We’ve entered May, so that means it is time to talk about my April 2014 Favorites!
I overlooked it for years, but the presence of groomed brows can really do a lot for a face. There are various methods by which you can achieve this – brow pencil, brow powder, tinted gel/mousse/pomade, brow tinting (dye), or if you’re extra-extreme you could go for the whole, “permanent makeup,” bit aka tattooed on awkwardness. If you want to keep things easy, pencils or powders are the way to go. I wanted to try a pencil without shelling out for an Anastasia Brow Wiz, so enter Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil (which has a similar idea, packaging-wise, as the Brow Wiz).
Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil – Natural Taupe and Dark BrownSurprisingly hard to get me hands on in my area (no one seems to carry it! I had to order it), I was excited when the products arrived. The stick has two ends – one end houses the product, and the other contains a spoolie brush, both are protected with a cap. The center of the stick is printed with the product name and color but it is printed in gold (the stick, as you can see, is a light brown or taupe color) and is difficult to read. Fortunately, closer to the spoolie end there is a band with the color printed on it. I purchased Dark Brown and Natural Taupe; my brows either neither color, but I planned to use them in concert with one another and blend them to get closer to my haircolor.
The Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil was a bit surprising to me. It is both wider in diameter than I anticipated and it is SOFTER than I anticipated. Softness isn’t usually a quality we think of as negative, but when it comes to a brow pencil, you want a stiff product so you can easily produce dozens (or however many) of feather-light strokes that help define your brows. With this pencil it is entirely to easy to slip and end up with an awkward, hard line because it is so soft.
They have the consistency of a liner pencil (it glides too much!) rather than what a brow pencil should have. That isn’t to say this is a bad product, but there is a learning curve associated with it – you have to hold the product at an angle and use short, flicking strokes to achieve the right look. If you went a little too far, don’t worry – you then blend it out/together with the attached spoolie. Since the Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil is so soft, blending isn’t a very big deal…you will want to clean the spoolie off every so often, though, just as you would any other brush.
Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil swatches – light hand above, more pressure below
From Left: Natural Taupe, Dark Brown
In all, although the products serve their purpose, I am on the fence about repurchasing. I really like brow powders and feel that I can get a more precise look with powder and wax than I can a soft pencil like this. This product, however, is very purse/makeup-bag-friendly and for those with much darker brows than myself may not be bothered by softness (rather, the ease of getting too bold a line). Someone who has more time to spend on their makeup regularly might be more satisfied than I am but ease and efficiency are both things that come into play, especially when I’m talking about a product called, “EasyBrow.” I don’t hate it, and I’m not immensely disappointed – but I was definitely hoping for greater performance from this product. If you’d like to give it a shot, the Milani EasyBrow Automatic Pencil is available from retail drugstores and drugstore.com for around $5.
I’ve said before that nails are my thing (though my nails have been bare for the longest time in recent memory because I haven’t had time to redo them, ahem). Even though I do not jump to buy every newly-released nail line, I do like to stay abreast of what is coming out.
The makers of my second-favorite polish to-date (I’m Not Really a Waitress, if you’re wondering) have released a new product that is all over blog-land and twitter: OPI Sheer Tints polish. The OPI Sheer Tints line consists of four glossy top coats that just so happen to have a touch of color. The shades, in classic OPI-wordplay-style, are:
I’ve checked them out on several blogs and OPI’s own promotional material, including their tutorials. I just cannot get excited or interested in these things. The yellow (I’m Never Amberrassed) makes nails look discolored and, frankly, kind of gross. Perilously Pale shared some swatches of the polish (please go check out her blog!) and although her assessment is positive, I just don’t care for it. Here’s her photo of I’m Never Amberrassed.
I am not a fan of seeing the smile line of a nail through polish unless it is a neutral sheer meant for a relatively natural, subdued look. These just remind me of poorly-formulated, cheap polishes in the past (like the kids sets?). OPI themselves tweeted this photo on an, “ombre,” manicure done with the product, and I’m just not impressed, and would definitely not purchase these for $10 each.
I don’t really care for ending things on a negative note – I have seen some pretty cool things done with them by other bloggers, like this rainbow manicure from Lacquered Lover, or this dotted yellow mani layered over white (for opacity) and this gold-striped ombre pink set both from Nail that Accent. While I’m happy these bloggers made these OPI Sheer Tints work for them, I just think if I HAVE to conjure up that much creativity to get a product to, “work,” for me, then it isn’t a very wise purchase.
Health- and eco-conscious polish brand Zoya is known for their awesome promotions such as free bottles of polish (you just pay shipping). The promo du jour is actually a re-run: Zoya’s Earth Day Polish Exchange, which runs this year from April 21 – 28 with promo code ZDAY2014.
Add as few as five bottles of polish to your cart and as many as twenty-four, then enter the promo code – the polish should drop from its regular price at about $9+ per bottle down to $4.50 per bottle OR $5 for their fancy glittery PixieDust products and special effect toppers. Unfortunately, it does not include their newest summer connection line(s), but I think you’ll live. You’re looking at spending $22.50 for five (regular) bottles of polish – not bad, especially considering that some drugstore polishes are more costly and these are 5-free. Additionally, carts over $30 currently receive a free gift – a 2oz. bottle of Zoya Remove Plus Nail Polish Remover.
Once you receive your new, fancy, 5-free polish from Zoya’s Earth Day Polish Exchange, you can then send them old, unwanted polish to be safely disposed of in accordance with EPA guidelines (FYI – you aren’t supposed to toss them in your regular, residential trash). Zoya will accept up to as many bottles as you purchased – so if you purchased 9 bottles of polish, you can send up to (but not more than) nine for disposal. You could also just send three, if that’s all you wanted to purge. You are not, however, required to send in any old bottles to take advantage of this neat promotion.
This would be a great way to start someone’s polish collection (especially considering you are not required to send in old bottles) or try Zoya products while getting some variety without a huge cost-commitment. It also may make a nice Mother’s Day gift (right around the corner, people – May 11) if your Mom enjoys having lacquered nails. You might also just be looking for justification to buy more polish – so you’re welcome. I haven’t tried any Zoya polish yet, but I look forward to doing so!
Also, Zoya doesn’t know who I am and they didn’t ask me to write about this promo – I, as a polish junkie and sale-stalker, just wanted to look out for my fellow polish-fanciers.
I’d just like to share with you a brief anecdote from Tuesday night.
All products mentioned are in the picture above!
1. Wash hair. It’s time, you know? Plus, you need to get that dry shampoo buildup out (it is awesome, but is not meant to stay forever). Condition liberally, leave it in for a few while you wash your face and body.
2. Procrastinate about leaving the warm shower. It’s cold on the other side of the curtain. Pout like a child, grudgingly dry off and step out.
3. Hastily towel dry hair so it isn’t sopping or considering becoming icicles. Start a blowout with drenched hair? You’re gonna have a bad time.
4. Comb through your mane with a wide-toothed comb to detangle. We’re civilized folk, after all.
5. Rummage through the drawer o’ hair goop. Grab your Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum and Ion knockoff (from Sally Beauty, left) of Aquage Uplifting Foam (real, right) .
6. Toss most of your hair to one side and section about an inch above the ear. Try to spray it on like Kate from the Small Things Blog shows us.
7. Instead, do a horrible job at it and somehow wind up with it on the door of the bathroom (I don’t even…). Wipe off the door before your fiance thinks you were doing grade-school science experiments in the bathroom with hair products as reagents. Don’t be like me.
Also, don’t use hair products as reagents – a lot of them are pressurized and/or flammable. The more you know.
8. Deal with the now-intrigued cats on the other side of the door who were curious about what was getting the inside of the door (aka you wiping the root-lifting mousse off the door).
9. Apply one pump of Super Skinny to the mid-lengths and ends. This step was pretty anticlimactic. Wipe your hands off because it feels weird.
10. Rough dry upside down with an easily-obtained dryer (though I guess a difficult to obtain one would work just as well), trying to get the scalp area (where you applied too much foam goop) driest. Flip back over, make sure the roots are dry.
11. Move onto the ends with an awesome gigantic round brush (4″!) that you require (because your hair is almost waist length when it isn’t being wild and crazy and using a 2.5″ barrel would be awful).
12. Get bored 7/8 of the way through your adventures in hair drying (with nearly-dry hair!) and decide to go finish making dinner.
This is a pretty normal DIY blowout for me. Occasionally, I’ll really take the time to go through the process properly. But really, it is important that your routine feels like something you want to do, and not like a chore. You do not have to take it so seriously – the world won’t end if you get root-lifting mousse on the door, after all.
Recently a new Ulta opened nearby (woo, accessibility)! I just took advantage of a promo on their site (and received it the day before), so my resolve was firm not to purchase any makeup. That, of course, does not mean, “not to purchase anything.”
Though I did purchase a few items, including some neat sunscreen, the item I was most excited about was the Hand it to Me Dreamy Hand cream which I thought was from Soap & Glory. I was looking for a hand lotion for my office and was going to get one from a different brand, but when I saw the seemingly Soap & Glory tube that suggested it is a mixture of mallow (what?), lemon balm (oh, I like that!), and rose (eh), I snatched it, sniffed it, deemed it mild and pleasant enough. Off I went.
It wasn’t until I used it, however, that I became horribly offended. The strong rose scent that I did not detect in the store upon initial whiff descended abruptly.
I like the smell of roses on roses. Not my hands. Really, I prefer them to be unscented if possible but wow.
Now, don’t get me wrong – it does not smell bad. If you like roses you will LOVE it! But it was strong, at first, and it surprised me. I looked at the bottle and found that it was not Soap & Glory but a player I hadn’t heard of, Ginger & Co.
Anyway. Despite my initial distaste for the hand cream, it did feel quite nice – not greasy, not too silicone-y (it does contain it, like a good hand cream should, but some…overdo it), not thin. Formula-wise, for my needs it is just right. I slap it on during the day at work – it absorbs quickly, which makes me happy. My hands stay hydrated for hours – I have not yet had to reapply over the course of the workday–perfect!
About a half-hour to an hour after application, the you’ll notice the fragrance has changed. Any good scent evolves over the course of dry-down, and becomes unique as it works with your body chemistry. After that time the fragrance is still lightly floral, but not overwhelmingly rose. Just feminine, pretty…I can’t really identify the notes for you, though, because I am not a fragrance connoisseur.
At this time, I’m not sure if I will repurchase. It does perform very well, I’m just very particular about fragrance (if I weren’t, I’d rebuy in a heartbeat). If you like rose or are indifferent to strongly scented lotions, this is a great one to try. You can purchase Ginger & Co products at your friendly neighborhood Ulta, this hand cream specifically usually runs $7.99, should be eligible for most coupons, and currently qualifies for the B2G1 free promo.