September lootcrate: Galactic

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the delay of September's lootcrate, I do already have October, so I can wait to get them both up.

I wouldn't say I was disappointed with this box, it had good items in it, but I was not familiar with the firefly show. I am happy with October's box so that made up for it. Lets go with the contents shall we?

Star trek tribble exclusive looter edition.

This little guy is cute and soft and definitely the highlight of the box. When I saw this guy in there I immediately opened it to play around with it. I eventually gave this to my friend whom is  huge trekkie, I know she will take good care of him.

Alien action figure.

I wasnt over the moon about this.  Its pretty cool, but I probably wont keep it. Not much else to say about it.

Firefly "mal" exclusive action figure.

I've never watched firefly so I really don't know what to say about this figure. Its made by funko, I do have one of the walking dead mystery minis, as well as their daryl dixon pop figure, the lootcrate exclusive groot pop figure from the heros box,and batman pop figure. I like the way they design the figures in the mystery minis and pop collections. I will definitely buy more without a doubt.

Firefly bank robbery money.

I got nothing.

Star wars exclusive retro arcade magnet.

I always love the magnets in these boxes, this one especially.  I love the retro style of this magnet,  takes you back to those arcade classics like space invaders and asteroids.

Star wars poster 9 x 27

Hans solo encased In carbonite, need I say more. Pretty cool, just need to find a place to hang it.

Pop rocks candy.

It speaks for itself.

Bonus digital loot.

A digital code for dark horse comics halo escalation comics.  I have not used it yet, but its supposed to "give you your first taste" of the comic. I'm a halo fan so I will check it out.

As always there was a pin commemorating this box, and I do plan on keeping that.

Comming up is October's box, which had some real cool stuff inside.

Until next post!

Sally hansen insta gel strips update

Hello everyone

Im on my vacation,  so that means I should update you on my adventures with Using regular polish with the sally hansen insta gel strips kit. After a week I had minimal chips. Half of the chips I had came from trying to wrestle the ball away from the dog, the other half I would say was normal wear and tear. When it first started chipping away, it seemed more like it was wearing away, as wird as it sounds. I timk a couple coats of the gel topcoat works better than just one as well, I say this because it chipped away faster like I didn't even put it on so my friend took me for a mani and a pedi, and I got the opi gel on my nails sense mine were a pretty good length.  Overall,  I think that this is a good way to keep polish on for extended periods of time, if you don't want to go get your nails done.  I was quite happy with it, I just know that next time I need to try more coats of the gel.

I've included pics of what it looked like before removal, and during removal.

September Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello everyone

I think its time to get this glam bag on the blog before the october bag arrives. I will say right off the bat, that I was quite pleased with the contents of my glam bag.  I took a while to do this particular blog, because I like to use the products for a while so I can give a proper review.  I also researched the prices of the products, that way you know the approximate value of the glam bag.So lets get started!

Hikari lipstick in cabernet. Price$13.00 @ hikaricosmetics.com
I love this color, its a little hard to put on for me, but looks good on me. My good friend said she uses a lip brush to help her spread the color on, I find that to be a good idea.  I would definitely spend the money to purchase the product again. I looked at the colors available on the website,  and they have a few I would like to try. If you like lipstick, this is a brand you should try.

Be a bombshell smooth criminal powder. Price:$12.00, 4grams @ beabombshell.com
This product is a 100% silica powder that can be worn alone or over foundation. Its supposed to minimize fine lines and pores, in my opinion it helps s do just that. Ive been uing this powder ever sense I got it, and im in love with it. It is a small container, and I had to switch from my kabuki brush to a small face brush because of it, but other then that I think its something to try. The container size compared to the price can make some people cringe, but if it last as long as my other makeup I'll gladly pay the price.

Pacifica red red wine polish. Price $9.00 @ pacificabeauty.com
I havent checked yet on the polish, but I do know target carries lot of the pacifica product, I'm sure they will have the polish avaliable there at some point.  I have not tried the polish, it looks beautiful,  but I told my good friend I would trade her the polish for her pacifica liner.  I was nice and figured I could trade away a polish, for a liner from the same company. 

Mitchell and Peach luxury hand cream.  Price:varies.
I absolutely love this hand cream, my hands feel so refreshed after using it. Its like  breath of fresh air....for your hands. Currently I do not know where my tube went, I recently moved all my stuff into a vanity and don't know if its in there or in my purse, or where really. This product is fantastic however the prices are more then what I would pay for. Mitchellandpeach.com has it for £17 which translates to $27.50 acording to google, Beautyhabit.com has it for $34, and glossybox.com has it for $26.  I'm guessing you have to be a glossybox subscriber to get those prices,  I've never tryed them before so I couldn't tell you. If you go to eBay.com the prices on there vary from $3.30 to 10.99, and those are probably one people got in their glam bags. If you can get your hands on a small tube from a polish or makeup swap group for cheap or a good trade, definitely try it, or if your feeling fancy buy a bigger tube for the prices listed above. 

Nourish Organics moisturizing face cleanser.  Price: 13.99 6oz nourishorganics.com.
This cleanser is great, doesn't overdry and makes my skin nice and smooth. You can go to target.com and pick up the same tube for $9.99, However its not something you can pick up in store, it is an online only item. Typically, you can get free shipping if you have there target red card, or if you spend a specific amount you get free shipping.  I Don't shop target.com so i dont know what kind of deals they have going on lately, but if you want to give this product a shot, you could always find someone in a swap group to sell or trade you their trial tube for something you have, or go to ebay where people tend to sell some of the stuff they get in their bags.

All in all, This was a good month. Next months bag looks just as good and i can't wait to try all the new products. I'm going on a week long vacation starting monday so i still have to get in my loot crate review, which i might end up doing on my vacation at some point.

Until next post!

*next post will most likely be on the sally hansen insta gel i used over regular polish, as i will be switching my polish before my trip, while on my trip i will post my loot crate goodies!*

Sally hansen salon insta gel strips starter kit

Hello everyone!

I was at Walgreens a few days ago, and I saw this kit on clearance.  Im terrible with the nail polish strip things, but I figured id try it with regular polish. I read some reviews,  and it was 50/50 on good and bad, but with the clearance price why not. 

Heres my review of sally hansen insta gel strip starter kit.

I painted my left hand last night and let it dry overnight,  my right hand I painted this morning, that way we can see how it would work if your trying to do a quickie mani versus taking your time. I'm a take my time person btw, I feel quickie mani's don't turn out well in the end.

I painted my nails with wet and wild disturbia, I did a base coat as I always do when painting my nails,  did one coat of polish and waited for it to completely dry, then the second coat. I had to do a third coat on 3 of my fingers because my first one was so light on those fingers, it required an extra coat, as well as banging one on the counter required a fix. I waited about 10 minutes for the 3rd coat to dry before doing the gel topcoat and curng it with the uv light

I did my left hand first and it came out quite well, however,  I feel like if you dont put enough gel on the brush it will create air bubbles/dents. I had a slight air bubble on the middle finger of my left hand,  so I did another coat to try to fill it in,  and it worked to a degree. I have a little tiny dent now. After you cure all the nails,  you are to wipe your nails with an alcohol pad that they include in the kit, they give you 2 along with a file and cuticle stick. The alcohol wipes help take the tackiness away and give it a nice shine. I'll be honest and say that I didnt like how they looked after wiping with the wipe, and decided to do another gel coat. I decided they looked a tad better, waited 10 minutes ,and went on to the right hand.

On my right hand I did the same as my left. I only did a second coat of gel on the nails that had air bubbles/dents really bad. I feel that doing my nails quickly in the morning caused alot more issues, I had more air bubbles and I dented them easily even after waiting 10 minutes.

I tryed this with a less expensive polish, i plan on trying it with a variety of polishes to see if it will cause any issues. I also went and grabbed a cotton ball put some rubbing alcohol on it and wiped all of my nails down.  I honestly think  wiping them down this way was better, the shine was better and took tackiness away better; one of my nails on my right hand stil had a bit of tacky reside on it till I wiped it with the cotton ball.

My verdict?  So far so good. I do alot of typing at work and typically after one day of work my nails are chipped. After one day of work this time my polish was intact. I plan on seeing what happens by weeks end, then changing my polish for my trip next week. Overall i like it alot, i think with time I can minimize the air bubble thing. I do believe doing my nails the night before worked better, and some reviews I saw said even after wiping with the alchol pad their nails were still tacky, they didn't have the full circumstances of their polish adventures on their review so I had to take it into my own hands. I definitely recommend this to try at the clearance price, if it were full price I wouldn't have. I say if you dont rush your polish, try it. Hopefully next time I do better, I think ill use one of my julep holos to see if it puts a damper on the color. i do have a few photos they arent very good but they will do for now, the side nail pic is of some air bubbles I tryed to take better photos but my tablet was not cooperating. Ill do an update in about a week.

Until next post!

*ill try to get my September ipsy bag in before October's bag comes*