Shimmer Kisser

Review: Sephora's Formula X "The System"

2014-10-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Hello blog! Long time no see. I am back with a review on Sephora's Formula X "The System," which is a kit with their nail cleanser, base coat, top coat and a free color of your choice. It costs $32. I've been using it for several months and it's been a game changer.

The System

Once upon a time, many years ago, I was an avid nail polish user. I happily changed my nails every 3 days. I really love putting on nail polish, but eventually I got sick of taking it off every couple days. I pretty much stopped wearing nail polish for a few years, except on holidays like Christmas or the 4th of July. Well, earlier this year Sephora came out with their new nail polish line Formula X and I read great things about their base and top coat. So, even though $32 is more than I would normally pay for just four nail polish products, I bought the kit.

This kit is AMAZING! The majority of nail polish lasts a minimum of 6 days with no chips, I usually don't take it off until day 7. I've used at least 10 different colors/brands and the only one that chipped before then was an ELF polish, and honestly their np is pretty lousy in my experience so no surprise there. Right now I'm wearing an OPI color and I'm going on day 9 with only a bit of tip wear. I even broke a nail and had to cut and file it with my np still on and the np is still looking great. Yay!

I took some comparison photos the first time I used the kit. This was day 3 and 4 wearing the base coat on one hand (top) and no base coat on the other (bottom). You can see that even though the nail polish cracks on the side with the base coat it doesn't chip.

Here is my nail polish today, day 9. I'm wearing OPI DS Extravagance. You can see tip wear and a crack on my index finger but it looks really good. I am going to change it tonight because I want something new but I could probably go another day or 2.

There you go, this stuff if amazing and I definitely recommend trying it if your nail polish chips easily. I think the base coat is pretty magical. The top coat is a good quick dry top coat, my only complaint is that it's get thick really fast so I add nail polish thinner about every 3 uses. Most quick dry top coats do that so it's not a big deal.

*This is not a sponsored review, this product was bought and paid for by me.

L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara Review

2013-11-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

Stretch and extend your lashes like wings! Introducing Voluminous Butterfly Mascara, one of our most-exciting mascara innovations, yet. Its revolutionary Butterfly Brush^™ with asymmetrical lash line shape extends and lifts outer corner lashes to give you a winged-out effect, instantly volumizing lashes at the roots and stretching lashes outward. The unique Cocoon Fibers^™ instantly wrap lashes in a soft, delicate veil to create silky, spectacular lashes that flutter.

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out 5
Price: $8.99
Where To Buy: any drugstore
Would I Buy Again: Yes

The Voluminous Butterfly Mascara is pretty good as mascaras go. It makes my lashes, especially my lower lashes, quite long. It lasts all day without flaking unless I rub my eyes. The brush does get those lashes in the outer corners very well, giving you a winged out effect like it's suppose to. The shorter bristles at the end of the brush is also great at reaching the shorter lashes in the inner corner of your eye without getting mascara all over your skin.

The only thing that I think could be better is the number of bristles on the brush. If there were more I feel like it would separate the lashes better, giving you a fuller effect. I feel like it clumps little groups of lashes together, making you look like you have thick lashes, but less of them if that makes sense. It doesn't give you creepy spider lashes by any means, but if could do better at separating them.

Other than that I really like this mascara and would buy again. It's not a HG or anything, but it's a very good mascara.

No mascara for comparison:

Sinful Colors Endless Blue & Nicole Mi Fantasia

2013-05-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't bought nail polish in a looooong time but I saw Mi Fantasia on clearance at Target and I noticed Endless Blue from Sinful Colors which I haven't seen before so I grabbed these and did a little gradient effect with them. Endless Blue is very bright, I love it! Mi Fantasia is a little disappointing just because it looks so colorful in the bottle but the glitter is mostly silver with a little bit of color shift in the light, I just wanted it to be more colorful.

Color Club, Beyond The Mistletoe - Full Collection Swatches

2011-10-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

All are 3 coats except Jingle Jangle. Over all this is a great collection, many of the colors were prettier on the nail than I thought they would be based on how they looked in the bottles. My only complaint is that besides Holiday Splendor, the glitters should have had a tinted base. I think the ones with clear bases need underpants. Holiday Splendor is awesome though. With a thick top coat these are pretty smooth but not totally. Holiday Splendor is though because it has less glitter than the others.

By the way, you can find the whole collection from Ross or DD's for $8.

Candy Cane - light rose pink with some other pink glitters, no holo

Sugarplum Fairy - very light purple with holo glitters, very pretty, reminds me of a franken I made called Unicorn Vomit

Jingle Jangle - this is 4 coats. It has periwinkle glitter, soft purple glitter, and aqua glitter that looks green under artificial light.

Gingerbread - light gold with some green and holo glitters

Beyond The Mistletoe - light green glitter with holo glitter, this is the only one I'm slightly bored by, it's not very exciting but it's still very pretty

Holiday Splenor - I saved the best for last, this is a very bright kelly/grass green with lots of delicious holo glitter, my camera could not properly capture the amazingness of this color

NOTD: Orly Hally's Comet

2011-10-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

This has been my top lemming for ages and now it's miiiiiiine!!!! Allyson from Ali's Nail News sent it to me. (thanks secret pumpkin goddess!!!)

Putting this on was like a spiritual experience. It's even more beautiful than I imagined!

Here it is with 3 coats. The formula was great, no application problems at all. It really glows!

ELF Desert Haze, Pure Ice Oh Baby

2011-10-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not into neutral polishes at all but I loved this color! ELF's Desert Haze is a lovely cream light taupe. The formula is good, I didn't have any problems with application. I topped it with Pure Ice's Oh Baby for a little extra sparkle.

Here it is with Oh Baby over it.

Oh Sally.

2011-10-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

This page is on the Sally Hansen website. They are giving tips for "Rescuing old polish" by putting nail polish remover in bottles that have gotten thick. This is a BAD, BAD IDEA! Putting acetone in nail polish permanently ruins it. That's why we use it to take nail polish off. That's why they make nail polish thinner, which is like $4 at Sally's Beauty Supply (not related to SH).

Is this a ploy to make you buy more Sally Hansen nail polish? Is it like magazines telling you that nail polish expires after a year? *ahem* Nail polish does not expire, like ever... true story! Or is Sally Hansen, and company that's been around for 60 years, really that ignorant? What do you think?

NOTD: Kleancolor Military Green + Sinful Colors Nail Junkie

2011-09-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

This combo is AMAZING! It's like some fairies and leprechauns threw a rave in the forest. Nail Junkie is a MUST HAVE for everyone (of Hottie and UFO), get ye to Walgreens. This is 2 coats Militay Green, 1 coat Nail Junkie.

NOTD: WnW Fuchsia Rama + Hard Candy Beetle

2011-09-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is Beetle over Fuchsia Rama. This color combo is so gorgeous! I've never worn Beetle before and I figured I would wear it alone but I was searching for something to layer over Fuchsia Rama and this was sitting right in front of me. You can buy Hard Candy at Walmart.

NOTD: WnW Fuchsia Rama (jelly!)

2011-09-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Wet N Wild's Fuchsia Rama is a great berry semi-matte jelly. You can see in the second photo that it doesn't have a lot of shine. It does have a jelly formula though. Unlike some jellies it applies very evenly, even on the first coat. In this photo I used 3 coats, so it's not a jelly that needs a lot of coats. I didn't have time to apply a quick dry top coat but this polish dried quite quickly on it's own and I only had like two barely noticable marks at the end of the day.

These photos were taken outside, and the color is accurate. Inside the color is a little darker, like a deeper berry color. I wish I had remembered to take a photo with a shiny top coat on, I have it on my toes too and it's beautiful and "squishy" with the shine. Over all I'm really happy I got this color, I think the formula is great, the drying time is great, the opacity is great (for a jelly), and it's just $2. You can't beat that. It's a great end of summer, beginning of fall color.

ELF Haul Pics & Mini Reviews

2011-06-16T07:34:00.001-07:00

Lip Sticks

The flash made these all just a tiny bit more vivid than they are, except Nostalgic which is just a little washed out. I don't like Captivating or Charming, but someone with a darker skin tone might. They smell like berries, yum!

Studio Blush - Giddy Gold

This is a gorgeous shimmery gold blush. Its very pigmented and excellent quality. It would look amazing on olive skin tones. I wear it with a matte pink over just to tone down the gold.

Mineral SPF 8 Moisturizing Lip Tint - Blush

Shea butter, Jojoba oil, Coconut Oil and Vitamin E impart serious moisture while SPF 8 protects lips from harmful UVA/UVB rays. This just-bitten tint of color provides immediate soothing relief to irritated chapped lips while also diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the lip area.

Blush is a pretty pigmented pink with a bit of shimmer (its not frosty though). I can't say if this is super moisturizing but it does smell and taste really good.

Favorite Moisturizer!

2011-05-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

St Ives Naturally Indulgent Advanced Body Moisturizer

Product Description
Indulge your skin and your senses with St. Ives Naturally Indulgent Body Lotion. Made with coconut milk and 100% natural moisturizers, this non-greasy, luxurious lotion delivers long-lasting moisture to keep your skin touchably soft and hydrated. With all-natural Orchid extracts, this formula leaves a light fragrance while gently absorbing into your skin, leaving you feeling fresh and looking beautiful.

This isn't going to be a proper review, sorry! I just wanted to mention that I LOVE this lotion. I'm not big on lotions, but this is one I actually try to remember to use because it smells so good (like coconut & vanilla), and it feels really great too. I don't feel any lotion residue after its sunk in and my skin feels very smooth.

If you're looking for a new moisturizer try this one. It costs just $4 at Target.

I'll go ahead and mention that I had their Renewing Collagen Elastin Lotion before and I didn't like it as much. I didn't love the smell and it felt more "sticky" to me, like it never totally sank into my skin all the way. I sill used the whole bottle but it took me a long time cause I didn't use it often.

NOTD: Hot Pink & Black Crack

2011-05-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

You've probably seen the resent Crackle nail polishes released by OPI and China Glaze. I didn't know about them until they were all sold out, lucky for me Sally Hansen came out with a collection of Crackle polishes. I only got the black but there is also a glittery silver, glittery gold, royal blue, red, hot pink, and purple. These were $8 at walgreens in a LE display.

Some tips for application: Your base color should be completly dry. Apply the crackle to the outer edges of the nail first, and work quickly because it dries very fast. Apply a pretty thick coat, a thin coat will just dry before you can evenly spread it on the nail. Try not to leave the bottle open too long, the nail polish in the neck will dry quickly and clump up on the brush, making it harder to apply the polish.

Color Club - Pick Lust & Sally Hansen - Ink Splatter

NOTD: China Glaze Its Poppin' & LA Splash Sparkling Oceanspray

2011-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is so summery, I love it! Its Poppin' is a great pink, if you can get your hands on it do it. The LA Splash glitters are of course fab, if you have Ulta near you get some (or buy them from the Ulta website or cherryculture.com).

Review: ELF's Everyday Brights 32 Color Collection

2011-03-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Quality: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out 5
Price: $5.00
Where To Buy: Target, eyeslipsface.com
Would I Buy Again: Not Sure

This looks so cute and colorful I couldn't resist buying it when I saw it at Target. There are definitely some pros and cons. About 4 of the colors have large pieces of glitter in them that just don't work. These kinds of shadows always end up on the face and not on the eyes. Some of the colors are a little sheer, which was very disappointing. They could work over a colored or more tack base though, such as the NYX jumbo pencils. In the box I couldn't see that the bottom row is all greys. I don't think I can pull off a grey smoky eye so that is kind of a waste for me. Plus, how many shades of grey do you need for a smoky eye? Not eight.

Other than that I think its a nice palette with a good variety of colors. Is it worth 5 dollars? Yes, I think so. There is a lot to play with and lots of fun summer colors, plus 8 neutrals/browns that can be worn any time and plenty of options for a night time smoky eye.

Revlon Lipstick Haul & Swatches

2011-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Revlon's been releasing some gorgeous lip colors lately. I finally gave in and bought some. They cost $8 at the drug store and $6 ish at Target.

Primrose: Beautiful nude pink. The onlip swatch is a bit too light, sorry. Its more like the swatch above, not quite so pale. If you like pink-nudes this one is a must have.

Stormy Pink (might be LE): Part of the matte line, its a sort of sheer bright pink. I've never had a matte lipstick before, I'm not sure I love the formula. I'm going to have to try this out with lipbalm underneath.

Berry Haute: Looks dark purple in the tube, but when you put it on its more of a bright pink. I love this color. Its also very creamy, love the formula. Even though it has a lot of purple, I think its very wearable if you like bright colors.

Essie Lilacism & Van D'Go

2011-03-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is way late, I'm not sure you can even buy these any more but here are the swatches that have been sitting in my NOTD folder for months. Surprise!

Essie - Lilacism 4 coats

Essie - Van D'Go 4 coats

Top 7 Favorite Spring Nail Polishes!

2011-03-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was going to pick out just 5 but couldn't resist adding the last two. These are my favorite picks for spring. I'm going to be wearing Lilacism with aqua glitter over it very soon!

L-R: ChG For Audrey, Essence VIP Appeal, Essie Lilacism, SC Forget Now (!!!),
CC Bizerk Turq, WnW Lavender Creme (yes its pink), Essence Pool Party, Essie Van D'Go

Wet N Wild Lavender Creme

2011-03-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is a great color, the formula is nice, its cheap blah blah blah... but its not actually lavender, its pink. How are there so many color blind people in the cosmetic industry???

Wet N Wild - Lavender Creme 3 coats

My Favorite Spring Eyeshadows

2011-03-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

Happy First Day Of Spring 2011 everyone! Here are my top 5 favorite eyeshadows that remind me of spring.

Fyrinnae - Digital Faerie (not crazy about their hella long wait time or the fact that their website is down 99% of the time I go there)

Fryinnae - Rapunzel Had Extentions

NYX Chrome - Sunny Day

tkbtrading.com - Mermaids Gold (I don't have a proper photo of this, sorry! Gotta start working on that...)

NYX - Wildfire

My 10 favorite lipstick colors

2011-03-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have... a lot of lipstick and lipgloss, to say the least. These are my top 10 favorites, in the order you see in the photos. I have only half the on lip swatches done, when I do the rest I'll post those photos. I'll try to get them done during spring break.

Rimmel Airy Fairy. This is one of my most used lipsticks. Shimmery light mauve fleshy pink.

MAC Angel. Soft neutral/cool baby pink. Another color I've worn a lot, this is a staple.

Maybelline Born With It. This is a great pink nude mauve thing that is gorgeous. It has a bit of shimmer but not too much. Its a very wearable color. It smells like strawberry starburst, yum.

ELF Runway Pink. Part of their mineral line, this color is a cream nude pink. Very wearable for lighter skin tones, I'm not sure about darker ones.

MAC Blow Dry. I think this is LE but it comes out every so often with new collections. Its a great shear coral.

ELF Classy. Cooler light pink, this is $1 and has a great formula. It smells really good too, like a berry smoothie.

NYX Paris (round lipstick). Bright pink. This is almost dupe for MAC's Lovelorn.

Wet N Wild 525 Retro Pink. This is a great bright cool pink with a little bit of shimmer.

Revlon Berry Haute. This color looks really purple but when you put it on it looks more pink. I love it. Its looks good with my fair skin.

MAC Show Orchid. Hot pink, this is so bright. I think its a PRO color but it was with the regular line for a while & thats when I got it.

NOTD: Super Man Inspired

2011-03-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

I planned this when my sister was going to do a super hero themed birhtday party for her twins, and I was going to buy a super man shirt to match, but she changed it to a stinkin' boring sports theme. I still wanted to do this mani though, and it turned out great! The girl I sit next to in math liked it too. I'm totally bummed I don't have a reason to buy a super man shirt though. I think I'll find a way to get over it though lol.

NOTD: Orly Out Of This World

2011-03-06T15:35:00.000-08:00

This was from the Cosmix collection. Its a gorgeous dark purple with shimmery bits that change from purple-yellow-green. Its sort of similar to Sinful Colors I Love You but darker. I have two other colors from the Cosmix collection that I will try to swatch during spring break.

Review: ELF Lipsticks, Mineral & Essential

2010-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Mineral Lipsticks
Quality: 5 out of 5
Packing: 5 out of 5
Price: $5.00
Where To Buy: Eyeslipsface.com
Would I Buy Again: Yes

I really love these lipsticks. They are creamy, pigmented, cheap, etc.

Runway Pink: Cream nude pink, pigmented and so so gorgeous. I don't have to look for a nude pink every again.

Nicely Nude: Light pinky-peach with suble gold shimmer.

Pouty Petal: Midtone pink with a tiny bit of shimmer, another gorgeous color. This shimmer is very subtle.

Cool Coral: The name kind of says it all, its a neutral coral with a noticable shimmer that isn't frosty.

Essential Lipsticks
Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Price: $1
Would I Buy Again: Yes

These are the newer lipsticks from ELF's $1.00 line. These lipsticks smell like berries. The two I have are creams and long lasting. I really love Classy for an everyday color. The packaging is fine but I think the mineral lipstick looks more sleek.

Classy: Cool-neutral pink with blue tones. Creamy, lasts a good 5-6 hours or more.

Gyspy: Cool dark pink cream.

These swatches are pretty accurate, but Gypsy (the last color) is a little more red toned than blue toned and all the colors are just a tiny bit more warm than these photos turned out.

Mini Review: ELF $1 Quad Brownstone

2010-12-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Price: $1.00
Where To Buy: Target, Eyeslipsface.com
Would I Buy Again: Yes

This is a really great product from ELF. Its a small quad that has 4 great neutral colors that would suit anyone I think, except maybe those with dark skin (it could be too light). All the colors are satiny and quite pigmented (with a primer). You can do a very natural look or a smokey look. I would use it for school, work, night, weddings, traveling, pretty much any occasion.

The packaging is fine, its cute but it could be better. For the price who the heck cares? Its cheap plastic but it doesn't feel flimsy by any means.

In this photo I have the 1st color as a highlight, 2nd on the lid, 3rd in the crease, and 4th under the lower lashes.