Shorty Post Mobile--Barielle Sale

Shorty Post--Barielle Nail Mail

Barielle.com recently had an offer for a day or two where you could buy one nail color, get the second half off, and also get free shipping. Irresistible, right? I'm glad you agree, because I certainly didn't resist. Shipping was fast, so I received this lovely nail mail quickly:
*I purchased these products with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or Web sites mentioned in this post.*

I usually get Barielle polish from T.J. Maxx at really low prices. However, my wish list Barielle polishes have never been spotted by me in a store. So I took advantage of their online sale and jumped at the chance to get Falling Star and Elle's Spell at a discounted price. (My total was $12.00.)

Elle's Spell is this berry red beauty with flakies that shine different colors. I love the green flash in there!

Falling Star is a medium blue with copper glitter. I love blue and copper together.

Like I said, this is a Shorty Post. But keep an eye out for future posts where I will review and swatch Barielle Falling Star and Elle's Spell. In the meantime, I have an upcoming post that reviews and swatches Mirabella Colour Sheers Lipstick in Posy.

*I purchased these products with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or Web sites mentioned in this post.*

Urban Decay Online Sale

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are incredibly popular, and for good reason. Creamy, waterproof, and an amazing selection of shades. Right now, the 'vintage' shades (not part of their new lineup) are on sale for $9.50 on urbandecay.com; that's 50% off! 
*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

The vintage shades on sale are: Graffiti, Covet, Flipside, Deviant, 1999, Ransom, Gunmetal, Lucky, Eldorado, Crash, Binge, and Lust. (Shown below in that order.) I do not see any expiration date on this sale, so I'm guessing that it is while supplies last. Based on past sales of this nature, I'm sure that the price will go down further, but so will the shade selection. I chose Flipside and 1999. I almost bought Covet and Lucky, but controlled myself. (Ransom is not as smooth application-wise as the others, by the way, but the color is great.)

They have several other products on sale as well. What caught my attention is that their Deluxe Eyeshadows (discontinued) are down to only $4.00! They started at $18.00. I have one in the shade Graffiti and I love it, so I also bought Freakshow. I was able to narrow that down because I already have the Deluxe Shadow Box, which includes most of the other available shades plus some that have been long out of stock as individuals. That reminds me: the Deluxe Shadow Box, which I posted about here, is currently on sale for only $10.00.

Bonus: Free shipping when you buy $35.00 or more of products, valid until 06/25/13. (It is usually $50.00.) Their site says that this is for their Loyal Customers. It is unclear to me if this means that you have to already have an account, or if it will still apply if you register for an account now. 

You can check out all of Urban Decay's current online sales here: http://www.urbandecay.com/urban-decay-cosmetics-sale-products/sale,default,sc.html.

*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox--Photos and Reviews, Part Two

On to the beauty products! (If you missed Part One, you can find it here.) 
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*

I was very excited to have a chance to try the imPress Press-On Manicure. The Influenster information card said:

I wasn't quite sure at first if they were similar to the nail polish strips, but they are not. As far as I can tell, they are like regular press-on nails, but the adhesive is stronger, the nail is thinner and looks less fake, and the variety of designs and colors is pretty cool. 

I received the style Joyride, which is a bright, almost neon purple with an iridescent blue shimmer. You may remember in my last post that I said that I'm not able to give a real review for this product. I excitedly opened up the cute packaging which looks like a nail polish bottle (you remove the cap and the 'bottle' opens up pretty much like a clamshell), and I started to try to match up which sizes would be best for my nails. Fail. There were none that were a good fit for my nails and not even ones that were close enough. So I didn't attach any of them to my nails; that way someone else will be able to use them. Such a shame! They were very pretty, and I've had great success with some of Broadway Nails' other products. 

Next was an 'or' product, in the sense that each Influenster received one of three possible products from Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+. These were the possibilities, as listed on the included $5.00 off coupon: 

The hair product I received was Dust It. The product information card describes it this way:

There are a lot of powder products for hair on the market right now, but I hadn't tried any of them before. I was confused by the description because I wasn't sure why you would want to mattify your hair. Aren't we usually looking for glossy shiny locks? But apparently the key is in the rest of the description: lift, texture and control. The matte effect is more about texture than appearance. My hair will often slip out of a style, for example, because the texture is too smooth and straight. This powder gives you control over that.

The effect of Dust It is like a cross between what I imagine dry shampoo does, and ratting your hair for volume. It seems to absorb oil to an extent, and it gives your hair enough texture that it will hold most of the volume that you put into it (either through curling or doing an up-do or just pulling up on your roots for some lift).

The powder is some of the most finely milled I've ever felt, incredibly soft and light. Once you rub it, it appears to evaporate because it just blends in so quickly and completely with your hair or skin.

I've shown before and after photos below of Dust It at work on plain, clean hair. Before:

Although the powder appears to evaporate, you can definitely feel that there is product in your hair. It gives you a flexible control. It's not something that I would have purchased on my own, but I think it will be very useful for up-dos. Maybe my bobby pins won't fall out for once! My hair is thick, but I think that people with thinner hair could probably use Dust It for root lift and some body. After:

My favorite product in my VoxBox ended up being the NYC Glossy Lip Balm. Here's the full product name and description from Influenster's product information card:

I wasn't expecting much from this product at all, since I have a gazillion lip products and some of them are pretty spectacular (I'm looking at you, Tarte Lipsurgence, my love). But first of all, look at the cute little design on top (yep, I like cutesy stuff like that):

Secondly, and of course more important than the cute little apple core, is that I felt this balm lived up to its claims. Color, shine and moisture for a healthy look--I would agree with that. I've included a photo of my bare lips for reference, so you can get an idea of how much color is deposited. The other photos are just after different amounts of time passing, as I was happy with its lasting power, although I did not eat or drink during that time.

This VoxBox was quite a bit smaller than the one that I received last year, but I was very happy with it. I will use everything except for the imPress Manicure, and I would have used that had it fit. 

Samples are such a great marketing tool, whether you pay a fee for procurement/curation to subscription services like ipsy or Birchbox, or you get them free through services like Influenster or BzzAgent. It has given me many new staple products in my beauty routine, but also saved me from products that aren't right for me. 

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox--Photos and Reviews, Part 1

The first part of my reviews are the two products from the Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox that have less to do with beauty: the snack cake and the deodorant. Although, you could feel more beautiful if you smell good and have had some chocolate?
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*

First up is Secret Outlast clear gel antiperspirant/deodorant. This is what Influenster's information card had to say: 

I'm sorry, I was not brave enough to test the deodorant for 48 hours. However, I did test it for 24 hours and I was still fresh and dry, so it gets a good grade from me for lasting power. By the way, why would you need it to last for 48 hours? Maybe I don't want to know...

The scent seemed strong to me, but more like alcohol than perfume. (Beware that it does contain dimethicone, for anyone who may have sensitivities.)

It felt very cold and wet going on, and it took a little longer than I expected to dry. I would recommend letting it dry while you brush your teeth or something, before putting your clothes on.

My final verdict on the Secret Outlast is that it is a good product, but I would not like to wear it every day, but only because of how it feels when initially applied. I am happy to have it on hand, though, because it does not leave white marks or other residue as long as you let it dry before dressing. Personally, I will save it for days when I am wearing sleeveless dark clothing.

Next is the Tastykake Kandy Bar Kake; I received the flavor S'mores. Influenster's product information had this to say:

They had me at 'chocolate enrobed'! Silly wording that still sounds delicious, in my opinion.

The bar was very sweet, but it was indeed tasty. The chocolate and the marshmallow were there, but I didn't taste any graham cracker flavor.

I was pleasantly surprised that the cake layers were as light and fluffy as they claimed to be. The snack was somewhat large to me, but it didn't seem like too much since the cake was light.

I probably wouldn't buy an entire box of these Tastykakes, but it was a nice treat and I would probably pick one up here and there if it were at a convenience store or checkout line. I would really like to try the Peanut Butter flavor--I adore peanut butter.

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*

Coming up soon I will review the NYC balm and the Schwarzkopf hair powder that I received in this VoxBox, and let you know why I can't give a real review of the ImPress manicure.

Thanks for reading!

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox Unboxing Video

Guess what I got in the mail today? :) This is only my second time making a YouTube video, so please be kind. Also, please note that this is an unboxing; reviews will come a little later after I actually try the products, so as to give you better information. If you have any trouble playing the video below, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=397Tn2W_Md0 (You will probably need to increase the volume if you can't hear my voice initially; again, I'm still learning.)
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*



Thanks for watching!
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*

Fuzzy Jacqueline Mani Fail

This wasn't one big fail, but a series of small ones. I wasn't going to blog about it even, but I appreciate when bloggers show both their successes and failures. It looks better in the photos than it did in real life, so you may like it. All of the products that I used are good products.
*I received Zoya Jacqueline in a trade on makeuptalk.com, and I purchased the other products. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Zoya Jacqueline is a lovely creamy shade. I recommend it. Yeah, until it goes on my nails. Then it leans yellow and makes me look ill. Fail #1. I'm sorry, but that's why I didn't even take any photos of Jacqueline on its own. My husband and my brother don't comment much on the manis, but they both commented that Jacqueline was not a color for me.

My original plan was to add a couple of accent nails to Jacqueline, but once I saw how the shade was unflattering to me, I decided to use a Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat on all of the nails.  

I thought that Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea would be a cute overlay. It is a cute overlay, but in this circumstance it just made everything look more yellow! Yellow is good, but not on me. Fail #2. 

I've worked with bar glitter before. I learned that you can move it around a little around the edges so that you don't end up with pieces sticking out. Well, I thought I had learned. This time, I forgot. Fail #3. 

I then topped everything off with my favorite quick-dry top coat, Poshe. Unlike Seche Vite, which I also love, I've not experienced shrinkage with Poshe. There's a first time for everything. See how the top coat dried and pulled the polish underneath it away from the edge? Yeah, that's what shrinkage looks like in the nail polish world. Fail #4. You don't see it from a distance, but nail polish addicts are always staring at their nail polish, taking photos of it, and having someone hold their hands up for a closer look at unusual effects or combinations. (For what it's worth, I would recommend more than one coat of top coat with Fuzz-Sea if you want a smooth texture.)

With a few changes, I will probably be happier with my next Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat mani. I will trade my Zoya Jacqueline to someone who hopefully has a better skin tone for it, but my Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea will be used again by me. I love how the bar glitters are short, bright, and matte. I also bought the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat in black and white (can't remember the name), for which I have high hopes.

*I received Zoya Jacqueline in a trade on makeuptalk.com, and I purchased the other products. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

What do you think? Would you wear one of the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat polishes?