notd: revlon parfumerie wintermint

hi guys! i had a ton of cvs coupons to burn, so i picked this up yesterday. this is my first and probably only bottle from the parfumerie line, mostly because the scent doesn't last very long and i generally pick my polishes for their color than their scent. some of the other ones that i thought looked pretty, i didn't want to buy because wasn't interested in their scents. i picked up this particular bottle because it reminded me of deborah lipmann's mermaid's dream..but it's drugstore--it's cheaper. and it's mint scented. hello.

obviously, because this line of polishes is scented, you do not want to apply a topcoat; but if you don't care about them smelling nice and want them to last..then go ahead and apply some.

while applying this polish, it does smell like mint. now, i don't advise going and sniffing straight from the bottle, but the 'normal distance your face is from your hands while you're painting your nails' is enough to smell the mintiness. after they dry, you can actually smell its true scent. from what i've read and heard, the scent doesn't linger for too long--a couple days at most, considering normal people work with their hands, doing stuff..or at the very least, you wash them occasionally, right?

regardless, i like how this came out. now i did paint three coats to make sure it was super opaque (it's fairly so after 2) and i did not add a topcoat. this polish because of it's nature, with the glitter and all, dries to a textured finish. i likes it, in concept and prettiness, but i probably won't get another from this line.
~Lin-chan ^.~

february hauls

 

here's what i had going on this month; mostly drug store items. i also won two awesome giveaways (one of which, i totally forgot i entered into....). but anyway, hope you guys had a great month and that i don't spend too much next because my birthday's coming up! ~Lin-chan ^.~

(polish swatches to be added later.)

giveaway wins: opi push and shove from rocknpolish.blogspot.com (see related notd post here); oster myblend blender from eleventhgorgeous

 
barely pink, nude rebellion, make a mauve; beige-ing beauty, caramel cool, nude compliment, sleek & spice

bed bath & beyond: maybelline master glaze blush sticks in barely pink & nude rebellion, color tattoos: (in order of swatches) beige-ing beauty, caramel cool, nude compliment, sleek & spice. i wasn't as interested in pure nude or stroke of midnight, mostly because idk when i'd use a black shadow like that one and pure nude looks just like barely beige and barely branded, so why would i need a third...

 
swatches: starfruit, yow, rebel

sephora freebies with purchase: stila lipglaze in starfruit, bm moxie gloss in rebel, buxom gloss in yow; origins gen-zing eye cream--i've been wanting to try this forever and haven't wanted to pay for it! lol, it was 100 points.

 

--walmart: pantene dry shampoo, simple ultra light gel moisturizer (maybe this was at cvs? i don't remember) & 24-hr day/night cream, covergirl shineshadow in color me money, maybelline master glaze blush stick in make a mauve
--theBalm.com had another 50% off sale, so of course i got cindy lou-manizer, finally!

 
jordana black point vs. urban decay perversion; the jordana swatch took more effort to remove than perversion...hmmmm! we'll have to put them to a side-by-side test!

luminoso, cindy-lou manizer, copper fling, color me money, black point

walgreens/winn dixie/whole foods: dr. bronner's magic soap in almond, walgreens-eos lip balm dupe in watermelon--legit smells like watermelon jolly ranchers, covergirl shineshadow in copper fling, milani luminoso baked blush, jordana 12hr eyeliner in black point, loreal magic topcoat in the shift me

lower left-most swatch: black and blue

cvs: neutrogena deep clean facial cleanser & daily scrub, sally hansen insta-dry top coat & polish in black and blue

notd: opi push and shove

hi guys! i've recently acquired this limited edition polish from opi's gwen stefani line, push and shove, with the lay down that base basecoat. so i wanted to try it out! i also swatched it with a glossy topcoat (sally hansen insta-dry) and matte topcoat (nails inc westminster bridge) on a nail wheel to see why they say not to use a topcoat. this polish has a really awesome chrome effect to it, but because you're not putting topcoat on, it won't last for very long (the box says: "Like all limited engagement events, Push and Shove is intended for One Night Only wear.") ~Lin-chan ^.~

application method, as recommended by opi: 1 coat basecoat and let dry, 2 thin coats polish, no topcoat.

my findings: make sure to buff your nails before applying the basecoat. you'll see every imperfection when you're done if you don't buff first. the first coat of polish is streaky, but the second coat helps cover it nicely. to avoid making streaks in the second coat, you should try not to pass the brush over the same spot multiple times.

glossy topcoat, no topcoat, matte topcoat

the glossy topcoat, is not as mirror-like as not using a topcoat, and the matte topcoated one looks like a frosted mirror, reflecting an abstract image. (i touched that last one a lil too early.. >.< )

herb garden update

hi guys! now that it's finally sunny again and earth shifted position again and whatever.... sunday, i bought some new herbs and redid my flower pots and box. the small potted plants at whole foods are 2/$5, which is so inexpensive! less than or approximately the same cost as buying those pre-cut, packaged fresh herbs. anyway, so i bought two hardy rosemary's, a spearmint mint, and a greek oregano. i also planted some basil seeds. i've had really good luck growing basil from seeds, but not oregano or rosemary.... also pictured is my tomato beefsteak (planted as seeds) that hasn't figured out what it's doing, it's been like that since the summer. but it's not dead either..and we kinda forgot about it and didn't water it for a long time..... so i don't really know. it's weird. ~Lin-chan ^.~

hardy rosemary, greek oregano, tomato beefsteak, spearmint mint

notd: zoya dot & sally hansen strobe light

hi guys! so as seen in my previous post, i got zoya's dot nail polish in my february ipsy bag. and well....i didn't really like it all that much alone, so i added some glitter to distract from the patchiness. so all is well in the world now. =P ~Lin-chan ^.~

also used: opi natural nail strengthener, sally hansen insta-dry topcoat

i was a bit lazy with the polish-on-skin..ness up there. whoops. lol.

february 2014 ipsy bag

hi guys! i've finally got my february IPSY BAG* yesterday! (theme: the look of love). that's 2 for 2 with the bags arriving late this year. hopefully it's just the weird weather we've been having and i'll get them sooner again... but we'll see... ~Lin-chan ^.~

here's my impressions:

1. pop beauty plump pout lip gloss in fuschia freesia (4g--mini, ret. $16 for 8.5g [$7.53]) -- this shade's bright for me, but this gloss is fairly comfortable and not sticky whatsoever. it does need a somewhat frequent reapplication.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe, other shades
• product given away
2. zoya nail polish in dot (.5oz--full size, ret. $9) -- between the two shades given in this month's bag, i was meh about both of them (the other shade is odette). i'm not huge into neutral-pastel type polishes, mostly because they come out patchy near the cuticle sometimes..
• likelihood to repurchase: no, but definitely other shades
3. eyetini cordial cream shadow & base in violette (.14oz--full size, ret. $18) -- despite how gorgeous this product is--when applied, the packaging is really cheap and it smells really weird, kinda plastic-y. i guess at the very least, it's going on your eyes, so you shouldn't be able to smell it after application. this shade kind of reminds me of clinique's cream shadow in rock violet.
• likelihood to repurchase: nah
• product given away
4. skyn iceland fresh start mask with ice age mud (1 packet duo--ret. $39 for 6 packets [$6.50]) -- i'll have to post an update of what i think of it when i use it, but this is so expensive to repurchase!
• likelihood to repurchase: probably not because of the cost
5. jcat beauty eyelashes in EL13 (1 pair, ret. $3.99) -- i'm not huge into lashes..more like the couple times i attempted wearing any, i wasn't digging it and it felt weird. so these are getting passed off.
• likelihood to repurchase: no
• product given away
6. hot pink ipsy bag -- this bag is really cute for girly-girls. the inside has a cute abstract pattern too. i'm not a huge hot pink person, but i likes it.
7. card with company info/discount codes
1. popbeauty.co.uk: 25% off any purchase, code: popping pout (exp. 3/15/14)
2. zoya.com: buy 2 zoya polish get 1 free & free remove+, code: ipsyzp4 (exp. 3/15/14)
3. tinibeauty.com: 50% off any purchase & free nail polish, code: ipsylove (exp. 4/10/14)
4. skyniceland.com: 50% off one full sized product & 20% off additional items in your order, ipsyfsm (exp. 3/15/14)
5. jcatbeauty.com: 25% off any purchase, code: eyeluvjcat (exp. 3/15/14)
6. mallybeauty.com: 25% off any purchase, code: ipsy (exp. 2/28/14)
7. citycolorbeauty.com: 20% off purchase, code: 14ipsy20 (exp. 3/15/14)
8. uberliss.com: 30% off any purchase, code: ipsy30 (3/15/14)
9. firstaidbeauty.com: 20% off any purchase, code: ipsy (exp.3/31/14)
10. myphyto-c.us: 20% off velvet gel, code: ipsy20 (exp. 4/4/14)
11. drlinskincare.com/ipsy: 50% off any purchase, code: ipsydrlin (exp. 3/31/14)
12. pacificabeauty.com: 20% off purchase, code: ipsy20 (exp. 3/15/14)
13. numeproducts.com: 50% off + free shipping + free classic curling wand, code: nipsyparty14 (exp. 5/11/14)
14. jessesgirlcosmetics.com: 20% off any purchase, code: ipsyfeb2014 (exp. 3/15/14)

approximate product value: ~$45.02

 

zoya dot, pop fuchsia freesia, tini beauty violette

*Affiliate Link.

v-day & notd: rimmel cupcake pink

hello world! it's been a while. it's been a super busy week for my programming class...thus the "hello world". lol... hint: that's the output of the first program written...... >.> anyway yesterday was valentine's day and i just wanted to share what we did for the day.

gifts: i got paul lavazza cafe moulu ground coffee, neutrogena norwegian formula hand cream, and a valrhona le noir amer 71% cacao chocolate bar (from trader joe's). off my birthday list, he got me this necklace from shoplately. i love it because it's very similar to my wedding necklace, larger--statement-like, and it's a hell of a lot less expensive--if anything were to happen to it, i wouldn't mind as much.

we baked a cake! at my request, we're attempted cookingwithdog's christmas cake recipe. and omg, we had to look everywhere for the kirsch. haha.

went to work and then took a programming exam, came home, painted my nails and took a ridiculously long nap, baked the cake and made some chicken stir fry with jasmine rice. not super exciting! lol. but we wanted it to be low key anyway. ~Lin-chan ^.~

notd: opi natural nail strengthener, rimmel london cupcake pink, sally hansen insta-dry topcoat (red bottle). i really liked how quickly this polish dried and i liked the applicator; i'm pretty sloppy with most other polishes, but this one went on very neatly.

ps, my ipsy bag just mailed out, so i probably won't get it until the latter part of next week. based upon my myglam room, not too impressed.

a lorac deal you can't miss!

hi guys! i just wanted to share an amazing deal with you! lorac's rocking red hot 3D lustre set is on sale from $28 to $18 on lorac's website. BUT there's a 10% off coupon: 10percent -- i'm not sure if this coupon code is for new users or not, but it made me create an account before it'd apply to my order. i was able to snag this set for about the price of one bottle. i have the diamond (in this set) and gold (not in this set) ones already but this is a steal. AND you get free ground shipping on any order. supppper sah-weet. check it out! ~Lin-chan ^.~

http://www.loraccosmetics.com/make-up_rockin'-red-hot-3d-liquid-lustre-set.html

friday's haul

hi guys! friday was a shopping day after being stuck at home with cabin fever for several days... so i got a whole bunch of new stuff! ~Lin-chan ^.~

symmetrical symphony, abstract abstraction, green flakie topcoat, pink flakie topcoat -- over 2x opi black onyx
when monkeys fly!, princesses rule!

sally's:

• ion extreme moisture creme -- i somehow acquired a squeeze tube of this a while back when i renewed my card or something... anyway it smells really nice and my hair feels pretty good afterward. and for $7-8, i likes it. i'll probably try to buy just this as my hair mask from now on, considering the price.
• nail file -- these are my favorite...and the pattern too. hahaha.
• orly matte fx in pink & green flakie topcoat -- i've been wanting these for so long and it happened to be bogo free. score!
• opi princesses rule! -- a few weeks ago, when i got shellac done at the place near my mom's, they used this polish (the shellac/gel version though) as my base color for my french. now, i did have a mini of this polish a loooong time ago, but idk what happened to it........anyway, so i liked it a lot and decided to get it. mom wanted one too. >.< it's actually very sheer but super shimmery.
• finger paints kaleidoscope in abstract attraction & symmetrical symphony -- when they had the flakies that came out a couple years ago, i bought all of them. but these were the only ones i was interested in this time.

lush: close to you massage bar (left), love locket bath bomb, tender is the night massage bar (bottom). also purchased, not pictured: dragon's egg & phoenix rising. i ran over to lush because i knew that, with v-day approaching (much less, weekend shoppers), i'd miss out so i wanted to make sure i could grab a few items to try them out!

gilded envy (swatched dry), warm nude, just pinched pink, bb cream in light

ulta/walmart:

• opi when monkeys fly! -- this was on clearance. it's part of the wizard of oz collection and i kinda wanted it but it wasn't super high priority at the time. and i'm glad i was able to get it half off instead. (swatch photo is up above--on the nail wheel)
• loreal infallible eyeshadow in gilded envy -- i feel like this color might become a staple, like how bronzed taupe (a one-shadow 'smokey' eye look) occasionally layered with amber rush is a gorgeous everyday combo.
• maybelline master glaze blush sticks in warm nude & just pinched pink -- i'm not huge on the cream blush thing (more like i haven't totally figured out how to apply it properly or feel like putting in the effort to try using them......), but a lot of people are raving about these right now, so i got the lightest one, and the 'bronzer'-ish one to test the waters.
• batiste dry shampoo mini in original -- i'm not a huge fan of the dark hint of color one, so i got a mini of the original so i didn't commit to such a huge can. i wanted to get a cherry one too, but they all looked used......
• wet n wild fergie bb cream in light -- tryin out everyone's bb cream! and it's wet n wild, it's inexpensive!
• olay fresh effects out of this swirled face scrub -- i liked the pore minimizing scrub, so since this is new and all, i wanted to give it a go too.

drugstore.com package early last week: elf studio brow kit in medium