Mish Mash Challenge Week 1: Purple

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I'm so excited for today, as I am starting a new weekly nail challenge with some wonderful ladies! This challenge is called the Mish Mash Challenge, basically because it is 30 weeks of random nail challenges!

For week one the challenge was Purple. I chose a polish that I don't think I have worn before, Amethyst by Sinful Colors. It is a beautiful medium purple cream polish. I thought it was a bit blah by it's self so I added Essie's Luxe Effects in Shine of the Times on top of it. I really like the way it came out.

Be sure to stop by and see what the other ladies did for purple!

Favorites: July 2013

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July, where did you go?

This month I had all new favorites, so let's just dive right in!

I had three new face favorites; Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream, NYC Sunny Bronzer, and Milani baked blush in Luminoso. I love how moisturized the BB Cream left my face and how it evened everything out. I have full review of this cream if you would like to check it out. The NYC Sunny bronzer is perfect for my fair skin, it gives me a nice hint of color with out making me look muddy or orange. I also really love this because it is a matte bronzer. I usually do not wear blush at all, but this blush looks great for summer, give a hint of peach with just a little sheen.

I only had two favorites for my lips in July one is a new discovery and the other was in last months favorites. The old favorite is the Cover Girl Nature Lux Gloss Balm in Grenache. I love how this feels on my lips, very cream and moisturizing. My new found favorite is a lip stick from Avon, in the shade Pout, to bad this is one of the many colors they are discontinuing when they launch their new packaging coming in Campaign 19. It is a beautiful soft nude pink.

For a change I have some nail favorites this month! Up first is my new go to base coat, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener, I don't know if this actually hardens my nails, but it really helps with making my polish last longer. I have a new favorite shade of polish too, it's from S.he Makeup (available on iKatehouse) in the shade Melon, just a pretty bright lime green with some shimmer. My last favorite for the month of July is my Vitamin E oil. I have been having a terrible time with my nails peeling and my cuticles looking dry and I wanted something inexpensive to use, a couple fellow bloggers suggested using the Vitamin E oil that you can get in the vitamin section of Walmart. I tried it and I love it, it has help the condition of my nails and cuticles so much, I just have to keep reminding myself to use it. I went a few days with out it and my poor nails showed it. I try to apply it twice a day and every time after I take off my nail polish.

What were your favorites for the month of July?

Review: Hydroxatone Anti-Aging BB Cream

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Received from iFabbo to review

Hydroxatone Anti-Aging BB cream is a perfecting cream designed to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles while visibly lifting and firming. Claims to make skin look flawless instantly, by hiding uneven skin tone and minimizing the appearance of imperfections. Also supposed to brighten and moisturize. It contains Vitamin C to stimulate collagen and support skin health by promoting the skins own regenerative properties and helps to brighten the skin. It also contains a special blend of plant extracts to help calm and sooth irritated skin.

I have only used this BB Cream a handful of times, because even though it says it's moisturizing, it makes my skin feel a little dry. I also feel that it accentuates any dry patches that I may have on my skin. I do like the coverage it gives and I feel that it does a great job of evening everything out and making my face look flaweless. When I did wear this I used my ELF mist and set spray and that did help a little with the dry patches. I don't have any wrinkles so I cant' say if it truly reduces their appearance. If you have oily skin, this would probably work great for you.

Hydroxatone Anti-Aging BB Cream comes in five shades; light, medium, tan, deep tan and dark. The shade I received was medium. It retails for $39 at Ulta for 1oz of product.

Overall I think this is just an okay BB Cream. I personally would prefer the Olay or Avon BB Creams over this. The price is quite hefty as well, which also turns me away from this product.

Taken a few days ago, naked face.

With Hydroxatone Anti-Aging BB Cream

Quality: 4/5

Price: 1/5

Value: 1/5

Packaging: 5/5

Formula: 3/5

Pigmentation: 4/5

Longevity: 4/5

Overall: 22/35

Review: Born Pretty Holographic Holo Glitter Nail Polish

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Today I have a review on holographic nail polish from the Born Pretty Store, which I am sure you have heard of. I was contacted by them and asked if I would review a product from their store and I chose the above mentioned holographic nail polish.

I love holographic nail polish I think it is one of the prettiest forms of polish there is out there. I chose a blue color, because I don't have a lot of blue polish in my collection. I was slightly disappointed in the size of the polish, you get 0.2oz. This polish retails for $12.88 and is currently on sale for $5.59 I know all holographic nail polish is a more expensive than regular polish, but to me it's just not enough product for the money you spend.

On to the good part of this review. The polish is good quality nail polish, it went on like a dream, very smooth application. I applied two coats in the pictures below, next time I think I will go with 3 to make it more opaque. Dry time was average, around 5-10 minutes, as with most polishes I have used. It also lasted on my nails for about 3 days before I started noticing chips, but I think that is due to the condition of my nails. On my pinkie nail, which is in great shape, I never noticed any chipping and I had this polish on for 7 days. So I think if all my nails were in that good of shape, it would not have started chipping.

I have to say this is one of the prettiest polishes I have in my collection and my pictures do it no justice. I tried several different lighting sources and just could not capture the true beauty of this polish. As with most holographic polishes it looks best when you are out in the sunlight.

I want to say thanks again to the Born Pretty Store for letting me try out this polish! You can also save 10% site wide using the coupon code: SMBW10

Quality: 5/5

Price: 2/5

Value: 2/5

Packaging: 4/5

Formula: 5/5

Pigmentaion: 5/5

Longevity: 4/5

Overall: 27/35

Have you tried any of the holographic polishes from the Born Pretty Store? What did you think about them?

NOTD: Fing'rs Heart 2 Art In Mint Condition

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Today's nail of the day features In Mint Condition form Fing'rs Heart 2 Art. I picked this polish up at Walmart for $1.68 I love the color of this polish, it's a nice mint color with a hint of gold, it also has blue glitter.

The application of this polish was okay, the fact that the brush is so long leaves you with a big glob of polish running down the 'wand' which at times caused me to get way to much polish on my nail. I fear that this polish is going to get get very thick after a few times of using it, because it was a little thick to start with. Drying time was average, about 10 minutes.

This polish does feel rough after it dries and I was hoping my topcoat would help that out, but it still feels a little rough. I used the NYC quick drying topcoat.

Have you tried any of the polishes from the Heart 2 Art collection? What did you think about them?

Next Wednesday I will be starting a new Nail Challenge with a great group of ladies that participated in the ABC Nail Challenge! This new challenge is called the Mish Mash Challenge, 30 different manicure ideas, so be sure to stop by next Wednesday and check it out!

Review: Hydroxatone AM/PM Anti-Wrinkle Complex Cream

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Received from iFabbo to review

Hydroxatone AM/PM Anti-Wrinkle Complex is a day and night cream that claims it will erase the appearance of fine lines around the eyes, reduce the appearance of deep wrinkles in the forehead area, reduce discoloration and uneven skin tone, hydrate skin, improve skins radiance, reduce the appearance of hyper pigmentation and increase skin hydration by over 20% 

Claims it's so effective because of three ingredients:

• Matrixyl 3000, which supports key building blocks needed for fresh youthful skin.
• Argireline, a unique anti-aging peptied designed to provide fast and visible results.
• Hyaluronic Acid, great for hydrating the skin because of it's ability to retain water more effectively than other substances, resulting in increased smoothness, softness and decreased appearance of facial wrinkles.

I have been using this cream for a few weeks now, but only at night because it is such a thick cream. I don't have any noticeable issues with wrinkles or hyper pigmentation so I can't say how this cream would work for those issues. I do however have some issues with dry skin and I feel like this cream works great for providing my skin with moisture and maintaining that moisture. I think I will get more use out of this in the winter since that is when I experience the most issues with dry skin. 

A little bit of this cream will go a long way, I made the mistake of putting on too much and it looked and felt like I had smeared Vaseline on my face, I had to go wash it off. Another thing that I have noticed with the cream is, to me, it smells like burnt plastic, which is still a little bit noticeable once I have it on my face, but it does wear off with time.

I like this cream for a night cream and I may like it more for a day cream in the winter when I do have those issues with dry skin. With that being said I would not purchase this product only because it is so expensive, $69 for 1 oz of product at Ulta.

Quality: 4/5

Price: 1/5

Packaging: 5/5

Formula: 3/5

Scent: 1/5

Overall: 14/25

NOTD: Melon

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If you saw my post or my unboxing video I did on my iKatehouse haul you know that I got a beautiful lime green, with hints of gold shimmer, polish called Melon by S.he Makeup, I am obsessed with it! It's just such a bright and fun color for summer and I love the way it looks on me.

The application of this polish was smooth, it was not running all over the place. The first coat is pretty opaque, but it has a yellow look to it, once I applied the second coat it looked like the pretty lime green color in the bottle. Dry time was average, around 5-10 minutes. I've wore this polish a couple of times now and it wears really well, I had it on for around 3 days before I got my first chip, for me that's pretty good wear time. I was afraid this might stain my nails a little since it's green, but it did not stain them at all!

On my ring finger I used some of the stripping tape from the brand Fing'rs that I picked up at Walmart (totally forgot to write my haul post on those items, if you are interested let me know and I'll do a haul post on them) and make some kind of design LOL and painted over that with a black cream polish.

My pictures do not show the 100% true color of this polish. I really wanted to take the photos outside in the sun, but it refuses to shine lol. The first and third photos are the most accurate color.

I Got Perk'd: Eclos

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I logged in to my Klout account a couple of weeks ago and seen I had an exciting perk offer for Eclos dare to go bare kit. The kit came with a skin prep cleanser, moisture therapy regenerative cream and a daily hydraprimer with SPF 30.

I am super excited to try out these products, it says they are formulated with Apple Stem Cell Technology! I think I will do the Dare to go Bare challenge as well. It will be a couple of weeks before I will get to test out these products, as I am currently testing out another moisturizer. When I do start testing them out I will do a before and after and take you along my Dare to go Bare journey!

Did you get this perk from Klout? Are you taking the Dare to go Bare challenge?

Review: Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream

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Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream claims that it will give you 24 hour hydration, a splash of sheer color  even out skin tone, refresh dullness and give you flawless looking skin. It is a skin perfecter with 6 skin perfecting benefits; refreshes, brightens, evens tone, hydrates  smooths, and protects. It also is a combination of a sun screen, with SPF 15 and a tinted moisturizer. Also claims that with just one use, skin will be left glowing and naturally even.

Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream only comes in 2 shades, fair to light and light to medium. You get 2.5 oz of product for $12.99 This BB cream has a nice scent to it, reminds me of the smell of sunscreen with a hint of something else, I just can put my finger on what that hint of something is. It's not a strong scent and once I apply it, I don't smell it anymore. The consistency of this BB cream is like that of a liquid foundation, but a tad thicker.

I'll be honest the first couple of times I used this, I did not like it, but I wanted to give it a fair chance and I'm glad I did, because now I love it! It is very hydrating on my skin, I can actually skip my normal moisturizer when I wear this. I don't feel that it offers much, if any, coverage, but it makes up for that by evening out my skin tone. It blurs out all the imperfections of my skin and just makes it look flawless and brighter. I think the condition of my skin has improved since I started using this, I feel like my skin tone looks better even when I am not wearing the BB Cream. It feels very weightless and refreshing on my skin, sometimes I forget I even have make up on.

I think this is a great product for the summer, when you want a nice natural look. This is the only 'foundation' I've been using and I just add a little bit of my NYC Sunny Bronzer for a pretty sunkissed look.

Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream retails for $12.99, which at first look seems a little expensive, but as I mentioned earlier you do get 2.5 oz of product, whereas, with other brands of BB cream you generally only get 1 oz of product This is a product that I would purchase myself. You can purchase the BB cream at Walmart or a drug store as well as the Olay Fresh Effects site or on Amazon.

Left: bare skin, Right: Olay BB Cream

Quality: 5/5

Price: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Packaging: 5/5

Formula: 5/5

Pigmentation: 4/5

Scent: 5/5

Longevity: 5/5

Overall: 37/40

Have you tried Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream? If so, what did you think about it? If not, do you plan on giving it a try?

Review: Flower Geometry US Heart Checked Stripe Stamping Plate from KKCenterHK

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KKCenterHK sent me the Flower Geometry US Heart Checked Stripe Stamping Plate to try out and review. I don't know if these usually come with the stamper/scrapper but I received one of these also.

I have used stamping plates from other brands quite a bit and I think I'm pretty good at stamping when I have good supplies to work with. I don't think this plate is as good of quality as say a Konad plate or a Mash plate. It is kind of flimsy, I can bend the plate with my hands and the edges are very rough, they feel like a dull knife edge. The stamping part of the stamper/scrapper worked really good, the scrapper side on the other hand was terrible. I would drop my polish on the plate and try to scrape it and it did nothing as you will see in the photos below. In order to get a clear design I had to end up scrapping with a gift card and I also used the scraper that came with the salon express stamping kit. I also used a cotton ball to wipe the polish off the scrapper and it actually fell apart! I was able to get it back together, but still it broke. I was able to get the image to stamp clearly.

I would not buy any of these plates, I would rather head over to Amazon and get a Konad or Mash plate.

I hate to give bad reviews of products, but I will always be 100% honest about how a product works for me, regardless if I bought it or if it was sent to me for free.

Scrapper that was supplied did not scrape the plate properly.

A gift card worked well

as did a scrapper from another kit

Image on the stamper

Scrapper/Stamper broke when I wiped it with a cotton ball to remove polish

finished nail look

Use this coupon code to save 10% off: SBB2013