'Tis The Season... For Sparkles

If there was ever a time for a glittery manicure, it’s now. The holiday season always calls for a little (or a lot) of extra sparkle, and nail polish has been having “a moment” for quite awhile now. It’s probably due to the economy and the fact that you can totally splurge on an expensive nail polish for about $25. (PS. I dropped my Chanel Peridot today and smashed the cap. Luckily, the bottle itself is fine and the inner cap is intact. I’m still a little pissed though.) Wether it’s the economy or just a random boom in nail polish technology, it’s the perfect time to try something new.

Black Friday Fail

Did anyone score any goodies at the Sephora 10 for $10 Black Friday sale? I tried at 11am and everything was already sold out. I just didn't think of it when I first woke up, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. According to their facebook page, it was Missoni-level mayhem. The site went to shit, and everything was sold out early in the morning. Out of curiosity, I just checked eBay and the Buxom set I wanted is on there several times (with zero bids). Guess what, eBay Scalpers: The mascara is not limited edition, the eyeliner is not limited edition, the only thing that is limited is the number of boxes containing both. Why would anyone pay full price (or more) for them on eBay? Sigh* People can really be idiots.

What sucks is, I couldn't sleep Thanksgiving night and didn't think to hop on my phone and do a little shopping, apparently the sale started at midnight. Anyway, I got a whole lot of nothing. Comment below if you had better luck than me!

Black (Mascara) Friday

 

If you’re not a Sephora fan on facebook, you might have missed this. I AM a fan and I somehow missed it anyway. What’s crazy is that I found out about this from an old-fashioned catalog insert. So retro!

Anyway, “this” is a crazy promotion Sephora is having on Black Friday. They are offering 10 great things for only $10 each. Each of the items was originally valued at between $26 and $76 bucks. So yeah, they’re all STEALS which is what Black Friday is all about!

It’s ELECTRIC! Boogiewoogiewoogie.

I turned 36 this year, and I feel like the warranty ran out on my face. Gravity is definitely beginning to take it’s toll, and while I’ve done the best I could with my lifestyle choices and staying out of the sun, I guess a little sagging and fine lines are inevitable. Sigh*

Having A Ball

My new favorite drugstore impulse buy isn’t really an impulse buy at all. I had been checking out the eos lip balm for months, maybe even a year. The first few times, I knew nothing about it, but the shape grabbed me. It’s a ball! Why is it a ball? But I resisted. I didn’t need any new lip balm. Eventually, I started seeing ads and learning more about it. It has all the important “frees”: gluten-free, paraben-free, petrolatum-free, phthalate-free. And it’s 95% organic, 100% natural. It’s made with shea butter, vitamin E and jojoba oil. It really sounded like my kind of lip balm. Still, I resisted. I already have plenty of lip balm.

November Birchbox

I was getting ready to give up on my November Birchbox. I was sure it had been lost or stolen, but finally, it arrived on Monday afternoon. I don’t know why I’m not used to the idea that they arrive in the middle of the month by now.

Dr. LeWinn: All Up In Your Face

Dr. LeWinn by Kinerase is another product line I’ve been trying out for BzzAgent. They sent me full size tubes of their Under Eye Recovery treatment and Wrinkle Repair Daily Lotion SPF 30. (But I don’t get paid for endorsing or not-endorsing the products.) I’ve been using the two products for three weeks now. Eye cream in the morning and at night, and the SPF cream just during the day.

Color Change Glows On

Hmm. Well, it seems like I could have dedicated a week to glowing instead of changing colors, because our final product for the week has Glow in the name too. Dior Addict Lip Glow.

Shadow of The Future

When I first heard about this (from a reader, thanks again B!) I thought it was just some sort of eyeshadow that changed colors on your face. Like, mood eyeshadow, or something, which would be pretty crazy. But this stuff is EVEN CRAZIER.

Glowing Review: Color Change Two

The next color-changing product this week is a little less dramatic than the nail polish, but has a much more dramatic name: Smashbox O-GLOW.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well, it’s fall, alright. It can be a little confusing, what with the snow over Halloween weekend and then hitting 68 degrees today. (Not that I’m complaining.) But it's definitely fall. I mean, technically it’s been fall since September 23rd, but since we just fall’ed back the clocks, now we’re REALLY in it. 

In honor of fall, the season that would be totally awesome if it weren’t the farthest point from when it will ever be really warm again, I’m dedicating this week to color changing stuff.

A Mascara By Any Other Name

Oh, Mascara. One of our favorite subjects. One of our favorite things! I’ve already given you my thoughts on the advertising, but now I want to talk about the names. Just for fun.

How A-Peeling

I got a sample of Brazilian Peel as part of a VIB gift from Sephora. It seemed pretty dramatic, so I saved it to try when I didn’t have any plans for a few days, in case I got red or flaky. Good news! I got nothing going on...

Brazilian Peel is packaged in double-barreled syringe, I guess to give you the impression that this is SERIOUS BUSINESS, as well as to keep the two products separate until it’s time to activate them.

You “activate” the peel by removing the little tiny cap and dispensing the contents of the syringe into your hand, then mixing the two products together with two fingers. (I only used one finger, and it seemed to work fine.) The goo warms up, quite pleasantly, and then you spread it on your face, wash your hands, and go read the internets for ten minutes. I experienced some mild tingling at first, but that went away after about 30 seconds and I kind of forgot I had anything on my face until the timer dinged. The peel doesn’t get as dry as a clay mask or as fun as a rubber mask, it just gets a little tacky and crispy around the edges. I guess because it’s not a mask, it’s a PEEL.

Peels, if you don’t already know, don’t generally peel off. You just rinse them off. What peels off is YOUR FACE. Kind of, sort of! It’s a microscopic layer though, especially with an at-home treatment. However, Brazilian Peel does claim to be 5x stronger than any other at-home treatment, and like I said, the packaging was intense, so... Yeah, still, this is really just a fancy exfoliation. (Professionally done peels can get really cray-zay and have more noticeable results because they are done by pros that are specifically trained not to burn your face off.)

When I washed off the Brazilian Peel, there was no big reveal. (Also worth noting: there was no irritation.) My skin was softer, but that happens with EVERY product I try. I didn’t notice any reduction of red spots, which, btw, are all the rage for fall, according to my face. My skin seemed a little dewy, a little better circulation or something. Pink in the cheeks as opposed to just around my nose. But overall, I wasn’t really impressed.

You are supposed to do a Brazilian Peel once a week for four weeks, for the low low price of $20 a pop. (A four-pack costs $78 +tax at Sephora.) After four treatements and $80, I would hope to be impressed, and the reviewers on Sephora certainly are.

The next day my pores seemed a little smaller and my red spots a little less noticeable, so the peel was definitely worth doing. I didn't notice any firming or anything, though. I don’t know that it works any better than my favorite Dr. Gross pads either.  (And I don’t have any plans to spend $80 and a month to find out. But if you ever have a chance to snag a sample, do it!)

I do find it amusing that the packaging says “Antidote for Aging” because: Really, Brazilian Peel? Really? Hey everyone, they finally found an antidote for aging! And they sell it at Sephora! It's in A SYRINGE.

FYI: I didn’t really do this treatment the same week as the spooky rubber mask. I did the Bliss mask last week and saved it for my Halloween post.