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Zoya Nail Polish in Cole Review

Zoya Nail Polish in Cole

I freely admit that I bought this nail polish just for the name.

I have that terrible habit; I’m sucked in by cute or bad-ass sounding names and buy far more polish than I really need (especially considering I’ve had a gel French manicure for going on four years and only wear traditional nail polish on my toes). So, when we Ipsy subscribers got a bottle of Zoya nail polish in our February bags, I told myself that that was one discount code I would definitely be skipping… Until I saw someone mention the had ordered the color “Cole” in a makeup forum post.

Seriously?

A nail polish with my last name? (Never would have had that happen with my maiden name, let me tell you.)

Mine.

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NYX Butter Gloss Review

NYX-Butter-GlossHello, my name is Robin and I am a NYX Butter Gloss addict.

I always favored gloss over lipstick, as I have had chronically dry lips as far I can remember, but one thing that had always driven me nuts is how sticky most glosses are. I had long hair for most of my life and we all know how well that pairs with most lip glosses; I was constantly pulling it away from my lips and getting frustrated with the gooey feeling on my lips. Ick.

Enter my holy grail lip gloss: NYX Cosmetics’ Butter Glosses.

NYX says: “Buttery soft and silky smooth, our scrumptious new Butter Lip Gloss tastes as sweet as a sugar cookie—and makes your lips look downright luscious. Swipe it on alone or over your favorite lipstick for creamy sheer to medium coverage that melts onto your lips and is never sticky.”

Oh, NYX, you had me at silky smooth…

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OCC Pro Picks Lip Tar Set v3.0 Review

OCC Lip Tar Pro Picks 3.0

Here comes another review of OCC Cosmetics’ Lip Tars!

To quickly recap what OCC Lip Tars are (for those who know, or read one of my previous posts, you can skip this bit and head on to the review of this set after the jump). OCC stands for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and Lip Tars are quite possibly the product that they are best known for. They are liquid lipsticks that apply like a gloss, going on slick and moist, but drying down to a satin or matte lipstick-like finish. They come in dozens of colors, and can be mixed to create custom shades. They are vegan, free of cruelty, and gluten-free. One thing to note is that they do contain peppermint oil for preservative purposes, so if you are sensitive to that oil or its scent, keep that in mind. Being Queen of Sensitive Skin over here, I can say that for me they did not cause any sort of reaction, other than being a bit drying.

That said, let’s get on to the review!

Continue reading “OCC Pro Picks Lip Tar Set v3.0 Review”

LORAC Unzipped Palette Review

Lorac-Unzipped-Closed

LORAC is another one of those brands that I had heard of long before I tried it out for myself. It was another brand that I casually stalked across the internet, admiring it from afar but never finding my path crossing with it directly. Two of the palettes that I had long had on my mental wishlist were the LORAC PRO Palette and the LORAC Unzipped Palette (even despite the second being very similar to the Urban Decay Naked 3, which I will discuss later in this review).

It wasn’t until I stumbled across them being sold at Kohl’s last month (with some Kohls Cash burning a hole in my pocket!) that I finally got the chance to try them out for myself. I’m glad I did, because this brand really has lived up to all the great things I have heard about it!

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NYX Butter Lipstick Review – Pops, Candy Buttons, and Fireball

NYX-Butter-Lipstick

Man, did I have a hard time getting my hands on these Butter Lipsticks from NYX Cosmetics! I couldn’t find any of the colors that appealed to me in any of my local stores. Each time I looked for them, I was greeted by displays that were picked over and, usually, down to testers. So I finally bit the bullet and placed an order online. I learned, sadly, that NYX shipping isn’t the fastest, which was only made worse by the two big snowstorms that hit NJ, delaying their delivery for days and days.

::sigh:: So, these aren’t exactly the hot new thing anymore, but I was still very excited to get them when they arrived this past weekend. I absolutely adore NYX’s Butter Glosses (to the point of a slight obsession, which will be displayed in an upcoming post), so when they expanded their “butter” lip line to include a lipstick, I just had to get my hands on some of them.

NYX promises: “The unique texture seems to melt onto the lips, giving full, yet lightweight coverage with a luxurious satin finish.”

Yes, please!

Continue reading “NYX Butter Lipstick Review – Pops, Candy Buttons, and Fireball”

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush – Dim Infusion Review

Hourglass-Ambient-Lighting-Blush-Dim-Infusion

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few of the much anticipated Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes, when they became available to VIB’s during Sephora’s online preview last week. These revolutionary blushes promise to be “a groundbreaking hybrid that combines the customized lighting effects of Ambient Lighting Powder with a spectrum of breathtakingly modern hues for seamless, soft-focus, and multidimensional color.”

I snatched up the two lighter shades, Ethereal Glow–whose review you can read here–and Dim Infusion on the first day of the preview. This review is for the Dim Infusion, the color I was most looking forward to trying!

Continue reading “Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush – Dim Infusion Review”

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush – Ethereal Glow Review

Hourglass-Ambient-Lighting-Blush-Ethereal-GlowHourglass’s brand-new new product, Ambient Lighting Blushes, has promised to be “a groundbreaking hybrid that combines the customized lighting effects of Ambient Lighting Powder with a spectrum of breathtakingly modern hues for seamless, soft-focus, and multidimensional color.”

::drool::

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few of these much anticipated beauties when they became available to VIB’s during Sephora’s online preview last week. These blushes will be available in stores starting 2/21/14, but I just couldn’t wait until then. I grabbed the two lighter shades, Dim Infusion and Ethereal Glow, hoping sight-unseen that they would be suitable for my pale skin.

Ethereal Glow arrived first, coming to rest on my doorstep last night (which is funny, since I actually placed the order for it second, after deciding I just needed to try that one too). Dim Infusion is on its way and, if the tracking information is to be believed, should be arriving today. I will put up my thoughts on and swatches of that one in a separate post, as soon as it arrives.

This review is all about Ethereal Glow, so let’s get into it!

Continue reading “Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush – Ethereal Glow Review”

Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin Creme/Cream Review

Eucerin-Q10-Anti-Wrinkle-Sensitive-Skin-Creme

I don’t know about you, but this winter has been hell on my skin. NJ winters are never fun, and this one has been back and forth all across the scale from some unseasonably warm “who needs a jacket” days to some bitter cold lows that have sapped the life from my skin!

Now, normally I have what I would consider combination skin. Over the years that combination has switched from being more oily to more dry, but I have definite zones to my face. My cheeks and forehead are dry (especially that spot between my brows, above the bridge of my nose) and prone to flaking, where my nose and chin are on the oilier side and like to breakout. Now, my cheeks also like to play games with me, being prone to flare-ups (redness, itching, hives, all that fun stuff) and breakouts of little whiteheads heading down toward the jaw-line. This has made finding skincare that consistently works for me a real bitch. It seems like every time I feel like a product is working on me and might be a good forever fit, my skin switches it up again and I’m back to square one.

So, the extra helping of dry, flaky grossness that has come along with this winter weather was a hard one for me to beat. While I am a self-admitted makeup snob, I’m not quite as picky with my skin care. I do love a lot of high-end brands/products, but I’ve also found many good drugstore staples over the years, one of which has always been good ol’ Eucerin.

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OCC Pro Picks Lip Tar Set v1.0 Review

OCC-Lip-Tar-Pro-Picks-1
From right to left: Ophelia, Melange, Grandma, Stalker, and Vintage.

Ready for some more OCC Lip Tars???

My last review of the OCC Lip Tar Trio Set in Neutral started me off on this obsession, which has grown quickly. In the past few months I’ve amassed a nice little selection of colors. I use the excuse of these being incredibly useful in my professional work (both on clients and for blogging purposes), but the truth is, I just find them so damn fun!

A quick recap on what OCC Lip Tars are (for those who know, or read my previous post, you can skip this bit and head on to the review of this set after the jump). OCC stands for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and Lip Tars are quite possibly the product that they are best known for. They are liquid lipsticks that apply like a gloss, going on slick and moist, but drying down to a satin or matte lipstick-like finish. They come in dozens of colors, and can be mixed to create custom shades. They are vegan, free of cruelty, and gluten-free. One thing to note is that they do contain peppermint oil for preservative purposes, so if you are sensitive to that oil or its scent, keep that in mind. Being Queen of Sensitive Skin over here, I can say that for me they did not cause any sort of reaction, other than being a bit drying.

Okay; on to the review!

Continue reading “OCC Pro Picks Lip Tar Set v1.0 Review”

OCC Lip Tar Trio Set – Neutrals Review

OCC Lip Tar Neutrals
From right to left: Hush, Memento, and Clockwork.

I will forever think of this OCC Lip Tar Trio set–a Sephora-exclusive set–as the gateway to my OCC Lip Tar obsession. Be forewarned; this is going to be a long review!

Before I start gushing about my love for Lip Tars, let’s backtrack a moment to the beginning. First of all, OCC stands for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. Lip Tars are, I believe, the product that they are best known for, and, essentially, they are a liquid lipstick. They go on slick and moist, but dry down to a satin or matte finish. They come in just about every color of the rainbow, including some wacky looking primary colors (blue, orange) and shades (pure white, black), which are meant to be used as mixing mediums to change the tone of other colors. (Though you certainly could rock bright blue lips straight out of the tube too, if that’s your thing. OCC don’t judge.) Since they are basically just a mixture of oils and pigment, they do tend to separate. I haven’t had a problem with fixing that; shaking and gently manipulating the tube has remixed them every time.  They are vegan, free of cruelty, and gluten-free. They do contain peppermint oil for preservative purposes, so if you are sensitive to that oil or its scent, keep that in mind.

Okay; so that’s a basic run down of what Lip Tars are. Hopefully you’re still with me. Onto the review of this particular set and my opinion of Lip Tars in general!

Continue reading “OCC Lip Tar Trio Set – Neutrals Review”