Affiliate Links

Manicure Monday – 11/11/2019 – OPI I’m Not Really a Waitress

by
OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress - GelcolorOPI I’m Not Really a Waitress – Gelcolor – Two Coats

My boss often says, “You never get tired of the classics.” Usually, this is a response to a joke or movie reference that makes him laugh; I find it to be true for nail color and cosmetics just as well.

An Old Flame

When I was a sophomore in high school, I grudgingly agreed to attend Homecoming with my group of friends. Generously, one of my friend’s moms carted us off to treat us to manicures and pedicures. It was the first time I’d gone to a nail salon; faced with a wall of choices, I plucked OPI I’m Not Really a Waitress from the wall and had it applied to my fingers and toes.

Soon after, I bought a bottle of it. Back then, spending $8 on a bottle of nail polish was unheard of to me. But I’ve purchased countless bottles in the time that has passed.

Read more

October 2019 Favorites

by
October 2019 FavoritesOctober 2019 Favorites
1. Becca Backlight Priming Filter, $39 / 2. Pointed Cotton Swabs, $3 / 3. The Ordinary 7% Glycolic Acid Toner, $9
/ 4. The Ordinary 10% Lactic Acid + 2% HA, $7 / 5. Makartt Nail Drill, $58

It’s been six months since I made a favorites post. Ayeee. Just in time to take advantage of the November Beauty Insider sale, though, if the prestige items intrigue you! Let’s jump into it.

Read more

Worth it? elf Wow Brow Gel

by
elf wow browelf wow brow gel, $4

I was browsing through Target’s beauty aisles – as a basic white girl is wont to do – seeking NYX Milk pencils. En route, I happened to spot elf Wow Brow gel. The name is reminiscent of a Benefit product, but this does not phase me. For $4 per 0.12 oz pop, I decide to try this fiber-containing formula even though I’m not currently in the market for brow products (currently using Anastasia Dipbrow Gel ($9-18) that is SO NICE and yes I still need to write about it).

Packaging

Like all elf products, elf Wow Brow packaging is unassuming in a black cylinder. Some people want to be seduced with packaging – and don’t get me wrong; I swoon over Hourglass like the rest of ’em – but I’m comfortable with simple and practical. The spoolie housed inside does not beat benefit’s in Gimme Brow and Gimme Brow+ but for the price difference, I’ll live. (Hell, I may be able to clean a Gimme Brow+ spoolie and use it if I must).

Color Selection

Examining the five shade selection, I couldn’t decide what I needed; I grabbed two. As it turns out, elf’s interpretation of Taupe differs both from my understanding of the shade as well as most other brow product manufacturers, so I grabbed it and what they deem Neutral Brown. Neutral Brown seems closer to what I expect from a Taupe shade.

Here they are in real life.

Read more

Manicure Monday – 8/12/2019 – Revel Nail Aurora + Bubbly & Catch-Up

by

Yeah, wow, hi. We’ll get into the hiatus in a sec, but first:

I tried an acrylic dip nail system! I suck at it but, third application in, am getting better. I’ve been waffling on waiting to talk about it until I am good at it for Insta-worthy pics but…since when do I care about being Insta-worthy?

Revel Nail Aurora and Revel Nail BubblyRevel Nail Aurora & Revel Nail Bubbly

I’m not writing a review of Revel Nail Aurora and Revel Nail Bubbly dip powders in this post, but I’ll share a couple thoughts:

  • This picture does not capture color accurately. I am wearing both Revel Nail Aurora, which is a nice, light nude pink (it definitely looks pink in person) and Revel Nail Bubbly on top.
  • Although not evident in this picture, my application is fairly bulky. This is because:
    • This application is three dips instead of two because I wanted to use Revel Nail Bubbly on top for some shimmer.
    • I suck at finish filing acrylic. This led me to buy an e-file, which I am still getting the hang of, but it has changed my pedicure world dramatically.

OKAY.

I recently saw an Instagram post from a blogger who decided to face the music regarding her content and who ultimately discontinued her project. That was a bit eye-opening for me. I’m not there, but it’s undeniable to me that I bet Beauty Skeptic take a back seat to everything else. Better no content than half-assed content, right? I haven’t really been buying and trying much stuff, so its really been a drought of content inspiration here, BUT here’s what I’ve been up to:

Read more

Manicure Monday – 7/8/2019 – China Glaze Pink Plumeria

by

Last week, I got what ended up being a highly disappointing dip powder manicure at a salon (siiigh) for my birthday. It was super pretty but something about my nail tech’s application – or maybe the product itself – just didn’t jive; more on that another time. Frustrated, after I removed the (fun, pretty, summery) product, I opted to clothe my naked digits with a gel polish manicure. I knew I wanted pink but I didn’t want to go full neon and go for China Glaze Shocking Pink (wore it recently, is great, just not how I was feeling at the time).

Color Inspiration

So – I’m having a bit of a grapefruit moment. I can think of nothing but palomas even though I am a space cadet and keep forgetting to buy some damn grapefruit when I’m at the store.

Gorgeous, right? Check out Preppy Kitchen, John makes some cute and tasty looking stuff!

Anyway, China Glaze Pink Plumeria gives me grapefruit vibes something fierce – so its settled. I’ve featured it on the blog before, in a pedicure, but I wanted to give it another go in that format and with Sensationail Polish to Gel. I picked it up when I bought a bunch of bright colors earlier this year; when I was researching my tentative selections and saw swatches for Pink Plumeria, I required it.

Application

I’m going to go a bit out of order and talk about my pedicure first. Like most of the neon-adjacent pearls, Pink Plumeria is gorgeous but slightly annoying to apply. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for China Glaze to update their traditional brushes to be more in line with modern brushes. That meant I had to redo a few toes more than once to get everything to lay right, not streak, etc. The color is so lovely that its worth it, though. On my toes, I did a standard application with Gelous Gel Coat base coat and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. They look great, just like the the first time I used it for a pedicure and snapped a photo:

China Glaze Pink Plumeria

Polish to Gel Application

On my fingers, I made a Polish to Gel cocktail. I played with the ratios a bit and ended up with probably 2-3 drops Pink Plumeria to 1 drop Polish to Gel, but it’s worth noting that the gel’s drop-size was larger due to the larger brush. Either way, it applied beautifully this way; I didn’t entirely expect this, but the gel really helps mitigate the quirks of the neon-pearl polish. It cured nicely in spite of my tampering.

And look at how magnificent it came out! I kinda think I want to just turn the entire bottle into a franken-gel. It was so much nicer to work with, and its beauty isn’t compromised at all in this format. It is fantastic on my skin tone (which is less obvious in the picture below; for some reason the polish presents accurately, but my skin did not) and even though its a bit bright, I don’t think it would be, “too much,” for most workplaces.

China Glaze Pink Plumeria with Sensationail Polish to GelChina Glaze Pink Plumeria & Sensationail Polish to Gel

What are you wearing this week?

Invisalign Update: I’m DONE!

by

Invisalign Update - More Refinement - Refinement Round Three - Third Invisalign Refinement

Over two years ago, I started down this journey to correct the alignment of what I scathingly lovingly called my creatively arranged teeth. You can check out the annals of this whole thing by visiting My Invisalign Journey page, which chronicles all my Invisalign posts.

The End

In early June, I completed my 85th and final tray! It was so exciting to go in and get my attachments off. That process, by the way, is completely painless. More weird than anything because its basically a dremel tool in your face. No anesthesia needed, no pain. At one point a single tooth felt VERY cold but that was it. It’s awesome to feel totally smooth surfaces again! I can now use stuff like Whitestrips without having to fight with them and turn them into origami to fit my teeth.

I don’t have before pictures of my teeth that I’m willing to share (because dear god do the clinical before photos look like nightmare fuel) BUT this post shares the changes of my initial course. To the not-paying-entirely-too-close-attention eye, my teeth don’t look too different from the end of that initial course. So if you want an idea of before, check out this post where I share my ClinCheck. As for after? So I don’t take a ton of pictures of my teeth (…because that is weird) or selfies in general (…because I don’t millennial, “properly.”) but hey, look:

For now, I’m wearing my 85th tray at night as a wannabe retainer while I wait for my retainer fabrication. I pick up my real retainers next week and can share more about them once I know more about them.

Read more