Friday, August 30, 2013

SWATCH & REVIEW: BB CREAMS: Smashbox, Too Faced, and Missha

I've been trying to clean my samples out, and so I finally got around to trying out Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Dark and Too Faced's Tinted Beauty Balm in Beach Glow. I have an Asian one that one of my roommates gave me, Missha, to compare the American BB Creams to:

Missha B.B. Cream (Sorry, the bottle is messy.)

L-R: Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm in Beach Glow, Missha B.B Cream in No. 31, and Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in Dark

Blended

I was interested in trying Smashbox and Too Faced's BB Creams because they offer the most coverage out of the American BB Creams. As you can tell by the blended swatch, they still do not offer near as much coverage as the Asian B.B. Cream, Missha, does. I actually use the Missha B.B. Cream as a concealer under my eyes; it doesn't crease and stays put for hours. It is also does not make my skin oily like traditional concealers do.

On to individual reviews of the American B.B. Creams:

Too Faced's Tinted Beauty Balm is probably my favorite American BB Cream! I am an NW35 in MAC, and Beach Glow was almost a perfect match! (It was a tiny bit light, but I would wear it anyway.) There was a bit of shimmer in it, and Too Faced's BB cream has a slightly dewy finish. The cream felt very light on my face, but it still evened out my skintone and did lighten up my dark circles a bit. This cream does offer enough coverage for me to wear if I was running errands, but probably not enough for me to wear it alone to class. The only con was that this cream did make my face feel a bit goopy after I ran errands for a few hours in the Texas heat. But I don't think it's realistic to expect a product to hold up well under 100-degree temperatures.

Smashbox's Camera Ready BB Cream was a bit disappointing. Dark was waaay too dark for me, and Medium was too light (if I remember right, it was too pink). This had less coverage than Too Faced's cream, but using two coats of this cream certainly improved the coverage. This BB cream did even out my skintone, and it fared much better in the heat--it did not become goopy at all! This BB Cream last me a good 5 hours. The biggest turn-offs were that this cream oxidized a bit, and it transfers easily. My face accidentally brushed up against a towel in my bathroom, and there was a dark spot of BB cream on the towel. So don't lay your cheek on your boyfriend's shoulder while wearing this!

Are there any BB Creams you would recommend trying? I am still interested in trying Sleek Makeup's Be Beautiful Blemish Balm if I can get a hold of it!



Sunday, August 25, 2013

How to Store Nail Art Stamping Plates

Sorry I haven't been posting as much!! I moved into my new apartment, and I JUST got internet!

So once I got my Bundle Monster stamping plates (which I recently reviewed), I realized that I didn't have a good way to store them!

I finally decided to cut circles that are as big as each plate out of light cardboard, and put them in between the plates:


The card board keeps the plates from scratching each other. (The plates are blue because I hadn't used these ones yet, and so they still had the blue film that came on them.) I then stacked the plates in a small, round container.

How do you store your plates? Has anyone else seen any good ideas for storing plates? I have heard of people storing them in photo albums, but if you have too many, the album gets too heavy.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

ARTSY WEDNESDAY: Animation-inspired

When I first saw today's theme, I thought, Oh, no...what on EARTH am I going to do for this?? And then, I remembered my favorite show as a child, Sailor Moon, and I realized I could do nail art inspired by Sailor Moon! Sailor Moon follows a group of teenage girls who use wands to transform into magical warriors and fight magical beings from outer space. Each girl is named for a certain planet (i.e., there is Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, etc.).

I based my nails on Sailor Jupiter's transformation:




These kind of ended up being galaxy nails, but I still enjoyed doing them because I've wanted to try galaxy nails. I used Essie Stylenomics as a base and sponged BK Neon Luminous Glow Polish in #06. (This was my first time using Stylenomics, and I still can't get over how dark it is!!! It looks ldark green in the bottle, but on my nails, it looks almost black!) I used BK Neon Luminous Glow Polish in #03 for the dots. 

I based my accent finger on her transformation wand (you can see it in the first gif above).  I used Sally Hansen Big Money as the base and Stylenomics for the circle. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the name of the yellow I used for Jupiter's symbol (the "4"). I bought it at a seedy little dollar store once when I needed a yellow polish, and the name has rubbed off the bottle.  

I'm excited to see what everyone else did this week:

Friday, August 16, 2013

REVIEW: Bundle Monster 2010 Nail Plate Collection

I finally got a set of stamping plates! I decided to get a Bundle Monster plate set and a Konad stamper.


I was surprised how small stamping plates are:



I really like some of the designs in the set (like the baroque pattern I used for my designer-inspired nails), but I'm not so crazy about others (when am I ever going to use a marijuana leaf?). Also, I wish there were more full-nail designs and patterns.



Pictures from Amazon

I first tried all of the designs to make sure they transferred correctly, and I had to get replacements for nine of the plates. Bundle Monster's customer service was quick to respond and send the replacement plates, but I was disappointed that one of the replacement plates came scratched. :( However, once I got the replacement plates, almost all the designs transfer beautifully. The only ones that did not work as well were the tiny tiny details, like the smallest hearts (BM 3 and 17).

Also, don't worry about getting the nail polishes they sell for stamping; Wet n Wild polishes worked great with these plates!

If you have the time and patience to exchange dud plates, I would definitely recommend getting this set. It is one of the cheaper sets ($17.99 for 21 plates). I was fine getting a cheaper set of plates and having to e-mail Bundle Monster about dud plates.


Have you tried stamping plates yet? What set did you get? I'd love to hear more about other brands!!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

SWATCH & REVIEW: Rimmel Mintilicious + Similar Colors

A couple of weeks ago, I visited my sister and fell in love with Julep Dianna while going through her nail polish. I HAD to have a similar minty-blue color, and so I got Rimmel 60-Second Nail Polish in Mintilicious:


This color is slightly bluer than Julep's Dianna. (I had issues getting the color in the picture to match the actual polish; this swatch is the closest match I've seen.)

I did 2 coats here. This polish did, indeed, dry very quickly, which was nice. The polish was a little bit thick, and when I applied it, brush marks would show easily. NYC's top coat evened out the color and covered any bumps, though.The other downside was that the brush is a little fatter than I would have liked, and it made it hard to paint neatly. However, this polish was just $1.69, and so I'm still really happy with the polish.

Make sure you use a base coat with this! I used my PVC peelable base coat, and Mintilicious stained my nails a little bit. :(

Have you tried out any minty-blue polishes?  I have also seen minty-blue polishes by Essie (Turquoise & Caicos), Sally Hansen (Jaded; it's a bit greener than the others), and Revlon (Eclectic). If anyone has these, I'd love to know how their formulas compare to Minitilicious and Dianna!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

ARTSY WEDNESDAY: Blue

Today's theme was blue. I had wanted to try using Sally Hansens's Mermaid's Tale in nail art, and I thought this was a great time to try:


Here, I used it with BK- Neon Luminous Glow Polish #6. After using Mermaid's Tale as the base, I used striping tape to create the stripes, and I did the flower on my fourth finger with a brush.

Check out the other girls' blue manis:

Friday, August 2, 2013

Stila Lip Glaze Giveaway!!!


I decided to do a giveaway in celebration of moving to a new blog!! Once I hit 30 followers on GFC or Bloglovin', I will pick a winner, and the winner will receive 2 Stila lip glazes in Black Cherry and Jolly! This giveaway is open internationally so everyone can enter!!


These lip glazes were purchased with my own money. You must be a follower on at least one of the following to win: GFC, Bloglovin', Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter. Once this blog hits 30 followers (on GFC or Bloglovin'), a winner will be chosen. I will e-mail the winner, and the winner will have 48 hours to reply and claim their prize. I will not be responsible if the package is lost or damaged once the prize is mailed.