Free Sample Alert! Gud body lotion.

Last month, I posted about the new GUD bath and body line by Burts Bees.  It's a fab new line of body lotions, body washes, shampoos and conditioners in really yummy scents.  Now, you can get a free sample of one of their body lotions!  Just head over to Facebook and fill out the form- that's it!  

They even let you pick which scent you'd like to try: Orange Petalooza, (blood orange and hyacinth), Vanilla Flame (Vanilla and Rice Milk), or Floral Cherrynova (Cherry Blossom and Almond Milk).  Don't ya just love free stuff? :)

E.L.F. Studio Mineral Infused Mascara Review

While perusing the aisles at Target the other day, I stopped by the ELF section to see what was new. Well, I didn't see anything new, but their makeup is sooo cheap (between $1 and $3), I always feel like I should get something to try. Since I'm a sucker for mascara, I decided to spring for the Studio Mineral Infused Mascara, $3. 

The brush is a plastic bristle brush, which is great for separating lashes.  The one downside to the brush is that the head seems a tiny bit flimsy and I'm worried that with a lot of use, it might get wobbly to the point where it'll be hard to use.

I was really impressed by the results I got from this.  I didn't expect much from a $3 mascara, and while it didn't give a falsies look, it lengthened and defined my lashes and even thickened a little bit.  It gave a natural, separated lash look that I would definitely wear everyday.  It didn't smudge all day, and came off really easily when I washed my face at night.  

Here's my before:

And here's the after: one close up, and one further away:

Who knew a $3 mascara could give such great results? Have you tried this?

Spotted in Store- Revlon Nail Art Break-Up Crackle Effect Nail Polish

I was in CVS today and saw these really cool looking Revlon Crackle Nail Polishes.  They're double ended with complimentary colors and have cute names that go with the Break-up theme. 

I picked on up in Fatal Attraction, so I'll be posting a review this week- stay tuned! 

Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Polish- Passionate Pink Swatch

If you saw my previous post on Revlon's new Colorstay Longwear nail polish, and all of the reader comments below it, you know that this stuff is just awesome- patent leather, gel-like shine and it lasts a looong time! Without a topcoat, the tips start wearing around day 4, but with a topcoat, mine lasted a week before I decided to just take it off and switch colors.  I just picked up Passionate Pink, and it's such a pretty bright pink that makes me think of Spring when I wear it.  I just wanted to post a pic so you can see the color- love it!

SensatioNail Contest is almost over!

If you haven't entered our SensatioNail contest on the forum, you'd better hurry!  The giveaway ends February 29th! 


The prize is one SensatioNail Gel Starter Kit worth $60. The kit comes with a UV lamp and all the products you need to get a salon gel manicure at home.  This kit comes with the color Raspberry Wine to get you started, but you can always buy additional colors separately.  

Spotted in Stores- Organix Coconut, Moroccan Argan and Cherry Blossom body washes and lotions.

Today while I was at CVS, I spotted some new Organix body washes and lotions in three scents: Coconut Milk & Hibiscus, Morrocan Argan Oil, and Cherry Blossom & Rice Milk.  

The Coconut Milk and Hibiscus is a "creamy" body wash and body lotion.  
The Cherry Blossom & Rice Milk is a "cashmere" body wash and body creme. 
The Moroccan Argan Oil is a "creamy oil" body wash and body lotion.  


They seem to mirror the hair products, which I absolutely adore the scents of, but haven't necessarily stood out to me in terms of performance.  But, the thought of using that amazing Coconut Milk & Hibiscus scent all over, instead of just on my hair is enough to make me want to try these! 
Have you tried these?  If not, do you want to?

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Cuticle Eraser + Balm

I was in Rite Aid yesterday, and spotted the new Sally Hansen Cuticle Eraser and Balm- I was totally drawn to the white and mint-green swirly pot! 

My hands are dry normally, but the winter makes them look like I'm 84, not 34, and having hands that are that dry, comes with major hangnails and rough cuticles.  Since I just bought a beautiful new Revlon Colorstay Gel nail polish (review coming tomorrow), I thought maybe I should clean up my nails a bit first so my manicure looked prettier.  

Here's the packaging/ingredients

I loved that this is an all in one product to remove cuticles and moisturize at the same time.  The balm smells really light and fresh, like cucumbers, and it's the consistency of a cross between vaseline and a body butter.  It's very thick, yet easy to massage into the nails. 

 I found that it removed some cuticle, but not completely.  I think I'll have to use it a few more times to remove them totally.  The instructions said you can use a cuticle pusher to get rid of hard to remove cuticles, but I didn't have one with me- not a big deal.  I loved the way it made my nails and the skin around them so smooth and healthy looking!  They looked my age again, which was so great.  

My one (tiny) complaint with this is that it's hard to wash off.  The directions said to wash your  hands afterward, and when I did, I realized that I still had greenish goop stuck around the sides of my nails.  I had to wash my hands a couple of times, scrubbing furiously at them to get it all off.  The buttery consistency of this stuff makes it want to hang on for dear life, which is a good thing while you're using the product, but not so good if you want it to come off!  Next time, maybe I'll try a stronger soap, such as dish soap to remove it, and see if that's easier.  

I definitely recommend this product if you're looking for an all-in-one solution to clean up and moisturize your cuticles!  It cost around $7 at Rite Aid.

Spotted in Store- Maybelline Spring 2012 Limited Edition Colors

Today I was in Rite Aid, and spotted some new Maybelline 2012 Spring limited edition colors. 

There are really pretty new blush shades with a flower shape embossed into the powder, two new shades of Express Finish nail polish, five marbled EyeStudio eyeshadows, and four new Color Sensational lipsticks.  Here's some up close shots: 

What do you think?  See anything you like?  

New ELF Studio Shimmer Sheets- Mai Couture Blush Papier Dupe

If you've tried Mai Couture's Blush Papier sheets, you know that it's a really cool way to apply blush on the go...just grab one of the little sheets out of your purse and apply to cheeks- no blush compact or brush necessary.  But the price is a bit steep at $17.50!  

Enter one of my fave cheap makeup brands...Eyes Lips Face- they've come out with a dupe that costs just $3 bucks.  Yep, you read that right!

Here's what the ELF Website says about the new Studio Shimmer Sheets: 

"These lightly dusted shimmer sheets create a gorgeous, healthy glow on the apples of the cheeks, décolleté, or anywhere you desire. Perfect for on-the-go shimmer and applying color instantly without the mess and hassle of carrying around a brush. Simply sweep a single Shimmer Sheet over the desired area for an instant dust of beautiful color. 20 sheets included.

Gently remove a single sheet from the envelope.

Press the shimmer side of the paper on the apples of your cheeks, décolleté, or anywhere else you would like to add a beautiful glow.

Use daily as often as desired."

These come in four colors: 

Pearl- this just adds a pearly shimmer with no color. 

Pink

Golden

Bronze

For comparison's sake, here's a picture of Mai Couture's blush sheets: 

I'm interested in checking these out!  For $3 bucks, I can try them all! 

  

Palmers Cocoa Butter Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub Review

Part 3, and my final post of my Palmers mini haul, is a review of Palmers Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub.  

This scrub is made with crushed, microfine cocoa beans, shea butter, cocoa butter, antioxidants, milk proteins and evening primrose to calm stressed skin.  

It kind of looks like St. Ives Apricot scrub- it's very thick and grainy.  

Here it is spread out on my skin- it's really thick and creamy. 

When you add water, it is easy to work into the skin, but it's non foaming.  Here's what it looked like when I added water:

This is an extremely effective scrub in the sense that it gets all the dead stuff off and leaves your skin pink and glowing.  But.... something was nagging at me from years ago, when I took a skincare class during my days working at Sephora. I remember the expert telling us that using crushed seeds such as walnut or apricot  would create microscopic tears in the skin, and that under a microscope the crushed seeds look like jagged pieces of glass.  But, they did say that crushed seed scrubs could be used on the body, where skin is tougher.  

We were taught that the gentlest way to exfoliate the face was to use a scrub containing round spheres such as jojoba beads, since they just roll across the top layer of the skin without tearing the skin.   

My skin seemed fine after using this, but my skin isn't very sensitive.  I think this might be a little harsh on someone with sensitive skin, but so would any other crushed seed scrub.  

 I think I'll probably reserve this for use on my body- it would make a really great foot scrub, since it's so grainy and effective at sloughing off dead skin.  

New ELF Studio Exact Lash Mascara- Clinique Bottom Lash dupe! Cheap Makeup

My favorite cheap makeup brand, ELF (Eyes Lips Face) just released a brand new mascara called Studio Exact Lash.  The brush looks strikingly similar to Clinique's Bottom Lash mascara- it's really tiny, perfect for grabbing every lash, especially the bottom ones. The best part?  It's a steal at $3!

Here's what ELF's Website has to say about Exact Lash: 


"Achieve thicker, fuller and longer looking lashes that are beautiful and evenly coated. The smaller brush design provides precision application exactly where you want it, so you can coat each and every lash. Great for creating winged lashes and to get target definition for lower lashes. The small mascara wand is specifically designed to be used for the bottom lashes or to target corner individual lashes for precise mascara application.
Apply to bottom eyelashes from root to tip, working in a zig-zag motion to fully coat the lashes. Use to also create target definition for both the upper corner and lower lash line. Reapply if desired."


Here's Clinique's Bottom Lash brush:

I'm really excited to try this!  I'd been wanting to try Clinique's version, but now I think I'll spend the $3 and try ELF's!

NYX Cream Eyeshadow Review- Frost Beige, Suede, Copper and Chocolate swatches.

As soon as I heard about the new NYX cream eyeshadows, I knew I had to try them right away!  I used to hate cream eyeshadows, due to their creasing and inability to stay put for any length of time, but since I tried Maybelline's Color Tattoo cream shadows, my opinion has changed.  I was  anxious to find out if these were just as fabulous...


The NYX Cream Shadows come in 24 shades- here are 11 of them:

I bought four: two light colors and two dark.  
From left to right, the shades are Frost Beige, Suede, Copper, and Chocolate. (I'm not sure why the chocolate one has a giant cap compared to the rest- that's the way it came to me, lol.) 

Here's what NYX's website says about them: 

NYX’s Cream Eye Shadows are bursting with intense shimmering pigments in assorted hues. These exceptional Cream Eye Shadows come in 24 shades that have a velvety texture and dries promptly after application and lasts all day. This rich and smooth Cream Eye Shadow is water resistant and crease-free Cream Eye Shadow is the product that you can wear for every season and occasion.

They come with a sponge-tipped applicator.  This is not my favorite application method- I'd rather use my finger or a brush.  

Frost Beige

Suede

Copper

Chocolate

The swatches on my arm (applied extra thick to show colors):

Here's what I like about these: 

• Huge color range to choose from
• Only $5
• They dry quickly.

Here's what I'm not crazy about: 

• Can get patchy when applying.
• They crease within a few hours and need to be blended out again. 
• Sponge tip applicator is hard to work with. 

 I desperately wanted to like these, because I like most NYX products I've tried, but sadly, I'm not really happy with these.  They're just too hard to use- I'm not a makeup artist, so maybe it's me, but I just think that for the average person, you'll probably find these hard to blend. 

The exception was chocolate- while it wasn't necessarily super easy to work with, it wasn't as difficult as the copper.  It was probably my favorite out of all the colors.  I applied one coat, let it dry, and the applied another, and it looked nice at first.  But a couple of hours later, it had creased. :(   This is chocolate below:

Below you can see the difficulty I had with Copper- I dabbed one layer on and waited for it to dry.  But then when I tried to build it with another layer, the bottom later started to come off.  It ended up looking really patchy and got worse the more I tried to fix it.  

The lighter colors were easier to work with but came out much more sheer.  Below is Frost Beige:

and Suede:

I definitely think that I'll be sticking with Maybelline's Color Tattoo cream shadows, as they are easier to apply and have much more longevity than these.  I also think Cover Girl's Intense Shadow Blast, which comes in a tube with a sponge tipped applicator similar to these, is easier to apply and longer wearing.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these.  If you've tried any of the other colors, I'm curious to see if they went on smoothly, or patchy.  

Talk about NYX products with other beauty obsessed readers on the Budget Beauty Forum!