Friday, October 20, 2023

Love It Or Leave It; Review 2.0: ColourPop sage the day Pressed Powder Palette

Hello folksickles. As a makeup junkie and blogger you may have realized that I review a LOAD of eyeshadow palettes and I like to think of myself as being largely an eyeshadow junkie. In order to declutter a bit  I've decided to pick out a palette or series of eyeshadows for the month and have that be my monthly selection for those instances where I'm not doing a tutorial for the blog. Every month I'll do a recap on the eyeshadows - how I feel about them and whether I'll be keeping them or giving them away (and why :P) as well as if I think it's worth its price tag. 

You can find a look I did with the palette here. These are the looks I created this month:
So as you can see I created soft, smoky green looks with this palette. I really love the quality of this palette - the color payoff is excellent, the shadows are beautiful and they blend well. I have to be honest in that I have mixed feelings on this palette because when I do warmer toned looks with it, I absolutely love them; but when I do more cool-toned looks, I feel like they make me look washed out and zombie-like. I have decided to hang onto it for the time being. 

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

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Mascara Review: COVERGIRL CLUMP CRUSHER Mascara

Alright folksickles...

Today I will be reviewing the COVERGIRL CLUMP CRUSHER Mascara.
Sans Mascara:
With Mascara:
Availability: This retails anywhere from about $9.50 - $15 and is generally available at drugstores (and their respective websites) that sell COVERGIRL. I cannot guarantee availability so you may want to call your local store ahead of time.
Would I buy this again?: Probably not.
Notes: This mascara comes in black and brown.
Let's go over what the mascara's supposed to do and what it actually does. According to covergirl.com: Enjoy beautiful lashes with this incredible no-clump mascara. COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara by Lash Blast is a breakthrough in no clump mascara formula, offering 20x more volume and zero clumps. This no-clump mascara features an innovative double-sided brush with lash-loading and clump-combing zones to crush clumps.
Alright so I'm sure you can see from the photographs that this mascara certainly does give my lashes a boost in volume and isn't clumpy at all. I mean you know I'm all about the falsies but I actually really like the idea of this mascara if I was going for a more natural look as it makes my natural lashes look really nice. That being said, I personally like a mascara that gives more oomph to my lashes especially in terms of making them look longer and thicker while also not being clumpy. I didn't have any issues with this mascara flaking or smudging. 

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

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Toner Review: Green Pharmacy Green Tea and Tea Tree Oil Facial Toner

Hello folksickles. Today's review will be for Green Pharmacy Green Tea and Tea Tree Oil Facial Toner.

Availability: I am genuinely unsure if there is an online retailer that sells this product that ships it to the US. I apologize that I can't provide better information. I purchased this at a Russian-speaking pharmacy. 

Would I buy this again?: Possibly.

What is this product designed to address?
According to the bottle, this product is designed to hydrate all skin types. 

Does it contain any special/beneficial ingredients?
As translated by myself from the back of the bottle:
Green Tea: Has antioxidant properties; tones, and hydrates skin. 
Almond Oil: Has antibacterial and skin-soothing properties. 

What is the texture like?
I'd describe the texture as being watery. 

Is it scented?
This has a prominent green tea scent with the tea tree oil being quite subtle in the background.

My overall experience/comments on the product:
This toner leaves my skin feeling very soft and silky, kind of like a flower petal. I find that it sort of has a skin smoothing and softening effect. Overall I like the way that it makes my skin feel and I really like how it feels and smells. 

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

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself.

Friday, October 6, 2023

Love It Or Leave It; Review 2.0: ColourPop Rock On Pressed Powder Palette

Hello folksickles. As a makeup junkie and blogger you may have realized that I review a LOAD of eyeshadow palettes and I like to think of myself as being largely an eyeshadow junkie. In order to declutter a bit  I've decided to pick out a palette or series of eyeshadows for the month and have that be my monthly selection for those instances where I'm not doing a tutorial for the blog. Every month I'll do a recap on the eyeshadows - how I feel about them and whether I'll be keeping them or giving them away (and why :P) as well as if I think it's worth its price tag. 

You can find a look I did with the palette here. These are the looks I created this month:

So as you can see I created soft, neutral, and colorful looks with this palette. I really love the quality of this palette - the color payoff is excellent, the shadows are beautiful and they blend well. I've really enjoyed playing with this palette because I feel that it's got fall vibes and I was having a really good time wearing it. I love how versatile this is for a smaller palette, I can create more intense smoky colorful looks but I can also do really soft neutral looks. I have been absolutely loving using this palette and did not want to put it down!

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

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself.

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

September 2023 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. Deborah Lippmann In The Sun Gel Lab Pro: While this nail polish shade is beautiful and a very fun shade for the summertime I find that it chipped so quickly on me. I literally only had it on for a day before it began chipping. For this reason I'll be passing this along.

2. NARS Blush in Orgasm: While this is an iconic blush I feel like it's a bit too pink for my personal liking. I feel like I have similar colors that I'm more likely to reach for and therefore will be passing this along.

Disclaimer: I paid for both products mentioned above.

Monday, October 2, 2023

September 2023 Arrivals

Ok folksickles! Well, given that it's my birthday month I picked up some things just for fun.

1. Flower Knows Gifts: One of my friends very generously got me these beautiful products for my birthday and we all know I am very excited and grateful because I love mermaids.
Flower Knows Moonlight Mermaid Series Setting Powder in 02 Fair Beige
Flower Knows Moonlight Mermaid Series Hand Mirror

2. ColourPop Haul: I've been eyeing most of these products for a while now and with the Aurora Struck palette FINALLY going on sale, I just went for it:
party proof eye primer in translucent
Aurora struck Pressed Powder Palette

3. Trader Joe's Honeycrisp Apple Scented Candle: This candle legitimately smells the way you would imagine biting into an apple would taste like. I wanted to purchase one last year but the wax looked really odd in last year's candles so I hesitated but it looks great this year so I decided to just go for it. 

4. one+other Pro-Strength Nail Polish Remover Dip: The one I currently have has gotten quite gross so I've decided to replace it.

5. FRUDIA My Orchard Mango Mochi Cleansing Foam : This was an impulse purchase because I have these on my YesStyle wishlist but I saw it for $4 at Marshall's and decided to just go for it.

6. Tiam Snail & Azulene Sleeping Mask: I'm running low on my current sleeping mask and decided to give this a try since it's got ingredients that have historically worked really well for my skin.

7. Birthday Gifts: So one of my friends decided to get me all these beauty goodies for my birthday:
OYAX Deep cleansing Nutrition Mask Avocado Sheet Mask
OYAX Hyaluronic Acid Whitening Moisturizing Facial Mask

8. CVS Mini-Haul: These are things I needed to replenish on because I either ran out or that time to replace them is coming:
Neutrogena Rapid Clear Stubborn Acne Spot Gel

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

Disclaimer: I purchased everything listed above with the exception of the Flower Knows items and the other birthday gifts I mentioned. 

Sunday, October 1, 2023

September 2023 Empties

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

1. Kose softymo Washing Foam Hyaluronic Acid: This was a nice basic cleanser, I found it did a good job of washing off any remaining makeup off my skin and left my skin feeling soft and comfortable. That said, I prefer somewhat more hydrating, cushiony-feeling foaming cleansers.  

2. inm Out the Door Topcoat for Nails: I absolutely love this topcoat and am sad to have run out. This gives my nails a nice, smooth, shiny effect and really does set and dry quickly. 

3.  Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base: Y'all this is another product that I am so sad to have run out of. Even though this is technically both a moisturizer and a primer, I used it as my night cream because this is so hydrating and nourishing. It really helped heal the eczema patch on my chin and overall left my skin feeling very hydrated and supple. 

4. Bath & Body Works Golden Sunflower Ultimate Hydration Body Cream: This has a really nice floral, creamy scent to it and made both my legs and feet feel very hydrated. 

5. Soapology NYC Waterlily & Jasmine Body Buttercream: This cream smells really lovely; it has a soapy, clean, floral scent to it. That being said, I wish it was a thicker, more emollient cream - I feel like this didn't provide enough hydration.

6. Freeman Anti-Stress dead sea minerals Clay Mask: I feel like when I had this in the sample packet that i really enjoyed this mask because it wasn't drying but felt deep-cleansing. That said, this tube version feels a bit drying and tight on my face - I didn't like it as much. 

7. Ardell Professional Studio Effects Lashes in Wispies x2: I really love these lashes because they're on the softer, more natural side but they still add a bit of length and volume.

8. e.l.f. Holy Hydration Eye Cream: As the name of this implies, this is a really great eye cream for hydration specifically. A little bit goes a long way and while this is really hydrating, it's also lightweight and plays nicely with makeup. 

9. skinfix inked Tattoo Balm: I did not get another tattoo, however I continue to have a patch of eczema on my groin that is just stubborn and itches quite intensely. I figured since this is meant to help heal tattoos that it might also help with the painful itchiness and dryness that the eczema presents with. While this helped a bit, I can't say it helped heal my eczema the way it helped my tattoo heal. 

10. Dr Teal's Shea Sugar Scrub in Shea Butter & Almond Oil with Essential Oils: This was a bit more liquidy than I'm used to these scrubs being but I feel as though it still provided a nice exfoliation for my skin and left my skin feeling soft.

11. Bath & Body Works Rose Water & Ivy PocketBac: It's been a while since I've had these hand sanitizers and I really appreciate having them. This smells really delicious and absorbs quickly into my skin without drying my hands out.

12. The Ordinary 100% Plant-Derived Squalane: Even though I had a backup, I'm still sad to have used this all up just because it is an absolute holy grail for me. I love how this oil is lightweight but that it also really helps reduce any redness, texture (i.e.: dry, flaky skin) and inflammation on my face. 

13. Neutrogena Rapid Clear Stubborn Acne Spot Gel: I'm unsure why they called this a gel when it's a cream but I have to say it is an excellent spot treatment. This helps clear up spots within a few days, helps cysts come to a head, and also helps reduce swelling. This tube also lasted me two years so I think it's a fantastic investment. 

14. Beauty of Joseon Calming Serum: Like the other serums in the kit I got, this provided a nice boost of hydration to my skin. I don't know that I would say, in terms of calming, that this particularly did anything to reduce redness on my skin.

15. ORLY Bonder Rubberized Basecoat: I really like this base coat because I feel like nail polish really does grip onto it well.

16. one+other Pro-Strength Nail Polish Remover Dip: The one I currently have has gotten quite gross and very discolored. I figure it's time for a fresh one.

17. OYAX Deep cleansing Nutrition Mask Avocado Sheet Mask: This mask hydrated my skin really well while leaving my skin feeling very soft and smooth.

18. OYAX Hyaluronic Acid HA Whitening Moisturizing Facial Mask: I can't say this mask really whitened my skin but I'm also paper white so there wasn't much work for it to do in that aspect. Additionally, I don't have any major wrinkles to speak of so I can't say if this would help those either. In any case, this left my skin feeling very hydrated, plump, and smooth. 

19. Freeman Hydrating glacier water + pink peony Gel Cream Mask: This mask did a nice job of providing my skin with an extra boost of hydration while also being lightweight and refreshing. 

20. Grandma Agatha's (Agafia's) Recipe Strengthening Hair Mask with Burdock: While I feel like this mask makes my curls look really pretty, defined, and shiny; I also feel like I wanted this mask to be more hydrating and will probably not get it again.

21. Maybelline Fit me! Loose Finishing Powder in 10 Fair Light: I am honestly relieved to have used this up because I feel like, it may not have been super noticeable but it was too yellow for my liking and it would crease under my eyes. Overall on the face though, this made my skin look really smooth which I appreciated. Additionally, I don't like that the packaging has a sifter that isn't removable - I feel like there are bits of powder I just can't get to because I can't get the sifter out without injuring myself. 

22. Givenchy Paris Mister Perfect Instant Makeup Eraser: I have held onto this thing for ages and I'm sure it's dried out or is otherwise no longer hygienic to use. I'd rather not end up with an eye infection.

23. OCC Black Dahlia Cosmetic Colour Pencil: This is a beautiful berry shade, however; I have sharpened this down as far as it can realistically be sharpened and have used it to the point where the wood scratches my lips when I try to apply this. I think it's that time to move on. 

24. 11 Village Factory Foot Peeling: I bought this because my right foot especially has been bothering me for a while, there's some scaly skin on the side of the foot that isn't callus but it's dry and nothing has been getting it off so I figured a foot peel might do the trick. I'm currently on day 6 post having used this and even though I've been soaking my feet nightly, there's only some very slight peeling around my toes and heels currently. I'm waiting for the soles of my feet to start peeling. Additionally, I am a size 10 in women's shoes and these were an extremely tight fit, I barely got my feet in there. I think they'd be ideal for someone with smaller feet. 

25. berkley jensen Scented baby wipes in Refreshing Green Tea & Cucumber: These wipes smell really nice - I like to use them to wipe dust off services, to wipe down my makeup collection, and to remove swatches when I take blog photos. 

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the above with the exception of the Soapology Body Buttercream which was a sample with purchase, the Givenchy product, and the OYAX masks which were birthday gifts