Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs

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First things first – I received Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs lotion for free, courtesy of Influenster, for testing purposes; product was provided, but I am not paid or sponsored. More info in this post.

I’ve made no secrets that despite my love of makeup, I just can’t be bothered every day. Sure, I might slap on mascara on a daily basis, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to do a full face on a daily basis. Likewise, applying leg makeup is not exactly on the top of my list of beauty things to do on the regular (or…well, ever).

airbrushlegs

The Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs line isn’t new; I definitely recall seeing it on shelves at least ten years ago. Never giving enough bothers to want to fuss with body makeup, I had never tried it. Realistically, I never would have sought this out in the store. This is the product you buy when you either have varicose veins/are bruise prone OR go, “OH SHIT, I have a thing this evening and my legs are the color #ffffff!” and frankly, my veins haven’t yet become bothersome enough for me to care. Influenster (a social marketing platform similar to BzzAgent) sent me a kit with the product to try, so what the hell – I’ll try it for science.

Rather than the aerosol variety that I was familiar with, Influenster sent me a small tube of the Medium to Dark lotion. Although I knew what to expect from the spray, I wasn’t sure how the lotion would go.

Application

Just like tanning products, you should shave and exfoliate prior to application. The Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs lotion dispenses from the tube as a medium consistency, terra cotta orange color. That’s…encouraging.

I was pleased to discover that it did not dry too quickly on my skin so as not to allow me to get even coloring, but as I suspected from the color of the lotion, it was very orange on me; not dark, but orange. I used my hands, but this might do well with a bodyblender.

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Before & After

Surprisingly enough, the camera is far kinder to the coloring than both true natural light and daylight bulbs are – in fact, the photo looks nice. (I did take pictures with my mobile device because I really didn’t want to handle my DSLR with orange hands). In real life, it doesn’t look like a natural tan. It reminds me very much so of Mystic Tan, color-wise.

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1st Acetone Power Gel

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We’ve all dealt with it – a manicure that is stubborn to remove (dark colors, glitter), or is more of a mess during removal than anything. I use pure acetone these days, but when I heard about 1st Acetone Power Gel (from Cutepolish, I think?) I had to try it out.

As far as I know, it is carried at Wal-Mart in two varieties: a regular and a Glitter formula. I went with the glitter formula because I tend to have trouble with glitter removal more than other varieties.

Here’s my nail before. There are two coats of China Glaze Wish Upon a Starfish. It’s one of those glittery, sandy-textured polishes (basically, there’s no smoothing it out without twelve coats of top coat). In short, it’s a pain to remove and an excellent polish upon which to demonstrate this product.

1st Acetone Power GelThe non-glitter variety is in identical packaging except the pink and yellow parts are switched.

1st Acetone Power Gel

Inside is a thick, viscous, translucent pink gel. Unlike regular liquid acetone-based nail polish removers, 1st Acetone Power Gel does not assault you with a strong, chemical odor. That said, it DOES have one – don’t get curious and sniff the jar; if I had to guess it is because the gel doesn’t throw off fumes quite like liquid does.

1st Acetone Power Gel - Gel

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Babying Products

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When I get something new, I coddle the shit out of it. I procrastinate on using a lot of things. I go easy on them; I try to preserve their flawless, pristine state as long as possible.

I bought a brand new beautyblender over two months ago and still haven’t used it yet. I am guilty of babying products.

Does anyone else do this?

Ponds Luminous Finish BB+ + Babying Products

Ever since I found out that Ponds Luminous Finish BB+ was discontinued, I’ve hardly used it. I love it to the moon and back, but I’m hardly using it because I’m afraid of running out, “too soon.” Totally freaking irrational; it DOES have a limited shelf life, after all…and no matter when I run out of it, it will be, “too soon.” Psh.

When it comes to palettes and compacts and makeup bags, I try like hell to keep them pristine. Obviously a palette with shadow dust all over it is mainly indicative of a well-used palette, but since (in many cases) these things are also investments, doesn’t it make sense to keep them as clean and pleasant to look at as possible? It isn’t a neat freak thing. I promise I’m not a neat freak…but when I see product-caked packaging it does make me slightly crazy.

Two years ago, a couple friends plotted and surprised me with the Urban Decay Naked palette. No real reason, just because. How amazing is that? It still gives me feels. So I don’t know if it is just because the quality of the shadows is SO high that you only need so little product, if it is because I am excessively babying it, or because I am inexplicably amazing at getting juuust what I need for a look and not wasting any ever (hint: it’s not the last one). I am conservative with how much I pick up on brushes, though – I prefer not to have to tap a lot away.

I take care of my brushes and tools. I won’t lie and claim that I wash my brushes every week. I definitely believe Jenna Marbles quip regarding people who claim that they do so (unless they are a professional and, you know, have to). I DO, however, wash them fairly regularly (remember: I don’t wear makeup every day, and when I do wear it, I don’t always go full-face). Even though you may hate it, it isn’t just important as far as your application goes…hygeine AND longevity of the brush or tool itself is a big concern. So take care of your brushes and tools properly; they’re investments!

It’s nice to use items that have a nearly-new look or feel to them, and it doesn’t take much effort to pull off.

The Bottom Line

Well, I’m asking you – is it crazy, or is it reasonable to continue babying my products?

Urban Decay Vice 4

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If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I really enjoy Urban Decay. They’re produce reliable, quality products; I’ve never feared that I made a poor investment when I bought one of their products.

Despite their edgy presentation, they created a (wonderful) monster when they released the Naked palette (of neutrals that, ‘everywoman,’ can feel comfortable with) all those years ago. They’ve not only released four full, “sequel,” palettes…they’ve created an entire product line based on the success of that palette. They’ve been the inspiration for hundreds of dupes – damn near every brand has some sort of 10+ shade neutrals palette now. Admittedly, I was disappointed with the release of Naked Smoky; it just isn’t unique enough to stand on its own and be worth $54 (unless you’re just starting out and don’t own other similar shades already).

They also have their mega-palettes, the Vice line. So far, there’s Vice, Vice 2, Vice 3, and Vice LTD.

Five days ago, Urban Decay shared this…

and Wende Zomnir posted this…

A photo posted by Wende Zomnir (@udwende) on

Urban Decay Vice 4 Swatches

The timing isn’t inappropriate; LORAC just announced their mega palette (more on that next week) for this holiday season, but my point is…

Why?

The colors are not remarkably different from the previous iterations of Vice – just like my complaints about Vice LTD. Vice 4 will be the fifth Vice palette from Urban Decay and I just can’t help but think we’re beating a dead horse with these considering their contents are so similar

What are your thoughts on Vice 4? Props to them on the packaging (as always), but that isn’t enough.

July 2015 Empties

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I try like hell to be consistent, but sometimes life gets in the way. I needed to prepare graphics for this post, which I intended to publish yesterday but had a hell of a migraine yesterday and the day before. So thanks for being patient, and here are my July 2015 Empties.

July 2015 Empties

I’ve been wanting to do an empties post for a while, but for months I’d only have 1-2 empty items and who is writing a post about 1-2 empty things? The stars aligned this month and I actually finished up a good bit of stuff.

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Glamglow ThirstyMud – Second Chance

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samplejars

I had tried Glamglow ThirstyMud before, getting a sample made by a Sephora employee in-store.

It just didn’t blow me away. I received a sample foil of the Glamglow Thirstymud mask in a recent beauty order, though, and decided to give it a second chance.

Glamglow Thirstymud

After cleansing and exfoliating (with no new products), I applied the Thirstymud as directed with clean hands. I decided not to leave it on overnight this time.

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