Sally Hansen and Rimmel London- Plum's The Word!

With fall already upon us, it’s time to shift your color gear. Plum’s The Word for fall and what better way to create bold looks than with beautiful nails from Sally Hansen and the perfect lip colors from Rimmel London.

RIMMEL LONDON STAY MATTE LIQUID LIP COLOUR ($5.79)   Get ready for a bold, matte lip-look that stays on. Rimmel London introduces Stay Matte Liquid Lip Colour, a new liquid lipstick with high-intensity colour, a velvety matte finish and a long-lasting, comfortable wear. Shown below in Midnight and Plum This Show

Sally Hansen Color Therapy Nail Color ($8.99) The patented argan oil formula fuses intensive nourishment and instant moisture for healthy looking nails.Up to 10 days of fade-proof, chip-resistant wear.  Shown below in Exotic Acai and Color Therapy Top Coat

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel ($9.99) The #1 no light gel system!* In just two easy steps get up to 14 days of color and shine. More chip-resistant than regular nail polish! Shown below in Dig Fig and V-Amplified and Miracle Gel Top Coat

 

 

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure ($7.99) This all-in-one formula with keratin boasts 7 benefits in one bottle— base coat, strength, treatment, salon color, topcoat, chip resistance and gel shine finish.  Complete Salon manicure delivers up to 64% stronger nails and up to 10 days of chip-resistant wear.  Shown below in Society Ruler and Plums The Word

Prep for Spring with Sally Hansen, Rimmel, and Jergens!

 *Sent for review*

Are you ready for spring? I know I am! We've had a few days of beautiful spring-like weather here recently and I know it'll get cold again, but it gives me hope for the coming season. Today I have a great bunch of products to make you feel like spring is coming, even if it might not be yet where you live. These were promoted originally as Valentine's Day products, but after playing around with them for awhile, I think they are perfect for those first days of balmy warm weather!  Sally Hansen Berry Smooth is the perfect pop of bright pink and reminds me of bright flowers starting to bloom. Berry Smooth is a fuchsia pink creme with a touch of a blue-leaning base.

This is two easy coats of Berry Smooth. It was effortless to apply and nicely opaque. I used the Sally Hansen Color Therapy Top Coat to finish the look. The top coat is really shiny and dries super fast, all the things I want in a top coat!

Sally Hansen Red-y to Glow is a beautiful true red jelly. It's nice and juicy and also has that great balance of being bright, yet also rich looking. The jelly finish is so light and airy feeling, ahhhh!

This is also two coats with the same easy application as Berry Smooth. The top coat adds that megawatt shine that really makes jelly finish polishes pop. I think these Sally Hansen Color Therapy polishes are really excellent and perfect for reviving dried out winter nails. According to Sally Hansen, they have an "argan oil-enriched formula, resulting in intensive nourishment and instant moisture for healthier-looking nails". After wearing one of these for a few days last week, I did notice  my nails were less dry and felt stronger because of the additional moisture.

Sally Hansen Red-ience is my favorite kind of red creme- a bright orange-y red, like poppies in a garden. This kind of orange red just screams spring to me, warm weather seems closer when I wear this color! I'm putting this on my toes ASAP.

Two easy coats again, nice smooth formula. This formula and the accompanying top coat really seem to mask my nail imperfections for a great flawless look.

Rimmel has a new lip gloss called Oh My Gloss! Oil Tint that is absolutely perfect for spring! Both of these glosses went straight into my purse after I tried them for the first time and they have been there ever since. Rimmel says this gloss is "an innovative tint-in-oil gloss formula that’s packed with a blend of four precious oils" and that "the ingenious tint-in-oil system fuses pure pigments onto the lips for a radiant splash of juicy color. The formulation also features a shine flex polymer for a dazzling glossy finish". I guess it's the four precious oils, but these are the best feeling glosses I have tried, possibly ever. I have an extensive lip gloss collection from mid to high end brands (including MAC, NARS, YSL, Chanel, Bite Beauty, etc.) and these feel more comfortable than many of my higher end glosses.

These glosses are meant to be sheer and I like that for spring. As the weather gets warm, I am done with the heavy, opaque mattes of winter. These are fun fresh pops of sheer color. Above, I am wearing Rimmel Master Pink, a pale candy pink. Below, I have on Rimmel Pop Poppy. I think coral pink Pop Poppy is my favorite of the two, but I really love them both. They settle into lip lines a bit, especially if you apply too much, but that's the only downside I can find to them. They both leave behind a bit of a stain even after the gloss fades. For $5.99, these are fantastic and I am going to hunt down a few more colors!

I have been a fan of the regular Jergens Natural Glow for years. My skin is a sickly shade of "ghost', especially after a long winter indoors, and I don't tan naturally. So I rely on products like Jergens Natural Glow for a bit of color (and to make sure my legs don't match my white socks...). This was my first time trying Jergens Natural Glow 3 Days to Glow and I am hooked! A couple of hours after my first application, I noticed a hint of color, just something to take the blinding glow of pale snow white away. Then after 3 applications, I had a nice hint of a tan, but nothing orange or fake looking. The fact that this develops gradually after 3 or more applications means there are no streaks- just smooth natural-looking color. The telltale "self-tanner" odor was also significantly less with this product than any other tanner I have used. I will definitely be purchasing Jergens 3 Days to Glow for the upcoming warmer months! 

All of these great products that will help you get in the mood for spring (regardless of whether spring is coming up soon for you or not) are available now at a drugstore near you! Who doesn't need a bright pop of red or fuchsia polish on your toes, a new coral gloss and a fresh faux tan after the slog of winter?!

Two New Sally Hansen and NYC Products for Valentine's Day!

NEW! NYC New York Color Expert Last Lip Lacquer

Lipstick-worthy color with a luscious glossy feel.  The intense color of a lipstick with the shine of a gloss. Color this bold should be outlawed. The glamorous look of NYC New York Color’s fan-favorite Expert Last Lip Color now has all the ease of a gloss in new Expert Last Lip Lacquer. Infused with intense color, the precision applicator hugs lips tight while the rich formula glides on smooth and never feathers or bleeds. Lips stay hydrated, soft, and supple, and the never-sticky lacquer offers all-day comfort. With a lightweight texture and ultimate creamy color, this lacquer defies the laws of lipstick.

WHAT IT COSTS: $3.99

NEW! Sally Hansen Patent Gloss Nail Color

Get the shine of patent leather on your nails with a glossy sleek finish. Capture the look of patent leather in this high-gloss polish with a sleek shine with just two coats. (Limited Edition)
WHAT IT COSTS:  $5.99 

MAC Heavenly Creatures Haul

I have been anticipating the MAC Heavenly Creatures collection for a few months now. I LOVE MAC mineralize products, and usually their summer mineralize collection is my favorite collection of the entire year. When Heavenly Creature appeared on the MAC website almost a week early (this past Monday), I jumped at the chance to get my products earlier than expected. I also had a code for free overnight shipping, so I got my order super fast as well. Heavenly Creatures is a large collection with lots of color products, as well as skincare. Here were my first round picks (I may go back for seconds after another paycheck):

I picked up two of the four Mineralize Skin Finishes (MSFs), Center of the Universe (left) and Star Wonder (right). MSFs are great all-over color for the face and I am pale enough to often wear them as blushes. They have a beautiful sheen and I always think I look healthier when wearing an MSF.

I also got this gorgeous Mineralize Blush, Supernova. Supernova already sold out on the MAC site, but you will be able to get it next week at your local MAC counter, and there's always Macys.com, Nordstrom.com, etc. There are three other Mineralize Blushes in this collection.

Above are 2 of the nine Mineralize Eye Shadows (MES) from the collection. Nine was overwhelming to me at first, so I just got these two- Magnetic Attraction (left) and Universal Appeal (right). I will probably get another MES or two from Heavenly Creatures because I do love them.

I only got 2 of the five Cremesheen Glasses, but this is another area where I'll probably grab a few more. I love the Cremesheen Glass formula. That's Astral on the top and Meteoric on the bottom.

Finally, the one skin care product I got is Volcanic Ash Exfoliator. I got this when it was last released, I think with the Style Black collection in 2009, and loved it. This is definitely not exfoliation for sensitive skin, but my skin likes these grainy scrubs. The crystals in this do melt away so it isn't too harsh as long as you don't rub too hard at first. Many people also find the smell to be odd, so sniff it at your counter before purchasing. I will most likely buy another 2 tubes of this if it doesn't sell out too quickly.

And now for the swatches!!!! Universal Appeal MES is more purple... my camera didn't feel like accurately representing the color I guess.

Center of the Universe MSF

 Center of the Universe, Star Wonder, Supernova (in shade)

 Star Wonder

 Supernova

 Center of the Universe, Star Wonder, Supernova (sunlight)

 Magnetic Attraction, Universal Appeal, swatched dry

 Magnetic Attraction, Universal Appeal, (dry)

 top- Magnetic Attraction, bottom- Universal Appeal (dry)

 Astral, Meteoric

 Astral, Meteoric

I haven't done any full looks with the products yet, so hopefully I'll be posting those soon. I did try Center of the Universe on my cheeks quickly and I'm loving it! It gives a beautiful warm glow that isn't too brown or muddy looking. I wanted to get these quick swatches up before stuff really starts to sell out! Everything I purchased looks amazing, I am super pleased with this collection and hope to buy more when I get paid again LOL!!

The MAC Heavenly Creatures collection is available now online at maccosmetics.com. It will arrive on MAC counters on Thursday July 5th. 

Gorgeous Chanel Glossimers in Calypso and Jalousie!

I have a problem. A lip gloss problem. I LOVE me some gloss and have TONS of it. But, despite the fact that my room runneth over with gloss, I keep purchasing more. Fortunately, in the case of these two Chanel Glossimers, the purchases are often quite worth it!! On the left here we have Chanel Jalousie, a stunning deep fuchsia pink gloss with very very fine shimmer. Jalousie is one of the more pigmented Chanel Glossimers I've come across.

On the right is Chanel Calypso from the Chanel Summer 2012 collection. Calypso is my kind of gloss, a juicy orange with gold shimmer flecks. The shimmer in Calypso is much more visible than the very fine shimmer in Jalousie. Calypso is also pigmented, although less so than Jalousie.

Jalousie on the lips. This was a bit of a light application. Jalousie can be MUCH more pigmented than this. When applied a little heavier, it looks just like my arm swatch above.

Calypso on the lips. Love. Again, this could be applied heavier for a bit more color, but I really like it this way.

Chanel Calypso and Jalousie are available now online at Chanel.com.

Awesome Collaboration: Sephora + Pantone Universe!!

I heard that Sephora was collaborating with Pantone Universe for a color of the year collection quite awhile ago. Being a color nerd who always waits to hear the "color of the year", this made me SUPER excited. However, I wasn't prepared for how seriously fabulous this collection turned out. Part of the attraction for me is that the color of the year is Tangerine Tango and orange has been a favorite color of mine for YEARS! Orange make-up is also pretty flattering on me. There really isn't an orange make-up item I won't try.

Now, here's the fun part! I was going to skip the lip gloss set because I already own 9 million lip glosses, but I won it in a giveaway over on Best Things In Beauty!!! Yay!!! Let me tell you I am SO glad I did! Above you can see the lip gloss in it's packaging. The packaging for this collection is really nice by the way. I love the box covers with all of the Pantone color chips. The lip gloss set contains four Tangerine Tango glosses in four different finishes, all for a mere $20.

This is the Prisma Chrome Blush in Apricot Brandy ($16). I bought this because: A. Apricot Brandy sounds delish. B. I am a blush ho. C. It had a really cool pattern on the product itself. Again, I am SO glad I bought this!!

Here are swatches of Apricot Brandy in sunlight. That's a heavy swatch on the left and then blended out on the right. This can definitely be tailored to your skin color, see how light and glowy the right swatch is? Apricot Brandy is a gorgeous, pigmented shimmering apricot color. I wore it yesterday and several people told me I looked nice and one person even said I looked tan. LOL, tan?? Me?? For reference, my arm is probably about a MAC NC15 right now.

OMG this gloss set is amazing! Left to right in these pictures are Tangerine Tango Luminous, Tangerine Tango Vivid, Tangerine Tango Glaze, and Tangerine Tango Opal. The above picture is in sunlight, below is indoors in lower light. If you are afraid of orange or just any bright lip colors, there are still some wearable glosses in this set. The Glaze and Opal finishes could work on any skin tone/color. The Glaze is a very sheer hint of peach kind of gloss that I know I will reach for daily. Opal is a cool subtle duochrome-like finish that actually looks more sheer and wearable on the lips.

Below is one more sunlight shot because these are so pretty! The Luminous finish is a bit more pigmented than Glaze and Opal, and has very pretty shimmer. Finally, Vivid is exactly that- a very vivid creme finish gloss with full pigmentation. This one may be scary for some people, but I think the gloss set is still worth it for $20.

I tried Vivid on first and LOVE IT SO MUCH IT HURTS!!! Behold, a lip swatch:

I apparently applied this in the dark or something though because I missed a whole bunch of my bottom lip. Who does that? But I just noticed it when I went to crop the pictures, so sorry about that! Awesome color though.

Based on these two items, the Sephora + Pantone Universe collection is a massive hit. I can't believe I was going to skip the gloss set. Stupid. I also purchased the set of four nail polishes (duh.), so you'll be seeing that soon too! Big thanks to Charleston Girl at Best Things In Beauty for giving away the lip gloss set and picking me as the winner!! I REALLY hope that Sephora and Pantone decide to collaborate every year. I think that would be amazing, and I know I would be interested in future collections!

The Sephora + Pantone Universe Collection is available now at Sephora.com.