OPI Rainbow Connection : Review and Swatches

Because my Sally Hansen black manicure was a little boring for the upcoming Holidays I decided to pimp it up.  And what better way to pimp up a manicure than using GLITTERS.  GLITTAHHHS.

I recently purchased two nail polishes from OPI's Muppet Collection 2011.  The shades I picked up were Gettin' Miss Piggy With It and Rainbow Connection.  I layered the latter with my black nail polish and ta-daaaa.

I tried to take as many pictures as possible so you can really see the glitter particles on my nails.  They're various sizes, so instead of the usual pin size glitter we usually see we have hexagonal flakies and regular glitter as well.   What you see is one layer of glitters only!  I felt it was enough because putting two coats would make the black polish disappear and I didn't want that.

See how PRETTY this is?  And the pictures don't even though show the awesomeness of it, because the glitter reflects the light like crazy!  I always feel kind of childish though with these manicures.  Right now it's ok because it's the Holidays but I usually don't keep these manicures for long. 

Do you like glitters?  Do your wear them even at work?  And did you pick any nail polish from the Muppets collection? 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out : Review and Swatches

Because my First Mate manicure started to chip, I decided it was time for a change.  So I put on Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out.

I love this collection, the bottles are cute - unlike the Instra-Dri ones - they're cheap (around 3.49$-4.49$ here) and they have a wide range of colors.  The application is pretty good with each of the shades I've tried.

What you see here is two coats, which gives a really even black with a creme texture - my favorite as you may have noticed.  The color doesn't chip easily and you can wear it for 5 to 7 days with no chipping with a basic top coat.

Because black is a color I use a lot for nail art or layering under glitters I find having a cheap brand that I can rely on is great.  And Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear definitely does the job well!

What's your favorite brand of black nail polish?

An Eyeliner Story: 5 black eye liners compared

Receiving the NYX eyeliner in my December Luxe Box made me wonder how it compared to the other black eyeliners I currently have.

From left to right you can see : NYX Pencil Eyeliner, Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen, Revlon ColorStay Liquid Liner, L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Liner and MAC Fluidline Gel Liner.  Obviously, they're all black. 

Obviously, the NYX pencil is the easiest to use, it takes the least amount of practice to achieve the desired results because well, we all know how to draw.  You would think that the liquid eye pen from Revlon would be really easy to use as well... wrong.  It's such a mess.  There's either too much or too little product on the tip and it's just a mess to apply, you'll see from the swatches was I mean.

The two liquid liners do take some practice to apply but once you master it it's pretty easy. The L'Oréal one has a felt tip which makes it so much easier to master, so if you're looking into buying your first eyeliner I'd get this one, it does an okay job and it's pretty cheap.  I do find though that the Revlon liquid liner is the best liquid liner in the drugstore category.  The tip is kinda small though so it's a little harder to get straight long lines.  

Finally there's the MAC Fluidline that I've already reviewed here.  The highlight?  Amazing staying power, the best I've seen for a liner. 

Now onto the swatches...

From left to right in case you didn't remember : NYX Pencil Eyeliner, Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen, Revlon ColorStay Liquid Liner, L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Liner and MAC Fluidline Gel Liner.

The NYX pencil is a deep matte black with a smudgeable consistency.  Great pigmentation there as you can see.

See what I told you about the Liquid Eye Pen from Revlon?  It looks brown - not black - very watery and it was hard to get an even color on my arm so you can imagine how bad it is on your lid? Do not buy, absolute waste of money.

The Revlon liquid liner is a lot more pigmented than you see on the picture.  The only issue with this liner is that the hardness of the tip makes it kind of a pain in the butt to layer.  The first swipe is ok, but then the hardness of the tip scratches the color from the first swipe and you need to do it over... so yeah definitely a product that you need to master.  But once that's done, you can get great results from it.

The fourth one, the L'Oréal Lineur Intense is very pigmented as well but it has shimmer in it, which I'm not too fond of for a liner.  But that aside, it's a great liner and very easy to use like I said before.

The MAC fluid line also has a matte finish and it's very easy to smudge as well.  It's my daily liner and has the most staying power out of all the liners I've tried.  

So that's about it!  What are your favorite brands of eyeliner?  I want to try the UD 24/7 ones and the Bobbi Brown gel liners because I've heard great things from them! 

December Luxe Box

So I received my Luxe box this morning.  

Funny thing, I was in my bed you know, in my pajamas (ok no, in my underwear) and the bell rung.  I got out of my bed immediately and rushed to the door to let the mailman know I was there.  Because if he thinks I'm not there the package'll just go to the post office and I'll only be able to pick it up tomorrow.  So I rushed to the door to push the button to let him in (apartment, y'know) and told him from the top of the stairs ''well hum leave it there I'm kind of in my underwear...'' lol -__-.

Anyways, so yeah, I received my Luxe Box this morning.  

Same sleek black packaging as last month, it's so pretty. Inside there was a letter from the founders to thank us for making the box such a success. Probably must be related to the several complaints they've been getting on Facebook about their shipping.  Anyways, it's still nice of them regardless.  They even put a complimentary Loose Button chocolate for Christmas, which is cute.  Of course, Glymm had a 10$ off on their store AND Jelly Beans (as they do each month) but we're not comparing... are we?  

The first item I noticed was this Yves Rocher body wash.  Smell is mandarin (mandarine d'Italie in French). I don't know what's the difference between a mandarin and a mandarin from Italy but oh well. I love those citrus smells so I was really happy about that. It's a nice sample and it's a decent size.  I know some people said that they were really happy to get this since they don't have Yves Rocher stores close to their home, but here it's the complete opposite, Yves Rocher stores are pretty much in every shopping center. Still nice though.

Nail polish is China Glaze First Mate by the way. :)

The second item I noticed was the DDF Advanced Firming Cream.  This wasn't much of a surprise because Loose Button had sent us an email in the beginning of the month giving us the opportunity to choose between this eye cream and a hair product. I chose this firming cream because I'm already committed to a hair brand that I love, so I wanted this item instead.  

The texture is very creamy without being watery but still feels light enough to penetrate the skin.  Because of the out-of-this-world price point, I hope this isn't a miracle product.  At 140$ for 48g, this is something I just can't afford.  The sample size is 14g which is very generous.  I'm excited to incorporate this into my skin care routine, even though I'm still young and my skin doesn't have huge firming needs just yet.

The other two products were a little disappointing.  There was a NYX black pencil eyeliner that retails for 4$.  It is a full size product.  I don't know any women who doesn't own a black pencil eyeliner so this is a little disappointing.  A colored one would have been nicer.  Especially since nowadays makeup lovers mostly use gel, cream or liquid liners and the basic black pencil eyeliner just doesn't compare quality-wise.

It was still nicely pigmented though and really black, none of that almost smokey charcoal grey I pretend to be black black.  You can see a comparision swatch with my other black eyeliners here.

The two golden pockets contained two perfume sample vials.  These aren't deluxe perfume sample size like the La Parisienne sample Glymm box gave me this month.  Those two are regular handed out in department stores perfume samples.  Wanna know the worst part of it? They're half filled. So much for ''deluxe size'' samples.

The left one with the black top is 1 million by Paco Rabanne and it's a male fragrance.  It's really musky and powerful and I kinda like it.  I hope the boyfriend will like it enough to wear it.  Edited after: Well he won't wear it, says his grandfather has the same fragrance and that only *old* people wear it. 

The right one with the white top is Lady Million, still by Paco Rabanne.  It's, like the title says, a perfume for the ladies.  And... I... hate... it.  It's really powerful and its muskiness is overwhelming and headache inducing.  

So all in all it was an okay month, it's fine with me, I don't expect to have great months each month.  I just hope the next one is going to be a little better! Then again, last month's box was great so it's evened out now. So, what did you get in your Luxe Box and are you satisfied by it?

China Glaze First Mate: Review and Swatches

On my previous China Glaze post, I mentioned that I had ordered two nail polishes from amazon from an amazing seller with shipping that was very reasonable.  The second polish is First Mate from the Anchors Away Spring 2011 collection.

I love blues and cremes, so this was a must-have for me.

And lemme say, it did not disappoint.  

It's a very pretty blue without being blackish, purplish or greenish.  It's blue and that's all.  It's definitely not dark enough to look blue under all types of lighting, which is good.

The texture is really creamy, easy to apply.  What you see up there is two coats.  The chipping you see is because I've been wearing this baby for... 4 DAYS!  Not that bad eh?

So this will definitely be one of the polishes I reach for the most, it's just a really flattering shade!  Glad I was able to pick it up even though it's not a regular shade! :)

BUTTAAAAHS : The New Revlon Lip Butters

So I'm pretty sure you've seen them or heard about them or even bought them.  The Revlon lip butters.  Om nom nom, BUTTAH!

I bought three shades.  This was actually the item that broke my no buy November, which I was very successful in - up until I saw the lip butters the 25th of November.  I was good for almost a month though ;).

You see, the US got them at least a month before we did.  Everything is always released weeks if not months later here in Canada.  

The first shade I bought was Cherry Tart, the one on the right.  I liked the consistency so much I went and purchased two other shades about 2 hours later.  

Pictured are Peach Parfait, Berry Smoothie and Cherry Tart.  The packaging is classic Revlon, but I like that the lids are different colors depending on the shade so it's easier to sort 'em out.  

So here are the actual sticks.  The application goes on really smoothly, as you would expect from a product that has butter in its name.  They're creamy and oh so delicious.  They retail for about 7.99$ a pop and there's 20 shades total.  In my drugstore they had a display of the whole 20 shades, with only 2 lipsticks of each shade.  

So if you see 'em and you want 'em, HOLD ON TO 'EM.  Because they will be gone sooner than later.  They are a permanent line though so your drugstore will eventually have them in their permanent displays... but who knows how long will that take!

Here are some swatches on my pale skin, the set on the left is one swipe, whereas the right group shows three swipes to build up color.  You can see Peach Parfait, Berry Smoothie and then Cherry Tart.  

Peach Parfait shows up nicely on the lips, it's definitely a MLBB shade.  It's very sheer and shimmery, like most of the butters.  Of the three I bought it's my least favorite shade.  

I actually bought it because of this...

She's supposed to be wearing Peach Parfait... well it sure doesn't look like that on me LOL.

Berry Smoothie is my kind of shade.  It's a plum shade that leans towards fuchsia.  It has great pigmentation and is on the cooler side, which I love.  It's my favorite shade of the bunch and I feel even though it's one of the more ''daring'' colors of this collection, it still has great wearability.

Finally, there's Cherry Tart.  I thought it would show up more red on the swatches, but it looks so close to Berry Smoothie, it's kind of hard to tell the two apart from the pictures. But you can see that it's more on the dark side, with more hints of red, but still looks very much like a plum lippie.  It's the most pigmented one.  I even had to tone it down a little when I first tried it on, because I was at work at the time.  

I don't think I'll purchase any more shades, because I got the ones I wanted, but it's a great formula that I recommend to everyone, especially lipsticks noobs.  The application is almost fool prof and the lasting power is not all that great so if you make a mistake it's not like your lips are stained all day.  

Points down for wearability because you need to apply every 2-4 hours.  Taste and smell is ok, definitely not a turn off or anything. 

Did you get some buttahs? 

Can you remember them saying : BUTTERRRRRRRRRR!

A love for blush : Maybelline Dream Mousse Cream Blushes

A while ago during my Wal Mart haul I purchased a Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Peach Satin.  At first I found the application a bit tricky because of the cream consistency but now I can say that I really love this blush.  A lot.

I love it so much that it's been my daily go to blush since!  It's perfect for every occasion and very subtle as a day to day blush for work or school.  I love it so much I've purchased a backup.

And then some.

They usually retail for 8.99$ (7.99$ at Wal Mart), but I got all of them on clearance for 3.99$.  It seems like they're clearing them out at several places because I saw them at 3.99$ and 4.99$ off at Jean Coutu and Shoppers Drug Mart.   

I got all the blush shades I could put my hands on so : Pink Frosting (10), Peach Satin (20), Soft Plum (40) and Cloud Wine (50).  They have some bronzer shades as well, but being so pale bronzers don't appeal to me all that much.

The texture is very creamy and it can be a little hard to work with, especially now that I've tried other brands of cream blushes, but I'll get to that in another post.  I use a small kabuki brush for application, but I'm sure a duo-fiber brush would work just as well.  I mostly use this kind of brush because a) it's exactly the size of the pot and b) they're quite dense and I like a dense blush application.   

So I swatched them all, of course. 

On the far left there's Pink Frosting.  It's a very pink shade with lots of shimmer in it.  I find it one of the hardest shade to work with.  It's just so... Barbie-ish.  You really need a light hand with this one.  It's sort of a really bubblegum lipstick kinda blush.  

After there's Peach Satin, my favorite shade.  A lot of people have been saying that this is a dupe for NARS Orgasm.  I don't have it so I can't say, but from swatches I've seen it really is similar.  It's a peachy shade with shimmer, but its shimmer is more natural than the one in Pink Frosting.  I'd say Peach Satin is a safe bet for most skin tones.  

Then there's Soft Plum which is significantly darker than the previous too.  But, with a light hand, this shade is really beautiful as well.  It's probably the one that has the least shimmer out of the bunch so when blended really well, it looks very natural and adds structure to the face effortlessly.  

The shade on the far right is Cloud Wine which has a deep brown undertone to it.  It's way too dark for my skin tone.  Wayyy too dark.  Even with a light hand it shows up a little muddy on me.  I can see it looking really pretty on NC40+ skin though!  But it's not for me, sadly!

I'm guessing these will be discontinued soon since I keep seeing them on clearance... will you pick some up?

Life savers: Neutrogena Make-up Removing Cleansing Wipes

There are some things in life that are life savers. 

Hand cream.

Advil liqui-gels.

Deodorant. 

Drive thru's.

And then there's Neutrogena products as makeup removing products.

I have been using the Fresh Foaming Cleanser as a makeup remover for years now.  It really is the best stuff to remove all kinds of makeup, foundation, powder, liner, lip stuff and the dreaded mascara.  It's just great, it removes everything without being too harsh for the skin.

The only downside?  It's a cleanser and you need to use it with water.  That's a downside you say?  Well yeah, since I'm pretty lazy and hate removing makeup, it is a big downside. So whenever I wouldn't take a shower before going to bed, I would sleep with my makeup on.  Bad, I know.  Especially since I've heard that not removing makeup before going to bed adds 10 days to your skin's age.  I don't know where people get that ''scientific'' information but whatever... it is true that's it bad.

But then came along these...

These wonderful cleansing wipes!

Haha sorry if the package is all greasy or whatever, I don't know what's up with that but they've been on my nightstand for about a month now.  They're my last resort, the last challenge to my laziness.  And they work!  So whenever I'm going in my bed with my makeup on I look at my nightstand and there they are, ready to save me from old age and wrinkles and bad skin.

Ok agreed they don't take the mascara as well as the original cleanser but whatever I can deal with that.  They're about 12$CAD for 25 wipes.  Definitely worth it imo.  I even picked up an extra box at Wal Mart that was on clearance (?) for 6.99$.  Yay!

What do you use to prevent makeup removing laziness? 

China Glaze Holly-Day: Review and Swatches

I love green.  I love cream finishes.  I love nail polish.  Dark colors suit my skin tone perfectly.  So Holly-Day was a must have.  It's from the Let It Snow 2011 collection :).  

I ordered it online from amazon from Nail Polish Supplies inc.  They were so cheap!  I got this one for 2.99$, which is amaaaaazing.  Shipping was super cheap as well, 4.97$ for two bottles!  It took about two weeks to receive my order.  I was a little worried since they didn't provide a tracking number but I trusted everything would be fine and I did receive my package within the delivery dates provided.  

The shipping information was under a civilians name and not a company which I found weird, but then again, it might've helped clearing at the customs or something.  

So under direct light they look more like the first picture, but I find that the second picture is much more true to the real color.  There's minimal wear on them, but I've been wearing it for three days now.  I put two coats, but one super even coat would have been fine if I was very skilled - which I'm not lol.

I'm sure this color will become a regular for me.  I love darker colors, they flatter my hands the most.  So if you don't already own a dark rich creme green, get this one, it's purrrfect and really lovely.

It almost makes up for not having NARS Zulu.  Almost.  Please google that pretty shade, it is so worth it.  Sigh.  Too bad it was limited edition. :(

December Glymm Box

So Glymm box was first to arrive this month too!  Because of all the great products I had in last month's Glymm box I was super excited and my expectations were high.  Also it provided a much needed distraction from my finals!  

Doesn't this scream Holidays?  It does.  And I'm so late on my Christmas shopping, but that's another subject.  

So this is what the box looks like when you open it.  It looks like presents thrown away in the snow.... such a romantic aren't I?

First item, a Caudalie enzymatic peel mask.  Ergh.  I'm sure it's very nice and all, Caudalie is a nice brand and everything... but another skin care item?  And not even a moisturizer or something I can easily drop into my routine to try... No.  A mask.  You know the thing I never use because I can never seem to find the time to take a luxurious bath in my not so luxurious small apartment bathroom.  So if I do end up trying it I'll review it, but don't keep your hopes up for a review from me for this one. 

Plus, for some reason, putting anything with the word peel on my skin scares the hell out of me.  

In case you're wondering - and I'm sure you aren't because my nails are chipped a little and my cuticles are as red as the reindeer's nose - the nail polish is China Glaze Holly-Day from their Let It Snow 2011 collection.

For the second item I thought ''yay a hand cream, that sure will be useful for this winter''. Wrong.  The texture is lovely, it sinks right into the skin and leaves it moisturized.  The online reviews I've read are raving about this hand cream.  So everything should be great no?

No.  It. smells. awful.  Very floral, very what you'd call old lady perfume.  I'm sure some people will love it and feel it's very feminine and whatnot but I hate it.  I'll try and ship it off to a friend or something.

There was also a lip gloss.  I thought how nice a pinkish MLBB shade that is very easy to dupe.  The packaging is super cute though and it looks like a full sized item.  I had never heard about Sula, so the brand was new to me.

Here is a swatch on my NW10-NW15 skin.  A brown based MLBB shade that is very pigmented for a lip gloss.  It seems nice quality enough and at 8$ it's really cheap!  So I put it on my lips to see how it looked and applied.  And then, I fell in love!  The smell, the taste!  So wonderful!  It's like liquid strawberries on your lips.  Just because of that, I'm pretty sure this will become an item that I'll use very often.  

Except... where the hell do you purchase those?  I've never seen them in any drugstore or at Wal Mart.  Hum, anyways, onto the next item!

YSL!!!!!! YSL!!!!!!

OK IT'S A FRAGRANCE BUT STILL!!!! YSL!!!!!

Call me shallow but yeah, high end brands make me all happy inside.  I was so excited to try this, I really didn't want to be disappointed.  The full size retails for 85$, but this sample size leaves enough to try it a lot.  

As you can see in this comparison shot, it's a pretty big bottle.  Way bigger than those sample vials you usually get.  

So I opened the cap (beware there's actually a hole the size of Texas under the cap - not really Texas you know, but more like q-tip size so still really easy to spill) and smelled. I was so disappointed, it was again all flowery with a hint of berries.  

But you know when you want to love something so much you just keep on trying to love it, just like when you have shoes that are a tad too small but ya squeeze your feet in 'em anyway?  Well it was like that with this perfume, so I tried it on my wrist just to see how it would react to my chemistry (hopefully well).  

And it did.  It smells much less flowery and a little more powdery on my skin, which seems to even it out and reduce the harshness of the initial smell.  I don't know how others will react to this, but I hope well.  Now I can feel like Kate Moss in Paris too (I wish).

So all in all it was an okay month.  I loved two items out of four so it ain't that bad, but the box didn't have a nail polish or an eye product which are usually my fave.  But no biggie!

This month also had a 10$ off promo code from Glymm to use on their website.  I used it to buy a Butter London nail polish which I can't wait to swatch! :) This definitely is a nice Christmas surprise for this month's box.

And the proverbial Jelly Beans, which sadly/thankfully were the same flavors that I got in my November box.  But they tasted real good anyways :).  Did you like your December Glymm box?

November Luxe Box

So along with my Glymm box I've also got a monthly subscription for a Luxe Box.  It's a little pricier at 12$ a month, so my expectations are a little bit higher for this one, since for basically the same service they charge 2$ more.  

It comes in a very lovely black box.

And each box is customized with your name on it.  It's a nice touch :).  I'm just wondering how this affects their shipping efficiency though... is it really beneficial for them to do so?  Sure it differentiates them from the other subscription services out there, but cutting that would definitely cut their costs and make their production more efficient (I presume).  Oh well, we'll have to see if they eventually drop that personal touch as soon as their client base starts to grow.

Again, the first thing I saw when I opened my box was the Essie nail polish.  I love Essie. I think their colors are great, they make great nudes/pale colors and I love their cream finish!

The color I got was Absolutely Shore, a color from their summer 2011 collection that I had being eyeing.  It's a pretty pale mint green.  I unfortunately don't have swatches of it, but next time I put it on I'll definitely take some pictures for you guys! 

I already have Mint Sorbet from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection so because of that I didn't originally purchase this shade because I thought they would look too similar.  I was wrong.  Mint Sorbet is a lot greener and brings out the yellow in your skin, whereas Absolutely Shore looks more like a pale whitish green nude color.  It looks a lot better on my NW10-NW15 skin than Mint Sorbet.  

This was a full size item in the Luxe Box so yay!  This alone almost paid for the 12$ box, as Essie nail polishes range from 8.99$ to 11.99$ in drugstores here.  

The second and third items I noticed were the two Benefit items.  I was a little bummed to see two items from the same brand.  But since it's Benefit it's not that big of a deal. So I had a facial exfoliator and a prep lotion/moisturizer.  I haven't used the exfoliator yet because my Clarisonic seems to be doing the job for me so it's sitting in my skin care jar, waiting to be used.


I've been using the moisture prep toning lotion for a few weeks now.  It's a good alternative to moisturizer.  I use it after toner and before makeup primer.  It has a watery texture and sorts of remind me of the Shiseido moisturizing gel-cream.  It smells really nice, it has a manly smell to it sort of - reminds me of the Eau Sauvage man fragrance by Dior - with lots of citrus accents.  I liked the product, but I wouldn't repurchase.  I didn't feel it added anything special to my skin, besides the scent - which fades away after a minute or two.

The last item from the box was kind of hard to see.  It's a glittery eye liner from Lise Watier.  A perfect item for the Holidays :).  

The consistency is perfect for what it is.  It's a little watery but that makes it really easy to apply where you want it and to layer the glitter to get the desired look.  One stroke will give you just a little glitter, but 3-4 coats will give you a black glittered line.  It's a great product! :)  I'm glad I got the black one though...

The brush is really pointy so it makes the whole application process easier.  Because I have a sample size it's kind of a pain in the butt to apply, especially with my huge thumbs, but that wouldn't be a problem with the full size product.

I won't repurchase this shade - or any of them - because I'm not much of a glitter fan, except for special occasions, and there aren't nearly enough special occasions to use it all up.  

As a bonus item I've received a tea (Cactus Fig flavoured - whatever that is) and some tea bags (lol).  Haven't tried them, probably won't, I'm not much of a tea drinker - except for Aveda tea which is oh-my-God-so-good.  But it's kinda pretty to look at, isn't it?  

I'll probably keep it for guests... does tea expire? lol

Overall I'm pretty happy with this month's box.  With Essie, eyeliner and Benefit, who wouldn't?  Can't wait to receive another one!  

*On a side note, I've heard of people getting some expired Moroccan Oil product in their November box.  Luxe Box said they will send out a compensation item in the December box for those people, but that the product was safe for use still.  This doesn't bother me as much as some people, who go crazy on expiry dates, but I find it funny that nobody knew the product was expired before sending it.  I'm not sure how their business model work, but I'm guessing companies provide them with free samples to have visibility for their products.  So somebody providing the samples from Moroccan Oil must have known. I also find it weird that not one employee looking at the bottles or overseeing the production chain noticed the expiry date.  At least they handled it well on the PR front, but you can bet subscribers will be angry if the additional product they receive as compensation is subpar.    

November Glymm Box

November was the first month I received a Glymm Box.  It's a subscription service that sends out 4-5 deluxe sized samples monthly for 10$ a month.  

Here is what I received for the month of November:

The Glymm box comes in a really pretty pink glossy box.  I've actually kept this and used it for makeup storage ;).

The first item I spotted was inevitably the nail polish.  The brand is RGB and they retail for 18$ full size.  This was a full size item so the box pretty much payed for itself with this item.  I have to say, even though the packaging is really minimalistic - which I love for nail polishes - I wouldn't have been drawn to these polishes because their color selection is very - for a lack of a better word - boring.  They have creme mattes that seem very rich but not many of their shades have that instant love factor.  

The shade I received is the first shade from the collection, hence the #001 number, Red.  

I'm so glad I got to try this brand of nail polish.  The formula is one of the best I've ever worked with.  It's creamy, applies evenly, dries in a reasonable amount of time and is almost perfect after one coat only.  I did put two though.  So what you see up here is two coats with a base.

As you can see, there's a little chipping especially on my index and thumb.  This is because the picture has been taken FIVE days after application.  And can I just tell you that I do my dishes without gloves and that I scratch stuff off dishes recklessly.  So yeah, amazing wear.  

The picture doesn't do justice to the undertones of the polish, as I feel they are more brown-orange-warm than the neutral shade you see.  

At 18$ they are pricey, but if I ever see them on sale I would definitely think about purchasing another one!

 This month also had the Orlane light smoothing cream.  The full size (50 ml) of this retails for 80$ so it's definitely a higher-end cream.  I loved using it.  The sample size, that for the life of me I can't remember the actual size, lasted me for about a week and a half.  

It smelled really nice.  A little flowery but definitely not too much.  The consistency was heaven, it applied very nicely and didn't stay for too long on my skin before being absorbed.  

But I have to say that I didn't see a difference in my skin from using this than my regular extra virgin olive oil as a moisturizer.  So yeah, no repurchase for me.  But it was nice to try something else, especially something I wouldn't have purchased because of the price.

The other item I had was the Annabelle Smudge paint in Muddy, which is a rich warm bronze color.  This was a full size item as well.  The consistency is very creamy and applies smoothly.  The brush they provide is perfect for application, but you need to blend it with another brush if you're using it as an eyeshadow.  It can also be used as an eyeliner.  

Now this is another item I was happy to receive in my box.  I mean who would've tried that?  Can anyone say ugly 80s packaging?  It's in a card box, the print looks washed out, the color pictured on the package is far from the shimmery bronze in the pot and the font looks cheap.  

But..... it's perfect for a toned down smoky eye or for a light eyeliner.  I just love it.  At 10.95$ I'm definitely going to try other shades.  Plus, there's a lot of product so it'll definitely last a while.  This was my favorite product from the box :).  

Now I haven't tried that product yet.  Can you guess why?  BECAUSE IT'S SO DAMN SMALL. I put a comparison picture with a pepsi can just so you can see how small it is.  They say it's for one use only and I believe them.  

It's supposed to be miracle in a vial for puffiness and under eye circles and I can't wait to have an emergency situation to try it.  I mean at that size I really got to make the most of it don't I?  Because after opening it... it's gone!  And at 27$ for 7 vials, so 3.86$ a vial... no thanks.

The last product I received - and the one I was less excited about - was the Rahua shampoo and conditioner.  The reason I'm not excited about this is because I already have a brand of hair products that I love and that do so much good for my hair and I'm not in the mood for trying something else.  

I still tried them, mostly because I was sick of seeing the little samples on my vanity everyday.  The shampoo did lather nicely and have a pleasant smell but it didn't do much for my hair, it even seemed like it made it greasy about half a day earlier than with my regular shampoo.  The conditioner was nothing special as well, but it did have a creamy texture that was pleasant to apply, as opposed to drugstore conditioners that often have that watered down feel.

So yeah that's about it.  For my first month I was very impressed.  It was definitely worth the 10$ to me :)... what did you receive in your Glymm box?