Beauty – Song of the Phoenix

#Haul – Sephora Danbury, CT

Alright I don’t know if I could consider this a haul more like a tiny mini haul because I was on a budget. Although I knew I wouldn’t get much for $80 bucks, but I was allowed to squee in delight and roam around the Sephora in Danbury, CT because my husband and I spent almost an hour in the Apple Store in the Danbury Fair Mall. This was because of the bank locking my husband’s card considering that he was purchasing a $3000 laptop and we were not in our hometown, so we had to spend like 30 minutes in the Apple store on the phone trying to sort that out.

So I purchased four items. Tokidoki makeup palette in orange, which I got for my daughter. This would keep her out of my makeup box. She barely puts on makeup and when she does it’s just so she can take pictures of herself with her 3DS and always at home. Save for special occasions like my little sister’s wedding. Got myself an Urband Decay eye primer after hearing great reviews about this product and the other eye primers I’ve tried doesn’t seem to be as great as the Urban Decay.

I bought Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Tickle Me, because I got a sample of the Too Faced Glamour Gloss and Too Faced Nude Lip Liner from the BeautyLish Beauty Social last year and I loved the product. So I decided to get it in a different color. It’s a lip plumper as well as a gloss though I feel a tingle with this gloss I’m not too sure if it plumps or not I haven’t done before or after pictures to decide if it’s worth it for temporary plumping.

The last product I bought is the Brush guard. Now I have a lot of brush guards that I purchase from eBay but I saw these and wanted to try them out. I knew the brush guards from eBay aren’t as thick as these are and just seem to be just a mesh cylinder. It’s hard to use for drying brushes in a cup because the mesh doesn’t stand up and it’s not as stiff, but it is good to for keeping the brushes shape.

This come out to $60 so I was happy with what I got for the moment. I looked up the closest Sephora from where I live and it’s about 2 hours away so my husband has said that maybe this Christmas he’ll give me a little it of money to go on a spree as a Christmas gift. =D Although I shall see when the time comes. I wish there was a Sephora closer by to where I live.

#Beauty – @myglam July 2012 Bag

Got my July MyGlam bag while I was in CT. I haven’t posted about my May and my June bag of course that was me procrastinating. I probably should post something about those glambags as well. This months glambag had these following products to try out.

I was excited to hear that Buxom was part of this month’s glambag, and it was getting Buxom or getting Josie Marin Lip or Cheek stain. I was ecstatic that I got Buxom, because I was at Sephora in Danbury, CT and I was looking at these Buxom lipglosses for a while but then decided to buy Too Faced Glamour Gloss. Now that I got this sample and have tried it out I’m definitely going to purchase this when I get a chance to.

The got Andrea’s Choice Circus Nail Color in Yellow. Not sure what I would do with Yellow but I think I might be able to do some matching with the Essie Orange Nail Color I got from Klout Perks.

I have tired the Yes to Cucumbers before I got this in the bag. I purchased a travel size just like the one in the bag just before I went to visit my family in CT, and have been using that all the past two weeks. It’s a very soothing makeup remover and I wouldn’t mind buying a full size of these if I could find it at Target again. Maybe it was Walmart I saw the full size because I did see the Yes To brand in the makeup section there.

I haven’t tried the moisturizer which I got the Juicy Beauty SPF moisturizer instead of the Kiehl’s lotion, which I am glad I didn’t get because I know I had a whole bunch of those Kiehl’s lotion when I was younger probably a decade ago, because my mother use to package and bottle the Kiehl’s lotion. I will try the Juicy Beauty SPF moisturizer sometime soon since I live in Florida I may use it quite often.

Haven’t tried the NUME hydrating conditioner yet also but I’m probably going to try it out this week when I wash my hair again, since this seems to be fore dry or colored hair I figured I’d give it a try to see how well this does for my bleached blonde hair.

All in all I am pleased about this months’ bag. I can’t wait to see what next month’s bag will have.

#Beauty – @BeautyArmy May and June Reviews

So this is my second beauty subscription, the first being myGlam and I am pretty impressed with this one because for $12 it gives you the option to pick six items of what you want to sample each month. It also gives you the option to skip a month or have the Beauty Army gurus selected the items for you. I joined up about a couple of months before I was able to subscribe and choose my samples because when I first heard of it the subscription was all filled up. So I got on the waiting list and waited. May was when I was able to purchase as subscription and start my pick. I was pretty excited about the pick with brand names from CoverFX to NYX and many others I’ve heard of and others that I haven’t, but that is the beauty about subscription based beauty samples. You get to try out new brands and products.

When my first box arrived it wasn’t packed in bubble wrap but a cardboard fold up around the actual beauty army box. Hold ups pretty good in the mail and the actual box is reusable, in my case I can used it to store a lot of useless junk I keep around my desk. Although mostly thinking about using the box to store my makeup brushes now since it can fit in there. The inner lining of the box is designed with pink camouflage to adhere to the beauty army theme and I do like camouflage myself. =D

My choice of May samples consist of Karuna facial cloth mask for acne prone skin, Babor JetLag Cream, MyMix foundation in Medium 02, Befine Night Cream with Cocoa and Rice Millet, CoverFx ClearPrep Primer, and CellCeutical PhotoDefense SPF 55+.

In my choice of June samples I have chosen, CLiCKR Acne spot treatment, YoungBlood Mineral Primer, NYX Mascra in Pin-Up, Indie Lee Moisturizing Oil in Lavendar, Apothederm Stretch Mark Cream, and a surprise sample which is the Indie Lee Vegan Body Wash.

I won’t go in depth about each product in his post but I will say I have been using the Befine Nightly facial cream and the primers a lot since I got it. Also I am in love with the NYX Pin-Up mascara. I have tried the Badore Jetlag cream and that seems to work pretty well. The MyMix Foundation I like because it matches my skin tone and I always have such a hard time finding foundation that matches my skin tone. The ones I end up getting tends to be too light, too pink or does not match my neck. I haven’t tried some of the other samples yet but I am getting around to trying them out eventually.

All and all BeautyArmy is a beauty subscription if you want to actually KNOW what you are trying out rather than be surprised 100% of the time. Or you can have them surprise you with their pick choices according to your beauty profile. Either way I would probably continue this subscription for a while, and may support them buy purchasing from their shop. I know I will probably buy the Befine Night Cream soon. =D

Circle Lens: GeO XTRA BELLA, EOS 2Tone Extravaganza, EOS GOTHIC

Warm Lighting Compare
Warm Light Shot

Another week for circle lens reviews. Again, these lens are from Kiwiberry1-Collection.com

Starting off today with the Geo Xtra Bella Violet. Just like the Brown versions they are extremely enlarging. These are 15mm lens and the design is very close to the edge so the big eye effect is very noticeable. What makes it more noticeable is the black limbal ring and how thick it is. The violets color doesn’t show up very well on me considering this a dark violet than most other violet lens I have. It’s almost a deep blue violet. It is fairly comfortable, I’ve had no problem wearing them, but considering these lens are 15mm it was a bit difficult to put them on without it falling out. I mean I can only open my eyes so wide.

Color:
Enlargement:
Comfort:
Recommendation: Colors not very definitive on dark eyes but might be good for lighter eye colors. Definite for enlargement.

Warm Lighting Compare
Warm Light Shot

These are the 2Tone Extravaganza from EoS, in pink. These lenses are very striking and extreme. The design is bold and loud, and I believe these lenses are more of it’s third tone color yellow than pink. I suppose it’s a hint of pink but more of a pink color that you would see on the EoS Flower Pink Series than a true pink. The design is printed close not that close to the edge just about the same distance as you would see the design on the Nudy Series. So it gives an enlarging effect, not as huge of an effect like the Xtra Bella series but a decent enlargement. The design pattern effect is almost like the EoS Flower series when you wear them in my opinion.

Color:
Enlargement:
Comfort:
Recommendation: Pink color is like the EoS Flower Pink color, more of the third color yellow than Pinkish. The design effect when worn is like the EoS Flower series but bolder. If you’re looking for unnatural color and a good decent enlargement these are good to go for.

Warm Lighting Compare
Warm Light Shot

I didn’t know what to expect from these cause the design was kind of like a spotted design. I put them on and it looked very nice. I am considering getting these in the other colors. These 15mm lens are very enlarging because the design are printed so very close to the edge, just like the Xtra Bella series and it’s very cute. Doesn’t look very alien like the Bella series so it’s a plus. I think it’s cause of the limbal ring not being so thick so I was very pleased on how these looked on me. The color not very bright though but it does give enough to show a change in color. Not sure if I can say they are natural looking, but I feel it depends on how close and far away you are looking at it.

Color:
Enlargement:
Comfort:
Recommendation: Definite enlarging effect if you are looking for that, possibly a color enhancement for light color eyes, and slight color change for dark color or brown eyes. Semi-natural.

Gothic Turquoise 2
Gothic Turquoise 3
Gothic Turquoise 4

Whenever there’s a 3tone model I usually jump on the opportunity to get it. As well as any shade of blue and thus when I saw the Gothic 3tone series in Turquoise I immediately got my hands on it. Well not immediately but I went out and got it. I would have to say how much I love this color and how natural it looks. It’s not super vibrant like the Puffy series but subtle and gives a deep color. These are actually the same design has the MI M-Type 3 Tone Aqua. The exact same design. The only difference is that the design on the EoS gothic series are printed a bit close to the edge and gives the enlargement effect as the Super Nudies. The MI 3Tone Aqua doesn’t give an enlarging effect at all. Not a problem for me cause I do love the color of it, but like the MI version it is very natural looking and I love it.

Color:
Enlargement:
Comfort:
Recommendation: For Natural looking eyes and well as enlargement.

Circle Lens: Queenie, EoS, Hana Eye

Brand: Hana SP
Model: FH37
Color: Hazel
Diameter: 14.5mm
Base Curve: 8.6
Water: 45%

There’s a starburst design to these lenses. They are 3 tone lenses and I never usually would buy brown lenses because my eyes are brown, but I thought I should try these and see if they make my brown eyes a bit lighter or give it more color. So when I tried them on it did give my eye color a bit more definition. It looks like my natural eye color but gave me a little more reddish hue so there’s more color to my eye. I don’t see much enlargement with these, but there is a tiny bit of enlargement. I wouldn’t recommend these lenses if you are looking for a drastic color change in dark brown eyes, although these are good for color enhancements.

The comfort on these lens I guess for me is comfortable but not too comfortable. It’s so-so ish, but it is because I can feel these lens move around from time to time. I’ve checked to make sure I got it on right, flipped it and flipped it again and looked carefully, switched the sides and still get the same feeling and I’m not too sure why it’s doing that. I mean it’s not uncomfortable to the point that it irritates my eye it’s just every so often it moves. Hard to explain but I can tolerate it.

So far I give these lenses a 7/10 overall.
Design: 9/10
Color: 7/10
Enlargement: 4/10
Comfort: 7/10

Brand: G&G Dueba
Model: Queenie X9
Color: Grey
Diameter: 14.5mm
Base Curve: 8.6
Water: 38%

I’ve always loved these type of lenses, with the broken limbal ring. It’s different than most other lenses and my first pair of circle lenses where similar to these. Only smaller, and 2 tone. These are three tone, and looks very cute. Not natural by any means cause of the way the limbal ring looks, but gives a soft look. I am starting to like the grey colors more and more on me. Blue is still my favorite color by far.

There is a good deal of enlargement for me and there’s a bit of a halo, if you see the comparison image. I always tend to loved seeing halo effect from the lenses. It always looks like the eyes are glowing to me. My opinion though, which is probably why I love the nudy series and would get my hands on all of the nudy series if at all possible. I did feel them for slight 10 seconds before it went away and felt like I had nothing on so I can say they are comfortable after a while.

These lenses get from me a 9/10 overall.
Design: 9/10
Color: 9/10
Enlargement: 8/10
Comfort: 9/10

Brand: EoS
Model: Super Nudy
Color: Pink
Diameter: 14.5mm
Base Curve: 8.6
Water: 38%

The ring is darker than the Geo Nudy series but doesn’t seem to over power. As I said I love the Nudy Series and probably one of the few series that I want to get all the colors for. It is a bright pink type color very vivid although with the design on the Nudy series it makes my eyes more dark pink or close to pink-purple than actual pink. It gives the same effect as the geo nudy series and it definitely gives me a halo effect. This is not by far a natural color so if you’re going for something out of the ordinary and unnatural these are great for it. It’s also great for cosplay.

Extremely comfortable to me, I’ve never had a problem with the comfort of the the Nudy series. There is a good deal of enlargement on these since the design pattern is close to the edge of the lens. It is definitely bigger than my Geo Nudy Blues, but not large enough to make me look alien-like, which is good in my book. I like anime but I would not want my eyes that huge.

9/10 Overall
Design: 10/10
Color: 9/10
Enlargement: 9/10
Comfort: 10/10

All these lens can be found at Kiwiberry1 Collection. They have on going discounts and a large variety of lenses from many different brands, especially the rare MI lenses. Check them out.