The Curious Things I Google...

Sometimes, I google weird stuff. Everybody does this, right?

One day, the notion struck me to look for vegan nail polish. And I found this blog, Logical Harmony , who talks a lot about vegan beauty products. One of her top recommended vegan nail polish brands is Flower Beauty, which is Wal-Mart exclusive. In the interest of supporting my Amazon bar at the bottom, I'll tell you - they have it on Amazon, but in just a quick search, all that I saw was wildly overpriced. Unless that trip to Wal-Mart just straight up isn't possible, go to Wal-Mart. Use the locator on the Flower Beauty website, not all Wal-Marts carry it.

At any rate, my query had been answered. Top vegan nail polish brands. We're done now.

That's rarely the way random google searches work, right? So then I had to figure out what made nail polish vegan or not vegan in the first place.

Back to my friends at Logical Harmony, who helpfully explain that often, nail polish is tested on animals. But, the shimmery or metallic shades, the companies often use fish. scales. to create that shimmer. Yes, that's right. Fish scales. But, since matte nail polish won't be in for forever, if you're bothered by the idea of using fish scales on your finger nails, look for ingredients "pearl" or "guanine". That's your tip off that you don't have a vegan polish in your hands.

There are nail polishes at every price point, and in every color combination, that are vegan.So you can absolutely still rock a fresh mani pedi, while sticking up for the animals!

And that's today's edition of "the curious things I google"!

I'm a hot disaster right now...

...and I don't blame Freeman, even though when you see the pictures, you'll see that it would have been easy for me to. Aah, let's go back to the beginning.

In December, I had Aveeno skin care recommended to me, because of the bumpiness of my forehead, that I've grumbled to you guys about before. So, couple the fact that I'm a beauty blogger (so I love a hot tip on some good product!), with the fact that I'm just generally a beauty junkie (so again - I love a hot tip on some good product!), I dutifully ask for some Aveeno skin care for Christmas.

And the bumpiness isn't getting better. And I'm starting to break out way more than I have in a very long time. The general rule of thumb with skin care is that when you're switching lines, you have to give it about a month to see genuine result from the product. So I didn't lose faith. But by the month mark, my skin is (to my eye) worse off than it was initially, and I'm not feeling great about things, so I check in with the dermatologist.

He puts me on a battery of lotions and washes - some over the counter, some not, and sends me on my way, with the instruction that my skin will be "red and irritated" and if it ISN'T, he needs to know, cause he's gotta change all the dosing.

Boy howdy, is it ever! Couple dry weather, with dry face wash, and it wouldn't take a lot to start a forest fire on my face. So I haven't worn makeup in about a week, cause honest, putting makeup on hurts.

But, I wanted to touch base with you guys, so I had to tell you about something I was up to, so I thought I'd give this guy a try today:

Freeman Coffee & Chai energizing eye mask. Promising to revive tired skin around the eye. I was pretty curious to try this one out.

First, I noticed that it wasn't nearly as scented as I'd expected. Doesn't "coffee and chai" sound like it would smell fantastic?! Unfortunately, in this particular instance, it doesn't smell like much. Which is funny for me to say, cause I usually grumble over stuff being too scented. I just really like the smell of coffee - and chai!

The package is thin, and you tear the top off, Where you get this fancy guy:

I still had on the flimsy plastic piece in this pic, it lays much more flush to the face when you take that off. But the pictures kind of sassy, so I stuck with it. Lay it down on the eye, wait 5 to 10 minutes (I hit up some Friends on Netflix...), peel off. Don't rinse, rub in any serum that remains on the skin.

Y'all, this burned. Now I did admit that my skin is a bit overly sensitive right now, but it burned.

Before:

Before shot. And by the by, the dermatologists "red and irritated" plan is working well, at least I think so. I think my skin is smoothing out and clearing up quite nicely.

After:

Notice the red? In pretty much the exact size and shape of the eye mask?

Just to be sure that the burning and redness wasn't an allergy, I swabbed the inside of my wrist with the serum. Waited 15 minutes (well past the recommended use time). My wrist looked just as pale and wrist-ly as it ever does.

But - here's the trick. The redness did eventually wear away, and my eyes do feel much firmer and more taut than before. I know they don't especially look it, but I felt like I had "revived" skin around the eyes. Of course, the boost is pretty temporary, but this would be fun to whip out for a nice at home spa day, or maybe when you have a special event coming up, and want a little extra pick me up.

So when you see those burns...see how it'd be easy to blame Freeman for that? But I honest don't. The redness did eventually fade, and I was left with nice, bright, revived eyes. I can't hardly hate that.

This reads a little bit like I don't like it, but I actually do, a lot. Inexpensive, easy to use, and a nice, quick boost to the eye area? What's not to like?

Ooh! Quick announcement before I let you go!

Over the weekend, I added an Amazon bar to the bottom of the page. Anything that you purchase through that search bar, a portion of the proceeds goes back to your friendly neighborhood blogger (that's ME!) So if I review something that I'm so overwhelmingly enthusiastic about that you  can't help but want to try it, scroll to the bottom, and you can have your own in a snap. Or if I hate it, and you're convinced it just positively can't be as bad as I said, you can have one of those too!

These individually packaged Freeman masks are $3 at Wal-Mart, but if you don't have the time - or desire, for a Wal-Mart run, now you know where to go! :)

Thanks in advance for checking out the bar. And I'll see you next time, I'm sure with rested and revived eyes. ;)

Later, gorgeous!

Today I learned...

...that not all Shadow Softies are created equal.

On Monday, I tried out some Almay Shadow Softies, and it seemed to go pretty stellar. So I was kind of excited today to continue digging in to my collection. Today's shadows are "Honeydew" (which is green with a slight gold shimmer, exactly the color of a piece of honeydew melon), and "Hot Fudge", a matte brown, which also greatly resembles it's namesake. "Honeydew" doesn't get done the justice it's due in my pictures, it's quite pretty.

The beauty shots, as they were;

Got experimental with my camera angles, trying to do "Honeydew" some justice. Like I said, it's quite pretty, it doesn't get a fair shake in pictures.

So, this is a nice, kicky, "maybe if I wear bright colors, Mother Nature will get the hint and make it Spring!?" combination for today, right?

Notice the biggest difference from Monday? I didn't change a thing - same brand of shadows, same brushes, same primer, same everything I did Monday...significantly reduced color payoff. Mamma no like-y! There's some payoff from the Hot Fudge color for sure, but if I didn't tell you I was wearing Honeydew, would you know I was wearing Honeydew? No you would not...

My eyes are open, and you still wouldn't know the Honeydew was there. Fun to look at, maybe not as much to wear.

Duck face for comedic effect. :D

So, what I'm saying is this - I'm a fan of the Shadow Softies as a general rule. I obviously don't think that they're for those that want a particularly bold look. But if soft, neutral and natural is what you're after, you'll get along with these shadows well.

But, today taught me that all shadow softies are not created equal, and Honeydew might be the lone outcast from the collection. Sorry, honeydew.

See you tomorrow, lovelies!

Aww, I'm Such a Softie...

...for Almay Shadow Softies.

I was perusing the beauty section at my local Target, as any good drugstore diva is known to do on the weekly, and noticed that the Shadow Softies by Almay are on clearance. I had some of that "Oh my gosh, gotta buy 'em all!" panic, came home, tweeted Almay to find out if they were going to stop making them all together (they aren't...), and started trying to figure out how many I had needed. Almay's website lists that they make 12. I currently own 8. I think I got a lockdown on the Shadow Softies, no?

So let's see how they work!

These appear like a powder when you look at them, but have a softer than powder consistency. I'd always just used my fingers to apply, but found a good, stiff eyeshadow brush today, and seemed to have some luck there.

These colors are all wearable and soft in appearance, and blend really well together. No odd scents, nothing overly sparkly or anything like that. Even the most intense appearing colors will go on really soft. And I did apply these over primer, but even with the primer, they match what I know to be true about these shadows otherwise, as far as performance goes, so I don't even know that the primer made much difference.

My only objection, I guess, would be to their longevity. I applied these around 2 this afternoon, and I got probably a solid 5, maybe 6 if I'm being optimistic, hours worth of wear. By the end of 8 hours, they'd virtually disappeared from my eyelids. Which, if you're like me, and you're a part timer, isn't bad, cause it'll get you through a full day. If you're someone who needs your eyeshadow to hang with you for 8, 10, 12 hours...this isn't going to get the job done for you.

Let's go to the pictures! This particular pairing is "Lilac" and "Vintage Grape", with purple Kat Von D liner. My son picked out this color pairing, I had to bargain him down from the Lilac with a royal blue shade, that you'll see later this week! :O He's normally got a very good eye for color, but his eye was feeling a little wild today!

Eyes open... (Sidebar: that lipcolor is City Color in Flirtini, which came in my most recent Ipsy bag, and looked shockingly bright initially, but has quickly become one of my favorites...I think I've worn it every day since I got it.)

Eyes closed. Soft, delicate, pretty, and they blend together really nicely. Like I said, if I had to complain at all, it'd be with their longevity. 

During the warm months, I like to actually go outside and let the sun be the natural sunlight. Today, it was record breaking cold, so I didn't go outside, but the sun light seemed to be pretty strong, so I decided to take a picture in natural light, and see what I got there. So this gives you a little bit more of an idea of what these would look like in natural lighting.

Trying to get a little arty with the product shot, haha. That's Lilac closer to the camera, and Vintage Grape farther away. Small containers that fit well in to your hand, and would no doubt go well in to a Z Palette if that's your thing.

I think that the best market for these shadows is probably someone who has a little bit of color bravery about them, but for the most part, wants to be able to rock a soft, clean, natural look. If that's you, then you will enjoy these shadows. In fact, not only will you enjoy them, they'll probably become your new favorites. If you are someone who thinks nothing of wearing lime glitter to your eyebrow, and needs your shadows to rock long in to the night, you should probably keep looking, you haven't found your new favorites here.

Me personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. I like these a lot. :)

Later, my loves!

The Naked Truth makes a return!

When last we all chatted back in November, I was raving over "The Naked Truth" 5 pan shadow kit from Wet N Wild. (Check it, I really was! Really!) Problem was, that while I showed pictures of me wearing the shadow, I never showed pictures of the actual shadow.

As my opinion never changed (it's a well curated set of colors. They go on nicely, blend well together, and you get decent wear time with them. Wet N Wild sometimes misses the mark, but when they hit it, they really hit it, and they did here), I decided to take a different way, and give you some glamour shots.

The requisite shot of me, in the shadow.

And eyes closed;

And eyes closed, smirking at my wall. And if I can get sidetracked here for a second; that lip color that you see is FLOWER lip butter in Wispy Wisteria. Wal-Mart is closing out some FLOWER makeup right now - mainly, it seems like, because they're changing out some packaging designs, and I snapped up this little guy for $3.50. If you're like me and love to look pretty, without parting with some pretty pennies, a stroll through your Wal-Mart makeup aisle is in order. But I'll speak more to that another day. Back to the matter at hand - 

Swatched on the inside of my arm. The dark line you see at the middle of my arm, from there to the left, that is swatched, with no primer (yes, there are five swatches there). Above the dark line is with primer.

So, no, the pigmentation is not super intense. But...say, if you had a 15 year old who thought they were going to die if they didn't get to own the Naked palette, and you're pretty sure you're going to die if you have to pay for it? This is close enough that no one will know.

My guy!

A matte cream as the "base" shadow, a shimmery pale gold for the "browbone", light brown with a fine glimmer for the "eyelid", copper with a gold glimmer for the crease, and a matte deep brown for the definer. Dig it! :)

I like this shadow set a lot. I'd recommend it to a friend. Oh, look at that, I just did!

Later, gorgeous!

I'm giving you the Silent Treatment!

...and other awkward puns. :D

Meet this delicious little guy:

also known as "Silent Treatment", a fantastic little three pan shadow kit from our friends at Wet N Wild. Wet N Wild always helpfully embosses their shadows with their suggested uses, which is handy if you're new to using multiple shadows, and aren't quite sure how to do it. Sometimes I'll follow their suggestions (like in the case of this one), and sometimes I'll just wing it.

This trio is a matte ballet pink, a medium brown with just the slightest hint of shimmer, and a gray with a pink undertone.

I've noticed with Wet N Wild, somehow, that their darker colors have a lot of fallout. This brown did not disappoint, I was even ready for it, and still, had to clean it up. I finished the makeup, and looked closely in the mirror, and looked like I'd gained a fine sprinkling of freckles. Not...that was not exactly the look I was going for. Luckily, it cleaned up well, and we were on our way!

The shadow in action. Worn over the Fergie for Wet N Wild eyeshadow primer, but of course.

Eyes open:

Nice, right? Sort of a neat play on a neutral eye. That little extra fleck of silver you see is a Kat Von D eyeliner pencil, which I know I usually only talk about drug store stuff, but her eyeliner is worth the splurge. That stuff lasts! And it's not much of a splurge if you're a TJ Maxx shopper, I got a kit with 8, maybe 10 eyeliners in it, for $7. That's comparable to drug store prices, for sure!

Eyes closed. The lighting is a combo of natural lighting from my big window by the stairs, and flash.

If I can get a little sidetracked by the lip for a second - I'm wearing J. Cat liquid lipcolor, if you're an Ipsy subscriber, you probably got one a couple of bags ago. That stuff is like liquid cement - once you set it down, you better be committed, because that stuff isn't going anywhere. But the color is gorgeous and the stuff lasts. So that's another for the "If you're going to splurge on something..." file. 

These shadows lasted really well. I rarely have a problem with WNW shadows and their longevity, which speaks both to the shadows themselves, and the primer, I think. I was wandering Sephora the other day and saw that Bobbi Brown has a shadow that is a dead ringer for the taupe shade on the bottom, which is handy information to have. Why pay a fortune when you don't have to?

See you tomorrow my lovelies!

BB Cream Battle Royale Runner Up...

Confession: I'm a sucker for anything that says BB Cream. Put BB Cream on your product, and I'm paying attention. Which is unfortunate, because that allows capitalizing companies - like our friends over at Maybelline to make things that aren't BB Creams, and call them BB Creams...and I end up owning them all.

That said, meet a BB Cream Battle Royal Runner Up:

Garnier BB Cream for eyes!

The Garnier website promises that their BB Cream does five things: corrects dark circles, minimizes puffiness, awakens skin, evens skin tone and hydrates. All in one simple step!

Does it?

In the interest of full disclosure, this picture isn't from today. It's from one day last week. But you get an idea of what I'm working with here:

Under eye area isn't terrible, but it'd take some photo shopping before I could be in an eye cream ad, right?

Just to test a theory, my right eye (my left as you're looking at the picture), I applied the BB Cream right after primer, before I'd applied any other makeup, and on the left eye (the right, as you're looking at the picture), the BB Cream was applied over the top of the foundation. I wanted to see if order of application really had any effect on the products usefulness.

And notice how my eyes don't really look any markedly different?

To be fair - this BB Cream covers well, goes on easily (you really can't mess up a roller ball), and doesn't have any notable scents. And three of the five things - even skin tone, hydration and "awakened" skin, are pretty notable. But the other two things? Corrected dark circles, and minimized puffiness? If I'm being optimistic, I see them in the right eye, and I for sure don't see them on the left.

So, much like our friends at Maybelline who I name checked in the first paragraph - I feel like Garnier made a fine product. Nice coverage, easy to use, no notable scents (which they can't always say, their face washes are heavily scented). I just feel like they made a different way to dispense a product already in their stable - they already make an eye roller and a tinted eye roller. If you google "garnier eye roller", this isn't even the first one to come up! It's fifth! And called it a day.

It's a nice enough product, and if you already own it, you probably aren't sorry. But, if you're in the market for a cream for your eyes - like the name suggests you should be, and like I was when I bought it, then you're going to be left feeling like Garnier missed the mark here.