MakeUp Addicted

A brand I haven't seen before, spotted at Walgreens - Simply Shine Lip Shimmers.  These little beauties are 2/$4 and come in three colors.   Simply Lip Shimmers are affordable, organic products made in the good ol' USA. 

From their website:

Here comes the next round of new products at the drugstores!  I had to run into Walgreens yesterday to reload on my Nyquil stash - don't you just love holiday illnesses?  I've had this one for two weeks...

Anyway, there were a slew of new goodies to snap pictures of.  First, above, the Black Radiance Eye Appeal eyeshadow collections - clearly these are very similar to the Wet 'n Wild 8-pan shadows at Walgreens, but the color lineup is a bit different.  I did not pick any up, but I would have gone for the browns and greens.  They looked beautiful.  These shadows were not quite as sparkly/frosty as the Wet 'n Wild, so these might be a good alternative if you don't want as much shimmer. 

Next up, below, the new Covergirl, Queen collection - new mascaras and eyeliners.  There are six shades of eyeliner, all of which were shimmery.  They remind me of the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils, or the LiquidLast liners from Covergirl, but in warmer shades, and more selection. 

Below is a closeup of the color selection for the Eye Tattoo's - I picked up #25 - Bad to the Bronze. 

Lastly Covergirl has a new Blast collection of lipsticks and a new Lashblast 24 hour mascara.  I was tempted to pick up the mascara, but I still have a couple new ones to try at home, so I decided to wait.  The lip colors look interesting too - there are two shades to mix and match. 

Have you seen any of these?  I'll post swatches of the new Eye Tattoo by Eyestudio when I get them uploaded.  I love all these new goodies!  Although, I should be on a no-buy after all the Christmas shopping, but oh well...

A few weeks back I spotted the new entry into the UV/Gel nails: Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color.  I think Walgreens had four colors total available, and I chose Dahlia, the darkest shade in the group. 

These Nutra Nail Gel Perfect collections are a non-UV, gel nail colors, that dry in 5 minutes or less and protect nails from breaking with a patent-leather shine.  Each set comes with three bottles:

1.  Nutra Nail 5 Minute Gel Polish "Activator" (the larger polish with the red label)

2.  Cleaner (small bottle with white lid).  This was actually clear, but I used this before I snapped pictures.  As you'll see below, this is used to clean the brush on the actual nail color, hence the fact that the cleaner is now a deep maroon too!

3.  Gel Color - bottle with the black lid.

Below is a closeup of the color I purchased - Dahlia.  This is a cream chocolate maroon.   A beautiful color for fall and winter, I have worn this on my fingers, but will be using this as my pedicure shortly. 

So, the next question is, how do you do this without UV?  I took a picture of the instructions, or you can go over to Nutra Nail's website and click here to see them.  It's really pretty easy.  I would suggest laying everything out in advance, though - that will make it even easier.

1. First, make sure you have a clean work space, and a towel or paper towel that you can use to dry the brush off after cleaning.

2. Open/unscrew all your bottles, but leave the brushes in them. 

3.  Brush one coat of applicator on 5 nails.  Apply liberally, but don't go overboard.  You just want the nails to look wet or shiny.  Do not let this activator dry, and do not touch it, before you move onto the next step.

4.  Apply one, thin, coat of the gel nail color.  This is a very thin "polish" or color, so don't be surprised if it bleeds out, or spreads out on the nail more than a standard nail polish. 

5.  Clean the brush in the cleaner, and dry on your paper towel.  You will want to keep this cleaning step and repeat every 5 nails.

6.  Repeat Steps 3-5 on your other 5 nails.

7.  Repeat for a second coat - you will need to do this to achieve full coverage of the color. 

You can clean the activator and color brushes in the "cleaner" bottle.  This will help avoid buildup.

Below are my swatches of my first attempt.  I will say, because of the fluidity of the color, having accuracy upon application is a lot more difficult than it is with standard nail polish.  All in all, I was very impressed with my mani seeing as this was my first attempt! 

Overall thoughts?  I actually liked this.  The product does leave my nails stronger and thicker (due to the polish and activator, not because it is making my nails healthier).  The activator reminds me of nail glue - maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's what it reminds me of!  The color dried impeccably smooth and shiny.  Probably shinier than anything I've used before, including Seche Vite.  I didn't wake up with any fabric marks on my manicure, so when it says it dries in 5 minutes, it means it!  The actual product lasted on my nails for a good 10 days before anything began to chip off.  I should have taken a final picture, but I was so anxious to try some of my newer polishes I picked up that I didn't even thinking about it.  So, with that being said, make sure it's a color you really like, because you'll be wearing it for a while!  I think this would be great for a pedicure, simply because of the shine, strength and lasting power.  I tend to leave my pedi's the same for a longer period of time, so it makes sense for me to have something that can last that long. 

So, bottom line, would I buy this again?  I certainly would!  My only request would be to have more color options at the store - I like to see them in real life, not a computer generated swatch, so I probably won't order anything online.  The colors available online definitely surpass those at the store.  This is a pricey venture, too.  At $13.99 for a set, I would like to see the individual colors available.  I don't know that I need to buy the entire package again - I have plenty of activator and cleaner left from my first manicure, so if I could buy the color bottle alone, that would be nice, too.  On a side note, there are coupons available online if you are interested in trying these out, and are turned off by the price.  I'm not sure how much an actual professional gel manicure costs, but I would think that the costs of the at home version is close to 50% off of the cost of a salon version.

One more thing, I almost forgot.  This does suggest using the remover associated with this system, but I'll be honest, I used 100% acetone and didn't have a problem at all. 

So, seeing as this is fairly new, have you seen this or given it a try yet?  I know one reader posted earlier on my "spotted" post, but would like to see what others think too!

I had very minimal exposure to Jordana Cosmetics until Walgreens revamped their set up and put an entire permenant display in their cosmetics department.  Until then there was a little rack with eyeliners and lip liners that I would pick up every once in a while.  You can see what I have purchased and reviewed here.  Actually, some of my most used items are the Glitter Rocks Retractable Eyeliners I swatched and reviewed here, and I got those on clearance for $0.62 a piece!

Now that there is a display at Walgreens, I took a look at the other offerings from Jordana and picked up one of their Easyshine Lip Colors to try out.  There are six colors on the display, and I picked up Sugar Cookie, which is a warm, reddish brown cream - no shimmer here. 

Actually, if you head on over to the Jordana website, you can see all of the different colors here.  The website also has a handy key to tell you what the finish is for each of the colors.

Not only did I mangle the top of the lip color with the lid when I opened it, but my flash totally washed out the color in the tube.  It is a much deeper shade, with more brown undertones.  This is a smaller stick of color too, similar to the size of the Carmex I reviewed earlier this week. 

Swatched on the lips, this is my lips but better.  The shine is unbelievable, and unfortunately my camera did not capture this either.  It reminds me of a the shine you get from a liquid lipgloss in a tube.  Definitely an easy coloor, it adds a hint of warm red shine, without being over the top.  This is a very slick, non-sticky gloss.  Lasting strength is minimal at best, especially if you have to talk alot during the day.  There is a slight fragrance, sort of a warm vanilla sugar (hence the name), and it is also sweet to the taste.   

I think I mentioned a while back that they were renovating the Walgreens near me.  Well, while doing so, I was wandering through the aisles and found a section of clearance items.  These weren't just old products, or broken products, these were perfectly good products that were marked down substantially.  Case and point:  Maybelline's Limited Edition Fall 2011 blushes below...marked down to $1.75 a piece, and then Maybelline was BOGO50% off, so I got one of them for $0.87!  The moral of the story?  Go check out the clearance!

The three I found were Stage Glow, Pressworthy Pink and Ravishing Rouge. 

First, Stage Glow.  This is a beautiful highlighting shade.  The palest of nude pinks, there is beautiful pearl shimmer throughout. 

Pressworthy Pink is a true bubblegum pink.  There is also shimmer in this blush, but not as much as the Stage Glow.  The shimmer is a bit more silver as well, or it could just be because it is against the pink so it stands out more.

Ravishing Rouge is a deep brick/plum shade with a slight pink shimmer.  Yes, this is probably a bit dark for me, but I'm hoping with a light hand and a light brush, I can pull it off.  Otherwise, this is going to my sister.

All three swatched below - natural light, no flash.  The Stage Glow is just beautiful!  The textures are creamy, not chalky at all.  They blend very well into the skin and the shimmer left behind is a really nice glow in the cheeks. 

Have you tried any of these LE shades?  How about finding some great bargains like this in your local clearance?