BH Cosmetics 15 Color Palette

Ah, my BH Cosmetics 15 Color Palette is in! I got this in the mail a day before I received my UD Naked Palette and I've reached for it every day thus far. Amazing because you would think I'd be all for the Naked Palette since I've been on the hunt to find it for quite some time now. I'm not going to go into the UD Naked Palette but either way, I'm extremely happy with both purchases.

BH Cosmetics was having a $10 off promotion for all of their custom palettes. So, I was able to purchase the BH 15 color Palette for only $25! The up side to this? You can create your own palette by mix and matching the colors you like! The palette and shadows come individually packaged since they are magnetic. Refilling individual shadows is now possible along with different color combinations to meet any travel needs. Genius, no?

Urban Decay Naked Palette




After months of waiting, it's finally here!

 

The FaceShop FaceMask!

In all honestly, I intended to try The FaceShop's Hyaluronic (?) Acid Face Masks so much earlier than I did, but I completely forgot that I had two of them until I stumbled upon them a few days ago. (I think I've had them for over 2 months!) Good news though! My skin was in need of a "pick me up."

I've tried numerous asian branded face masks but none recently and definitely none from Korea. And needless to say, I don't know what hyaluronic acid means or what it's supposed to do. Nevertheless, I popped this baby on for about 20 minutes at the end of my skin routine (after exfoliation) and the end result left me with baby soft, and smooth skin! I don't think it did anything to improve dark circles, redness, or anything like that but it was definitely gentle and soothing. It was also amazing how damp the mask stayed after 20 minutes. I can't imagine the discomfort of a dried up face mask.

The only complaint I could maybe have about this product is that the mask was way too big. I had to cut off so much excess around the perimeter but I can see why it would be made excessively larger vs. smaller though.

This exact mask (and hundreds of others) can be ordered on YesStyle. So, would I repurchase? Maybe. I'm on the fence about this one. The cool mask is refreshing and I know I wouldn't mind having a few in hand but I probably wouldn't be willing to pay for the extra shipping.

For all you face mask fans, YesStyle is giving away a free mask of their choice with any purchase right now. Not sure how long the promotion will go on though, so take advantage!

Essie Spring 2011 Collection: French Affair

I picked up two Essie polishes from their Spring Collection - French Affair (far left) and Sand Tropez (far right). Merino Cool (center) was not a part of the collection. I wasn't too interested in the other colors mainly because I felt as though they had strong resemblences to a lot of OPI polishes I already own. Such as Essie's Nice is Nice vs. OPI's Rumples Wiggin. Even French Affair had properties that reminded me closely of OPI's Mod About You which I love.

So typically, I'm not a huge Essie fan. I find their brushes to be thin which makes application more difficult but overall, I liked what I got. Merino Cool is definitely more fitting for the fall, but I love purply mauves, so I couldn't resist. I think I'll wear it as a substitute for dark polishes in the summer, maybe? It would be beautiful on the hands and feet. Sand Tropez was a pretty, sandy beige color. I definitely like it, but I'm not in love. I have a feeling I'll only get a few uses out of it before moving on. On another note, French Affair was a gorgeous, milky pink (right). It was not at all sheer and the applied color is an exact match from the bottle. This is usually the type of color I prefer on my nails and it also happens to be my favorite color in the collection.

I was able to purchase these polishes at a local Ulta which seemed to have this collection fully stocked but for those who are having a hard time getting their hands on these polishes, some (surprising) places to look besides your typical beauty store may be Walmart, Target, and/or your local grocery stores (such as Wegmans!). I had no idea some of those stores carried Essie polishes until I stumbled upon them by chance.

4 days and 2 flag football games later, my nails are still chip free and in prestige condition. Bravo Essie!

Laura Mercier Sample Palette & Misc. Nail Polishes

I've been avoiding the latest frenzy of depotting eye shadows for easy travelling simply because I'm convinced that I can find the perfect palette that would include every color I'd ever need for a week. With that said, my latest purchase was an attempt to uncover just that. I decided to order this Laura Mercier Sample Palette off Gilt Group because it was conveniently small and because I've liked the majority of Laura Mercier products I've tried in the past. Sad to say, this palette has been a disappointment to me. I've only gotten two uses out of it so far but I find the eye shadows to be dry, flaky, and unpigmented. The texture is difficult to blend and for whatever reason, the shadows don't stick to any of the brushes I've used! What makes this all the more disappointing is that I truly did want to like this product. So, I'm going to give it one last shot using my fingers for application and to hopefully warm up the shadows.

On a more successful note, I ran across a Revlon Nail Polish sale at the local store this past weekend and purchased Cupid and Lilac Pastelle along with a glitter nail polish from the Justin Bieber collection by Nicole by OPI. I didn't really have any expectations for these polishes but I have to say that I'm thoroughly impressed by the quality of the Revlon polishes (I haven't tried the glitter polish yet). On my hands, I applied 2 coats of Cupid and one layer of my Seche Vie top coat. I used the same combination for Lilac Pastelle on my toes. Surprisingly, no chips so far and it's going on 5 days! Definitely a repurchase for the future.