Review: Not Your Mothers Clean Freak Shampoo & Conditioner!

Purchased by me. 

Good morning my lovelies! How are you? Today I have a review for you from the brand Not Your Mothers!

A few weeks ago I published a review on their Way To Grow shampoo and conditioner, and today I wanted to bring you the second of the three shampoos and conditioners that they have!

The weather this summer has been absolutely crazy this year! Some days its hotter than anything, other days are just perfect and then there are days where it was down right cool and you actually needed a hoodie. Well... at least here in New York.



On the hot days my hair doesn't fair so well, I have normal to oily combination hair as it is and add sweat into that equation and BAM my hair just turns to yuck. I had been using Herbal Essences Cleansing Conditioner to help combat the oil every few washes but the moisturizing part was a little too heavy on my hair.

When I found out that NYM had brought out shampoos and conditioners to match some of their best hair care products I was more than happy to pick them up to give them a try, and that's how I found the Clean Freak Shampoo and Conditioner.

So far I have only seen them at Walgreen's in my area but I know they are widely available online and at other retailers. Sometimes Walgreen's has a sale and the employees who run the cosmetic counter have coupons most of the time, which is great for my wallet!

Like Way To Grow, Clean Freak is Sulfate free, and is also for all hair types, but Clean Freak also adds on no parabens or dyes! It gives you ultra clean hair while maintaining your hair's natural moisture. The conditioner is also, sulfate, paraben,and dye free. It's super moisturizing leaving your hair silky and with a luxurious shine! 

For my combo hair I found that Clean Freak left my hair feeling clean but not overly clean and with the moisturizing conditioner it didn't pack a ton of moisture back into my hair where it felt weighed down. After my hair dried it felt soft and silky, and was very manageable. 

One thing I love on this hair care set is the scent! Rosemary and mint. It's such a refreshing scent I can't stop smelling my hair for days afterward! I believe  this would also be a good shampoo and conditioner to help wake you up in the shower and get your day going. 

Overall I have loved using this set during the hot days of summer, it has really made a difference on managing my hair. I can't wait to see how it helps my hair into the upcoming fall! 

Have a great day lovelies! I'll talk to you soon! 

<3 Nicole 

Maybelline Color Blur By Lip Studio

Purchased by me.

Good morning lovelies!! How was your weekend? Mine was so-so. I was supposed to hang out with my dad but he didn't feel well so every plan we had went down the toilet. I was pretty bummed but I'll get over it as I always have.

Today I want to show you  a new product from Maybelline and has become one of my favorite lippies to wear. Maybelline has certainly become one of my favorite drugstore brands over the years and I love anything matte for the lips! I think I own more Maybelline products over any other brand.

A while back I had heard they released a matte velvet lip pencil over in the United Kingdom and after seeing some of my favorite British beauty bloggers talk about them I KNEW I would need them if they were ever to be release here. Well of course about a half a year later Maybelline released them but under a new name and different packaging. I don't have a problem with that as long as the product is good.

Review: Not Your Mothers Way To Grow Long And Strong Shampoo and Conditioner

Purchased by me.

Hi lovelies! So this post is a day late... but better late than never right?

Today I bring you the first in a series of reviews of one of, if not my favorite hair care lines!

The brand is called Not Your Mothers, cool name right? Well they have even cooler products. I discovered them last summer when I was perusing the hair care isle at Walmart. Where else would I be perusing right?  I was looking for a product that would help me maintain my hair that I was trying to grow out at the time, and Not Your Mothers caught my eye.

As I stood in the isle reading the packaging as I do with many things I was intrigued to see that the shampoo and conditioner help stimulate hair growth. However they clearly state it does not make new hair growth. So if that's what your looking for then this product is not for you.

I decided to give it a chance and at $4.74 each I couldn't say no, your talking to a girl who religiously bought Brilliant Brunette  at $8 a pop for a time, while in college.

Review: Rimmel London Show Off Lip Velvets!

Purchased by me.

Good Tuesday morning lovelies! Have you all had your coffee yet? As you read this I am currently at work, most likely dealing with people and or sitting at a computer working on some training that I am trying to complete.

Today I bring you swatches and a quick review of the Rimmel London Show Off Lip Velvets! That is a very long name for a product if I do say so myself.

These lippies came out I believe last fall, which puts me way behind on the game of reviewing them, but I just saw a Youtuber I follow recently review these and so I thought if she can do one so can I!

I am a huge fan of matte lip products. I don't do lip gloss much and sometimes a glossy lip just doesn't look good on me. A couple of years ago I fell in love with wearing a matte red lip pretty much all the time. I haven't worn one in a while, I should probably get on that! So it was no idea that I wasn't going to be picking these up when they came over from the UK.

I snagged two colors, Meteoric Matte and Burning Lava. I do want to pick up Atomic Rose, which is a lovely pink nude color.

Meteoric Matte is my favorite amongst the two I own. Dark, blue toned red/berry colors are my favorite next to a good nude color. Burning Lava, while not my favorite is a close second, it comes very close to duping my all time favorite matte red lip color; Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Standout. God forbid they ever get rid of that color.

The formula on these are smooth, and feel nice when applied on the lips. They are not streaky at all because obviously they're super pigmented. They look slightly glossy when first applying them but they soon dry matte.

Review: NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray.

Hi lovelies! How are you? Can you believe that we are only 15 days away from Christmas??? I haven't even started shopping yet! Hopefully I'll be able to get a few things this weekend.

Today I am going to bring you a short review on a product I bought back in September. I remember it was right after my vacation because I had picked up two NYX Butter Glosses from Target while I was away and then came home to see that my local CVS had gotten in a NYX display. I couldn't tell you how excited I was.

I picked out quite a few things from that display including the title of this blog post, the NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray.

As a makeup enthusiast I had never tried a setting spray before, I just never thought to buy one let alone use them. When I first got into makeup I had only heard of Skindanavia, if that's even how you spell it and I knew it was way too expensive for my teeny wallet.

That's why today I am glad that brands like NYX that are more affordable have these products available to the masses who can necessarily afford the high end makeup.

Above is my attempt at taking a cool photo using nature as my background. While I think its cool, I'm mad I cut off the bottom of the bottle.

To use the NYX Setting spray all you have to do is first off your makeup, then according to the bottle you hold the bottle out away from your face, close your eyes and spray a couple times letting the light mist settle on your face.

I have used this stuff a few times now, especially on occasions where I really need my makeup to last, I have found that it does help my makeup stay put. I used this most recently when my niece was baptized back in November and I had been out from about 10am until 6:30pm and when I got home I can safely say my makeup still looked like I had just applied it. I also have to say that I was wearing a  few other products to help prevent makeup breakdown but I do feel the setting spray had a hand in everything.

I think this is a good product if you need your makeup to last for a special event, as for using on a regular basis just when your putting makeup on for a work day I don't find myself reaching for it.

If you want to get your hands on the NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray you can get it at Target and CVS as long as they have displays which I'm pretty sure most Targets do, I think its select locations with CVS.  NYX is also available at Ulta and of course online as well.  The setting spray cost me about $8.49 but on the CVS website says $7.99. I have mentioned before that my CVS does mark up in price because its in a tourist location. NYX also makes a dewy setting spray as well, which I haven't bought because I have naturally oily skin and I don't like that look.

However NYX has steals and deals all the time you just have to watch out for them!

I hope you enjoyed this review and I will talk to you all in the next post!
<3 Nicole

Review: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths.

Good morning lovelies!

I hope you all are well, and that you Halloween, if you celebrate was awesome and that you or your kids got lots of awesome candy! I got to hand out candy to trick or treaters all day and dress up with some of my co-workers!

Today I have a review for you on a product that I put off until I used the whole product up to finalize my opinion. Usually after a week or so of using a product I can tell if I like it, or if its beneficial to me. However not this one.

I'm talking about the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths, these are a new product from Cetaphil that I had never seen before. I am a huge fan of the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. I adore it and did a fully review on it here.

When I went on vacation in September I was dead set on taking the cleanser with me, which I did by transferring some into a travel size container. I also wanted something I could take my makeup off with if I didn't feel like washing my face, and I didn't want to bring my cleanse off oil in fear it would leak all over my other toiletries. So in browsing the skin care isle at the drugstore I saw the Cetaphil Cleansing Cloths, and instantly I thought since I loved the cleanser I should try them.

I got mine at Walmart for $5.97, which is around the same price as the liquid cleanser. You get 25 pre-moistened wipes which is standard for the majority of different brands of face wipes out there.

Sadly I was very disappointed in these wipes. Upon first use of them I noticed that they are not very moist at all, they are practically dry. The wipes do come sealed up and my seal was not broken so I know I didn't buy a defective product.

When I used a wipe to clean my face it did take off my makeup but I had to go over my face quite a bit to get everything truly off. When it came to taking off my mascara and eye liner, I really had to work at it and I wasn't even wearing water proof mascara. There were a few occasions it took two wipes to completely get the makeup off.

After my vacation was over I kept using the wipes to see if maybe the wipes towards the middle or the end were more moist, but they were not.  I felt like I went through these wipes twice as fast as any other. For the six dollar price tag I don't plan on buying these again. I can get any other brand of face wipe with the same quantity for the same price and know that they will potentially work better.

I am going to stick with the cleanser because that stuff its truly a lifesaver.

Have you tried the Cetaphil Cleansing Cloths? Whats you favorite brand of Cleansing Cloths? 

Have a great day lovelies and I will talk to you on Thursday!
<3 Nicole

Milani Cosmetics Bella Eyes Eyeshadow First Impression!

Hi lovelies! How are you all! Happy Monday, although I am not a fan. As you are reading this I am working a 6am to 230pm shift today and I still have three more 8 hour shifts to go before my first day off. I hate getting up early but I don't mind the hours and of course the $$.

But all of that nonsense aside its time for some makeup!

Today I bring you my first impression and swatches of the new Milani Bella Eyes Eyeshadows.

I have been waiting and waiting for my CVS to finally get these in, I've been seeing them everywhere  and couldn't wait to get my hands on some.

Before I ever go to CVS I alway check my email account linked to my Xtra Care Card, I do this because lately CVS has been issuing 20-30% coupons, now mind you while they don't work on sale items they do work on regularly priced items and it just so happened that Milani wasn't on sale.

It took forever for me to choose what colors I wanted or how many. I chose three colors since my spending amount was limited, there was one shade I wanted badly but it wasn't in stock and that was Champange but for the shades I did get, wow!

Here is a look at the three shades in their packaging.

Bella Rouge 

Bella Espresso 

Bella Sand

First off lets talk packaging. I love the packaging, (its true I'm a sucker for it) they're basically like the baked blushes but mini! I love that they are so compact that they are going to be very travel friendly. I am going to have so many options to choose from when packing for vacation in September. I also love that each of the eyeshadows have seals on them, so if you don't see a seal you know its been opened and touched by grubby hands not of our own. So a huge THANK YOU to Milani for doing that! 

Next is texture. I love love love the feel of these shadows! There are smooth and velvety, they are very finely milled, and even though when you first look at them you see they have a texture to them you don't feel it. Plus that imprint doesn't go away which is kind of cool, makes the shadow constantly look new. 

These are highly pigmented shadows. One to two circles of your finger will get you a lot of pigment, that equals to about 2-3 swipes with my brushes.  As for staying power, I wore them Sunday for 8 hours with a primer underneath and when I left work at 6:30pm I still had a decent amount of shadow on my eyes, not that I packed it on or anything. After 12 hours (right before bed) I noticed, most of the shadow was gone, but I had rubbed my eyes and such so I can't say it was the shadow naturally wearing off.  I will try to put a selfie on Instagram using the shadows so you can see. 

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Each swatch that I did is one to two circles of my finger around the shadow and NO PRIMER! I will try to update this post and swatch them over a primer to see if it makes a difference.  I love all three of the colors that I chose. I can do a natural look with the Bella Sand and Espresso or a more colorful look with Bella Rouge and Espresso with Sand as a highlight or inner corner highlight.  

And what makes these even more of a plus is that there not all the same finish. You have Matte shades, Satin Matte shades, Shimmers, and Metallic. I added the underside of the packaging to the swatch photos so you can see they are clearly marked what type of finish they are.  

Okay so price point: At my CVS they retailed for $4.79, and you get 0.05 ounces or 1.4 grams of product. For a single eye shadow from Milani that is a decent price, usually at CVS Milani is expensive. 

I hope that in the future that CVS will run Buy one get one half off sales or something of that nature so I'm more inclined to spend more money. Oh what the hell I probably will spend money on them whether they are on sale or not. 

So if your looking for some awesome single eye shadows that are highly pigmented and a great color array, these might be for you. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I will see you all at the end of the week! <3 Nicole 

*All of the products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. I'm not being compensated by any companies, all reviews and opinions are my own.** 

Wet 'n' Wild Mind Your Own Bismuth

Hi lovelies! I hope you all are well!

Today's polish is definitely a throwback polish! This polish came out in spring of 2012 and was apart of the Chrome Collection from Wet 'n' Wild. It was a limited edition collection and I can't believe I only snagged one of these and then never posted about it!

I have to say for my defense that it was still early in my blogging days and I was not very vigalant about post all the time.

Lets take a look at this oldie but goodie.

The name is really cute to start with, Mind Your Own Bismuth. I do remember that these polishes had city realated names.

Since this polish is going on two years old its a little on the thick side. If my memory serves me correctly it wasn't this thick when I purchased so obviously age has gotten to it.

I used three coats plus top coat in my photos. Although I could of gotten away with two.

I haven't used this for stamping yet but I'm curious to see since its thicker now if it would work. This polish back in 2012 was $3.99 and judging by the size of this polish it was not full size so I can't believe I paid four bucks for it.

This polish however will stay in my stash and I'll try to make a mental note to use it before it goes to polish heaven.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I'll see you in the next one.
<3 Nicole

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser Review

Hi! *waves frantically at all of you*

Its Wednesday! My longest day of the week! Seriously I'm at work from 6AM to 230PM today. One day I will not have to wake up at 5am for work.

Today I am bringing you a review of my go-to facial cleanser. I have tried cleansers from every walk of the drugstore shelves. I have used Clean & Clear to L'Oreal and a few brands in between. Now these cleansers got my face clean I don't doubt that, but every time I used one more than once a day or more than twice a week they made my skin feel super tight and dry. That in my book is a huge problem. I don't usually have dry skin on my face, I have combination skin where it can be normal one day and oily the next.

I had always seen Cetaphil in the drugstore and always wanted to buy it but never really heard much about it. One day I picked up a bottle and read the claim on the front that said "Removes excess oil without drying. Rinses Clean." On the back of the bottle it also said it removed makeup as well, so I threw caution to the wind and bought it. The 8oz bottle of Cetaphil retails for about $6 at Walmart so for price point it was a pretty good deal.

I forgot to mention that I use 'For normal to oily skin' formula.

The first thing I noticed about this cleanser was the smell. It has a high fragrance to it. For some reason I think it smells like concentrated baby powder. Don't ask me how I came up with it, that's what I smell. If you don't like highly fragranced cleansers you may not like this. However the smell does NOT linger on the skin, its only when you are washing your face with it.

After my first use of Cetaphil I was really impressed. Besides the smell (which I quickly got over) my skin felt nice. It was smooth, and it felt really clean but not that squeaky clean where you need to apply moisturizer right after. Oh and here is the best part, IT DIDN'T DRY OUT MY FACE!!! That was the best part indeed. I then gave it the use twice a day test and I did notice a little bit of drying, so I decided to use this primarily at night usually during a shower and supplement with a facial wipe in the morning to get anything the cleanser missed.

As for the makeup removing claim. Its true. It gets at least 85% of my make up off in one wash and I can go in with a wipe to clean up the rest. Although today my makeup removing technique has changed that I use a cleansing oil first before the cleanser. I'll have a review on that soon.

All in all this cleanser is pretty awesome. Since I got this last summer I just finished off my first bottle back in March. When I repurchased it I upgraded to the 16oz bottle that retails for $10.99 at Walmart.

I hope you enjoyed the review and maybe it gave you a new option if your looking to change your skin care routine!

Have a great day and see you guys on Friday!
<3 Nicole

Rimmel Sweetie Crush Texture Polish: Candy Floss Cutie and Sherbert Sweethearte

Good evening lovelies! How are you all? I am doing great I am proud to say that I have been made an honorary aunt twice in the last two weeks! One of my best girl friends, (well I only have like 3 anyway) just had her first daughter who is named Sophia, and my bestest friend Stephanie, her sister just had her second daughter TODAY! Her name is also Sofia but spelt differently. Both babies are happy and healthy and the most precious ever! I can't wait to meet both of them soon!!


Today I have for you swatches of two new polishes that have popped up at the drugstore, or in my case at lease Rite Aid. (That's where I got them from.)

So let me ask you all this? Are you guys done with the whole textured polish craze? If not then Rimmel London  may have the next set of polishes you want!

I love the texture polishes I own with the exception of the China Glaze ones, I like them but I don't like the way they texturize, if that makes sense. However so far of all the texture polishes Rimmel is definitely one of my favorite brands by far.

This line is called Sweetie Crush and includes five colors I believe, a light purple, a pastel green, a sky blue and the two colors I picked up, a pastel pink called Candy Floss Cutie and a pastel yellow called Sherbert Sweetheart.

I picked colors that I thought I didn't have from any other brand.

Lets take a look at Candy Floss Cutie. The pastel pink color kind definitely makes me think of Easter and coloring Easter eggs and having that fake Easter grass in the bottom of your Easter basket.

The formula on this was sheer but very buildable, it took about three coats to get to opacity, where as with other texture polishes like the Julie G ones sometimes you can get away with one coat. Although those textures I find to be thicker and a little gloopy. These Rimmel London ones are not.

What I love the most about these polishes is the feeling they have once they have dried. There not super texture-y, these feel more of a soft texture, even with three coats.  Oh and to top it all off there sparkly!!! Who doesn't love shimmer and sparkle???

Now lets take a look at Sherbert Sweetheart. I definitely feel the name fits the polish on this one. Its a pastel yellow that makes me think of lemons and sherbert but also those marshmallow Peeps! I haven't had a Peep in forever! Did you know they even make birthday cake peeps???

Anyhow, this texture just doesn't do it for me. I used three coats like with Candy Floss Cutie, but the yellow is more sheer, so my visible nail line is still slightly visible.

I think I might use this over a yellow polish so the texture pops more like how its concentrated in the bottle. I so wish that it transferred to the nail that way.

The formula on Sherbert Sweetheart is the same as CFC its thin and the texture finish is the same. I'm thinking if I can go back to Rite Aid I might just pick up the rest of the collection to see how the rest fair.

If you want to get your little nails on these affordable textures they retail for $2.25 at local Rite Aid stores!

Thats it for today! I'll catch you guys on Wednsday!! <3 Nicole

Don't forget you can follow me on social media to find out about everything on the blog or just to come and see my randomness on twitter and so forth! Links are up in the top right corner! Hope to see you all there! <3

Revlon Age Defying Firming and Lifting Foundation

Happy Friday guys!!!! How are you? Everything is semi okay on my end. Battling a lot of stress and depression right now. Just trying to make to the light at the end of the tunnel or find that silver lining.

Today I have for you another foundation review. I reviewed the Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup a while back and raved about it. I still rave about it, heck I am wearing right now, but I have found a foundation that is rivaling it for my affections.

Revlon introduced this foundation I want to say towards the beginning of the year, but I just got my hands on it about a month ago. Living in a middle of no where place in New York we don't always get new products right away. I had seen a couple of other reviews on this foundation and people seemed to be loving it.

This foundation runs about $10-$15 depending on where you purchase it from. I got a great deal on it at Rite Aid. They were having a 40% Revlon sale, so I got this for around $8 instead! This is also a great tip for those of us who don't like shelling out a bunch of money on product that were not sure about. I recommend waiting until it goes on sale at the drugstore, they are always running 40% sales every now and then. I say buy the new product then and give it a try, at least your not paying the whole price if you wind up not liking it so much.

Here is what I love about this product. First off it has really nice coverage. Its about a medium coverage foundation that you can build on to make full coverage. I love how this evens out my skin tone and helps reduce under eye circles with just one thin layer. If I am having a bad skin day I can add a little more to the problem areas, and it doesn't look cakey.

Can you see by the photo above this has a  pump! Not all drugstore foundations have pumps, you can get optimum control with this foundation by that pump. Usually or my face I use a pump and a little more. The packaging itself is sleek and nice, it has a glass bottle so it is a little heavy but not too bad at all.

Another good thing about this foundation is it has a broad spectrum SPF of 15, which isn't too high but its nice to have some protection from the sun. The size on this is the standard 1.0 fl oz and I wear the color #30 Soft Beige.

Here is a little swatch of it against my hand. The formula is creamy and smooths on to the skin nicely. It especially looks nice when you pair it with the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser which I just reviewed a few days ago. Pairing those to products together makes my foundation last all day, even when I haven't paired it with the primer it still last a decent amount of time.

As for the age defying claims of firming and lifting, I can't really tell so much because I don't have really any wrinkles or saggy skin yet. But it does make my complexion look nice and gives my face an overall flawless look.

I have always loved Revlon foundations. Revlon was the first brand I bought liquid foundation from so its no surprise I like this one.

Check out your local drugstores today if you want to try out this foundation. Remember if you don't want to shell out $15 bucks for it, wait for a sale and look out for coupons. There are coupons for everything these days!

Until next time! <3 Nicole

Maybelline Baby Skin Review.

Hi guys! I hope you all had an awesome weekend. I worked mine as usual, what else is new!

Today I bring you a beauty review on a product that made a huge splash in the drugstore market back in January/February.

What I'm talking about is the Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser. Why is it that drugstore  and high end products are becoming more mouthfuls to say?

Free For All Beauty Friday: Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup.

Hi guys happy Friday!!! Who is ready for the weekend?? I am, even though mine will be filled with working, school work and blogging. Although I do NOT mind the blogging part!

Today I have another edition of Free For All Beauty Friday for you! I have only done a handful of these over the last year but hopefully there will many more in the future!

There are lots of new amazing beauty products out at the drugstore right now. I have definitely been sucked into buying quite a few of them and loving them! This being one of them.

Almay has always been a cosmetic company that my mom mentioned to me when I first started getting into makeup. She informed it was makeup she used because she has sensitive skin and Almay was one of the only brands she didn't have a problem wearing!

I don't always get to purchase Almay at the drugstore, I always ogle at it but its a little too expensive where I live. However, I have owned a couple of pieces of Almay makeup in the past, eye shadows, a mascara, a blush and now a foundation I am completely in love with.

Let me introduce you to Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup.

I first saw this at my local Rite Aid, you know as I do. I saw the display and that they had a tester out. I thought that this was tinted moisturizer at first, the tester was my shade so I tested it on the back of my hand. As I rubbed it in I realized this was something different and really cool and I would need it my life.

This skintone matching make up comes in three shades, light, light/medium, and medium.
Almay according to their website says that this: 

• instantly transforms to your perfect shade 
• Lightweight coverage with a soft satin finish 
• broad spectrum SPF 15 
• Hypoallergenic and Dermatologist tested. 

You can see I am shade #200 Light/Medium. You get one fluid ounce of product which is standard for liquid foundations.

What I like about this foundation is that it is light weight, has an SPF that is broad spectrum, is hypoallergenic, and has pretty decent coverage for being classified as a light coverage foundation.

Your probably thinking how does the smart shade technology work? Well here is a quote directly from Almay's website " it adjusts to the natural tones and nuances of your skin with breakthrough new almay tonemimic™ shade-sensing bead technology which intuitively transforms to your skintone for all day natural looking coverage in your perfect shade." 


That "tonemimic" technology is what made me want to try this stuff out. Take a look.

This is what the foundation looks like when it comes right out of the tube. It looks kind of grayish and you can see tiny flecks of the skintone matching beads throughout.

As you start to rub it into your skin with your fingers you can see that the beads break and start to release color and somehow starts to match my skintone.

I found this foundation to be really great at evening out my skintone, and moisturizing. I also found the best way to apply this foundation is to use your hands. Usually I am a brush using girl. I just don't normally like the feeling of having foundation on my hands, but this foundation I feel with a brush you do not get the best application and most of it gets caught inside the brush. I also think the heat of my hands helps burst the skintone matching beads.

As you can see or hardly see for that matter that this matches fairly well. I do set it with a setting powder just to get the shine off my face since I have naturally oily/combo skin. But I do notice the satin almost matte finish before I set it and if I didn't get oily I wouldn't use a setting powder.

Overall I love this foundation and have been using every day since I bought it. I will definitely be repurchasing this foundation sooner than later. If you want to try out the Almay Smart Shade Skintone Matching Makeup, you can find it at your local drugstore, Walmart, etc. I got mine from Walmart for $9.99 instead of the $14.99 price tag I saw at Rite aid.

I hope you enjoyed this review and I'll talk to you all soon!
<3 Nicole 

Wet 'n' Wild Meglast Nail Polish in Undercover

Hi guys!! Happy Wednesday! I hope the beginning of your week has gone well and that the latter half towards the weekend goes faster so we can all relax.

School is in full swing now with it being week two and all and so far everything seems manageable so far. Which is a nice turn from last semester. I think the only class that might get me is my Business Ethics class, its an online course and the teacher likes to assign a lot of questions.

I can't believe that its going to be February by the weekend! Its insane how fast the year is going, although I don't want it to go by too fast, but I'm sure as heck ready for some warm temperatures.

Today's polish is one last Wet 'n' Wild before I dive into maybe some Valentines Day appropriate colors and maybe a nail art post too!

This polish is one of the pretty creme colors that is apart of the Megalast line and it is called Undercover. Its a pink/mauve color that reminds me of roses for some odd reason.

All I think when I see it are those shirts that have the rose floral patterns.

    This polish went on smooth with two coats to reach opacity.

As you can see by the amount of light you have how this polish looks. The top photo wasn't taken in the best light and it comes off a really dark dusty mauve/pink. With more light like in the photo above its has more of a happy dusty pink color.

However, I didn't think this polish went well with my skin tone. In real life it just seem off to me. I wound up giving this color to my mom. Her skin tone is slightly more tan than I am ( I have a pale olive complexion) and once she put this on I knew I made the right choice of giving it to her.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I will talk to you all soon with some Valentines Day appropriate colors!

<3 Nicole

Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Nail Color: Heat Wave.

Good morning guys!!!

Today's post is of a nail polish that I received for Christmas! My mom is very hesitant when it comes to buying me any makeup or nail polish because she thinks that she will either A: get me something I already own, or B: get me something I won't like. So I told her this past Christmas that I would love anything she picks out, and that trust me there are a lot of make up and nail polishes I don't own yet.

So she picked out this really awesome Wet 'n' Wild gift set that had 10 mini Megalast colors inside. Five of the best and three limited edition colors. I will have swatches of all the colors from the set on the blog in the coming month!

Today begins the first one its called Heat Wave. Who doesn't love a red nail polish? I know I do. This one is kind of a crelly type, where its a creme color but has a jelly like finish. I say this because after three coats I could still see VNL.

But that doesn't take away from beauty that is this polish.

I think at some point I want to attempt to do a jelly sandwich with this. It reminds me a lot of Ruby Ruby from Sinful Colors which I have used for a jelly sandwich but its a tad more dark than Heat Wave. 

Like I said above three coats of this polish and I could still see my nail line on my middle finger. But what I love even more is how shiny this polish got with the addition of top coat. I used Orly's Sec 'n' Dry in these photos.

Out of the set of ten minis I think that I will definitely pick up the full size of this polish. That's what I love about mini polishes so much, you get to try a color and if you like it you can go and get the full size! If you want any of the Meglast Colors all you need to do is find in your town wherever Wet 'n' Wild is so, although its probably at most drugstores and get some of these colors! I think they only run $1.99!

I can't wait to show you guys more of the minis in this set! Mom sure did pick out an amazing gift! Love you mom!

Till tomorrow <3 Nicole

My 2013 Beauty Favorites!

Hey guys! Happy Monday evening!! I hope that your Monday was awesome!

Today I have a post that I worked on over the weekend, I know its late, but better late than never, its my 2013 Beauty Favorites!!

This is the first time that I have done this type of post, normally this would be a Free For All Beauty Friday thing but by then it would way too late to do this post. Last year and I believe the year before that I did my top nail polish posts, you can find them here and here.

As much as I love nail polish I do love all things beauty as well, I taught myself how to put make up on and how to use different eye shadows, and liquid liner all by watching tons of YouTube videos. My make up stash however is not nearly as big as my polish stash but its getting to the point I need more storage for make up.

Anyway to start off this post I am going to start with foundation!

My favorite foundation of 2013 is Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Foundation. 

Now this isn't a new foundation out on the market but its new to me in as I have never tried it before. I have used the concealer which I don't care for but this foundation is nice. I'm a liquid foundation girl, I love the coverage I can get by building it up or just buying a decent covering foundation.

I only got this foundation towards the end of the year but from the first time I tried it which was the day I bought it I knew it would be a favorite for me.

For a thin formula foundation it really covers a lot of my imperfections, especially my dark circles under my eyes! That is when I know a foundation is a keeper in my book. It also doesn't cake up under my eyes like my other liquid foundations and BB Creams that I have tried.

What I like most about this foundation is the applicator, usually a sponge tip applicator to me isn't the most sanitary thing, but since I am the only one using it it doesn't bother me so much. The sponge on this foundation is very soft so when I use it under my eyes I know I'm not inflicting any damage to my already 26 year old bags.

My next beauty favorite of 2013 is: Cover Girl and Olay Simply Ageless Concealer. 

I purchased this concealer back during the spring time just before I went to Florida. I had always looked at this when I saw it in the drugstores but the price tag kind of made me turn away and tell myself that I don't need it. I happened to get this concealer on clearance for half off when I bought it. I don't believe that they make this anymore, it has been replaced by a concealer/serum CC cream?

In the pot its a mix of the concealer and the Olay Regenerest. I would show you the inside of it but I have hit pan on it and its just doesn't look pretty. During the summer this was my go-to concealer, it covered up my under eye well. It is a fairly decent coverage concealer, when I was on vacation sometimes this was all I put on with some setting powder since it was so hot outside and it worked well.

I don't know if it did anything for under my eye like helping my few fine lines I have. I know, fine lines at 26? Yes I have them and I hate them.  Darn insomnia.

I found myself being drawn to buying a lot of blusher this year. I think I used to only own one which is NY Color Downtown Wine I believe. ( I could be so wrong on the name). I then went to having by the end of this year five all together. Out of those five the one that I reached for the most was Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso. 

I bought this blush after I heard Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi on YouTube) talk about it all the time. I honestly thought I would never find it because sadly my local CVS is the only place to carry Milani products and they never keep anything in stock and never get anything new. Finally one day while wandering through the beauty department I just happened to look and found the last one left. This blush is beautiful! Its a rosy goldish tone that  just adds this glow to your cheeks that warms up the complexion. It is a shimmery blush but its not the in-you-face shimmery.

This favorite was featured in my July favorites over the summer and I have now realized I have a love affair with this brand. I'm talking about the Lorac Pro Palette.

I cannot get enough of Lorac Cosmetics. Since featuring this in my July Favorites post, I have used it everyday since and worn the heck out of it. I love that you get eight matte shades and eight shimmery shades, you have endless combinations. Right before Thanksgiving my dad and I took a trip to our local Kohls. The first thing that I noticed was there revamped beauty bars. They now carry Lorac, and The Balm, plus a few other high end brands. I was so excited that I wasn't going to have to wait to go to Sephora, or order online. That is when I also purchased my second Lorac product. Its called The Sweet Temptations Eye Shadow Kit. I will be doing a swatch and review post of that soon!

Next up we have some lip favorites.

Revlon came out with some pretty cool lip products this fall that I fell head over heels for. They were the new Color Burst Matte Balms and Lacquer Balms. I purchased three of the Lacquer Balms and two of the Matte Balms.

The three lacquer balms I bought are called: Demur (#105) , Flirtatious (#125), and Vivacious (#120).

This Lacquer Balms are kind of the same as the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains but there not really a stain. However the more pigmented the color, you do get a slight stain on your lips as it starts to wear off.

This fall I found myself drawn to buying brightly colored lip products and pinks and berries were most certainly on the list. Demure (middle) is a light nude-pink, which I love but it has visible bits of glitter in it and it does transfer to the lips and once the initial product wears away you are left with some glittery lips. That is the only downside of the product I have. The other two Vivacious and Flirtatious I could see shimmer but no chunks of glitter.

For the Matte Balms these are my favorites by far! I also was searching for a perfect red lip product this fall. I have never really worn red lipstick before because I always thought it made me look like a clown. So I bought shade #240 Stunning, it is a orange toned red, and I have to say I was very afraid of it. It wasn't perfect. I like how it looked on me but  I think I will try it out more in the warmer months. Then I saw a YouTuber ( I can't remember who) wearing shade # 250 Standout. I knew when I saw that shade that's the red I had in mind for myself. It was dark and velvety and just amazing.

As you can see my DSLR hates reds but you can still tell the difference. Stunning is the top shade and Standout is on the bottom. Any how when I put Standout on, I fell in love with it and have worn it almost every day I have to go to work. My job was the first place I wore this red out in public. I figure if I want to get over my fear that was first step. I knew my female co-workers would give me honest opinions, were cool like that!

One of my last favorites that I got in 2013 were two Real Techniques Brushes! I found them at Kohls! I got the Expert Face Brush ( orange handle)  and Stippling Brush ( pink handle). For those of you that don't know they were created by Samantha Chapman of the Pixwoo sisters on YouTube!

I have seen such a difference in how my foundation blends with the Expert Face Brush, it literally makes your foundation look airbrushed. It blends it out evenly and the bristles of the brush are super soft against your skin. The Stippling Brush I have been using to apply blusher thats why the bristles are pink. I love how it just fits nicely over my cheek bones to add the perfect amount of color.

I believe you can also get these brushes online or at Ulta, I hear even some Wal-Marts have them now too.

So thats it for my beauty favorites of 2013! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did even if everything kind of found there way to me from the summer on!

Whats your favorite things of 2013?? It can be anything! Comment below!! 

Until next time!
<3 Nicole

Sally Hansen Insta Dry: Currant Trend.

Happy Friday lovelies!! I hope you all are going to have an amazing weekend. I will be working, as per usual. If you are snowed in like me I hope that you are safe and warm as well!

Today's polish is going to be one I picked up back in the mid fall, but is still available today. I saw them at Rite Aid not too long ago.

Sally Hansen really stepped up their game with polish last year. They put out some amazing glitters and  Insta Drys! Today I have one of those Insta Drys to show you. Its called Currant Trend. I have never seen a currant but I am hoping its similar to this color.

Correction: I just Googled what a Currant is and its more red and burgundy then this polish color but this is still a beautiful polish.

Its such a vibrant purple!! I gravitate towards towards purple polishes and probably have way too many in my collection. You know the deal with the Insta Dry polishes, they dry fairly quickly, hence the name, and they come in these nifty bottles that are triangular shaped. They also have a large flat brush as well. The only thing I don't really like about the Insta Dry bottles is the neck of the bottle its so narrow and the wand and brush always come out full of polish so if you don't wipe it off well you still get a running flow of polish from the stem to the brush and you risk flooding your cuticles. As you can see I had that problem and my cuticles are slightly stained.

However with that one defect aside this color is beautiful. If look close you can see the individual blue and purple flecks that make this polish what it is. In real life in bottle it looks like a glass fleck but doesn't finish that way.

You can find Insta Dry polishes at your local drugstore, Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

Until next time.
<3 Nicole

Essie Parka Perfect

Good Monday morning guys and dolls!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! My Christmas was nice, I spent it at home with my mom and dad. It was quiet but nice. I got some nail polishes and make up which I will be hopefully getting up here on the blog soon.

So for today's post I have one of the new Essie winter polishes. Its called Parka Perfect. I picked it up just before Christmas when I was getting a gift for my best friend.

Its a really pretty muted blue grey color that has shimmer in it.

You can definitely see the shimmer in the bottle itself but I didn't really see it translate to the nail. Which makes me kind of sad but i still think its a very pretty color and very season appropriate. 

It takes about three coats for the color to be opaque, and I don't know if its just me or maybe it was my Seche Vite, but the color kind of dulled out after a couple of days. 

Nonetheless I think that Parka Perfect is a very winter appropriate color and makes me think of the very cold weather that is headed to New York by the end of next week. The weatherman is saying it is going to get down to -12 degrees by Friday night. What a way to start off 2014 right? I want the 60 degree weather we had back just before Christmas!! 

So thats all for today lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this post and I will see you tomorrow on New Years Eve to show you what I am wearing on my nails to usher in the new year. Which by the way I hope is awesome and way better than 2013 in terms of personal things that have happened! 

Talk to you all soon! 

<3 Nicole 

45 Days of Untrieds Day 17: Sinful Colors: Cool Grey

Good Monday morning! Hope you all had a great weekend. I spent some of mine school shopping. I just have to get a few more supplies and then some fall clothing.

I also want to tell to you guys that I when I last did a untried's post I talked about getting a new job, I ultimately made the decision  not to take the job. I have many reasons for not taking it but the main one is because I would not be making enough money at my new job to support myself while I am in school. Plus we also might be getting a new house, we went and looked at a couple and have started negotiations on one. If everything goes as plans which I pray it does ( and if you don't mind say a pray for us too) then it would be a better idea to not give up my higher paying old job.

To say the least though everyone I work with is happy I'm not leaving. They told me they weren't going to let me leave anyway. But I'm glad I'm staying, mostly for the people and the money. I know that sounds bad.

Anyway on to today's untried. It is a Sinful Colors Polish I picked up from one of those middle of the isle displays at good old Wal-Mart.  It is called Cool Grey. I think if the weather was gloomy this would be the perfect polish to wear.  They are predicting today's forecast to have a 30% chance of rain, we'll see if that actually happens.

This polish is a creme finish. My favorite type! This polish is opaque in two coats but I did a standard three with a layer of top coat to smooth it out.

If you are not careful and apply the layers too thick you can cause it to look uneven and lumpy. Hence the reason for a good top coat!

The color is pretty much your standard slate grey. When I wore it around my friends they said it was the most simple color I had ever worn but it was still pretty. I think it a great palette cleansing polish.

One other reason I picked this polish up was because I thought it would be a great background color for future nail art attempts.

If you like this polish I still believe that it is available at Wal-Mart. The same display I got it off of was still there.

If you guys liked this polish then please head over to Adriana's blog (Morie's Nail Art) and Shaylads over on Instagram!

What polishes do you like for palette cleansers?? 

<3 Nicole

45 Days Of Untrieds Day 9 Sally Hansen Lava.

Good Saturday evening polish friends! Hope your weekend is starting off wonderful! The heat wave has finally broke here in NY and its so nice not to be sweating like a fiend.

Today's Polish I think fits the bill of a heat wave, its Sally Hansen's Lava!

I purchased this polish when it first hit drugstores back I think sometime last year I think, but don't quote me.

This polish was part of a duo chrome collection and the only one I saw that I though would have potential. When buying duo chromes sometimes they can be very hit and miss. Lava however is a very big hit!

This polish upon first application is fairly sheer. If you are someone who just wants a wash of sparkle and color one coat should satisfy you. My mom is that way, but if you are like me and need to not see your VNL then it takes about three coats to make it the beautiful metallic color you see in the photo above.

With my hand in this position you see one of the color of this polish which is a bright hot pink. In the next photo below you see it shifts to a bright golden orange color.

Primarily when I look at the polish in real life it looks pink until you wiggle your fingers in the sun they they gorgeous  orange shines through.

I believe this color is still available if you haven't picked it up yet or are considering it. Or maybe this post will sway you if you keep eyeing it when you go to the drugstore.

Do you like duo-chromes, do you own any?? 

Don't forget to check out Shaylads and Adrianna's untrieds today!!

<3 Nicole