February 2014 Nail Recap

It's that time of the month again, and no I don't mean that time of the month, but perhaps I actually do for some of you. Who knows. Here are all the nail designs and swatches I did this past month.

Swatches

Sinful Colors "Vacation Time"

Zoya "Dot"

V-Day Manis

(pictorial for these)

Manis

Other People's Manis

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing my nails for the month. I feel like I was on my game the first 2 weeks of the months, and then slacked off a little towards the end. I'm still trying to do my nails at least twice a week and my sisters' nails once a week. We shall see what happens. I've got a haul coming up for you guys, so stay tuned. I didn't forget about my colorful makeup post. I'm still working on it still.

Kiss, Kiss.

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February 2014 Starlooks Starbox Makeup Subscription Review

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I got my February Starbox just a few days ago.  I've had some time to play with the products a little. Monday February 24 was the first day I got to wear them out of the house. I wore them while I was at work from 5-9, so I have a bit of an idea on how well they wear. If you'd like to subscribe to Starbox, just click here to start with your style quiz. Also, since this was my 3rd month in a row getting my Starbox, I qualified for free gift! I'll talk about that in a second. So let's get started.

Let's talk about this month's actual box. It is so cute! I love that it's brown this month instead of white. The holographic logo is stunning, as well. It changes colors at different angles. I always keep the box to use later, in case I need a small box for a gift, but this one I will be keeping for myself.

The box always comes with a card showing the look for the month. On the back of the card, it details all the products you got this month, including the other color options for this month. The price of each is also included. 

First up is the Starlooks Cream Shadow. This product is new to the Starlooks line. It isn't yet available to purchase online, so Starbox subscribers are the first to try this out. I got the color Hologram. It is a taupe colored shadow with iridescent shimmer. It does sheer out, but it still has some color to it. The texture is really nice. It is creamy and not too thick. It applies really well, and if you wanted to use it as a base, it works well that way too. This retails for 12$.

I also got the Starlooks Pigment in the shade Tungsten. This is beautiful! It is a really great crease color, if you like shimmer in the crease. It would also be beautiful in the outer V or all over the lid. It is a steel colored base with silvery-green reflects. I absolutely love it. The packaging is not so great, though. It has a hole in the top, but it isn't wide enough to dip anything but a liner brush into. This retails for 17$.

The last makeup product I received this month was the Starlooks Lipstick in the shade BFF. Starlooks always has cute names for their lip products. The actual color is this is hard to describe. It is a peachy kind of nude color with a pearl finish. In a swatch, it is pretty sheer on me. The color may manifest better on a lighter skinned person. The formula is great. It is really hydrating and creamy. The price of this is also 12$

They send out little extras each month, and this month I got a thick stretchy headband. It's great for putting my hair back when I apply my makeup. I have a picture of it on my Instagram.

Remember how I said I got the free gift with buying 3 months boxes in a row? Well, the gift was 35$ off anything on the site! How amazingly cool is that!? I was thinking it would be products like how they gift you for a referral, but this is sooooo great! You get free 3-5 day shipping too! I already placed my order. As soon as it gets here, I will absolutely be posting what I got on here and on IG.

That is everything for February's Starbox. I'm really happy with all the products I got. I paid about 17$ for this box and received 41$ worth of products. Getting makeup this way is such a great alternative to paying the full price for it. Click here to see my December Starbox review and swatches. I did get a box for January, but with work and school starting, I didn't do a post on it.

Kiss, Kiss.

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Mary Kay Lip Products Review

Hello again! Today I have a review over 2 Mary Kay lip products I recently received. Mary Kay recently launched their At Play line, which features makeup products for only 10$ each. It's a line geared towards teens and young adults that like a bit of color in their makeup and aren't just wanting to wear neutrals.

First up of the Mary Kay At Play Lip Crayon in Coral Me Crazy. The color is super pretty. I'm not sure why, but with this product I thought it would be drying. It is the complete opposite. It glides on like butter and you don't need a lot for a subtle orange tint. The lip crayon isn't incredibly pigmented, but I don't think it was meant to be. It give you a nice wash of color and some moisture on the lips. It has a slight orange scent.

As far as packaging goes, it is really simple and sleek. They didn't over design at all like some companies do. I love that the writing on the crayon is a berry color instead of plain black. The end cap of the crayon shows you what color it is, and it matches almost perfectly to the color on the tip. The cap is clear plastic and does look a little cheap, but it's a flexible plastic, so it feels really sturdy and like it won't break any time soon. I do have one complaint about this product: it isn't retractable. To get more product out of it, you have to sharpen it. From a makeup company like Mary Kay, I expected to have a twist up lip crayon, but seeing as the At Play line is relatively new, it's understandable. 

These lip crayons come in a few different colors, which you can see by clicking here. I like this one a lot, and I picked it mainly for the color, since I really love orange and coral for spring and summer time. 

Each lip crayon comes with a corresponding gloss. So naturally, I got the Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloss in the shade Poppy Love. The glosses are a bit more pigmented than the crayons. The packaging is, once again, simple and fuss free. It comes in a squeeze tube with a slanted applicator. The tube is clear with white lettering and a white cap. This cap also looks cheap, but just like the lip crayon, it feels extremely sturdy.

Texture wise, this gloss is really thick. With that being said, it is also really easy to spread. It also isn't sticky. It does have a little bit of tackiness to it once applied, but it doesn't make gross stringy trails between your lips when they part. This lip gloss looks great on its own, or on top of another lip product. To see the other 3 colors, just click here.

That concludes my review of my new Mary Kay At Play lip products. I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope you come back soon. If you have any Mary Kay products to suggest to me based on what you've seen from my Ipsy posts, Instagram, or other blog posts, just leave me a comment below. Until next time.

Kiss, Kiss.

-A

All Gone! - Products I've Used Up

I will be doing a few of these in sort of a series. If I can I'll try to do one of these Empties posts every few weeks as I use things up. I'm hoping to do 5-7 products each time. As for this one, I've been hording things from Ipsy and just random samples of products I've gotten, or full size products I've had, so that I can do a full post of how I liked it, how I used it, and if I would repurchase it or not, and why. This post is in no particular order. I'm just going to be pulling things from my bag that I've finished using.

Neutragena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes
I go through a lof of makeup wipes, as you will see later, but whenever I run out, I like to try a different kind than before. The Neutragena ones smell really good. They have such a clean, fresh smell. They definitely remove all of your makeup, including waterproof mascara. I don't think they irritated my eyes, and they didn't irritate or dry out my skin. They are the size of my entire hand, which is great too, and they're fairly wet, but not wet enough to feel like I'm soaking my face. There are 25 in a pack.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[]Pass [x]Buy

Studio M Professional 100% Acetone Nail Polish Remover
You already know how much I do my nails if you read my blog, follow me on Instagram, or know me in real life. I only use acetone to take off my nail polish. It's fast and easy, and get off glitter faster than regular polish remover. It's a 16 oz bottle, and while it does dry out my hands and nails really bad, it absolutely gets the job done. I love this stuff. It's my go-go nail polish remover, and it's super cheap! You can pick it up at Meijer for like 3$.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[]Pass [x]Buy

Chella Hello Beautiful Eyes Eyebrow Color Pencil
I recieved this in a past Ipsy bag, and when I got it, I wasn't too thrilled. If you'd like to see the other products I got in my Glam Bag that month, the link is here. I wasn't into brow products at the time, but once I started using it, I fell in love. It has a nice texture, and looks really natural on the skin. I didn't think the color would be dark enough, but it matched me quite well. My only complaints are the pencil are that you don't get much product, and it's pretty expensive for a brow pencil.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[x]Pass []Buy only because of price 

SheerCover Duo Concealer in Tan/Dark
As the name states, it comes with 2 different shades of concealer. I got this in a mini makeup kit from a Proactiv (I work there by the way) to see how I liked it. I used the darker one to conceal blemishes and dark spots, and the lighter color to highlight under my eyes. The texture is on the dryer side, but for under my eyes, I like a slightly dry consistency. To me, it sets faster if it's dryer. I really like this concealer and I already have a bigger size of it that I'm working on, and have a backup for when that's gone.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[]Pass [x]Buy

Bath & Body Works Pink Sugarplum Shower Gel
I absolutely love BBW! Their shower gel is the only shower gel I've used for the last 3-4 years. This particular shower gel was from the 2012 Christmas collection, and it smells like heaven! I have no clue what a sugarplum is supposed to smell like, but this is such a sweet, sugary, wintery scent! If they rerelease this, I will be first in line!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[]Pass [x]Buy

Wet N Wild Mega Liner Liquid Eye Liner in 861 Black
This is the first liquid liner I ever tried as a teenager, and I still use it today. The pigmentation is good, the application is good, the price is good. It's such an easy product to use when you're wearing makeup. WNW is my absolute favorite drugstore line for eye products, and things like this are the reason why. It is such a good liner for the price. If you like satin finish to your liquid liner, this is great for that.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
[]Pass [x]Buy

That is it for my first empties post! I still have a lot of products that I have finished and some that are on their last leg. Come back and see what's in store for the next empties post! I have a post coming up about colored makeup for those of us color addicts, as well as my monthly nails post.

Kiss, Kiss.
-A

February 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag Review

I got my Glam Bag a few days ago, and I've gotten to play with the products a bit so I can tell you how I feel about them now! For anyone reading this who doesn't know what Ipsy is, it's a monthly beauty subscription service that send you 4-5 deluxe sample size and full size products each month and a makeup bag for only 10$! That's right. TEN DOLLARS. If you'd like to get started with your own Ipsy subscription, just click here or click the link in the right side bar.

The Goods:

This month's bag was super adorable. Since it was February, Ipsy went for a Valentine's Day theme. The card on the inside said "The Look of Love." The bag, itself, was hot pink on the outside with a plain white zipper. On the inside, it had pink leopard print. Super cute!

The first product I pulled from my bag this month was the POP Beauty Plump Pout Lipgloss Mini. I got it in the shade Fuschia Freesia, which is a really gorgeous, crazy bright pink. It is definitely fuschia. The gloss is really thick and opaque, which I love. Color wise, this was a great choice for me. Out of all the colors that they offer, this one and the nude color stand out to me the most. The only complaint I have about this gloss, is the smell. The handle is rubberized, so it stinks like rubber.
[]Pass [X]Buy

The next thing I gravitated towards were the lashes. February's bag featured JCat Beauty once again with their Eyelashes + Eyelash Glue. I received them in the style EL 20. These are pretty dramatic. They're nice and full and they taper in just barely in the inner corner. These are made with real human hair, are hypoallergenic, and cruelty free.
[]Pass [X]Buy

Next up is another nail polish. Yay! I love nail polish. You guys know that. Ipsy sent out another Zoya, which I am not complaining about. Zoya polishes always have a great formula and the bottle is really cute. I got the color Dot, a soft pale pink. I like the color, but I really wanted the other color, Odette, because it is a lot darker. I think Dot is too pale for my skintone to wear on its own.
[]Pass [X]Buy

I also got the EyeTini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One, which looks like lipgloss haha. It has a doe foot applicator and that's how you apply the cream shadow. It has an odd smell, but it isn't unpleasant. The color is Violette. It's a shimmery lavender color. I would have rather had one of the other two colors they sent out, but I will def get some use out of this. I swatched it about 36 hours ago, and you can still see some color and shimmer on the back of my hand. That's quality!
[]Pass [X]Buy

My last item is the Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask. I love skincare, especially face masks and scrubs, so this was a great choice for me. At first I thought I got 2 packs of the mask, but it turns out that one half is the mask and the other is an activating gel. I haven't used this one yet, but the reviews I've seen of it say its really amazing. It's just expensive! But since you're only supposed to do it once a week, it really isn't that expensive.
[?]Pass [?]Buy

Price Summary:
Plump Pout - 7.47
Falsies (FULL SIZE) - 3.99
Zoya (FULL SIZE) - 9.00
'Tini Shadow (FULL SIZE) - 18.00
Skyn Mask - 6.50
Total: 44.96 USD

Overall, I really liked this month's bag. I'm glad it was Valentine's Day themed without getting too out of hand with the pink, haha. Share this post with your friends if they're looking for a beauty subscription for cheap or they just really love beauty and cosmetics and skincare. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, and come back in a few days for another post.

Kiss, Kiss.
-A