No Stink with a Salt Stone! #crystallinesalts

Press Sample.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

I admit, I was a little nervous about testing a natural deodorant.  I had a friend in grad school that used natural deodorants, and she always smelled awful.  So, before I switched from my 'extra strength' deodorant/antiperspirant to this, I did some research on crystal deodorants.  And, I picked a week when I was off from school and wouldn't be seeing as many people!

Pure Bentonite Healing Clay Masks For Me and the Mister!

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Oily skin, I has it.  My husband also has it.  On the plus side, it means we don't have as many wrinkles as we could have.  On the negative, we get pimples and blocked pores, greasy and dull skin if we don't take care to balance our oil production.  One of my favorite things to do to help balance my skin is to use a clay mask, like one made from Pure Body Naturals Ultra Youth Indian Healing Clay. 

Skin Souffle

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

If you caught my other review on some gel-tastic Oz Naturals products I did, you might have figured out that you're in for another rave review on this Olive & Jojoba Oil Nourishing Souffle.  Which sounds like something you'd eat, not rub on your skin, doesn't it?  As organic as it is, I wouldn't recommend eating it, though.

Holo in a Dotted Frame

Hello, Fireflies!

For the third installment of the 3rd Anniversary copycat challenge, I chose a simple, but fun purple dotted frame mani from A Girl And Her Polish!

Ever Wash Your Face With A Potato? You'll Want To With PureSol Konjac #KonjacSponge

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you heard about Konjac?  No, not the TV detective who always had a lollipop in his mouth.. (that's Kojak, and I'm *totally* dating myself.)  Konjac is a sponge made out of an Asian potato plant fiber, and it's a total game-changer.

Two Old Purples A New Way

Hello, Fireflies!

I took one look at this horizonal gradient framed nailart by @nadeekim and I knew I had to try something like it, too.  I've never tried a horizontal gradient, and I loved the two-toned frame, too.

I started with a purple I knew needed some love - Catrice Dirty Berry.  I lusted after this scattered holo, and scoured the internet for it! Pretty sure I got it from a Bulgarian web site.  I was a little cray-cray, but it was totally worth it.

I put some A-England Lady Of The Lake on the right side of the nails.  Trust me, it looked darker in person.

Framing half the nail with white and the other half in black also made the two sides look lighter and darker because of the optical illusion.  So cool.  I'm a freakin' nail magician, that's what.

Lots of transitions here, so don't forget the topcoat to smooth everything out!

 You can maybe see the transitions clearer in this picture. Or, is it an illusion? A trick of the light?

Bottle shot:  Catrice Dirty Berry, A-England Lady Of The Lake, and stripers in white and black.

Does this make you see these two old polishes in a new light?

An InLinkz Link-up

Beauty Tuesday - Ellis Faas, and an inspired mani #TMSOrlando

Hi, Fireflies!

Out of allll the amazing things I saw at The Make Up Show Orlando, one of my favorites was the Ellis Faas booth.

In my blogger pack, I was given a sample of Ellis Faas mascara to try, but I couldn't leave without buying the 'Ellis Red' lipstick.  I was so impressed with both items, I knew they had to be my first review for you.. and I had to do an inspired mani!

I wanted to incorporate both the black mascara and the red lipstick, so I did a 'framed' mani using Finger Paints Black Expressionism and a red holo from Above The Curve called, Prototype Red.

Here's the bottle shot:  Above The Curve  Prototype Red and Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

On to the Ellis Faas lovelies - I dig the packaging.  Everything comes in these elongated silver bullet cases.

The end of the tubes tells you what the product is, though, so you don't have to open everything up to see what's what.

L101 is the Creamy Lips Ellis Red.  The applicator is a sponge, and the product comes out when you twist the barrel.  My only complaint about this packaging is that when I had this lipstick in my work bag, some of the product would invariably leak out of the sponge.  Fortunately, it's a thicker formula, so it didn't run anywhere, but I don't want to waste a drop!

Ellis Red mimics the color of natural blood.  The idea is, because everyone's blood looks the same, this color red won't clash with anyone's skin tone.  I find it very wearable, and have truly fallen in love with this color.  I find myself picking certain outfits just so that I can wear this lipstick.

The Ellis Faas mascara has also become my absolute favorite mascara to use.  The only downside for me is the extra-long wand.  If I'm not careful, I usually get a dab of mascara on my cheeks!  I'm pretty uncoordinated, though!

The formula on this mascara is the best I've ever used.  Not only does it cover well with no clumps, it feels amazing all day long.  My lashes never get crunchy or flaky.

At the end of a long day, my eyeliner is smudging, but my mascara isn't budging.  No dotty spots, no flakes.  Comes off with my makeup remover wipes!

Lipstick and mascara both by Ellis Faas.

On EllisFaas.com, the Creamy Lips retails for $35, and the mascara retails for $34.

Have you tried Ellis Faas?  What did you think?

Spring, just around the Curve.. or above it? Part I

You may ask yourself, what, more holos?  and I will happily reply, Yes! Moar holos!

Above The Curve came out with a set of 4 pastel holos for this Spring's collection.  I have two of them today, plus some nail art featuring an older polish from ATC.

The Baby Blues.  There was a boy I went to school with that we used to call 'Baby Blue Eyes' and chase him around the schoolyard.  I still see him on Facebook now and again, and he doesn't seem to be traumatized.

I'm sure those gorgeous eyes served him well in his life!  I can't have blue eyes, but I can have blue nails, and this is a really nice light blue holo.  In Real Life the VNL isn't as noticeable, it just seems to pop out in macro shots.  Out of the 4 polishes in the collex, this one was the only one I had a little trouble with for the application.  Pesky blue pastels are always a little trouble.

Hyacinth.  Very light purple/pinkish holo.

I really love the depth of color on this one.  The purple comes out, and the pink, and even some yellow..  really pretty.

I did an exaggerated Ruffian with Kahuna, a teal blue, and then I framed Kahuna with a Milani silver nail art glitter.
 

I like creating optical illusions with polish.  The Ruffian can sometimes make nails look shorter and stubbier, but by using the glitter and two lighter colors, I think the brightness alleviates the stubby effect.  If you have a nail shape you want to make narrower or straighter, you can try this kind of idea to give the illusion of another nail shape.

If you'd like more information about Above The Curve (including their charitable donations to Shriners and others) please visit their Facebook page, or their shop on Big Cartel.

What do you think so far?  Stay tuned tomorrow for the other two polishes in the Spring collex, and some more nail art!

Above The Curve - Fallen Angel Collex, Part I

Above The Curve is a unique Indie brand that has really gotten my attention lately. I usually buy their scattered holos - their Fallen Angel line is gorgeous, and I'm going to show you some looks from that line today and tomorrow.  They don't just sell polish, though - they started a group on Facebook called "Hey Mani, Do You Lacquer?" for polish enthusiasts, bloggers, creators, etc.  They also donate $1 from each of their polishes to Shriners Hospitals and for scoliosis research. 

Arch Angel. Light lavender holo that leans pink. 

I did a gradient over it with Risen Angel.  This eggplant color is one of my faves from this collex.  It's rich and dark, and the holo texture really gives it dimension.

This look was inspired by a Mardi Gras look from Pink and Polished.  I just changed the colors up a bit.  To do the detail on top, I added a little white to Diablos and painted on the lines. 

Here are the bottles of the three polishes I used, and backwards, so you can see the polish better.

This next look also uses Arch Angel, and pairs it with another purple from the collex, Aurora.  First, I painted half of each nail with Arch Angel, and then the other half with Aurora.  It was really hard to tell the difference, even in Real Life.

Same mani, but I added the black lines, and that really brought out the contrast between the two.  Aurora is much darker.

I did a simple, subtle framed nail for my last look.  Fallen Angel is an interesting polish - it's dark, but at the same time, very sheer.  It actually photographed more opaque than it looks in Real Life - it was like the shimmer reflected the illusion of a solid surface.  Between the blue shimmer, and the blue and black glitter, it's a very pretty polish.

 

Bottle shots.

Divine Angel, a turquoise holo, brings out the blue flecks in Fallen Angel.  I think they work well together for a subtle look.

Tomorrow, I have three more looks I created from the Fallen Angel line.  If you'd like more information about Above The Curve, you can find them on Facebook and on their store..