we've found the culprit!

so several weeks ago, i tried using a whole bunch of new things all at once. and by things, i mean skincare. and by that i mean three items: 1) clean and clear morning burst skin brightening, 2) pacifica bb cream, and 3) michael todd jojoba charcoal scrub. and then i broke out in hives. now, i take a generic version of zyrtec every single day, so we knew it wasn't food related and that it had to be topical.

now, i only used #1 for less than a week. mostly because it's hubz' and it was almost out, so why not help him use it up? but after i realized i was breaking out, i stopped using it. around the same time, i used #3 once, and i used #2 for a few days. and also stopped using these because i was breaking out.

after several days straight of benadryl tablets and cream, and letting my skin get back to normal for few weeks, i reattempted one of the aforementioned products on monday. that would be #2, the pacifica bb cream. that's the only thing i've done differently over the past three days, and a few hours ago we noticed that i started breaking out again. booooo.

just wanted to make a post about it, and fingers crossed that the michael todd didn't contribute to the breakout! i really liked it the one day that i tried it. ~Lin-chan ^.~


photos taken from my august 2013 ipsy bag impressions post.

mascara, bb cream (not blended in), brow pencil, scrub

notd: sally hansen mermaid's tale

hi guys! i've got another impulse-buy nail polish to show you! actually, i had $5 beauty rewards & $4 off $20 to use at cvs a couple weeks ago, so that's part of the reason i got it. then the coupon printer gave me $2 off $10 on nail polish, and sally hansen was spend $10, get $5 extra bucks. uhhh yes please! so i got mermaid's tale and another polish that will be mentioned in the september hauls post. i'm not sure how comparable this is to deborah lippmann's across the universe--since i don't have it--, but this polish is supposed to be a dupe or verrrry similar to it. and i think that ~$8 (plus all the discounts, etc. mentioned above) is a lot better than $19! i applied 3 coats (also used: cnd stickey base coat & vinylux topcoat). ~Lin-chan ^.~

revlon evening opulence lip butters: invite only & provacative

this needed it's own blog post, since i've got a whole story. i went over to cvs on thursday with some extra bucks (eb's) that were about to expire.

i'm wondering around in the beauty section and they've got the new display for the revlon evening opulence collection. sweet, right? there's only two, yes 2, lip butters on there, so i pick one up thinking they're the exact same lippy because the covers are the same color, and i'm like yesssss i wanted the blue one (invite only)!!! so i grab the one on the other side too, just to make sure they were the same and they weren't! so i've got the purple one (provocative) too!!! super score right? well, upon further inspection of the display, there were literally two lippy slots on it, one for each of these. so i'm super excited that i was able to get both, but i also think it's stupid that they only had one of each, period.

i go over to the register with my $3 eb's in hand, plus the other ones i've acquired (including one that they emailed me about doing a survey for $10 eb's! sah-weet!). and the lady there was super awesome, she scanned my card to print out coupons attached to my card and is like, "$5 off $15, you've got ~$14 with these lipsticks, wanna pick out something else?" so i grab a pack of gum, and we use the $5 off $15 coupon, $3 & $7 eb's, and i handed her $1 and some change. it was kinda amazing.

then the register prints out another $8 eb's, which i now realize was $4 eb's per revlon lip product. SUPER YES. i'm swimming in extra bucks now, it's kinda ridiculous.

overall first impressions: you really could go for one or the other, you don't really need both since they're so sheer. they both have the same pretty purple-ish sparkle and a negligible amount of tint to either of them.

~Lin-chan ^.~

comparison review: em michelle phan, misty mauve lipstick vs. pan

*this is more of a first impressions-comparison rather than a full-out comparison review. but here ya go.

so get this, em michelle phan has a scary-fast turn around time. i ordered this lipstick on sunday night and it was on my doorstep this afternoon. the bank draft payment hasn't even finished processing yet. wut. O_O

either in my impressions post or fotd post, i mentioned how i loved the color of misty mauve from my day dreaming sampler but i wasn't totally sold on the formula. it was balmy and emollient enough to spread it on, but that was about it. the color lasted a decent amount of time too, but i like balminess to my lip products. i like knowing and feeling that it's still there, without having to look in the mirror. additionally, i generally prefer lip products that are in stick form vs. pots or pans. thus, i ordered the lipstick form.

my general impressions of this lipstick are that:

• the balminess lasts quite a while after application
• the color lasts pretty long (comparable to most lipsticks)
• it's slightly glossier and more opaque than the pan-form
• the packaging: it's slightly heavy and probably made of aluminium; it feels nice, sturdy, and secure

overall, i quite like this lipstick...price aside. i feel that, for the amount of lipstick, it's a bit steep at $16.50+tax. but it's ok in a way, because i know it'll last me a while because on days that i apply it, it'll last a while, and the fact that i have a bunch of other lippies open at the moment that hopefully i won't reach for this everyday and need a new one very soon. >.<

~Lindsay-chan ^.~
this product and other em michelle phan products can be purchased at emcosmetics.com.

 
pan, lipstick; photos are unfiltered, taken at 2:18PM & 5:33PM respectively on different days

 
sorry that i've got inconsistent lighting throughout these photos, i was losing sunlight fast as i was taking them.
[i'll try to update the photos in this post when i have time and more consistent lighting]
the dispensed tube (L) and flash swatch (R) are the most true-to-color photos.

 

left: pan, right: lipstick (photos taken about 10 minutes apart, for this post)

notd: maybelline blue marks the spot

hi guys! i went shopping today! one of the two bbb's near me now has a beauty department...except they haven't finished stocking the shelves there yet.... this particular store closed after getting hurricane-damaged last year and so they took the opportunity to remodel and add a beauty department i guess. they've recently reopened, and the cosmetics selection is a lot smaller than the store by my mom's. but everything else (nails, hair, body) is about the same amount of stuff. so i'm kinda excited. anyway so here's something that i got there today: maybelline colorshow polka dots nail polish in blue marks the spot, 3 coats. (also used: cnd stickey base coat & american international diamond dry air dry topocat) ~Lindsay-chan ^.~