Ulta Countryside Gleam Review and Swatches

Free gift with purchase at Ulta

Ulta is currently offering a 13-piece gift set valued at $88 if you buy a minimum of $17.50 worth of Ulta cosmetics, brushes, or beauty tools.  There are three different color sets available:   Lavender Fields, Paradise Bloom, and Countryside Gleam.  I have never tried any of the Ulta brand products, but the variety of items in the gift set and the price prompted me to give them a whirl. To be honest, my expectations were not very high, and I had a difficult time picking out enough Ulta products to meet the gift requirement as not much appealed to me and the selection was a bit picked over.  I finally settled on a nail polish, a lip stain, and an eye shadow pencil.

I chose Countryside Gleam as my gift and I think Ulta did a really good job with the color selections in all three sets.  Nothing seemed out of place in this warm collection and the colors flow together nicely.  You get 8 eye shadows, although I think one color in each quad is the same or at the least similar enough to be dupes, even though they have different names (Mocha and Mystique).  There are two dual ended eye pencils and two of the browns, although not dupes, are close in color.  There is a dual ended lip gloss, a lipstick, a mini nail polish called Peach Parfait, 3 cosmetic brushes, and a full size volumizing mascara.
Quality wise, it was a mixed bag.  I thought the eye shadows were quite nice.  There was some fallout with Stardust, but the colors apply smoothly and have a fair amount of pigment.  Using the foam brush included in the collection will help with the fallout, and was the only brush of the three that I liked.  The synthetic bristles of cheek brush grabbed too much powder and applied the blush unevenly.

I also liked the blush, a matte shade that provided a subtle flush.  The powder was fine milled and applied nicely with a good brush.  The eye pencils were dismal - hard to apply and streaky.  They also smear easily, so I used eyeshadow over them to help with staying power.  The bronze pencil was the easiest to apply, but the others tugged at my eyelid and were patchy at best.  The lipstick is matte and while it applied smoothly and felt fine, gloss is needed unless you like dry looking lips. The color was very subtle, more of a nude lip look.

I liked the glosses - they have a nice slip to them, are not heavy, have some staying power, and do not make my lips feel dry.  They also have a neutral odor and taste, so no real objections there.  The gloss in Natural made for a nice nude lip look over the lipstick, while Flirtini is sheer with very subtle gold flecks. 

The nail polish was not great but not terrible either.  I love the color, a nice cream peach that is perfect for spring, but it took 3 coats to achieve opacity and was streaky and/or had some bald spots.  Nothing that couldn't be overcome, but it took some work.  The mascara applied smoothly but I could not tell that there was any thickening or lengthening of lashes going on.  On the plus side, it does not seem to smudge, so seems to be a good, basic mascara.

Overall, the shadows, lip glosses, blush, mascara and nail polish make this deal worthwhile to me.  The gift with purchase is currently available in store and online at Ulta while supplies last.  However, I tried purchasing online and could not figure out how to chose my gift, but perhaps that was a browser issue.

Eye shadows:  Stardust above lashline, Canyon in middle, Expresso in crease and over liner

Orofluido Beauty Elixir

I may be in love.  With a hair oil - Orofluido Beauty Elixir - to be exact.  I've got straight, somewhat thick, fine hair.  In the deep South with the almost constant humidity, that can translate to limp, frizzed, cannot retain a curl hair.  Orofluido helps with the limp and frizzed part.  This picture was taken on a humid, still damp outside day.  My hair is smooth, swingy, soft, and generally just felt great.  You know how a "good hair day" feels?  Well, this was it.  Two days in a row even, which is how long I've been using Orofluido since I got it in my February Birchbox shipment. 

I use 3 drops, rub into still damp hair, and comb through.  Orofluido contains argan oil, which is rich in fatty acids but lightweight, helping to condition and soften hair.  Linseed oil helps with shine by smoothing the hair cuticle.  Cyperus oil, high in fatty acids and tocopherol, provides natural protection from free radicals while imparting softness and volume to the hair.  Orofluido is even supposed to cut down on drying time, and come to think of it, my hair was almost dry before I went to blow dry it.  Scented with vanilla and amber, the fragrance is soft and pleasant but not obtrusive.  I read many reviews of this on the web, and I have yet to find a negative one.  There are probably some out there, but the reviews I read were glowing.  

Orofluido (3.4 oz) retails for $29.99 on the Birchbox site but I've seen it for less on Amazon and as high as $39.99 on some other online retailers.  I will be purchasing a full size of this before I run out of my sample, it is that good!  

Update:  I purchased the full size Orofluido Beauty Elixir from Birchbox and am still in love!  I had enough Birchbox points built up that the Orofluido cost me $9.99, a twenty dollar savings from the regular price of $29.99.  Doing happy dance.

Dermablend Smooth Indulgence SPF 20 Foundation

For the past several years I've been using mineral powder foundations, but recently I thought I'd venture back into a cream foundation as I felt I needed a bit more coverage.  After looking at various brands, I decided to try Dermablend's Smooth Indulgence SPF 20 foundation in soft beige.  It is supposed to be a medium coverage, long wearing foundation with a matte finish for skin with minor to moderate skin imperfections.  Since my skin has more than a few imperfections, including broken capillaries, sun damage/discolorations, and under the skin bumps, I was hoping for a foundation that would provide good coverage without being too heavy or obvious.  I also needed something that worked well with oily skin.

Does Dermablend deliver?  I think so!  My biggest complaint was that I really had to blend, blend, blend or otherwise the makeup settled in my pores, but the beautyblender sponge seems to have solved that problem completely.  Now, application is quick, easy, and smooth.  A little goes a long way with this foundation, so the amount shown on the sponge covers the cheek to jawline area on one side of my face.   Smooth Indulgence contains titanium dioxide for a SPF of 20, which is great for me, since I rarely wear a separate sunscreen.  Wear time is supposed to be 12 hours (16 hours if wearing a setting powder), and while my oily skin probably shortens that by a bit, wear time is more than adequate.  I used the "auto contrast" feature in both these photos, which tends to emphasize imperfections/discolorations a bit more, but it really highlights the difference here!

After

Before

Dermablend was developed by a dermatologist in 1981 and all their products are dermatologist tested, non-comedogenic, non-acnegenic, and fragrance free.  Smooth Indulgence SPF 20 foundation retails for $30.00, and I purchased mine at Ulta.   

Removing Nail Polish with Dove Chocolates

If you've ever worn glitter nail polish, you know what a pain it can be to remove.  There are several effective methods to help with the process, but my favorite involves Dove Dark Chocolates.  If you are a chocolate lover, then you are in mecca right now since Valentine's and chocolate go hand in hand, and heck, by tomorrow most of them will be half off.  

So, my process for removing difficult nail polish is to eat Dove Dark Chocolates, making sure to carefully remove and save the wrappers so they do not get torn. The wrappers are the perfect size to use for the tin foil method of removing polish, which involves using the wrapper around a saturated with polish remover cotton pad on your finger.  The wrapper keeps the cotton from drying out and in place for the several minutes it takes to effectively remove glitter polish.   

This really is a great scenario, as you get to treat yourself with chocolate while doing something that is normally a chore.  You are being earth friendly by recycling the wrappers (I can usually get several uses from a wrapper), which would otherwise just get thrown away.  Plus, they are prettier than plain tin foil.  So stock up on those half-priced chocolates tomorrow! 


Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

February Birchbox: Spotlight

The theme of this month's Birchbox is Spotlight and the items sent feature brands that are "changing the way we think about familiar products".  

I was sent:

• beautyblender - a hot pink sponge to help apply foundation for an airbrushed look.
• Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint in Golden - a tinted moisturizer with SPF 20.  The color blends nicely with my skin tone.
• Orofluido Beauty Elixir - a hair treatment featuring argan, linseed, and cyperus oils to keep hair smooth and sleek.  I applied this to my skin and it is very smooth with no oily residue.  The scent is pleasantly soft.
• Violent Lips - temporary lip tattoos in silver glitter.  Bold!
• Heart shaped hot pink nail file - this will be perfect for my purse.
• Six free digital downloads from indie rock band Green River Ordinance. 

All of these products are new to me so it will be fun to try them out.  I have no idea when I would wear glittery silver lips other than for Halloween, but I'll try them and post a picture on the blog soon.  The instructions were a little daunting - you cut the stencil  to fit your lips and then wet it to apply the glitter, so it should be interesting to see what I end up with.  Value wise, just the beautyblender and Violent Lips would come to about $27, so for a $10 investment, that's not bad.  Overall, I'm pleased with February's Birchbox.  Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Nail of the Day: Tyin' the Knot in the Spotlight

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I'd try something in that spirit.  However, looking at my pink and red nail polishes did not inspire me, as they felt too bright and spring like.  My eye was drawn to a bottle of Sally Hansen, and when I looked at the title it was perfect - Tyin' the Knot.  Now, the color is a gray with a brownish tint, so not quite sure how that ties into weddings, but it felt right to me.  If you click on the macro photo, you can also see flecks of teal, pink, red, yellow and green.  I topped it off with a coat of Sally Hansen's In the Spotlight, which is a holographic bar glitter.

Tyin' the Knot, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength

Tyin' the Knot wasn't the easiest to apply, as it was both streaky and easy to get too much on the brush at the same time.  However, two coats smoothed things out.  In the Spotlight had the problem of getting plenty of bars on one nail and hardly any on the next, so you have to work with it to get an even application.  Not sure how I feel about bar glitter yet.  Turned out to be something of a moot point, as I badly smudged a nail and started all over with a completely different look, including ultra short nails.  But I do like Tyin' the Knot and will wear it again!

Mardi Gras in Mobile

Mobile has the distinction of having America's oldest Mardi Gras.  The tradition was resurrected by Joe Cain after the Civil War when he and six other Confederate veterans paraded down the streets of Mobile in a decorated coal wagon, playing horns and drums.  Joe, dressed as a Chickasaw Indian chief, was giving the proverbial finger to the occupying Union forces, as the Chickasaw tribe had never been defeated in war.  Fast forward 145 years, and Mardi Gras with it's parades, balls, and general festivities is alive and well.  Downtown is decorated, parades have been rolling through since January 21st, and Fat Tuesday is February 21st.  Fat Tuesday a holiday here for most people, so laissez les bons temps rouler! 

Here are just a few of the house and yard decorations I saw while walking my dogs this week in my neighborhood.  Purple, green and gold are the colors of Mardi Gras, and beads and Moonpies are its currency.