Fyrinnae Te Amo and New Toys

I had a super stressful week last week, and then over the weekend I got a package from glowyjoeybunny AKA my new favorite person of all time.  She sent me some lovely perfume samples that I'll be reviewing later, and then Fyrinnae's Te Amo eyeshadow, which I've totally been craving for ever.  For those of you that don't know Fyrinnae, it's a small indie make up company run by two adorable guys and famous for its fantastically shimmery loose eye shadows.  They're about $5 a pop, and when you see the size of the pots you'll feel like you got ripped off.  However, I've had one shadow (Rapunzel Had Extensions, absolutely gorgeous) that I wear as a base every day, and have for the last 6 months, and I haven't even used up a quarter of the pot.  So they're an amazing value.


ANYWAYS, Te Amo is basically the best thing ever.  Fyrinnae describes it as glowing iridescent copper highlight.  I wouldn't call it a highlight.  To me it's more of a dusty taupe with this amazing copper shimmer running through it.

This color is SO hard to photograph nicely.  Fyrinnae has better shots on the website.  It's just the perfect color because it's light enough to be a base lid shade if you're doing a darker look, or it's deep enough to use as a crease shade for a more natural look.  Inside it comes across as a nice, neutral taupe, but when you step into the sunlight it becomes this fiery copper that brings out the green in my hazel eyes wonderfully.  Basically I love it.  So: THANK YOU JOEY.  Because I want to marry this color and how versatile but fun it is.  Also everyone should follow Joey on Twitter (@glowyjoeybunny) because she's hilarious.

In other news, I gots me an iPhone over the weekend because my Blackberry decided to off itself (except like actually).  Like my background?  Marie Antoinette FTW.  Anyways, I thought it'd be useful for other Blackberry peeps if I did a little review/comparison of the two phones.  I am by no means a techie, but if you're an average person looking to switch from a Blackberry to an iPhone this might be helpful.

The biggest criticism I heard about iPhones was battery life.  My Blackberry Tour would last me maybe 12 hours, sometimes 10, before it died.  The iPhone lasts just as long or longer, so that hasn't been a problem for me.  There's definitely a learning curve switching between the two phones, but I think the iPhone is a little more user friendly.  The only issues I've had with it are that you can't mark texts as unread (so if I forget that I'm texting you, blame the phone!  Not me), and even though I can get Facebook notifications/Twitter notifications/emails when I'm out and about, I can't always read them when I'm not in a WiFi network.  It's not a huge deal for me, but if I was in a corporate setting I'd want something that was more reliable in different environments.


But on the plus side...it's an iPhone.  It's really cool.  The camera is AMAZING, the video chat function is amazing, the apps are amazing, I can text on it much more easily than I expected, and I can even watch my Netflix instant on it for free.  So overall I love it, even though I'm constantly paranoid about dropping it.

Zoya Blair

I got my last Zoya polish in the mail today.  Finally.  The last little straggler was Kelly, which Zoya calls a rich grey with soft purple and blue undertones.  That description is spot on.  To me it's a lovely murky grey with hints of periwinkle, and definitely the next polish I do my nails with.  At moment, I'm wearing Zoya Blair (the red polish on the right).

Zoya calls Blair a cool blackened red with purple undertones.  My pics are terrible.  Here's a much better one.  This polish...well frankly, this polish is the shit.  In the sun it looks black around the edges, but the middle is this bright, firey and shimmery red.  It really reminds me of Blair from Gossip Girl in that it's dark enough to be fashion forward, but it is a vampy, do not mess with me or I will mess you up kind of color.  It's certainly a cool red, but it still works with my skin tone.  It applied wonderfully and was opaque with two coats.  It's a pain to photograph, but this is my new signature polish.  It's like Zoya picked it straight out of my brain.

Awkward Chic rating: A+++++.  LOVE.  No criticisms on the formula, and this may be my favorite polish color of all time.

Zoya Edtya and Blair

It happened.  My 3 Free Facebook promo Zoya polishes came in the mail (WOOHOO!).  Well two of them came, the third (Kelly) comes tomorrow.  For those of you that don't know, Zoya is a great, eco-friendly polish company that had a get 3 free polishes deal where you just paid for shipping a while back.  Mine were all backordered, but they're finally here!


So my first two are Edtya and Blair. Zoya describes Edyta as a complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smokey grey with a sparkling metallic finish.  You can actually see all of those in the bottle, which is impressive.  This polish is along the same lines as Zoya Valerie, in that it's very, VERY thickly packed with fine glitter.  Blair is described as a cool blackened red with subtle hints of purple and metallic shimmer.  I'd say that's pretty spot on.  I love that it reminds me of Blair from Gossip Girl and it's such a me color--vampy but not so dark that it comes across as black.  It's similar to OPI's Royal Rajah Ruby, which I also have, but while RRR reads as dark and then red on the nails, Blair is most emphatically a red that then registers as vampy.  It other words: it's HOT.  Zoya polishes are usually $7 at zoya.com.

Definitely click on these to make them bigger.  I did my nails with Edyta first because it's such a weird color.  I mean weird in a good way, though.  The thing with me and polish is that I don't like crazy, weird colors.  I usually stay within the range of pink/red/purple/color/navy.  No bright greens or yellows or blues here.  So a green polish is a little crazy for me.  The reason I got this is that it fills the gap in my polish collection of the vampy color that's also offbeat and a little edgy.  Edyta is extremely easy to apply, you could get away with one coat but I like to do two.  It is hard to remove since it's a glitter, but it sparkles like fire in the sunshine, it's fabulous.  The color on my nails reads as a greyed down olive green with hints of gold and mint green shimmer.  It's kind of a badass army green.  I love it.  It flatters my skin tone, it's quirky but not actually weird, and it's wearing really well compared to Zoyas I've had in the past (probably the stubbornness of the glitter).

Awkward Chic rating: A+.  I mean, it was free, the color and application are great, and it's insanely glittery.  I have no complaints. 

Womanity

So when I replaced my old, dried up gel liner from Sephora a few days ago, I ended up with some fun free samples.  One of which was the Thierry Mugler Womanity EDP, which I've been dying to try for a while now.


Thierry Mugler Womanity EDP, $78 for 1.7 oz at sephora.com: It's definitely not a cheap fragrance, and I have mixed feelings about the bottle.  I like it, but I don't think it's very chic or elegant.  There's some mumbo jumbo about 'secret symbols' carved into the cap and all that, but the one bit I do like about the cap is the twist-on cap.  It feels a little more glamorous than the standard atomizer.  The other thing that bothers me is the name.  Womanity?  Really?  Ugh.

So the notes in this are fig, caviar, citrus, and woods.  When I first heard that I was like hm.  I'm a vegetarian.  Caviar is one of the last things I want to smell like.  But the caviar here doesn't say "baby fish fetuses."  It adds a salty, musky base to the fragrance that twists around the dry woods beautifully, in a way reminiscent of drift wood on the beach.  The citrus adds a bright note, but the fig...the fig is the real star.  It adds a sweet, feminine, unctuous twist that keeps this from being any generic girly fragrance and takes it to an interesting, offbeat and sophisticated place.  I really love this.  I loved it so much that I thought it must be weird (I always like weird perfumes), and so I made basically everyone I talked to today smell it, and the general consensus is that it's FAB.  It's feminine but not boring, has great sillage and lasting power (I put a TINY dab on over 12 hours ago and I can still smell it clearly) but isn't overpowering, and it's sexy.  Very, very sexy in a non-slutty, non-tacky kind of way.  I really want this.  Which is a problem, since it ain't cheap.


Awkward Chic rating: A-.  I'd give the perfume itself an A+, but the name, price, and bottle take it down a bit.


Image via sephora.com.

Review: MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation

I've been searching for a good foundation setting powder that blends coverage and mattifying properties in an easy to use formula for years.  Literally.  And so far, my search has been inconclusive.  But, I think I've found a pretty good option (not a holy grail status option, but a good option).  It's MAC's Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation, $26 at maccosmetics.com.


I know the idea of setting foundation with foundation seems silly.  But I'm always looking for more coverage and I figured that a foundation would have more lasting power than a regular powder, and probably more mattifying power.  This foundation comes in a round, palm-sized compact with a mirror in the lid and a sponge concealed in a compartment under the powder.  The powder comes in the usual MAC shades and has no SPF.

As far as the packaging goes, I am very pleased with it.  It clicks closed with a really satisfying sound (I know that's weird, but it makes me so happy), you get a great amount of product, and the mirror is very helpful.  I don't understand the sponge, to be honest, but if you like sponges it's a convenient way to apply your powder on the go.


Now, for the product itself.  I hate powder foundations and matte finishes, so I haven't applied it as such (this definitely has a matte finish).  I see how it could be a good powder foundation, and it certainly has good coverage.  It is highly pigmented, which is great for me because I've been applying it only on my t-zone, and it helps with my nose redness.  What I do with this is use a big, fluffy brush and pat it down my t-zone where I'm oiliest.  The coverage is easy to build, and it keeps my foundation and concealer lasting and staying fresh for much longer than they did before.  I've heard that this breaks a lot of people out, but I haven't experienced any issues with that in the 2 weeks that I've used it.  With my last pressed powder, I had to reapply at least 4 times a day.  Here, I can reapply maybe once or twice and still not look like an oil-slick.


Long story short: this a pigmented, high-coverage pressed foundation that will keep you matte for at least a few hours and set your makeup nicely.  I don't know if I would use it as an actualy foundation, but as a setting powder I think it's fabulous.


Awkward Chic rating: A-.  If it kept me matte all day it would get an A, but as is it's a pretty fantastic product.


Images from thisnext.com, firstimpressionsbeauty.blogspot.com.

Review: MAC Studio Finish Concealer

I'm home!!!  It only took 12 hours of traveling (American Airlines, I sincerely hate you), but I am home, where the weather is actually worse than in Boston.  Nice.  In the midst of my Xmas shopping for other people today, I managed to pick up a MAC goody for myself: the Studio Finish Concealer.


It looks like this, in a flip-top container that's the same as the MAC eyeshadow pots, but just a little taller.  I would totally take pictures myself, but my camera is hidden somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my duffel bag.  Which I am currently avoiding in my procrastinating of unpacking.  So.  It's $14.50 for a good amount of concealer, which is a nice deal, and it has SPF 35.  The SPF is both a pro and a con--it's great for your skin, but it can flash white in photography, which is definitely not cute.

Now, I still love my MAC Studio Sculpt concealer.  I use it for all my blemishes, and it's fabulous.  But the problem is, it's way too thick and drying to use for my under eye circles, which are not pretty.  What I've been using for my dark circles was this great pink pencil by Anastasia that I got from Sephora for free years ago, but it finally died and it's been discontinued (crycry).  All of my favorite YouTube makeup gurus use this for their dark circles, so I thought I'd try it out.  

I like the packaging.  The flip-top is easy to use, and harder for me to lose than a twist on cap.  I've heard that it will make you break out more if you put it on blemishes, so I haven't even tried that (break out more?  No thanks).  Most people apply it with a blending brush (like a 217), but I don't have a spare one, so I've been using my fingers.  It feels very solid in the pan until you warm it up a bit with your fingers, and it goes on very smoothly and very, very opaque.  I've had no issues with drying or it settling into fine lines (but I have no fine lines, so I can't say if it would or not).  I'm in between a NW15 and NW20, so I went with the lighter shade because I feel like lighter under the eyes is always better than darker.


I hadn't been using anything under my eyes for a long time, and I hadn't realized how tired I'd been looking until I used this.  It makes me look so much brighter and more awake and just plain alive.  It's fantastic.  I don't have terrible under eye circles, so I'm not really putting it to the test, but I definitely have visible darkness and veins from my chronic insomnia, and it makes me look bright-eyed and bushy tailed.  I highly, highly recommend it.


Awkward Chic rating: A+.  The price is right, it's so opaque that I don't have to use a lot of product, it really covers my dark circles, and it wears really well (I'm at 8 hours now and there's no visible fading).  The only cons I have are that it has so much SPF and that the pot container isn't the most hygienic, but I'm willing to forgive those for how well it performs.

Review: LUSH Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar

I switched it up this weekend.  In a fit of post-finals induced retail therapy, I hit up LUSH and grabbed a new shampoo bar.  I usually go for the New! shampoo bar, which is red and cinnamon scented, but I felt like mixing it up and picked up this Ultimate Shine shampoo bar because I heard it gives great volume.

The ingredients in this include ylang ylang oil, violet leaf, elemi oil, gardenia extract, and glitter.  You read that correctly.  Glitter.  It's a white shampoo bar with scattered flecks of glitter.  That really threw me off at first, but it definitely washes out in the shower, because I haven't noticed any in my hair.  It smells like faintly herbal and floral, but a hint of Eucalyptus--not nearly as strong as New smelt, and it's the size of a hockey puck.

As for what it does for my hair, I've used it four or five times now.  It lathers really well, just as well as a liquid shampoo, and the smell fades even as I'm showering.  It keeps my hair very clean, but doesn't strip it of moisture and make it all dry and gross.  My hair feels great!  It usually gets oily throughout the day with liquid shampoo, but I've found Lush shampoo bars keep it clean all day.  It gives me really nice volume that doesn't quit throughout the day, and makes my hair feel nice and soft.  The only thing it doesn't do is make my hair shinier.  But to make my hair shinier you would probably have to literally pour glitter on it, so I'm not blaming the shampoo.  I think it would add shine if you have dull or damaged hair because of the ylang ylang oil, though.

My one problem with these shampoo bars is storage.  I bought the shampoo bar tin that Lush recommends, but unless you wait til the bar is 100% dry to put it in the tin, it will melt and mold into the tin and be impossible to get out.  And waiting for hours to put the bar in the tin kinda defeats the purpose of the tin in the first place.  My last bar completely melted into the tin.  I've taken to storing it in the paper bag it came in, because it won't stick to that even when wet.


Overall rating: A.  It's $10 at Lush, which seems like a lot for shampoo but it will last you months and months, so it's not a bad deal.  It gives me great volume, doesn't smell offensive, and keeps my hair clean without stripping moisture or color.  My only issue with it is storage.

Image from lushusa.com.

Review: Pantene Fine Hair Triple Action Volume Mousse

My local CVS has been failing me.  They never have any of my usual hair products in stock.  Sob.  So instead of picking up my usual Dove Volumizing Mousse, which I love to death because it leaves my hair nice and soft and bouncy with zero buildup or crunchiness, I grabbed this Pantene Fine Hair Triple Action Volume Mousse (such a mouthful).  You get 6.6 0z of product for about $3.50 vs. the $6 for my Dove mousse where you get 7 oz.  So it's a better deal per ounce. 


The bottle is very tall and skinny, probably about 9-10 inches tall and inch and a half wide.  I like the packaging--it's very sleek and polished, and I like that they have consistent packaging for all the products in their hair solutions line, all yellow for fine hair, green/blue for thick hair, etc.  Now, if you know me you're wondering why I got mousse for thin hair when I have enough for for about four different people on my head.  Well.  I figured that the volumizing mousse for thin hair would be more intense than the volumizing mousse for thick hair because thin hair is flatter (I feel like that logic is deeply flawed somehow, but whatever). 

Here's what Pantene says about the mousse: 

-Volume Particle Technology creates distance between hair fibers to help add volume.  
-Gentle enough for color treated or permed hair.  
-The result is all over volume that lasts all day.
-Volumizing mousse contains maximum level hold to protect hair from humidity for style that lasts.

It has 'maximum hold' at Level 4 (whatever that means).  As for the mousse itself, here goes.  It smells amazing, that mixture of florals and slight fruitiness that expensive conditioners have.  I don't think the smell lingers on my hair for all that long, but it's hard for me to smell my scalp.  The texture isn't as wonderful.  There are the mousses that have a great, thick, marshmellowy texture that don't collapse like a souffle, and there are the mousses that look nice and thick but collapse like whipped egg whites when you touch them.  This one collapses.  Which means that I have to use more product to feel like I'm putting anything in my hair at all, which means that the cheapness of the price doesn't end up being so cheap.  


However, once I put it in my hair and brush it out, it all gets better.  It is one of those mousses that you have to brush out--I brush it out a lot, and sometimes when my hair dries it's still a bit crunchy.  If you brush it out once it's dried, however, it stays nice and soft.  This mousse leaves my hair soft and shiny--not as soft as my Dove mousse, but still pretty soft with minimal buildup.  The best part about this mousse is the volume.  It gives me great volume.  Even more volume than my Dove mousse, and I've even been getting comments on it.  The volume lasts all day, even in weird Boston weather.


Awkward Chic rating: A.  I have to use more product because of the texture and it does dry a little crunchy, but the volume it gives me is fab, so it cancels out.  All in all it's a pretty good deal for the money, even if you don't have fine hair.

Review: Revlon All Fired Up

Disclaimer: I am not a red nail polish person.  I can't remember the last time that I wore red nail polish on my fingers (it occasionally appears on my toes).  I tend to associate red with hyper-girly retro older ladyness for some reason.  I waver between vampy purples, blackened reds, and corals about 99% of the time.  But I was gifted Revlon's All Fired Up polish this weekend by a lovely secret Santa, and I was about due for a manicure, and for some reason this polish got me.  I was just staring at it, having an intense 5 minute debate with myself about red polish (yes, this is how I spend my time during finals) and then I realized--I do the retro-lady cat eye thing every single day.  Red polish kind of goes with that, no?  So I did it.


All Fired Up is about $3 at the drugstore.  It's a lovely tomato red--slight orange undertones, but mostly neutral.  It's just a very basic, classic diva sort of red.  I love that it has warm undertones.  Almost all of the reds I see have blue undertones, which just make them feel very updated to me for some reason.  This is nice and warm and flattering.

Please excuse my crappy manicure skills.  This photo is very true to life about the color.

I just realized that I totally cut if off in this picture, but Revlon's reissuing some of its older shades in bottles with 'Revlon' in cute retro script (you can kind of see it here).  I can't believe I forgot about how good Revlon polish is.  It's probably my favorite drugstore polish--even better than Sally Hansen.  It's ridiculously cheap, all the colors I've tried go on opaque in one or two coats, and the wear time is great.  I did two coats of All Fired Up, but I could have gotten away with one.  The brush is normal, a little on the small side but easy to work with, and I had no issues with the formula.


Awkward Chic rating: A.  I'm really surprisingly happy with this.  The formula and packaging are great, the color is great, and it's really cheering me up in the middle of this Boston monsoon.

Review: Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Mist

I got this on Black Friday for free, and since I've worn it a handful of times since then I thought I'd better get around to reviewing it.  Now, I wouldn't normally buy perfume at Victoria's Secret.  Their perfumes scare me.  They remind me of the mall.  But I got this for free, so I thought I'd try it. 

The notes are vanilla oriental, quince, cardamom, white peony, freesia, white musk, sandalwood, vanilla, and it's $22 for 8.4 oz at victoriassecret.com.  What struck me first was the bottle.  It doesn't seem as tacky or out there as the usual Victoria's Secret perfumes--in fact, it's rather conservative.  As for the scent, it took me forever to figure out what this reminded me of.  It's Ralph Lauren Romance's cousin!

It's a bit muskier and more floral than Romance, but they are very similar: close to the skin, cozy, cashmere sweater-esque scents that have good lasting power and manage to combine musk, fruits, florals, and vanilla.  All in all it's a very feminine, delicate scent that's sweet but not cloying.  Kind of like your natural smell, but better.  For an EDT, the lasting power is very good, and for the price this is a total steal.

Awkward Chic rating: A-.  It's not the most original scent, but it's subtle and easy to wear, plus a great bargain.

Image from victoriassecret.com.

Review: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle

So I've been dying to buy the Dior Amber Diamond highlighter for a while now.  I wanted a highlighter that was a little more subtle and easier to deal with than my MAC Vanilla pigment (still love it though).  But it's $45.  Boo.  However, it looks an awful lot like the MAC MSF in Soft & Gentle, which is $28 at maccosmetics.com.  Guess which one I ended up buying?


This is my first MSF.  It's a finely milled powder that's marbled and baked, and the compact is about the size of my palm.  $28 isn't pocket change, but you get a LOT of product with this baby.  The MAC site describes it as a gilded peach bronze.  Um, no.  It swatches more a rosy champagne with a mixture of shimmer and glitter.  It's just really, really lovely.  Here are some pics:

I'd say the coloring veers a bit more towards the first than the second picture.  Here's a good swatch of it.  Isn't it pretty?!?!  What I've found with this is a that a little goes a long way.  It is very shimmery.  With a heavy hand you can veer into Twilight territory immediately.  But with a big, fluffy brush or a skunk brush like my MAC 187, you can get a light application that gives you a candlelit glow (and who doesn't want to look like they're permanently bathed in candlelight?  Really now).  The wear time is about the same as any powder on me.  It fades throughout the day, but doesn't disappear, and would probably last a lot longer if you have less oily skin than I do.


You can really use this anywhere--on the lids, browbone, collarbone, cheekbones, etc, etc.  It looks very natural because it's actually a skin-esque color, and it makes you look dewy and fresh without looking oily.  I'm honestly very pleased with this.  It's probably my favorite highlighter that I've ever used.


Awkward Chic rating: A-.  I wish that is what just shimmer instead of having some random glittery bits mixed in, but overall it's a gorgeous shade that's easy to work with and good value for your money.


Images from berryberrycouture.blogspot.com.

Review: Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Lipgloss

Confession: I have never been a big fan of Victoria's Secret beauty products.  They've all seemed a bit tacky to me.  But I got this lip gloss in I Want Candy (really, that's the name) in a free gift bag from Black Friday, so it was a no risk situation.  I'm not very demanding in want I want from my lip glosses.  I want a little bit of color, a little bit of moisture, some sheen, and possibly a yummy taste with a good wear time.


It's $7 at victoriassecret.com or 5/$20.  This is exactly what it looks like in person, a muted mauvey-pink with absolutely no shimmer (sad face).  It literally tastes like candy.  Shocking, I know.

I like the squeeze tube applicator a lot.  It gives you a good amount of control over how much product you're using, and lets you get at the gloss from the bottom of the tube when you start running out.  It goes on nicely, and gives a pretty high sheen to the lips.  I wouldn't say it makes me lips feel less chapped, but it doesn't make them feel drier, so it's sort of neutral in the moisturizing department.  It adds a bit of pink color, but not much.  The one issue I have with it is that the gloss is very, very tacky.  Your hair will be sticking to your lips.  All the time.  But on the flipside, it has great wear time.  This weekend I got four hours including eating and drinking.  For a lip gloss, that's pretty fantastic.

Awkward Chic rating: B+.  It's a good gloss, a little on the tacky side, but a decent value for the price.  I'd be willing to try this in a few other colors, maybe More Mimosa and Juiced Berry.

Image from amazon.com.

Review: FX Silk Drops Hair Serum

I'm so inconsistent in my hair routine.  I have some products--shampoo, mousse and salt spray--that I am fiercely loyal to and won't consider branching out from.  And then I have some products that I end up buying a different version of every time I go to the drugstore, usually my iron guard and whatever treatment I'm using on my ends.  I went to CVS this weekend to pick up some of this, which I've been loving, and CVS was out!  Boo.  So I picked up some of this serum. 


FX Silk Drops Hair Serum, $5.99 at cvs.com: You get a good sized amount for the price--more than you do with the Organix serums--and it smells surprisingly nice, very subtle and lemony with a slight herbal twist.  The cap twists up and then you squeeze the bottle to get the product out.  That makes it easy to get the right amount of serum, but I can see this spilling all over during traveling really easily.  That's part of why I have a love-hate relationship with serums.  They can be so messy, and stain everything, and if you use too much they make your hair really oily.  But if you use the right amount they can be miracle workers for dry, split ends.

As for this specific serum, I like it.  It's not OMG AMAZING, but it's pretty darn good.  I take a dime to nickle-sized amount on my palm, rub my hands together, and then run this through the bottom third of my hair right after I get out of the shower.  I'd definitely recommend using this on wet hair--using it on dry hair makes it much easier to overdo and take it to that greasy place.  Since it's a cocktail of different silicones, this serum does a great job at moisturizing and making your ends look shiny and healthy.  My ends feel nice and soft.  I really don't know why, but I'm not over the moon about this stuff.  It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's not HG material.  I've heard it's a good alternative to the Chi Silk Infusion, and from the few times I've used Silk Infusion I'd have to agree.  They both have a similarly thick consistency and do the exact same thing to my hair.

Awkward Chic rating: B+.  It's a very solid product overall, but loses a few points for packaging and a general lack of wow factor.

Image from cvs.com.

Review: Maybelline The Colossal Volum Express Waterproof Mascara

Girls, today is a big day.  I bought a new mascara.  I know.  I'm still in shock.  If you don't know my history with mascara, it's a little traumatic.  Mascara and I have had some rough times.  It started with Diorshow and Benefit Bad Gal Lash in high school.  Instant raccoon face.  Tried Great Lash and a Boots mascara and Lancome Hypnose, and I've never loved any of them.  I have contacts and dry eyes, so I use lots of eye drops, and I've never found a non-waterproof mascara that can deal with that, so I always do waterproof.  The only mascara I've loved is Max Factor's Volume Couture Waterproof, and it's been discontinued in the U.S.  So I had to go on a search for a new mascara.  


My requirements: no raccoon face.  I have such a fear of having raccoon face all day and no one telling me.  I want a little length, a little volume, and something that's easy to layer.  I've been scouring Makeupalley for something that could work for me, and today I just gave up, went to CVS, and grabbed this:


Maybelline The Colossal Volum Express Waterproof Mascara in Glam Black, about $8 at CVS.  Why do they spell volume wrong?  Ugh.  I honestly grabbed it because the packaging was entertaining.  It's very festive.  So here's the mascara itself.

And here's the brush.  The brush scared me.  It's a gigantic, Diorshow/Bad Gal Lash-sized brush, which is great for getting all of your lashes, but kind of hard to control.  I applied this in two coats, waiting about five minutes between them.  The first coat was very easy to apply, and you can get a lot of lashes from just one coat, which I love.  The second coat clumped a bit--nothing unfixable, but a little annoying.  The one thing that really bothered me about application is that I had to hold a credit card behind my lashes not to get mascara all over my brow bone. 

As for what it does for my lashes, it gives me more length and volume than the Max Factor, it's a bit darker, and it doesn't make my lashes feel crispy like the Max Factor did.  It's not flaking at all, it seems to have no problems with my eye drops/contacts, and while it's not quite a false lash effect, it's definitely got some drama to it.


Awkward Chic rating: A-.  My only cons here are the ridiculously large brush and the slight clumping, but overall I think this is a really fab mascara.

Beauty Spotlight: Beach Blow Texturizing Mist

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you're probably thinking "she already reviewed this product.  Lame sauce."  And yes, I did review it a year ago.  But that's just the thing.  I reviewed it 13 months ago, have used it EVERY single day, and just bought my new bottle less than five minutes ago.  This stuff is magical.  I figured it deserved a little beauty spotlight.


Its the Blow Beach Blow Texturizing Mist, $21 at bathandbodyworks.com:

I've been using the same bottle for the last 13 months.  I'd say for the first 6 months I did 4 spritzes a day and for the last 7 months I've been doing 2 spritzes a day, one on each side.  The cost per use on this is about half a penny.  The product itself smells fantastic.  It's a little salty, a little coconutty, a little floral--overall very beachy without being obviously screaming BEACH in your face.  It's a very thin, slightly milky looking liquid, which you'll probably never see through the adorable, opaque packaging.  Seriously, I love the packaging.  It's charmingly upbeat and eccentric, without being too cutesy.


Now, the important stuff: what this does for your hair.  I've heard a lot lately about how buying salt sprays is a rip-off, and you can just make them at home yourself.  So I tried that over the summer.  I followed a recipe with a bit of salt, distilled water, a little bit of conditioner and some hair gel, and I spritzed that on one half of my head and the Beach Blow on the other.  The DIY salt spray took a lot more product to get any results, and what I ended up with was sticky, matte, dirty looking hair.  The Beach Blow, on the other hand, was fab.  


I have basically Asian Barbie hair.  It's very thick, very straight and shiny, and refuses to hold any sort of curl or wave.  I know it sounds like a weird thing to whine about, but my hair strands are so smooth that they just lie flat on top of each other in a giant, heavy blob.  I love this spray because it gives some texture to my hair strands for them to grab on to, so my hair actually has volume, and texture, and awesomeness!  


Conclusion: if you use this your hair will have supermodel beachy texture, and random people (in all seriousness) will creep on you to tell you how good your hair smells.

Image from bathandbodyworks.com.

Review: OPI Let Me Entertain You

Disclaimers: this was a very rushed, between classes manicure, and my camera sucks.  These pictures do not do this polish justice at all.


My OPI Let Me Entertain You polish arrived in the mail today.  The immediate reaction I had was "OMG SPARKLES OMG."  It's a different sort of sparkly from the Zoya Valeria polish I reviewed a few days ago--that had really dense, multi-hued microglitter in a opaque base.  This had larger shimmer, almost glass flecks, in a semi-jelly base.  The result of that is that in indirect lighting, you can see small flecks in the polish, and in direct lighting--wowza.  The semi-sheerness means that you can see the shimmer from the first coat through the second (or third) coats, which makes it look like the shimmer is floating, trapped in the middle of the polish.  It's hard to describe, but it's honestly like nothing I've ever seen before.  There are better swatches here and here.

The color itself is a medium, cool-toned magenta with hot pink/fuchsia shimmer/microglitter.

I know, I know, the manicure sucks.  But when I showed my roommate, who barely reacted to Zoya's Valerie, she freaked out just a little bit about LMEY.

I really, really love this.  It's on the sophisticated side because it's a medium and reddish, but the fuchsia twist and the crazy glitter take this into Christmas-time, almost-so-sweet-it-reminds-me-of-candy territory.  From far away it looks basic and elegant, from up close it's offbeat and girly and insanely FABULOUS. I can't say enough how FAB this is.  It would be perfect on toes or fingers.

Awkward Chic rating: A+.  The color is flattering, and even though it's cool-toned it looks good on my warm skin.  It's a versatile color, the shimmerfire is literally out of this world, and since it's OPI, the quality is there.  I used two coats with no visible nail line and no visible brush strokes.  I really can't think of any flaws here. 

Review: Zoya Valerie

My Zoya polish in Valerie arrived today (my first Zoya! Woohoo!).  Without even seeing how it wears, I'm going to go ahead and declare this my favorite polish of all time.  I take my nail polish very seriously.  I've never had a favorite before.  Valerie is everything I've ever wanted in a polish--purple, vampy without being mistaken for black, and chockful of gorgeous, multi-hued glitter.
 
Have you ever bought a lovely, deep vampy color that looks perfect in the bottle and then totally falls flat on the nail?  Valerie is like the exact opposite of that. Zoya describes it as royal purple, dark violet, red, deep pink, and gold iridescence with a sparkling finish.  To me, it's a blackened warm purple base with fuchsia, gold, and purple microglitter.  Even though the base is dark, there's so much shimmer than even in shadow it won't be mistaken for a black.  It is defiantly purple, and seems to glow from within.


Disclaimer: My swatches DO NOT do it justice at all.  Check out Vampy Varnish's swatches for a better idea.

I wanted to do a couple different angles of the bottle to show how the shimmer varies depending on the light.  The gold doesn't come across as strongly on the nail (I just realized that it's Laker's colors.  I'm such a subconsciously LA girl).

Zoya polishes are $7 at zoya.com.  I got mine for $8 with shipping on eBay.  The Zoya brush is a bit smaller than the OPI brush, which was a little frustrating but no big issue.  I'd say that the polish, however, was way more pigmented than any OPI polish I've ever seen.  I could have done one coat and had it be completely opaque, but I did two out of habit.  Since it's so glittery, the finish itself isn't as shiny as it would be with a creme polish, so you'll need top coat if you want the glitter and the shine.


Awkward Chic rating: A+.  I decided to buy a backup before I even applied this.  It is literally the prettiest, sparkliest polish I have ever seen.  The vampy purple base keeps it from being kiddish, and in direct sunlight your fingers look like they're on fire.  In the best possible way.

Review: Burt's Bees Hands

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I really like nail polish.  I've been stalking my Zoya polish via USPS for over a week now (ALMOST HERE).  But nothing ruins a great manicure like dry hands and cracked cuticles.  I've had these Burt's Bees products for a while now, but I didn't start using them until recently. 


Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, $6 at burtsbees.com: I have the mini (half-sized, I think) version of this cuticle butter.  I've been using it daily for the last month, and I've barely made a dent in it.  Think about how long the regular sized version would last!  And at $6, that's such a bargain.  As for the actual product, it really smells like lemons.  Not in a fake, Pledge sort of way, but literally like you cut open a lemon and shoved it in front of your nose.  The consistency is very thick and oily, but it rubs in nicely so that it doesn't leave an oily reside on your fingers.  The lemon scent lingers a bit, but it isn't overwhelming.  Now, I have normal, non-dry cuticles, and while this cream makes my cuticles and nails really happy, I had to test it on my roommate.  She has crazy dry, cracked, bleeding cuticles, and this balm totally conquered them.  There are really no cons here.  It's cheap, it smells good, it works, and it's eco-friendly.

Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme, $9 at burtsbees.com: I've never felt a need to use hand balm, but since I have this I've been using it, and I'm a total convert.  With this creme, a little goes a long way.  You could probably get a year out of this $9 jar, which is pretty affordable.  The consistency is very thick and creamy, not at all oily, and it rubs in completely, leaving you with baby soft hands.  This stuff works really, really well.  My only issue with it is the smell.  It smells just like almond extract, which smells exactly like marzipan.  I. Hate. Marzipan.  It's so sickly sweet, it makes me nauseous.  The smell of this creme doesn't make me sick, but I'm not a fan.  However, the scent doesn't carry very far or last very long, so it's not a huge issue.

Awkward Chic rating: A.  Both of these are affordable and really, really work.  Lemon and almond aren't my favorite scents, but they aren't offensive.

Images from burtsbees.com, burtsbees.com.

VENOMOUS VILLAINS REVIEW!!!

I don't know if y'all picked it up from the title, but I'm so, so excited about what I got from Venomous Villains.  The whole thing was such an ordeal.  It was supposed to hit stores last Thursday, and since I have a midterm that day I was going to go into Boston on Friday with my roomie and hit up MAC.  We had it all planned out.  But then I heard that MAC was releasing the collection early online, so I decide just to stalk Twitter until it dropped and buy what I wanted ASAP before it sold out.  Well.  MAC couldn't decide when to release it or couldn't release it for some reason, so it went up two hours late, and I wasn't with my laptop.  Cue panic attack.  But, luckily, an hour later both things I wanted were still in stock, so it all worked out.  The only thing that freaked me out was that I got an email confirming my order saying that I'd get a tracking number when it shipped, and a week later, no tracking number.  It just mysteriously showed up at mail services today.  No bueno, MAC, no bueno.


ANYWAYS, I got My Dark Magic Mineralize Shadow from the Maleficent collection and Vainglorious Shadow from the Evil Queen collection.  I was so happy that the boxes looked like the blogger press hits with the awesome concept drawings of the characters!  That's Maleficent on the left and the Evil Queen on the right. 

So My Dark Magic sold out pretty much within 12 hours (in fact, almost all of the Maleficent stuff is gone), which makes me so happy that I got it, but sad that most people didn't.  I think it has the best packaging of the line, with Maleficent and her crow/vulture BFF on the lid.  The Evil Queen packaging is much less awesome.  The queen's face just looks so small compared to the shadow itself.  I think if it was blown up two or three times it would have been a lot better, but I'm glad that the images were printed on, and not stickers (ahem, Dame Edna).

My camera struggled so much taking pictures of My Dark Magic because it is SO SPARKLY.  The picture on the left gives a better idea of the texture, but the picture on the right gives a better idea of the actual color.  The surface feels very organic--it's a little bumpy and swirly.  The left side is a crescent shaped black with fuschia shimmer and fucshia swirls, and the right is a smaller oval with a black base, some white swirls, and violet and blue shimmer.  The shimmer on the right is a bit bigger/chunkier than the shimmer on the left.  The white swirls really just blend in with the black and add a little white shimmer.

JUST LOOK AT THOSE SWATCHES.  LOOK AT THEM.  The left is the pink side, the right is the purple side.  You can see the difference between the shimmer sizes pretty clearly, and because the shimmer on the right is a little more noticeable, it's much easier to do a sheer wash of the purple side than the pink side.  If you do a sheer wash of the purple side, you can almost blend it out to a sheer base with violet shimmer, which you can't do with the pink side.  I found this duo incredibly pigmented.  I literally brushed my fingers over it and came up with these swatches.  I think you could apply it wet for more lasting power and less fallout, but they seem to do pretty darn well dry.  I know I'm not going to be wearing this all the time (it's not exactly class friendly) but it's the perfect thing for weekends or for a fun, going-out smokey eye. 

Vainglorious is still up on the MAC website for $15.50 ($1 more than usual because of the licensing fees for the Disney characters).  The picture on the left refused to come out right, the swatch on the right is much more accurate.  I think the macro setting on my camera hates me.  I'd describe it as a brownish-burgundy with red shimmer.  It's a lot more wearable than I thought that it would be, for sure.  It's a little scary looking in the pan, but if you put it in the crease and blend it out, it's a really flattering warm hue, especially on green or hazel eyes.  I was definitely scared by the Frost finish, but I wouldn't call it frosty at all.  It has a bit of a sheen to it, but it is in no way reminiscent of '90s frosted lipstick or other scary frosted things.

Overall thoughts: I really love the two things I got.  I would have also gotten Revenge is Sweet Lipglass, but I needed more Studio Sculpt Concealer (I'm NW15 now!  Ahhhhh so pale), and I'm broke.  So.  I'm so glad that I got My Dark Magic because I think the packaging is fab and I adore blacks with colored shimmer, and I love Vainglorious because it's surprisingly wearable and a color that I needed.