Cailyn Cosmetics Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple

Hello lovelies!

I've got a late night review for ya, I was going to post earlier when the kiddo was in school, but I totally napped instead lol. This past weekend has been just crazy, my whole family is sick, and then my cousin called me Thursday night saying that she was coming down for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with me. So I have been way busy with my birthday and hanging with my cousin and such.
But anywho, for tonight I am reviewing Cailyn Cosmetics Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple, which I received in my September Glam bag from Ipsy. The full size lip balm sells for $19, I'm not sure if this a full size or not as they didn't say the weight or volume of the full size product on Cailyn's website. I've used this product like half a dozen times or so and haven't even kind of put a dent in it, so you do get your money's worth with this product.

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple

I really like the packaging for this product, it seems pretty sturdy and the little brush is really quite nice. I like how it all fits together, you can just throw it in your purse without getting your brush all nasty and it stays together really well.
But the thing that stood out to me the most about this particular product is the formula. It claims to be a balm, and on the website it claims to be moisturizing, but it's not really either. It feels like a lipstick/lip pencil when on the lips, and it applies like a pot of lipstick. It is in no way moisturizing, and is actually rather drying on the lips. I apply this after applying a light clear balm and it works like a charm. The name is just misleading.
After you apply, you have a little bit of time before it really sets to kind of tweak it how you like it, it probably takes about 5-1 minutes to really set. But once it's set, it's set. I haven't had any issue with this product smudging all over my face or anything, and a little bit of this goes a long way.

I applied it kinda sloppy in these pictures, sorry, but it's late and I'm tired. As you can see it's a very bright red that is totally opaque with a gorgeous matte finish. And it's like a pretty natural matte finish, not one of those super matte fake looking finishes. So this is pretty wearable if you're comfortable with bright colors.

In this photo from the other day, I applied this lip product really lightly for a nice wash of color that wasn't super in your face. It's really a pretty color, and I'm loving it right now.

This is a picture of me and my cousin Katie about 7-8 hours after I applied the lip color. This color didn't fade much, it didn't smudge at all, and it still looks totally gorgeous. 

Overall, I'm really pleased with this product, even if it isn't what it claims to be. It's a beautiful lip color that's long lasting and applies like a charm. It's kind of on the expensive side, which is a bit of a deterrent for me at the moment, but if you can afford to spend that kind of money on a product I'd say give it a try. It really is a nice product.

But I've got to get to bed, morning comes all too early these days. Hope you're all having a great week so far, I'm anxiously awaiting a small package from Sephora (my birthday present to myself) and I can't wait to show you guys the goodies I'm getting. Til next time!

Butter London Nail Lacquer in La Moss

Hello lovelies!!

Today is the beginning of my new blogging schedule as it is my daughter's first day in pre-school!!! If I'm a little all over the place please excuse me, I'm all sorts of whacked out about my kiddo being in school. It's so insane for me to think about lol. But she's going to be in pre-school Tuesdays and Thursdays, so those are going to be my for sure blogging days and I'll probably have up random weekend posts as well.

Today's post is a review of the Butter London Nail Lacquer in La Moss which I received in the September "Classic Beauty" Glam Bag from Ipsy. This polish sells for $15 for 11mL (the polish I received is 6mL which is about half the original size, so the value is around $7.50) on Butter London's website, and I got it in my $10 monthly Glam Bag subscription, so before I go any further, Hells Yeah Ipsy!!!! You totally loaded my bag this month!!!

But on to the review...

The packaging for this nail polish feels really sturdy and I kind of like the square design. I've had issues before with round bottles as over time the caps tend to stick a bit and there's nothing to leverage your fingers against while trying to twist the cap off. Maybe I'm the only person who has that issue, but it sucks and I like the corners on this bottle.

The color is absolutely gorgeous. It's an oxblood red with a nice shiny finish, very vampy and perfect for fall weather. I've been wearing this polish for four days now and have minimal chipping, so it lasts fairly well.

The only issue that I have with this polish is that it applies... funny... It dries really fast and if you apply it thin you'll totally get uneven color. It also pulls when you get the uneven coat and try to correct it with another coat. Basically, if you want this polish to look nice you have to use an exorbitant amount of polish for each coat, and you'll need to apply a couple of coats. In the picture above, I'm wearing 3 coats of polish over a base coat. And fair warning, this color will stain your nails, but it's a really dark red so it should kind of be expected.

Overall, I like this polish. It's really pretty and I'm glad that I got it. However, I wouldn't pay $15 for this polish. It's just too finicky to work with for me to justify the price. But if you've got nothing but cash to burn on nail polish and you don't feel like looking for a cheaper version of this polish, by all means go for it.

So I'll talk at ya guys on Thursday with another review from the September Glam Bag. I'll either be doing the Jesse's Girl Liquid Liner or the Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm, so let me know which one you guys would like to see me review next in the comments or on Facebook. Hope you're all having a great day! Til next time!!

FOTD Featuring the September Glam Bag from Ipsy

Hello lovelies!

Today I put together a quick look for you guys using all of the items in my September Glam Bag. I don't usually wear makeup on the weekends unless I'm planning on going out, but my cousin, her daughter and her boyfriend are coming out to visit today and I was getting dressed and was like "Oh, I should straighten my hair too." And once my hair was all pretty and straight it was like "Well, since I bothered to do my hair I might as well try out some of my new makeup." And I was listening to Amy Winehouse, and she may have influenced how I applied my makeup a bit... I didn't do full face makeup, but it's definitely a very dramatic look for just having family over lol. I did use the nail polish that came in this month's bag, but I'm saving the pictures for Tuesday when I do my review post as my daughter should be attending her first day of preschool then!!! And yes, I'm ridiculously excited about this. And nervous. But let's move on to the pictures, my cousin is on her way here and I want to be done with this post by the time she gets here.

Face Products Used: e.l.f. Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter in Fair/Glow; Mary Kay Mineral Foundation in Ivory 2; NYX Mosaic Powder Blush in Paradise; Bronzer and Highlight from BH Cosmetics San Francisco palette.

Eye Products Used: NYX Eyeshadow in Cryptonite; Jesse's Girl Liquid Eyeliner in Black; White eyeshadow from e.l.f. Little Black Beauty Book Cool Python Edition; Elizabeth Mott It's So Big Volumizing Mascara in Black; Red/Brown Eyeshadow from the Sephora Color Daze Blockbuster Makeup Palette for my eyebrows.

Lip Product Used: Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple

And if you're curious, for my hair I just took a couple of bobby pins and pinned back my bangs and teased my hair just a bit to give it some volume as I am currently out of hair spray and wax. Oh yeah, and I straightened it with my flat iron and fwipped out the ends a bit.

But that's my crazy cousin Saturday party time look and I hope you guys like it! Did you catch the Amy Winehouse inspiration with the eyes? I toned it down a bit from her looks, but it's not like I'm going out. So far, I'm really digging the items I got in this month's bag, but my favorite has got to be the Jesse's Girl Eyeliner. I've got to wear it a bit more to be sure as to how much I love it, but if it wears well this is probably the best pen-style liquid liners I've ever used. I so love Ipsy!!! And if you like this look and want to give the Glam Bag a try, don't forget to use my referral so that I can get some freebies in my next bag. Here's a linky: Danielle's Ipsy Referral I hope you're all having a totally bitchin Saturday doing whatever it is you do and I hope you'll share some love with me in the comments and subscribe if you think I'm as awesome as I think I am lol. Til next time!

September 2013 Classic Beauty Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello lovelies!!

As many of you know I am a subscriber of Ipsy's Glam Bag, and today I got my September bag!! If you are unfamiliar with the Ipsy Glam Bag, it's a monthly subscription box that comes with 5 different makeup items that they choose for you based on a quiz that you take. It costs $10 a month, and the bag's value is typically between $40 and $50, so it's a good deal. If you're interested in joining please use my link *Here* because I will totally get free stuff based on the number of referrals I bring in.

In this month's bag I received a deluxe sample of It's So Big Volumizing Mascara by Elizabeth Mott, full size Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple by Cailyn, full size NYX Eyeshadow in Cryptonite, full size Butter London Nail Lacquer in LA MOSS, full size Jesse's Girl Liquid Eyeliner in Black, and a little sampler from the Life Palette Career Life - Look 3 Out To Lunch from em cosmetics.

I am in love with the design for this month's bag, it's totally gorgeous and I will definitely be using it to tote around my makeup when I'm out and about in the future.

It's So Big Volumizing Mascara by Elizabeth Mott

I have yet to try out this mascara, though it looks pretty standard. I'm unfamiliar with this brand, but so far Ipsy hasn't let me down so I have high hopes for it.

Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple by Cailyn

This is another brand that I've never heard of, but I had to play with it right away because I just love the design. The color is gorgeous, but it's really not much of a balm and is really more of a stain. The brush in the tip is pretty nice, makes for nice and crisp lines.

NYX Eyeshadow in Cryptonite

This is my first NYX eyeshadow, but I have tried other items from NYX and have been very pleased with them. I like the color quite a bit, it's a pretty gun metal color loaded with shimmer that will be great to go with a smoky eye.

Butter London Nail Lacquer in LA MOSS

I have yet to try this brand, but LA MOSS is a very pretty wine color that's totally perfect for fall.

Jesse's Girl Liquid Eyeliner

Jesse's Girl is another brand that I've never heard of, but I love me some liquid liner so I was totally stoked to see this in my Glam Bag. This is one of those pen style liners with a felt tip, and I dunno about you, but I love this style of liner. The packaging is really pretty, though the metal casing did make for some hyper glare on my camera (sorry!)

Sampler of The Life Palette Career Life by em cosmetics

For those of you not in the know, em cosmetics is YouTube makeup guru Michelle Phan's new makeup line. The products are really cool looking, the packaging is high quality and from my understanding the products are also of a very high quality. However they are also extremely expensive and I won't be buying any of this line in the near future unless I come across a random fortune. BUT I'm totally lusting over this brand as I love Michelle's videos and I trust her to make some bitchin makeup. So even though this is a teensy weensy little sampler, I'm really looking forward to checking out the pigmentation and the texture of the products.

But that pretty well wraps up this month's bag, so far I am pretty stoked to try out all of these items and I feel like a got a great value once again from Ipsy. Also, I will be posting more regularly (every Tues and Thurs) as my daughter will be starting day care in the near future giving me time to properly devote to the blogging. Again, if you want to sign up for Ipsy's Glam Bags please use my referral link *Here* so that I can get some cool goodies. I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Til next time!!

Getting By With a Little Help From My Friends...

Hello again lovelies!

I know it has been ages since my last post, but I have been so beyond stressed out lately. I don't often delve into my personal life here and I promise I won't make too much of a habit of it, but damn, I am in a tough spot here.

Last year I had a great job working in an office and I had finally managed to un-bury us from the mountain of debt that seems to pile up over time. Unfortunately as soon as we started to get ahead, I was laid off from my job when the company downsized. This in and of itself wasn't the end of the world, but around a month after I lost my job, our van broke down and was beyond repair. My husband works his tail off for not enough money, and he manages to keep us from drowning fiscally, but we can't get any money saved up because he just doesn't make enough for us to have anything left over. My makeup budget (and this does include skin and hair products) is $10 a month. That's pretty much all the frivolous spending we do as a family. So yeah, I need to get a job to help out. But in order to do that, I need a car.

So in an effort to save my family, I've started an online fundraiser to help us raise money for a good reliable vehicle. If you have any extra money and can help my family out, please donate here: A Family Car For the Hughes's. Having to put this fundraiser together is a serious blow to my pride, and I truly hate having to ask for your help. But I'm desperate and I don't know what to do at this point. I am beyond shamed and I hope that you guys will forgive me for begging in such an ungraceful manner, but I just don't know what to do. Every day just gets harder and harder for me, and I'm losing hope in ever being able to provide a wonderful life for my daughter. I know that she deserves better than a mother that has to beg just to get by and it makes me sick. Again, I am so sorry to be putting this out there for all of you to see, but I'm at a loss of options. If you can't afford to donate to my cause, would you please consider visiting the page that I linked above and sharing it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. I need all the help I can get to help get my family on its' feet again.

Left: My daughter, Penny Lane, age 2.5; Top Right: My Husband and daughter age 3 weeks; Bottom Right: Me and my friend's son when I was in the hospital after I delivered Penny.

  I'm not really sure how to end this post, just writing this all out has me feeling so shamed and emotionally drained. To all of you who decide to donate or share my story, thank you so much. I appreciate it more than I could possibly put into words. And I know that all of you have your own problems and you probably don't need to hear about mine, I'm just lost. I will have some more posts up, looks and tutorials mostly, after I've calmed down some and gotten back into my zen. Thank you all for sticking with me through my rather sporadic postings, you guys are awesome. Til next time! xoxox