Christmas Wishlist 2012

Hello world! After being M.I.A. for so long I thought I'd come back today and share my Christmas beauty wishlist with you. Although I personally don't like asking for specific gifts, I thought it would be fun to come up with a wishlist so let's get to it!

Dear Santa,

1.   Dolce & Gabbana Rose The One: $66-98

I was sold on this scent the moment I opened the sample I received. As implied by its name, this fragrance is a rose scented perfume. It has notes of Pink Grapefruit, Mandarin, Peach, Muguet, Bulgarian Rose, Peony, Geranium, Madonna Lily, Plum, Ambrette Seed, Vanilla, Amber, Musk, but if you ask me, all I pick up is a blend of roses. I think of it as a mature and sophisticated fragrance perfect to wear for a nice dinner out with that special some one.

2.    Sexy Little Things Noir Tease: $25

I received a deluxe sample of this body mist with my black friday haul from Victoria's Secret and instantly fell in love! Strangely enough I had never before smelled ANY Victoria's Secret body mists, fragrances, or body lotions, and honestly I don't know why. It is described as "a warm blend of black vanilla, frozen pear, and blooming gardenia." I can't really describe it in my own words, but I what I can say is that it is definitely a very flirtatious/sexy scent. This should come to no surprise coming from Victoria's Secret ;)


3.   Fresh Sugar Perfection Duo: $22.50

This too came into my radar through a sample from Sephora during my birthday month and I became hooked. I hate when lip balms claim to be tinted and turn out to just be clear so I was very pleased to find that this product actually lived up to its claims. That slight tint is just enough so my lips don't feel naked and what I love most is that once it wears off it leaves my lips feeling baby soft. Yes it's expensive but once in a while it's nice to pamper yourself, don't you think?


4.    Khroma Khloe's Kardazzle Face Palette: $13

As you can probably see for yourself, the colors offered by this palette aren't anything special or out of this world. We could all easily find very similar colored products from drugstore brands, but as the Kardashian fan that I am, I would love to test the quality of their newly released make up brand Khroma. As far as I know their products can be found at select Ulta's, CVS's, and Walgreen's in the US. I went to my nearest Ulta recently thinking there would be testers out so we could swatch them in store, but I was wrong. So I am yet to try these guys out, and very very eager too!


So there you have it, the best way to win me over is to send me samples LOL I'm just easily persuaded guys, I can't help it! I'd love to hear what made it onto YOUR list this year so please leave it in the comments :)


Wishing you an amazing holiday season,

Michelle <3

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Buffy Body Butter

I don't know about you, but when I hear the term "body butter" I picture a lotion tub with gooey-buttery, creamy goodness in it. I mean, if something claims to be butter, should it look like this?



Unpleasing to the eye as it may be, I have to say, I love Buffy!

 

Buffy comes in a solid form as you can see in my very professional cell-phone photograph and the picture from the LUSH website, which is why I was confused as to how in the world I would slather its buttery properties on my body, of course as always LUSH came to the rescue with some pretty handy instructions.

 

 

“Massage our Buffy body butter all over your wet skin in the bath or shower to make you softer and smooth to the touch, paying special attention to your backside. We add ground rice, almonds and beans to Buffy to act as exfoliants; the rough textures eliminate lumps and bumps and sloughs away dry skin cells to reveal brighter, fresher looking skin. Rinse off the exfoliating bits and pat yourself dry. There's no need for body lotion after a Buffy slaying session, because the cocoa and shea butters keep your skin beautifully smooth, moisturized and soft to the touch.”

 

Oh! I need to be wet… (insert “that’s what she said” here)

Some pretty hefty claims if I do say so myself, especially for something that looks quite plain. However once again, judging a book by its cover did not work for me. For several days Buffy sat inside a LUSH bag in my bathroom, unused, not even touched or sniffed, it was borderline neglect. It wasn’t until I needed to exfoliate so I could use a skirt that I brought this baby out, and boy am I glad I did.

 

and that's what it looks like after being abused for about a month, this used to be the big size.

While in the shower I literally buffed my body with Buffy, and I immediately felt its moisturizing properties, it was amazing. For someone with dry skin like me, this bar of essential oils and shea butter is a life-saver. Add to that the fact that it smells quite pleasing, and the fact that it exfoliates brilliantly and you’ve got yourself a must-have product for those of us who suffer with dry or dull looking skin. I should also point out that my self-tanner went on so much more evenly and easily after I used Buffy, no more awkward dry patches!

I hate to say anything negative about “Buffy, the dead skin slayer” but this stuff melts so easy if you leave it in the shower, not only that, but I have to shut off the water while I use it, and if I use too much, after I rinse, my bathtub gets all slippery, which could be quite serious to a klutz like yours truly. So if you are considering purchasing this body butter, do keep in mind that it is a bit high maintenance, not only that, but it’s not cheap. This retails for $11.95 for 3.3 ounces and $22.95 for 7.0 ounces, not a whole lot of product, but if you can spare the change, it’s worth it.

Another thing, when I pair this with my Ro’s Argan body conditioner, oh my goodness, my skin feels heavenly, it brings out the narcissist in me, and I like it J

Hope you enjoyed this week’s LUSH review, see you next Sunday!

-Angie

Wishlist for Fall and Winter!

Wish list for fall and winter 2012!

What I would really love this fall, is actually to take a vacation, but wishing for that while knowing it’s not going to happen, well it’s a tad bit painful. So here are some products I wish to purchase for fall, I probably will only end up buying two or three of these items as the economy is pretty bad, but hey wishing is free!

1.       A Michael Kors handbag.

Yes, you just read about me complaining about how poor I am, yet I have the audacity to say I want a name brand purse. However I have wanted one of these babies for a long time now. While I don’t think I will purchase this for myself this season, maybe I’ll buy it for myself as a Christmas present, because I know Santa won’t buy it for me, I’m probably at the top of his naughty” list.

Someone likes them big... ;)

2.       An Inglot Palette.

Yes, I still want one of those beautifully arranged palettes. I dream of their buttery texture and impeccable pigmentation, unfortunately I haven’t saved up to buy myself one of these palettes yet, I might even wait for IMATS LA in January, I guess we will see.

oh Inglot, someday you will be mine

3.       Shine So Bright! From LUSH

I’m pretty sure I’m going to own this by the end of this month, heck, maybe even this week. I adore LUSH and their innovative products, and having split ends, I really want to give this LUSH product a try. Here is what it promises:

Mend those ends

“We've concocted a beautiful balm to repair split ends and help hair shine so bright. Extra virgin coconut and olive oils, shea butter and fresh free range eggs nourish and improve the strength of hair to help mend split ends. Add to that an orange flower, grapefruit, neroli and rosewood perfume and you won't want to leave home without this! “

What can I say? I have a love affair with LUSH

4.       Cute boots!

More specifically high heeled booties, I love boots and heels and there is something about boots that just screams fall for me. There is nothing more satisfying for me than to step on a crunchy leaf during the fall while wearing a hot pair of booties, bonus points if I have a pumpkin-spice latte in hand, oh fall, how I love thee!

 I could totally rock these booties from Forever 21

5.       A cute warm scarf.

I really like scarfs but I rarely wear them due to the fact that San Diego, for the majority of the year, is pretty warm so I save my scarf-wearing abilities for the fall/winter time. However, when I was moving into my new apartment I noticed that all the scarfs are have are cute, yet a bit old, and not really warm, they are accessories more than anything, so they couldn’t help at all if I actually wanted extra warmth, which is why I would love a cashmere scarf.

This scarf from H&M would look good paired with that Michael Kors bag...hmmmm

   

       6.     Tights!

I wear a really ugly blue shirt for my desk job, and I’m often trying to make it less apparent. I’m all for wearing my uniform, but my work-shirt is just so awkward fitting and not at all flattering. I take every chance I get from taking people’s eyes of that shirt, which is why I love wearing tights under my skirts in the colder months. I feel like they give my whole appearance more of an elegant look or at least they make the whole attire appear less boring.

Totally wish I could have these now, oh H&M why  must you not have an online shop for the US??

That's all folks! hope you have a lovely weekend, see you tomorrow for my weekly Lush review!

Nars Dolce Vita: Review and Swatches

I completely adore Nars blushes; I love the consistency, the bendability, the pigmentation and the array of different shades that they carry. However I have to admit that after purchasing my Tarina Tarantino Dollskin blush palette I have not been using my adored Nars blushes as much as I used to. I recently re-discovered Dolce Vita which is a lovely dusty rose shade. Dolce Vita appears to have some sparkle on the pan, but I find that on the skin the sparkle doesn’t translate, and the blush appears completely matte.

I love Dolce Vita for the transition from summer to fall, and for all of fall as well. It’s not incredibly bright (unless it gets layered) and it’s definitely neutral, which makes it perfect for this season.

I love pairing this shade with gold eye shadow (half-baked from Urban Decay) and pinky-neutral lips, it creates a great look for the office, and it’s super-fast too.

 

I find that this shade wears incredibly well, I don’t think I have ever had to do a retouch, but then again I’m sitting in an indoor environment most of the time so I wouldn’t be able to tell how long it lasted under different circumstances.

Heavy swatch/ blended

I think this is one of those shades that when applied correctly, it can suit most skin tones, I’m very fair and I don’t have to apply this extremely light handed, but I also can’t be heavy handed with it. I would definitely recommend this blush if you are looking for a beautiful neutral-toned –blush.

-Angie

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

Hello Lovelies :) Happy Sunday to all! Today I'm going to talk about a product that almost turned me into a snobby girl, definitely not a classy one. When I discovered the amazing benefits of this body conditioner and the effect it had on me and my skin, I most definitely wanted to keep the secret all to myself, yeah rude of me I know, but hey, I changed my way of thoughts, and today I want to introduce you to my new best friend in the shower ;) Meet Ro's Argan Body conditioner. Wait what? BODY conditioner? Yep. Exactly how this sounds, while in the shower you slather this beauty all over your body, wait a few minutes (depending on how much conditioning you want) then rinse it off. The result? Well, it's nothing short of a miracle for me.

The smell of this is quite pleasing to my nose, to me, this smells definitely of roses, but also something a little more sweet, maybe it's honey, I'm not quite sure, all I know is that just smelling this little black pot, definitely lifts my mood, and it does it well. I think something worth mentioning is that my friend Estella thinks this smells like apple pie, which I think is completely insane, but it gives you some perspective on what people associate with certain scents. Smell aside, this also left my skin very very very soft. When I rinsed it I almost didn't like the fact that I could feel the product, it almost felt greasy, even..lardy? Not sure how to describe it girls, but I could definitely feel some kind of oily residue. However, fast forward to when I was patting myself dry with my towel, and that't when I entered heaven. My skin was moisturized, but no longer felt oily, it smelled amazing, was soft to the touch and it had the most subtle glow.

I have to say, I'm hooked. However, I think for me this will be more of a luxury product, because it's pretty pricey for an everyday thing, The smell lingers, which is great if you love it as much as I do, but no so much if you aren't a fan of sweet rosey smells. All in all, I think it's worth a look the next time you go to LUSH, maybe ask for a demo or a sample, most people love this product, maybe you will too!

I do suffer a lot when I rinse it off, because I feel like I'm literally letting my money go down the drain, oh LUSH, give me this as a birthday present every year yeah? :) One can dream!

Hope you guys have an awesome rest of your Sunday! I can't believe it's back-to-work day tomorrow, weekends sure do fly by :(

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Sultana of Soap

The Fancy Sultana of Soap..

One of my favorite things to look at when I stumble by complete accident inside of a LUSH store is their immense display of soaps. To say they have variety would be an understatement. There is so many different scents, colors and shapes of beautifully arranged soaps all around the store, so when I went to LUSH looking for a solid soap for my body, I was more than overwhelmed. However, I did what I do best; I followed directions from my nose. She guided me to this huge chunk of milky looking soap that had chunks of what looked like little rocks on the bottom. I touched the huge chunk with my bare hands and to my dismay, it almost started melting with my body heat, and I mean, I know I’m hot, but I never thought I would have said effect on a bar of soap ;) I dismissed the interesting, beautifully smelling soap thinking that if it melted in my hands, well, it wasn’t going to survive in my shower. I rinsed my hands and continued to walk around LUSH looking for another stunner product to take my heart, but as I walked around I couldn’t stop rubbing my hands together, they were so soft! Not only were my hands baby soft, but the scent from Sultana of soap was soooooooo mesmerizing, that I ended up taking a small chunk of it home. Sultana of Soap smells milky, sweet and fruity, it’s a pretty feminine smell and when it comes in contact with my skin, I feel like it becomes even sweeter and I love that it does. This soap is also very good at moisturizing your skin while also leaving it entirely clean; it lathers nicely with a loofa, but not on its own. As for its melting abilities, yes, if you leave it in the shower it will melt very quickly, however what I do to prevent wasting this soap is cut it into smaller pieces to use daily, instead of cutting a huge bar and keeping it in the shower. Now let’s talk about the rocky-looking surface of this soap, those little “rocks” are actually little bits of pieces of dry fruit, apricot to be precise, and I’m assuming it’s one of the reasons why this soap smells amazing. This is a great soap if you are looking for something moisturizing with a sweet delicate scent.

Just one more thing to keep in mind, this soap has fallout, those little bits and pieces of dried apricot could clog your drain, so make sure you have a catcher!

Would I repurchase this? Oh yes, you bet.

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Honey Trap

Thanks to one of my best friends (who just happens to be very influential on me) I am now a honey lover. I even put honey on my water now for crying out loud. So when we went to LUSH together and sniffed the tester for Honey Trap, we both longed to have it, but as luck would have it, they were out of stock at our local LUSH. That same night I made an order online and ordered one of the Honey Trap lip balms for me, and one for her. Fast forward to two days later, and I found myself at LUSH again, I just can’t stay away, seriously and I asked if they had received more of the Honey Trap lip balms, alas! They had, and I purchased one even though I had one expected to arrive at my home soon. Well, I’ve been using it for four days, and I feel I’m ready to review.

Honey Trap

The smell is divine, it smells like honey and even a hint of chocolate, It’s really sweet when you smell it, so I was half expecting it to taste sweet too, but it fell short on those expectations. Now, I know one doesn’t eat lip balm, but let’s face it, when you apply something to your lips, you are bound to taste it no matter what, which is why I always like sweet lip balms. Also if you are big on smooching your significant other, sweet lips is the way to go. The good thing is that even though it doesn’t taste sweet, it doesn’t taste bad either, it literally tastes like nothing. The texture of this balm is quite waxy, which is something else I find off-putting, I do feel that it moisturizes my lips beautifully, but the waxy texture makes it take longer to soak in to my lips, and as a result it feels pretty heavy, almost like I’m wearing a really heavy lipstick. This is not a bad lip balm by any means; I just prefer my balms to have a lighter smoother texture (think Jack black lip balm or even the YSL sheer candy, those are superb). If I don’t love it so much, why do I keep reapplying? Well it’s that succulent smell! I just can’t seem to get enough of it, but sadly that’s the only thing that makes me use it. I’m definitely going to pass on trying other flavors of this balm, as it left so much to be desired. Hey, you can’t expect me to love everything LUSH it’s just impossible.

Hope you guys found his helpful!

Until next time..

-Angie

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Trichomania Solid Shampoo

Something strange has happened to me, and I think it’s time that everyone in the beauty community is made aware of it-it’s time to come clean. My name is Angie, and I’m a LUSH addict. Ha! No, but really. Ever since I stepped foot in that store for the first time, I knew I was going to have a long term relationship with it. I can’t really explain what happens to me when I get in there, it’s like all my senses awaken and while my nose gets happy, I can almost hear my wallet scream in fear when I take a bath bomb close to my face and take a whiff. Oh the scents! I absofreakinlutely adore lush. Hence, this new series, that as the name suggest will come weekly every Sunday (until I run out of LUSH products) to review a product from LUSH, simple enough? Alright, let’s do this.

Trichomania

I can almost hear you say “Angie, when did you start reviewing cheese for BeautyShot?” And let me tell you fellow beauty junkies, I haven’t yet. That insignificant-looking white block that you see up there is as a matter of fact, solid shampoo from LUSH. Let me tell you more about my little friend, I’m not quite good at describing scents, but for you, I’ll give it my best shot. Has anyone ever asked you what you would take with you to a deserted island?? I’ve been asked that question before and while I never know what to answer, when I hear the phrase “deserted island” something strange happens in my brain. I picture bright blue water that meets with white refined sand and I see tall palm trees with luscious-looking coconuts swaying with the wind when I look above me. That’s what I see, but unfortunately I was never able to add a smell to my crazy unrealistic deserted island fantasy, that is, until now. This is my deserted island smell, sweet coconut with a hint of vanilla, lightly salted (yes I can smell salt) and with a hint of another tropical scent that I can’t quite put my finger on. Now, I work around many guys, so I can always tell if something smells good, I’m not going to lie, I get some satisfaction when I see a guy do a double take with his nose when I walk by, and when I use Trichomania (with no other hair products) that’s exactly what happens. The first time I used it several co-workers commented on the smell of my not-so-healthy locks, but one in particular, inhaled, smiled and said “something smells like a luxurious beach!” Bingo. Yes, that’s what it smells like, and I love it so much. The smell will linger, but I find that this is only the case when I use no other hair products, which for me is almost impossible considering I love my R&B hair moisturizer. Now on to what I consider the more important aspect of this product, this is targeted for dry, unruly, coarse hair. It promises to deliver soft-to-the-touch shiny locks of hair while also moisturizing without being greasy. Does it deliver? Well, mostly, yes.  You see, my hair is quite strange and picky, I have normal roots but super-fried dry ends due to all the mistreatment that my hair undergoes, not only that but if I don’t use some kind of anti-frizz serum or cream, it looks like I stuck a fork in an electric outlet, in other words, it’s not exactly attractive. Trichomania managed to moisturize and nurture my hair, leaving it shiny and pretty soft, but (yes there is a but) the first time I used it, it left my roots totally greasy. That’s something that had never happened to my hair before, but I managed, since the rest of my head loved Trichomania. After using it a few more times, I found a way to make it work for me; I lightly rub it on my scalp, and then soak my hair in with water (this makes it lather amazingly well), next I run it through the rest of my hair, being more generous to the ends of my hair, and voila! When followed by my Jungle solid conditioner and my R&B my hair feels oh-so-luxurious, it’s pretty cool, I mean for someone who has my hair type, it’s almost miraculous, and to think I was about to chop you off dear hair of mine.

Overall I’m pretty impressed with this product; a couple of things to keep in mind though if you do want to try this, is the fact that as with any unusual product, there is a learning curve to this. Don’t expect to just rub this all over your head and be ready to star in a Pantene commercial, it’s just not going to happen, but if you work with it and you have the right hair type, this little white bar can become your best friend. Another thing to keep in mind, is storage, if you buy this, it’s best to cut it up in small pieces and use them cautiously, if you keep the whole entire bar in the shower all the time, it will dissolve much quicker, and you won’t get as much bang for your buck. Hope you found this rather-lengthy review helpful. And if somewhere out there, someone with my hair type is reading this blog, bless your soul, I know how much you’ve suffered!

Ok I’m done being melodramatic, but really, hair is hard!

Have a great rest of your Sunday <3

Here is another close up of Trichomania before you go..Quesadillas anyone? ;)

-Angie <3

Here is the review that I posted on Lush' website, in case you were interested

Originally submitted at LUSH USA

Delightfully coconutty, this is the shampoo for those of you with dry, over-processed and flyaway hair that need help putting it back in its place. Not only does the creamed coconut smell delicious, it moisturizes your hair and weighs it down just enough so that it's not frizzing all over. Use ...

Trichomania

Simply delicious!

By Laurangie from San Diego, CA on 8/27/2012

4out of 5

When you survey your stash, you label this product: Life-Saver
Hair Type: Wavy Hair
Pros: Gentle, Cleans Thoroughly, Lathers Well, Tames my mane, Great Smell, Improves Hair Health, Adds Shine
Cons: Dissolves too quickly, Greasy
Best Uses: Dry hair, Thicker Hair, Curly Hair
Describe Yourself: Product Junkie

I love this! I have extremely dry ends, and this maages to make them look lees like broom straws and more like hair :) The only thing is that because this is quite moisturizing for me it made my roots a tad greasy, but I chaged the way I apply it and no more greasyness! and the smell...oh my gosh...it's amazeballs. I completely adore. There is defintely a learning curve to this, but once you figure out what works best for you, it's a great product, but only if you have dry hair.

Does anyone else think it looks like cheese? lol

Tags: Picture of Product

(legalese)

This Works Take 2

Angie Says:

It feels like I'm always apologizing for how long it takes me to publish a review...sigh... but here is the second part of my review on This Works :) I can seriously say I love the brand. Swatches will be posted soon, with the move I have misplaced my camera. Hope you enjoy!

This Works- Perfect Skin Line

I’ve been experimenting with This Works lately, and here is what I have to say about their Perfect Skin line, while I only own 3 products from said line, I believe I have tried them enough to have a well formed opinion.

Perfect Look Skin Miracle

Now this was a weird product for me at first, I first saw it featured in one of Lisa Eldridge’s videos. It looked fantastic on her, and since I have a similar skin tone, I thought about giving it a try. It is quite a peculiar product, as you can see in the swatches; it has a brown tint to it, which looks rather strange and maybe too dark at first (for pale-skinned ladies such as me), however after you apply to your face and blend, it melts almost into nothing. Now, this is where it began to impress me, it blended almost into nothing, you could almost not see the product, yet it made an immense difference on the way my skin looked, I mean it, it was almost as if my face was alive! Finally! After years of suffering from extremely dry skin, something gave me a beautiful glow that looked natural. I even felt healthier than I did before. Something else that is worth mentioning is that when I wore this under my foundation (no primer) it didn’t make my foundation last any longer, however it made it fade more evenly. I didn’t get any of those dry patches that I get when my foundation does leave my face, it was quite impressive. This has quite a pleasant smell for me, though I can’t really put my finger on how it smells, it just smells good and natural to me, I don’t know if my nose is getting tricked by the appearance of this product, but sometimes I feel like it smells lightly of caramel, but that just might be my brain playing tricks on me. I highly recommend this product, if you want a hint of color to your face, it is a light hint of color, but it makes a big difference trust me. Hint of color aside, this also has great ingredients that benefit the skin, while also making it appear less dull and more on the healthy side. I do consider this product to be a luxury item, since it is most definitely not cheap, but I consider it worth it, and will continue to repurchase in the future, if I don’t find something better, that’s also cheaper. This one gets 10 out of 10 for me.

Perfect Skin Defense SPF 30

I had been looking for a something with SPF that I could put on my face for a while, my skin is quite sensitive, and anything overly greasy, heavy or fragrant can and probably will make me break out. I was terrified the first time I used this. I pumped a couple pumps into my hand (I always try to be generous when it comes to SPF) and noticed that it was tinted, it was strange, but it didn’t put me off. What did put me off, is how sticky this stuff is, I mean, it was even kind of hard to blend almost, however I looked past that and continued to apply regularly. Which actually gave great results, it didn’t break me out and I felt protected throughout day. This product is actually quite a light product, though I feel like because it feels sticky, it might feel heavier than it actually is. I am pretty pleased with this product overall, since it’s tinted, I wear it on it’s on sometimes, it evens out my skin tone but doesn’t cover any troublesome spots, but that’s ok, my skin is relatively clear most of the time, it’s just really dry. If it weren’t because this product is sticky I would give it a 10, however because of that factor I will bring down to 8.5, it’s hard to rate a sunscreen, I mean, if you don’t burn its working, right? However the major factor that sold this product for me was the lack of reaction that my skin had, you have no idea how happy I was when I woke up and my skin wasn’t pimple city, definitely a plus. I will definitely repurchase this when I run out, which I trust won’t be for a while, but when I do repurchase I will try to do so when there is some kind of special promotion.

Perfect Skin Super Moisture

This claims to be a moisturizer and a serum in one, while I can’t really tell you if it’s a great serum because I have never tried one, I can and will tell you that this is a great moisturizer. I find this to be better for my skin, than my regular Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion from Clinique. It’s richer and feels a lot more moisturizing. While you can use this day and night, I opt to use it only at night, since I use my SPF defense in the morning. It’s great as a night moisturizer, I find that my skin always feels and looks better in the morning though the results are never truly dramatic, I know that it helps my skin recover from all the abuses I put it through, and the ever so rare hormonal breakouts. I give this product a 9, because while it’s not a miracle product it does what it’s supposed to and it doesn’t break the bank as bad as the other Perfect Skin products that I have mentioned, the packaging is also quite nice and I always appreciate moisturizers that have pumps.

Great job This Works! You still impress me with your products.

Nail of the Day: Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen

Hello beauties! So first let me just ask, who else is excited about this weekend being the first weekend of summer?! Definitely spending it poolside :) Anyway, with it being officially summer I wanted to share with you all this brightly colored nail polish by Sally Hansen called Pacific Blue. I've never really been into blue nail polishes, I love teals and aquas but I'd never had a true blue colored one like this. I didn't think I could pull off a color like this to be honest, but O.M.G I love the way it looks! I seriously could not stop looking at my nails the first time I used it, its definitely my favorite at the moment. Now I'm excited to try out other blue nail polishes ranging from different brands to different shades of blue!

Do you have a favorite blue polish?

<3 Michelle

This Works: Clean Skin Review

Happy Friday Everyone!

I do have to apologize for the fact that Michelle and I haven’t posted in over a month! Woah..  Michelle was busy with finals, and I have had quite possibly one of the worst couple of weeks of my adult life, but that’s a different story, on with the review.I don’t know if you guys have heard of a company called This Works, it’s a company that sells a variety of products, mostly skincare with a few other things mixed in. I feel like their philosophy is quite simple, they make natural products that are beneficiary to the skin, and quite simply, they do work.I have five full sized products from them and 3 samples, and I love every single one of these little gems. However, today I just want to talk about the two products that I own from their Clean Skin line.

Clean Skin: 5 in 1 cleansing water

How do I put this professionally? Holy freaking grail! This is the best makeup remover I have ever tried. Now, I have never tried the Bioderma, so I can’t comment on how it compares to this, but I have tried many other makeup removers (drugstore and high end) that were always just coming up short to my expectations. Not only that, but this can truly be used as your makeup remover, your cleanser and your toner, it’s quite a brilliant product. It also claims to brighten your complexion and decongest your skin, I’m not quite sure about the latter, but it does brighten my complexion a bit, I find that my skin looks less dull the more I use this product, and being someone with awfully dull, dry skin, this is awesome news. You want to know something else? It doesn’t break me out! If anything I feel my skin cleared a bit since I started using this line of products. 5 in 1 Cleansing Water you get 9 out of 10 in my book!!

Why not a 10? Well this product is not exactly cheap, though that’s not really an issue with me, I understand I’m paying for quality, but the shipping…ohhh the shipping I believe I pay about $12 for shipping which is still pretty understandable since it’s coming all the way from Europe, but oh my wallet hurts so much. Also the packaging is SO bulky for how much product it has, I really wish they had a travel version of this, that would be lovely, because as it turns out, I never want to go anywhere without this!

Clean Skin: Gentle Cleanser

I love cleaning my skin with this! At night I use the cleansing water and this after to really deep clean my skin and in the morning I only use the cleansing water. This cleanser is great, it’s definitely gentle, but quite effective, it’s quite refreshing and not drying at all, which is a great thing for my type of skin. This one gets 9.5 out of 10, simply because I’m still trying to get used to the fact that it’s a cream cleanser, but that’s just personal choice. This is quite possibly the best cleanser for my skin, because I have sensitive dry skin and this product really nourishes and attends to the needs of my skin.

This Works..maybe you should have some kind of free shipping worldwide if you spend a certain amount of money?? Even if it was a high amount of money I’m sure I would save up for it and buy your lovely products. Just a thought J

So there you have it! I will be posting another review on Friday, this time on their Perfect Skin line. Have a great weekend everyone!

-Angie

My thoughts on skin care (long rant) and two natural products I'm dying to try!

Angie says:

Before you continue to read this blog post, I want to make it clear, that I am not an expert by any means, I only would like to share what worked for me, and why I think that it did. This is just an opinion based post, so please, if you disagree with anything I said, don’t take it personal.

The more I submerge myself in the world of beauty, the more I want to learn about beauty secrets. Sometimes when I think of what my ideal skin care routine would be like, I always picture myself using all natural multi-purpose products. Not only do I picture that, but I always picture said products in vintage-looking packaging on some fancy vintage vanity. Oh the dream!

I first pictured this skin care dream when I purchased some boots skin care products.  I bought the kind that claimed to be the original formula from the 1800s, which in turn also included beautiful packaging. In fact, to be quite honest, I bought those products mainly because of the packaging. However they played an important role in how I view skin care now.

I personally feel that skin care shouldn’t be a routine where one slathers a bunch of chemicals onto the face.  Sure, sometimes with moderate to severe acne, you need the help of said chemicals to get rid of bacteria, but if you have relatively clear skin, a natural skin care can and probably will enhance your skin’s natural beauty. I will make an example of myself. I have never really had troublesome skin, sure, I do breakout every now and then, especially when my hormones are at their peak, but I’ve never really had acne. However when I was younger I would always freak out if I ever did break out, even if it was just one pimple that appeared, I just couldn’t stand it, it needed to go!  That’s how my skin started getting in trouble, one pimple would appear and I would slap on a ton of benzoyl peroxide-based products on my face. Most of the time the blemish would be gone in a matter of hours, however, I was always left with severely dry skin, mainly because instead of just targeting one blemish, I would just spread the product all over my face. The severely dry skin always made my skin go nuts; it would go into emergency mode and produce a ton of oil overnight, which in turn actually made me break out, everywhere. 

For months I went through this cycle, clearing my blemishes with chemicals, only to worsen the problem, and then solve it again.

Then, last year, a miracle happened. I went camping for three days. I forgot my usual face wash which resulted in me cleaning my skin with just some baby wipes someone was carrying, by the time I got home from my trip, my face was completely clear.  At first I was so happy, but then I was completely puzzled and even a little angry. You mean I didn’t have to spend all the money on acne treatments all this time? No, I didn’t at all. You see, since my skin was never really problematic, I had no need for benzoyl peroxide treatments at all. All they did was aggravate the condition of my skin, and they made my problem bigger.  I now only try to use products that are either natural, targeted for sensitive skin or only have a few ingredients, and let me tell you, my skin has never felt or looked better. Of course I still have an awful diet that consists of fried stuff and tons of dairy so I still breakout sometimes. When that occurs now, instead of freaking out, I decide to just target specific blemishes, instead of my entire face, and it works wonders for me.

If guess if you have to take anything away from this long rant, that one thing should be, don’t fix a problem that doesn’t exist. 

Now I would like to share some multi-purpose natural products I want to try, they both seem really promising, almost too good to be true, so if you’ve tried either of these, please let me know if they worked for you.

Rose Water:  My toner from boots has a high concentration of rose water, and it’s one of the best toners I have ever used. It makes my skin feel supple and refreshed. The amazingness of this toner made me google rose water and its benefits, and soon I was really overwhelmed by all the positive reviews of just plain rose water.  Common uses include, skin toning, hair care, after sun exposure remedy, some people even consume this stuff and some even swear rose water makes the best eye drops ever. I just know I have to try this!

Coconut Oil:  I first learned of coconut oil from one-parade.com, which is an awesome blog by the way, though I’m sure Marjorie wouldn’t agree with my make-up madness ha-ha. Anyway, coconut oil (according to my research) can be used as a conditioner, as a skin moisturizer and even as a healthy alternative to cooking oil, who would have thought? 

Anyway, there is my long post J I hope it was somehow informative or entertaining.  Have you guys tried anything like the products mentioned? Let me know!


-Angie

Wishlist: April 2012

You would think that after my amazing birthday gifts I would no longer want to purchase anything, yeah well, let’s face it, I’m a full time make up junkie/hoarder, and I simply can’t get enough ha-ha.

Here are some products that have been on my radar for a while, and mark my words; some of these WILL be mine, eventually.

1.       An Inglot palette. Holy smokes, I have been drooling for one of these babies for over a year. A year! Quite frankly I’m surprised I don’t own one already, but since I have waited so long to get one anyway, I ‘m just going to wait until IMATS LA to get one, a couple months more of waiting won’t hurt me I guess.

2.       Make Up Forever Smokey Lash. I have wanted to try this mascara for a long time as well, however I used to be a strong believer in the uselessness of high end mascaras. I mean if my falsies and my sexy curves work just fine, why try something that’s about 3 times the price? If you are looking for logic in this beauty blog, please be aware, you’ll find none. I simply want to try the mascara because I have read countless good reviews, and I am extremely curious to see if I will still prefer my drugstore mascaras over this one, if I still do prefer drugstore, curiosity will die and I won’t break bank every time I run out of mascara. However if I don’t, my husband will probably divorce me ha-ha.

3.       NYX Cream Blushes. I already own one of these, and I love the formula, the staying power and the pigmentation, however, I never wear it. I grabbed the NYX cream blush that I already own quite fast and without much thought, what was I thinking grabbing a hot pink color that I would never wear?? I have no idea. Now that I know I love the formula, I’m looking forward to owning a couple more colors. Yay.

4.       Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I have a gut feeling that this won’t be much different than the Real Techniques buffing brush, which I already own and love, but my great infatuation over Real Techniques will probably win me over, and I will probably buy this brush as soon as it is back in stock at Ulta.com. Hopefully that will be sooner, rather than later. 

5.       AG The Oil. I got a sample of this amazingness, about a month ago, and it totally blew my socks off. No, really. As soon I put this product on my hair it made it so much smoother and shiny. The smell was pretty amazing too. What I also love about this is that I actually wouldn’t have to make my wallet cry to buy it, as it is pretty reasonably priced.

--Angie