Benefit Babe Cake Review

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite eyeliner.

This is the Benefit Babe Cake cake liner duo, and it is awesome.

You'll have to excuse the usage, I normally like to take photos before I delve into a product, but my camera randomly freaked out on me and decided to just lose about 200 photos I'd taken for the blog, so I had to go back and re-take them.

...Moving right along, here's a shot of the back...This stuff goes on crazy creamy and dark, though you DO have to take care to get it wet and mix it enough.  I use a small refillable perfume sprayer full of water.  I just spritz a spray on whatever side I feel like using that day, then mix it up with my brush and apply just like I would a gel liner.

You can get razor thin lines with the stuff, and the color comes out gorgeously matte and dark, but you can add a bit more water to the mix to get a more sheer, build-able effect.  While it does take a few times applying this to get used to it, I find that it is cleaner and easier to apply than gel liner and that it has a ton more staying power when dry.  Definitely recommend!

<3
WW

Makeup Breakup - Clean n Clear Morning Glow Moisturizer

Yep, its a new series!!  Hopefully this one won't end up getting too many things added to it, but I figured it was time for a catchy name for all these products I use that don't work for me.  Introducing...MAKEUP BREAKUP!

Now, keep in mind, anything under this label will just be products that *I* didn't care for.  If you don't have an issue with the things I list about them and the reasons I give for breaking up with them then, by all means, give them a shot!  Most won't be horrible products by any stretch of the imagination, but everyone's skin and preferences are different, so these posts will be to just help people who have similar preferences to mine when shopping for new products!

On with the song and dance, no?

The first breakup goes to Clean n Clear Morning Glow Moisturizer.

It LOOKS like a normal moisturizer...

However, it isn't.  Now, it is hard to tell in the photos, but I left this one huge (and you can click it to get it even bigger), but this stuff has a freakin' MICRO SHIMMER IN IT!  Yeah, my arm is NOT that glowy.  It looks 'glowy' in the photo, but IRL, it looks like I got attacked by a 90's teenybopper.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love glitter and I love shimmer...but like many things in life, I only like it when I expect it or put it on myself.  Nowhere on this bottle does it mention that it has a shimmer in it.  Nowhere.  If it had, I wouldn't have bought it.  I think somewhere on the bottle it said something about a 'healthy glow'...well, yeah, anyone can fake that with a dusting of shimmer powder.  That's totally cheating.

Other than the shimmer, it is a good product, so it made me very sad that they soiled a good, moisturizing, great-smelling product with that crap.  And, yes, the shimmer does show and mix in with your foundation if you try to put makeup on over it.

So, sorry, Clean n Clear, I still love you, but as for the Morning Glow Moisturizer?  We gotta break up.

<3 WW

Listening to: "The Riff" - Lordi

Venique Sea Diamonds Review (Mani)

This glitter top coat actually seriously impressed me.

This is Venique in 'Sea Diamonds'.  Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of glitter that is only silver, but this one has so much interest due to the different sized specks of glitter, not to mention that I need a top coat by this brand if their plain top coat is HALF as slick and shiny as this stuff.

Lookit how glossy it dries!  Most glitters I have dry kind of matte and dull and you have to pile about 3 top coats OVER them to achieve any kind of gloss at all which, of course, usually gets dinged well before the 12 freakin' hours it takes to dry.  Seriously, there have been times I have painted my toe nails, waited 2 or 3 hours, gone to bed, and wake up to smudged/smeared/smashed/imprinted digits.  Not cool.

This stuff, though dried super fast over one coat of Sephora Pantone in Anthracite (review coming soon), and I am very, very pleased with this particular product.  HIGHLY recommend if you're into epic glitter top coats that you don't have to pile even more crap over and...um...who isn't?

<3 WW

Listening to:  Nothing...Need moar coffee...

Josie Maran Bear Naked Nail Polish Remover Wipes Review

Good god, that's one helluva title, isn't it?  I've yet to try a Josie Maran product I *don't* like, but I have noticed that most of the titles for their products are crazy long!

First off...check out this packaging.  Isn't it adorable?  I mean, come on, only evil people hate polar bears.

Inside are the remover wipes.  They look pretty normal and unassuming.  They're amazing.  While I didn't notice too much of a grape-fruity smell, they didn't have a bad smell, either.  They do quickly and effectively remove nail polish, though, and even the heavily-glittered and confetti ones, so that was super impressive!  No soaking, no scrubbing, just a relatively quick and painless removal.

The cuticle oil in them is lovely.  I would remove my nail polish, then wipe my nails down with a paper towel to get the oil residue off of my nails, but still have it on my cuticles, then paint like normal.  Even though I'm sure there was still a bit of residue on my nails, my nail polish still lasted just as long as usual, but my cuticles were *much* more happy since cuticle oil is one of those things I almost never own or remember to buy!

The only thing I found to be a bit irritating about these is the lids can be quite hard to get back on without cross-threading them, so you have to be pay attention to how you put them back on so that they don't do that and end up drying out the wipes, but that's such a tiny, minor complaint in the big spectrum of awesome, here!

Overall?  HIGHLY recommend these!  They were tons better for my nails AND easier to work with than traditional nail polish remover.

Listening to:  "Celtic Frosted Flakes" - Stormtroopers of Death

Aww, HELL no!

I am sorry about the uber-long hiatus, guys.  Everything has just been...odd.  While the cooking blog will still be on hiatus for quite some time, I've been considering getting the other two back up and running, but just couldn't seem to make myself actually sit down and do it.  Today, I checked the mail, and I got *just* the kick in the ass I needed!  Time to kick off...*drum roll please*....MY FIRST FASHION RANT!

This is Alloy.  I've gotten their catalogs since I was a teenager.  That's right.  I've been shopping with them for about a decade and a half.  I love that they always have adorable clothes and that they actually have LONG inseams for those of us with ridiculously long legs.  They also have a very good size range for a 'straight' catalog.  Their 'straight' sizing goes up to, I think, 19, so I've never had any trouble fitting into their clothes.  They're pricey, but their clearances are INCREDIBLE.

The catalogs have always looked like this...as did this one.  All the way through the entire thing, same rail-thin models as usual.  I'm not knocking them, I think they're beautiful!  Only thing is, that for a catalog that carries sizes so large, I'd always wanted for them to get some curvier models so I could see what their clothes might look like on ME since, especially when you're not teeny, buying clothing online or via a catalog can be a MAJOR PITA.

O.O

Looks like I got my wish, right?

Well...Kind of.

Can you guess where this was?  It was tucked into the back.  

Mhmm.  Lemme just let that sink in for a second for you.  It was the last two pages, just plunked back there like a fucking afterthought.

Still don't get it?  They're introducing an entire new line.  This is something most companies would be STOKED about and would be shouting from the rooftops and pulling all kinds of advertisement on.  In fact, I've seen in the past, Alloy show said 'rooftop shouting' on their catalogs AND website for new lines, new brands, new color options, etc.

But since its plus sized girls, we have to get shoved to the back of the catalog like their dirty little fucking secret.

I figured "hey, I'm over-reacting".  I read this little snippet and went to their website expecting some big "grand opening"-type extravaganza.  What did I find?

One.  Little.  Link.

One little fucking link almost all the way to the end.

I love you, Alloy.  I love your extended inseams and your adorable clothes and the wicked clearances you have that make it to where I can actually afford your clothing.  I'm not going to boycott you over this because it seems you're trying.  It is like you *want* to stick up for us big girls, but, not having the balls to go big or go home, you shoved us in the back.  Great thing to do to women who already struggle with a healthy body image with all society throws at them.  I mean...did you think that through?  So 'E' for effort, but 'F' for complete failure to consider your placement and such.  We deserve to get just as big of a grand entrance with our new line as any other one has, not being shamed to the back of the catalog and a tiny link on the website.

Tsk, tsk.

<3
WW

Listening to: 'Kasumi' - Dir en Grey

Yule Haul!! (Part 1)

Hi everyone!  I promise I hadn't planned to be gone so long.  Our internet went out sometime between Dec. 14th and 16th, and due to holiday rushes, we just got it back working steadily (sort of) yesterday.

At any rate, I did my usual hit-the-store-on-the-26th thing to see what all goodies I could get at half off.  I got very lucky this year and EVERYTHING I had been eyeballing over the holidays was actually still there.  Usually most of it is gone and I only get one or two of the kits I'd wanted, so I was super stoked!

 However, I'm breaking this down into two posts since some of the stuff, I wasn't so thrilled with.  There were 4 more kits, but all by the same brand, so I plan to do a long post on that brand itself, as well as those products and the ones by them I've bought in the past in the near future.

I also got a bunch of decorations on clearance I'd wanted for NEXT Yule, so since it is past the holidays now, I'll leave that up to you guys, so if you want to see the new decorations, then just leave a comment below, and I'll take pictures and make a post!  :)

First thing I made a straight shot for was Britney Spears' Curious perfume.  This stuff smells amazing, and the bottle is gorgeous, though this is sadly the plain one without the atomizer.  However, since I only paid 10 bucks for it, I can't complain.  Due to the smell of this, I wouldn't care if Satan's name was emblazoned across the front.

Judge me if you must.  I'll still smell fabulous.

These are the Vile Villains Body Shimmer Sprays and it wasn't something I'd even seen on my previous trips. so I'd had no plans to buy it, but when I saw it, I just had to have it.  Most Disney stuff I see is emblazoned with Mickey or Minnie, neither of which I can stand, so I was pretty stoked to find all villains, sans mice.

Scents are as follows:

Cruella DeVil is Cruel Candy - a sweet, almost cotton-candy smelling spray.

Ursula's signature scent is apparently Vile Vanilla - I adore vanilla, so we have that in common.  :)  This one smells like, well, vanilla.

Maleficent is Ghastly Grape - This one is grapey and very sweet - almost like grape kool-aid.

The Evil Queen from Snow White is Sinister Citrus - this is bright and energizing and very orange-y.

 Last, but certainly not least, is the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, and I was SO HAPPY she was in this collection as I've collected Alice in Wonderland stuff since I was about 8.  My grandmother used to read me to sleep with it every night I stayed at her house and I've been obsessed ever since.  Anyway, her scent is Punishing Pomegranate, which is lovely.

All the sprays have a light micro-shimmer as opposed to the chunky ones that always clog the little sprayers, which is nice.  The scent lasts about as long as I expect of any body spray - a few hours on skin, a bit longer on clothing.  Seeing as how I picked up the whole set for $2.50, I'm VERY pleased.  Last I was at our Wally-world, they still had a TON of these left, so I'd say its definitely worth looking for next time you're out and about.

Did you get any good after-Christmas sales?

<3
WW

Maybelline Baby Lips Review

I ran out of lip balm a few weeks back and went to the store to pick up some more.  The only flavor they had in my normal brand was one I really don't care for, so I decided to try something new.  Turns out, that was a good choice!

I very nearly didn't get this as I've *never* found a tinted balm that I like, but I am so glad I had one of those "eh, what the hell?" moments.

This is Maybelline Baby Lips in Pink Punch.

As you can see, it has a very light pink tint to it that looks very pretty on and has a great, creamy consistency that moisturizes your lips without feeling waxy or gross...and the icing on the cake is that it tastes like jelly beans!  I am in LOVE with this.  In fact, I loved this so much that the next time I was out, I bought the medicated version, Baby Lips Dr. Rescue in Just Peachy, a nice nude-tinted color, and it is just as impressive and has almost a minty flavor.  To make things even BETTER, this stuff is about $3-4 a tube, depending on where you pick it up.

Verdict:  My new go-to balm.  

<3 WW

Listening to:  nothing...having a media player issue!