IPSY Unboxing - July 2014 "Sensationally Sunkissed"

This month's Ipsy bag featured a wide variety of products, a quick gloss-over reveals nail polish, sunscreen, hair treatment, lip balm and cream eyeshadow. This is definitely a subscription service for those who are looking to expand their overall beauty collection.

The first item is a full sized Models Own nail polish in "Red Sea" from the Splash Collection. I'm happy with this since it seems to be a full color polish with the added bonus of chunky glitter. Retail value: $8.57 (Full Size)

This month I received another item from Pixi Beauty, a Mini Tinted Brilliance Balm in "Pretty Pink", this is a deluxe sized sample. Retail value: $8.40

I also received a Bare Minerals 5-in-1 BB advanced performance cream eyeshadow in "Divine Wine", this is a deluxe sized sample. Retail value: $5.40

This month's bag contained Marrakesh Split End Mender & Preventer (Retail value: $5.99) as well as Pur-Lisse sunscreen/moisturizer (Retail value: $16.18). Both are deluxe-sized items that I will get use out of as I tend to over-wash my hair and dry it out with various shampoos and hair dyes. The sunscreen is an essential item and it's so small and cute that I will be happy to carry it in my purse or in the car for emergencies!

 I have heard many complaints from various beauty bloggers that they didn't really like the bag this month but to be quite honest, I really do. It's a larger more square-ish configuration than the usual and it has cute lace detailing. Since the bag isn't overly patterned or busy, I think this is the ideal sort of bag for carrying my travel cosmetics.

The value of my July 2014 IPSY bag was $44.54 which is a wonderful value for the $10 I paid. If you want to sign up for your very own IPSY monthly subscription, click here. 

First Look: Anastasia Amrezy Palette (Limited Edition)

For those of us that are avid fans of Anastasia Beverly Hills, whether it be for their brow products or eyeshadows, there is an exciting newly released palette created by a very popular Instagram makeup artist named Amrezy. Since this collection was formulated through a collaboration between Anastasia's own daughter (who is responsible for the buttery texture and pigmentation of the company's eyeshadows) and a makeup artist who clearly has great taste, since her own Instagram photos are breathtaking, this palette is a huge win. You can purchase the palette on the Anastasia website or through ULTA.

I am in awe at the color selection. These colors are everything I have ever wanted in a palette... it has a good mix of neutrals for every day wear and some pops of gemstone colors (Iridescent Purple and Emerald) which are flattering for all eye colors. There are 10 shadows in total, with the top row containing shimmery satin finish and the bottom row being matte (a format popularized by the Lorac Pro palette).

The palette also features a double-sided brush with one side suited to deposit color onto the eyelid and the other side is a small crease brush, perfect for creating cut-crease looks or blending out your colors.

You might think that this palette looks familiar to the Lavish Palette but I think that the shades and formulations of the eyeshadows is superior in the Amrezy palette. The reason I say this is that although Sienna performs similarly to Morocco, Pink Sapphire, Ballet and Black Diamond were disappointing (they do not stay on the lid well and need to be packed on heavily). The pigmentation seems to be much more potent with the colors of the Amrezy palette (Iridescent Purple is far superior to Pink Sapphire) and I have not yet noticed any fall out.

All of the swatches below were created with a single swipe:

Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Palette - Top Row Swatches (Shimmer)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Palette - Bottom Row Swatches (Matte)

If you don't own any Anastasia palette, I think this is an amazing introductory palette for your collection, especially since it is VERY reasonably priced at $29. You will get a lot of wear from these colors and manage to achieve a wide variety of looks. The packaging is absolutely adorable and extremely feminine, this is a product that feels much more luxe than its price tag.

If you have other Anastasia palettes in your collection, you should still pick this one up since I'm 99.9% positive that this is the best eyeshadow formulation so far from the brand.

New Urban Decay Clearance Goodies

I wanted to quickly share some clearance items I picked up from the Urban Decay sale section. If you didn't know about this portion of Urban Decay's website, I highly encourage you to check it out frequently as things do become available pretty regularly when they are phasing out old favorites or formulations.

I was able to get my hands on Urban Decay's new formulation of Grifter (light violet) eyeshadow (reduced to $6 from $18) as well as two lip junkie lipglosses (reduced to $5 from $19). The lip junkie glosses I purchased are in the colors Love Junkie and Naked.

The new Grifter formulation has much less overt glitter and fall-out and is much more buttery smooth. This happens to be my absolute favorite color in the range of Urban Decay eyeshadows (I first fell in love with this when I received their Alice in Wonderland palette as a gift). 

Although, you can tell from the above photos, the Love Junkie and Naked lipglosses look vastly different in the packaging, when they are swatched or applied, there is not a huge difference. They are both sheer and buildable colors and although Love Junkie leans more maroon and Naked is a tad orangey, they really do give a similar effect... they also taste minty and feel slightly plumping.

IPSY Glam Bag - Pretty in Paradise - June 2014 Review

The June 2014 IPSY Glam Bag was one I was pleased with. I would say my favorite items were the NYX Butter Gloss (I've been a fan of these for a long time) and the OFRA Universal Eyebrow Pencil. If you want to join IPSY, click here.

I redeemed some points to receive the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in the color "Light It Up" which is a bright orange shade that I really enjoy. Retail value: $18.00 (FULL SIZE)

The OFRA Universal Eyebrow Pencil truly did work for my medium brown eyebrow color and didn't lean red at all, in fact it seemed to have taupe undertones to cancel the redness out. This is my first experience with an OFRA product and I'm pleasantly surprised! Retail value: $13.00 (FULL SIZE)

The NYX Butter Gloss in "Creme Brulee" is actually a shade I didn't own so this will fit nicely in my collection! It's very sheer, smells like vanilla cupcakes and is perfect to wear over NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream to hydrate your lips. Retail value: $5.00 (FULL SIZE)

I received a Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray - that'll just be added to my already enormous collection of these sprays from various kits I have purchased and my subscription services! Retail value: $2.50

I also received the Realtree Perfume which smells a little bit like citrus candy, it's a little bit strong for my tastes but it's a small size so I'm sure I'll find a use for it. Retail value: $2.00

The last product is my absolute dud of the whole lot. The Be a Bombshell Mascara in "Lash Out" smelled absolutely foul like a mixture between burning rubber and gasoline... it smelled just as bad as the Pop Beauty Plump Pout sample from months ago - and it irritated my eyes, to boot! I couldn't even wear it, I had to immediately wipe it off my eyes and ruin my entire eyeshadow look! I highly discourage anyone from purchasing this product, there must be something chemically wrong with the packaging or the product itself. IPSY has been gracious enough to issue me a replacement item (not sure what yet though). Retail value: $15.00 (FULL SIZE)

I really liked the IPSY Glam Bag this month, the pattern was beautiful as it was designed by Rebecca Minkoff. It felt like "Pretty in Paradise" because of the abstract flowers and pineapples on the bag! This is definitely a cute one I'll keep around!

The total value of my bag was $37.50 but with my redeemed bonus, it shot up to $55.50. 

Join the beauty revolution, go to IPSY's website.

Influenster Surfs Up VoxBox and Not Your Mother's Beach Babe (#NYMBeachBabe)

Another Influenster Voxbox campaign is in progress! I was lucky to have received this box along with its contents! If you want an invitation to Influenster, just write a comment below with your email address and I'll make sure to send you one! 

This box had a tropical theme and I thought a fitting leaf display would be in order!

In the VoxBox, the stand-out products were the Not Your Mother's Beach Babe #NYMBeachBabe Texturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. They help keep braids in place, curls last and tame frizz, all of the things I look for in a texturizing product. Previously, I had only tried their Sea Salt Beach Spray but I really enjoyed these thoroughly and would definitely re-purchase. 

Another honorable mention was the Sinful Colors shade in Aqua, try out this inexpensive line at Walgreens for a huge variety of colors. 

Product Review: NYX Haul

Ulta had a 40% off sale on all NYX cosmetics last week and I indulged in getting some of the products I had been eyeing. If you've seen my previous review, you'll know that I really enjoyed the NYX Hot Singles. I have heard other bloggers and vloggers rave about the HD concealer and the Baked Blush, the color lip balm and roll on shimmer actually arrived in my Total Beauty Favorites Sampler Box (use code 2FER to get 2 boxes for the price of one)

I purchased 2 eyeshadow hot singles in the colors Money Maker and Dare. The pigmentation of these is on par with the other colors I have reviewed in the past. They are similar to MAC eyeshadows in terms of color, wear and staying power. I also got the NYX Baked Blush, which appears in the pan to be quite shimmery, in the color Wanderlust. To my surprise, this was very lightly pigmented and is probably better used as a highlight or cheek topper rather than a blush - or you can use it as a blush for a bronze-y more blended look. The shimmer really doesn't show up as much as I thought it would, but that isn't necessarily a negative.

Here are my swatches of the products.

I received the NYX Color Lip Balm in the color Merci and the NYX roll on Shimmer in Taupe from my Total Beauty Collection box. I was pleasantly surprised with the lip balm! It has a sweet taste to it, takes only 1 swipe for a sheer wash of color and can easily be built up into a bold, vibrant color on your lips. This is a great item for on-the-go application where you don't want to worry too much about getting perfect edges, it's very forgiving.  The shimmer in Taupe is very pigmented and has extremely good color payoff, but is very prone to glitter fall-out, so I don't know if I could use this all over my lid, as I would probably fear the glitter falling into my eye. If you're going to use this on your eyes, I highly recommend using a setting product or some cosmetic glitter glue. 

The NYX HD Concealer in Fair was my "gut instinct" purchase, because from all of the swatches I saw online, this looked like it had good opacity and would be a great brightening concealer. My gut was right, it is! You can tell by my swatches, it even retains the majority of its opacity when blended out. I think the color is a good match for me and it does act brightening because it doesn't have as yellow of undertones as my skin, so it makes certain areas appear slightly more highlighted. This concealer has good staying power but I did set it with my Tarte Maracuja powder, as with all under-eye correctors.

Hope you found this catch-all review helpful!

Product Review: Smashbox Full Exposure Travel Palette

The Smashbox Full Exposure Palette is one I've constantly looked at in Sephora but have never purchased because the packaging wasn't gimmicky enough to draw me in or there was always something else I was coveting more. However, when I learned that Macy's had a travel sized version of the palette featuring 8 shades from the original 14 of the palette, I was thrilled! This was exactly what I wanted - to dabble in the palette and avoid colors I may not be incredibly fond of (such as some of the repeating nudes and grays).

The travel-sized Smashbox Full Exposure palette is so small it fits in the palm of my hand (and I have small hands) and it retails for $22 (Macy's often has discounts, however so I got mine for $15). The full sized palette features 14 colors and retails for $49. The travel palette features 8 shades at .02625oz each versus the 0.035 oz sized shadows of the original palette. The travel palette is sleek, can fit in any purse and seems quite resilient as it is made out of plastic - it even contains a miniature mirror for any on-the-go touch-ups.

Top Row: Chocolate brown with golden pearl, soft gold with gold and silver pearl, light tan with gold and silver pearl, midtone slate with silver pearl

Bottom Row: Matte warm chocolate brown, soft matte midtone tan, creamy matte beige, ashy dark brown

Here are my swatches of the palette. I'm incredibly happy with this travel-sized palette as I don't think I would have splurged on the full size and this really satisfies my craving for this line. I really think this palette is fairly similar to the Lorac Pro Palette but it is a travel friendly version. The shadows are buttery, perform well and are easy to blend... I find that this would be particularly useful for someone who wants an easy look or is new to eyeshadow combinations.