that I have gotten in the 5 months that I have been receiving it. As I researched the brand a little bit more, I found that they have a Sanrio collection! But sadly, this perfume does not smell that good.. it is too strong and the scent is just not that great.

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Nicka K New York Nail Color in Ripe Apple. Nail polish! I am a big nail polish fanatic but unfortunately, this color is way too loud for me. I am not a red nail polish girl (I can count on one hand the number of red polishes in my 300+ bottle collection). However, this is a full-size bottle, which is valued at $4.99, so this bag is definitely worth $10.

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Be A... Bombshell One Stick in Girl Crush. This is a shimmery light pink blush in a matte black tube. I love the packaging on this! Unfortunately, the color does not work that well with my complexion. I believe this is also full size, and according to the website it is $16.

Okay so actually, this bag was not particularly to my tastes (ironically, it was a much better match for my mom so, easy Christmas gift!) But to prove that the Glambag is an awesome product, here are some of the ones that I have gotten in the past.

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This was the most perfect one and, coincidentally, my first Glambag that I received in July. See how stuffed the bag is? (Not to mention how cute the bag is). It came with a ton of products:

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Benefit Benetint cheek/lip stain, a 3-shadow California Collection pallet (which was much more to my liking and featured a purple!), POPbeauty lip crayon in a bright pink, Coola Sunscreen sample, and an amazing hair spray.

So, I highly, highly recommend Ipsy. The only thing is that after signing up on the site, it takes about two months to get off of the wait list and start receiving your products. But it is worth the wait! So now monthly, I will be posting a review of the ipsy glambag instead of the Birchbox box.







Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas Nails! Part 1

I am back! I swear, I did not plan on taking so long to return to my blog, but I have a ton of excuses (finals, malfunctioning computer, no time, etc.). However, as you might have noticed, I am revamping the blog and I am planning on doing a ton more posts, so be on the lookout for them!

 Since Christmas is only four days away, I am planning on doing a post of Christmas/winter/holiday-themed nails every day until then!

First up is a super simple and quick design. This manicure, from start-to-finish, only took me about fifteen minutes. (Admittedly, the lines on the french manicure part are not perfect (I have not figured out the trick yet)), but even with touch-up it should not take too long, so it is the perfect design for beginners.

The cast of characters for this design are:

China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Butter London British Racing Green, and Art Deco Gold.

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The method: Paint two layers of Ruby Pumps as the base on all five nails, then use a striping brush to paint the Butter London British Racing Green on the nail tips of every finger except the middle finger (I just used a brush from one of my Art Deco polishes).  Using the Art Deco Gold, paint a line between the green and red on each nail.

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For the little Christmas tree (which was inspired by a post on my pinterest board, I used the striping brush to paint three triangles on top of each other. When that dried, I used the Art Deco gold to draw a line at the base of each triangle. I could not find any brown nail polish, so I used an Essie (cannot find the bottle... I think it is taupe something) to make a blob to serve as the stump.

So yep, a super simple design that looks amazing and catches the eye (because of all the glitter), and uses Christmas colors!

Tomorrow, I am thinking a snow/snowman design. Stay tuned!