January 2014 Favorites

New: Revlon Highlighting Palettes 2014

I spotted this display at my Rite Aid. It looks like Revlon came out with some new Highlighting Palettes that look a lot like the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips and also Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Bricks. The 3 colors I saw were Peach Glow, Rose Glow and Bronze Glow. I'm not sure if the cream blush or powder blushes on the display were newly released shades of just repackaged existing shades because I was too excited about spotting the new Highlighting Palettes.

How to try Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Va Va Voom Volume Mascara Free

While shopping at Rite Aid I stumbled along a display with a bunch of the new 2014 Physicians Formula products. I'm used to seeing these products with a $3.00 off peel off sticker but when I came across this "try me free!" sticker I was intrigued! I looked it up on my phone and saw a rebate form available on the Physicians Formula website. The promotion runs until November 30th 2014. Please note: rebate only works on products that come with the sticker, you need to send in the sticker along with other rebate materials.

It looks like Physician's Formula has a few other Try Me Free rebates on their website too. Might as well check it out!

Review: Urban Decay Naked 3

I had to take some photos of this little guy before getting my brushes and fingers into it. With my love of photography this was my pick from our photo shoot with indoor lighting.

Aesthetically, Naked 3 packaging is higher than her sisters Naked and Naked 2. Also, the thought of pink and gold tone shadows is amazing. Though pretty to look at,  I found it a bit hard to work with my skin tone. I eventually came up with a look I would not be embarrassed leaving the house wearing. So far nothing I felt excited about. I don't doubt that this palettes looks amazing on other skin tones. I find Naked 2 to be my favorite and the most versatile.


Pros:

• Sleek and beautiful packaging
• Mostly high quality shadows
• May work well with certain skin tones (not mine Asian NC30)

Cons:

• May be harder to work with certain skin tones (mine) 
• Only comes with a small rip open type sample of primer (really? after buying a a pricey palettes you can't throw in a deluxe size sample?)
• Colors are not that unique (perhaps the easiest palette to find dupes)
• 2 shadows are powdery (Dust and Trick)

Watch my video for a few of my thoughts and comparisons with the Naked and Naked 2 and swatches of the Urban Decay Naked 3.

Deal Alert: ELF 150 Geometric Eyeshadow Palette

I Deal Alert! I saw that Target was having a clearance of all their holiday sets for 70% off. So this might be time sensitive for those of you hoping to catch the deal. Thank you to my friend Jenn for letting me know about the clearance.

My video gives more detail but these are the prices I saw at 3 different Targets in San Diego California.

The 2 things that I forgot to take pictures of but you'll be able to see them in my video above.
14 pc Nail Polish set $7
10 pc Essential Brush set $3

 Eyeshadow Geo Palettes

6 pc for $0.90 

18 pc $1.50

32 pc & 36 pc $1.80

96 pc $3

150 pc $4.50

Review: Mally Beauty Lip Fence

I purchased my Mally Beauty Lip Fence from Beauty.com, for $12.50 you get a 0.01 oz colorless lip liner. This is my first and only Mally Beauty purchase. I will have to do a comparison with the Sally Hansen version that I recently bought.

The most noticeable thing about it when I apply this is that I don't notice product distributing onto my lips (or hands as you see the swatch below). So whenever I used it, I kind of worry that its just brushing over my lips and not really doing anything.

The Review:
It's thin like a lip liner and white like a lip primer.  It smooths out my lips so that lipstick doesn't settle into my lines. It also makes drugstore lipsticks more flattering (sometimes I find drugstore lippies can be too opaque and therefore uneven on your lips) by evening out the base and letting them distribute better. It seems to make lip stick last longer and help lipstick keep from feathering. There is a faint scent of crayon but I don't seem to notice it so much after applying my lipstick. I'm not sure I would repurchase this because my favorite lip stick primer is still from MAC.

My rating: 7 out of 10

Looks like a white stick, almost like a deodorant stick in lip liner form!

 

As you can see below, it doesn't give off much color. I swear that I swatched a fairly large area on my hand but you can't even see a thing!

   

Review: Napoleon Perdis Eyeliner in Purple Reign

I own the Napoleon Perdis Eyeliner in Purple Reign. It retails for $20 and on their website is described as a creamy formula that is easily blendable. The packaging/pencil itself is prettier than say your average drugstore eyeliner and it has a nice cap (although, this is not a drugstore eyeliner though NP has their own middle range line called the NP Set line commonly found at Target and Nordstrom Rack).

However, my experience is that it is dry, hard and very difficult to get color out of it. As you can see my hand the swatch is streaky and not very pigmented. It really hurts my eyelids and water line when I try to use this as an eyeliner. If you get that little color on your hand which is not that sensitive, imagine how hard it is to get product around your eyes. Sadly this product was a dud for me. I will be sticking to my Tarte smolderEYES for now.

My rating: 2 of out 10

Product Spotlight: Miracle Skin Transformer

My first time coming across Sarah McNamara's Mircale Skin Transformer was from buying a deluxe sized sample that came in my 2013 Sephora Sun Safety Skin from inside JC Penny. Interestingly enough the Sephora Sun Safety kits differed between free standing Sephoras and JC Penny locations (that should be a blog post on it's own).

I quickly fell in love with my sample that came in the shade medium. This product claims to do 5 in 1 things: hydrate, prime, mattify, enhance and protect your skin. I certainly feel like this product makes my skin look more air brushed and flattering. It comes in 6 shades: translucent, light, medium, medium tan, tan and deep. The medium shade reminds me a little of Benefits POREfessional except without the strange smell that POREfessional leaves. It is also a slightly cooler tone than POREfessional.

I was looking to buy the full size from Sephora during their next friends and family discount. But luckily for me Costco carries 2 shades currently for $29.99 for a full size.

So let me break it down for you (regular retail in black, 20% in red)
From Regular Retailers
Miracle Skin Transformer 1.7 oz retails for $48 ($38.40 or $22.59/oz)
Benefits POREfessional   0.75 oz retails for $30 ($24 or $32/oz)
                                or a 1.75 oz jumbo size for $42 ($33.6 or $19.2/oz)
From Costco
Miracle Skin Transformer 1.7 oz retails for $29.99 or $17.64/oz

The best value can be found at Costco but the caveat being the limited selection.

Check out my YouTube Review!

Vitacost: Natural Products at Discount Prices

In the past I would have gone to Whole Foods or Spouts for my natural and organic needs but now I make sure to check Vitacost and Amazon first. Of course Vitacost can not replace your fresh produce needs but for the non-perishables it's a viable resource. I've heard of Vitacost referred to as the online equivalent of Wal-Mart for the Whole Foods target market and I would have to agree! With an abundance of natural brands, Vitacost has quickly become one of my go to sites when searching for non-perishable ingredients, oils and natural beauty products. I will have to say that if Costco carries a comparable item, they almost always win on price point. But since Costco's target is not as specific as Vitacost you will not find most of the items at Costco.

Current Vitacost Favorites:

Now Solutions Sweet Almond Oil

Thayers Witch Hazel Alcohol Free 

Essential Oils (if you use them this is a great place to pick them up)

Coconut Oil

Chia seeds

Vitamins
Halo Pet Food

Future Vitacost items to try:

Acure Organics Marula Oil
Life-Flo Pure Kukui Oil
Life-Flo Squalane Oil

Everyday Coconut Water Face Toner

Jarrow Formulas Whey Protein Unflavored Powder 

Protein Plus Peanut Flour Gluten Free
Foods Alive Black Sesame Protein Powder Raw

Nutiva Organic Coconut Flour

If you've never shopped at Vitacost before, click my referral link and save $10 on your first purchase of $30 or more!

Vitacost Haul Video

Vitacost Pet Haul

Vitacost Skincare Haul

Deal Alert: Ulta Friends & Family

Ulta has a Friends and Family 20% off deal that runs from January 12th - January 18th 2014 if you go to their linked Ulta website. They will email you a unique code to use, remember exclusion apply and you can get free shipping if your purchase is over $50.

I have played with a few things in my cart and it seems that my items that were marked as "Excluded From Coupons" still works. For example check out my screen shots below. I have blocked out my coupon code simply because it is my unique code but you can get your own code if you click my link above. Happy shopping friends!

Product Spotlight: ELF Super Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadows

Check out my swatches of the ELF Super Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadows!

You can find these on the ELF website in 7 shades right now: toast, Soiree, Gala, Festivity, Confetti, Celebration and Party are the color names

CoverGirl Trublend TruMagic

Happy New Year's! I've been having fun posting these new drugstore displays. I saw this rather large display from Covergirl. Even though I don't use must of their products in the way of foundation I thought I would share with you all my sighting. Last year the Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 foundation was so big and I had really wanted to try it. But if you follow me, you know I have way too many foundations I need to finish off before I can even think of buying another one.

What do you think? Will you be trying this line?