ipsy: July Beach Beauty

ipsy is a beauty sample subscription box, similar in concept to Birchbox. Instead of having the full sized products available in their own store, ipsy works out discounts with the brands for the month that they’re featured. The samples ship out starting on the 10th (in a rolling release, so it’s not as dependable a date as Birchbox), and each themed month comes in a little makeup bag. Sometimes the samples are actually full sized, sometimes not, but they never seem to be the little foil packets that Birchbox is so fond of and that make me feel so ripped off.

This is my second month with ipsy, and I’m still on the fence. You can’t choose which five of the eight possible products you’ll get, and while you take a style quiz, I don’t think anyone at ipsy actually uses it to design the product selection. Everyone usually gets two featured products, then the others are an either/or between two types of the same product. You can see what you’re getting a few days in advance by clicking on your “glam room,” although it won’t tell you what shades you’ll get if there are multiple color options.

Click here to see my July bag

Week 17: blue

blue

Between an intense grad class and the heat wave, I just haven’t had the energy to update recently. I’m sorry! I’ll probably be slow over the next couple of weeks while I visit my mother in Philadelphia, but I’ll at least try to get my weekly challenge posts out on time.

Click here for another picture!

Julep: July Maven Box

I’ve been a Julep Maven for three months now, and each month has tempted me to upgrade my box so I get the whole set. But each time, there has been something holding me back: May was my first box and I could only get it free if I didn’t upgrade, June had the DD cream (which I totally didn’t want). But July’s California Coast box finally did the trick: ten beachy polishes, sea salt spray for hair, and beach oil tonic for skin. Yup, sold.

Julep July Collection

Click for a bigger image; image courtesy of Julep

Click here to see swatches and reviews!

Gradient: Stormy Nails

Here in New England, the saying goes that if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. I’ve waited five days for some sunshine, and there appears to be none in sight. I had some outside work to do that I put off because it looked like rain this morning; sure enough, it’s pouring down now like a monsoon. So I thought it would be a good day to do a stormy color design on my nails.

stormy 01

These are the color of the sky today. And yesterday, And presumably tomorrow.

Click here for more rainy day clouds!

Glitter Daze: Rainbow Bridge

I’m ambivalent about indie polishes. Some, like a-England, I think are on par with luxury brands, while others aren’t my cup of tea. I love looking at all the myriad glitter combinations and yet always wonder how such a look is actually wearable without looking like a teenager. But after seeing Glitter Daze‘s Rainbow Bridge featured on Chalkboard Nails, I decided to take the plunge and get my first indie glitter.

Glitter Daze Rainbow Bridge

Macro shot of the bottle

Read more to see Rainbow Bridge on nails!

Week 15: Rainbow

15

Such an appropriate theme for this week! And while that wasn’t our thought when we planned this challenge (rainbow is one of the themes from the 31-day challenged Becca and I used as a template), this little bit of serendipity makes me smile. Hooray for another step for equality! If only the Voter Protection Act decision had been equally on target. *sigh*

Okay, back to nails.

Enough politics, show me the rainbow!

Butter LONDON Fall 2013: Colour Clash

BL Colour Class

Click image for a bigger view

I’ve been eagerly awaiting butter LONDON’s fall collection, because let’s be honest, fall colors are my fave. I’m an autumn, color-wise (medium brown hair with a hint of red in the sun, hazel eyes, fair to light skin), and all the russets, coppers, bronzes, and golds of fall make me happy.

So how bummed am I at this collection?

The colors in this collection are as follows (descriptions are from the butter LONDON website).

  • Cake-Hole (An opaque, nearly neon pink crème) – this color was previously available only at Macy’s
  • Pimms (A sunflower yellow crème)
  • Cotton Buds (An opaque, pure white crème)
  • Giddy Kipper (An indigo shimmer)
  • Wellies (A grass green crème)
  • Silly Billy (A fire orange crème)

I guess this fall is all about brights, which I think will be fun in clothing, but it just doesn’t satisfy my desire for all those burnished reds, oranges, and greens of autumn. The collection is available now at the butter LONDON website.

What do you think? Are you going to pick up any of these?

Nail Files: Mount Bleu glass files

I’ve never thought much about nail files. My mom has used Revlon emery boards since the dawn of time, so that’s what I’ve always used. Julep sends me files in nearly every box, and I’ve acquired others in pedi/mani kits, impulse drugstore purchases, and random marketing gifts. But now that I pay more attention to hand and nail care, I did some reading of various blogs and decided to give glass files a try.

Click here for pictures and a review!