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Apotheke: M and Scent Bar – A Review

Posted on 24 October, 201224 October, 2012 by Cynthia

Although it may not seem like it, Winter is just around the corner which means that I begin my yearly hunt for something to help my skin survive the dry, cold months. You may be snickering right now if you know that I live in Southern California–the land of eternal summer. However, my skin is very sensitive and Winter is the absolute worst time for me because my skin gets dry, flaky and painful. When I start looking for moisturizers, I am looking for something that is gentle yet moisturizing. I absolutely hate products that make my skin feel greasy or that are super heavily scented, so that eliminates a lot of products. Recently, I got the opportunity to try two new moisturizing products: Apotheke: M and Scent Bar.

Both of these brands are completely new to me so I was really looking forward to using them. First up, is Apotheke: M. Target currently carries this brand which is comprised of bath/shower gels, nourishing body cleansers, after bath tonics, smoothing body polishes and enriched body cremes. I used their enriched body cremes:

Their product line comes in 3 scents: Coconut Jasmine, Mandarin Guava and Blackcurrant Fig. I was a little wary of the two scents I received because I am extremely sensitive when it comes to bath & body product scents. Mandarin Guava was the one I was most concerned about because, while I looooove to eat guavas, their scent is incredibly overwhelming. Have you ever had a ripe guava in your home and suddenly EVERYTHING smells like guava? Fortunately, the main scent I picked up was the mandarin. It has a sweet citrus scent that isn’t overbearing. The coconut jasmine scent has a stronger sweet coconut scent and I can’t really pick out the jasmine. Both of these body cremes are very thick and silky. I used them mostly on areas that need extra moisture like my elbows and knees. I also used them on my hands after swatching nail polish because that’s when my hands are at their worst after using acetone products. The cremes took a bit to soak into my skin so I found that applying them right after showering helped the products seep into my skin. After a week, I did notice softer, more moisturized skin!

Next up is Scent Bar’s Shea-Intense Body Butter. Scent Bar’s product line at Target is fairly new and have 4 fragrances: Cabana, Forbidden, Blush and Sunswept.

Cabana has notes of coconut, Tahitian vanilla and papaya so it is quite a summery and beachy scent. This body butter was also very thick and creamy; I also used it to smooth out and moisturize the skin on my knees, elbows and feet. I actually found that I loved this product on my feet. I slathered some on, put on some socks and went to bed. When I woke up, my feet were soooooo soft.

Overall, I quite enjoyed these products. They are obviously thicker than lotions which some people may not like, but I really liked how well they moisturized my skin. My only negative is that, although the scents are nice, they were a little too much for me. I must say that I am not the average scent/perfume wearer as most scents will make me ill if they are too sweet. I asked a few people what they thought of the fragrance in these products and most said that they were not overbearing or too strong. Apotheke: M products can be purchased at Target in store and online here. Their body cremes retail for $8.99 for an 8 oz tube. Scent Bar products can also be purchased at Target in store and online. Their shea-intense body butters can be purchased for $8.99 for 6.5 oz.

Have your spotted any of these products at your local Target? What are some of your go-to winter products? What are some of your favorite bath & body product scents? Thanks for catching up with me, and I’ll talk to you soon!

**These products were provided for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

Nicole By OPI Fall 2012 (Target Exclusives)

Posted on 11 October, 2012 by Cynthia

Sometimes I can be a total weirdo and focus on insignificant details. Take the brand Nicole By OPI, for example: I have a handful of these polishes and generally like the formula and the brushes, but I really hate the awkward bottle shape. For whatever reason, I have fixated on my distaste for the bottle shape and don’t usually purchase a lot of these polishes. I also kind of can’t stand the Kardashian Empire so when I see the NOPI Kardashian Kollection, I want to hurl. Anyway, enough about my weird fixations…this is about the polish!! There are 5 Target Exclusives from the Nicole By OPI Fall 2012 collection, and I have 2 of those to share with you today.

The first one up is Just Busta Mauve.

I really thought that this was a strange color when I looked at the bottle. I had absolutely no idea what it would look like on my nails with all those weird colors floating around, but it really surprised me. In fact, I love it. If I had to complain about something, it would have to be that the formula is a little thin but it does build up without any problems. From the look of the polish, I was expecting it to be kind of gritty but it was perfectly smooth. As an aside, the name of this polish brought back fond memories of me playing Bust-A-Move on the Neo-Geo arcades when my mom would go shopping with us. She would give my brother and I a bunch of quarters and we would run to the back of this store we use to go to and we’d play Bust-A-Move and Super Mario Bros. 3 on another machine until our hands cramped or our eyes bled–or both. Ahh…to be a kid again.

The second color is If The Blue Fits.

Since I’ve been on a blue kick lately, I really like this polish because it’s not a boring color: it has just the right amount of kick to attract attention. The formula on this was better than on Just Busta Mauve as it was a little thicker so you can get away with less coats. I love all the different colors in this polish!

Overall, I think both of these polishes are total wins! If I had to pick just one, I would probably go with Just Busta Mauve. These polishes have been out at Target stores and online since August so you should still be able to pick them up if you like either of these. They retail for around $7.00 unless you wait and catch them on sale. So what do you think of these two colors? Which one would you get if you could only have one–what a true Sophie’s choice! (Not! You know you’d get both.)

Thanks for catching up with me and talk to you soon!

**These products were provided for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

Pixi Nail Polish Collection Fall 2012

Posted on 5 October, 20125 October, 2012 by Cynthia

It’s no secret that I love Target. I have problems staying away from Target because I go there often to buy essentials like dish detergent, laundry supplies and some bath products, but I always end up getting pulled into the beauty section. I don’t know about you, but I think that in the last few years, Target has made huge improvements in their beauty department from offering tons of different brands AND making everything very appealing to the eye. When I first ran across the Pixi cosmetics display, my eyes obviously zeroed in on the nail polishes. At first, I thought they were nail art polishes because they look so much like them with the long bottle shape. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were regular nail polishes, but I hesitated getting some because I had never heard of the brand before. In my usual enabling ways, today I have the Pixi Nail Polish Collection for Fall 2012 to share with you.

Their Fall collection consists of three jewel-toned shades: Amazing Amethyst, Classy Cocoa and Evening Emerald.

Amazing Amethyst is a color that I am super attracted to because, well…it’s PURPLE! Besides it being purple, it’s just glowing like a mofo. Unfortunately, I don’t think this color is super unique. I haven’t done a side by side comparison, but this reminds me of OPI Purple With a Purpose. The formula was good and opaque at two coats.

Classy Cocoa looked kind of yawn-worthy when I first looked at the bottle, but I was glad to be wrong. I love the glow of this polish, and I was surprised to not have anything similar to this color. The formula on this was ok. It seemed a little thin, but it builds up nicely.

Evening Emerald is the star here. I am super annoyed that this color is photographing so much more blue than it actually is in real life so please imagine this being a lot more green. The shimmer in this polish is out of this world, and I definitely appreciate a dark color like this now that the temperatures are finally coming down. I want to pull out some polishes to compare. The first color that came to mind is China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald but I am sure it’s a lot more green. The formula on this was also a tad thin, but I had no problems building it up. I had to apply 3 thin coats for these swatches.

Overall, I am happy with my first experience with Pixi polishes. I think the formula was nice and the colors are pretty, but here comes the “but.” I am not a fan of the price. These polishes are $8 for .25 oz. which makes them way more expensive than polishes such as Essie and OPI and even my holy grail higher end polishes by Illamasqua. Would I purchase regular and common colors from the Pixi line of polishes? Probably not, but I would definitely buy a color like Evening Emerald. I am really curious to know what a creme polish from this line is like so I’ll be paying close attention to the Pixi display the next time I am at Target. Pixi nail polishes can be purchase from Target and target.com or you can also order from pixibeauty.com

Let me know if you’ve tried these polishes out before. I’m curious to hear what you think of them if you’ve tried them. What do you think of their fall trio collection? Which color is your favorite?

As always, thanks for stopping by and catching up with me.

**These products were provided for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

Cheeky Stamping Plates – Summer Collection 2012

Posted on 14 September, 2012 by Cynthia

I am a true stamping fiend so I was really excited when I heard that Cheeky was releasing a new stamp collection. The Cheeky Stamping Plates Summer Collection 2012 consists of 26 image plates with over 150 individual designs so you definitely get a lot to play around with. When I first started using image plates, I was a snob and only purchased Konad plates but I soon discovered that other brands were putting out

Now, here is a size comparison between Cheeky stamping plates and my MASH plates.

At first I was pretty annoyed at the size difference because all my MASH, Konad and Bundle Monster plates are the same size and I thought maybe the Cheeky plates wouldn’t fit in my card/plate holders. This would have been a huge annoyance because I want to keep all my plates in the same place. The Cheeky plates did end up fitting but just barely.

I already used one of the plates for a nail look I did yesterday and you can see it here. The plate worked perfectly, and I have no complaints about the quality of the plate because it did just what it’s supposed to do: it transferred a clear and precise image. I did notice that when I removed the clear plastic covering on the face of the plates, a lot of them already had some minor scratches. I’m not cool with that especially since they are brand new. Now, this is where my rant will start…

I ordered the Cheeky Stamping Plates the second they were available which was on August 14th. My plates arrived on 9/13. I understand that they were being shipped from China, but that’s just a little ridiculous to me. I buy A LOT of nail supplies that come from China and nothing has ever taken this long to arrive. Even though they offered free shipping, I would have gladly paid for shipping if it meant that I would be getting my items in a timely manner. I do not think that it is unreasonable to expect to receive your items in a timely fashion: if you take my money right away, give me my products right away. Simple as that. I think the annoyance of shipping has definitely soured me on the prospect of purchasing anything else directly from Cheeky. I will look into how quickly Amazon dispatches the items if I buy from them instead of from Cheeky directly so maybe I will just always wait to buy from Amazon if they have something that catches my attention.

I guess that if you don’t mind waiting for eons for your plates, these are a pretty good investment. I paid $24.99 for my set with free shipping. It looks like prices are different on Amazon, but I haven’t looked into it yet. While not all the images are that original, I do like the variety and quality. I also have to give them major props for their packaging. The little box they come in is adorable and so is the little card that comes with it (that can also be used as a scraper!)

Will you be getting this new Cheeky stamping plates set for Summer 2012? Let me know which plate you like the most. I will be using an image from one of these plates for day 3 of the 31 Inspired Days of Nailr Art Challenge which will revolve around the color yellow. Thanks for stopping by and until next time!

Newer Essies I Had Passed On

Posted on 5 September, 20126 September, 2012 by Cynthia

Last time I showed you two Essie polishes from some way older collections and today I have two from more recent collections. I don’t know about you, but the more polish I acquire, the more discriminating I become. I used to just run out and buy whole collections without really thinking about the colors–I just wanted every single polish because I felt incomplete not getting a complete collection. Now I tend to pass on colors more often. Case in point: I only bought ONE of the OPI Germany polishes because all the others were a snoozefest for me.

Today I have two previously shunned Essies to show you:

First one up is Tour De Finance:

This was the only color from the Navigate Her Collection that I didn’t purchase. Why? I have no idea. Maybe I was hating on pink that day. Who knows?! It’s a very shimmery hot pink with an awesome formula. You can get away with one thick coat but I applied 2 thin coats here.

Next up is Dive Bar:

Oh, Dive Bar! Why are you so deceptive? When I saw that purple shimmer flash in the bottle, I was drooling. But where did it go once I put it on my nails? Sadness! I’m not saying it isn’t an awesome nail polish, I was just a little disappointed that the purple was MIA. The formula on this seemed a little watery but it went on easily and 2 coats were enough for full opacity. Do I like this? Hell yeah!

Don’t forget to check out Beauty Stop Online if you’re looking for some of these Essie colors (and many other polish brands as well!). You can click here and browse through their selection.

Are there any polishes that you previously passed on and recently picked up?

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Julep Sasha

Posted on 4 September, 20124 September, 2012 by Cynthia

If you’ve taken a peek at my facebook or twitter page, you probably know that I’ve had a mini meltdown about all the issues I have encountered while trying to move my blog to a different host. My blog is going to look messed up for a couple of days while I figure out how to work around all the hurdles that keep popping up every time I think I have things figured out. I will leave that drama for another post because I just need to get my mind off it all and upload a post I was working on earlier today.

Before I get into my review and swatches of Sasha, don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a FREE Julep Maven Intro box. There are only a couple of days let to enter so why wouldn’t you enter? It’s free and there is no obligation to purchase anything else.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also sign up to be a Julep Maven for just $0.01 for your introductory box!!! YES, JUST ONE PENNY! How? Well, let me tell you how. Sign up by clicking on my link here and use promo code MAVENINTRO By signing up using my link, you are helping support my blog so click away! 🙂

For more information about the Julep Maven membership program, here are some details from Julep’s website:

As a Julep Maven, your monthly subscription of just $19.99 delivers exclusive access to at least $40 worth of products handpicked to suit your style.After your introductory box, you’ll start receiving a Julep Maven Box each month, including:

At least $40 worth of customized products elegantly packaged in our exclusive giftable box

New, never-before-released colors and treatments sent FIRST to you, before anyone else

Past hits and cult favorites–the products our girlfriends can’t live without.

Your Maven subscription also comes with free shipping, 20% off all purchases in the Julep Maven Boutique and the peace of mind that comes with knowing there’s never any obligation to buy.

We’ll send an email previewing your upcoming Julep Maven Box on the 20th of each month. Like what you see? Do nothing and your box is on its way. Want to try a new style, send your box to a friend or skip the month? Just log into your account between the 20th and the 24th to submit your request.

Before all the blog drama happened today, I decided to use my other Julep polish:

This is two coats of Sasha. This color is seriously vibrant, and I’m still on the fence about how I like it on me. Regardless of what I think of the actual color, I am happy to report that the formula was absolutely perfect: creamy, buttery and very pigmented. What else can you ask for when it comes to a creme polish?

Since I’ve been trying to experiment more, I busted out some other colors and my handy dotting tool to see if I could come up with something interesting.

You be the judge: cute or disasticure as Nicole calls them?

So what do you think of Sasha and my feeble attempt at nail art? Don’t be too hard on me. I can stamp and that’s about it. haha! I am super excited because it looks like I might get my newest set of plates sometime this week. Considering the drama I’ve been dealing with, that would make me super happy!

I’m going to say it again: enter my giveaway because who doesn’t love free stuff?! Oh, and Nicole from Polish Me Please! is also giving away a Julep box. Hello! Two chances to win a box if you enter both. You can enter her giveaway by clicking here.

I’m sure you’re sick of giveaways, right? (Sure you are!) Well, get ready because I have some giveaways lined up this month since it’s my birthday later in the month. I don’t usually like to celebrate my birthday, but I do like excuses to host giveaways! Stay tuned because one goes live later today. 😉

****This item was sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Essie Oldies

Posted on 3 September, 20124 September, 2012 by Cynthia

As a fairly recent nail polish addict, it pains me to realize how many amazing collections I have missed out on pre-2011 because I wasn’t really following any of the major brands. I was an occasional nail polish wearer until I started getting weekly salon manicures. It was something that I would do every Friday after work to help me de-stress and just put work out of my mind for the weekend. So when I think of all those amazing–and sadly discontinued–collections that I missed out on, I just want to cry! (I’m looking at you China Glaze OMG!)

I am always on the lookout for older polishes so I tend to spend a lot of time searching online for information. I especially like to collect REALLY old nail polishes mostly for the vintage bottles, but that’s a whole other obsession that I won’t discuss right now. There are a lot of polish etailers out there but today I’m going to talk to you about Beauty Stop Online. They have a wide range of products (not just polishes!) so you should definitely check them out if you’re looking for quality products at a good price.

Today I have two Essie polishes that pre-date my polish hoarding days: Poor Lil’ Rich Girl & Looking For Love.

Poor Lil’ Rich Girl is from the Winter 2004 Frozen Assets Collection. You are probably thinking that there are tons of dark red nail polishes out there and you are right: there are! While this color is not terribly unique, I can never turn down a glossy and vibrant creme polish. Application was not a problem even though I needed 3 coats to even out the color. This is not a straightforward red; I think that it has some brown in it that gives it a vampy feel. This is the type of color that I love to wear when my nails are this short. And before I forget, I can’t stop singing “Rich Girl” by H&O every time I look at this polish!

This polish thoroughly confused me. From the Spring 2008 In The Mood Collection, Looking For Love is not a polish I would normally wear, but I think that I have been trying to branch out. Essie is known for their delicate sheers and pastels so I decided to give this one a try. In the bottle, this color appeared to be gray with some blue but once I got it on my nails, I saw a slight lavender/lilac tinge to it. Upon googling this polish, I came across a lot of information from other polish fiends stating that there appeared to be two versions of this polish (My Private Jet anyone?!) While I like the end result, this polish was kind of a streaky nightmare. It took 4 coats to get this manicure done.

If you’re interested in checking out what other Essie colors are stocked at Beauty Stop Online, you can click here and browse through their selection.

When did your polish obsession start?

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Jindie Nails Underwater Disco

Posted on 2 September, 2012 by Cynthia

What a freaking hot weekend. I’m sitting here with a fan running full force on me and I’m still hot. It’s September…hurry up, Summer, and go away. I have been putting off working on my nail polish storage project because it’s been so hot I just get flustered and annoyed. Even doing my nails is a pain because I feel like the weather affect my nail polish–is that even possible??

Today I decided to try the last of my Jindie Nails polishes: Underwater Disco. I couldn’t decide what color to wear underneath it since Underwater Disco has a clear base. Then I remembered a green polish that I don’t wear too often so I had to dig it out from my melmers.

I started with Nicole by OPI Green Up Your Act!

I love this dark army green. I don’t have many Nicole by OPI polishes mostly because I think they are a little overpriced. I also kind of hate the bottle shape. I know, sometimes I’m picky about silly things. I usually wait to get them on sale at Target.

I love how this really looks like some kind of magical underwater scene.I don’t know why I keep thinking of The Little Mermaid…ha!

Look how gorgeous this is! This is one coat of Underwater Disco over Green Up Your Act! There is so much depth to this glitter. The large hex glitters were a little difficult to get on my nails…even when they were on the brush, I usually brushed them right off. I think it’s worth the effort to place a few matte blue hex glitters on your nails because they look awesome!

I was curious about what other base colors would look like paired with Underwater Disco so I used Jessica Lime Cooler, Jessica Barely Blueberry and Entity Pearl Turquoise. What do you think of these other color combinations?

If you haven’t seen my swatches of the other 3 Jindie Nails polishes I own, check them out: Chomp Chomp!, Water 4 Elephants and Seeing Stars. If you’re interested in seeing more polishes from Jen’s shop, don’t forget to visit her etsy shop here.

Are you on glitter overload yet? I’m not! 🙂 I hope you’ve had a nice weekend and hope you enjoy your Labor Day Monday!

****This item was sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Jindie Nails Water For Elephants

Posted on 28 August, 2012 by Cynthia

I was really excited about trying Water For Elephants because I am a fan of gray polishes and the glitter in this polish really made it stand out. This is a color I could wear to work and feel like I was being “appropriate” but also feel like the glitter kicked it up a notch in a discreet way. I keep getting flashbacks of the Robert Pattinson/Reese Witherspoon movie as I write this. haha!

I’ll stop blabbering and show you some swatches now. 🙂

The application of this polish was fine. It was very sheer with just one coat but it was easily buildable. I didn’t have any problems in getting even glitter distribution but I still added a couple of drops of thinner which made it even easier to apply. Jen has a sale going on in her shop right now so go check it out here. Personally, I haven’t seen many gray polishes like this so I am really loving it. Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think of this pretty glitter.

****This item was sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Jessica Cosmetics Spicy Dream Collection Fall 2012

Posted on 14 August, 201212 September, 2012 by Cynthia

It seems that last week I was saying how summer has been pretty mild here in Southern California, and now I am roasting in my own sweat. It is so hot here that I can barely function. Whenever it gets this hot, I tend to be in a foul mood so I’m sorry if you’ve been unlucky enough to be the recipient of that. I’ve been saying that I am so ready for fall ever since May and it’s not just because it gets cooler, but also because of the drool-worthy nail polish fall collections. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Jessica Cosmetics Spicy Dream collection, and I couldn’t wait to swatch it for all of you.

When I first saw these colors, I was immediately reminded of being in France. Let me elaborate: Back in 1999, D. and I were studying in Paris together (Paris X – Woo hoo!) and one of his friends was supposed to take us to his family’s house in Normandy for the weekend. Well, that weekend was an utter catastrophe because there was a terrible storm that leveled forests, ruined roads…it was a nightmare. But, we ended up taking off anyway and spent the weekend touring different areas…Pont-l’Évêque (which has an amazing cheese), Honfleur, Deauville…ahhh…it was a nice weekend. This was also the weekend when D. created his infamous Sopa Castellana (Castillian Soup). I have no idea what he put in it, but I just remember eggs and chorizo…it was delish. So the reason why I am talking about all this is because we drank a lot of Calvados which is an apple brandy. Calvados is such a pretty color, and I was instantly transported back there when I saw these rich fall colors from the Spicy Dream collection. These colors also remind me of the spice souks that I loved so much when I was in Tunisia and Morocco. Can you tell I miss traveling?

Let’s move on to some swatches:

CHAMPAGNE BUBBLES: This was my least favorite polish of the collection. I just don’t like the way it looks on me. China Glaze also has a polish called Champagne Bubbles but it is very yellow while this is much lighter and has a more delicate feel to it. Whenever I swatch, I always use Seche Vite as my topcoat and something weird happened when I applied it: it dragged and the polish got a wrinkled look to it so I had to remove it and reapply.

PUMPKIN DELIGHT: This is my absolutely favorite polish of this collection. I love how rich it looks. It’s just breathtaking.

GINGERSNAP: This is one is a pretty color as well. It’s obviously not as intense as Pumpkin delight, but it’s still pretty. Oh, and I am a gingersnap freak…I love them so much!

CINNAMON KISS: This polish looks like something I’ve seen many times before, but I see how it fits into this collection. I always love these type of polishes that have a glowing quality to them

CRIMSON TATTOO: Don’t laugh but this color made me think of Kat Von D. I wouldn’t say that I am a huge fan, but I love what she does with make up.I love how bloody this color looks and it’s probably the color I would wear the most year-round.

BROWN SUGAR: I think this is the most unique polish in this whole collection. In my opinion, it’s one of those ugly pretty colors that you can’t really nail down. It has the strangest shimmer in the bottle: it looks a bit blue to me but it’s almost like some marbling. You can barely see it on the nail, but you can definitely tell that it’s not a flat creme.

Overall, I do like this collection despite the fact that I don’t think some of these colors compliment my skin tone very well. I can’t really fault them for that because I’m sure others can really rock these colors. I can already see some of these colors as an awesome base for Thanksgiving nail art. The main thing that I didn’t like was that the first three colors were very difficult to remove. There was shimmer/glitter all over my fingers, my nails and embedded in my cuticles so I had to use pure acetone for removal. No one ever said beauty would be painless. The second part of the collection, which is intensely pigmented, surprised me because none of the polishes stained at all. I figured that Crimson Tattoo would be the biggest staining nightmare because of the pigmentation, but it removed effortlessly. I only had to use two coats for all of these polishes and some of them could do with one coat if you apply it carefully.

Are you ready for Fall? I think that we can start getting into the Fall mood with the lovely polish collections that will start to crop up even if the weather refuses to cooperate. Let me know what you think of this collection. Will you be picking up any of these colors? Do you have a favorite? Are you a Jessica fan? I am!!!!! They released my favorite collection of 2012 so far: Gelato Mio! Check out my swatches here if you haven’t gotten your hands on any of those beauties. The Spicy Dream collection will be out this month at www.jessicacosmetics.com and at salons and spas internationally.

Thanks for stopping by and remember: enabling = caring.

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****