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: nume curl jam set - fashionista flat iron

hi all. so all the way back in march, i ordered the nume curl jam set. i had a coupon, and paid $74+12ship ($86) on top for this set. well, when i ordered it, it was major back ordered and didn't actually arrive until the later part of may. to my surprise, they included a free thermal pouch and their moisturizing shampoo & conditioner in my package (see review of those here).

when i first ordered this set, i was torn between the curl jam set and the 4play. i decided on this set because there was an extra barrel in the 4play that was an "ok, whatever" to me (the reverse 9-13mm) and the curl jam had a flat iron and only the three barrels. the flat iron in this set was originally intended to be my chi's replacement (see post here), but it took forever to arrive and i've decided that i'm just going to keep one here and one at the in-law's so i don't have to worry about bringing one back and forth whenever i want to straighten my hair.

i haven't finished testing out the tri-effect wand yet, but i wanted to get this up here, since you can purchase the fashionista flat iron separately anyway. so, on to the review! ~Lin-chan ^.~

update 8/1/14: i still have not worked on my post for the tri-effect wand. know that my curl jam set is from march 2013 and that they have since changed the design of this set.

fashionista flat iron:

• the design of the temperature setting on this is horrible. the lowest setting is 140°F and the highest is 410°F, but it doesn't have an easily viewable line as to indicate temperature milestones (it's a tapered thin to thick line), so you can just flip the wheel to whatever setting and just run with it: it's somewhere between 140° and 410°! also, unlike my one 'n only argan heat flat iron, the temperature wheel doesn't lock in place, so if you inadvertently move it, it will change the temperature. pending on how you hold the flat iron, it's not likely that you'll hit the temperature wheel, but not impossible. also, the flat iron has two LED lights inside, a green and a red. both lights will light up when you turn it on. when the iron is at your desired temperature, the green LED will shut off, leaving the red on.
• i don't particularly like how this iron doesn't stay consistently hot. i feel like when i first start using it, it's great, but then about four strands later, it's cooled down to where the green LED is back on. it's kind of annoying because my argan heat iron seems to maintain consistent heat until i'm finished using it. i feel like i'm wasting more time using this iron because i'm waiting for it to heat back up again.
• the plates seem particularly fond of my heat protectant. i feel like i have to clean them off after every use because they accumulate quite a bit of residue. blehhh.
• overall: not impressed, it's only ok.
 

review: nume moisturizing shampoo & conditioner, thermal pouch

 

hi guys! earlier this year, i made an order with nume for their curl jam set and in my package, they gave me bottles of their moisturizing shampoo and conditioner as well as their thermal pouch. now, i haven't finished testing out the curl jam set to really know how i feel about it, but i wanted to get this up at least. so here ya go! ~Lin-chan ^.~

 

1. thermal pouch: this is not a pouch. when you think of a pouch, it's something that has a pocket of some sort and is able to contain something. this is a mat that can fold in half and velcro shut. the outside has the matching purple zebra print and the inside looks like that heat absorbing space-like material. it looks kind of similar to what they use in most accordion-style car sun shades. while it retails at $19, i don't feel like it's something worth going crazy over and something you should rush out and buy. a few years ago, i bought a thermal pouch--an actual pouch--from sally's for like $10. and i love it. it has a section for the tool and the outer flap has a place to contain the cord. overall, i think this "pouch" works well, but i wouldn't pay $19+shipping for it when i can go to sally's.
2. moisturizing shampoo & conditioner:
• can i first say: kudos for actually making the two bottles different sizes. how many times have you started using a shampoo and conditioner at the same time, then run through the entire bottle of shampoo but still have like half of the conditioner left?! pretty much every time. anyway, the difference in capacity isn't very substantial, but i initially noticed that the two bottles are different lengths, prompting me to notice they in fact contained differing amounts of product. both bottles are $13 each and contain 6.7oz (shampoo) or 5.8oz (conditioner).
• i don't like how they sealed them. they don't have like a convenient tab to pull the foil from the tiny hole that it is covering. the tubes come with a cardboard cover and a foil seal the diameter of a pencil, which is near impossible to break when you're already in the shower to use them. >.>  you have to puncture it. my pinky nail barely got them both open to where i could actually dispense the product. so thumbs down for that.
• they both have the same, light and unoffensive scent. it's almost baby shampoo scented, but not as potent..if that makes sense.
• realistically, i'm not going to repurchase these because, i mean, it was crazy ridiculous for shipping, and it's just shampoo & conditioner. (nume does occasionally come on hautelook* and the shampoo & conditioner are like $5 each but you do have to pay $6+ for shipping)

*Affiliate Link.

notd: nailtini champagne & pure ice spitfire

hi guys! another notd! so i was curious how these two would look and decided to go with it. and i think it came out awesome. i think that spitfire really does need to have a pinker base when it's layered over something; using black for the ornament wasn't a great choice. anyway. here ya go. ~Lin-chan ^.~

comparison review: macadamia natural oil vs. hair chemist

hi all! i mentioned a LONG while back that i'd do a comparison review of these products for you. i'd been using macadamia natural oil deep repair masque and healing oil treatment for a while and decided to try out this cheaper alternative from sally's by hair chemist. enjoy! ~Lin-chan ^.~

macadamia natural oil (mno) deep repair masque (8.5oz) $28 healing oil treatment (4.2oz.) $36

hair chemist (hc)           deep repair masque (8oz.) $11.99 regular/$10.89 with sally's card           hair serum (4oz.) $11.99 regular/$10.89 with sally's card

scent: it's really hard to describe their scents. both oils seem to have a more oily smell to them..which makes sense......like if you were to take a whiff of olive oil or something like that; that oily feel/smell. i like the smell of the mno products more than that hc ones, but they're both pleasant and unoffensive--i think.

hair masques:

• mno: scent lingers for a little while then fades after a couple hours. hair feels great and moisturized, soft
• hc: scent completely disappears within half an hour after using it. it feels ok. like, i do feel that it moisturizes my hair but texture-wise but it doesn't feel any different than if i wasn't using it.
• ps, the jar is a lie. lol. the interior's actually a perfect cylinder-shape, it's not rounded as it appears on the outside.
• packaging: sometimes difficult to open when your hands are wet, possibility of cutting yourself along the inner edge of the lid when trying to open mno's...i have cut myself trying to open it...
• i think that both are sold in 1oz sampler-type packettes if you want to buy them to try first.

 

mno, hc

hair oils:

• used after their respective hair masks, it doesn't feel any more moisturized exactly, so you could skip if you'd like. using these after the masks does help the scent last longer.
• used on a daily basis, after regular shampooing and conditioning
• mno: feels great, soft and moisturized, and the scent lasts several hours; amber colored
• hc: scent lasts for maybe an hour..or less. again, it feels ok. like i do feel that it moisturizes my hair but texture-wise it's not really softer or noticeable. clear.
• packaging:
• no major issues with mno's, the pump does not lock
• hc's is weird, i think there's poor ventilation inside the bottle and it creates a vacuum as you continually dispense the product. as a result, it leaks oil from the twist closure--when it's not in use. wasteful. i have a kleenex rubber-banded to the bottle so that it's not greasy whenever i go to pick it up. hc's pump locks.
• mno packages them in bottles of varying size, hc only has the one size.

the verdict:
macadamia natural oil all the way. when i first decided to explore the brand, i bought a 1oz packette of the repair masque from ulta as well as a .34oz bottle of the healing oil treatment for 2 reward points. i immediately fell in love. i know it's super expensive, but it's so much better than the hair chemist, in my opinion. the hair chemist products are a cheaper alternative, but they're just an alternative. not a replacement.


random tidbits: for my birthday this year, my hair stylist gave me mystic divine nourishing oil treatment (has argan and monoi oils). i love the scent of it of it! >w< on a trip to sally's a few months ago, i discovered they make a hair masque too! picked it up to try. [haven't stated using it yet though.]

comparison review: stila spectrum vs. milani black gems

several months back, i bought milani ultrafine liquid eyeliner in black gems (~$7.50) to see if it was a dupe for one of my favorites: stila sparkle waterproof liquid eyeliner in spectrum ($22). after many uses, here's what i've found...

• application:
• spectrum: i've never had any problems with this eyeliner. it sets fairly quickly and i have no issues with it transferring.
• black gems: this does not dry quite as fast. i have hooded eyelids, so if i blink my eyes too soon, it will transfer into my crease. my fix is to focus my eyes on some stationary object and lean my head back, and wait a minute or two for it to dry. it's kind of a pain, but it works. occasionally i would have irritation while applying this, but not every time. and no problems after it's dry. idk what's up with that....
• color: 
• swatched on my arm: they are very close. unless you have them side by side, you probably wouldn't notice the difference. black gems is a more brown-toned black and spectrum is more of a true black. the shimmer particles in both appear to be the same colors, but they seem more vibrant in spectrum.
• on the eyes over eyeshadow: no noticeable difference.
• from afar on the eyes: it looks like an ordinary blackened-gray liner, unless you do a thick line...maybe it'll be noticeable?
• longevity: both last about the same, as long as you don't rub at them
• removal: both of these remove fairly easily. they're formulated that if you rub at them, they'll just kinda pill up...but you'd probably want to use your regular eye makeup remover to expedite the process.

 
my left (the right): milani, my right (the left): stila; 2 coats on each side

the verdict:

for the money, i'd definitely say buy milani if you don't mind the potential transfer issues. i asked a few people if they noticed a difference between the two (i had one on each eye) and they each said they couldn't tell. w00t. personally, i think i'll still stick to stila because of my hooded eyes. but i'm not 100% sure if i'll repurchase either of these shades since i don't use a strong line and the shimmer's not that noticeable from afar.


other eye products used: urban decay original primer potion, mushroom & venus shadows, stray dog liner; makeup geek shadow in prom night, elizabeth mott it's so big mascara & loreal telescopic mascara

~L-c ^.~

November 2013 ipsy bag!

  

hi guys! guess what came in yesterday? my november IPSY BAG*! (theme: glam it up). ~Lin-chan ^.~

ranking the past eight months, from today's standpoint:

1. april 2. september 3. november 4. october

5. august           6. june           7. may           8. july

here's my impressions

1. em michelle phan pillow plush cushiony lip balm in sorbet (5g--full size, ret. $15) -- based upon the name, i thought that it would be a very soft lip balm in the pot, but it's actually very firm, similar to most of the pigmented lip pans from the day life palette. after a minute on the lips, it warms up to feel "pillow plush"-like. it feels really nice. colorwise, i'm not sure this is that much of a winner, if you're looking for something pigmented. but if you're want something rather sheer, this is pretty good.
• likelihood to repurchase: no, but maybe other colors. yes for other products
2. be a bombshell lip crayon in hot damn (2.5g--full size, ret. $14) -- the swatch doesn't really look as intimidating as the tube, but it comes out really close to the same as the cailyn lip balm from the september bag on my lips. it's not emollient at all, and tugs. if you look closely, you can see shimmer in the tube, but the shimmer doesn't translate noticeably. i'm going to hand this off to my mom like i did with the cailyn one.
• likelihood to repurchase: no, but will explore the brand
3. pixi beauty bronzer in subtly suntouched (3.2g--mini size, ret. $18 for 10.21g [$5.64]) -- this bronzer isn't really that dark, which is great for my fair skintone. it kinda reminds me of the blush in the em weekend brunch quadrant. i really like the packaging on this, the whole pot is rubberized. >.< i'm excited to try this out.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
4. nailtini nail polish in champagne (full size, ret. $13) -- this is a really pretty rose gold color. i was kinda looking around at getting a polish similar in color to this and yay, the search is over! i really like it!
• likelihood to repurchase: yes & explore the brand
5. starlooks gem eye pencil in topaz (2.4g--full size, ret. $14) -- like i said in september..i have plenty of eyeliners right now ~.~ but, in the pencil, it looks like a blue-toned silver. swatched, it's a gorgeous sky blue [..topaz] color. i likes it. like their obsidian pencil, it needs to warm up a bit and it'll just glide on.
• likelihood to repurchase: the no side of maybe
6. tresemme tres two extra hold hair spray (1.5oz--travel size, ret. $5.49 for 11.oz [$0.75]) -- oh, yay. yet another hair spray that i'll basically never use!
• likelihood to repurchase: no
7. gold snakeskin ipsy bag  -- i'm on the fence about this, while to some degree i like snakeskin texture, i'm not huge on gold.
• update: i think i'm going to pass this off to my grandmother, she has several metallic [and sequin] pieces of clothing, maybe she'll like this bag too? lol.
8. card with company info/discount codes
1. emcosmetics.com: 30% off any purchase, code: ipsy30 (exp. 11/30/13)
2. beabombshellcosmetics.com: 40% off any purchase & free coco delight lip gloss, code: ipsy40 (exp. 12/15/13)
3. pixibeauty.com: 25% off any purchase, code: bronzepixi (exp. 12/15/13)
4. tinibeauty.com: 50% off & free eyeliner with $25+ purchase, code: ipsy4glam (exp. 12/31/13)
5. starlooks.com: 50% off any purchase, code: ipsy (exp. 12/15/13)
6. bhcosmetics.com/ipsy: 20% off galaxy chic palette, code: ipsy20 (exp. 12/31/13)
7. glamglowmud.com: 30% off any purchase, code: ipsy (exp 12/13/13)
8. beautyonlinesupply.com: 30% off any kiss or iEnvy lashes, code: ipsy (exp. 12/15/13)
9. cailyncosmetics.com: 30% off any purchase, code: ipsy30 (exp. 12/15/13)

approximate product value: ~$62.39

 

sorbet, hot damn, topaz, subtly sunkissed

*Affiliate Link.

hair growth/hair care update

disclaimer: i am in no way a professional dietitian, esthetician, or otherwise. these are products i decided to buy on my own and try.

hi guys! it's time for a hair update! i haven't changed anything since my last hair update (link to first hair growth post), but here's an updated length/growth pic for ya.

"schedule":
sunday: folicure shampoo, regular conditioner; folicure ampule & blow dry
monday/wednesday/friday: regular shampoo & conditioner
tuesday/thursday: folicure shampoo, regular conditioner
saturday: clarifying shampoo, hair masque as conditioner
monday-saturday, after towel-drying: macadamia natural oil healing oil treatment, air dry
daily: one a day women's or vitafusion women's gummy vitamins, and 1000mcg biotin

i've got another empty! so i started my first liter of folicure shampoo around mid march. after using it basically every other day since then, i've finished it in the beginning of october! i don't remember when, but at some point in the past few months, sally's was having a buy 2 for $15 on liters. so i've got another almost two liters of folicure left.

so overall, my hair hasn't quite gotten back to the length of it's former glory yet, but i'm glad that it's grown a lot more with doing this process than when i wasn't (from august last year through january). i haven't decided if i want to continue these hair growth update posts for you guys since my goal was to get it approximately this length by mid-december for a wedding. and, well, we're almost there now. i have decided that i won't buy any more folicure ampules for now since i'm not "in a hurry" to grow my hair out anymore, plus they're like $18 for 12 ampules. eeep! i'll still continue to use up this liter and the next of folicure shampoo with the above "schedule" until they're both gone. and i probably won't repurchase after that, unless i decide to chop my hair again i suppose. ~Lin-chan ^.~

june & august '12

and the results!

   

january, may, august, november

i forgot to put on my necklace for consistency.....oh well. it's grown about a two inches since my last check-in.

em michelle phan: day life palette: girls' day out

hi all! here's our fourth and final installment of my swatches and impressions of the em michelle phan's day life palette: the girls' day out quadrant. (to see the original haul post, click here. the first installment, the second installment, the third installment.) ~Lindsay-chan ^.~

 

eyeshadows 6 to 1, blush, lips 2 & 1 (corresponding names are below); shadows are swatched over ud original eye primer

impressions:
eyes:

1. grab your purse -- despite how muddy the swatch looks, it's a pretty dark wine with purple shimmer; stays ok as liner
2. rush hour -- gorgeous metallic purpley/orangey red; stays fairly well as liner
3. things to do -- it's a pretty metallic taupe color, reminds me of ud mushroom/stray dog
4. busy lady -- demi-matte dusty rose shade
5. first priority -- pinky-taupe shell shade
6. a pink moment -- matte pastel pink

lips:

1. berry busy -- really pretty berry red
2. sweet raisin -- sheer berry-tinted with pink/purple glitter

cheeks: perfect rose -- i really like this color, it's a pretty rosy-mauve

 
lol, my gray tank is peeking out from under my shirt..it's not a tag.

despite how confusing the look card was for this one (i just kinda winged it..), it's not too bad. i don't think i'll ever use a red as liner ever again. up close, it makes me look sickly.... lol.

other products used for fotd:

• eyes
• urban decay primer potion (original)
• elizabeth mott it's so big mascara
• rimmel london eyeliner in nude
• face
• black radiance complexion perfection primer
• urban decay naked foundation in 4.0
• revlon photoready concealer in light
• theBalm sexy mama
• lips
• eos lip balm in vanilla
• brushes:
• real techniques expert face brush
• mua E3, F5, F6
• coastal scents medium shadow brush
• random angled brush

after all of this, i've decided to depot the whole palette to something like this. whenever i travel, i'll probably rearrange the em travel palette, or just move them in and out of another z palette. (the four pans that were in the day dreaming sampler are shown below, and the corresponding four that came in the life palette are still untouched in my life palette.)

top: small z palette, em travel palette; bottom: 4U z palette