Beauty Mail: July Ipsy Glam Bag

Eeee! Finally got my first Glam Bag! Review soon!

Review: The Container Store Luxe Acrylic Modular System

I got it! Yeah, I had to, especially since each piece was on sale.  This fits perfectly on my bathroom counter and holds the mostly used items nicely, including a few extras.

Top tray - usual suspects brushes, my partner's make-up (look how much she uses compared to me!), body lotions, foot lotion, the egg tray is from Anthropologie and I keep small items like hair ties/clips, implements, lip balm and eye drops.

Right drawer holds the everyday make up - powder, concealer, bronzer, blushes, mascaras, brow powder, cream eyeliners.

Left drawer holds lippys of all kinds.  Lipsticks, lip glosses, lip balms.  Whatever I have been using lately.  I LOOOOOOVE Maybelline's Babylips.  I gave it another shot after a few years since this post.  

Bottom wide drawer holds extra brushes, eye shadow palettes, pencil liners, primers and other make up.  

The quality of the pieces is fairly sturdy and the rubber feet under the units that are stacked keep them securely in place.  I may end up lining the drawers to prevent scratching, but it all looks so nice without.  Overall I'm happy with this set up and glad I waited to buy acrylic storage in separate pieces rather than a large box.

From the website:

• Made from crystal-clear acrylic

• Modular design allows Tray and Drawers to stack securely

• Drawers feature faceted pulls

• Clear bumpers keep stacked drawers in place

Clearly a great choice! Our hand-fabricated Luxe Acrylic Modular Tray and Drawers stack securely for vertical storage.  They look gorgeous and hold everything from make up to jewelry.  To clean, use soapy water or Novus Plastic Polish (sold separately).

Pros:  -Customizable to suit preference

          -Fairly affordable compared to the larger acrylic boxes

          -Less bulky than one piece units

Cons:  -Can get scratched easily

Cost: On sale now!  I purchased via eBates to get 4.0% cash back, then picked up in store

Luxe Acrylic Modular Tray $11.99

Luxe Acrylic Modular Drawer $14.99

Luxe Acrylic Modular Wide Drawer $22.99

Would I recommend this to a friend?  Absolutely!  If you have a Container Store in your area, check these out in person or online.

Unboxing: Julep Maven July 2014

This month's Julep Maven choice was the 'Modern Beauty' box with product rather than polish.  I have a ton of polish already and I've been getting gel manicures lately and my collection has been just sitting.  I skipped June's box because I didn't find any of the products offered to be of interest, but July's had the Bare Body Milk that sounded wonderful!  I still have last summer's Beach Tonic Dry Body Oil that smelled fantastic.  I also liked that this was paired with Mint Condition Pedi Creme for a full body smoothing experience.  Checked my Jules account, I had enough for a box, so this box was FREE!

Julep Maven boxes are always festive!

Promotion for Body Polish or Body Milk

The Poolside Collection promotional cards.

Full size Mint Condition Pedi Creme 3 fl oz and Bare Body Milk 6.8 fl oz

Pedi Creme information

Pedi Creme 

What the website says:

Formerly known as The Best Pedi Creme Ever!, our much-loved foot moisturizer is back with a new name and the same fast-acting formula.

Features & Benefits:

• Provides soothing moisture and gentle exfoliation for rough, dry skin
• Formulated with alpha hydroxy acids, shea butter, coconut oil, essential oils and vitamin E

I tried the Pedi Creme after showering and wore these Earth Therapeutics Aloe Socks and wore them to sleep.

Results? Smooth feet! I'm sure with continued use since there are alpha hydroxy acids, this will make my feet more supple.  The summer weather can cause really dry skin on my heels and around my toes.  Since it has been really warm, I don't think I can use my aloe socks while sleeping every night, so I'll maybe do this routine every other day or every 3 days as needed.

Body Milk information

Body Milk ingredients

What the website says:

What it is:
An ultra hydrating body lotion for thirsty skin. The lightweight, fast-absorbing formula leaves a soft, silkyfinish that's not heavy or greasy, and our signature Beach Tonic fragrance lets you smell like summer all year long.

What it does:

• Milk thistle locks in moisture and helps protect against environmental factors.
• Olive oil delivers essential fatty acids to hydrate and repair.
• Grapefruit oil promotes cell turnover.
• Orange peel oil brightens dry, dull skin.

Pros: -Fantastic scent
         -Paraben & sulfate free
         -Body milk leaves my skin soft and lightly scented
         -Pedi Creme leaves my feet soft

Cons: Steep in price.

Cost: Mint Condition Pedi Creme - $20, $16 Julep Maven
         Bare Body Milk  - $24, $19.20 Julep Maven

Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes to the Bare Body Milk because of the unique scent if you liked the Beach Tonic fragrance.  No to the Pedi Creme because of the price, even with the Maven discount.  It is a great product, but I feel you can find other foot creams with the same results.

Early birthday love...

Sissy's early birthday gift to me. After seeing my Nordy's Anniversary Sale wishlist. Black on black errrything for the Fall/Winter, always.

Review: Real Techniques Brushes

A few weeks ago, I purchased two Real Techniques Brush Sets at Ulta.  The The Real Technique's Sam's Picks and Real Techniques Starter Kit both come with 5 brushes and I was able to test almost each of them out the last few weeks.  First off, all the brushes are super soft.  The second is the design with the long ferule and the bottom handle being flat, so the brushes can stand upright.  I have seen reviews on these brushes and they are absolutely right that these are very well made and an affordable price.

Sam's Picks includes: multi-task brush, buffing brush, essential crease brush (set exclusive), setting brush, pointed foundation and fine liner brush.

How I use these brushes:

multi-task brush - bronzer application
buffing brush - all-over face powder application
pointed foundation brush - under eye concealer and spot concealing
essential crease brush - crease color
setting brush - highlighter powder application (MAC MSF)
fine liner brush - cream eyeliner

The starter set includes: base shadow brush, deluxe crease brush, accent brush, pixel-point eyeliner brush, brow brush and panoramic case.  

How I use these brushes:

base shadow brush - all-over lid eyeshadow and blending

deluxe crease brush - patting on deeper colored shadows on the lid

accent brush - highlighter eyeshadow on the brow bone & dabbing the corner of the inner eye

pixel-point eyeliner - have not tried this yet since Sam's Pics had the fine liner brush

brow brush - filling in with brow powder

These have become the stand-bys.  I don't normally do a full face everyday, but I will reach for these when I decide to do a more complete look.

I still have to compare the pixel-point and fine liner brush with creme eyeliner application.  The fine liner brush did well picking up product and smoothly applying the liner.  The panoramic case is a great idea, but it has space limitations.  Doubling up the smaller brushes, doesn't secure them in the case and they slip out.

These are the usual suspects.  These sit pretty in a Sonia Kashuk Gold Standard Vanity Cup (scored from the clearance section at Target).  I also picked up the Real Techniques Blush Brush to round out the set since I use the multi-task brush for just bronzer.  

The one brush I didn't quite like was the brow brush.  I have tried a few other brow brushes, but I always come back to this Anastasia 7 combo brush and spoolie.  The Real Techniques brow brush is really soft, but didn't create the more pronounced brow that I like when filling in.  The densely packed, natural bristles of the Anastasia brush pick up more product and allow me to define my brows quickly.  I would like to try the brow brush with a cream brow product such as Anastasia's Dipbrow Pomade or Make Up Forever's Aqua Brow to see if there is a difference in using a more pigmented, gel product with this brush than a powder.

Pros:  -Taklon bristles are super soft
          -They apply product very well
          -The full size handles make it easy to use

Cons: -The sets might not have brushes that you may need or want.  You can always purchase the brushes you need individually.

Cost:  Prices at Ulta.  I also took advantage of the promotion at the time of buy one, get one 50% off and also their $3.50 off $10 purchase coupon that you can find on the Coupon Sherpa app for iPhone when you are shopping in-store.

          -Sam's Picks $29.99
          -Starter Set $17.99
          -Blush Brush $8.99

Would I recommend these to a friend?  Yes!  These are fantastic and affordable brushes if you are looking to add to your collection or even replace brushes.  I have kept my other set as back-ups to use when these are drying after cleaning.

What are your favorite brushes?  Have you tried any Real Techniques brushes?

Beauty Storage Lemming: The Container Store Luxe Acrylic Modular System

I have been interested in purchasing some acrylic make up storage boxes for my most used make up items ever since I saw the fabulous one that Kim K. had on KUWTK.  I don't doubt that the box they had was pricey and searched for some options online.  The Makeup Box Shop has some organizers and even noted in the description of their Flip Top Glamour Box, "Kardashian Makeup Organizer."  LOL!  The $158 price tag is probably significantly less than the one shown on KUWTK, but not a price I wanted to pay.  Muji also has a similar concept with the Acrylic Case 5 Drawers and some other acrylic accessories for a good deal at $27.95, but sometimes I am about the instant gratification and can't wait for items to ship if I can help it.

I have been eyeing the Luxe Acrylic Modular System at the Container Store with this combination.  Totaling about $67 with the current sale pricing.  Not too bad for 4 items and these can be rearranged to your liking.  That is a definite plus instead of having one, large acrylic cube that is heavy.  I might have to pick this up soon and bonus score, I also have a gift card to use!  I will have to see if the dimensions will work for my vanity or if this would be better suited in a shelving unit in my room.

Wide Drawer, 2 modular drawers and 1 modular tray
Photo from containerstore.com

My other make up has been stored in 2 different train cases, but this is a great way to store and organize the products most commonly used.  How do you like storing your make up and why?

Beauty Mail: Julep July Maven

What did you choose? Unboxing coming up soon. :)

Tokyomilk Takeout

I have been searching for a new scent and have heard great things about the brand Tokyo Milk.  Perusing Sephora, I came across Tokyo Milk Takeout, a cute set with a Tainted Love eau de parfum and Lip Tint in Get Lucky for $10.  The case is about the size of an Altoids min tin with the cute brand embossed on the front.  This will be great for a purse mini kit, including the parfum and lip tint. 

Tainted Love No. 62 - From the website:

This fragrance revels in the complexities of love with warm notes of dark vanilla bean, sensuous sandalwood, provocative spices, and an unexpected kiss of sweet orchid.  Dare to pair this fragrance with an exotic floral for a sweet and sultry scent.

Notes:

Italian Bergamot, Grapefruit Leaves, Green Pear, Apple Cocktail, Ivory Gardenia, Crushed Violet Petals, Jasmine, Tuberose, Blue Iris, Blonde Wood, White Musk.

The first notes are sweet, then finish deep with vanilla carried throughout.  Normally, I'm not a fan of vanilla scents, but with the other notes, this made it interesting.  I placed this in the crooks of my elbows, behind my knees and behind my ears.  The scent does not carry well and was only noticeable when smelled exactly where it was applied at a close range.  

Ingredients for both the parfum and the lip tint are listed on the inside packaging.  

The Get Lucky Lip Tint has a thick, sticky consistency and faint floral scent.  The color payoff is really light and the pigment settles in to lines as shown in the photo with flash below.  The photo without flash shows a nice wash of color on my lips.  I would pair this with a dark wine lip liner and layer the lip tint on top.  One drawback of this product, is the use of parabens.  :(  While methylparaben and propylparaben are listed as the last 2 products, meaning the least amount of ingredient in the product, they're still present.  

Lip Tint - with flash

Lip Tint - without flash

Lip Tint - with flash

Lip Tint - without flash

Pros:  -Scent of the parfume is wonderful
          -Lip Tint has good texture and scent
          -Kit is an affordable price point to try both items

Cons:  -Scent wears off quickly
           -Lip Tint has parabens

Cost: $10 at Sephora

Would I recommend this to a friend?  Yes and no.  Yes to the scent, no to the Lip Tint.

Review: Xcuse me! Shampoo & Conditioner

The joys of searching online and finding a great product to try!  I happened to be on Instagram and landed on xcusemehaircare and saw that they were offering free samples.  I emailed and Wendy kindly told me that the samples are free and all I was responsible for was $3 shipping and handling.  Wendy is involved in her business from several aspects including research & development and quality control.  Not many small business owners are highly involved in different levels of creating a product, but I sense her passion towards her brand and creating a product that meets her standards. 2 sample packs were sent with 1 oz each of the dual-action creme shampoo (Smoothing & Shine) and dual-action creme conditioner (Repairative & Manageability).  Xcuse me! is sulfate free and paraben free, two factors important and I try to consider when choosing hair care products.  The shampoo is made with non-drying botanical extracts for color hold and the conditioner has natural repairative oils for color protection.

My hair texture is coarse and now that it is treated, it can be dry and frizzy.  The last thing I need or want to experience are hair products that can make my hair worse.  That lovely foaming in most shampoos is from Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, but that could also be causing your scalp to itch.  After reading Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) ingredient in Shampoos, Bad for Eczema?, it made sense for me to try and avoid SLS in shampoos as well as other body care since I have eczema.  Lucky me.  :\ What's good to know is that you don't lose some of the foaming action while shampooing.  We've all been tricked that if it foams, it cleans better.    

I gave Xcuse me! a week trial before reviewing.  I normally wash my hair every other day if I can.  Daily only if its been a grimy day or I worked out.  The consistency of both the shampoo and conditioner is thick and the scent is light and fruity.  I noticed that after shampooing, my hair felt clean, but I could still run my fingers through it.  That was a definite plus for me!  The conditioner rinsed clean and left my hair soft, smooth and lightly scented.

Xcuse me! Hair care sample pack.

1 oz samples of shampoo & conditioner

Here is my hair after shampooing and conditioning with Xcuse me! haircare and blow dried with a round brush.  My hair was manageable and soft, still a little bit frizzy.  I'm not great with a round brush, I need a third arm to be able to have salon results. Ha!  I still styled my hair after with a little bit of pomade and oil to smooth the frizzies and flyaways.  Overall, I'm impressed and love the way my hair feels and smells after using these products.

Pros:  -Sulfate & paraben free
          -Non-drying formula
          -Leaves hair soft
          -Great scent

Cons: -Online purchase only (but it makes it easy to purchase and have this delivered)

Cost: $15/set+$5.99 shipping & handling

Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes!

Interested in trying Xcuse me! shampoo and conditioner for yourself? Send Wendy an email at consciousliving01@gmail.com to inquire about samples and/or purchase.

:( Bu-bye?

Do I have to throw away this UD Blender brush? I'll prob keep it for back up.

New Brushes: Real Techniques

I have been wanting to get some new brushes and picked these up today at Ulta. Real Techniques Sam's Picks ($29.99) and the Starter Set ($17.99). The current sale is buy one, get one 50% off and you can use the $3.50 off coupon. I scored 11 brushes for about $39. That's less than $4 each! I got to use them today and will do an update on how I use and/or like/dislike each one.

What's on your desk for your self-care needs?

Purell - BIG bottle. Germaphobe.

Kleenex - allergies 24/7.

CND Scentsations Sundrenched Lotion - smells like sunscreen and reminds me of the beach.

EOS Lemon Drop Lip Balm - the only one that has SPF.

Chimes Mango Ginger Chews - a lil sugah to keep me going with the zing of ginger. So good! So addicting!

Neutrogena Shine Control Powder - to use as a boogie/dugung/culangot mirror.

Seahawks Tervis for my H2O - at least 48 oz at work on the daily.

A more affordable version of...

Vera Mona's Color Switch.  After watching the video on how the product works, I was impressed!  Doing a look with several shades varying in light and darkness can require many brushes and there aren't many products out there that can remove the color from the brush you are using to make it usable right then and there.  But not everyone can afford the $16.99-19.99+ price tag and I found a few videos that showed other options.  While they are not the same size or have the same case as the Color Switch, this might be a good alternative for different budgets.

Dorota MUA - Vera Mona Solo vs DIY eyeshadow switch + tutorial.
gossmakeupartist - How to instantly clean your make up brushes without washing/spray or alcohol!

I would prefer the Color Switch as opposed to a plain stippling sponge for the case and larger shape.  Which would you choose?

My Subscription Addiction

Searching for a single source for subscription services brought me here - My Subscription Addiction.  What a great site that not only has reveals of several types of services, but also deals & coupons and also a place to list items you want to swap.  There are way too many subscription services out there and sometimes you may or may not like what they have to offer.  I did My Pretty Pink Box and was happy to get new products and samples to try.  I currently am still a Julep Maven and am now an Ipsy Glam Bag subscriber (will be getting my first bag next month).  I also get some beauty items from The Honesty Company.  I love their lipbalms, body oil and healing balm.  My Subscription Addiction makes it really difficult to NOT subscribe to other services.  :(  For now, I'll stick to Julep and Ipsy and think about trying some new ones at another time. The cost can add up quickly!

Illinois has banned microbeads

An interesting article about the effects microbeads in facial & body care products. Who knew that those little spheres could cause such an impact. I had thought they were actually water soluble. Good info to know about how your beauty products do more than harm than good.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/06/10/scary-reason-why-illinois-just-banned-your-face-wash?cmpid=tp-ptnr-upworthy

What's in your bag?

Meet my "dog." I don't have pets, I have purses. Mini-Cupid in pale pink, the perfect sized purse and hue for the moment.

My make up routine on the daily has been very minimal. If I do wear make up to work it's brows, powder, bronzer, blush and mascara. But I'm bare faced most of the time. I don't carry much in this small pouch. 

What's in the bag? Neutrogena Shine Control Powder, ChapStick Moisturizer, Posh Retractable Blush Brush, Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Purple & a hair tie. 

Finally off the waitlist!

Super happy to finally be off the Ipy's waitlist and finally be a Glam Bag subscriber!  The bag reveals that I have seen of my friend GinaismXO and others have been awesome.  A cute bag and new products for only $10 is worth the treat.  If you're interested in joining, click here and follow the steps to help get you off the waitlist sooner.  No guarantee, but it doesn't hurt to follow through.  :)

Waitlist: Ipsy

My friend and beauty vlogger GinaismXO has some awesome unboxing videos of her monthly Ipsy bags and it got me excited!  Check out her latest video with her adorable daughter Sophie UNBOXING- Ipsy vs. Birchbox May 2014.  For about $11/mo, you get a cute bag with 4-5 different products inside.  I checked out some of the previous bags and they look awesome!  I'm kind of sad that it took me this long to get on board, but I've been keeping things pretty simple.  Any of you tried Ipsy or are a member?  Let me know pros/cons or even some other options that I should check out.

Making a come back!

Lost my domain - boo :(
But I want to return to beauty blogging - yay!
I also have a personal tumblr if you're interested in more randoms from me rhondalei.tumblr.com.

I'm still such a newb when it comes to my page and it took me forever to figure out that I could revert back to blogger.  Doy!  While I haven't been doing much with make up lately, I do have my fun primping moments.  I am interested in finding affordable, safe and more natural products.  Although, I do get pulled in to the flashy advertising of new products at times.  Consumerist.  Instead of trying to keep up with the new-new, I want to focus on what works for me and what are my current faves.  :)  Let me know what's up with y'all since I've been out of the loop for awhile!

Later Post - NOTWs

Reviews on these polishes in upcoming posts! OPI Liquid Sand polishes from the Mariah Carey Collection in 'Can't Let Go' and 'Stay The Night,' Jindie Nails 'Candy Land Remix,' and Julep 'Morgan.'