giveaway win: china glaze happy holiglaze collection

hi guys! just before new year's i won a giveaway through victoria manicurator's website for china glaze's happy holiglaze collection. this collection includes the following 12 polishes and an additional mini topcoat:

1. there's snow one like you 2. this is tree-mendous 3. put a bow on it 4. all wrapped up 5. be merry, be bright 6. your present required 7. bells will be blinging

8. elfin' around           9. just be-claws           10. santa red my list           11. mingle with kringle           12. so blue without you           13. travel in color

eventually i'll try wearing some of these polishes, but here's a nail wheel since i've still got shellac on from last week for the wedding. >.< ~Lin-chan ^.~

lower left swatch: travel in color over opi black onyx (1 coat each)
all swatches are 2 coats of polish except the travel in color swatch

shellac on my nails: the base color is opi princesses rule!

november hauls

  

hi guys! here's my monthly hauls post. a lot of these purchases were made while xmas gift shopping. so yeah. anywho, here's what i got! ~Lin-chan ^.~

artestile buttercup kit & studded bag--giveaway win from thefabzilla

 
swatches: complex, demure, strawberry milk, milk, black bean

1. bbw: 2 for $22 candles! fresh balsam & lemon mint leaf, forever midnight perfume
2. cvs: revlon lippies in complex & demure

 

left: giovanna, 2nd: kotori

1. zoya: for halloween, they were having free shipping and a free polish, so i got giovanna and kotori.
• kotori is more of a sheer, dark-based polish with blue shimmer particles
• giovanna is a gorgeous metallic emerald
2. cvs: nyc smooth skin pressed powder
3. target: nyc smooth skin loose poweder, nyx jumbo eye pencil trio (strawberry milk, milk, black bean)
• i've decided to give milk a second try. i didn't like it the first time i bought it, but maybe now that i've become better at makeup application, we'll give it another shot.
4. amazon: used ebates* credits & opinion outpost* points to get a sigma F80 & joby gorillapod original
• if you buy sigma products through amazon, make sure the seller is authorized and listed on the sigma website
• gorillapods are a type of camera tripod with ball-jointed legs so that you can position them onto any surface, gripped or wrapped around different surfaces like rocky terrains or railings.

 
fishwife, pretty in plum, bluecoat, bluecoat & leccy

1. beauty.com: had a couple drugstore.com dollars to spend, and i saved up some opinion outpost* points, so i got butter london holiday ice lacquer and overcoat duo (bluecoat & leccy), nicole by opi selena gomez pretty in plum, elf studio powder brush (the flat-topped one), and a travel-size of psssst! dry shampoo. i've suddenly gotten an interest in trying dry shampoo out and i needed a little bit more to get to the $35 free shipping anyway.
2. beauty.com part 2: (20% off friends and family sale) butter london fishwife, pair of sea bands to try when i get nausea from migraines (ytmmbi: frmheadtotoe)

• sephora vib sale: clinique clarifying lotion 3 & dramatically different moisturizing gel, benefit rockateur blush, becca the one perfecting brush, dior creme de rose lip balm, benefit gimme brow in medium/deep, l'occitane hand cream in cherry blossom; tote bag, urban decay 500 point gift
• not impressed by the creme de rose..so it got returned. it chapped me and i didn't realize that it literally is rose scented...(more like i didn't totally read the description....)
• i think i'm going to leave rockateur in it's box; i deboxed all my other benefit blushes but i really like the packaging on this one
• code-samples with other sephora xmas-gift purchases: too faced better than sex mascara, benefit creaseless cream shadow in no pressure!, sephora merry crazy sample blitz in holly jolly nourishment

brownie, petal, inspired, rockateur, gimme brow, no pressure!, mushroom (swatched over ud antiaging primer)

1. tarte's website was having a free full-size glamazonian clay lipstick of my choice (inspired) with a holiday item purchase. so, score i got a free lipstick by buying an xmas present, and they sent me some bag tags
• note: that is the lipstick fully dispensed. like for real. whattttttttt? so tiny!
2. ulta 20% off sale: opi nail envy (original), essence nail art dry drops, nyx butter balm in brownie, the body shop olive body butter mini from the 6pc set (not pictured: 2x earth therapeutics soothing beaded gel eye masks--great for migraines when frozen!)

 

michaels: they have these cute ornament kits for $1-5 for kids and i really liked this one...for me! but he came out a little funny. cute, but funny. haha.

*Affiliate link.

review: couture gel nails kit & notd: after midnight, super model, & vip list

hi guys! a few months ago, i received a couture gel nail polish kit as a giveaway prize. the kit comes with three polishes of your choice, a base coat and top coat, a nail prep kit with cuticle pusher, toe separators, emory board, and a buffer, uv lamp (with bulbs), and an instructional dvd & booklet.

 

after midnight

initial thoughts: ok, so i was lazy and didn't watch the instructional dvd; but i did read the instruction sheet. lol. anyway; it says to use the included buffer block on your nails, apply basecoat and cure for 2 minutes. apply first coat of colored polish, cure 2 minutes, apply a second coat and cure if desired. then apply the topcoat and cure 2 minutes. apply additional topcoat and cure if desired. apply rubbing alcohol (91% is better) to cotton balls and wipe nails to remove the stickiness. done! (be sure to remove any polish from the skin before curing nails.)

so my first run through, i was lazy and didn't use the included buffer. instead, i swiped on some orly primetime to prep my nails. i then went through the process mentioned above, using 2 coats of polish and 2 coats of topcoat. i did sectione off my hands: four fingers, both thumbs, and the other four fingers; and painted each section individually. also, before curing my nails, i would take elf's pro angled liner brush in some acetone and cleaned up the edges. it took me about 2 hours for the whole process, but it was my first time doing it, so i don't think it was too bad. i did them on a sunday afternoon and by end of the day monday, i lost my first 3 nails. by tuesday, i lost another two. and by wednesday evening, i just felt like peeling off the remainder because they were all lifting up around the edges. so. a 2-week manicure lasted me 3 days. i did like how they peeled off, all in once piece, and my nails were basically clean*.

*because peeling polish off removes a layer of your nails and weakens them, i gave my nails a few weeks' break before using this kit a second time.

2 coats of vip list (pink) & 3-4 coats of super model (purple)

round 2: this time, i did actually use the included buffer. i haven't totally figured out how to not get this polish to pool on the edges...or to put it on "thinly". my sort-of fix for pooling is taking cuticle nippers along the edges after i'm done, but that's definitely not something "good" to do for its longevity.

additionally, this purple (super model) is ok. it took 3-4 coats each to get to the opacity i liked. which, is forever: 2 minutes to cure x 6 coats of polish (base, ~3x color, 2x top) + cleanup = ~30 mins. i initially was going to do all but my ring fingers in super model, but yeah. no. so that's why my thumbs are pink (vip list), which is gorgeous by the way.

this second time wasn't too bad. i painted them on a thursday evening, and i wasn't seeing tip-wear until about sunday night (mostly because my actual nails were breaking or flaking underneath). they also didn't lift up around the edges. around the one week mark, there was some lift-age and i peeled two off that were coming up really bad. there weren't really chips in the polish, but if it would peel and crack into a smallish piece, i'd pull it off..so it kind of looks like it was chipping...but not. and by the 8-day mark, i decided to peel off the rest of them because they were starting to lift off.

top: day 7, bottom: day 8

2 coats after midnight & vip list

round 3: idk. it still pooled on the edges of most of my nails. on one thumb (pictured above), it pooled only on one side and the other looks nice and flush with the nail. ~.~ this time, i used 2 coats of polish and 2 coats of topcoat on each nail, after the basecoat. i'm not sure what happened this time. relative to last time, the first one lifted up and was promptly peeled off on day 3. then a bunch of them began lifting up by day 4, and i peeled them off too. my ring fingers lasted until about day 6, and my remaining thumb lasted to about day 8.

day 4, day 8

overall thoughts: i have no freaking clue. i think that if i got this whole "no pooling on the edges" thing figured out, it would last a bit longer and for a consistent length of time..... this set is a meh because of the amount of time invested for each manicure session relative to how long on average each mani lasted.

i did not attempt this process on my toes. i barely have enough patience to finish both my hands, much less trying it on my toes and being super clumsy.

this kit retails for $129 on couturegelnailpolish.com.

~Lin-chan ^.~

yesterday's damages & a giveaway win

 

hi guys! yesterday was super fun, i took my mom and mother in law out shopping. they'd never been to ulta before and i had the wondrous 20% off [high-end] coupon. so we kinda went a little crazy...mostly me though. my mom was in the market for a new kabuki powder brush, and somehow i convinced her to get a real techniques expert face brush. she didn't like their kabuki, but she liked how dense the e.f.b. was. my mother in law is not so adventurous when it comes to makeup brands, she's strictly a bare minerals person. she got a foundation, high shine eye color, and the new lash domination mascara (somewhat adventurous!), and two bottles of china glaze polish.

what i got: 

amazon: nyx lipstick in vitamin (needed a little extra for free shipping & sent it to in-laws' house with hubz' b'day present)

ulta: cnd (buy 2 get 1) stickey base coat, air dry topcoat, & solar oil; simple face care starter kit, eye makeup remover liquid & wipes, protecting light moisturizer; revlon colorstay concealer in light, maybelline sunbaked neutrals palette

big lots: elf blending eye brush

rite aid: simple soothing eye balm

sunbaked neutrals, concealer in light, vitamin lipstick

then, after ulta, we went over to charming charlie's. my mother in law had never heard of it and we had to drag her in. she found a shirt and a bracelet she really liked. mom didn't get anything, but she convinced me to get this wallet. i don't have a little wallet that can fit my phone, to have on the go with a couple cards and some cash. so this one is pretty nice and i liked the studs a lot. annnnd you can easily access your phone through the window on the back. also, there's enough room in there that i don't have to take my black phone case off! sweet! and this bracelet had to come home with me. it was calling me...yes. ($15 wallet & $10 bracelet)

afterward, we went over to office max and i found my desk chair! this one was a lot cheaper than the one i picked out at office depot and it was on sale! i got it for $80 (reg. $130). i love it!

office max gwynn manager's chair

giveaway win: mid-june, i was informed that i won part of a giveaway on popsugar's youtube, for benefit cosmetics' the rich is back! palette, a bene tint & high beam. and it finally came in yesterday! w00t! i'm super excited about the pigmentation of this palette. i'm not sure how frequently i'll use the blue, but that combination of neutrals is stunning.

 

solid gold, get down brown, disco dust, feel so teal; inferno gloss, gimme fever blush, high beam, bene tint

mint manis for talia joy (notd)

hi all, as many of you may know, taliajoy18 (or talia castellano, of youtube) passed on earlier this week after many years of fighting cancer (NPR article). talia always posted photos of her manicures and her final manicure photo was of her, her mom and her sister's hands, with their nails painted mint. today, everyone is posting their mint manicures as a tribute to talia and her legacy. if you paint your nails and post photos too, the hashtags for facebook & instagram are: #MintManisForTaliaJoy #TaliasLegacy

i used wet n wild's i need a refresh-mint and i finally used these nail embellishments that i bought forever ago. i also used orly bonder (basecoat) and american international prolinc diamond dry air dry topcoat from sally's.

RIP Talia! ~Lindsay-chan ^.~

 

may hauls! (updated)

    

hi all! here's what i've gotten this month. i wanted to get this up because i've included a bunch of coupon codes and sale info on here! (see hautelook section for coupons, mua is having buy 3 for 2!)

nume purple zebra curl jam set -- i actually ordered this toward the end of march, and it's been back ordered until now. they have a lot of coupons floating around for their products, a good number of the people i follow have their own affiliate codes for specific tools or just $110 (or so) toward your purchase. if you can't find an active nume code, the person in charge of their instagram will give them to you if you ask. also, now through 10/31, there is a 60% off a single item code: ipsy60. [note, they charge a butt load on shipping. i paid $12!]

• i was super surprised, included in my box were bottles of their moisturizing shampoo & conditioner and a matching thermal pouch. this pouch isn't exactly a pouch, but more like a mat that you can velcro in half. the inner side looks like that shiny space material that they use in the accordion-style car sun shades.
• included in the curl jam box was a 1-in fashonista flat iron (adjustable temperature), a glove--so you don't burn yourself, and the curling wand (adjustable temperature) with 19mm, 25mm and 32mm barrels.
• sooo excited to start using this!

berry, celebutante (over ud original eye primer), demolition, shiva

hautelook* beauty bag: mid april, they were selling their spring beauty bag, so i went ahead and got one despite a long internal struggle to decide.

i was actually kinda sad when i opened this package: of all the items, i really wanted to try this blush out. i contacted hautelook and it was great: they were able to give me a partial refund since they didn't have replacements. i think i might crush it up completely and put it into an empty sifter jar.

• ud pencil in demolition
• lorac eyeshadow in celebutante, 3D lashes mascara in black
• crown brush pro blending fluff -- seems similar to sigma e25, but not as soft
• nyx lipstick in shiva
• stila all over shimmer liquid luminizer packettes in pink, rose gold, and bronze
• laura geller mini blush-n-brighten in berry
• suki skincare exfoliate foaming cleanser
• la fresh beauty wipes
• jessica simpson vintage bloom sample
• coupons:
• laurageller.com: 15% off purchase: hlbbapr13 (exp. 4/1/14)
• loraccosmetics.com: 10% off purchase & free ground shipping: lovelorac (exp. 6/30/13)
• nyxcosmetics.com: 20% off on any extra creamy round lipsticks: lipcrush (exp. 6/1/13)
• smilesciences.com: $50 toward rx strength teeth whitening pen: hautelook (does not expire)
• sukiskincare.com: 10% off: hlbb413 (exp. 6/1/13)

 

BeautyTidbits giveaway: couture gel nails kit with after midnight, vip list, and supermodel. i will have to try these out sometime, i can't use them anytime soon because of a movie i'm an extra in wants us to look au naturale and they're not filming the scene until the first week of june filming in the last week of may. and i'd like to have more time to test the wear on them.

• after midnight: metalic navy blue
• super model: metallic medium purple
• vip list: metallic hot pink

left side, right side; top to bottom (swatched over ud original eye primer)

ebay: wet n wild nude awakening eyeshadow palette

1. a lot of people online were comparing this palette to the naked1 palette, and i see where they're coming from. i'm not going to do a pan-by-pan swatch fest of what seems to be dupes because you guys can go look up other peoples' posts on your own. if you'd like to see my comparison review of the urban decay naked palette and makeup academy undressed palette, click here.
2. shade comparisons:

browbone: it comes off more matte, but very similar to undressed shade 1 eyelid: ud sidecar crease: ud buck definer: undressed shade 8

browbone: ud toasted           eyelid: ud hustle           crease: ud gunmetal           definer: ud creep

3. impressions: both crease shadows are super buttery, just from initial swatching the word "crease" is practically gone! otherwise, this palette is amazing! the shadows are super pigmented and i'm extremely impressed. this is my first wet n wild palette.

quick & messy swatches!! no topcoat. thumb: no polish, pointer: trade winds (3 coats);
2 coats: middle: turquoise paradise, ring: in the cab-ana, pinky: eternal oceans

swatches: sea mist palette (over ud original eye primer), color whispers: ravishing pink & nude shimmer

various locations:

1. maybelline color whispers in nude shimmer and ravishing pink. if i'm able to get it, i'd like to also get sienna sands. on my lips (and in the tube), ravishing pink looks extremely close to lust for blush (permanent color whisper). i don't totally feel like it's worth going out of your way to look for, since it's limited edition.
2. maybelline colorshow nail polish in turquoise paradise
3. covergirl nail polish in eternal oceans...this looks like purple, but whatever. names.. it might be my new lsu go-to purple!
4. revlon colorstay nail polish in trade winds -- was part of a package i bought, it's an interesting nude/flesh color on me, like doll nails or something.
5. revlon colorstay eyeshadow palette in sea mist
6. essie in the cab-ana

*edit*: target acquired. i found sienna sands and i crave coral.

ebates*!!! i got another reward payment! woohoo! so i spent it on more mua! last time, i missed out on the dusk til dawn palette and i wanted more of their brushes (2x F2, 3x F6, 2x E3, 1x F4). and now through 6/4, they've got buy 3 for 2 on everything on their site! check it out!

sally's: wet brush & color club winter affair set (polishes don't have name labels >.<).

• first impressions: i'm really loving this brush. my biggest complaint about the tangle teezer is that you don't have the range of motion that you do with a normal brush. you can hold this brush facing forward or back, using it at different angles and it's not awkward. whereas, the tangle teezer can only be used and held a few different ways due to the range of motion in your wrist.

ulta: got my rewards points in the mail! i got 2 to redeem on my current favorite: macadamia natural oil healing oil treatment, and they sent out an email about a two week's supply of healthy sexy hair soy renewal treatment (which i got in the april ipsy bag and have yet to try, but--hello--free!), and i needed face scrubby to keep at the in-laws'. this is my favorite face scrubber for days that i'm not feelin' it for the clarisonic.

kellogs family rewards/april special k promotion: starting in april, you could pick up specially marked special k products and redeem their box codes for a nicole nail polish trio (3 codes for just red, or 8 for the set). their names are challenge red-y, be ama-zing! (pink), and pros & confidence (blue). despite how these smell a lot worse than most other polishes i own, they're very opaque after one coat with only minor streaking. can't wait to try them on myself!

beauty.com: they were having a deal, spend $20, get a free .5oz too faced primed and poreless. uhh yes please! so, to get free shipping i also got another eos shaving cream in pomegranate raspberry (you can also find them at target). but i wanted to get this pouch because we frequently go back and forth from our parents' houses and i wanted to have something to keep my beautyblender in, not in contact with anything and able to breathe/air dry. the air.port is a mesh pouch with a magnetic clasp and little charms on the side. it also comes packaged with a strip of plastic inside to help the pouch keep it's shape, so you could save it for times when you're not using the pouch. [beautyblender sponge sold separately; there is a dry white one pictured inside the pouch.]

*Affiliate Link.