Monthly Archives: December 2016

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Might Not Recover

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Hey reader! It’s Swatch Saturday! Last week’s swatch saw us finish up Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s 2015 Spark in the Dark collection, and what a beautiful collection it was. Everything was wintry and icy and special. This week has us shifting into the collection that came after, the Crooked Hearts collection that was released for Valentine’s Day. I’ve talked before about my love for the BEGL Valentine’s collections because it’s rarely the pink and red shades you’re expecting; this collection is just plain gloomy and I love it. This first polish is called Might Not Recover; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Might Not Recover is a clear-based microglitter polish with glitters in holo lilac and silver, platinum flakes, and reflective beads. Application was good, and pretty standard for the BEGL microglitter; it’s easy to use, achieves opacity quickly, and needs top coat for smoothness. This one felt especially textured thanks to the reflective beads, but one coat of Seche Vite smoothed it out nicely.

So, another swatch, another great microglitter. I had so much fun wearing this that I kept it on for a couple of days after I did the swatch. BEGL microglitters are always fun to wear because there’s always something interesting going on; in this one, the color is my favorite thing. It’s not a color I see often in glitter, and having a polish that’s mostly made up of it makes me happy. The platinum flakes stand out without being seen; you can see something in there breaking up the purple glitter, but they blend in so well you can barely tell they’re there.

I only regret that the sun wasn’t out to show you how this polish really looks. It’s intense. It’s blinding. It’s what every microglitter should be.

Might Not Recover isn’t in stock in the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop, but a few polishes from this collection still are. Make sure you get them!

I bought this polish myself.

Empties Roundup: November 2016

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Guess what, reader? It’s finally time for the Empties Roundup for November 2016! I don’t know about you guys, but November was a rough month for me. I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, I wrote a novel for National Novel Writing Month, and between those two things a lot of my other responsibilities were neglected. I even neglected my poor blog, and I’m still catching up. Better late than never. Enjoy the empties!

JP Orange Spice Hand Soap

This is what you get when you send Boyfriend out for hand soap. Like you kind of expect him to get something nice, because by now he should know what you like. Instead, he spends the least amount of money possible. This soap smelled all right at least, but it took a lot of product to finally come to a lather — how else am I supposed to know my hands got clean otherwise? I replaced this with some L’Occitane soaps I found in a thrift store. Yeah, you read that right: thrift store soap is better than this.

Orly French Tip Guides

Ahh, the original nail vinyls. I can’t live without these, and I bought another box as soon as I emptied the last one. These are super helpful for French tips and half-moon manis and I will always rebuy them.

Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Super Hydrating Hand Cream

I love Pacifica products, and the blood orange scent could be my favorite. Well, besides all the others. I love everything they make! I actually got this from the Target clearance bin. It did moisturize my hands a lot, but they would occasionally still feel dried out after dishwashing, so I went through it pretty quickly. I’ve moved onto another Pacifica lotion, this one in the Indian Coconut Nectar scent.

Bath and Body Works Shower Gels in Maui and Oahu

I’ve done it, I’ve finally finished up my B&BW shower gels. I may have a few others stashed away somewhere, but these ones are finally gone. I don’t think either of them were too full; Oahu was a good half full, even fuller before I used it to wash makeup brushes a couple times. Maui was mostly done and I think I only got a couple uses from it. I haven’t repurchased any other shower gels; I’m going to see if I can put a dent in my soap collection.

Briogeo Blossom and Bloom Voluminizing Blow-Dry Spray (mini size)

I got this in an ipsy bag forever ago, but I only just started blow-drying and heat-styling my hair, so I’d only gotten around to using it this November. I think I used this up at the beginning of the month, and I really miss it. The scent was lovely, and it left a nice softness and shine on my hair. I bought Not Your Mother’s blow-dry spray when this ran out, and I like that one too, but I’d rebuy this in a second if I saw it on a shelf.

Hickory Ridge Organics Dead Sea Salt Scrubs in Coconut, Spearmint Eucalyptus, and Mango

So of all these products, these are the ones I’m most excited to talk about. These are local-ish products, made in St. Augustine, Florida, which is just a half-hour drive from where I live. Boyfriend and I went to St. Augustine for my birthday this year, and while we were wandering, I found the HRO shop and got a little crazy. I liked these scrubs a lot; the scents were really strong and the oils were plentiful and very moisturizing. My one gripe is that the salt pieces were kind of large and rounded off. I like a scrub with gritty, abrasive bits, and this one was a bit too gentle. Also the labels are not waterproof. That said, I hope to buy more of these on my next trip there. For now, I’m back to the Shea Moisture scrubs.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NW10

I’m pretty proud of this one, too, because this is like three years coming. I loved this foundation, and I’m proud to have used up the whole thing. I don’t know if you can see the fill line; it’s not really a fill line, just the foundation on the very bottom of the bottle that the pump couldn’t get to, and it’s just enough that it just coats the walls of the bottle instead of trickling out if I turned the bottle upside-down. I’m a little sad to see it go. I decided to try NARS’s All Day Luminous foundation when this ran out, and even though I like it enough, I wish I’d just repurchased this one. Side note: I just panned the powder I bought with this foundation.

Castelbel Jasmine and Hyacinth Soap Bar

This was a huge bar of soap, so huge and so egg-shaped that it was really awkward to hold and use in the shower for a long time. Recently I dropped the last little sliver on the shower floor and it broke into a dozen soapy little pieces. I got an oatmeal soap from Trader Joe’s (another Boyfriend pick) out of the drawer.

And there it is, nine days late, the Empties Roundup for November 2016! Have you used any of these products? What did you use up? Let me know in the comments!

I bought these products myself.
Except for the ones Boyfriend bought himself.

Makeup Review: Studio Gear’s Prime Objective Skin Perfecting Face Primer

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It’s been a while since we had a good product review, yeah? I’m excited about today’s, because I don’t get too many makeup products. What we’re looking at today is Studio Gear’s Prime Objective Skin Perfecting Face Primer. It’s smooth, creamy, and wonderful.

I was given this product for free by Brandbacker and Studio Gear. My opinions are not swayed by free stuff.

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The cap is dirty from having black eyeshadow on my fingers.

The Prime Objective primer is a silicone-based foundation primer. It is free of fragrances and parabens, but does contain preservatives. It also contains Retinol and moisturizers, delivering skincare benefits as well as long-lasting makeup. It has a pump delivery that dispenses a lot of product, and perhaps too much for my preference. Here’s the Cosdna entry for Prime Objective.

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It’s no secret that I love silicone primers. I’ve talked at length about my love for Smashbox Photo Finish. It’s probably no surprise that I like Prime Objective. I replaced my Photo Finish with Prime Objective for a couple weeks and saw comparable performance; it held my foundation on (which is NARS All Day Luminous Weightless foundation) with no issues.

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Before and after. The smoothing and blurring effects are apparent.

Before and after. The smoothing and blurring effects are apparent.

That said, I don’t like it quite enough to replace my Photo Finish. I said it was creamy, and for me, it’s a little too creamy, and feels a little greasy with my already-oily skin type. That, and the pump dispenses a huge amount of product. The box actually says “use one to two pumps as needed”, but I can’t imagine anyone needing two. Between the large amounts of product and its creaminess, it’ll pill up like it did on my hand here, and taking care not to overwork it, especially after it’s set, is necessary.

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So, my final word is that this primer is a great product if you want a little more skincare in your makeup routine, and you don’t have sensitivities to silicone or Retinol. And, Studio Gear were cool enough to give wacie.com readers a 10% discount on studiogear.com orders; use code BB at checkout. Let me know if you give this or other products a shot! The Prime Objective Skin Perfecting Face Primer retails for $30 for a one ounce tube.

I was given this product for free by Brandbacker and Studio Gear. My opinions are not swayed by free stuff.

 

Manicure Monday: Blue Insinuation

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Happy Monday! Manicure Monday is early because I was able to pull myself out of bed early for once. For this week’s look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s The Innuendo Squad with the Holo Glam decals I won in a giveaway (that I talk about here). All photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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So it wasn’t that long ago since I swatched The Innuendo Squad (I say it wasn’t that long ago; it was July, yikes), but I’m happy to revisit it. It’s a delicate blue with the softest, prettiest holo flame; I almost just wore it alone again to enjoy it. I didn’t want to cover it with anything. When I got the decals in that giveaway I won a bit ago, I thought about pairing them together, and I like how it turned out.

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Of course, this is my first time with water slide decals, and I don’t quite have the hang of it yet. On my Cinderella hand, I tried the method of soaking the decal in a bowl of water, sliding it off onto my finger, and then placing it, but this felt like too much work, and also just trashed one of the decals. I found it easier to place the dry decal on my nail, use an eyedropper to wet it, and then peel the paper backing away when it was wet enough. My placing wasn’t quite right, and so I tried to balance it out with a rhinestone. I kind of like it. Not a first bad go at the decals I suppose. It adds fun to the look without disturbing the polish.

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The Innuendo Squad is discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGLs are sold in their online shop, and lots of previously retired polishes are making a comeback for the holidays, just saying. I looked for the Holo Glam shops and just found their social media pages, so I don’t know where to tell you to get those.

I bought this polish myself.
I won the decals in a giveaway.

Swatch Sunday: Zoya’s Envy

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Welcome to Swatch Sunday! I’m excited about today’s post. I don’t know if you know this, but I list all the polishes I own in my polish list, and this is what helps me decide what I’m going to swatch. Swatch Saturday goes down the list from the top, which it’s always a Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polish. Swatch Sunday is the first polish from each brand, and the brands are in alphabetical order. So, since today’s swatch is a Zoya polish, next week we’ll loop back around to Butter London, and I’m excited about that. So, to celebrate one go-around of the Swatch Sunday polish list, here’s Zoya’s Envy. I’m wearing three coats of Envy with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Not sure why the tips look worn.

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Envy is a blackened green creme. Application is good; the product consistency is on the thin side but is still easy to use. The polish dries with a glossy finish before top coat.

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So I’m just going to say this. This stains. It stains bad. This polish has given me the worst yellow nails I’ve ever had. In fact, I used two coats of Seche Base for this swatch in order to avoid — I hope — the staining. It’s a shame, too, because I really love this shade. It’s not as harsh as black, and it’s an unexpected alternative to blackened burgundies and browns. A similar polish might be Essie’s Stylenomics; it looks similar, but I can’t vouch whether or not it stains the same way. I almost went for another Zoya instead, but I’m a blogger, and it’s kind of my job to wreck my nails so you don’t have to.

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Envy and other Zoya polishes are sold at Ulta, though I don’t recommend you buy it. It’s funny, after all these years, I don’t think I’ve ever discouraged anyone from buying anything until now.

I got Envy in a friend’s grab bag, likely because it stained her nails.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Never Look Back

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Welcome back to Swatch Saturday! Today’s swatch is all about a polish made to spread awareness about depression and raise money for charity. I’ve mentioned the Lighthouse of Hope box previously on the blog; it was a box curated by Julie of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer for her annual depression awareness fundraiser, and contained eight polishes, all from different makers. $60 of the $80 box went to the charity I Need a Lighthouse. You’ll notice I’m using the past tense; the boxes have all finally sold out! I guess it’s bad news if you wanted one, but the good news is that $1,200 has made its way to a fantastic charity. This polish is Julie’s own contribution to the box, Never Look Back. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Special Lighthouse label, too!

Special Lighthouse label, too!

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Never Look Back is a clear-based emerald green microglitter polish. While the emerald green is the main element, there are also pops of blue and purple. Application is easy; the glitters go on easily and build to opacity around two coats. The product consistency is thick but still nice to work with. It does dry with a slight bit of texture, so top coat is necessary for a smooth finish.

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Here’s a note from Julie about the polish:

“I’m constantly reminding myself to look to the future and not dwell on the past. It can be immensely difficult to do so, but it is completely necessary for my recovery. Remember that the future holds amazing things, so don’t dwell on the bad from the past!”

I admire Julie for being so open about her depression and for working so hard to break down the stigmas of mental illness. Even in today’s world, where being open and honest and forthcoming is encouraged, mental illness is still something people have a hard time opening up about, and it shouldn’t be that way. The more we talk about mental illnesses, the less power they have over us, and that’s definitely a good thing.

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So this polish is perfect for the upcoming holidays! I will probably end up breaking it out again for that. There’s so much shine and sparkle to it. I kinda failed to do it justice; I have a hard time focusing on all those tiny magical glitters.

As I mentioned, this box has sold out. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available in their online shop, including this year’s fundraiser polish, My Head’s Above the Rain, of which all $15 of the purchase price goes to the I Need a Lighthouse organization.

I bought this polish myself.