June 2011 Favorites

These are the products I've been reaching for constantly in June.

NARS Wild At Heart 15th Anniversary Palette

The NARS Wild at Heart palette was released in conjunction with their 15th anniversary.  It contains four eye shadows, three lipsticks, one lip lacquer, one blush, and one cream bronzer.  It's a good way to try a lot of NARS products without paying full price for all of the products.

The quality of NARS products are unmatched.  Especially when it comes to their pigmentation.  We already know they have highly pigmented blushes.  Their eye shadows and lipsticks are no different.

Pandora, Ashes to Ashes, Alhambra, Abyssinia

Eye shadows:

Abyssinia-is a beige with a satin finish.  Lovely has a highlight.

Alhambra-is a champagne color with a satin finish.  Great as an all over lid color.

Ashes to Ashes-is medium taupe color with a hint of purple.  Also great as a lid color and a can be used as a crease color as well.

Pandora-is a matte black.  Great to deepen the crease or to use as a liner.

Orgasm, South Beach

Blush:

Orgasm-their most famous color, a lovely peachy pink that is supposed to resemble the color you flush during its name sake.

Bronzer:

South Beach-a lovely golden bronze.  I use it as a cheekbone highlight. Gorgeous!

Baby Doll, Red Lizard, Manhunt, Fire Down Below

Lips:

Baby Doll-a bubble gum pink lip lacquer, similar to a gloss.

Red Lizard-a blue based matte red lipstick.

Manhunt-orange based red satin lipstick

Fire Down Below-bordeaux wine satin lipstick

As with all NARS products, the packaging is matte black.  It is very susceptible to dirt and finger prints.  I wish they would change that.  That is my only gripe with it.

This has instantly become one of my favorite palettes as it is so convenient and will be great for travelling.
It is available at http://www.nars.com/ and Sephora.

Manicure Mondays-Orly Moon Shadow

I've had this polish for months and have just now reached for it.  Orly Moon Shadow is a purple-y silver with a metallic finish.  It is the old formula, meaning it contains Toluene, Formaldehyde, and DBP.  It did not play well with my base coat nor top coat.  It was bubble city!  I will likely try it again with no top or base coat as I do like the color.  It needed 2 coats opacity.   I ended up taking it off on day 3, even though it was chip free.  I just couldn't take the bubbles anymore!

Hair Chat & Outfit Of The Day

I did a little video, giving an insight on how I take care of my hair.

Manicure Mondays-Sally Hansen Thinking Of Blue

I have skillfully avoided purchasing any colors from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure line because frankly, they cost just as much as salon brands like OPI and Essie.  But, while waiting on a prescription to get filled at CVS, I noticed they were on sale for $5.99, so I picked up a few.  Thinking of Blue is a nautical blue cream.  I thought the color reminded me of the cruise ship we were on.  This line is marketed as having a base coat, nail strengthener, top coat, and nail color in one.  So I didn't apply any base or top coat as I normally would.  I can say the formula was nice and smooth and covered in 2 easy coats.  It appeared to dry fast, however, having painted my nails at 2 pm that day, I woke up to the dreaded sheet marks on my polish the next morning.  NOT COOL.  That really disappointed me.  It is also marketed as lasting 10 days chip free.  I won't be able to test it as I start a new job today and this has already been removed and replaced with a first day appropriate color (I want to feel the place out first before I subject them to some of my nail colors).  But I can say from Thursday to Sunday, it remained chip free.  What are your favorites from this line?

Update: How I Cover My Dark Circles

This was filmed late at night so the lighting is yellow and my bags are worse than usual.

Burt's Bees Radiance Eye Cream

I discovered Burt's Bees years ago because of their lip balms.  It wasn't until recently that I realized that they also had skin care products as well.  After going through my jar of Bobbi Brown Hydrating eye cream ($50), I decided that I would look for a more affordable eye cream.  I stumbled upon Burt's Bees Radiance eye cream at CVS and decided to try it.

I wanted something that was equally as moisturising as my Bobbi Brown eye cream.  This eye cream contained Royal Jelly which is a substance made by honeybees and contains nectar, pollen, flower parts, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients.  I don't know if it is because of the Royal Jelly, but I find this product to be every bit as moisturising as the Bobbi Brown Hydrating eye cream.

Burt's Bees website says this:  "This highly-concentrated formula also contains chamomile, cucumber and rosehip extracts, which are known to promote skin renewal and reduce puffiness and swelling. Natural mica diffuses light to minimize the look of fine lines".  I don't really suffer from any eye wrinkles so I can not comment on it's effectiveness in that area.

I haven't noticed any reduction in puffiness or swelling.  But to be fair, I don't believe there is any product that can reduce my hereditary bags. 

The product itself is slightly thin, but not runny.  It absorbs quickly on me.  I use it both at night and in the morning under my makeup.  It does not interfere with my makeup.  In fact, I think it helps my concealer glide on better.

It is 98.2% natural but does have a fragrance.  I do not find the fragrance to a bother but do find it odd that they decided to put fragrance in the product, since it's supposed to be natural.

Overall, I enjoy this product and I recommend it for those looking for a moisturising eye cream.  It retails for $17.99 at drug stores.

Manicure Mondays-OPI Overexposed In South Beach

OPI Overexposed in South Beach is a red based purple with subtle magenta shimmer.  It was released a few years back with their Miami themed collection.  I've been wearing a lot of pastels lately, so I wanted to switch it up.  I imagine this would make a great pedicure color as well. The formula was outstanding and only took 2 coats for opacity.  I just applied this on Saturday so I cannot comment on the wear.  I can say as I type this post, I have no chips.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  What are you wearing this week?

What's In My Bag?

Summer Fragrance Favorite: Coach Poppy

I purchased this fragrance last summer and it quickly became a summer favorite of mine.  I couldn't wait for it to get warm again so that I could wear it! Coach Poppy has notes of cucumber flower, mandarin, freesia, jasmine, water lily, gardenia, crème brûlée accord, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla and whipped marshmallow.  It is a sweet fragrance but not sickly sweet.  It is the perfect summer fragrance!

The bottle is cute though a little juvenile.  I believe this fragrance was marketed to the younger demographic with it's packaging and bright pink color.

I purchased this from Nordstrom when it was exclusively sold there but I have now seen it at Sephora, Ulta, Dillards, & Macy's.  It was $60 for the 1.7 fl oz bottle.  If you are looking for a good summer fragrance, check this one out.

Manicure Mondays-OPI Stranger Tides

I'm back from vacation and feeling very refreshed and recharged!  OPI Stranger Tides was my vacation manicure and still on my hands as I type this.  I would describe it as a sage green.  It has lasted an incredible 9 days with just a tiny chip that happened last night.  I only needed 2 coats for opacity.  I used my CND Stickey Base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.