Review--Meaningful Beauty Cindy Crawford Superfine Exfoliant

Ouch, and a positive wowza. Those are my two main thoughts regarding Meaningful Beauty Cindy Crawford Superfine Exfoliant.

Deluxe sample tube

First, the ouch: The texture of this scrub is superfine, but only in the size of the granules that are doing the exfoliating, not the feel of the granules. When I tried the Superfine Exfoliant, it felt like I was rubbing sandpaper on my face, albeit a very fine grit. The ouchy feeling only lasted while I was actively massaging the product on my face; no residual discomfort when I stopped. I do not have very sensitive skin, so I would imagine that it might feel worse on sensitive skin.

Dispenses like a creme

Second, the wowza: I only needed to use a small amount of the exfoliant for my entire face, and after I was finished rinsing it off, my skin felt incredible! Soft and smooth like a baby's skin. I almost forgot about the ouch.

Superfine texture

This product doesn't seem to be for sale on the Meaningful Beauty website anymore. I did see the full size on Amazon.com for $49.95, here, and on ebay for about $28.00.

For me, I will use the rest of the tube, as I find the results worthwhile. Then I will try another one of my samples, or return to my tried and true Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant.

What do you think? Are 30 seconds of pain worth baby-bottom-soft skin?

*I received this product in a trade with an acquaintance. I am not affiliated with the brand and received no samples or compensation from Meaningful Beauty.*

Essie Eternal Optimist

Warning! The photos you are about to see were taken before I started blogging, and before I started using cuticle oil. I looked for an older photo because my nails are shaped oddly at the moment, without hope of correction for a few days.

One of my favorite polishes of all time is Essie Eternal Optimist. All of these photos are two coats, without top coat.

Outdoors in the sun

It's not a 'wow' polish. It's not incredibly unique. It is just pretty, very pretty. I think that it could fit most occasions. The finish is lovely and creamy. The color is subtle without being completely neutral. Just some rosy goodness.

Indoors with flash

Indoors with artificial light

Indoors with a different artificial light

Indoors with natural light

To me, Essie Eternal Optimist is a safe, comfortable polish, but it doesn't bore me at all. I usually go for striking or unique polishes, blues and greens and purples and glitters, but I love having at least one that that's comfy and quite people friendly.

Thanks for visiting!

Just Photos--Maybelline the Falsies Volum' Express Black Drama Mascara

Two coats, no lash curler, no lash comb 

Two coats, no lash curler, no lash comb 

Review and Swatches--L'Oreal Infallible Gloss 'Sangria'

Lipstick is typically more my style, but L'Oreal Infallible is my favorite lip gloss so far. I have tried a few different shades, but the most recent is 'Sangria', which I bought from Bloom.com (see my Bloom.com haul post here).

This is their 6-hr Never Fail Lipgloss. It appears from L'oreal's website that they have kicked it up to 8-hr glosses instead.

In the bottle, 'Sangria' looks to me like a warm, dark pink. I think for many ladies it would create a 'my-lips-but-better', almost nude, effect. I am very pale and cool-toned, though, so I think that is why it looks warmer on me and less pink by comparison.

I think that the applicator makes it easy to almost line your lips with the gloss and then fill in the rest. You can be very precise, or just sweep it on.

Bare lips, indoors, natural light

Indoors, natural light

Indoors, natural light

As you can see, this gloss is very pigmented, none of that sheer stuff. That is probably why I like it so much, since it is closer to a lipstick than most glosses. 

Indoors, natural light

This is definitely a long-lasting gloss for me. It stays on for a long time, although the color does not stay at full strength. I will keep color from this gloss on my lips even through some eating and drinking, or a kiss. Yes, some of the color will transfer to your drinking glass, but is easily wiped off.  

Outdoors, natural light

Outdoors in the shade

Indoors, artificial light

What do you think? Do you prefer lipstick, or gloss? Or is a combination best?

Thanks for reading!

Review and Swatches--Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

There was one bottle left of Orly Rococo A-Go-Go at T.J. Maxx, and it was only $3.99...so of course, now it is mine. 

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in natural light

Rococo A-Go-Go is part of Orly's Mineral FX collection of duo-chrome polishes. It's a beautiful, dark purple with duo-chrome flashes of gold and fuchsia. The duo-chrome is very apparent in the bottle, as below, but at first seemed to hide when on the nail, as above.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go bottle in direct sunlight

(I'm sorry for the adhesive left over on the bottle; it's from the sale sticker. I forgot to clean it off with rubbing alcohol.)

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in partial sun, closeup

This polish did not fail, however. The gold and fuchsia definitely came out to play, but they were choosy about which light they preferred.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light, closeup

You could easily achieve sufficient coverage in two coats, but I chose to use three coats so that it would be opaque even when held up to the light.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light, closeup thumb

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in partial sun

Application was very smooth. I had to be a little bit careful so that the polish would not flood my cuticles, but nothing crazy.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in the shade with bottle

I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat. I have been wearing Rococo A-Go-Go for a few days now with zero chips and minimal tip wear. I did polish my nail tips to cut down on tip wear.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in direct sunlight with bottle

Overall, I love this polish. It is shimmery and rich, and it looks as if it is constantly changing. I wish that the gold showed up more, but it is not a big detraction. Orly's website shows the retail price of their full-size polishes as $8.50.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite duo-chrome polish? I would definitely like to try more of them.

Review and Photos: COVERGIRL Blast Flipstick--Vixen

A while back, I received three free lipsticks through BzzAgent.com, a company that facilitates market research for the various brands that they work with and sends samples to consumers in exchange for honest feedback and spreading the word about the products. These lipsticks were COVERGIRL Blast Flipsticks.

COVERGIRL Blast Flipstick in Vixen 

COVERGIRL Blast Flipsticks are a dual-ended lipstick, designed so that you can wear each end by itself, or wear them together in varying combinations for different looks. I think they have a pretty good selection of different shades; I believe there are 13. I gave the shades Stunner and Minx to acquaintances to try, and I kept Vixen. Below are lots of photos of Vixen worn in various combinations and lighting. My thoughts will be at the end.

The first set of photos are all of the light pink shade with the darker shade blended on top.

Sun

Partial sun

Shade

The next set of photos are all of the darker color with the light pink blended on top.

Shade

Sun

Artificial light

The third set of photos is the light pink side of Vixen by itself.

Shade

Indoors, natural light

The last set of photos is the darker side of Vixen by itself.

Shade

Indoors, natural light

I was very happy with Vixen. I felt that the application was smooth and creamy, although a little waxy. It smells waxy/like plastic, too, so that is a downside, but it fades. The whole concept seems like a good one to me. I read some reviews that stated that the Flipstick was not long-lasting for them, but I found the opposite to be true. Also, Vixen was very pigmented and left a nice, even stain on my lips after wearing away. I did not find Vixen to be drying nor moisturizing to my lips.

COVERGIRL Blast Flipstick retails for $7.99 and is available at most mass-market retailers (CVS, WalMart, Target, etc.).

*This product was provided to me for my honest review.*

OPI Liquid Sand 'Can't Let Go'

For January, I ordered a Glossybox, another subscription service that sends you beauty samples for a fee. My favorite product in it was the nail polish, of course. The Liquid Sand line by OPI is one of many incarnations of textured polishes that are a big trend right now. 

Bottle shot in the shade

I am not the trendiest person, so you won't see every beauty fad on my blog. I wasn't a fan of the crackle nail polishes, or the caviar bead manicures, or the flocking manicures. The swatches that I have been seeing of the Liquid Sand have appealed to me, though, so now I have my own.

Shade

This particular shade is from a Mariah Carey collaboration with OPI, so it is named after one of her songs: 'Can't Let Go'. 

In the sun

The texture of the Liquid Sand polish to me is like extremely fine sand paper. It is gritty, but not chunky at all. It dried to the touch in a short amount of time, but remained a little squishy under the surface for a little while. OPI recommends that you not use top coat, so as to get the real effect of the Liquid Sand texture.

Closeup of the bottle

'Can't Let Go' is a lovely purple, leaning more blue or more red depending on the lighting. I found it to lean more blue overall. It contains large and small glitter, which I think plays nicely off the matte, gritty texture.

Full sun

I was very happy with 'Can't Let Go'. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the tiny pockets in the texture seem to collect any dust or makeup you may come in contact with; however, it washed off when I washed my hands. 

I also purchased the blue shade in the OPI Liquid Sand/Mariah Carey collection: 'Get Your Number'. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like it will be even more sparkly than 'Can't Let Go'.

  

Blurred to show the true sparkle

With flash

What do you think? Would you wear a textured nail polish?

*I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the brands mentioned above.*