Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Manic Panic Review (Flashback)

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  Please bear with all the boring re-caps!
<3
-WW
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*Not compensated in any way for this review, and I bought the products for my own personal use.*

I adore this stuff.

Seriously.



This is "Hot Hot Pink".



This is "Atomic Turquoise".


As you can see, it comes out brilliantly.  Yes, my hair is bleached.  The blue didn't come out quite as vibrant in this application, but I put it on another part of my hair at a later date and left it on for 2 hours and it came out just perfectly.  (Picture below) The pink takes much quicker and I've left it on for as little as 10 minutes and still gotten bright, long-lasting results.  It also fades nicely to different shades of pink that sort of look on-purpose instead of fading to a drull, drab, odd color like some brands do.



My only complaint is that the takes forever and ever to wash out completely, which if you don't like to rotate your colors a lot, then I suppose is no big deal.  An added bonus to that, though, is that if you get impatient creative and put pink over the blue after it fades a bit, you get a cool purple color.

I adore this stuff and don't use anything else.  <3  I've tried a few other brands, but I always kept coming back to Manic Panic.

I bought these two pots at the same time for about $6 each, which is great because they last.  I have had them for 3 or 4 months now, and they are still over half-way full (update - ended up lasting A YEAR!!).  I just make sure the lid is on securely and store them in the medicine cabinet.  Keep in mind, I only do my bangs and tips, but still, that's a lot of product and I figure I'll have them for at least another 3 or 4 months...Unless I get more colors before then!  *-*

*Update - I have since been playing with these colors quite a bit and in all different ways!

I used the Hot Hot Pink mixed down 1/3 dye and 2/3 conditioner to dye my ENTIRE head and I just adore it.  I mixed it a bit unevenly so I'd get a faceted color and this was my result:


I've learned that Manic Panic's colors are amazingly easy to work with and since then I always buy the brightest shades in any color I want.  You can mix them with each other to get new and interesting shades and you can even dilute them with conditioner...I, for instance, used just a teeny bit of the Hot Hot Pink mixed with about 1/2 cup of conditioner and left it in for about 2 hours and came out with the cutest cotton candy pink streaks at one point!  Needless to say, I'm sold even more on this brand.

Update:  Since this post, I still adore this brand, but I did learn something important:  Always check whether a red is a blue base or not.  They have a ton of reds and the only one that was in at the local store I shop at was not a blue base and it came out this gawful flaming orange color!  A user error, to be sure, but still something to always research and consider!

<3
Wookie Wifey

Monday, October 6, 2014

Wet n Wild Mega Last Review!


 I almost missed out on some *gorgeous* cheap lipsticks, guys.  Fortunately for me, it didn't happen!


The story starts with this lipstick.


The color is 'Think Pink' and I was looking for a dupe for a Bite color I was obsessed with and almost out of.


I thought this baby would do the trick.


But, alas, it was too pink.  Not only that, but the formula felt a bit on the dry and heavy side and it always landed me with chapped lips, so I banished it from my makeup box.

I'd pretty much vowed not to try any more Mega Last lip colors until one day reading articles and comments on XOVain, someone had commented that Smokin' Hot Pink was a bitchin' bright pink that stained and faded nicely.

I had to know.


I found it at a local store and snapped it up.


At first, I thought I'd made another mistake because the color in the tube looked a tad bit chalky and lighter than I'd hoped.  "There goes another $2," I thought.  Then, I put it on...


...and was gifted a gorgeous truly HOT pink lipstick.  The photos do not do it justice and, the person who left the comment was right - it lasts forever, but when it does fade, it fades to a gorgeous "been making out all day" hue, a deep, pink stain.  It also doesn't dry out my lips and looks great on, stays put without liner, and has a matte finish that I just love.

Bonus!  If you layer a coat of Baby Lips Electro in Pink Shock over the top of it, it gives it a crazy dimensional neon-ish look and a bit of shine!

Lesson learned.  I'll be trying a few more of these colors!

Are there any brands/lines that you've almost given up on and they changed your mind?

<3 WW