Museum of Ice Cream x Sephora Collection Palette Review

Today I bring to you the Museum of Ice Cream x Sephora Collection Palette

Availability: This palette has been discontinued. 

Would I buy this? No.
Notes: So although you technically cannot even get your hands on this palette anymore I would still go ahead and say that this is skippable. Package-wise I really don't like that the shade names are only on the exterior package (that gets discarded) and the packaging, while cute, is also really bulky. In terms of shadow quality, this is alright and works fine when paired over a nice primer. That said, the overall quality for the price this palette was (I believe in the $40s) is just not worth it, the pigmentation on these shadows is just ok. Frankly I think a $40 palette should perform really well and be highly pigmented, rich, smooth, and buttery and this just isn't it. Without any further ado, shade swatches. 

Float is a matte pinkish beige,

Chip is a matte warm terracotta orange. 

Caramel is a soft copper with pink micro-shimmer flecks.

Cherry is a reddish orange. 

Swirl is a soft satiny off-white with an intense cool-toned pink pearl.  

Scoop is a magenta pink with a subtle violet pearl and magenta micro-glitter flecks.

Sprinkle is a subtle magenta base with an intense violet pearl.

Scream is an intense, matte fuchsia.

Mochi is a metallic white with white glitter flecks .

Flavor is a metallic gunmetal with an intense silver pearl.

Coco is a gray base with a teal blue pearl.

Mint is a matte bluish mint. This is one shade, I have to say, that they got right - it goes on super pigmented, silky, and has a wonderful vibrancy/opacity to it.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: I received this as a gift.

Fragrance Review: CLEAN RESERVE warm cotton [reserve blend]

Today I will be reviewing CLEAN RESERVE warm cotton [reserve blend]

Availability: This is available on sephora.com and spacenk.com along with their physical store locations. You can also purchase it on scentbird.com as well as cleanbeauty.com. It retails at $28 for 0.34 fl. oz. (10 ml) or at $98 for 3.4  fl. oz. (101 mL).
Would I buy this?: No.

Notes: To quote from fragrantica.com: 

Top Notes: Ozonic Notes, Aldehydes, Watery Notes, Ginger
Mid Notes: Green Notes, Floral Notes, Mint, Pepper
Base Notes: Musk, Vetiver, Incense

Smelling it smells like clean laundry. It has a scent reminiscent of Tide detergent, but lighter. 
Freshly applied, this perfume continues to remind me of Tide detergent but paired with a fresh breeze on a sunny day. It's not as intensely scented as Tide is. As the fragrance dries down I smell some of the earthier notes making their way through. If you can imagine laundry hanging to dry in a grassy field with a nice, gentle breeze blowing, that's what I would say this perfume harkens to.

As for personal taste, I like my laundry to smell this way and I think CLEAN would do well to release this scent in perhaps a laundry detergent, candle, and room/pillow spray but I don't like myself to smell that way.

In terms of wear, I had this on for just under 10 hours and I get a faint whiff of it but nothing to write home about.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Disclaimer: This was given to me as a gift.

Nail Polish Review: ORLY Bubbly Bombshell Nail Polish

Nail polish: ORLY Nail Polish in Bubbly Bombshell

What the brush looks like:

My nails with a coat of this on the ring finger, I have it over pop arazzi Denim After Dark , and all nails have ORLY In A Snap Quick-Dry Topcoat on:

Availability: This can be purchased at any drugstore that carries ORLY nail products; the price varies but it ranges from about $7.50 - $10.50.
Would I buy this again?: Not sure. 
Notes: This is described as a purple glitter polish. In the bottle I'd describe it as more of a magenta. While I typically am not the biggest fan of magenta shades I really liked the way it popped with my navy manicure. On the nails, this wore really well. I had it on for a week with no issues other than visible nail growth. 

 
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. 

Disclaimer: I was given this as a gift.

June 2021 Departures

Ok folksickles. Departure blogs will contain items that aren't empties but that are going to be given away for one reason or another. I'm working hard to curate my makeup collection and want it to include only the products that I think truly work well, that I reach for often and do what they're supposed to do.

1. Museum of Ice Cream x Sephora Collection Palette: Honestly I feel like this isn't a bad palette - it just doesn't spark joy. I have dupes for many of these colors and, frankly, the ones I don't really have dupes for are colors I wouldn't really reach for. I really love the mint here but even if I don't have something 100% the same I'm confident I have something very close.  

2. Clinique Black Honey Sweet Pots Sugar Scrub & Lip Balm: The scrub portion of this got funky-looking so I discarded it entirely but the lip balm portion is still fine. That said, I just don't find this hydrating enough for my liking.

3. eos Lip Balm in Coconut Milk : Just another lip balm that I didn't find hydrating enough.

4. miscellaneous eyeshadows: So in terms of what's leaving the collection, it's the cool-toned matte brown and green from the Disney Ariel x Sephora Collection Storylook Palette, the blue from tokidoki, and Inglot D.S. 617 - the brown is just too cool for my liking and I know I won't reach for it (I think the main reason I hit pan was because I was using it as an eyebrow powder at one point, but it's too dark for me now), the green is a shade I know I have similar ones to that I won't reach for, and the blues are just beautiful in the pan and swatched but work in a rather lackluster, disappointing fashion. 

5. e.l.f. Pearl Glow Shimmer Highlighting Powder: Unfortunately I find that this highlighter applies in a sort of patchy way where it's not a solid metallic look of highlight on my cheekbones.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of these myself with the exception of the Museum of Ice Cream x Sephora palette, the eos balm, the e.l.f. highlight, and the Clinique balm. 

June 2021 Arrivals

Ok folksickles! Here's this month's tiny haul. 

1. Trader Joe's Watermelon Facial Mist: When I saw this in Trader Joe's I knew I had to buy it! I absolutely love this mist as a toner or at any time that I want to refresh my skin.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. 

Disclaimer: I purchased everything listed above.

June 2021 Favorites

Hey folksickles,

Alright, all the goodies I've been enjoying in June :) To be honest I have been sticking to many of the same products so I don't have much in the way of favorites but alas:

1. Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter: I love this primer because it creates a really beautiful, glowing finish on the skin. Everything you put on top of this just glides on beautifully and takes on that really pretty glow. I feel like it just makes the skin look really healthy. 

2. Kiss So Wispy Lashes in 09: I really like how easy these lashes are to work with - they have thin bands so they're easy to align to the eye, are a great length where they give oomph to the eye and are easy to apply without being crazy-looking. I like how natural they look as well. 

3. Trader Joe's Watermelon Facial Mist: You folks might remember how much I loved this when I purchased it last year so when I saw it again at Trader Joe's I just had to have it! This smells nice and gives the skin a wonderful, refreshing boost of hydration. For a $4 mist it is worth every penny!

4. LUSH Rose Jam Body Spray: This body spray just smells absolutely delicious! It took a while to figure out how much to spray, as a small spray can go a long way here but I've been really enjoying it. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: I paid for the products mentioned above myself.

June 2021 Empties

All my monthly trash on display for you to see. :P

Sheet Masks Galore:

the SAEM Rice Natural Rice Mask Sheet: Personally I wish that this had a more milky serum but nevertheless I found it to be very hydrating, smoothing, and refreshing. 

MEDIHEAL Placenta Revival Essential Mask EX: Another one that I wish that had a more milky serum but nevertheless I found it to be very hydrating and smoothing. 

Fancy High Dream Beauty Aqua Moisture Mask: This is a super hydrating mask that made my skin feel, for lack of better words, juicy - just very hydrated and elastic/smooth.

2. Kiss So Wispy Lashes in 09 x2: These are a very soft, natural-looking wispy lash that adds a little boost to any eye look without being too crazy or dramatic. I also have to sing some praises to these lashes, as they have thin bands, they're very easy to mold to your eye shape and therefore easy to glue on and apply. 

3. RAW SUGAR simply body wash in Lemon Sugar: Overall this body wash was alright and it smells just absolutely wonderful, literally like lemons with sugar. I just personally like my body wash to be a bit more hydrating. 

4.  ColourPop Just A Tint Lip Crayon in Maui Wowie: I loved this little lip crayon so much - it's such a pretty shade of red that just enhanced the features but is sheer enough to be worn at any time. Plus these just feel great on the lips - they're very hydrating and silky. 

5. m-61 PowerGlow Peel Pad x13: As I've said many times before I really love these peel pads because they instantly retexturize the skin - rough, flakey skin is transformed to beautiful glowing skin. Because these exfoliate they let the skincare you apply over top to work even better since it's not fighting to bypass a dry layer of dead skin. 

6. Mario Badescu Caffeine Eye Cream: I really enjoyed the hydrating and depuffing quality of this eye cream. In fact I was sad to have run out of it. 

7. berkley jensen Unscented baby wipes: As I've mentioned in the past I really like to use baby wipes to wipe down surfaces, especially those of my makeup collection, and to remove makeup swatches from my hands. These are fantastic in that they stay moist for a long time and you get lots of them in a package so they last for a long time too. 

8. Dolce & Gabbana light blue: Ok, I know this is a really popular scent but I dislike Dolce & Gabbana's anti-LGBTQ stance so... meh, whatever. I don't hate the scent but it's definitely not something I would buy in general. 

9. patchology Warm Up Best Foot Forward: These are essentially a sheet mask for the feet - they're meant to hydrate the soles and tops of your feet. I find that they're very efficacious and although the packaging instructs to leave them on for 10 minutes I leave them on for about an hour. They leave my feet feeling very soft and rejuvenated. That said, if you're looking for significant warmth to occur I just don't feel like these heat up much, if at all. I typically wear socks on top of them to get the optimal heat and moisture absorption. These have a yummy, creamy coconut scent.

10. Bite Beauty Chai Amuse Bouche Lipstick: I'm sad to have used up this little lipstick - we've had an interesting run. At times I found this to be very cool-toned and too brown to look good on me and at other times it was quite rosy and even warm and caramel-like. It was definitely rosier toward the end (maybe because I'd use it on top of a peachy cream blush that I'd pat on the lips) and I really liked the way it looked. This is also really moisturizing which I appreciate. 

11. m-61 Hydraboost Face Oil: I really enjoyed using this oil while I had it. Given squalane is a main component in this oil blend, it helped reduce my redness and smooth my skin while being really lightweight and fast-absorbing. I'm sad to see it come to an end.

12. CLEAN RESERVE warm cotton [reserve blend]: I like the clean laundry smell of this scent but I personally think it would be best as a room fragrance versus a personal fragrance.

13. Dove gentle exfoliating with sea minerals nourishing Body Wash: I really like to use these Dove body washes for shaving as they provide a nice, smooth glide for my razor and leave my skin feeling soft and silky. This particular one has a very soft scent and gentle little buffing beads in it. 

14.Natura Bisse Diamond Cocoon Hydrating Essence: This gave my skin a really nice boost of hydration. 

15. Virtue Restorative Treatment Mask: I don't know, other than the alpha keratin, what it is about Virtue products that just instantly make my hair feel different in the best of ways! After using this mask (and I literally only had it in for 3 minutes) my hair is bouncier, healthier, and feels thicker, smoother, and more easily manageable. This mask also smells absolutely delicious and a little bit goes a LONG way, the little trial jar that I thought I'd have for one use lasted me three. Despite this being a pricey item I think I'd save up for it to treat myself, just given how wonderful it makes my hair feel. 

16. Physician's Formula Rose All Stay Illuminating Setting Spray: Although this setting spray works alright I don't like how the shimmer in it sprays out in a way where it's not even-looking on the skin. In addition, it's too heavily scented for my liking.

17. m-61 PowerSpot Clear: As I've mentioned in the past I really love this as an acne spot treatment. 

18. LAFCO Sage & Walnut Candle: This is such a warm, cozy, beautiful scent and I really enjoyed having treated myself to it and the scent of the candle. That said, I'm annoyed with the fact that it only has one wick as the singular wick has trouble keeping the wax melting evenly.

19. Bath & Body Works Honeysuckle Scented Candle: This candle has a really warm, floral, summery scent that I enjoyed a lot. I'm sad to see it come to an end.

20. Bath & Body Works Frosted Cranberry Candle: Another delicious-smelling candle that I was sad to see come to an end. This has a yummy sweet cranberry scent to it.

21. innisfree Pore Clearing Facial Foam with Volcanic Clusters: I really liked this cleanser in the sense that it made my skin feel deeply cleansed without being drying. That said, I don't feel like it much in the sense of helping with pore size or pores being clogged.

22. Sugarpill Liquid Lip Color in Dainty: Unfortunately this smells like it's gone off.

23.  ColourPop Brow Colour Pomade in Dope Taupe: I really enjoyed this brow pomade because, unlike other ones I've played with, this one is very versatile and can be worn softly or intensified for a more fierce brow look. I'm also extremely impressed that I was able to use it until the very last drop - I expected it to dry up entirely before I used the jar up. It lasted me about a year of regular use. Unfortunately, they don't make this anymore and, while I enjoyed using it a lot, if I'm going to be completely honest I prefer using brow powders or taupe eyeshadows for my brows as I have naturally thick brows and powder creates a softer look. I am sad, however, that ColourPop stopped making these pomades as they are a really great product!

24. L.A. Girl Pro powder HD high-definition setting powder: While this powder did the job of setting my makeup and keeping me from getting oily or sticky I found that I went through it super quickly and that overall it tended to grab in certain areas, particularly under my cheekbones, and look chalky no matter how much I'd buff it out or spray it down with setting spray. 

25. Bath & Body Works Honeysuckle & Freesia Scented Candle: This is another beautiful summer fragrance that I am sad to see come to its end. It smells like a beautiful flower garden.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the above with the exception of the m-61 (with the exception of the PowerSpot Clear - I paid for it), Mario Badescu, CLEAN RESERVE, Natura Bisse, Virtue, innisfree, L.A. Girl, and Dolce & Gabbana products.