Beauty Skeptic

Glambot Experience and Haul – Part One

May 20, 2016June 21, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 21, 2014:

I discovered that one lipsticks I purchased and that is shared in this series, MAC Cosmo, had gone bad after detecting a foul crayon-like smell. I checked with Glambot to see if they check the batch numbers of products they put up for sale to ensure they aren’t selling extraordinarily old products…they don’t, the lipstick I received was over seven years old.

Disclaimer: The following post was sponsored by Glambot (www.glambot.com). I was not paid to write, but let it be known that I did receive discounted product for consideration. My content, thoughts, and words are my own. I would not have accepted a discount if I wouldn’t have written about my experience with them anyway. You can visit my Legal page for more detail.

Like me, you may have had a product you were interested in trying but were wishy-washy about pulling the trigger and making the purchase. That’s how it has been for a lot of things for me – biting the bullet and trying gel polish, BareMinerals, Stila Stay All Day liner, etc. especially when it comes to mid-range or higher products. It is easy to commit to a $2-5 lipstick, but a bit harder to commit to a $15-20 one.

Enter Glambot.com.

The simplest way to relate this is to say that Glambot can be considered the Plato’s Closet of cosmetics and tools. Someone buys something, maybe it doesn’t work out for them. Maybe they bought it from somewhere with a less-than-generous return policy. Maybe they question the ethics of returning something just because they had Buyer’s Remorse, and want it to be used by someone who digs it instead of being discarded (which is often the fate of opened-but-unused products). They sell to Glambot, who verifies the authenticity of the product, sterilizes it, and prices it based on its condition (fair, good) and how much product is left (80-100%, 50-80%, 30-50%).

Someone else comes along wanting something and they find a product they wanted to try cheaper than retail, they then order from Glambot.com as you would any other website. They receive their verified, sterilized, carefully packaged product in a few days.

Glambot carries and verifies products from MAC, Urban Decay, Lorac, Benefit, Too Faced, Stila, Nars, Buxom, Tarte, Sigma, Laura Mercier, and The Balm – amongst others, including premium labels. They seem to be expanding their options, but seem to be following the, “slow and steady,” approach rather than compromising quality and delivering anything less than a safe, legitimate product.

After I did some research of my own, I went ahead and decided to give Glambot a shot. I literally spent a couple hours perusing the site to see if they had anything I was specifically seeking. I was just matched to Nars Sheer Matte foundation in Punjab – but they didn’t have any in stock. I am definitely not interested in paying full priced for MAC brushes, but I wouldn’t mind a gently-used 242 – they didn’t have them. It is the nature of the business to have a constant revolving door of products, after all, so I pressed on.

I actually saw a Naked palette on there for something like $47, and Too Faced palettes for $32. I already have Naked and am not looking for another palette, but I thought that was intriguing. They have a lot of, “vintage,” Urban Decay – not true old school, but prior to the current formulation. Lots of 24/pencils. They have a veritable ton of MAC products – though I could not get through all of them, I sifted through quite a few. There were several lipsticks I wanted to try, but many of them (though they had a listing), were marked as sold out when you clicked through to it. Same with the shadow refill pans – I found the sheer volume of products that appeared to be in stock that actually weren’t a little discouraging. For a little while, it seemed like out of every 5 products I was really interested in, only 1-2 of them were actually available for purchase.

I finally filled my cart and placed an order on the 16th; I was surprised when, on the 18th, this showed up in my mailbox via USPS Priority. Although I received an order confirmation immedoately, I did not receive a confirmation of shipment. For reference, Glambot.com ships from California and I am located in Pennsylvania.

Glambot - Shipment Package Obviously, the reverse side has important info. The dimensions of this envelope are larger than I was expecting – 9.5″ x 12.5″ standard USPS bubble mailer. It felt pretty full, not haphazardly filled with jumbled contents. I opened it up:

Glambot Inner Bubble Mailer

Inside, I found a super-shiny chrome bubble mailer. It is slightly smaller, and covered with a Glambot sticker and carefully sealed with branded tape. I am pleased that it isn’t just nondescript, lame packaging picked up from Staples. Carrying your branding into the details is, I think, one of those little things that will make people smile. All in all, pretty cute.

I am thoroughly pleased with the speed of shipping, even in spite of not having received a shipment confirmation (though two business days is not an unreasonable time to box-and-ship for a company without a giant warehouse with warehouse people pulling picks and so forth).

After I finished concocting this post, I realized how insanely long it was – so I am breaking it into three separate posts (and yes, part one was this long). If you’re interested in looking into Glambot, they have a couple promo codes up on their site, but you can snag 10% off with this link!

Part Two
Part Three

Worth It? Elma and Sana Argan Oil Review

September 27, 2025June 16, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

A couple weeks ago I did a first look at the Elma and Sana Argan Oil, and now I feel as though I can adequately review the product. Fortunately, this won’t be a talk-your-eyes-off-via-text review.

Verdict: Don’t bother with this one, at least not for facial use.

The consistency of this product is thinner, resulting in having to use more product to effectively moisturize. Granted, this is only a 2-4 drops more than you would need to use of the Josie Maran product – but still. On top of feeling thinner, it somehow also feels greasier. Of course it is going to have a bit of slip to it as it is an oil, but it kind of felt like vegetable oil or canola–if I wanted that, I could probably just grab a jug of Crisco. My skin took longer to absorb it – which makes a ton of sense, I know. I used it nightly for two weeks and thought I was crazy for the first few days, but nope – it really did take longer to absorb. The color of the oil is not the same – Elma and Sana Argan Oil is closer to being clear, which suggests additional processing:

Elma and Sana Argan Oil vs. Josie Maran Argan Oil

On top of that, this oil does have a smell. You will frequently see that Argan Oil on its own should not have a scent. This has a distinct smell, but it is difficult to describe – but it doesn’t smell very natural, and not at all like the odorless Josie Maran. It is neither foul nor particularly offensive, but when you anticipate an odorless product, having an odor is unpleasant.

Furthermore, I feel that this product caused me to break out. It did not cause irritation or redness, but I did develop blemishes during use of it – I typically only get 1-2 small, manageable ones per month (cycle-related), but I have FIVE that are currently healing (non-cycle-related). My under-eye area is back to being a bit dull.

I’m going back to using Josie! I think this product is an OK body moisturizer is fine for the ends of the hair (if you’re into that – I’m not, but I tried it for science), and it is definitely nice for cuticles, but I don’t recommend it for use on the face. Something about the way they processed this oil doesn’t really let it do what it is supposed to do for your face.

Especially considering the somewhat-illiterate label and website…just pass on this one.

May 2014 Favorites

February 16, 2023June 4, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

I did a Favorites post last month, but it seems like it has been a while! May 2014 Favorites:

May 2014 Favorites
1. China Glaze – I’m With the Lifeguard, $5 / 2. Lip Smacker – Dr Pepper, $2
3. Etude House Drawing Eye Brow, $2-7 / 4. Marc Jacobs Dot Rollerball, $22

China Glaze I’m With the Lifeguard – When the weather gets warm, I like to resort to unreasonably bright and ridiculous nail polish colors. Don’t worry, I use them when it isn’t warm, too – but I use them more often when it is toasty. This awesome, bright, shimmery neon green is what I’m wearing on my toes (with peep-toe shoes…at the office). If your polish collection is bereft of ridiculosity, please consider investing for your own amusement. I bought mine from Sally Beauty, but you can also get it on Amazon.

Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers lip gloss – Not just for kids, dangit. I maintain that this is the best product Lip Smackers has ever released. I just bought a new one, judgment be damned. Realistically, it doesn’t do much for chapped lips – but that’s fine. It was never really meant to, despite having a chap-stick-esque format. You can buy this directly from Lip Smackers, on drugstore.com, or in stores at Wal-Mart.

Etude House Drawing Eye Brow – Korean cosmetics companies have done some pretty cool stuff. BB creams, cute lotions, lip gloss with adorable bunny-shaped caps…and these brow pencils. Capped at both ends, this guy has a spoolie (with soft, friendly bristles, not the ridiculous Brillo that some included spoolies are) and an angled, chisel-tip twist-up pencil. Some western brands have products that I can only assume were inspired by this design (Hourglass brow products, Bite lip products) because it is awesome. I’m sure this can be found elsewhere online, but I always buy from Amazon.

Marc Jacobs Dot Rollerball – Lately, I’m of the opinion that buying a whole bottle of perfume is pointless. I got this as part of a coffret I purchased around the holidays and have been wearing it more often lately; I’ve barely made a dent. Very season-appropriate. It is currently available at Sephora, but there’s a spray pen variety at Nordstrom, Ulta, and Macys.

By the way, have you entered my L’Oreal Infalliable Never Fail Lacquer Liner 24H giveaway, yet? If not, go for it – there are only two days left! All you have to do is comment on that post and you’re entered. Who doesn’t want free liner?

Disclosure: Hey! Some of the links in this May 2014 Favorites post are affiliate links (not all of them, of course) – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I only recommend products I’ve tried and verified as awesome, which is kind of the point of a favorites post. Ethical blogging FTW.

First Look: Elma and Sana Argan Oil

February 16, 2023June 2, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

I bought a bottle of Elma and Sana Argan Oil a couple months ago to compare with my more expensive bottle. I wrote a few posts about Argan Oil products (you can find them here and here) in the past and though I am pretty happy with my Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil, I wanted to explore less costly alternatives. A 0.5 fl oz. bottle has lasted me six months so far (and I still have a good bit left!) but I wanted to see if shelling out $14-16 per bottle made sense.

I already knew, from my use of the Josie Maran product, that I enjoyed using argan oil for my face (especially my cheeks and under-eye area). This is not going to be a full-blown review because I do not feel that I have used it long enough to be able to fully speak to the product, but I did want to give you a look at what I’ve gotten and tried recently. I purchased this 2 fl oz bottle of 100% Pure, Organic, Cold-Pressed Elma and Sana Argan Oil from Amazon.com for around $10 (I think it was just under when I purchased; it was on sale). I received it without issue – it was packed securely and safely. Here’s the outer packaging:

Elma and Sana Argan Oil

Cheery Yellow Eye Look Tutorial

December 23, 2022May 30, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

It is the end of May, which means we are on the heels of summer (yay!). This yellow eye look is appropriate for the warm transition and though this tutorial a little bit of a depart from what I’m normally about (calling out BS or saying, “No seriously, this thing really is awesome, it isn’t just weird dumb hype,”) I was so happy with it that I wanted to share. Want to wear yellow shadow? It can, in fact, be done without looking like a clown.

Cheery Yellow Eye Look

The yellow is actually a bit more saturated in real life, but I just couldn’t quite capture it that morning or afternoon (and I do not like to color-correct or filter my photos). Just my eye because I didn’t do a full face yesterday (even forgot the dang concealer) BUT STILL. This is how this whole thing happened:

Recently having woken up, I was trying to decide how I wanted to do my eye makeup today. Normally I’ll dither about which palette I want to grab for it, but today I just thought, “Let’s get weird.“

I grabbed my Coastal Scents 252 Palette. I rarely bother to think about my makeup in coordination to what I’m wearing because if I wear eye makeup, I wear neutrals 98.9743% of weekdays. I don’t remember, at this point, my thought process on why I chose the yellow – I know I’ve been liking to *look* at yellow a lot lately (I find it to be cheerful), so maybe it was that. I do know it it worked surprisingly well with what I wore – a Worthington (Penney’s) top in what I think (based on a quick search) is their Stunning Pink or Adventure Pink color, and grey slacks.

ANYWAY. On to what I used to achieve this bright, summery, cheery pop of yellow eye look.

NYX Milk Pencil – you don’t want to skip this, or the yellow will not pop as well. It is often out of stock in stores, so try online if you can’t find it near you.
Coastal Scents 252 Palette. You can get it on Amazon or direct from Coastal Scents.
Flat Brush – I used the one that came with my Naked Palette, but any flat shader (like a MAC 242, which I do not own) will be fine.
Fluffy Tapered Blending Brush – I used a bdellium 785 because that’s what I have (similar to MAC 224), but any will do. Sigma has a nice one, or if you have something else you like for crease work, that’s cool too.
Another Blending Brush – Your choice. I actually used the Real Techniques Shading Brush (because in reality it is not ideal for regular shading, but is great for small-area blending), but you could use something like a MAC 217 (I was going to use my bdellium 776 but reached for this instead).
Eyeliner that makes you happy, preferably black or dark brown. I recommend gel!
Mascara that makes you happy.

OKAY. Onto the education. We are using three main colors from the Coastal Scents 252 Palette (which you can view here because Coastal Scents is awesome) and they can all be found on the warmer (red/yellow based) of the three inserts. The colors used are: Orange Mousse (In the chart: first column, third down – way more yellow than orange) and Sunflower Petal (Fourth column, second down). The light shimmery stuff on the inner half is Polished Ivory (first column, second down).

1. Apply a thin layer of NYX Milk to your lid. It doesn’t have to be your whole lid (but you can if you want), just really where you’re putting your yellow. I didn’t use a separate primer (Milk has primer-y qualities), so I applied it all over, slightly heavier in the outer half. I do this by dotting it on my kid (rather than drawing or coloring it on), then I blend it out with my finger so it is even and not a bunch of awkward dots.

2. With your flat brush, pick up some of Orange Mousse (which is yellow, not orange, may I add) and Sunflower Petal and pat it onto the outer half of your lid. Build it up to your desired opacity/brightness – you may need to pick up some more shadow on your brush depending on how opaque you want it. I wanted it pretty opaque because my office is pretty casual and I knew I could get away with this. You may want to go a little more sheer for daytime if your office is a bit more conservative or if you aren’t sure.

3. Once you’re happy with that, you can use the other side of your flat brush OR another similar brush OR the RT Shading brush. Pick up Polished Ivory and place it on the inner half.

4. With the fluffy tapered blending brush, take a shadow color a shade or two darker than your skin tone and place it in the crease with windshield-wiper motions. Try to keep this motion in the crease – it will blend the top edge of your yellow and ivory, but you don’t want to bring it down into those colors – this is just for socket definition. I used Kokomo Cafe (Seventh column, second from the bottom) in my crease, but you might need a different shade.

5. Take the RT Shading brush and blend the ivory and yellow together where they meet. Don’t overdo it, we don’t want a light yellow amalgamation – you want to achieve a gradient or ombre effect like above.

6. IF you feel like you need it, add a little more yellow to the outer half. I wanted to, because I wanted it to be bright.

7. Line your eyes as you see fit. I did a tiny wing with Milani Eye Tech Extreme Felt Liner (discussed here). You can do a crazy wing, you can skip that noise. That said, if you normally do a razor thin line, go a little thicker with this. You want the black or dark brown liner to really separate the yellow from your eye – otherwise, you risk looking too sallow.

8. Mascara. You can do your bottom lashes, too, if you like to live dangerously. I haven’t decided if I like that on myself yet, though.

It seems silly broken down into eight steps, but this took me no more than seven minutes to achieve, and that is a generous estimate. I think this is very spring/summer appropriate, but I couldn’t for the life of me tell you if it is on trend because I don’t really keep up with that sort of thing.

Though I have only ever tried something like this with a pretty coral shadow, I believe this technique can be applied to many bright or non-neutrals without turning out like Mimi from the Drew Carey Show. If you’re like me and cling to your neutrals for dear life, don’t be so afraid to tiptoe out of your comfort zone for a bit – it isn’t traumatizing.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I’ll only tell you that something is awesome if I have verified it myself!

At Home DIY Hair Glaze

December 23, 2022May 28, 2014 by Beauty Skeptic

Hey! This is a legacy post – some products are sadly discontinued! You can find my (2019-present) hair glazing process can be found in this post! I also tone my highlights with this method; when this went live, I wasn’t highlighting yet!

(2014) I am very lucky in that my hair is pretty awesome on its own (LOL. Seven years later, it is not–thanks Tresemme, stress, and aging!). I wanted to make it unreasonably shiny without weighing it down with a lot of product (I am lazy). So, for me, for a friend, for you, and for science, I endeavored to guinea pig an at home DIY hair glaze treatment.

If you were planning on a salon hair gloss or glaze treatment (which costs $30 even at a beauty school’s student salon where I live!) for a wedding or just because, keep reading because learning is fun. This is a glaze/gloss-only treatment – no color means easily achievable without professional expertise!

Get it Together

Here’s what you need (most of which can be acquired at Sally Beauty):

Supplies needed for an At Home DIY Hair Glaze

A Hairbrush – I have a classic 9-row Denman ($20) here, but I <3 the Wet Brush.
Clarifying Shampoo (2021 Update: Photo includes a Tresemme variety I used for this purpose, then. It was not problematic for my hair or scalp. Read labels and proceed with caution! Here’s one from Neutrogena for $4)
Clairol Professional Radiance Colorgloss in Clear Shine [[discontinued]]
Clairol Professional Radiance Color Infuser [[discontinued]]
Graduated Salon Mixer/Applicator bottle [[similar, $3]]
An awesome conditioner. Feria is discontinued, but Aussie Moist 3 Minute Miracle is cheap and FANTASTIC. You can get the small bottles for under $5 at drugstores/Target/Wal-Mart, or the link above is a *steal*.
Gloves – Nitrile, latex, vinyl, whatever. [[similar, $29 for 100. gloves are expensive in 2021 due to the pandemic]]
Two combs – you won’t want the teeth much closer than the black one pictured [[similar, $5]], and a wide tooth one [[similar, $4]]
Section Clips – will make your life a lot easier if you, like me, channel Cousin Itt [[not similar, but better. the ones pictured sucked, $6]]
An old shirt you don’t care much for

Prep

First things first – brush your hair out, then wash with your clarifying shampoo. Afterwards, use your normal daily conditioner, rinse, detangle if needed with a wide-tooth comb, and let it air dry. Do not apply any product to your hair – no mouse, heat protectant, nothin’. Just let it be. Here’s what my hair looks like after it is dry:

The Approach

If you have a friend that can help you reach the back sections of your hair, that would be awesome. If not, you can manage (it will just take longer). Brush your tresses out again. You need to start with completely tangle-free hair, or else you’re gonna have a bad time.

Throw on a t-shirt you don’t love as much as you probably should, gather your supplies and head somewhere with a mirror and sufficient lighting to see what you’re doing – for me, this was my bathroom, but if you have an awesome vanity that would work, too. In addition to the items shown below, be sure to get your gloves, section clips, and combs.

Gettin’ Mix-y With It

Grab your graduated mixing bottle, unscrew the cap. Now, you CAN add the entirety of what you need at once, but to ensure thorough mixing, I did it in two parts, so that’s what I’ll explain:

Pour one ounce of the Clear Colorgloss (half the bottle) into your graduated mixing bottle, then one ounce of your Color Infuser. You should be up to the two-ounce line, it will look like this:

Now, violently shake it! But not like a polaroid picture, got it? Settle down, we’re just making our hair shiny.

Add the last ounce of the Colorgloss (the little bottle should be empty now), and another ounce of the Color Infuser. Shake again!

DIY Hair Glaze

Mine appears to be just under 4 ounces because the product (from shaking) is on the side-walls and has not yet settled. It will, though, so don’t sweat it.

Application

From here, section your hair. If you’re already used to sectioning it to blow dry or style, do what you normally do. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the nice folks on YouTube can definitely help you out.

With gloves on, apply the solution from your mid-lengths (below your ears) to ends, really concentrating on your ends (where most dullness occurs). Comb through each section to ensure even distribution of the product, then run through the section again starting the comb a little closer to your roots. This approach enables the hair closest to your scalp to get some attention from the product without overdoing it. Repeat this for each section.

If you have product left in the bottle after each section, go back and use the rest (unless your hair is short, then just discard what you don’t need); I actually squeezed it onto the “roots” of my comb and raked it through my hair this way. Once your hair is coated, comb through once more with the regular comb, clip it up, and let it be for up to 20 minutes.

Cautionary Tale

I actually wound up with some tangling during this (my hair does not like being handled with latex gloves, so I learned), so keep a wide-tooth comb handy to detangle as you go. Since my hair is so long, it took a while to get the product on and distributed the way I liked; once I was satisfied with how everything was coated I only waited about ten minutes.

Removal

Now, remove your gloves and rinse your hair. While you’re at it, rinse your wide-tooth comb, too. Do not be alarmed if your hair feels a bit tacky to the touch before rinsing, this is normal.

Gently squeeze excess moisture from your hair and generously apply your conditioner. Wait one minute then comb through it with your wide-tooth comb. Wait four minutes, then rinse.

Squeeze excess water from your hair again, then wrap it in a towel and ever-so-gently towel dry a bit, then air dry. If you REALLY want to, you can dry and style as normal, but if you want to really see the before-and-after, no-product-added difference, let it air dry like you did before you started playing mad scientist.

The Aftermath

While my hair was air-drying (so before it was fully dry), I could already notice a difference. Here’s what it looked like afterwards:

I really lament not having better lighting conditions to give you a better idea of the difference it made, but it was a massive change from my already-reasonably-shiny hair. My hair has no product in it, was not heat styled, and was just air dried and brushed.

Enjoy the shine for 6-8 weeks depending on your environment, haircare, and the conditions subject your hair to. Bear in mind that this IS a chemical process; my hair has not been damaged from this and the texture feels unaffected, but your results may vary if you have hair that has already been heavily processed by color, perms, etc.

Additionally, if you have hair that has been subjected to the aforementioned processes, you may need to process this DIY Hair Glaze treatment for a shorter amount of time (like 10-15 minutes). Beyond that, the Colorgloss bottle does claim that it is conditioning. I’m skeptical of this claim, and you should be too.

Comprehensive Costs

Assuming most people already have brushes, combs, and section clips (which really are optional but you’ll thank me), you can accomplish this process in about a half hour for under $15 for the first time, assuming you have a Sally Beauty membership.

You won’t need to repurchase conditioner, the bottle, or gloves (if you buy reusable or already have them) for a while, and the Color Infuser (I bought the 16 fl oz bottle) can be used for EIGHT applications ($0.50 per application!) before you’ll need to repurchase.

Use a thick, awesome conditioner two times weekly (if you don’t use it every day) to help maintain your hair’s new-found glossy awesomeness.

The Bottom Line

Finally, here’s a before-and-after side-by-side for you:

Whether this is a treatment you’re already paying for at the salon, if you’re curious about it but didn’t want to shell out, or if you’re like me and just wanted to do something nice for yourself, I hope I was able to help you with this at home DIY hair glaze tutorial.