Lethal Glam

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Allure Beauty Box Spring/Summer 2014 (Product Photos Inside!)

It's that time again! The Allure Beauty Box will go on sale April 29th at 12:01 PM EST (that's in exactly 1 week). This is a quarterly box that is curated by Allure and sells out in minutes. I will post an update when the link is live, or you can keep checking the website.

It will have a $350+ value and will cost $44.95 + Shipping (typically the shipping is around $10)

I have an extensive and thorough list of all of the products that you can pick up in this box if you are one of the lucky people that manages to order it! I got the products from the Allure Access website. It seems that the theme this time around is hair products, there's definitely a large abundance of them rather than anything else. This box is very light on makeup - which is a bummer for me!

Here is the complete list of products:

ALOXXI Flexible Hairspray - Value $17
BIG SEXY HAIR Get Layered Flash Dry Thickening Hairspray - Value $20
BURT’S BEES Even-Tone Moisturizing Cream - Value $20
CARGO COSMETICS Essential Lip Gloss - Value $16
CETAPHIL Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths - Value $7.50
DEVELOPLUS Anti-Aging Hair Treatment System - Value $20
DOVE Purely Pampering Body Wash - Value $9.50
FLOWER Nail’d It Nail Lacquer - Value $5
GK HAIR ThermalStyleHer - Value $20
IT COSMETICS Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ - Value $38
NEUTROGENA MoistureSmooth Color Stick - Value $11
NEUTROGENA Ultra Sheer Face + Body Stick Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 70 - Value $11
NOT YOUR MOTHER’S Intensive Hair Unit Renewal Treatment – Value $8
ONE ’N ONLY Argan Oil Cream-to-Serum Styler – Value $10
OSCAR BLANDI Pronto Dry Heat Protect Spray - Value $24
PUREOLOGY Fresh Approach Dry Conditioner - Value $22
REDKEN Mess Around 10 Disrupting Cream-Paste – Value $15
REMBRANDT Deeply White Toothpaste - Value $10
RIMMEL LONDON Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara - Value $7
RUSK Freezing Spray – Value $18
SALLY HANSEN Triple Shine Nail Color - Value $5
SALLY HANSEN Triple Shine Top Coat - Value $5
Softsoap Sea Kissed Exfoliating Body Wash - Value $5.50
TANTOWEL Classic Self-Tan Towelettes - Value $20
TARTE lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara – Value $19

The exact calculated total value seems to be closer to $363.50!!!

And here are the products along with a description of each!

Ipsy Glam Bag Unboxing - April 2014

Here's what I received in my April 2014 Ipsy Bag.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil - Travel Size - Value $15
dr. brandt Microdermabrasion - Deluxe Sample Size - Value $9.75
Elizabeth Mott Pop! goes the shadow (Champagne) - Full Size - Value $12.99
Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloss (Teddy Bare) - Full Size - Value $10
Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse - Travel Size - Value $6

Total Value of this my Ipsy April 2014 bag - $53.74

Sign up to Ipsy for only $10/month

I definitely received my money's worth and then some, I just wasn't extremely thrilled about the products - it all seemed a little... basic for my taste. I like to experiment with makeup and I have so much that a neutral eyesahdow (although I love the quality, a nude lip gloss, an exfoliator, a black eye pencil and a hair mousse really isn't very thrilling. I can't say I loved the bag but I also didn't dislike it. I'm using it in my purse currently because it's the perfect size for me to store coupons.

I received this Teddy Bare shade of the Mary Kay at Play Jelly Lip Gloss. I am happy this is a full size product but extremely bummed that this nude is a color that completely washes me out. I also didn't like that this product stuck to any dry patches on my lips and really accentuated them, it was also very sticky and thick in consistency. I would not repurchase this lip gloss, especially at the high price of $10!

I was happy to receive an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil in their new Velvet line (color: Black Velvet). This is a similar size to the travel pencils that they sometimes include in their Book of Shadows (various editions) and other palettes. I have quite a collection of these and was happy to see this one smudged well, clearly being intended for a smokey eye. It's more of a charcoal black rather than a pure dark black due to its intended use. The value of this product was $15.

This was my surprise favorite item in this bag. I have received a couple of other Elizabeth Mott products in the past and also enjoyed them thoroughly (through Ipsy, Glossybox and Birchbox). I'm a fan that I'm always receiving something different from this brand, rather than just the same product sent out in all my subscriptions! Also, this eyeshadow reminds me of Stila's Kitten (which is an amazing compliment). I absolutely love this shade, it's very universal and wearable, super glowy and extremely buttery. This product is worth the $12.99 price tag, I would purchase it and I'm glad that it came in my bag.

The last 2 products are my absolute duds for this month. I have plenty of exfoliators and although I've heard great reviews of dr. Brandt's products, I just can't seem to get myself hyped about cleansers. It retails for a fortune so even this extremely small sample is valued at $9.75. I also received the BigSexyHair Root Pump Mousse (valued at $6) and this will be an okay product that I can put in my purse if it's very humid out and I really want to control my hair. These two products are the reason why I unsubscribed from Birchbox, I want a purely makeup subscription and not really cleansers and hair products. With that being said, Ipsy usually does the best job of the affordable makeup subscriptions of sending primarily makeup products.

Subscribe to Ipsy for only $10/month

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Should I floss before or after I brush my teeth?

I don't know if you've ever thought about this topic, but the other day I found myself wondering: Should I be flossing before or after I brush my teeth and use mouthwash? So I researched the topic and found out some pretty logical results.

When we're young our dentists tell us just to floss once a day, because that's good enough, if you're doing that you're staving off gingivitis and potential periodontal disease (severe gum disease) and removing unwanted plaque from building up. It takes plaque 24-48 hours to "settle" and solidify in your mouth, if you are flossing once every 24 hours you will not form floss in the areas that you agitate with your floss.

My personal favorite tools to floss with are flosser dental picks. I think they make the job so much more enjoyable, and I make sure to leave them out somewhere very visible so that every single day I will see them and be reminded to use them. To top that off, I even have an alarm which sets off every night before bedtime to remind me of Flossy Time.

After much thorough research, I saw that this is a highly contested topic. Some dentists apparently don't care when you floss as long as you do floss once a day, specifically at night. It's important to floss at night before you sleep because during the night, since you aren't using or opening your mouth quite so much, and your saliva proliferates at much slower pace, the bacteria have their reign in your mouth. Bacteria are free to settle, move around, and cause disturbance in your mouth undisturbed as you sleep. So it's important that the majority of your dental care routine happens before you sleep.

I discovered that it's important to floss before you go to sleep, the reason behind this is that it will dislodge any rogue food particles or impurities. After doing this, it is the opportune time to floss with a fluoride toothpaste and use mouthwash to ensure your mouth is clean for as long as possible throughout the night.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Mariposa - Glinda Eyes of the Day

My eyes of the day were inspired by the butterflies in the Mariposa palette and the ethereal look of the Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (and Urban Decay palette infamy). I'm excited that spring is here and the weather is finally starting to warm up, so bright colors and pastels will be the norm!

Here are the products I used for this look (as always I'll let you know exactly how to achieve this on your own):

I really wanted to do something with purples and pinks, but rather than sticking with just the violet color family, I wanted to incorporate the end of frost on my lower lash line. I did this by creating an icy blue on the inner corner that gently melds into the purple. I kept the eyeliner absolutely minimal because I didn't want it to overpower these beautiful colors, as a bold cat-eye can usually make an overwhelming statement and clash with very multicolored eyeshadow.

Primarily I used the Urban Decay Mariposa Palette, which is not part of their permanent collection, but you can still purchase it on eBay or Amazon. I also used some accent colors from the Glinda eyeshadow palette (these pop out of the palette and are full sized shadows, they are very convenient to work with). I finished the look with some bold colored purple and icy blue eyeliners, which I set with powder foundation for long-lasting wear.

Skimp (from the UD Mariposa Palette) all over the brow-bone up to eyebrows
Limelight (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the inner 1/3rd of the lid
Money (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the middle 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Limelight at border
Rockstar (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the outer 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Money at border and apply all over crease generously, making sure the color is as deep as you want it
Infamous (from the UD Mariposa Palette) used to blend out top border of Rockstar into the brow-bone
Apply a creamy black eyeliner to the upper lash line (I used Sumita Beauty's Kala Black Color Intense Pencil)
Line the outer 2/3rds of the lower waterline and lash line with a deep purple (I used Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Ransom)

"Set" this eyeliner with Rockstar, same eyeshadow used in step 4 above

Line the inner 1/3rd of the lower waterline and lash line with an icy blue (I used Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal 008 Light Blue)

"Set" this eyeliner with a light blue eyeshadow (I used the blue half of the shade Aura from the UD Glinda Palette)

Feather out any parts of the makeup that are too harsh, for me this was the inner corner transition, so I went in with a very light peach to fade the pink eyeshadow I used into my browbone color (UD Glinda Palette "Illusion")
To finish off the look, I used the black mascara Jordana Best Lash Extreme!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Hautelook Exclusive Pucker Up! Lip Beauty Bag

I've got a great deal to share with you guys today but it's exclusive to Hautelook members (Hautelook is free to join, by the way, so if you aren't a member, go sign up!). The best part of this "mystery bag" is that it's no mystery at all! I will give you the whole list of products and even the colors they come in! Talk about smart shopping! I will also be providing you with the retail prices of each single product. As a bonus, everything comes in a cute lipstick case as a freebie bonus. The only catch is that with Hautelook, you do have to pay for shipping (which depends on your location I believe, but mine was around $7.00). Hautelook values this bag at $160 worth of products and we can buy it for the absolute steal of $24! You can purchase the bag here.

The bag contains the following items (sources are linked for the retail value):

Laura Geller Italian Marble Lipstick, Sugared Maple (glazed caramel with creamy vanilla) - Retail: $18
LORAC Lip Lustre Gloss, Ruby - Retail: $15
Mirenesse Glossy Kiss, Flirty Kiss - Retail: $29.95
Mirenesse Lip Bomb #2, Siren Red - Retail: $39.00
Swoon Lip Gloss Reusable Wand - innovative cosmetic tool that is designed to retrieve every bit of gloss from a lip gloss tube - Retail: $15.00
La Fresh Lip/Eye Makeup Remover Packette - just 1 of these - Retail: 0.83
Lord & Berry Shining Lipstick 20100, Fire (orangey red) - Retail: $16.00
Allegro Lip Gloss Case - couldn't find this anywhere
Crown Brush Lip Liner Brush (synthetic hair) Retail: $3.00
NYX Retractable Lip Liner, Ruby, Fruit Punch, Nectar, Nude Pink, Citrus (as far as I can tell, this is the only product with variation) - Retail: $4.50

So when everything is totaled up, I get a value of $141.28, the price Hautelook has of $160 is definitely a little bit over-inflated. But I'm not adding in the values of the lip gloss case or the makeup bag (because those, to me, with any mystery bag or subscription box, are essentially freebies).

Hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope it helps you decide whether or not you want to purchase the bag!

Also, please keep in mind what it says on the bag (at least when I'm looking at the page today)!

Happy shopping!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Monarch & Chrysalis

Monarch & Chrysalis by lethalglam featuring Kat Von D's brand new eyeshadow palettes, exclusively available at Sephora, called Crysalis (purples) and Monarch (oranges)