A Birthday request

Today is my husband's birthday so I asked him what I should wear. He told me what he wanted it to look like and I picked the colours. I think it turned out pretty good.

I curled my lashes first then used mascara, and it doesn't really look like I curled my lashes at all. Maybe I didn't hold them long enough or something. I'll try again tomorrow.

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radince all over,
Lilac Vibe under brow,
Bloom lash into and above crease,
Magnifique in crease and outer corner,
Beautiful Susan lash to crease on inner 1/2ish,
Big and Bright in Intense black top and bottom,
Curled first then Tarte mascara.
CHEEKS: Glee Radiance with Fruit Cocktail on apples.
LIPS: Fruit Cocktail gloss

Minx and Moonshine

A friend asked me to curl my lashes so I attempted to do so. I think it actually worked out okay. I think I will try to curl my lashes in different ways with different mascaras this week and see what works best. I have the heated eye lash curler from Sephora so that's what I will be using.

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radince all over,
Eye Bright under brow and inner corner,
High Shine Moonshine lash into and above crease,
Minx in crease and outer corner,
Minx wet lined on top,
Tarte mascara then curled with Sephora heated eye lash curler.


CHEEKS: RSVP as bronzer, Gold MV, Posh blush
LIPS: Rock Candy lipstick

In the mood for Mint

I wanted to wear mint today so I kind of built this look around that colour. I was going to wear grey in the crease but then I saw beach goddess and decided to go with that instead.

I used a synthetic blush brush to apply the Tarte cheek blush. This is one of those cream sticks. When I used this the first time I applied it with my fingers and it felt really thick and heavy and I couldn't get an even application. I was able to get a more even application with the brush and it feels better on but I really had to blend it out and I think I might have lost some of my foundation. But I like it better this way.

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radince all over,
High Shine Charisma under brow and lash to crease on inner 1/2,
Mint lash to crease,
Beach Goddess dry in crease and then foiled lash to crease on outer 1/3ish,
For real wet lined on top, dry on bottom,
Tarte Mascara.


CHEEKS: Tarte the perfect rose applied with the Keling synthetic blush brush.
LIPS: Aveda Sassafras

Sorry it's a little blurry

Saucy and Bali

I don't even remember when I last wore Saucy and Bali. I think as spring approaches I am inclined to do more bronze-y summery looks.

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radince all over,
White gold under brow and inner corner,
Bali Foiled lash to crease,
Saucy in crease and outer 1/4ish,
Bark wet lined on top and dry on the bottom and in my brows,
Flawless definition mascara.


CHEEKS: Papaya Blush
LIPS: Sydney Buxom with Energy Drink over it.

Shea Terra Product Review

There has been a lot of discussion about Shea Terra products on the Bare Escentuals Addicts forum lately, and given that I have gotten some very good product recommendations from the forum, I decided to give them a try.



Shea Terra makes natural and organic skincare products. They have a wide selection of serum like oils (including Argan oil which is all the rage right now), cleansers, moisturizers, toners, facial mist, body oil, lotion like products, soaps and many other bath and body care items. The selection is quite large and can be a little overwhelming but they do encourage you to call or e-mail them for product recommendations. Some of the items are expensive, but less expensive than other companies who make similar products. In addition if you sign up to get e-mails from them they regularly send out a 30% off coupon (the current code is apr30). The coupon made it easy to give them a try.


In addition to the items I ordered they included two generous samples of other products (I think this is a good marketing strategy because you can’t smell any of the products and since there is such a large selection it can help to narrow things down).


I bought the Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser & Mask, Tamanu Oil, and Honeybush Peach Shea Body Nectar Spray Oil. I also received a sample of the African Baobab Oil and the Cape Chamomile Distillate Water.


Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser: This cleanser is supposed to help acne prone skin and it is supposed to gently exfoliate. I love this cleanser. It is more effective than any cleaner that I have used before. It does gently exfoliate and it leaves your skin clean, soft and smooth. I also think it helps to minimize breakouts. Since I started using this cleanser I have had only a few blemishes and when I do get one it is smaller than usual and goes away more quickly. I usually put this cleanser on near the beginning of my shower and then a few minutes later I use my clarasonic and then rinse my face at the end of the shower. This gives the cleanser time to work. One pump is enough for my face and neck. This cleanser costs $18 which is pricy for a cleanser but I have been using it for a month and I’m not quite 1/3 of the way through the bottle. If you have problem skin or would just like soft smooth skin I highly recommend this product. I will buy it again.


I did use the black soap as a mask. I put it on about 5 minutes before I got in the shower and left it on through most of my shower. This was a HUGE mistake. It made my skin peel and it took a few days to recover. There is no question that this soap exfoliates. If you have sensitive skin this soap might be too strong for you.


Tamanu Oil: I decided to get this oil based on a recommendation from someone on BEA. I got it because the Tamanu oil is supposed to have healing properties, and help with wrinkles and such. I really want to keep my face care routine simple and I thought adding this would be easy. I have been using it morning and night. At first I used it alone at night and saw some very good results. I then added my Rare Minerals over it and they work perfectly together (I think it makes the RM more effective). I also have been using it in the morning with my SPF daytime moisturizer over it.


This oil is a medium thickness. I use one pump for my face and about ½ pump for my neck. The oil did not irritate my skin or make me break out (I have a sensitive neck so I was happy to see that it did not cause any problems). The oil does moisturize and heal your skin. I also think it helps to minimize pores—that was something I noticed early on. I have some red patches on my chin and these were made worse when I did the mask. But using the Tamanu oil healed them. It has made most of the redness on my face go away. It helps to heal blemishes faster (most were healed and gone in two to three days). It also healed some cuts on my finger pretty much over night. My skin overall looks better. The oil absorbs pretty quickly and even when I put it on my eyes in the morning it does not interfere with my eye shadow primer doing its job like many other products I’ve used. I have not seen a dramatic reduction in wrinkles but do think it has softened the appearance of some of my wrinkles. I think if I use this for a longer period of time it will eventually help with existing wrinkles. I have been using this product for about a month and I am about 1/3 (maybe a bit more) through the bottle. I have been using it twice a day and I have put it on other parts of my body where I have dry skin so if you only use it for your face it might last longer. The Tamanu Oil is $24 for 2 oz which is not bad for a moisturizer/serum, especially since I think it will last 2-3 months.


One thing you might not like about the Tamanu Oil is the way it smells. To me it smells like burnt wood. It has a very earthy scent. The smell is noticeable for 5-10 minutes after you apply it but it eventually fades. Now that I’ve been using it for a while it doesn’t really bother me at all. But if you are very sensitive to smells and you really don’t like “earthy” smells you will not like this very much. I think the effectiveness of the product outweighs the smell and I will definitely be buying this again.


Honeybush Peach Shea Body Nectar Spray Oil: I generally speaking like dry oil body spray. This one is good. I like the scent, it smells exactly like peach nectar. The scent actually sticks around for a while. If you like to wear perfume this might not be a good thing. But I have worn fruity perfumes with it and like the combination. The spray bottle really doesn’t give you a fine mist of oil instead it comes out in a stream. I like to spray a few pumps into my hand and apply it that way. It absorbs pretty quickly, you can get dressed within 5 minutes. It also does a good job of softening and moisturizing the skin. I’m not sure this is my new favorite or anything, but I like it and will use it up.


African Baobab Oil: The sample of this oil lasted for 4 applications. I used it in the morning before my daytime moisturizer. I really can’t comment on the long term effects or benefits of using the oil. This oil is less viscous than the Tamanu oil and so it is great for use under a daytime moisturizer. This oil also kept my skin moisturized and looking good. It does have a slight scent but it is not as strong or earthy as the Tamanu oil.


Cape Chamomile Water: I wasn’t really sure what to do with this. It is for misting your face. I decided to use it to apply my foundation wet. I put the sample in a misting bottle and just used a few spritzes with my foundation. I think it worked well but I really did not like the way it smelled. It has an earthy/grassy scent that just didn’t appeal to me. It did make me want to try some of the other mists. I think I would use them in the winter when I want to do a wet application and need more moisture.


Overall I was very pleased with the effectiveness of the products I bought from Shea Terra. I think that with the coupon most products are a good value. I was impressed enough with the products that I bought the Argan and Green Coffee Around-Eye Serum. I am really looking forward to trying that product. I will review it once I’ve used it for a substantial amount of time. I am also interested in trying the Night Nourishing serum which is a blend of oils. I think I will get that once I finish the bottle of Tamanu oil. If you love bath and body stuff, or are looking for a good skincare regimen then you should give Shea Terra a try.

Update: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips

I just want to give you a quick update on the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail strips. I think that overall they worked out pretty well. I was brutal on my hands because I wanted to see if they would last through dishwashing and cooking and all the normal stuff I do. They looked just as they did when I put them on for 4 days. Then they started to chip a little at the tips. They also either shrank a little or my nails grew which you can see in the photos. The second set of photos is at seven and a half days. Even though they started to chip around day 4 they pretty much stayed the same until day 7 (they didn’t get much worse). I think my nails looked a little junky by day 7 but no worse than they look by day 3 with regular nail polish. From a distance I don’t think the chipping was especially noticeable. I think it would have been more of an issue if I had on a solid colour or a less busy design.  

I was reading other reviews of these strips and some people said that using a top coat helped them stay on with no chips longer, so I think I will try that next time. I think I will buy these again. I think they would be best for when you go on vacation and don’t want to worry about your nails or for someone like me who isn’t really good with traditional nail polish.

DAY 1

DAY 7

Black Lab and Blue Moon

I've been wanting to wear blue moon for a while.

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radince all over,
Buxom Stay there in Black Lab lash into and above crease on outer 2/3,
Blue Moon lash to crease on inner 1/2,
Neptune under brow,
Caviar wet lined on top and dry on bottom,
Sephora Lash Plumper mascara.


CHEEKS: Miracle blush
LIPS: Bavarian Creme