NOTD: a-England's Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes) and NerdLacquer's Exterminate

Princess Sabra is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.  Described on a-England's site as an "alluringly feline golden olive bronzite", this beauty was inspired by polish creator Adina's cat Tristam's eyes.  The combo of the color and the holographic flash puts Princess Sabra on my list of favorites. 

Formula was great and below is two coats with base and top coat.  I wore this for three days and did experience some tip wear and slight chipping on a nail that was flaking. 

On day three I topped Princess Sabra with one coat of Exterminate by NerdLacquer.   Described on Ninja Polish as "a deep Dalekanium blackened-bronze brown with small black and gold glitter, large golden hex glitter, and small and medium light blue hex glitter", this polish reminds me of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss", which could be why I love it so much.   Unfortunately, it's out of stock at the moment, but should be back at some point.   

The only issue I have with Exterminate is that some of the larger hex glitter can stick up a bit, which makes a good top coat essential.  Even with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 of Seche Vite, I've still got some roughness where some of the larger hex glitters are.  The seem to be slightly curved, so if they get placed facing down, it's not a problem.  If they facing up, however, they are rough. 

Check out the little ant peeking over the hydrangea petal. 

Josie Maran Illuminizer

Now that warm weather has arrived, I've noticed that bronzers and shimmery highlighting products are being more prominently featured.  I've got to admit that I don't reach for illuminators very often, as sometimes the look translates to "shiny", which I definitely don't need.  Occasionally though, the idea of a bronzed, luminous face and body calls to me, and I give the few products I've got a whirl.

Josie Maran's Illuminizer is billed as a "bronze shade perfect for highlighting and adding an instant beautiful luminosity to the face, collarbone, and body". It's actually a light gold color to my eye, and a small dab of it packs a powerful punch.  Argan Illuminizer can be used alone or mixed with foundation, and comes in a 1 oz. glass bottle with a pump dispenser.  I find that the pump dispenses way more than you need and considering how concentrated and shimmery this is, unless you plan to use it on your body as well, there will be some waste.

Once blended, it does sheer out to a lovely shimmer.  I like this more for body than facial use, but that's just because of my oily skin and my desire to mattify as opposed to shine.  It does not feel oily on, and argan oil is supposed to be good for oily, acne prone skin as well as for dryer complexions.  I saw many reviews where people said they love mixing it with their foundation and the luminous look that it gives.

Argan Illuminizer is $28 for 1 oz, but like I said, a little goes a very long way.   I got mine as part of Sephora Favorites set, I think called Glitz and Glam.  I looked at the ingredients on both the Sephora and Josie Maran site and they are different.  I'm not sure which one is correct, but the list below is from Josie Maran. 

Ingredients:  Mica**, Zinc Stearate**, Kaolin**, Corn Starch Modified**,Ethylhexyl Palmitate**, Moringa Pterygosperma (Moringa) Seed Oil**, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil**, Lauroyl Lysine**, Hydrogenated Olive Oil**, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil**, Tocopherol**, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil*, Tocopheryl Acetate**, Phytosterols**, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract**, Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract**, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil** May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)**, Iron Oxides (CI77492)**, Iron Oxides (CI 77491)**, Iron Oxides (CI 77499)**, Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140:1), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Red 30 Lake (CI 73360), Ultramarines (CI 77007)**, Manganese Violet (CI77742)**, Carmine (CI 75470)**, Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090:2)

Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow in Shimmering Bronze

I've got one of the Tarte Waterproof Cream eyeshadows to show you today - Shimmering Bronze.  This was part of the a collection I bought at Ulta a while back.  I've been on a cream shadow kick lately and was interested to see how Tarte's entry in this category fared.

Shimmering Bronze is a rich bronze that does indeed shimmer but does not go the frosty route, which I appreciate.  From what I can tell, these are meant to be applied with a brush, although you could use your finger if you could get it into the pot.  The opening is a bit small however, so finger swiping proves a bit challenging.  I used both my finger and the double sided brush that came with the clay liners, shown here. 

Highly pigmented, this could be used as a liner as well, and I was a bit flummoxed as to how the Amazonian cream shadow differed from the Amazonian cream liners, which I reviewed yesterday.  They apply and look very similar on, with one small difference.  Shimmering Bronze was slightly thinner in consistency - in fact you can see a bit of build up in the green liner in left photo, whereas Shimmering Bronze was smooth with no build up. 

The other difference became evident when I swiped the swatches with a cleansing towelette.  After about 3 vigorous swipes, you can see that Shimmering Bronze is quite smeared and dissipated, whereas the black and green clay liners are still mostly intact.  The green liner smudged where it had caked up a bit.

I lined my lower lash line and my upper lash line almost to the crease with Shimmering Bronze.  These set rather quickly, and once they do, there will be no blending.  I turn to powder shadows then, which still gives a nice result.

Below is Shimmering Bronze over 2/3 of the lid with a thin line of the black clay liner.  I used Urban Decay Toasted in the crease and to blend. Wear time is good, with no creasing or fading for a good 8 hours (I always wear an eye primer). 

The Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream eyeshadows come in 5 different shades and retail for $19.  I do like them and would be interested in trying one of the lighter shades, although I'm more likely to buy them if they are part of a set. 

Tarte emphaEYES Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liners in Black & Green

As part of it's Amazonian clay range of products, Tarte offers these potted liners in six different shades.  I've got black and green to show you today, and I received both of these liners are part of sets that I purchased.  They are billed as both a liner or a shadow and come with a double-ended brush for either liner or shadow application.  

I tend to prefer eye pencils over liquid or potted liners, but I've got to say that these are pretty easy to use in that capacity.  They are soft enough to pick up pigment and spread smoothly, but it does take several swipes to get an opaque line.  The problem I had attempting to use these as a shadow is that they are so pigmented and just thick enough to make them hard to blend or sheer out, which gives a darker look than I'm comfortable with.  So, liners they will be for me.

These do indeed hold up to the waterproof claim and once set, they are smudge proof.  The black is matte, whereas the green has a lovely coppery gold shimmer.  Black liners are a bit to harsh for my coloring, so I doubt mine will get much use.  The green, however, is gorgeous!  I did receive a purple clay liner in another collection a while back, and I have to say that when I went to use it had completely dried up.  Like a rock.  I had opened it maybe once or twice, so it wasn't getting exposed to air on a regular basis.  I'm hoping that's not the case with these, but if they do dry out I'll update this review.

The Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liners retail for $22 and that includes the brush.  Tarte does have a trio called Jewels of the Amazon that includes both of these shades along with a bronze for $39, so if these colors appeal to you, that would be the better deal. 

Korres Cherry Oil Lipglosses in Beige Pink & Golden Brown

Korres US marketing strategy still eludes me.  A few years back I signed up to receive emails and I used to get regular emails highlighting new products or deals of the week, but it's been radio silence for a while.   So, I visited the site and signed up again, wondering if maybe I'd been dropped.  I've purchased from them in the last year, so it's not like I haven't given them business.  Hmmm....


Korres Cherry Oil lipglosses are such a nice lipgloss - hydrating, glossy, non-sticky, paraben free, with decent wear time.  I wasn't even sure if Korres was still making these any more, but they are!  I got mine as part of two separate makeup sets several years ago, back when Korres was still selling eye shadows (bring those back!!!).  Both Beige Pink and Golden Brown must have been discontinued, as I don't see them on the current color list, but are available on ebay.  Neither are heavily pigmented, providing more shimmer than color.  Interestingly enough, for the 10 regular catalog colors there is a "Buy on Sephora.com" button, whereas the two new shades are available at the Korres site.  Curiouser and curiouser. 

Golden Brown, Beige Pink

Regular retail is $17, but I did see that HSN has a trio of them on sale for $22.

Korres Cherry Oil Lipgloss in Golden Brown

Ingredients:  -Cherry Oil, Vitamins E and C, Polybutene, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Synthetic Wax, Silica, PVP/Hexadecene Copolymer (VP/Hexadecene Copolymer), Octyldodecanol, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil), Anise Alcohol, Aroma (Flavor), Ascorbyl Palmitate, Citric Acid, Lauryl PCA, Lecithin, Phenoxyethanol, Prunus Avium (Sweet Cherry) Seed Oil, Prunus Cerasus (Bitter Cherry) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite May contain: CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake),CI 77491 (Iron Oxide), CI 77492 (Iron Oxide), CI 77499 (Iron Oxide), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide).   

Bubble & Bee Pit Putty Deodorant Creams Redux

What is this contraption, you may be asking?  Well, it's the summer packaging option for items that could melt in warmer climates.  Considering where I live qualifies as sub-tropical, that's a good option to have.

I've reviewed the Pit Putty Deodorant Creams here before, and thought I'd update since warmer temps have rolled around to see how this natural deodorant has held up.  I'm giving them the kind of endorsement that counts - I bought three more jars when my Spearmint and Tea Tree Oil Pit Putty cream ran out. 

My favorite scents from the sampler pack that I originally bought were Jasmint, Lemongrass, and the Spearmint and Tea Tree Oil, so I got one of each.  A 2 oz. jar costs $9.85 and a jar lasts me several months, so I'm good through the rest of the hot, humid summer. 

Jasmint smells good enough that I'd wear it as a scent.  The ingredients are organic shea butter, organic arrowroot powder, organic coconut oil, organic sunflower oil, aluminum-free baking soda, organic jasmine extract, organic peppermint essential oil.  I've noticed that Jasmint is more prone to melting, but the consistency of the Pit Putty Creams is soft but solid.  I scoop out a slightly larger than pea-sized amount, spread on my arm pits, and I'm good to go.  Shelf life is 1 year. 

Pit Putty Deodorant Creams can be purchased online at Bubble & Bee.  If you are not a fan of the cream concept, they have deodorant sprays and sticks as well.  Bubble & Bee also has a deodorant guarantee/exchange policy (more details here) which is pretty cool.

I'm sure you are aware of this, but I always search for discount codes online, even if there is nothing on the actual web site I'm purchasing at indicating a discount.  I was able to find a $7 off $35 discount code that worked, which helped offset the $8 summer shipping charge. 

NOTD: Naiad (franken) and Mint Condition

Yes, I've started down that slippery slope of mixing my own nail polish.  It's a learning process with plenty of trial and error, but here is one that I really love and have named Naiad. It's a dusky blue green with blue and holographic micro glitter.  

Definition of NAIAD

1: any of the nymphs in classical mythology living in and giving life to lakes, rivers, springs, and fountains

2: an aquatic insect nymph (as of a mayfly, dragonfly, damselfly, or stone fly)

3: any of a genus (Najas of the family Najadaceae) of submerged aquatic plants 

(Source: Meriam Webster)

 

Furthermore, the water nymphs were purportedly joyful creatures that could not be insulted or emotionally hurt.  Now, who wouldn't want that?

 

This is 3 coats of Naiad with Seche Vite base and top coat.  It dries relatively smooth but needs top coat to bring out the sparkle.  

 

Mint Condition

Since Naiad is a somewhat sheer polish, I decided to try layering it over Mint Condition by Ulta.  Mint Condition is a dusky medium turquoise creme.  This is only the second Ulta polish I've tried, and both have been somewhat thick yet still a bit streaky.  I did two coats but three would have been better because of some sheer patches.   I do love the color though.  The indention you see on my pointer finger is where I nicked my nail with my Pedi-egg a while back.  Dangerous contraption.  I noticed Ulta has their polishes on sale online for $2 right now.  Not sure about in store.

Here is 1 coat of Naiad over Mint Condition.  There is a luminous quality to Naiad that I really like.  In the sun it flashes, but in the shade it glows. 

What do you think?  Have you tried making your own polishes?