Aren't You Supposed To NOT Sniff Paint?: Revlon Parfumerie Review

Last night, after putting together all of my music and altering most of my costume (that's another post, entirely), I had just enough time to do a quick and dirty manicure before bed. I had a producer's run on a show today, and needed vintage nails. Originally, I was going to use red, but it turns out, I don't own a red creme nail polish. Not one. I have red satin and red glitter, but no creme in all the gazillion bottles cluttering up my bathroom. Go figure.

 

Anyhoo, yellow was on the list of historically-accurate colors for the time period, and I'd just gotten my hands on one of the new Revlon Parfumerie scented polishes that I've seen advertised for so long, so I decided to take this opportunity to test it out. The color is Sunlit Grass, and the (freaking adorable) bottle was about six bucks at Walgreen's.



I told you it was quick and dirty. This ain't no pro job, that's for darn sure. In fact, there's still a little glitter left over from the last polish on my pinkie. Nice.

It is, indeed, scented. Whoo, boy, is it scented. I had actually used this before, but on my toes. I don't know about you, but I don't recall the last time I sniffed my own toes, so that wasn't exactly the most useful experience for review purposes. Now that I have the stuff on my hands...I kind of wish I didn't. It doesn't smell bad, but the scent is very strong, and my sinuses are very not happy with me right now. The fragrance is sort of a mix of floral and grass, and would probably be lovely as a spray or rollerball, where you develop a tolerance after wearing for a few minutes. In this case, every time I push my hair out of my face, the scent hits anew. Pretty as the color may be, it's coming off as soon as I can get to some polish remover.

As far as formula goes, I'm not crazy about it. It's streaky, patchy, and took forever to dry, even with a quick-dry topcoat. There are bubbles throughout. That said, the color is gorgeous, vibrant, and very true to what it looks like in the bottle.

Final Verdict: 4.44 out of 10. It's not the worst I've ever used, but it's not the best, and the gimmick is certainly not worth the price. Cute bottle, though.

'Ip, 'Ip, 'Ooray! July Ipsy Unbagging

It's mid-July, which means that it's time for another Ipsy unbagging! This month's bag arrived much more quickly than the last couple, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. July's theme was "Beach Beauty", and I think the selected products fit that theme perfectly.

Let's see what we got:

I love this bag! It's a fluorescent pink cylinder, made from a clear, PVC-ish material. It's water-resistent, and wonderful for keeping in your beach bag. Inside the bag, I found Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof hairspray, BH Cosmetics eye shadow mini-palette, Coola Mineral Sunscreen, Demeter perfume oil in Salt Air, and Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush. So, stuff to keep me frizz-free, fry-free, smelling beachy, and looking Summer-y. I'll take it!

This is my first experience with BH Cosmetics eye shadows. I have lip and concealer palettes (those same ones available from Coastal Scents and Crown Brush and...well, everybody else), and they're fantastic for the price, but I've never used the shadows before. I have to say, they're not the most amazing shadows I've ever used, but they're pretty darn good. I could toss this in a bag and be good to go for a weekend trip. The colors are a little sheer (save for the gold--wowzers!!!), but they apply smoothly and blend well.

I'm a little conflicted about the lippie. On the plus side, it's a gorgeous coral, and I love coral. It's also extremely creamy, easy to apply, feels amazing, and has decent staying power--not phenomenal, but not bad. On the other hand, that gorgeous coral is NEON against my skintone. You can't really tell from the swatch (below), but this is most definitely meant to be a statement lip. I just really don't know how I feel about it. I do know that I'll have to give Pop lip products a second look, though. I've not been impressed with their eye shadows, but this lipstick is a great product, neon or not.

From left to right, we have the Pop Beauty crayon, then the BH eyeshadows in Hollywood, San Francisco, and Malibu. Just look at that Malibu--LOOK AT IT!!!! I'm a gold eye shadow kind of girl, and that rivals a couple of Stila shadows that I absolutely adore.

Pay no attention to the sleep deprivation (my adorable puppy likes to practice his tap-dancing at 3am...on my bed...on top of me). I threw this together this morning, using only the shadows in the mini-palette. I used San Francisco in the crease, outer corner, and lower lashline, Malibu sheered across the lid, and Hollywood as an upper lashliner. I applied these over Urban Decay Primer Potion, and they've stayed put for the past five and a half hours. If there's been any fading, it's so minimal that I can't tell.

I haven't had a chance to use the hairspray, yet, but I'm sure it's going to get a workout. I'm interested to see if it's as good as my Redken 28. That sucker could hold your hair through a hurricane.

This applied smoothly, truly was unscented, and hasn't caused any oiliness or irritation. I just don't know if it's worth the trouble to add SPF 20 when I'm already using a BB Cream with SPF 20. I might just stick with my drugstore SPF 100 (Lord, that doesn't mean anything. They were out of 35 and 50). It's not oily, either, and costs a heckuvalot less.

Alrighty, now we're on to my favorite part of the bag! This perfume oil is killer. It smells exactly like the beach. I don't mean, "ooh, it smells of salt and coconut! It's beachy!" I mean, "holy cracker jacks, this smells like the air when I get out of my car at my aunt's beach house. There's some salt, some seaweed, some sunscreen...it's a cooler of fried chicken and cokes away from actually being the beach. It should come with a towel, a boombox, and sand for the floorboard of your car. I'm in love. Pure love. Tara, if you're reading this, your name is all over this bottle.

Here's a look I put together with the stuff in the bag. It's mostly drugstore, since I wanted this to be something you could grab at Walmart or Target while you did the rest of your vacation shopping. There are a couple of exceptions, but just a couple. And yes, my hair is wet. I could tell you it's because this is a beach look, and I wanted you to see how it would look for reals, but honestly, I'm just lazy and didn't feel like blowing my hair dry.

Coola Mineral Sunscreen
Garnier BB Cream Light/Medium
Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser in Brightener and Neutralizer
ELF Studio Body Shimmer in Mystic Moonlight
BH Cosmetics Mini-Palette
ELF Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in Turks & Caicos
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
ELF Essential Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Clear Mascara
Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush
Juice Beauty Lip Gloss in Pink
Buxom Buxom Lash Waterproof Mascara in Black

Pretty, Pretty Princess: Sephora's Cinderella Collection

What girl doesn't want her Cinderella moment? Whether it's your wedding day, a new job, or the day you're finally able to fit into your skinny jeans or manage to remember to line both eyes (hey! Some days, that's an accomplishment!), we all want to feel beautiful and special. Well, Sephora and Disney have teamed up to create a line of products that celebrate the princess that lives in each one of us...even us big, grown-up girls.

The collection consists of an eyeshadow palette, an eyeshadow quad, a set of four lipsticks, a set of six nail polishes, one perfume in three different bottle options, and a compact mirror. Prices begin at $19 for a rollerball and go up to $175 for a Swarovski crystal encrusted fragrance bottle.

Here's the kicker: right now, you can only get these online, and only if you're a Beauty Insider. Everyone else has to wait until October for these beauties to hit stores and become available online. Of course, October is almost here, so that's not too bad a wait time.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I give you: The Cinderella Collection!

This set of twenty shadows features shades customized to the original Pantone colors from the Disney film. The palette runs $55, and is paraben-free.

If you're more into smoky looks, this pretty, paraben-free palette will only set you back $30.

This set of four paraben-free (loving that trend!) lipsticks come in glamorous silver packaging, and feature names such as Lady Tremaine and Pumpkin. At $25, this could make a wonderful Christmas gift, or even be broken down into luxe stocking stuffers.

If you like glitter, here's a set of six mini-polishes in pink, blue, silvers and golds. If you don't like glitter, you might want to skip out on this. $24.50, and easily broken up into smaller gifts for co-workers, classmates, or bosom buddies.

So This Is Love is a 1.7 oz fragrance that is housed in a gorgeous bottle, reminiscent of Cindy's pumpkin coach. According to Sephora, the perfume features notes of Fresh Aldehydes, Plumeria, Dewy Hyacinth, Tuberose, Sheer Jasmine, Solar Accord, Musks, Plum, and Creamy Woods. It retails for $58.

A roller ball version of the fragrance is available for $19, and while the packaging isn't quite as opulent, it's still very pretty and elegant.

Of course, if opulence is what you're going for, you can't get much more extravagant than a Swarovski crystal-embellished bottle. The fragrance is the same, but this version will cost you $175.

Photo Credit (This and All): Sephora

Lastly, a princess needs a magic mirror. This one may not have special powers, but it certainly is magical to look at! This $20 beauty mimics the iconic clock from the film. 

Overall, the collection is enchanting. The makeup doesn't really strike my fancy, but that mirror and rollerball are calling my name. Personally, I could never spend $175 on, essentially, a pretty bottle, but the price points, on the whole, seem reasonable. I know I'd be thrilled to find any of these items under the tree this Christmas, and hope this is a good omen of holiday sets to come this Winter. Look for the collection in stores in October.

How Glossy Is Your Box?: July Glossybox Opening

*WARNING! This post is really picture-heavy. Grab a popcorn and coke and settle in for the long-haul. If you are interested in any of the products, click here.

Hey! My July Glossybox arrived, and we're still in the first week of August! That's progress! As you may recall, I wasn't thrilled with last month's Glossybox. It was extremely slow arriving, the products were somewhat lackluster, and there were billing/customer service issues out the wazoo. A lot of boxes were also ruined in shipping, due to a lack of safety seals and an abundance of loose caps. This month, happily, things went much more smoothly, and I'm very happy to show you the box, the products, and give you brief, first impression reviews of everything. I hope you enjoy!

Alrighty! Let's start with the outer box. It's black and pink again! Granted, it also says it's from Denmark, but let's not quibble.

Inside, we have this month's Glossy Mag. I may be in the minority, here, but I'm just not a fan. The information isn't very detailed, so it reads more like a long advertisement. If it dealt with each month's products, that would be awesome. As it is, it's just not necessary, and ends up getting tossed out with the outer box.  

The pink box. It's now holding my sunscreens and sunless tanners, and making the bottom of my medicine cabinet look much more organized than it has any right to be.

Ooooh...all wrapped up with a bow! 

Close up of the product card. 

Sealed up and ready to be opened.

The Prize Inside!

From left to right: Sebastian Shampoo for color-treated hair, Figs and Rouge Sweet Geranium lip and body balm, Pedix Feet heel balm, Sebastian Conditioner for color-treated hair, Blushed perfumed towelette, Senna double-ended lip bloss in Luminous.

Let's start with the shampoo/conditioner. These are, on the outset, generous travel sizes. Sadly, when you go to use the products, it takes so much shampoo to make a lather that you might not make it through a week-long trip without having to break down and use the hotel stuff. Then again, I have very long hair, so that probably contributed. That said, the conditioner is a foam, and the instructions actually say to use a "tennis-ball" sized amount, and that is a lot of product for one use.

Overall, I don't care for these. The conditioner had a nutty scent that I really didn't like, and my hair felt very dry after using both products. If you check the ingredients, they're both full of sulfates, as well. (Side note: I also found out today that my Pantene for color-treated hair is, too, so it's back to L'oreal EverPure I go.)  

Next up is the FULL-SIZED Figs and Rouge balm, and I love it. It's very similar to the Rosebud Perfume Co. Rosebud Salve that I've been using for years, but has a much drier texture. The one thing I've always disliked about the Rosebud is the greasy feel. If this works as well, I may have to switch.  

I've only used the Pedix Feet Heel Rescue Balm once, but I really like it. I can't tell too much of a difference in the roughness of my callouses, but the creamy texture and minty cool feel and scent have won me over, so far. Plus, the size is large enough to supply several uses, while being small enough to travel well. This is going with me to Disney, no doubt about it.

BONUS POINTS for being sealed for my protection!

This is really cool. It's an individual perfumed towelette in the scent "Blushed", and it smells like cotton candy and magic. It's a very, very, very, extremely girly scent that reminds me of a cross between Sensual Amber from Bath and Body Words and Pink Sugar by Aquolina. Actually, if you can think way back to when Avon's Mark line had Hollywood Pink bath products, that's where my scent memory takes me. I want to bathe in it. 

Full disclosure: my packet was slightly open. However, the towelette inside is still sealed. I can smell it through the packaging, though. I'm considering getting a box of these to take on vacation, and also to have some to leave in the fridge. I think it would feel so good to come in on a hot day and rub on a cold fragrance towelette.

Lastly, we have the FULL-SIZED Senna double-ended lip gloss in Luminous. Now, I need another gloss like I need a hole in the head, but I lucked out and got a gorgeous color for me. The right side is a plummy dusty rose with golden shimmer, and the left side is pearlescent gold gloss. It is very sticky. So sticky, in fact, that I felt the need to bold that part. When you put this on, it's not going anywhere. I wore it today, actually, and applied the gloss around 10:00 am. It is now after 3:00, and I have eaten lunch, had a snack, drunk a coke (out of a bottle!), talked and talked and talked, and the gloss is still there. It's faded a bit, mind you, but it's still on my lips. If you need something very longwearing for a photo shoot, theatre, film, or television, I highly recommend this. It's also fairly comfortable, considering the stickiness. I did make sure to wear my hair in a ponytail, though, since it's windy. I also didn't kiss my husband, or give my puppy a peck on the top of the head.

Here are swatches of the gloss. The top swatch is the pink, and the bottom is the gold.

Here's just the gold, by itself:

Here is just the pink:

And here they are layered, with the gold over the pink. That's my favorite look of the three:

There you have it, folks--the unveiling of the July Glossybox. All in all, I'm very pleased with this month's offering, and with how the company seems to be pulling it to together now. I'm sticking with it for another month, to see how it goes. What do you think of Glossybox, so far? Let me know in the comments.

Blue Jean Baby, L.A. Lady

This afternoon, on my Starbucks run, I saw a flyer advertising a fundraiser for the local ballet, and on it, this picture:

Photo by Britta Rivera

Now, my first thought was, "Wow, that is a gorgeous photo."  My second thought, and what brings me to this post, was, "I totally want to start a new fashion trend."  NO!  I do not want to pull out the old tutus and point shoes and wear them to work!  I'm not completely insane (no comment, Mom), but I love the juxtaposition of the hard, cold vintage jewelry against the filmy material of the dance costume.  The edge and the frills.  How can I make this something I can wear to the mall and not get funny looks?

So, ladies and gents, I issued myself a challenge (CHALLENGE!!!), and created two looks that incorporate ballet-inspired clothing with vintage accessories.  One's for day, the other's for night.  To keep things easy and relatively cheap, all items can be found at Forever21.com.

Look 1:  Day

*Photos by Forever 21
Just so you know, it is really freaking hard to get the pictures lined up in Blogger.  The chiffon top is ballet pink, and has a similar flow to a dance skirt.  The gray rhinestone studded skinny jeans are a nod to the rhinestone fishnet tights coveted by pretty much every dancer I've ever met.  Black suede platform pumps give the height of pointe shoes, and remind me of the moleskin placed on the toes of the dance shoes.  Then we have the "vintage" jewelry in a beautiful amber, with pearl and dark gray rhinestone accents.

Look 2:  Night

*Photos by Forever 21

Now, for look two, we have a chiffon dress with a draped neckline.  Again, the chiffon is reminiscent of a dancer's skirt, and navy is a very classic, elegant color.  Actually, one dance school I attended required navy leotards, come to think of it.  Anyway, I have it paired with black open weave (fishnet) tights with lace seams up the back.  Seamed tights are a ballet staple.  Black ballet slippers with large stone accents complete the outfit.  As for the jewelry, we start with a feathered and jeweled hair clip (Swan Lake, anyone?), then add an ornate bracelet of dark gray stones, coupled with black and gray bangles.  We finish it off with an elaborate black and clear rhinestone ring.

Photo by Britta Rivera

Obviously, these are just examples, but it shows how a little inspiration and a lot of digging can make up some interesting and fun ensembles.  This last picture was just for fun.  Isn't it gorgeous?!  The photographer is Britta Rivera, and I hope she doesn't mind me posting this.  It was on a flyer, after all.  Anyway, these were just too pretty not to share.

Now, it's magic bag o' samples time!!  If you're just joining Adorable Napalm, this is my penance for hording samples for, well, ever.  Every day, I pull one at random and test it out, then review it here.  This morning, with my sinuses going bonkers, I pulled out Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy eau de parfum.  Yay?  $18-$87, Sephora.com.

According to Sephora:

Can't get enough couture? Well here's even more, for Juicy girls who want it all. Juicy Couture presents Viva La Juicy, an enticing scent of wild berries and mandarins, honeysuckle, gardenia, and jasmine. To round it out, amber, caramel, vanilla, sandalwood, and praline add just the right touch of sweetness. It's bottled in a bold gold decanter decorated with Juicy charms.

According to me:  I wants it, my precious!!!  It's fun, fresh, young, and smells like pralines.  Seriously, the first thing I noticed was the caramel, and while I can note some floral scent now (hours later), I can still detect the sweetness, and I'm in love with it.  This is what I would call a weekend perfume.  You know, you have your everyday scent, and you have your special occasion fragrance.  This is your fun, nothing's planned, but anything can happen perfume.  If you've been reading for a while, you know that I've tried several perfumes now, and have some favorites.  Well, just for fun, I decided to classify them.  Here you go.  Maybe it'll help you pick your own faves.

Juicy Couture Couture Couture (really?  Three Coutures?):  Everyday fragrance.  Sweet, but not saccharine,  and a little sassy.
Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy:  Weekend fragrance.  Sweeter and sassier, but with a little sex appeal with the honeysuckle and jasmine.
Givenchy Hot Couture (what is it with Couture?):  Special Occasion fragrance.  Very sweet, and the raspberry smells like Heaven.  I mean, I really think that's what Heaven will smell like.  It's gorgeous.
Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb:  Extreme Special Occasion fragrance.  Weddings (including your own), anniversaries, going anywhere with a dress code, that sort of thing.  Again, very sweet, but this time it's also very innocent.  It also contains ballerina freesia, which just sounds pretty. 

All of these are available at Sephora.com, and all have rollerball options that run in the $20 range.  As my samples run out, that's the route I'm going.