Avon Nail Art Design Strips

The Nail Art Design Strips are basically those nail stickers you've seen around at Wal-mart and drugstores. Avon's version features designs and bling, which is pretty cool. Each pack comes with 18 strips and these claim not to smudge or rub off. There are 19 different designs to choose from and you can do a virtual makeover at avon.com/Makeover

Directions sound very easy, just peel, place on the nail, and use an emery board to remove the excess strip and shape to your nail. The difference I've noticed in these and other brands is that with Avon's, you don't have to use heat (hair dryer) to set them. They're currently $6.99 and will be $10. 

 

I did buy a few different packs to try out. I chose the Zebra Bling to wear last week and while it was definitely easy to peel and place on my nails, the strips did tend to wrinkle up some toward the ends.

 I also had trouble with the filing! I ended up using scissors to cut the excess strip off and then trying to file around them. 

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the amount if time it took me to put these on. I realize it was my first time, but in total, it took around 30 minutes. I could have painted my nails quicker than that. 

Recycle B&BW Candles

On a recent bathroom redo, I purchased a set of metal and glass shelves to install opposed to a cabinet. I didn't realize that since I only had shelves everything would be on display so I had been looking everywhere for some nice storage containers and finally decided I wanted to use glass jars.

I got a little bummed because they were going to be costly and was going to have to wait to purchase them, but then I remembered seeing something about re-using jars, specifically candle jars, one already had on hand. And, since I am a lover of the large size Bath & Body Works candles, I thought those would be perfect (and from googling how to remove the wax, apparently those are very popular for these kind of projects!).

Basically, any candle will do... but I obviously have my favorites ;) Once you've burnt down the candle as much as possible, pop it into the freezer for a few hours. Even a whole day if you want to. Then take a kitchen knife (my pic shows a sharp one, but I found it easier with a butter knife) and wiggle it between the candle wax and the glass around the entire jar. You may have to do this a few times, but eventually, it will pop loose. Mine started out in small pieces at first, but the more wiggling I did, the bigger the pieces were that popped out. The metal piece the holds the wick comes right out too!

I found the sticker on the bottom and the label on the front both peel off easily and can be done before or after the freezer step. Since there is some leftover soot in the candle, I soaked mine in some dishwater and scrubbed it and the glass came out nice and shiny.

This is one example of how they can be used, but you could also store other things in them- sample packets, lipsticks, mini nail polishes, bobby pins/hair clips, or use it in another room in the house for something else... the possibilities are endless!

Birchbox June

I just got my latest Birchbox in the mail yesterday afternoon, so I've really not had a chance to try out products and form an opinion yet, but I wanted to go ahead and show you guys what I got.

June's theme was Wanderlust and had to do with vacationing/traveling. Birchbox states that this months box will be filled with samples that will "serve you well on all your summer adventures". 

Here's my box-- 

And, I must say, I'm glad someone listened and FINALLY sent the matching conditioner to sample along with the shampoo because that was a HUGE peeve of mine! 

Something else new they did this month was to send everyone one product that was the same. That product was the Color Club nail enamel. There were actually four different shades offered, each one tied to a different country (you can read more details on the BB site). 

All in all, I feel like I got a really good box to sample this month with products that are all certainly geared toward me. 

 

Lash Stash

I hadn't ordered anything from Sephora in awhile, so I was just ticking around their site to see what was available, and I came across the Lash Stash To Go. It's a set of five deluxe sized mascaras for only $25 AND also includes a voucher for a FREE full size mascara from one of those five brands! Seriously, you can't beat that!!

The mascaras included in the box set were
-0.14 oz Benefit BADgal Lash in Black
- 0.2 oz BUXOM Lash in Blackest Black
- 0.12 oz Korres Volcanic Minerals Voluminizing Mascara
- 0.09 oz Lancome Définicils in Black
- 0.16 oz Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes!™ in Rich Black

I have never tried any of those particular ones, so I was super excited with this deal.

Also, since I hadn't ordered in awhile, I still had my birthday code saved in my shopping cart from last year- I wasn't really sure if it would still work or not, but decided to give it a shot anyways and it did! So I was able to still get the Fresh Sugar lip set from last year. Yay!

It'll probably take me awhile to try all of these just because I already have a few mascaras open and I am a real stickler when it comes to expiration dates of mascaras-- you know, the 3 month rule...but I did go ahead and open the BADgal. I thought it was okay... just okay for me, nothing special. Here it is with nothing else layered over it (I am a big fan of layering mascaras), so I will have to try that.

Wet N Wild Walking On Eggshells

 I had read just a few days ago about this Wet N Wild palette (Walking on Eggshells) that supposedly has a great color in that is supposed to be a match for one of Stila's colors. Never in a million years would I have bought Wet N Wild products anymore since my pre-teen years, but since researching a little more, apparently it's getting rave reviews so I have jumped on board. It was $2.99 at my local store and there were no deals or rewards to go along with it, but for that price and the amount of praise it's received then surely it must be worth it. 

From looking at the palette, it appears the colors are a highlighter for the brow, a darker brown for the crease, and a neutral pink for the lid-- all with some shimmer. 

The pink lid shade is the one that's supposedly a match for Stila's kitten. But, the strange thing is, is that the pink shade does not show up pink on me. At all. 

I mixed the lid and crease colors, and you can see, no pink here... 

Also, these shadows didn't seem to have much staying power after wearing them all day. I do use lid primer (I'm currently using one from the Balm) and they're barely visible on me by evening. 

I don't own the iconic shade from Stila, but I kind of feel like these duplicates have gotten a lot of hype over nothing really. Thankfully, they were cheap! 

Maybelline Baby Lips

Even though the Baby Lips Pink Punch is for my daughter, I still wanted to try it out. After she did first of course! And it did look totally cute on her and she gushed about how smooth it was and honestly she has no prior knowledge of these products at all. However, I was kind of bummed after I used it. I do agree, it did smell good and all and did feel smooth, but that color was total uck on me! Way, way too pink- like bubblegummy pepto pink on me. I know it's a little hard to tell from this pic... but really it was. Also, I found this one to be rather goopy on me.

I also picked up another Baby Lips. The one I chose for me was Cherry Me. I've actually been looking for some lip products with SPF for an upcoming vacation and upon going through my stash, I have realized that I really don't have anything that fits the bill. I do have a mark gloss that I previously posted about, but it has a lot of color to it and I could not apply it on the fly, so something more low key is important.

I ended up liking the Cherry Me WAY better. Obviously it smelled of cherry, but it's formula seemed to do better on my lips and not build up. I was a little surprised that it didn't leave more of a reddish color because of the way the Pink Punch did, but this shade was super wearable and was one of those that you hear people talk about-- the "my lips, but better". So yea, I really think this is a winner.

(Excuse the hair, it was clipped up/back

to start on my makeup)

Here you can see them a little better swatched on my hand 

The cherry went on so easily, but the pink just globbed up. 

CVS Trippin Take 1

CVS had such awesome makeup sales going on this week and then I had these cosmetic coupons that printed out in the store AND they emailed me some ECB's that had to be used within a few days.... so I could not resist this!!! And yes, I know, I know, I swore I wasn't going to buy any lip products! Darn you, CVS!

The products here are by no means new, but I've read such awesome things, I really wanted to see what all of the fuss was about.

(Revlon Just Bitten, Maybelline Baby Lips, Covergirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm, Revlon Lip Butter, Wet N Wild Palette-Walking on Eggshells- not listed in order)
But seriously, I got all of this for a little less than $14! You can't beat that! And, one of these is actually for my daughter. She whined for the Baby Lips Pink Punch and I needed a few more dollars to use a coupon so I did let her get that.

Keep in mind these sales are going on this week and the NatureLuxe Gloss Balms were 50% off clearanced in my store. So, if you are interested in these, you might want to scurry down there because I got mine for less than 4 bucks.

Lip Challenge

I had previously posted about challenging myself NOT to buy any new lip glosses or lip sticks for the entire summer since I had 25 of those babies in my purse upon cleaning it out! Not gonna mention what all is stashed in my room....

And that challenge was almost blown today. I am blaming it on Target. I had received a little sample bag from them awhile back with some various sample/trial products and coupons and there was actually one thing I set to the side and forgot about. But, since I've been reading about these a lot on blogs (yes, they are still popular chatter) I remembered I had this and really I wanted to run out and grab a couple of tubes!

 

As you can see, I got the Peach Parfait sample, which turned out to be in the nude category. Not blah nude, but make your lips look better in a natural way kinda nude. 

So, here's a shot of my lips sans color (and yeah, they are looking more and more crooked everyday) 

And here we have the Peach Parfait.  Also, I did put on a clear moisturizing balm from Avon before applying this because my lips did feel dry. 

There is definitely not a huge color difference between my bare lips and the lip butter, but I really like the sheen and the little pop they gave me. I'm really trying to stick with the challenge I gave myself of not buying any more lip products for the summer, so I'm looking forward to the fall when I can rationalize buying more : )