December 2015: Ipsy Bag

Once again I received my ipsy bag at the end of the month. I am not sure what's causing the delay because I have been a subscriber for almost 3 years and never had this issue.  But anyways, this month I received the following five products: Pacifica Power of Love Natural Lipstick, Be A Bombshell Mechanical Eyeliner, Marc Anthony Deep Conditioning Treatment, RickyCare 3D Blender, ModelCo Lip Liner.

 

 

RickyCare by Ricky's NYC 3D Blender: When I first took it out of the packet and washed it, I did not like it at all because it felt rubbery and slippery like those traditional makeup wedges.  It is not light and airy so does not bounce back to its shape like beauty blender, and retains the impression for a few seconds before going back to its normal shape. Also, it holds the water inside and shrinks in size on losing the excess water. However, it works. I used it with a light weight foundation and it blended well so I am definitely going to use it and keep the beauty blender for special occasions.

 

Marc Anthony Coconut Oil and Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment: I haven't used it yet but Marc Anthony products are usually nice so I am hoping for the best.

 

ModelCo Illusion Lip Liner & Be A Bombshell Mechanical Eye Liner

 

ModelCo Lip Enhancer Illusion Lip Liner: From the packaging I thought this is going to be a beautiful vibrant pink liner but it is actually a pinky nude. It is just an average liner, and feels a bit drying.

 

Be A Bombshell Mechanical Eye Liner: This is my least favorite product from the bag. It lacks pigmentation, so requires a lot of work to build up the color but disappears in a single swipe. And its not just this liner that is below average in quality but almost all the products from this brand that I have tried through ipsy are same.



Nudie Red



Nudie Red & Tender Heart



Pacifica Power of Love Natural Lipstick in Nudie Red: This feels more like a balm than a lipstick because it is moisturizing, light weight and sheer. The shade nudie red is nude with reddish pinky hues and comes across as peachy. I have compared it with the shade called Tender Hearts from the same line and they look almost alike except that the latter is a tad bit browny.

 

 

 

Em Michelle Phan Shade Play Eye Color Palette in Bali Bronzes: This was a surprise product and I honestly thought that I received it by mistake, but then later found out that all the long term members have been sent different versions of this palette. The packaging is beautiful, the display is pretty but I feel the shadows are not up to the par. The very light gold does not show up and is not even visible in the picture. The three mid toned shades are nice but the two darker ones lack pigmentation. Also, all the shades are shimmery and very similar to each other. So, overall it is not a palette that can be used on its own as it does not have enough color and texture differentiation.

 

What did you get in your ipsy bag this month? What was your favourite product?

 

Thank you for taking time to read this post. Hope you have a great day!

 

 

 

Parissa Mini Wax Strips for Brows

Recently, I saw a couple of YouTubers mention Parissa Mini Wax Strips for brows, but I wasn't convinced as I have tried the Ready to Use wax strips by brands like Nair etc. and they didn't do anything. So, I searched for more reviews and found 80% of them pretty positive. Therefore, I went ahead and bought these for $8.47 + taxes from Wal-Mart.

  

Packaging: Its an okay packaging, just like other wax strips, but in general I find these boxes to be too big to hold tiny strips. There are 16 double sided strips so they are good for 32 uses.

 

Ease of Use & Instructions: The brow strips are quite small so the chances of messing up or taking off extra hair are minimal. Also, they provided step by step instructions to avoid any confusion.



The dark reddish brown bruish that looks like a shadow is due to these wax strips.

 Performance: It sucks! Firstly, I didn't notice much difference before and after using the strip.  Secondly, it bruised my skin so badly that it was hurting even with slight movement of forehead. I am really bummed because the picture is not doing the justice as it was really difficult to hold the camera so close and focus. Also, even though one pack is good for 32 uses, multiple strips are required to wax both the brows, so they won't last very long. I find TiGi microwavable wax from Sally Beauty Supply Store far better than this one, but I don't use it because of the mess that it leaves behind.

 



 

Azulene Oil: The waxing strips come with 8ml azulene oil to calm and soothe the skin after waxing. It is also sold separately in 60 ml bottles. But as the wax stripped off my skin so the oil didn't do much.



 

How do you groom your eyebrows? Have you tried these or any other form of brow wax strips? Do you have any favorites? 

 

 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Products I Regret Buying: Hair Care

This is my first post of this kind and I hope I don't offend anyone since everyone has different liking and preferences. This post represents my personal experience with these products, if you love them, it is awesome but unfortunately they didn't work me. Just for reference, I have dark brown mid-length naturally curly fine hair, which can get frizzy at times. Sometimes they are really difficult to manage as they are frizzy but get weighed down really easily because they are fine. So, the products mentioned in this post didn't work for my hair type but they can definitely work for yours.

One n Only Argan Oil Smoothing Cream/ Styling Cream: This brand is available at Sally beauty supply and I received the sample sizes of smoothing cream and the styling cream when I bought their Argan oil, which works really well for me. However, recently I started noticing excessive hair fall but I wasn't able to put my finger on the culprit. My hair were literally falling out in huge chunks whenever I ran my fingers through. Few weeks ago, when I ran out of the smoothing cream I realized that the hair fall stopped completely suggesting that it was the cream behind the said condition of my hair. Even though I didn't buy it but I definitely regret using it.

Wella Professional Ocean Spritz: I have naturally curly/wavy hair so I usually do not use salt or any kind of texturizing sprays, and after using this one I am definitely not going to use any again. This spray literally made my hair feel very crunchy and dirty. It was just impossible to comb or even run my fingers through. Also, I tried it multiple times to see if I was doing something wrong. I tried it on wet hair, dry hair, freshly washed hair and also a day old hair but nothing worked. So I am definitely not going to use this spray or probably any salt spray again.

Garnier Fructis Style Curl Shaping Gel Spray: I have natural curls so I bought this spray to give them a more defined look, and since it is a gel spray so I expected it to be a little heavier but definitely not to the extent that it makes my hair look like third or fourth day dirty hair. Also, it made my hair feel hard and stiff, so I do regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Dazzling Shine Hair Spray: I bought this hair spray to use as final touch up to add some extra shine. It has a very distinctive sweet smell, which is not bothersome to me as I am not very particular about smell of hair products unless it is super repelling. However, the problem is that even though it adds shine for the moment but that shine disappears within 10-15 minutes and your hair are back to where they were. So if you are like me, then under such scenario you will repeatedly keep spraying it and will end up with weighed down dirty looking hair, and that is why I really regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Glossy Anti-frizz Shine Serum: I bought this serum because it claimed to get rid of the frizz along with providing shine and it does calm down the frizz and gives shine if you use enough product. However, it is very thick and heavy so it weighs down hair and the shine disappears after a while so I don't reach for it often. But the shine does stay longer with this product as compared to the shine spray.

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo: I really love this brand in general but this dry shampoo really sucks. Dry shampoos are supposed to give you a day in between hair washes but this one takes away the possible in between hours too. Instead of making the hair look fresh, this dry shampoo makes them look a lot more oilier, weighed down and dirty. I tried using it a couple of times and got the same result without fail. Also, I tried rubbing it with my hands, with towel, with paper  but nothing at all worked.

Sunsilk Captivating Curls: I got this mousse in a set along with the shampoo and conditioner of the same line. It just didn't do anything for my hair. Even though I have naturally curly hair, I didn't see any more definition or texture than I usually have. So I regret buying it.

Have you tried any of these products? If yes, how did they work for you? If no, are you planning to try any?

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!