yellow (nail) fever

for the past month (or at least what seemed like a month!), i've been on the hunt for a primary yellow nail polish. for the most part, i'd only come by yellows that were pastel, filled with shimmer, or metallic. blegh! a lot of companies seem to avoid yellow because it's as tricky as white. the color tends to create streaky and sheer formulations... so when i saw this at my local walgreens on a new display, i bought it right away!

i'd heard a lot about these polishes - particularly their cheap cheap cheap price! the display i picked it up from had no price tag, but i figured it'd range from $2.99 - $3.99, since that's the price range i've seen it for online. but no! it was a shocking $4.99! i wonder why my walgreens (or maybe it's just america?) has it for so pricey. the packaging doesn't make it seem like you get much... i'm guessing it's just because it's a *new product*. anyways, i'm sure, or maybe just hoping, the prices of these puppies go down. there are so many pretty colors i'd love to try! 

end of march collective haul + swatches

L to R: H&M black suede pumps | ASOS package {knitted headband, on sale for $3!!} | beauty products mentioned below

these past few days have been such a splurge for me... i've been pretty disheartened and down in the dumps lately. a bunch of personal issues seemed to have arisen all at once and it was a huge mess for me. luckily, i have an AMAZING support system of my friends and my lovely boyfriend. the spring weather flirted with me a bit this weekend, and i have to say that it added to my mood. this past winter, i definitely will agree to saying that i suffered painfully from SAD.

L to R: rimmel x kate moss "12" | revlon lip butter "creme brulee" | OPI "mermaid's tears" | inglot mousse foundation "MC 300" | maybelline color tattoo "bold gold"

my boyfriend actually gifted me the rimmel london x kate moss lipstick! what a gentleman. he also paid for the maybelline color tattoo with a coupon that i printed out, hehe. he knew i was in a bummed out mood, so he KINDLY paid for it as well. i owe this sucker a kiss or two. i bought the revlon lip butter in "creme brulee" because i have been lusting for it since before the release of the lip butters! so i thought it was okay to indulge in more cosmetics... and the OPI nail varnish is in "mermaid's tears," which was just PERFECT for me. it was from the pirates of the caribbean collection from last summer, so imagine my amazement when i saw it at target! i snatched it and i can very well say i'm in love...

OPI "mermaid's tears"

i mean LOOK AT IT! my boyfriend and i went to san fransisco today and i literally ran up to everything in every color (shoes, shirts, dresses, bags, clutches, etc) saying, "look how AMAZING this looks with my nails!" i mean, look! i can't capture how wonderful this varnish is. it just really brightens up my mood. you can think that it's just another mint nail color, but it really isn't. it's not as pale and pastel-y as most are. something about it just seems more jewel-like, more jade. it has the slightest bit more blue than most mint nails, but i didn't capture it very well (yellow lighting, sorry!).

L to R: revlon lip butter "creme brulee" | rimmel x kate moss "12"

creme brulee came out lighter on me than i thought it did! it looks pretty similar to my lips and skin, really. some sort of weird in between of the two. it has micro glitter that doesn't look glittery or frosty at all, but instead, makes your lip look more shiny and full. definitely going to be an everyday kind of lippy. the kate moss one is in "12," and is actually more matte than i thought it would be! it's more drying than the original lipstick, but i'm okay with that since i love matte colors. it's also a 'my lips but better' shade, and i'm VERY happy with this as well!! ♥

maybelline color tattoo "bold gold"

I KNOW, I KNOW. another maybelline color tattoo! well, as i said in my last post, my eyes have just been so sensitive to any fall out and i must resort to creams! this is the shade that i wanted the most out of the entire line, so i went for it. gold is definitely my favorite "color" to wear on my lids (i wear mainly neutrals). this proves to be a very yellow-gold, and i can't wait to wear this everyday. this is the final of the three shades i wanted from the line, and i [hopefully] won't be buying anymore.

maybelline color tattoo "bold gold"

i also bought a mousse foundation (not pictured, the box is unopen since i'm unsure if i want to keep it) because the girl who helped me at the inglot counter said it'd be good for my combination skin... she said it was a concealer, but it isn't! sad face. i was looking for a HEAVY and FULL COVERAGE concealer for my very dark post-acne scars (hyperpigmentation runs in my family!) and she said this provides the most coverage out of all inglot face products... the mousse feel really makes me feel otherwise. i should have went with my guts... oh well!

L to R: rimmel x kate moss "12" | revlon lip butter "creme brulee", it's so similar to my skin that it doesn't show on it! | maybelline color tattoo "bold gold"

first impressions + swatches: maybelline 24HR color tattoo in "bad to the bronze"

the packaging kinda reminds me of l'oreal studio HiP!

so today, my boyfriend came down from oakland and we had a nice breakfast together... and right after we (well, i dragged him) walked over to CVS, where i ooh'd and ahh'd over the new drugstore products. i've had my eyes on this for a long while. when beauty bloggers started posting promo photos of the maybelline 24HR color tattoos i already was excited. i actually loved the old eye studio cream shadow trios and were bummed when they swapped those out for this, but i have to say... this has left a good taste in my mouth!

how pretty is this?

i was really stuck between purchasing "bad to the bronze" and "tough as taupe." another color i would have loved to have is the gold color, but it was sold out. i can't really call its name right now, but it's just absolutely PRETTY. i'm a true sucker for neutral, warm-toned colors.

the shimmer, my goodness, dude..

my boyfriend ended up choosing the bronze color for me. he ended up gifting this for me too, since he had a nice chunk of change from lunar new years still (i know, right?). the color isn't exactly on the warm spectrum, but it definitely is neutral to me. it's heavily shimmery, which makes it come off a little metallic.

housed in glass packaging, mega nice for drugstore

the packaging is pretty nice if i say so myself. it's just a glass jar with a plastic screw-on cap. i'm glad maybelline ditched housing it in some bulky plastic jar. this cost us around $8, which is pretty pricey in my opinion... but it's a new product, so i can forgive. new products tend to be pricier, and once it becomes another regular ol' product, it lessens a buck or two (or three!). also, we purchased it at CVS, which tends be more expensive than the drugstores around my area. i was surprised no BOGO deals were going on today for maybelline.

this stuff is mega creamy and smooth. it feels a lot creamier than MAC paint pots, in my opinion. i don't know if it'll live up to its 24-hour claim, but i have swatched it on my hand (as seen below), and it proves to be very pigmented. it's been on my hand for a good two hours and it hasn't transferred and lessened in pigmentation. i haven't worn it yet, but a quick search on youtube and google can give you an in-depth review.

left: blended out, right: heavy swatch

first impressions: sugar lip treatment

the little gift box it came in

as my birthday is coming up, sephora gifted me with a mini lip duo from sugar. in this tiny box contained a regular but cult-favorite sugar lip treatment spf 15 and a tinted version of it. they both are 2.2g / 0.08oz, which is not that bad for minis. i think the average chapstick is about 3 - 4g of product anyways.

very very very nice packaging!

the packaging is definitely the nicest lip balm packaging i've ever had... or felt. i'm not really sure what it's made of, but it's very sturdy and isn't a pull-off cap! i found that to feel really... luxurious? not sure what word would describe it, but it just feels really nice quality. what i really like is that the top half doesn't end close to where the balm actually is. i find that most lip balms that do that tend to get hairs, dust, and lint stuck in them, which really makes it gross to use. i usually have to dig it out with my nails which is even more gross!

screw-off cap

truth be told, the scent of the balm reminds me of nestle instant sweet tea. but just watered down. it's not a bad scent, and i actually enjoy it a lot. it doesn't last very long, though. they don't list the ingredients on the box i have, but i'm sure you can see what they are if you check the sugar website or sephora.

the actual product!

the balm itself is really moisturizing when you apply it. it doesn't feel like you're packing on a lot of balm as i find with the eos lip balms. it feels really smooth, like a balm really should, or at least how i prefer mine! it's not exactly slippery, but it's not heavy and tacky either. it's actually how i prefer my balms to be, so this pleases me very much! there isn't a gloss or shine when they're applied, but it does give your lips a small shine / glow. i'm really happy with that! the moisture has lasted me for a couple hours, or at least the product has sat on my lips for that long. i actually just wiped off the product that was sitting on my lips to see how much my lips absorbed... and i can say they feel nicely moisturized. they don't feel super soft or anything, but they definitely feel as though they're hydrated (which they're not... heh).

swatches (top: sugar rose tinted lip treatment spf 15 | bottom: sugar lip treatment spf 15 )

so above are some swatches (duh! haha) of the balms. they appear to have a shimmery cast in my photos, but that's just the balm reflecting off the wrinkles in my hand (what can i say, my hands are active creatures..). as you can see, the tinted lip balm isn't pigmented whatsoever. it has the slightest hair of a tint of rose. it doesn't provide any coverage of your natural lip color, but rather adds a rosey hint to your own lips, which i like. it makes them look a little more perked and, well, glowy.

xo