Aveeno Skin Relief 24hr Moisturizing Lotion Review

I totally forgot that I was already finished writing up the review for this lotion. It's just been sitting around as a draft for a few days now. Ooops...

Packaging

• Simple and practical. A little flat on the side for easy handling and YAY for a pump! I swear all lotions should come with a pump. 
• 12 oz or 354 ml

Product

• Claims to offer 24 hr moisture, relieve sensitive, itchy, and extra dry skin. 
• The lotion absorbs quickly, sinks right into my skin, and does not leave any greasy or sticky feeling behind, which to me is fantastic! 
• I have very dry skin on my legs and ankles and after using this lotion for a few weeks now, I have noticed improvement and my skin looks smooth and healthy. I don't feel I like get moisture for 24 hours but it does seem to provide that for at least 12 hours. 
• If you want something that smells good, then this isn't the lotion for you. From my past experience, scented lotion really did nothing for my dry skin. This lotion is fragrance free. That might not be a bad thing after all. Being fragrance free also means that you won't run into the possibility of another scent clashing with your perfume. 

Final Thought

I would ditch all of my scented lotions for this one. It's good for dry skin and have provided more moisture than any other lotions I've used. Granted, I am not a lotion hoarder and it's actually a product that I often forget or am too lazy to use. Bottom line is if you suffer from dry skin, this lotion will give it the TLC that it needs. 

Rating: 10/10

Price: $9.00-$10.00

Availability: Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS

What's your favorite body lotion?

Stila After Glow Lip Color Vivid Violet - Swatch and Review

I cannot wait for the end of Friday...Almost there. I always get excited when it's close to the weekends. I'm pretty sure you all do too. I have lots of photos and no reviews. I was supposed to work on some reviews last night but I passed out early, napped for 3 hours...then woke up...then couldn't sleep and stayed up pretty much all night. Slept a couple hours and it was time to get up for work. I did not want to get up.
I should've done my reviews last night but instead, I realized that I left my nail swatch gallery in the back burner...Yeah, I'm still working on that and I don't think I'm half way there yet. It's a big project and I might have to retake some swatches...but that's what I did for the rest of the time I was awake last night.

Anyhoo...that's beside the point. I gotta get this review rolling. I purchased this Stila lip pencil a couple weeks ago at Ulta. What grabbed my interest about these lippies is that the sale associate told me they glow in the dark...well technically under black light but I didn't know that  until after I had already bought it. Slapped it on at night,  hoping it will glow but didn't. It's a cool thing for you party people but even if you're not planning on wearing this under black light, it's still nice for day time wear too.

Here's what Stila says about these lip pencils

Dazzle by day and glow by night. Stila’s black light responsive lip color contains florescent pigments that are three times brighter than conventional colors, creating a vibrant pop of color in the sunlight. Once the sun goes down, black light sensitive pigments cause the product to glow when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. 

Features & Benefits:

• Medium, buildable coverage with staining properties for lasting color
• Sunflower seed oil nourishes and moisturizes, while oat kernel extract soothes and calms the lips
• Algae extract helps retain moisture and contains antioxidant benefits
• Glycerin attracts water from the environment and the lower layers of the skin increasing hydration levels
• Natural blend of waxes deliver a creamy, easy-to-apply consistency
• Vitamins C & E provide antioxidant benefits
• Cherry flavored

Packaging

• This lip color comes in a retractable jumbo lip pencil packaging similar to the Revlon Balm Stains. 
• .10 oz or 2.9 g

Product

• Vivid Violet is a bright magenta purple. I absolutely love the color. Reminiscent of MAC Violetta but without the blue sheen.
• The color is buildable and you can wear it sheer or layer it for more intensity. I really like that versatility. On the swatches, I'm wearing it to its full potential. It's not completely opaque but nearly there. 
• It feels balmy but not slippery and has a subtle shine. The color can look a little patchy if you look up close, otherwise it's not really that obvious. 
• It also stains which makes the color long-wearing. It wears up to 6 hours before I notice signs of fading. That's pretty awesome I think. 
• I found the formula fairly hydrating. It did keep my lips comfortable for those first 6 hours. 
• I can detect a subtle sweet cherry scent. I like it. 

Final Thought

I'm a little sad that I didn't get a chance to test this lippie under black light, it would have been so cool. Otherwise, as a regular lip color, I really enjoyed the color, the long-wear, and the staining capability. I also appreciate that it kept my lips hydrated for a fairly long time too.

Rating: 9.5/10

Price: $18.00
Availability: Stila, Sephora


What do you think of this lip color?

Hard Candy Nail Polish Swatch - Glitter Jam and Crush On Lava

I've passed by the Hard Candy display at my local Wal-Mart many times and they still haven't restocked that one lipgloss I've been wanting. It's been out of stock since March. I guess I'll have to drive around and check out other Wal-Mart cause it's getting hopeless now. Anyways, always had an itch to grab more of these Hard Candy polishes so I gave in and got two more.

Crush on Lava is a gorgeous duochrome polish. Wow! I really wished I picked it up sooner. It's a dark cranberry base with fuchsia/bronze shimmers. The color shift is very strong and noticeable. I needed 3 coats for opaque coverage. It applied streaky and patchy on the first coat but otherwise, the formula is fairly easy to work with.

Glitter Jam has a sheer jelly pink base and packed with pink, blue, and some green glitters. You would need 3 coats for opaque coverage. After I was done with the pictures, I noticed how much lighter my pinky nail looks compared to the others. I must have applied a thicker coat on the other nails. I'm also wearing a top coat on the swatches.

Price: $4.00
Availability: Wal-Mart

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil Cucumber - Swatch and Review

Happy Hump day!

I cannot believe that the month of June is almost over. I have nothing planned for the summer and I better think of something to do before it's gone. I have over 100 hours of vacation I need to put to use. Thinking about it just makes me realize how I'm always working and hardly ever take some time off. I don't know if I'm just getting old or what. I just don't know how to have fun anymore. I told my kids to go figure what they want me to do with them for the summer cause I'm too pooped after work to plan a vacation, lol. How are you spending your summer?

I've been into bright colors lately. Therefore, I have a bright colored pencil review for you today...


Packaging

• Jumbo pencil that requires sharpening. I definitely prefer my cream eyeshadow in a pencil form. It's very convenient and practical. It can also act line a liner. 
• .18 oz or 5 g
• My previous jumbo eye pencils all have cracked caps so I wish NYX would reinforce the caps cause they break so easily.

Product

• Cucumber is a bright chartreuse cream color with a fairly good pigmentation. It's a great base to add a little more punch to a similar eyeshadow color.
• It feels creamy and applied very smoothly without pulling or tugging. It was also very easy to blend and allows you plenty of play time for that.
• NYX jumbo eye pencils work best as eyeshadow base and with the use of a good primer. Otherwise on their own they don't work very well and are prone to creasing and fading. 

Final Thought

Great as a base to bring out the color and intensity of your eyeshadows but not so great on its own as it can crease and fade easily. One thing I love about these jumbo pencils is that they come in so many colors. I really wish NYX would reformulate them for better wear cause if they did, oh boy! They could potentially blow other brands out of the water but I wonder why they haven't tried.

Rating: 8/10

Price: $3.50-$5.00
Availability: Ulta, Cherry Culture

Do you have a favorite NYX Jumbo Eye pencil?

Blue Green Makeup Look and Tutorial

I'm back with another bright and colorful look. I couldn't think of a name for this look so the title definitely lacks creativity, lol. Hopefully, the look makes up for it. I must've been tired when I edited my pictures because after all that work, I realized that I completely messed up on the tutorial pictures, missing some so I had to redo it.

Product Used 

Face

• Josie Maran Blush/Bronzer Duo
• NARS Orgasm Illuminator 
• Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer 

Eyes

• Urban Decay primer original
• Too Faced Liquif-Eye Shadow Collection Palette
• Inglot Matte 371 and Inglot Matte 338
• Calvin Klein Long-wear cream eyeshadow Reef
• Physicians Formula Eyebooster Ultra Black
• MAC Pearlglide Intense eyeliner Undercurrent
• CoverGirl Liquilineblast Green Glow
• Sally Hansen Forever Stay Eye Pencil Deep Jade
• Illamasqua cream eyeshadow Intrude
• Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel Espresso

Lips

• Revlon Coral Berry

Tutorial

1. I primed my eyes with UDPP
2. I applied Inglot Matte 371, a bright turquoise blue on my crease, creating a sharp winged cut-crease...if that makes any sense. I deepened the outer end of it with Inglot Matte 338 to give it a bit more depth.
3. Below the crease, I applied CK Reef all over lids, and over it I patted on a bright shimmery chartreuse color from the Too Face palette.
4. I lined my upper lash line with Physicians Formula Eyebooster ultra black creating a winged liner. Over the black I used MAC Undercurrent. It adds a bit of green sparkles to the eyes.
5. On the lower lash line, I applied CoverGirl Liquiline Blast Green Glow in the inner corner and MAC Undercurrent on the outer. On the waterline, I used Sally Hansen Deep Jade.
6. I applied a shimmery beige on the brow bone and filled in my brows with Illamasqua Intrude and Anastasia Brow Gel.
7. I dusted a bit more of the chartreuse eyeshadow underneath the liner
8. I added false lashes.
9. Apply highlighter, blush, bronzer, and lipstick.

What's your favorite summer color?

Love & Beauty Nail Polish Swatch

While I was at the mall this past weekend, I was at Forever 21 checking out their jewelries and makeup as usual. I found these two polishes that I thought was pretty so I scooped them up.

It's kinda sad  how Forever 21 doesn't have fun names for their nail polishes. This one is labeled baby blue hot pink. The base is a sheer jelly light bluish grey. The polish has larger pink and silver glitters mixed with tiny purple glitters. The formula applied patchy and I had to finagle with the glitters to spread them out evenly. A little bit of work but doable and the result looks pretty decent with 3 coats.

The second polish is labeled as baby blue and it's a sheer jelly baby blue with very fine blue shimmers. Super pretty but application was not so nice. This polish was streaky and patchy. It's also very sheer. I'm wearing 4 coats on the swatches and I can still see some uneven patches. You need to wait a few minutes between coats as it tend to drag when you layer it. I would definitely recommend you use a more opaque color as base.

These Forever 21 polishes aren't too bad for $2.80 a bottle. The formula can use some improvement but otherwise, they do look lovely on the nails.

Sephora Haul

Happy Monday...or what's left of it. I'm pretty tired today. I feel like I haven't slept enough so I will probably pass out early tonight.

Wanted to make a quick post about what I bought this past weekend. I went back to Sephora to return the Urban Decay BB cream that didn't work out for me. If you missed out on the review, you can view it HERE.

While I was there, I was hoping to find the new Disney collection but I guess it's not out in store yet. I wanted to try out the Hourglass face primer, the smaller size, but they ran out of that so in the end, I only ended up with the new Sephora + Pantone Universe Astral Lip glaze set, $24.00. They are supposed to be multi-dimensional and holographic, according to Sephora. I will get you swatches and reviews in the next few days.

I redeemed some Beauty Insider points for the Korres Greek Yogurt night cream and the BB texture hair gel.

So far that's it for my little haul. I took advantage of the Missha Semi-Annual sale, with sales up to 75% off, but I have yet to receive my order and will show you what I got once it's delivered. The sale is currently still going on right now and up to July 7th so better take advantage of it if you want to try some Missha products. There's a lot of stuff to pick and choose.

What have you hauled recently?