Review: Beauty Box 5 - March

Hello, Fireflies!

It's April! You know how I know? Because I'm going to tell you about a sub box I got in March!

I've been getting a few subscription boxes.  The surprises can be fun, even if I don't always like everything that comes in the box.  Here's what March's Beauty Box 5 looked like:

Here's the card that talks about everything in the box:

I flatter myself that you want to hear what I thought of everything!

I liked the Tree Hut creme.  As long as I get boxes, I will never run out of lotion.  I think I get one every time.  One day, I'll just fill the tub up and soak in it.  This creme smells so nice, with a hint of coconut and lime (you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all together, you put the lime in the coconut, then you feel better)

Another full-sized product that everyone was excited about was this makeup base from BellaPierre.  It's a multi-purpose base - shadow primer, concealer, and illuminator.  The texture is kind of like a creme blush - a little bouncy, kinda dense and smooth.

I'm not sure why companies think that us curly-haired folks want more mousse, but that's what Design Essentials Natural Curl Enhancing Mousse is.  I actually think it's more of a foam - it's liquid in the container, and then there's an aerating pump, like some of the liquid soap dispensers have.  It wasn't bad - my hair was a little crunchy, but the curls held for a day.

It does smell really good - I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was like a candy I used to have as a kid.

There were two semi-duds in the box.  Jane's Pick soap sent a teeny sliver of something.  They didn't bother to check the box for which kind of soap they sent, but judging from the *overwhelming* aroma of eucalyptus, I'm guessing it was the Gentle soap.

Eucalyptus, to me, smells like bug spray.  Not something I want to clean myself with, which was just as well, because I got one use out of it before it fell apart into mush.

The last thing in the box is a dual-sided facial pad from Swissco.  There is a side with soft terrycloth, but the handle is sewn into that side, so if you want to move it out of the way, it puckers up the pad.  The side with loofah is so rough, I can't imagine using it on my face.  I am a delicate flower, you know.

In case you were wondering, the mani I'm wearing - NOT included in the box - is Illamasqua Freckle with accents of LA Girl Spatter.  I was going for a nude/blue look, but I actually don't like how it came out. The nude is the wrong color for me.

What did you think of this month's box?  Some makeup, some haircare, some lotion, one thing I'll have to re-purpose, and one thing I didn't like.  Not bad for about $10.  I definitely got my money's worth!

If you think you'd like to try Beauty Box 5, and you want to throw a little referral love my way, click HERE for my referral link.

I have some cool Chucks #NailArtForNubs nailart going live at 9am Eastern - hope you'll come see what the ladies with nubbins and I are doing this week!

Hobby Polish Bloggers - Recreate Your Favorite

Here we are, the last day of May, and the last entry for my Hobby Polish Bloggers May Challenge!  Whew, I made it!

I've reviewed the entries, and have chosen my favorite to recreate. And the winner was The Polish Playground, inspired by nature.  *golf clap*

I suppose it's a dubious honor, since the only prize is to have me try and copy your work... 

Illamasqua Serenity.  I new I was a nail polish fanatic when I spent the time to figure out how to both spell and pronounce "Illamasqua".  Totally worth it.  I love this color, and I didn't know it was a rubber finish when I chose it for this challenge, but I likey!

Then, I added the cutest fluffiest clouds ('They're so fluffy, I could DIE!") with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen White Tip.

OPI Black Onyx.  Not the greatest black for nail art, it gets kinda goopy.  Some of my seagulls got a little stringy.  And nobody likes a stringy seagull.

So dreamy...

Bottle shot:  Illamasqua Serenity, Sally Hansen White Tip, and OPI Black Onyx.

Hope I did Lisa of The Polish Playground proud with my rendition of her art.  If I were fishing for compliments in the comments, what would you write to me?

Can't wait to see what the other challenge participants create! 

Check out these other Hobby Polish Bloggers challenge manis!

On Wednesdays, the Mean Girls Wear Pink

I've probably mentioned that, as a little girl, I was only allowed to wear pink nail polish.  So, when I got back into polish, I rebelled a little at the idea of wearing pink.  I mean, why wear pink when I could wear BLUE?  or GREEN?  or *whisper* black?

So many rebellious choices, and I chose them all. 

And, by the way, I'm over 40, and it STILL drives my mother crazy when I wear crazy colored nail polish.  *evil cackle*

But, anyway, I decided that I liked pink again.  So here are some recent pink finds.

Illamasqua Pink Raindrops.  Oh, how we waited for this to show up on the UK website, paid our shipping costs, and then.. well, I like it, but I'm not sure it lived up to the hype.  It's not a pink version of Raindrops, as touted.  It is a pretty pink with flakies, but it's not a jelly. 

Smitten Polish Snowberry Gumdrop.  When I saw another blogger say about this polish that she wished this is what Pink Raindrops looked like, I knew I wanted it!  This is more of a crelly, with fewer, but larger white flakies.  I really like this.

365 Days of Color Make Me Laugh-y Taffy.  This is more jelly than I was expecting.  I would recommend wearing this with undies.  It's a thin formula that I think would take way too many coats to become opaque.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  This one has shredded glitters, too.

Feenix Pasadena Rose.  Pay no attention to the glittered ring finger, we'll get to that in a second.  Are you seeing that blue shimmer?  I hope you can find this in a blog sale, because Feenix closed its doors. 

Glitzology Priscilla. Ok, so you couldn't ignore the glitter.  But now I can tell you that it's Glitzology Priscilla.  It has a very sheer base - it might even be clear, but with a slight iridescence.  It looks like it was made to go with Feenix Pasadena Rose.  The blue shimmer plays nice with the pink and purple glitters, and the two sheer polishes together reach opacity without getting chunky. 

LynBDesigns Jarvis.  We're all guilty of buying at least one polish just for the name.  I have a friend whose name is NOT Jarvis, nor any derivation or similarity to Jarvis.  Yet, that is one of her nicknames.  She doesn't wear nail polish.  I knew she'd never wear this.. so I wear it for her.

Elixir Lacquers With A K.  And, we end on a hot pink note. This one is not for the shy and retiring.  It's bright and fun and shiny.  I have no idea what the K is, and why it has one.

I've included links in the polish titles to the Indies that are still with us.  If you'd like more information, you can find them all on Facebook.

Do you wear pink?   Do you wear a particular color when you're feeling rebellious?

Sweet, Dangerous Hemlock!

There have been a couple of polishes that Illamasqua stopped producing and then brought back when the lacquer mafia clamored for more!  Along with Illamasqua Raindrops, another discontinued and reissued polish was Hemlock.  I was happy to get this one, too!  The base builds up to a semi-transparent nude, and the green glow is amazing.  Maybe it should be called Absinthe, not Hemlock!

 Illamasqua Hemlock.

A little striping tape and a layer of Revlon Trendy add something fun!  I love how you can still see the green glow peeking out.

There's been some hatin' on Zoya Bevin lately on the Facebook groups, and I wanted to do something pretty with it to redeem poor, tarnished Bevin.  I found this nail art by Robin Moses that I thought would do the trick.  I started with an uneven French tip of Bevin over Hemlock.

Cherry blossoms!  Robin's tutorial explains the process better than I could.

Here's all the colors I used.  Base of Illamasqua Hemlock, tip of Zoya Bevin.  Branches are Zoya Cheryl, and the flowers are a mix of Julep Glenn (metallic red) and Helen (pastel lilac).

Do they look like cherry blossoms to you?  A lot of my flowers are a little more abstract than I'd like!  I loved this look, though.

Are you a fan of polishes like Hemlock that are iridescent?  Do you think Bevin looks pretty like this?

Adventures In Stamping - Plate ending in 6

I love these challenges where there is more freedom to choose, and choosing any plate ending with a 6 is pretty open.  I started with Illamasqua Poke, because of course I'm using Illamasqua.  I'll be turned onto another polish next week, and another after that...

Illamasqua sure does have some pretty purples.  Poke is a shimmer.  Jo'mina is a medium creme, Faux Pas is a dark rubber purple.  I used Amy's Nail Boutique plate W226, with the flower.  There are mirror images of the full nail art, which is rather clever, for those who have nails long enough to make a difference.  I'm lucky I can get a whole flower on my little nubs.

I used Sinful Colors Super Nova, a shimmery copper, to stamp with.  Reminds me of holiday wrapping paper!

Do you like a subtle stamp, or would you like more contrast? 

The Fruity Punch of Polish

I have a few colors to show you today that just remind me of fruity cocktails, and that the beach is only a moment away..

Illamasqua Grab.  What to call this color... somewhere between fuchsia and magenta, I guess?  Definitely in the pink family.  Nice, glossy finish.

I added Julep Jordan, a mix of silver glitters, to give it an edge.  Adding some black would look nice, too!

Illamasqua Lament.  This was one of my surprise favorites!  A coral/salmon color that is bright, but not blindingly so, and definitely not neon. 

I love coral and gold together, so I thought Glitzology Sock Monkey would pair nicely.  Even with a very thin layer, it almost completely covered Lament!  Gives it almost a patina look, like an old gold lame' purse.

Gamma.  Now this is pretty much a neon, only in a rubber-type finish.  My camera couldn't capture the true brightness of this polish.  Definitely more bright than simply orange, but not radioactive yellow, either.  A fun summery color.

I took a fan brush and swept Lament and Grab over Gamma.  The mixture really looks like fruit punch to me!  But not the kiddie Kool-Aid version, more like the one with an umbrella in it.  This look needs topcoat to make it all meld together.

Bottle shot:

Too soon for summer?  It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

Nail polish is like Duct Tape.. it has a light and dark side..

I was intrigued by the idea of nail art that uses a contrasting light and dark color to make a simple, but bold statement.  Aside from one polish, I was also having fun playing with the Illamasquas I got on sale!

Barry M. Gelly in Lychee.  If you were thinking that this "Gelly" is like a "Jelly/Jellie" then you'd be wrong.  It's more of a reference to a gel manicure, in terms of the glossy shine.  These polishes are actually fairly opaque, and some are even one-coaters.  Lychee is the nude of the collex, and I really like it! It's a porcelain look, both in color and shine.

I saw this look from Kimberly Maran on Pinterest, and it inspired me to do something similar.  I used Illamasqua Gamma to create a diagonal French.

I did take it one step beyond, however, and applied Nubar glitters in White and Black Polka Dot - black on the orange side, white on the nude side.

The second look I did was inspired by this vintage mani I saw on Grape Fizz Nails.   I started with Illamasqua Bacterium, a shimmery nude with an iridescent shine. 

I should have probably used tape for a cleaner line, but I wanted to try freehanding the line.  I used Illamasqua Vice, a cherry reddish purple, for the center.

 For this last look, I started with Illamasqua Baptiste, a shiny, dark purple.

For a fun twist on the light/dark theme, I did a Ruffian with one of their new glitters, in Speckle. 

Bottle shot.  If you turn your head, it looks normal.

Use the Force!  The Illamasqua Force! What do you think of contrasting light/dark manis?

Illamasqua Dots and Flowers

The Illamasqua sale took the nail polish community by storm, and I certainly wasn't immune.  I only owned a couple of these before the sale, so I took full advantage.  The formulas are really nice, and their rubber finishes are really innovative!

Jo'mina.  A lovely purple!  This is a favorite, for sure.  Not too light, not too dark.

Faux Pas.  One of the awesome rubber finishes.  This was the only polish I picked up with a matte rubber cap, too, not sure why.  Other rubber finishes had the shiny black cap.  This purple is a little less blue than I was able to capture with my camera.

I couldn't resist putting Jo'mina on top.  No topcoat, because I wanted to preserve the difference between the rubber finish and the glossy finish.  So cool!

Rampage.  Awesome name, awesome dark green crelly.  Allllmost a jelly, it took 3 coats to reach opacity.  Look at that shine.

Load.  The bad boy name with the innocent look.  Load isn't a true white, it has more of a creamy yellow tint to it.

I used all the polishes together to make this violet floral design that was inspired by Robin Moses.  You can find her tutorial on YouTube, and she can explain the process better than I can.

Bottle shots:

Are you feeling the Illamasqua love?  Do you like the rubber finish, or glossy better?