{Summer Must Haves} Bright Polish!

(L to R) Essie Funky Limelight and Sinful Colors Pink.

Sorry for the long absence. I've spent the last almost three weeks in NYC!!! I had so much fun, but now I'm back and I'll be blogging regularly again, starting with another Summer Must Haves post!

Obnoxiously bright polish is a must have for the summer, especially for feet. I've got nearly all the fluorescent shades available, from green to blue to purple and etc, but my favorites are the two above. On the left is Essie's Funky Limelight which came out in the summer of '09. On the right is Sinful Colors Pink. Sinful Colors' neon's are available now in a ton of shades if you want them. I've really been loving these on my toes, especially Pink. It is so eye catching I always get compliments with it on1 The only downside to these polishes is that they tend to be a bit sheer, so you will need around three to four coats for full opacity. I know, that sounds daunting, but their formula dries within a minute, I'm not kidding, so three to four coats won't take an hour. Another thing is that they dry to almost a matte finish, so you will need a top coat. Other than that, these are great and I highly recommend!

{Empties} June 2011 (+ Bonus Hit Pans!)

Hi guys! Sorry it took so long to get this post out. I underestimated how many mini reviews I would have to write lol! I've decided to do empties on a monthly basis from now on. Enjoy! Click on any links for more information and more in depth reviews!



Sally Hansen Teflon Tough Top Coat
A good top coat, very shiny, and makes my nails not chip for I would say almost a week. Not as great as Seche Vite, but for the price, a good option. What I really like about it is that it dries very very quickly, within two minutes.

Aquafina Intensive Under Eye Cream
This is a very good eye cream if you're looking for a very thick, rich under eye cream. It moisturizes very very well. That being said, this is the stupidest packaging I've ever had to deal with. The cream is very thick, so it does not sink to the bottom of the container, which means the pump can't pump it up. I would use a little spatula to scoop out as much as I could into a sample container and use it that way. Good cream, but packaging makes use very annoying.

Almay Clear Complexion Concealer
I like this concealer for its coverage, but as far as treating acne, I didn't notice any difference in my skin after continued use, and I really did only use this on pimples. The formula is a bit thicker than other concealers, so if you're used to think, liquid concealers this one may not be for you. It does blend out very well though.

Essie Mini Nail Polishes in Turning Heads Reds (Bottom) and Fearless (Top)
I loved these colors so much, especially for my toes. Fearless was the color that really got me interested in bright shades for nails. I;m not keen on the mini bottles though. I got through about 2/3 of these and then the rest kinda dried out, including the applicator. I've got the same problem with the OPI minis. They're nice if you wanna try out some nice shades, but if you buy them in 4's I would say save your money and buy two full size shades instead.

Maybelline Cool Effect Shadow Liner in On The Rocks
I loved this color. It's a deep, warm brown with a bit of shimmer to it. I also loved how long it lasted. Without a primer all over the lid it lasted until I took it off with absolutely no creasing at all. I was very surprised at this level of long wear from a drugstore brand. My issue with it is that the product dries out very very quickly. I bought it and used it for two weeks daily, went to sharpen and had the entire stick fall out of the tube.


See? Nothing in there. I've never even sharpened it once! I was so disappointed because I bought this brand new at full price from Walgreens. It's not like I picked it up from Big Lots or something, this was a brand new one. I think I may try out the NYX Jumbo pencils and see how they match up.

Petites Nail Polish in Sapphire
I wore this so much in spring! I love the shade, it's a super super shimmery blue jean kinda color. Very pretty and super affordable at only $2. I think one of the Dior Fall 2011 shades looks very similar to this one too!



Jordana Clear Mascara
I like how affordable this brow gel is for me. It keeps my brows in place all day without flaking or looking white. What I hate about it is after just three weeks it starts getting really really dirty.


Gross, right? I use go through about one a month because even though there is enough left for almost 2 weeks of use, i just feel gross using it. At a dollar a month though, it doesn't really hurt much.

Revlon Creme Gloss in Strike A Rose
I loved this gloss. It's the first gloss I've finished in ages. It's a bit thicker than a traditional gloss, but it's marketed as more of a liquid lip color. I did a full review, so if this seems like your type of product, check it out!

Almay Intense i Color Volumizing Mascara
I forget which eye color this was for, but it's the purply maroon color. It is a very nice day mascara. i hated it when I first got it because it was a bit too wet and would clump, but like with many other mascaras, when it dries out a little it worked perfectly, giving very nice and feathery lashes. I kinda wish I had bought the black though. The maroon was just a little lighter than I like my lashes.

Smashbox High Definition Concealer
This is an awesome all purpose type of concealer. I swear, there is nothing it can't do. It's thin but very pigmented texture makes it ideal for covering anything from pimples to dark circles and I've even mixed it with a bit of moisturizer to create a tinted moisturizer on the go. It blends effortlessly and never looks obvious. A bit pricey, but a very good buy.

Essie Mini Top Coat
I love Essie polishes, and when it comes to finish, they beat OPI in the shine department, which makes this top coat a solid buy. It's not as great at keeping nails from chipping as Seche Vite, but it is easily just as shiny. Again, however, the mini polishes dry out way way way too quickly.



H20+ Body Oasis Intensive Hydrating Gel
I've already done a full review of this product, and unlike many other H2O+ products, this one was a disappointment. It just left this sticky film on the skin that made me feel very uncomfortable on top of the fact that it wasn't very hydrating to begin with. If you're interested, read the full review for my complete thoughts.

The Body Shop Jolly Orange Shower Gel
As a shower gel this product performed, but the scent for me was kinda just meh. After using their Satsuma Body Butter for a few months, the scent of this spicy orange just isn't that good. I love how fresh Satsuma smells and compared to it Jolly Orange is a bit cloying. It did get me feeling very clean, though, and it's great for shaving too!



Noxema The Original Deep Cleansing Cream
I love this! Enough said. Read here and here for why lol!


Totally gone! I've already picked up another one, too!

Nivea Natural Beauty Daily Peeling
I really liked this cleanser. It's a nice lathering cleanser, but it's also a very gentle but effective exfoliate. This cleanser succeeded in joining cleansing and exfoliating where others have completely failed (see next review lol). The abrasives in this cleanser are very very fine, but densely packed in the cleanser where as other cleansers of this type have small particles that are more spread apart and therefore less effective. The only criticism I can give this product is that there is little that is natural about it. Don't be fooled by the "Natural Beauty" title. If you look at the ingredients list it is packed to the brim with very unnatural ingredients. Just because it contains one or two natural ingredients doesn't make this a better choice than other cleansers. It is very effective and that's why I do recommend this product highly. It got my skin feeling very smooth and very clean in one go.

Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash Redness Soothing Gentle Scrub
As a face wash this is a good cleanser, but to me it's not really a true scrub. The particles are these little round beads that are just too sparse to do much good as a scrub. They are suspended in a cream cleanser, which is an ideal choice for many sensitive skins. If you are looking for something that lathers really well, this isn't it. It is lightly scented and really relaxing to use. I didn't really notice any difference in redness, though.

And for some pan porn:

Hopefully some of these will show up on next months empties!

Super Bright Essie Nails!!!

Ok, so I'm not, by any means, a super bright nail polish person. I tend to stick to dusty lilacs, pinks, or go really dark with navy's and burgundy's. Lately, however, I've really been craving neon/really bright nail polish, and I was lucky enough to get some mini's on sale at a salon in the mall. Here's a tip for those of you who like Essie and OPI but hate to spend almost nine bucks on a nail polish: raid the clearance bins at the salons in the mall. I always stop by the Regis Salon or Trade Secret's at my mall and they always have something good. I got these babies for a buck each!!! I also got a few full size OPI's (Parlez-Vouz OPI, Baguette Me Not, Russian Navy, Black Cherry Chuteny, and more) for around three bucks each!!!!!! That's crazy!!!!! I'll post some pics of those later, but this post is dedicated to two of the four Essie mini's I got.

The shades are Turning Heads Reds (left) and Fearless (right):


Turning Heads Reds is a jelly orange based red. If you're looking for something super pigmented and opaque, this is not your color because it is a little bit shear. You'll probably need three coats for it to be completely opaque.


Fearless is a neon orange. It is A LOT brighter in person than it is in the pic above and those below. I'm not too crazy about this one for my hands, but it really makes my feet stand out. Too band I can't wear flip flops yet :(


Here they are on my nails:

Fearless is the orange above, Turning Heads Reds is below. You can really see how Turning Heads Reds is kind of shear, not that I mind because I wasn't looking for anything too heavy. And my nails are so short because I grew them out but they started to break on me :( I've got pretty weak nails that tend to peel (the top layer of my nail-at the edge-will peel off, leaving the edges of my nails really weak). I work with a lot of clay in my ceramics classes, and clay just sucks the moisture right out of your hands. My knuckles are always red, dry, and chapped in the winter, so Vaseline becomes my best friend really quickly, haha!

Anyway, back to nail polish. Here they are in more natural lighting:

Fearless (left) looks quite a bit red/subdued in this pic, but it really is brighter in person.

I hope you liked these. Let me know if you'd like to see more nail polish posts. This is my first one and it is a bit of an experiment. Till next time!