Whatever Wednesday: Makeup Stuff Is So Stinkin' Expensive!!!!

So.... makeup is my addiction. There is absolutely nothing in this world that I can do about it. I try and justify it to my husband by telling him that I will always need an eyeliner (yes, even that bright turquoise eyeliner with hot pink sparkles!). Eventually I will run out of that taupe colored eyeshadow, so I might as well purchase that fifty dollar neutral eyeshadow palette that looks like every other neutral colored eyeshadow palette out there! And, I need a variety of blushes to suit the changing seasons, because we know everybody will be whispering behind my back if I don't go by the makeup rules that the world has.

Lately, I have been a little concerned and worried about this beauty obsession that I am thoroughly involved in, because I am running out of storage options. Not to mention money... Well, not really, but I am starting to feel guilty every time I make a beauty purchase, because I truly do not need any more makeup. There is no more justifying it, because I just sound ridiculous when I try.

So, why in the world did I go and do this?!?

This addiction is a little out of control, but I do have a justification for this e.l.f. haul!

See, the thing is, makeup is so stinkin' expensive! I want to find cheaper alternatives to beauty products that are still high quality, but won't break your bank. I think I would appreciate that myself, but my husband most of all will!

It's not that I do not purchase drugstore makeup and never buy any of it, because I do love some of it. I am just cautious of what I buy because sometimes the quality and pigmentation is lacking. And you can't exactly pop open a foundation bottle at the store and swatch it to see if it's your shade... That is highly looked down upon...

So, I am on the hunt for drugstore beauty products that are of high quality and that stand the tests of beauty that I put them under to find the ones that stand out. Those ones shall be destined to become repurchasable winners in my book!

So, I thought that I would start with e.l.f. because they are one of the cheaper alternatives out there and I truly have not tried very many of their products and the ones that I have tried have tended to be either hits or serious fails. So, on e.l.f.'s website which you can visit here, I bought a plethora of products that I have never tried or even seen at my local drugstore.

I am very excited! So, keep up with these posts because I will have a variety of reviews to bring to you in the next few weeks!

P.S. I am sure I can never give up high end makeup forever. I have a few holy grails that are amazing, that I feel I can never replace... But we shall see!


Have A Wonderful Day!

Loreal Blow Dry It Blow Out Longewear Spray Review

You guys already know how I am on the search for affordable dry shampoo and am always in the mood to try a new one to see if I can find one to become my holy grail. So, I purchased Loreal's Blow Out Longerwear Spray at Target for around $3.99 and have had about three weeks to mess around with this to let you know what my thoughts are!

Loreal claims that this is a light weight dry shampoo that absorbs the oil in your hair to help extend your hair style in between washings. YES, please! This sounds exactly like what all of us who use dry shampoo wants!

Loreal Blow Dry It Blow Out Longewear Spray
Dry Shampoo 

Loreal Blow Dry It Blow Out Longewear Spray
Dry Shampoo

Loreal Blow Dry It Blow Out Longewear Spray
Dry Shampoo

We all know how a dry shampoo works, so I shall spare you the detail and get on to the point of this post: Did this work?

I take a shower the night before I go to bed and let my hair dry overnight. Than, in the morning I will spray this in my roots to eliminate any oiliness that I may have got overnight and to combat any oiliness that I might get through out the day.

Well, this tends to be a temporary fix, because a few hours later, around lunchtime, I feel as if my hair feels more oily, especially around my hairline, than I expect it to be when using dry shampoo. My hair feels weighed down and lifeless, because this didn't give my hair a fresh, lightweight feeling like the Herbal Essences dry shampoo does, which I reviewed here and loved!

Loreal Dry Shampoo Sprayed

Loreal Dry Shampoo Rubbed Out

This sprays out in a white powder that you rub into the roots. You have to really rub it in good on dark hair, because it takes some time and work to get the white cast out. For all the dark haired girls out there, just beware!

Describing the scent is a little difficult. Initially, it has a slightly sweet scent to it, but it doesn't last. The scent fades incredibly fast, which is a bummer, because I want my day old hair to smell clean and yummy, not oily...

Loreal Blow Dry It Blow Out Longwear Spray did not please me and my difficult oily hair and will not repurchase this again. This just gives me a reason to pick up my favorite Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo and maybe test out another one!

Hope this helps you guys narrow down your choice when you are at the drugstore searching for a cheap dry shampoo for yourself!


Have A Wonderful Day!

Rimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet, "Atomic Rose", Review And Swatches

Here goes yet another lipstick review... I know, I have a sick obsession with lip products, but it is a sickness that there is absolutely no cure for! It has become ingrained... When I was at Target last week I saw Rimmel's Show Off Matte Lip Velvet Lip Lacquers sitting beautifully and temptingly displayed, and I knew I had to give in and try at least one to see if these where any good!

You can check out Rimmel's Show Off Matte Lip Velvet Lip Lacquers  here on Rimmel's website, where they have five different colors available, from neutrals to brights. I chose the color, "Atomic Rose", because I wanted a lip product that I knew I would get the most out of, and lately I have been loving a natural looking lip. These retail for an affordable $5.99 at your local drugstore.

Rimmel says that the formula is weightless and will leave you with a velvet finish on the lips. What is interesting to me, is that they say that this will instantly increase the moisture in your lips by 31%... That is an interesting percentage, right? Now, they claim that these definitely will last and stay true to color for eight hours total.

Big claims, so lets see how I fared!

Rimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet
"Atomic Rose"

Kimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet

The applicator end of the packaging  is shaped and cut like a diamond, which is interesting, but I am not sure how that relates to the product itself. Oh, well... not that it matters, right? Otherwise, this is a typical lip product package, and works just fine.

Kimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet
Wand

I usually like doe foot applicators on lip glosses, but this one feels so stiff, with not much cushion to the applicator sponge itself. Because of that, I feel as if the applicator drags the lipstick across my lips and gives it an uneven application. I am not a fan of this particular doe foot applicator.

Rimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet
"Atomic Rose"

This swatches on the arm more of a bright orange than it shows up on the lips, as you shall see in a few. It watched beautifully on the arm, so I was very excited!!!!

When I applied this on my lips, the formula was very lightweight like they claimed it to be. It felt like dry whipped butter (as weird as that might sound) as I applied it. There is no scent to this product at all, which is great for those who despise scent to their beauty products.

Rimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet
"Atomic Rose"
Lip Swatch

It took two applications for me to get the lip product on somewhat evenly. As I mentioned before, when I applied this, it tended to skip and applied patchy. My lips where not dry, I had exfoliated them the day before, so I was disappointed in the application and the turn out of this look. It did not seem to cover well at all.

After it is applied to the lips, the color comes off like a light pastel orange, very different from what the package presents it to be. I did not like the finish of this lipstick, because it left my lips with a chalky look to them, which was not flattering at all.

Kimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet, "Atomic Rose"
Transferred  So Easily!

I waited a good two minutes after I applied the lip product before I did the transfer test, and look what happened! It transferred so easily! Yet, I did wear the rest of what was left on my lips for the next couple of hours to see how it held up.

About forty minutes after application, I went to eat my lunch and thought I would see if the lipstick had set yet. Well, as you can see from the picture above, it had definitely NOT!

Well, I ate, drank and lived life for the next four hours, and I just could not take it anymore... This is what it looked like around that time frame:

Rimmel Show Off Matte Lip Velvet, "Atomic Rose"
At The End Of About Four Hours Of Wear
(Sorry it's a tad blurry!)

This was horrible! Not only did my lips feel as if they were dry and in dire need of Carmex, but the lip product had nearly disappeared, or balled up on my lips and settled into the lines of my lips. It also created a funky weird line around the inner part of my lips. Needless to say, I did not love the chalky patchiness that I was left with at the end of just about four hours of wear. I had to take a picture and get this stuff off!

This is horrible and did not live up to any of its claims whatsoever! Please, save your money and pass on Rimmel's Show Off Matte Lip Velvet Lip Lacquers, they are not worth your money nor your time!

I hope this helped!



Have A Wonderful Day!

E.l.f Cosmetics Nail Polish Remover Pads Review

I am always looking for travel friendly beauty products, so when I saw that e.l.f. had come out with their Nail Polish Remover Pads, I knew I had to snatch this up and test this out well before any traveling that I will be doing.

I purchased this at my local Walmart for $2.00, and this convenient package comes with 24 nail polish remover pads. The package I picked up said "New" on the front, but I am not sure just how new this really is, because reviews on this product on e.l.f.'s website go back to four months ago. Where I live, we tend to be late to the game at times... If you don't have a store near you that sells e.l.f. products, you can check these out for yourself here !

e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads

e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads

e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads

What I absolutely love about this is the packaging, because it fits right in the palm of my hand! Seriously, this is so easy to throw in your makeup bag, because it is lightweight and won't take up much space. 

This is a plastic container that has a secure tight fitting lid, so you can be assured that it will not come lose and get all over the other things in your travel bag. 

The package says that it has a citrus scent to it, and I can smell some orange like citrus to the formula. What you definitely will not smell is the strong acetone of usual nail polish removers out there. This is definitely a more tolerable smell!

e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads

The remover pads are very small and very thin. They are lightly coated in the nail polish remover formula, and are not saturated like I was expecting for nail polish remover pads to be. That left me a little concerned as far as their performance would go...

My nails in desperate need of help!

As you can tell from the above picture, my nail polish needed to be removed desperately! So, I was eager to see how e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads would work when put to the test.

For $2.00 and e.l.f. being a hit and miss brand for me, I did not have high expectations of this at all! But, this is the result I got with just two of the nail polish remover pads used for all ten of my fingers:

Wow! 

I used just two!

The formula was amazing! It did not leave my nails feeling dry or brittle at all! There was a moisturizing oil-based factor to the formula that I appreciated, because my nails where left feeling strong and healthy! 

All it took where two of these pads, one pad for each hand, and my nail polish was completely removed! I was actually, pleasantly surprised, because I did not think that this was going to be able to do it's job, but it performed above and beyond my expectations! 

I highly recommend that you give these a try, because they are so convenient for traveling. You do not need to pack a nail polish remover bottle and no more countless cotton balls to take off the polish with! All you need is this tiny little package and you are good to go! 

Give it a try, and you will love them!

Have A Great Day!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm, In: "Not An Illusion", Review And Swatches

Yup, this is another lip product that I am reviewing, because I have an addiction to all things for lips! I was at my local Target just hanging out and checking out what is new when I came across Rimmel's Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm and thought that I would check one out to see if they where as amazing as they are pretty!

This retails for around $5.00 at your local drugstores where you can find a handful of colors. Yet, On Rimmel's website  here  you can find a total of fourteen different shades. At my local Target I could only find six, unfortunately.

Rimmel claims that these balms are long lasting and will give you an intense color payoff. Just as you would expect from a balm, they also say that these will give you a surge of long lasting moisture.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
"Not An Illusion"

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
"Not An Illusion"

No matter what I tired, the camera showed the packaging of this product orange, when in reality, the packaging is a mauve color.

I like how this twists up just like any other chubby lip pencil, because you do not have to sharpen this sucker! Seriously, it is so hard for me to find a beauty sharpener big enough to sharpen some of my other lip pencil lipsticks. So, I am all for twist ups!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
"Not An Illusion"

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Clour Balm
"Not An Illusion"

Yet, once again, the photo above where it shows the tip of the balm up close, it is photographing ORANGE! The picture above that one shows the product and packaging more true to color, a mauve.

There is a subtle sugary scent to this balm, but it is not overwhelming strong at all. You can't really smell it unless you purposefully put it up to your nose to give it a smell test. After it is applied, you can't even notice the scent, that is how faint it is.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
"Not An Illusion"

This is definitely a glossy product and gives your lips a beautiful shine. When it is applied, the texture feels more waxy and doesn't glide across the lips with as much smoothness as some balms that are out there. Yet, the moisture is apparent and it leaves my lips feeling moisturized and smooth, which is what I want from a balm product.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
First Application
"Not An Illusion"

I will say that for this particular shade, I did not see a lot of pigmentation. It seemed to add a subtle amount of color to my lips, but I was expecting more of a color saturation, because part of the name of the balm says, "...Intense Colour...". I will confess, even though it is a subtle amount of color, it is pretty for a natural look!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm
"Not An Illusion"
Five Hours After First Application

After the glossiness and shine wears off as the day goes on, there is still a hint of color left to the lips, which is nice! I never felt as if I had to apply more or apply a different balm for more moisture, because my lips still felt soft and hydrated. I love how this did not dry out my lips!

Overall, this was a nice lip balm and applied easily with no fuss. I like this for those days when I want a natural looking lip with a hint of color added to my look. I would definitely purchase more in different shades to see what their color payoff is, because I love how moisturizing this color balm leaves my lips through out the day!

I highly recommend that you try these out!



Have A Wonderful Day!

Wet N Wild Eyeshadow Palette In, "The Naked Truth" Review And Swatches

In the past I have loved Wet N Wild Eyeshadows, so I was pretty excited when I went to my local Target and found their palette in, "The Naked Truth"! Such a beautiful neutral five pan palette that I knew for the price I just had to test out!

I purchased this on sale, but it retails for around $3.99, which is a phenomenal price for an eyeshadow palette. I was eager to see how these lovely eyeshadows performed!

Wet N Wild, "The Naked Truth"

Wet N Wild, "The Naked Truth"

I love how this palette has an eyeshadow for each step of the application process, taking the guess work out of it. This is especially useful for beginners. Although, its okay to break the rules when it comes to makeup, otherwise it would never be fun, right? ;)

Wet N Wild, "The Naked Truth"

Wet N Wild, "The Naked Truth"

The colors in here are so basic, but beautiful! The eyelid and crease color are so intriguing, even just at a glance. To me, when I look at this pan, these are all the colors a person would want for a no-fuss everyday look because it has every color in here that you would need.

Wet N Wild, "The Naked Truth"
Left to Right: Base, Browbone, Eyelid, Definer, Crease

When I first touched these eyeshadows to swatch them with my fingers, I did gasp audibly, because they are so soft and buttery! Oh my, I was so excited to see how the pigmentation and formula was of this dreamy texture!

Well, lets just start by saying I have a few qualms with this palette, along with a few loves... So, lets take this eyeshadow by eyeshadow, shall we?

Base: This one is a typical matte yellow based eyeshadow that seems to blend onto my lid into nothingness. When I say that, it's not a bad thing for a base color, because there is no chalkiness to it. It creates a base color to build upon that is decent for what it is. It just doesn't excite me...

Browbone: I really do not like this eyeshadow shade for a brow bone because it is way to white! When I applied just a touch of it under the arch of my eyebrows, it looked white and chalky in appearance. That is not a look that I love!

Eyelid: I love this color! To me, this is a grey-green shadow that when applied leans toward a dark shade of grey. In the swatch above and in the pan it looks taupe, but when I wore it on my eyelids, this came off deeper and darker. Not only that, but it also has a matte like appearance, even though it is a satin eyeshadow. Strange, isn't it? But I love it!

Definer: This is another one of the matte eyeshadows that is highly pigmented! I love the dark chocolate brown! It applies to the lids beautifully and is gorgeous to use as a crease color with a light hand!

Crease: Speaking of crease colors, this one I was most excited about when I bought this palette. Talk about a let down! When I swatched this shadow, it was weak in pigment. It came off a lot lighter than I was expecting! This is more of a light reddish brown with golden flecks that do not show up on  the lids when applied! Anyways, why would I want golden flecks in my crease? I was thinking this would be a pretty color for all over the lid...

Overall, this is a palette that did not thrill me, but I can still get some uses from the eyeshadows in here. And for $3.99, I am not upset. BUT, Wet N Wild needs to get with it! Their palettes a few years ago where amazing quality, now I feel as if they could be reverting...

What do you guys think?



Have A Wonderful Day!

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo Review

Let's face it, not every day do we have the time, nor the desire to shampoo, dry and style our hair, am I right? I will say that I have oily hair and used to wash my hair every single day, but the past year I have been so busy and on the go, that I decided to try out dry shampoo. Recently, I tested out Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo and am ready to give you my honest thoughts on this one!

You can purchase this at your local drugstore for around $3.99. Herbal Essences has two other dry shampoos on the market, but this one was the only one available at my local drugstore.

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo

The bottle itself is very pretty and gives off that "natural" vibe that I think they where going for with this product. I like how this bottle has a matte appearance as opposed to the typical glossy look of most bottles.

They claim that this will help to refresh hair, even on days that you don't wash your hair, leaving it  with a citrus and mint fragrance.

I have to say that the citrus scent comes off more strong than the mint and I love this scent so much! It is fresh and clean smelling, which is a perfect pick me up for day old hair.

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo Nozzle

The nozzle is very sturdy and shows no signs of wanting to break off, like some plastic nozzles that I have used before. What a relief!

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo Product

What is interesting about this product is that when it sprays out of the bottle, it is clear and wet. It basically shoots strongly onto your roots clear and than the clear product transforms into a light white powder, as shown above in the picture. But, for us dark brunettes out there, never fear! Even though this powder is white, it is so EASY to rub invisibly into the scalp, as if it never was there! Awesome, right!?

This bottle has lasted me for a month now, but I don't use it every day. I use it about four times a week in the mornings when I washed my the day before and want to extend my hair another day with no shampooing. This will take me through my day with my hair feeling fresh and helps take away the oiliness from my roots. My hair isn't dragged down by oil anymore because the dry shampoo does away with the oil and lifts it up wonderfully!

I love this dry shampoo! I am just now running low and will have to make another purchase soon!

Let me know what your favorite drugstore dry shampoo is, because I am not against trying different ones. I am always on the search!



Have A Wonderful Day!

Ofra Cosmetics Eyeliner In Black Review

Eyeliners, especially black ones, are always a beauty product that I need to keep on hand. I use a black or brown eyeliner every single day and am running low on my favorite black liners lately. Thus, I was extremely happy to see a black eyeliner from Ofra cosmetics in my BoxyCharm last month!

This retails for $13.00 here on Ofra Cosmetics website where you can find these eyeliners in twelve different colors. They claim that the liner is water resistant and is made for long lasting wear. 

Let's check this out!

Ofra Cosmetics Black Eyeliner

Ofra Cosmetics Black Eyeliner

Ofra Cosmetics Black Eyeliner

At first glance, this reminded me of a drugstore eyeliner, like the kind that Wet N Wild makes. There is no appeal to the appearance of this eyeliner pencil, because it honestly looks cheap. I was not impressed that for $13.00, I still had to self sharpen the eyeliner, so I really hoped that the product itself would not be dry and tug on my lash line.

Ofra Cosmetics Black Eyeliner

The formula is mediocre, because while it doesn't have a dry feel to it, it also is not creamy. When applying this on my lash line, there is a bit of tugging, but I have to keep in mind that I have tried other eye liners (E.L.F eyeliners!) that have been horrible! So, this is not exactly an outstanding formula, needless to say.

Ofra Cosmetics Black Eyeliner

After I had swatched the liner, I waited a few minutes to see if it would set, so I gave it a light smudge test and lightly rubbed my fingers over the swatches. As you can see from the picture above, this smudged horribly... 

When wearing this a few days, this transferred on the bottom lash line and made me look like a raccoon with black streak under my eyes! Same for the top lash line; the liner transferred to the top of my lids as the day went on and I would look up and around, as eyes tend to do! 

What a disappointment! For $13.00 this should have performed flawlessly, because there is a lot of stiff competition out there for high end eyeliners that are around the same price point as this one.

Do yourself a favor and pass on Ofra Cosmetics eyeliners, because they will only fail where others have succeeded.

Have A Wonderful Day!

Whatever Wednesday: Scented Wax Cubes ("Fresh Pulled Taffy", "Honey Bourbon Frosting" And "Lemongrass Mint"

I have an obsessive need for my house to smell yummy. Yes, I said, "Yummy"! I don't want just a small corner of my house to smell yummy, but I want the whole floor of my house to smell amazing. I have found that what gets the job done is the wax warmers and the endless array of wax cubes that are available for such a bargain of a price!

A few years ago I did a review of my first ever wax warmer I had purchased (which I still have and is in my bedroom!).  Read the review here where you can read my thoughts in these things in more detail than this post.

I got this one at Costco a few years back and love how pretty it is!

"Fresh Pulled Taffy" melting in my wax warmer!

A few years later I still feel the same way about my wax warmer and I even purchased another one from Costco possibly a year or two ago. It came with a few packs of its own wax warming cubes which where not good quality. The scent throw was minimal and the cubes did not last long past three uses.

With that said, I want to share with you some of my recent favorite wax warming purchases from Walmart that I picked up recently! Whats wonderful, is that each of these are $2.99!

I tend to gravitate towards the sweet and bakery scents, because I personally find that they are more inviting and homey. When I smell cupcakes in the air, I just want to cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and a good book and hunker dow for the evening. I know, cupcakes invoke a weird feeling inside of me, but I just cannot help it! I love it!

The one that is sitting in my wax warmer right now is from Better Homes And Gardens called, "Fresh Pulled Taffy" and it reminds me exactly of taffy! (There is no description on the packaging) It is so interesting exactly how they managed to pull of that specific scent. When I smell it, it smells exactly like sugary sugar. Try this out, it smells YUMMY! Plus, this scent is Limited Edition, so get some while you can. I NEED to pick up a few more before they are all gone!

"Honey Bourbon Frosting" from ScentSationals is a true bakery scent, so you know I love this! They describe this as smelling like butter, sugar and a touch of bourbon. I can definitely smell a hint of honey along with vanilla cake. When smelling the wax cubes in the packaging, you can definitely pick up that honey smell! YUM!

One that I wouldn't normally gravitate to, but picked up to smell out of sheer curiosity (thankfully!) and fell in love with, is "Lemongrass Mint" also from ScentSationals. They describe this as a soothing combination. When I smell this, I don't really smell the mint because there is a sweetness to this that overpowers any mint that this has. There is a slight lemon smell, but not overwhelming at all. I would describe this best as a sweet lemon scent. I love lemon desserts, so a sugary lemon scent is my cup of tea!

Better Homes And Gardens "Fresh Pulled Taffy" Wax Warming Cubes
Limited Edition!

I just love how after some manipulating,  these cubes pop out of the package! After melting a cube and enjoying its scent, you can pour it back in its plastic package where it will harden again. You can use it again at another time and it will last for a few uses and the scent will hang on strong during those next few uses!

Check out your local Walmart, because they have a huge selection to chose from that will please everyones specific taste!



Have A Wonderful Day!