LUSH Love Lettuce Mask Review

I've been sitting on this review for awhile just because I'm afraid people would think reviews for skincare items are kinda boring.  It's not as interesting as lip swatches (my favorite thing to do, haha) but it probably gets stale seeing the same thing on my blog all the time.  I'll just jump right in with a picture-

Ahh! Scary makeup-less mask face!

There isn't a LUSH store within 250 miles of me and I prefer to see products from a brand in person before I purchase online, so I have never owned any LUSH products. The city my parents live in recently opened a LUSH store so when I was visiting them a few months ago I stopped in. I wish I had read about how, um, helpful, the employees are before going so I would have been able to fend off their attacks better. But I walked in and was completely overwhelmed. I'm one of those shoppers who likes to be in my own little world while shopping and employees guiding me makes me nervous. The employees are super nice but extremely pushy.  I know they are just doing the job they instructed to do and they HAVE to be that way, but I find it off-putting and makes me less likely to visit the store.

Anyway, I ended up buying the Imperialis face moisturizer and Love Lettuce Fresh face mask. 

The mask comes in a 2.1 oz container and the "fresh" in it's name isn't just there for funsies.  These mask aren't sold online, only is stores, because they really are fresh and must be kept refrigerated.  They're meant to be used within 3 weeks because they don't have any preservatives. I accidentally forgot about mine in the fridge (I only had about 1 mask worth left) and when I checked it after 6 weeks (twice it's shelf life) I did see little bits of mold growing.  So just make sure you use it within the stated time frame!

I have about the most normal skin you can have- not oily, dry, sensitive, or acne-prone so I'm probably not the best person to review skin care as most things seem to work at least okay for me.  But I really love this mask. My face has never felt as soft as it does when I take off this mask. It doesn't feel super moisturized (I could probably go without a moisturizer though if I had to) but it feels really soft and clean. And the glowing after-mask skin never lasts, but this one definitely left my skin brighter for a bit.  I have to warn you, I'm a bit of a masochist and like my exfoliators rough and scratchy.  This isn't the roughest exfoliating scrub/mask thingy I've ever used, but isn't very gentle either.  Oh, and I love the smell. It smells natural- like earthy lavender. Real lavender essential oil, not that fake perfume-y crap.

I'm sad that these masks expire so quickly mainly because I don't have a LUSH near me and can't stock up.  In general I think LUSH is a bit overpriced and probably a bit overrated, but I do think they have some good products.  And Love Lettuce is my favorite so far!

Available:

• LUSH's Fresh Face Masks are only available in LUSH stores and retail for $5.95.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Cult Nails Inaugural Colection Swatches and Review

Cult Nails is a new nail polish brand started at the begining of this year by a fellow blogger named Maria.  I thought it was really inspiring that she had this dream to start her own company and actually followed through with it and is doing everything she can to make it a success.  Of course I immediately wanted the whole collection.  I couldn't afford it at the time so I saved for awhile and about a month ago I bought both the Inaugural collection (5 polishes) and the Day At the Races collection (5 polishes and mostly limited editions). Their collection for Fall called Hypnotic is up for pre-sale on their website and I love their polishes so much that I purchased the collection the first day they put it up!

And now I know why Cult Nails is quickly becoming, well, a cult favorite.  The formula of the polishes is amazing.  I didn't have any issues with streakiness, or too thibk or thin formulas, or bubbling.  All of the ones that are supposed to opaque were opaque in two coats. Every time I would start applying one I would think it was sheer with the first coat.  And then with the second coat it would become perfectly opaque.  I shouldn't have been surprised when this kept happening over and over, but this held true with the entire line.  There are a few polishes that are intentionally sheer and even those build up pretty well.

At $10 each these aren't the cheapest polishes around.  But I wouldn't expect them to be.  This is a small company with no employees but the owners. Unless you are producing/selling in massive quantities like brands that are sold at drugstores and such, you have to charge more.  $10 really isn't so bad if you think about.  You can tell that Maria puts a lot of thought and love into the polishes and her company and it really shows.  You know that your $10 is buying quality.  Sometimes you aren't even guaranteed that with $25 Chanel polishes.

Cult Nails Quench in the sun

This was 2 coats but would need more to fully eliminate VNL. This is a glossy jelly red, so like most jellies, some VNL is expected when using fewer coats.

Cult Nails Quench in the shade

Cult Nails Iconic in the sun

This is a berry reddish pink with gold shimmer and flakies. I've heard somewhere before saying this is a dupe for Barielle's Elle's Spell but I have that one also and it is most definitely not a dupe. (Here is Elle's Spell for proof) I think Maria should do more polishes with flakies! (hint hint)

This was 2 coats.

Cult Nails Iconic in the shade

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid in the sun

This is a greyed lavender with silver shimmer. But not the ugly frosty silver shimmer. This one is subtle and pretty.

This was 2 coats.

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid in the shade

Cult Nails Living Water in the sun

This is a deep blackened blue jelly base with blue and green glitter. This is so gorgeous and I can't think of any colors that look similar to this.

This was 2 coats.

Cult Nails Living Water in the shade

Available:

• Cult Nails polishes sell for $10 each and are available on their website.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Wet n Wild's Blue Had Me At Hello Swatches and Review

A few weeks ago I got a very generous package from Wet n Wild of products for me to review.  Included in the package were all 3 of the 8-pan palettes.  I am so excited about these because I have heard all of the great reviews of them, but somehow had never got around to buy them (How did that happen? They're only $5 each!).  You can see by all my past posts that Wet n Wild is a brand I use a lot.  Especially recently.  I'm no impresses that they have stepped up the quality of their products and have become synonymous with great performing products that are budget-friendly.  Its refreshing to see that quality doesn't have to equal ridiculous prices.  I think that Wet n Wild still have a few items in their line that could be revamped to meet the standards on the new items, but every line has a few "not-so-great"s and Wet n Wild's are surprisingly few.

As expected, I absolutely love this palette.  There are essentially 3 black shades (they all look similar on the skin) that I probably won't use much, but for $5 I don't care.  And plus the ones that are awesome, are REALLY awesome.  I would buy this palette for that bright turquoise alone.

I like that the palette is sealed.  It's gross when drugstore cosmetics don't have any safety seals and people put their fingers in everything!

For those just starting out in makeup, the designations on the shadows of where are your eye to put them is helpful.  And I'm sure those type of people are a large part of Wet n Wild's customer base.  When I was first starting to wear makeup as a young teenager Wet n Wild was the brand I bought.  I know lots of other women have similar stories.  Which makes it neat that now we're grown we're coming back to Wet n Wild, not just because it's all we can afford like when we were young, but because we genuinely like the products.

The shades aren't named so I  numbered them for seeing as it's easier to refer to #3 versus "the matte black eyeshadow with blue sparkles" every time.

1- frosty silvery white
2- silver metallic shimmer
3- matte black with blue micro glitter (a bit patchy and blue glitter does not show up that well)
4- black matte (dry, patchy, and under-pigmented, but not the worst black matte I have used)

5- pale white-blue frosty shimmer
6- vibrant blue-green shimmer
7- black based dark blue shimmer
8- black matte with sparse silver glitter (patchy, and the silver glitter is prone to fallout)

The first column of colors.

The second column of colors.  And the one that makes this palette worth buying!

I used mostly of the shades (except the matte blacks) for this look. I later added on to So I'll get to the exact shades and placement in a few pictures.

Using the same numbering system as earlier in the review, here are the shades I used. The eyeliner is just shade 3 used wet. I'm also wearing Wet n Wild Color Icon pencil in Taupe on my eyebrow and their MegaLash Clinical Mascara on my lashes.

Pros:

• Great price
• Mostly soft, pigmented eyeshadows
• The teal/turquoise color is really unique for drugstore makeup
• All the colors work really well together
• Blend easily
• Easy to use for those just starting in makeup

Cons:

• Not easy to find outside the U.S.
• The matte blacks apply a little patchy

Available:

• The 8-pan palettes retail for $4.99 and can be found at Walgreens, Walmart, and some CVS stores.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Disclosure: I was sent this for review purposes from Wet n Wild. All opinions are completely my own.

Winning Giveaways Is Fun, Especially When You Win MAC!

Awhile ago I entered a giveaway The Makeup Divas blog for some items from MAC's Surf Baby collection.  Ever did I expect to win.  But I actually did!  This is the coolest thing I have ever won! I don't enter too many giveaways because I would feel bad entering ones on blogs I don't read or don't plan on reading and I also don't enter giveaways where I know I probably wouldn't use what they're offering or already own something similar.  It wouldn't be fair to the other people who really wanted it.

Upon looking at the swatches of the lipsticks I won online, I'm not sure that I will actually use them that often so I still haven't tried them.  I'm going to hold on to them and give them to someone I know who would actually use them.  But everything else I got I absolutely love.  Here are a few pictures and swatches.

Quite a generous giveaway, right? can you see why I was excited?

Sun Blonde and Surf USA

Surf the Ocean Crushed Metallic Pigments

These are super gorgeous.  I haven't worn them yet, but they're super pigmented and really do look like crushed metal powder.  And the way the gold forms little nuggets is so cool!  These have a tendency to clump together and don't spread without a little pressure so I'm not quite sure how they will work as eyeshadows.  I will just have to try and find out!

See? Super gorgeous.


Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Tarte's 8th World Wonder 2nd Shipment Swatches

Sorry, guys, as of right now you can't buy any of the things I'm showing you in this post except maybe on eBay.  I ordered the first 8th World Wonder set from QVC several months ago (click here to see the post about it!) and accidentally signed up for auto-delivery.  Which means that they automatically send you (and charge you!) every three months or so for a new set with different colors.  This doesn't last indefinitely; I think there are three different sets total you will get if you signed up for auto-delivery.  Hopefully Tarte will start selling these products individually at some point because they are all really great.

So while you can't buy these things (hey, I'm saving you money!), I just thought it showed how awesome the sets are the QVC offers.  I recently bought the Glow Your Way to Gorgeous set by Tarte from QVC and that one is amazing, too.  Unfortunately I think that one is sold out, too.  So you need to get on these deals fast because they sell out quickly!  And they are good deals.  I paid like $58 for this set.  And that include shipping and tax.  What I like about the sets is that everything feels like one cohesive collection.  I was going to cancel the auto-delivery for the third and last set, but now that I have the second I need the third too!  I'm a bit of a completionist.

Beware! This post is extremely pic heavy (26 pictures!)!  I'll also show comparisons between the items from the first set.

The bag everything came in.  I love this bag!  It's pretty roomy and it opens really wide.  I have big, mannish hands so I hate bags with tiny openings!

The blush brush.  I've really been needing a new blush brush and this one is awesome. It's soft and hasn't shed on me at all.

The eyeshadow quad.  I love this packaging.  It's solid bamboo and feels light, but durable.  There is a pretty strong magnet keeping it closed, but not so strong it makes it difficult to open.

See the color in the top right?  It's called "matte softest peach" but it isn't matte at all.  It's a satin/shimmer.  Which is nice because I actually prefer that!

The shadows are definitely on the more reserved/neutral side but they're still really pretty.  I found them in general to be soft and pigmented. The matte brown was a little patchy, but hey, it's a matte.

On the left is the palette from the second shipment and on the right is the palette from the first shipment.

Here are swatches of both palettes.

Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Tickled.

Sorry, the flash washed to color of the blush out some.  It's actually quite a bit darker than this.

This blush is matte.  Sorry for they stray sparkles, they're left over from the eyeshadow swatches!  I like this blush, but I didn't like the formula as well as the blush in the first shipment. This one felt a little... dry for some reason.  I know it's a powder and supposed to be dry, but it wasn't as buttery and smooth as the first blush.  I do like the color though.

On the left is Tickled from the second shipment and on the right is Glisten from the second shipment.

Tarte PureOptic lipgloss in Pink Grapefruit

This is a thick, sheer, shimmery, minty gloss.  It isn't very sticky, but it's definitely on the thick side.  These glosses aren't super pigmented but the shimmer is gorgeous.

Tarte lipgloss in Golden Pink on top from the first shipment and Pink Grapefruit on the bottom from the second shipment.

Pink Grapefruit in the left and Golden Pink on the right.

Amazonian Clay Waterproof eyeliner in Rich Green.

Wow, this just may be my favorite eyeliner ever.  I don't want to use it because I'm afraid to run out! Haha!  It's so gorgeous and nuanced and pigmented.  This is probably my favorite part of the whole set.

The top is the eyeliner from the first set- Golden Plum and the bottom is Rich Green from the second set.

Here is most everything together.  The mascara on my lashes, the foundation used as concealer under my eyes, the quad on my eyelids, the eyeliner on my lash line, and the blush on my cheeks.  I didn't take a picture of my whole face because, well, I was feeling lazy and only put makeup on this half, haha.

Sorry for the millions of pictures, but this is a big set!  I'll try and let you guys know when QVC comes out with another awesome set because they really are worth getting.


Thank you for reading and have a great day//night/whatever!