Flower Beauty Cosmetic Haul

Well Hello Hello! Look what we got here! A friend of mine told me which Wal-Mart she went to and spotted the Flower Cosmetics. I tried really hard not to grab everything on display so I narrowed it down to the products I think I would get the most use of.

Before I get on with this haul, I just want to make a couple announcements...

First, I must pat myself in the back because even though February might have been a short month, I think this have been the most productive month in my blog life! This would be my 61st post of the month! WHEWWWEEE! I broke my own record and I wasn't even aiming to do this much really but I must say that since I quit wasting my time on Luuux, I've had a lot more time to give 110% of myself for my blog. It was a good change I must say. I feel more accomplished, more focused, and more productive...Are you able to keep up with me? My small and simple goal is to have something up on a daily basis. I have a full time day job and I never pre-schedule my posts even if they are ready to post, I always publish them personally because as soon as I do so, I also link it on my Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Typically, you will see me put something new between 7 pm and 11 pm, US central time.

For some time, I've noticed a significant drop in the amount of traffic I was getting daily but now it's picking back up close to where it used to be. I'm relieved to see that. I decided to revamp my page and I'm quite happy with it, however, I am still working on some blog improvement project soon to come. I'm currently tackling the Nail Swatch Gallery project, which is probably one of the biggest. Eh, I know I thought about it or mentioned it like a year ago so now would be a good time to start since I've been able to focus more on my blog. My second project will be the Lip Swatch Gallery. Third project, will be the makeup look gallery. Wish me luck! I'm very excited about it but that's going to take time and I'll try my hardest not to slack off, lol. If you have other blog improvement/ideas you would like to see on my blog, I am open to suggestions.

Ok...The haul now...

On the left, Kiss Stick High Shine Lip Color in the shade Sweet Peony. On the right, Kiss Stick Velvet Lip Color in the shade So Gladiola. I paid $6.98 each. I don't know for sure if price vary from one store to another or if it is the same across the board but I'm listing what I paid for reference.

Ok, one thing I wished I did but didn't and I will put it out there so that you don't run into the same problem. The picture above shows you how they seal the packaging. However, even if it appears sealed, I found that both of the lipsticks I purchased have been swatched by some inconsiderate idiot!! Excuse my French but it really pisses me off. The thing is, the dotted line is very easy to break into and when you put the cap back, it doesn't look like anyone broke into it because there is no obvious sign of it until you open it that is. So my advice to you is just open the damn thing and make sure no one swiped their germs on them. I had to sanitize both of these lipsticks with alcohol.

Next thing I picked up is a Creme Eyeshadow in the shade Lilac You A Lot! This was $7.98. I almost wanted get another shade but this color stood out the most and I wanted to try it first to see if I like the formula.

And finally, I grabbed the Long Wear Eyeliner in the shade Aubergine. This was $5.98.

So this concludes my small Flower Beauty haul. I actually wore the creme eyeshadow and eyeliner today but completely forgot about the lipstick because I was rushing. Will give you a review in a week or two or when I'm confident I can give you a complete and accurate review.

Have you tried the brand yet? If so, what did you get and did you like it?

Layla Ceramic Effect 32

Hey Yalll!

I kept forgetting about this nail polish. I purchased it during my last visit to Ulta. Eh I can't even remember when that was but it did seem like a long time ago. I could be wrong, lol.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a Ceramic Effect but it looked interesting so I only grabbed this shade #32, which was the prettiest one they had available at the time I purchased it. The display was pretty much almost empty. I'm surprised these didn't come with names. Their holographic polishes did.

This is what Layla says about the Ceramic Effect polishes...

A single action for perfect nails - Nail polish with extraordinary professional result !
Thanks to a special density, “Layla Ceramic Effect” leaves your nails always shiny and very smooth .
“Ceramic Effect" does not require the application of a nail polish base , you can have perfect nails in less time using only and exclusively " Layla Ceramic Nail Polish Effect" -
5 different tones suitable for all your needs !!
Two of the winning features that you will find using the new “ Layla Ceramic Effect Nail Polish " are brightness and drying speed.

Ok so I did find that the drying speed was fairly good and I liked the brightness of this particular shade. It was very shiny and metallic. This was rather sheer and in spite of doing 3 coats there is a hint of visible nail line but it's forgivable in my opinion. Some polishes can get away with it and this one does.  It's a very light cool toned gold. Looks fantastic in person, well that is if you don't mind that kind of finish.

The only other polish that I had that might look similar to it was China Glaze White Cap. White Cap was much sheerer and lacked the dimension that  CE32 has. However, the shimmers are pretty similar. I did 3 coats on each of them and as you can see White Cap would work better as a layering polish, whereas CE32 can actually be worn alone.

What do you think of this shade? Yay or nay? For me, it's a yayy :D

OPI Sprung Swatches

I should've taken a picture of my car this morning but was in a rush to get to work so I kinda forgot about it. I wanted to show you guys how much snow we got last night, looks like 7 inches in total. My car was covered pretty good and I had to shovel a bit around the parking stall in order to be able to get out. Schools were cancelled but we still had to work...dang it! Yeah, I should know better that if you work in Healthcare or Retail, having a day off due to inclement weather is wishful thinking. I still wished! lol.

Since I'm in the process of reviewing a few items. I have nothing to show at the moment but nail swatches, oops! :p

Sprung is part of the Mariah Carey collection, which just recently came out. I didn't jump on this one right away because I felt like it sort of look similar to a couple polishes that I already own. After spotting it at a nail supply store for cheaper, I decided to get it.

Well, after swatching it,  I'm glad to see that I don't have a dupe for it. Sprung looks like a reddish copper foil metallic with pink and gold shimmers. It definitely looks better in person than in pictures. I'm totally loving it. I honestly can't remember if I did 2 or 3 coats, what can I say, I swatched like 10 polishes that day and it slipped my mind, but I know it didn't require more than 3 coats. Formula was nice and easy to work it. Pigmentation was good also.

Love it? Leave it? What is your favorite nail polish finish?

Sinful Colors In the Spotlight Swatches

Here's a swatch of one of the new Sinful Colors glitters, In The Spotlight, which in fact does look similar to the China Glaze Prismatic Chroma polishes that came out last year.

In the Spotlight is a light shimmery seafoam green with small multi-colored glitters. The first coat was much sheerer than I anticipated. However, I was pleased that I was able to got a good opacity within 3 coats.
Formula-wise, it's thick and gooey, like most of their polishes. Not really a deal breaker since it was manageable and less than $2.00.

I apologize for the lack of natural lighting in these pix. I try to take pictures of my nail swatches in natural light as much as possible but it just wasn't available for me at the time.

More Swatches - Rimmel Scandal Eyes Shadow Sticks and Kohl Kajal

Hello ladies,

Today, we had another blizzard. By the time I got out of work, it looked pretty bad out there already but I took my time and got home safely. Drove 25-30 mph, that was as fast as I could go without my car going into a ditch or smashing into someone else. I'm still surprised how fast some people still drive. Now getting out of the parking stall tomorrow may be another battle. We are expected to have about 6 inches in total.

Anyhow, aside from the wonderful weather from this corner of the world, I wanted to show some more swatches of the new Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eyeshadow Sticks and Kohl Kajal. I've already done a review on other shades, so feel free to take a look HERE and HERE if you haven't already.

From left to right:

• Paranoid Purple. This is a dark smoked purple with a bit of pink shimmers in it.
• Witness White. This is a shimmery pearly white.
• Bulletproof Beige. This is a shimmery golden beige. 

The consistency of these are really nice. They are very creamy and pigmented. The only problem you might run into is getting uneven application if you're going to apply them all over your lids like an eyeshadow. I would use them as base or eyeliner instead. They're creamy but not creamy enough to spread like a good cream shadow. Otherwise, once they're on, they stay on without creasing.

I picked up another kohl kajal in the shade Deep Blue. I was expecting this one to look much richer and darker. It doesn't apply as smooth as I would like and I wished the pigmentation was a bit better but it's still a good drugstore pencil liner overall.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think of them?

OPI Wizard of Oz Collection Swatches

Hello Lovelies,

I must've swatched like 10 nail polishes yesterday. Whew! Just literally got done editing the pix and wanted to have these up asap.

There were 2 or 3 other polishes from this collection that I didn't pick up because they were just very simple and didn't look unique enough to purchase.

Which is Witch? has a clear base with 3 different types of glitters small holographic, bigger holographic, and small holographic bar. You get plenty of glitters with just one pass and the base is slightly on the thick side.

Here I have it swatched over Sally Hansen Plum Luck (1 coat) and I did two coats by itself on the ring finger.

When Monkeys Fly! has a clear base, also on the thicker side, with silver holographic glitters and jumbo gold glitter. The gold glitter is curved so you get that 3D effect on the nails. I personally would prefer if the glitters were lying flat. You can pick up a pretty good amount of glitter within the first pass.

Here I have it layered over Sally Hansen White on. You only need 1 or 2 coats, depending of how much glitter you want. I love this color combo. Looks fancy!

Lights of Emerald City, this one looks interesting but I'm not really feeling it. I feel like something is missing, like it could've used another type of glitter. It's got a clear base and larger squared white glitter and smaller squared iridescent gold glitters.

Because it had the word "emerald" in it, I wanted to pair it with an emerald green polish. I used OPI Jade is the new black as base color for these swatches, except for the ring finger.

The liquid sand finish debuted with the Mariah Carey collection; however, OPI also decided to introduce another liquid sand polish in the Wizard of Oz collection. This is What Wizardry Is This? a dark brown with gold shimmers. I like the liquid sand finish but I'm not too sure how I feel about this particular shade. I feel like it needs more gold sparkles. Here I only did 2 coats and as you can see it's pretty opaque already.
You do need to give it a few minutes to dry for the sandy texture to really come through.
On the last picture, I applied a top coat over it. I love how it gives more depth and dimension to the color and sparkles.

Overall, I think these are a nice addition to my collection, though to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. So what do you think of this collection? Planning on getting any of these?

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip Gel Cream Liner Glam Hazel Eyes

This is a post that should've been done way back then. I purchased these gel liners a during a CVS clearance sale and just decided it was time I test these out. Hmm, yeah... :-/


Packaging

• These Shimmer Strip Gel Liners come in a trio that you could either stack together or keep them separate. 
• A small brush is also included. I find the brush to be rather thick so if you plan on using this brush to line your eyes, keep in mind that it will create a thicker line. 
• .21 oz or 6 g (total net weight)

• So in this trio, you get a light shimmery antique gold, a medium shimmery lavender, and black with gold micro glitters. 

Product

• The light gold and lavender shade performed rather poorly, which is a shame because the colors are  gorgeous. I found them sheer. They didn't feel creamy at all and applied patchy. They also faded quickly and didn't last very well. 
• The black shade however was the opposite. Very creamy, pigmented, and long-wearing. After 8 hours of wear, I notice minimal fading and smudging.

Final Thought

Not worth buying because two out of three are pretty but useless. I've had better luck with other Physicians Formula Gel Cream trios. I tried using the gold and lavender as cream shadows and that didn't work either. Really too bad because the colors are so pretty! If you can be happy with just the black shade then I hope you can find this set on clearance like I did.

My rating: 4/10

Haul - Missha, Maybelline, Rimmel, Sinful Colors, and OPI

Hello Beauties,

Just wanted to to show you my latest acquisition. Afterward, I need to get on a roll with some reviews and swatches. I was up till 5 am, due to my late afternoon nap on Saturday, lol. So with that said, I did not go to work, since that was optional.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you probably saw when I posted about the Missha sale. I can't even remember now but I think they were either 30% or 40% off. My sister placed an order because she wanted some stuff and I asked her to pick up a couple things for me since I didn't want to go crazy and order things I don't really need just to get the free shipping, lol.

So what I got is the Green Tea Makeup Remover and the Super Aqua Refreshing Cleansing Foam. These are products I usually use up quickly, however since I still have a lot of cleansers to go through and this Missha cleanser is so huge. I think I'll be good for a while.

I saw a new display of Sinful Colors at Walgreens and these glittery polishes were reminiscent of the China Glaze and Wet N Wild collections that came out last year. I only decided to pick up In the Spotlight. I couldn't remember if I had something like this already.

Also from Walgreens, I picked up two Maybelline Color Whispers in the shade Berry Ready and A Plum Prospect because they were on BOGO sale. I know I'm kinda late in the game but I wasn't able to spot them on sale previously, which is why I waited till I did.

And then CVS sent me a coupon, so you know I did my round to use up my coupon. I picked up a few home necessities along with more Rimmel Eyeliners and Shadow Stick, another Milani lipstick, and more Color Whispers. Both Rimmel and Maybelline were on BOGO sale.

Here's what I got:

• Rimmel Scandal Eyes Khol Kajal pencil liner in Deep Blue.
• Rimmel Scandal Eyes Shadow Stick in Paranoid Purple, Bulletproof Beige, and Witness White.
• Milani Color Statement Black Cherry
• Maybelline Color Whispers in Orange Attitude and Mocha Muse

And then, as if I needed another hole in my head, lol, I decided to stop by the nail supply store after work yesterday to so see if they had anything new and they DID! So I went a little crazy there too.

In the picture above, I picked up 4 polishes from the new Wizard of Oz collection. From left to right:

• Which is Witch?
• When Monkeys Fly!
• Lights of Emerald City
• What Wizardry Is This? This one is a liquid sand finish, which I'm really excited about. 

Clockwise from the top left:

• OPI DS Magic, I almost bought this at Ulta last time I was there. I'm glad I didn't. 
• OPI DS Opulence
• OPI Polka.com
• OPI Sprung

The Designer Series polishes were $7.00 (retail for $12) and the other OPI were $5 (retail for $8). I'm so glad I didn't pay retail for these. If I did, that would've been $72.00! I saved $28.00.

The odd ball of the nail polishes I got at the nail supply store was this Savina Nail Color (only $2.50) in the shade Black Pearl. Look at that duochrome! I can't wait to swatch all these polishes! Today would be a good day. I hope I have enough cotton balls to massacre, lol.

Which one of these products are you most looking forward to see swatches and review?