Review: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

Hello, still doing crazy school hours for the next month (graduation) so i apologize once more for my sporadic posting schedule.  However tomorrow I'm on my way to the city so i should be able to pick up some new Essence stuffs = happy.

To help deal with the massive workload currently assaulting me i have been trying to cut out some distractions from my life for the next month, that in a big way includes my nails; which i love to do all the time even when it's totally not necessary and just wastes time and the repeated use of nail polish almost daily wrecks my nails. It's a circle of distraction really; to combat this i purchased Sally Hansen Salon Effects in "360 Laced Up". This wasn't my first go at this product so i felt pretty safe going in and though that coming up to Christmas maybe some of you might want to cut down on the prep time too.

So these are dry nail polish strips that you attach to your nails and they stay on for longer then your average nail polish; at least 2-3 weeks up to a month or longer if your lucky. Having tried these before i got two weeks easy before i lost patience and wanted new nail polishes on, but when i removed it, it was still in perfect condition.

The pack comes with 16 nail polish strips, instruction pamphlet, a min nail file, and a orange stick. The orange stick is pretty invaluable in the very hassle free process. The process is pretty simple;

1 - pick which strip fits which nail (both sides work depending on cuticle shape)
2 - clean and buff your nails
3-  one by one peel of the clear layer on top and the sticky layer on the bottom
4 - place onto nail and press down
5- smooth out with pressure and orange stick
6 - file of excess nail polish

It's easy and requires no heating or gluing; the entire process takes about 20 -30 minutes if your not distracted, took me about 45 minutes because i was playing a game at the time. Doesn't take much concentration. They feel like real nail polish; because it is; you remove it with nail polish remover and smell very faintly of nail polish but it's not overwhelming. And yes, you can put top coat or whatever else you want on top; just treat it like regular long lasting nail polish.

Seriously easy and lots of very pretty designs; plus they are currently on special at Priceline for $11 rather usual $15.Also if your quick you might still find some of the cute halloween ones.

App Review: Kairosoft Pocket Clothier

As i mentioned i currently don't have a lot of time on hands for makeup and the pretty things, but what i do have is time on public transport when my hands get itchy to do something (mostly to drown out the sort of people that frequent public transport; you know the ones i mean the mass of giggling girls or drunk guys detailing their latest scores or hipsters referring to things as being "Aweso"). No one needs that.

So being a major game geek i tend to spend the time playing app games on my phone. One company i particularly love is Kairosoft, a Japanese company that releases a game about every 2-3 months on either the Android or IOS.

Their games may not be for everyone but for those who fall in love with them, well, let's just say they fall hard. There are entire web communities dedicated to trying to guess what the next game will be and when it will be out.

The games i suppose have somewhat of a cult status, and there is one for everyone. Released so far on IOS have been; Game Dev Story (Run a game company), Pocket Academy (run a high school), Hot Springs Story (run a spa), Grand Prix Story (run a racing company), Oh Edo Town (run a edo period town), Venture Town (run a modern city), Pocket League Story (run a soccer league), Mega Mall (run a mall), Epic Astro Story (run a space colony), Dungeon Village (run a medieval town), Cafeteria Nepponica (run a cafe) and released on the 19th Pocket Clothier (run a clothing shop). There is also a lite version of all these to try for free.

All these games are a little similar, they are kind of like a combination of The Sims and Sim City where your in control of some sort of company and your goal is to make the little people happy and your shop/cafe/town/high school successful. Once you start it's very hard to stop. So if your on the look out for a new app to try i highly recommend one of these.

P.s. There are a few different games available on the Android such as World Cruise Story 

Have Fun!

What apps do you like?

Haul: Haus of Gloi (Autumn 2)

My Whipped Soaps arrived today, this makes me incredibly happy. Since i started my tryst with Haus of Gloi these have been unavailable due to the hot weather in Oregon so when i heard they were coming back in stock i stayed up playing video games till 5 am and ordered it when they went live. Good thing too since the next morning one of the soaps was already sold out. (It's okay they have since restocked and seem to be a little more readily available). For my earlier review of the first half of my Autumn Haus of Gloi look here.

So the purchases this time around were;

Whipped Soap in Ghost Puffs (popcorn and marshmallows yum) (sold out at time of post)

Whipped Soap in Red Roan  (strawberries, maple syrup, porridge and white cognac)

Whipped Soap in Spider Silk  (mint, grey musk, amber, oakmoss, torchwood, copaiba resin, and violet leaf)

Perfume in Ghost Puffs (I'm in love) (again sold out at time of post)

Lip Balm in Banana Bread (like it says)

Lip Balm in White Rose and Red Currant (more rose then red currant)

Handmade Soap in Satyr (blood orange and vanilla)
+ sample perfume in Saft Ernte (Peach ,spices ,pumpkin, hazelnut cream and orange blossom water)

So far I'm in love with the whipped soaps and will try to do a proper review, I'm starting of with Spider Silk and from my first use i can say it's very soft and kind of like a slightly hardened cream that melts as soon as it it gets a bit warm or wet.

However, after using it twice at this point i have to say I'm amazingly surprised by the Handmade soap, and will 100% be purchasing more of these. I usually use Lush soaps and basically never use regular supermarket soaps anymore. I've been spoiled really, i thought lush soap was the best that soap in a block could get.

I was wrong, lush soap was a gateway soap, because soap from Haus of Gloi is actually where it's all at. My issue with Lush soaps has always been that about 50% of them don't lather all that great. The Satyr soap i got is magic, when you put it on it's smooth and basically glides on with little effort and leaves behind what i would best refer to as a soap oil layer; not greasy  or yucky but just like a watery layer of the soap almost a gel. You then lather this stuff and the rest of the soap goes back to the shower caddy. Then it lathers, like crazy and feels and smells wonderful. 

My boyfriend says i've spoiled him with this, no longer are we as a haus-hold satisfied with regular soap but must important our decadent soaps from America. Damn you Haus of Gloi you win this round.

Review: Schwarzkopf Extra Care Liquid Silk Repair & Gloss Treatment

Ah long time no see, my fault and I'm sorry. This month has been crazy for homework (currently in last semester and everything is gearing up for graduation; getting portfolios ready, sending of work to Sydney for various competitions and meeting with various peoples about the future really takes it out of you and leaves little time for bogging or makeup) I probably won't be  back properly till mid-November or so. But i will try to show of some goodies none the less.

Today's lucky contestant is the ridiculously named "Schwarzkopf Extra Care Liquid Silk Repair & Gloss Treatment". Let's start with the good bits first; it's got a nice pretty pink bottle, it smells pretty wonderful for a hair care product and it's very easy to use.

That would be all be really great, if it did anything at all. So far as i can tell this is basically water in a pink bottle; so i guess it does what water does; makes your hair slightly wet and therefore shiny for a few minutes till it dries.

This was quite a disappointment, since i dyed my hair I've been looking to take better care of it and this hasn't really done the job, or any job really. It did not make my head itchy or my hair clumpy it literally just did nothing. Maybe i shouldn't be surprised as when i tried the matching shampoo and conditioner it also did nothing. Oh well, time to try something else i guess.

Please let me know if you have any reccomendations in terms of hair care :)

Review: Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes

I considered weather or not to post this review since i don't generally like to say bad things and i know for a fact this product works for some people, but not for me. In the end, as you can see i figure a bad review is just as useful (if not more so) then a good one.

I got these about three months ago and for most of that time they were my go to make up removing wipes, because for the same reason we all use them; easy, fast, no fuss. Honestly for the first three weeks or so i really liked this product and had no issues with it until i started getting lower and lower in the container, this was when i began to notice that my skin on my cheeks and forehead would start to feel tingly and the lower i got in the container the more it started to hurt.

I should state; i do not have sensitive skin. For the most part my skin will take whatever is thrown at it and either shrug it off or bounce back pretty fast, i can count the number of times my skin has been irritated by a cosmetic/skincare product on one hand (it's three by the way).

Considering these are supposed to be hypoallergenic i feel this is a big problem for the product, before posting this i also looked at some other reviews and it seems I'm not the only one to find this so. However some people seem to swear by these so i can only assume some manner of skin type is immune to the sting.

On the upside it does  a decent job removing most make up but has trouble with eye makeup, it smells nicely of cucumbers though the smell is a little more artificial of similarly scented products.

The best part is probably the little container lid sitting on top of the regular wipes, it means your wipes don't dry out as fast, the sticky plastic doesn't get all gummed up and it's much easier to handle and use. 

I'm not familiar with the other versions of this, i've head that Yes to Blueberries is above average but based on this experience I'm not eager to try it. At the moment i;m very happy with my Dove foam make up removing cleanser.

Have you tried these?

Review: Peeling Day in Honey Black Sugar

Coming from the FaceShop today is Peeling Day in Honey Black Sugar variety (the others are White Jewel, and Water in Pomegranate) . It's part cleanser and part face peel and though it's not exactly what i thought it was when i purchased it ( i assumed it work similar to the White Jewel version which turns into tiny "bits" which are used in the exfoliation process). This one is closer to a traditional exfoliation scrub and seems pretty strong so i can't recommend using it more then twice a week or less if you have sensitive skin.

My skin is not particularity sensitive, the only product that comes to mind to have caused me irritation in recent months was the Covergirl cream eyeshadow (in Champaign). But when i use this i think i understand some of what sensitive girls have to go through with their skincare.

It heats up my cheeks and turns them a bit red which i would think is bad for me but then it doesn't go any further then that and the results are fantastic. Clean, smooth and glowing.

I'm quite surprise that this worked as well as it did, it feels very thick and heavy but a little goes a long way and you don't need a huge amount to cover you face so it will last a while, it smells sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The main scent is the black sugar.

I've used this for about two weeks now and love it, i have to stop myself from using it too much and over exfoliate. It reminds me of DIY at home type honey masks but on the plus side you don't have a mess of clean up to deal with. I think i will try one of the other Peeling Day ...scrubs next but i would definetley go back to this one. 

I used to use the St Ives Scrubs but they were a little too rough for me, this is the perfect amount of roughness without causing pain and still rough enough that it does a spectacular job on actually cleaning your pores and softening up your skin. For $19 this was a pretty amazing purchase.

Essence Breaking Dawn 2 Trend Edition Preview

Just a few days ago Essence announced their next trend edition the "Breaking Dawn Part 2 Trend Edition". Though i  have no real interest in Twilight i must say the collection looks tempting. Not sure yet if this will be in Priceline or Target, though i suspect it will be Target as Priceline recently changed to the Rebels collection. This should be available in November, which i believe is around the time the movie comes out. This seems to be the case everywhere so not much around on line in the way of swatches. It's nice to get a collection on time for once.

So let's take a look at what's included:

Four Nail polishes ; 01 Jacob’s protection (the blue), 02 Alice had a vision – again (the purple), 03 A piece of forever ( the gold), 04 Edward’s love (the black). 

Four Pigments; in the same shades as the polishes;  01 Jacob’s protection (the blue), 02 Alice had a vision – again (the purple), 03 A piece of forever ( the gold), 04 Edward’s love (the black).

A Red Blush in 01 Renesmee red/pink toned blush. Looks like a cream blush similar to that in the last two collections; Boarding and Rebels.

Shimmer powder in 01 Bella‘s secret.

Two Shimmer Lip Glosses in  01 Alice had a vision – again, and  02 Renesmee red.

One lipstick in 01 A Piece of Forever.

Two Liquid Glitter Eyeliners  in 01 Alice Had a Vision – again and 02 Jacob’s Protection.

I think I'll be getting all the nail polishes save the black as it looks too similar to Essence Black Galaxy and Essence Hunt Me If You Can but I'll decided that upon loser inspection. I've never tried pigments over panned eyeshadow so I'm excited for the chance to try those, probably the gold and purple. Other then that i might try the  purple gloss, and eyeliner and I'm a sucker for blush.

The only thing not really interesting is the gold shimmer lipstick, as I can't really see a use for that. Never in my life have i considered the need for a gold/nude lip?! I doubt this will stay on shelves very long so keep your eyes open. 

Which item interests you most?

Most Reached for September

Looking at this months most reached for items it seems to have been a very indulgent month, smell wise at least. Not much in the way of make up too much, not much has changed in my everyday routine except for the addition of the NYX lip creams. So here we go;

Lush Rose Jam Body Wash(Limited Edition): I'm in love with this stuff, I'll be ordering more as soon as it's back up on the website and am seriously considering starting a petition to get this stuff to be not so limited because if it disappears completely i will be a very sad panda. I'll try do a full review soon but it makes me giddy just smelling it; it smells like Ro's Argan Body Conditioner! (also it doubles as awesome shampoo)

Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butter in Ghost Puffs: Reviewed Here You are probably sick of me raving about Haus of Gloi, but come on! It smells like a Carnival; marshmallows and popcorn. Plus it's crazy moisturizing. I've since ordered this in both Whipped Soap and Perfume variety.

Haus of Gloi Lip Balm in Spun Sugar: Reviewed Here Ditto, the smell of candy floss is delicious but not overwhelming, Thank god it;s not flavored or the whole thing would be gone by now. I really like the consistency of this and I'm looking forward to trying more but i can't think of a sweeter scent then this.

NYX Lip Cream in Antwerp: Reviewed Here I wasn't sure how much i liked these till i was considering what to include in this months fav post, and i realized i used this more then any other lip product this month. I think the biggest pull for me, besides the color, is the feeling that you are not actually wearing anything on your lips, it's so incredibly light. Great for lazy days too.

Sukin Rose Hip Oil - I've mostly switched to using Rose hip oil for my moisturizing on my face and this is the second brand that I've tried and honestly i like the A'kin version better this one just smells way too strong and is really orange when it first goes on. It doesn't stain but it's just a bit off putting. Still it'd definitely a everyday use item so it makes the list. It works reasonably well but again i feel like the A'kin did a better job.

Dove Foaming Make Up Remover - A fan favorite here, i choose to purchase this after my last few make removing napkins felt really rough on my skin and the further they got in the packet the more painful it seemed to be so i wanted something much more gentle and have heard awesome stuff about this. This product seems to have won several awards and I'm not surprised, it's managed to get off even heavy eye-make up without harsh scrubbing.

Have you tried any of these?