Review: Aquation Lotion

I am a huge skincare fan. I will buy cleanser, toner, and lotion any day of any week. Good hand and body lotion, however, can be a real pain to find. It's either greasy or it fades away immediately and you need to reply every half hour. Thanks to Influenster and my Twinkle VoxBox which I received for free, I got to try Aquation lotion. The first pump I used caused me to look at my hands in amazement, I'm not even exaggerating. I was just idly taking it out of the box, gave it a squirt, and BOOM. My mind was blown. My hands immediately felt moisturized and even my cuticles looked revitalized. I love that it's packed full of ceramides and hyaluronic acid, but it's still non-comedogenic so that it won't clog pores. Since it didn't feel greasy or like it was sitting "on top" of my skin, I assumed the moisturization wouldnt last long. I was so wrong. Cut through several hours of homeschooling, dish washing, food cooking, dog walking, and laundry, and my hands still looked and felt nice and moisturized. I now keep this beside my bed and it is the first thing I put on when I wake up and the last thing I put on at night before I fall asleep. While I do use this for my legs sometimes, I prefer a thicker cream for them, so this Aquation has become my go-to hand lotion. I liked it so much that even though I received this full sized bottle for free, I quickly purchased another to keep in the bathroom by the sink as well. I will never stop buying skin care, but I think my quest for the perfect hand lotion has been solved.

UPDATE: Ipsy Bags

June and July IPSY Bag reviews will be posted soon - and I'm SO in love with one product in particular that I've already ordered more. Intrigued? Stay tuned...

Review: MAC Cosmetics Lipstick - PLEASE ME

This is my face after using MAC's shade "Please Me" - this is with no filters to distort the shade. I've used their lipsticks in the past, and I'm always pleased with consistency, staying power, and true to shade effectiveness. This time is no different. This is absolutely my new favorite matte "nude" and is easily made into a gloss with a touch of your own favorite shine. I have some new Makeup Monsters that I'm looking forward to using to ombre this shade with, but I think it's quite perfect on it's own. And if you've never bought MAC lipstick? IT. SMELLS. AMAZING.

March 2015 Ipsy Bag

It's here! Here's my March 2015 Ipsy bag:

This month, I got:

• Sexy Hair - Soy Renewal Creme Oil 
• NYX Cosmetics - Butter Lipstick
• Chella - Ivory Lace Highlighter 
  This is the only item I've tried because I couldn't resist as soon as I opened my bag. I applied it to clean skin, meaning I used no primers before application. It went on smoothly, blended quite well and was completely subtle. I used it as it's main purpose, a highlighter: on my brow bone, on the inner and outer corners of my eyes, and just a bit to my cupid's bow on my top lip. It worked well and did give me a more awake, perky look - but I can't wait to play around with it's reported contouring benefits as well.
• Dr. Brandt Skincare - pores no more anti-aging mattifying lotion
•  Marsk - Mineral Eyeshadow

As always, updates/reviews will be posted as I use the items. Trades open for the pores no more lotion, the Marsk mineral eyeshadow, and the NYX lipstick. They have yet to be opened but if I don't receive trade requests in the next day or two, they will most likely be swatched with a clean applicator. Email me at aGirlyMMA@gmail.com for trade requests :)

Benefit Reviews: Ultra Radiance, Agent Zero Shine and NEW Roller Lash

My latest Ulta order came on Valentine's Day -- the best and only present I got! Lucky for me, it came with a few freebies so it absolutely made my day.

I ordered Ultra Radiance and Agent Zero Shine and got for free:

• Deluxe sample of Benefit Fake Up
• Deluxe sample of the NEW Benefit Roller Lash
• A bareMinerals bag with blush, veil, lip gloss, and foundation primer. The bag quality as well as the items were nicer than most stuff in my monthly Ipsy bags! Ha!

I absolutely adore the Ultra Radiance facial spray. It works great as a makeup setter or just an overall refresher. I do have oily, sensitive skin and this doesn't bother it at all. It makes my skin feel great and it smells awesome.

I've only used Agent Zero Shine twice. As stated earlier, I do have oily skin. I don't think this will last ALL day for matte skin *but* it did last over four hours and for my oily skin, that's a miracle. I don't mind having to touch up once in the middle of the day. It's also a great product because it's self contained: you open the lid, tap powder into the lid, remove the bottom which is a push up brush, apply the powder, then cap it all back together into one neat little stick. I will definitely use this item regularly.

The new Roller Lash was a hit too. I tried it first without even pre-curling my lashes and was amazed at the results. I've tried many "curling" mascaras and didn't see half the results that this gave me - BUT. It smudged more quickly than my favorite mascara by tarte. Again, I have oily skin. It's a curse and a blessing. All mascara seems to smudge on me more quickly than others. The curling and separation powers of Roller Lash, though, are quite nice.

The FakeUp sample is A.MA.ZING. This little push up concealer stick has a ring of clear, creamy moisturizer around it to hydrate your skin as you conceal. A little goes a long way, much like their Erase Paste. Love it.

I haven't yet used my bareMinerals set but I'm sure it'll happen soon. I'll update you as soon as I do :)

February 2015 Ipsy Bag

I'll be honest, the only thing I really love this month about my Ipsy bag so far is the brush by Luxie Beauty. The bag is cute...but dare I say I'm running out of things to do with empty makeup bags? 

The items I received are:

• Creamy Lip Stain by City Color Cosmetics 
  I do not like this. The color could be nice, but it goes on with a texture that reminds me of my Grandma's lipstick. Highlights every crease or imperfection in your lips. Not much of a "stain" factor to me; the color lasted maybe an hour. I love stains for absorbing into my lips and being a bit sheer as well as buildable.
• Composition No. 1 Parfum Oil by JOYA
  Tiny. VERY tiny. Rollerball. Honestly reminds me of a toilet cleaner scent. Not a fan.
• Large Angled Face Brush 504 by Luxie Beauty My favorite item this month. Very soft angled brush that will definitely be a staple item in my makeup bag. Ipsy is pretty good at sending nice brushes and this one is no exception.
• Fine Radiance Face Oil by Mitchell and Peach 
  I haven't used this yet. I have a pretty set skincare routine and I'm scared to deviate from it as I seem to break out whenever I do. But I was happy to see that Ipsy decided to put this in a zippered plastic bag - the last item I got that was similar to this leaked all over my other items.
• BLUSH Cheek Powder by ModelCo
  To be fair, this is a nice color. It isn't "sparkly", but it has a bit of a bronzer-like glow or shimmer to it. I can see myself using this in the future, but I'm addicted to Benefit's Majorette and this isn't quite perfect enough for me to switch as my go-to blush. 

January 2015 Ipsy Bag

This is a stock image because I've been traveling and I left my bag at home.

I got:

• J. Cat Beauty FANTABULOUS Gel Eye Liner 
  I have yet to use this and need to give it to my fabulous nieces who both master the art of ANY kind of eyeliner!
  
• Manna Kadar Cosmetics Sheer Glo
  This is a quality product but I'm not a fan. I don't like adding shimmer to my face, and Benefit has such amazing highlighters (watt's up; girl meets pearl) that I can't see myself making a switch to this - but I would use it as an eyeshadow.
  
• Nourish Organic Renewing Eye Cream 
  I actually didn't get this. It was listed as sent in my bag but I didn't get it and I'm a bit disappointed. I'm addicted to eye creams.
  
• Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow 
  LOVE this shadow. Goes on well, doesn't crease easily (even without a primer) and is a lovely color for my complexion.
  
• Real Techniques fine liner brush
  This is a great brush for gel eye liners. I fell in love with my Tattooed eyeliner from a previous Ipsy bag, so I don't use gel eyeliner much, but Ipsy sends out great brushes so far. Happy with this one.

December Ipsy Bag "Fearless Heroine"

• Crown Brush - Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush
  LOVED this brush. The bristles are soft and the sizes are perfect for covering the whole eye with one end and focusing on the crease with the other end. It's wonderful.
  
• Coolway - Boost Repair Treatment
  I have not used this yet but will update when I do.
  
• Pixi by Petra - Fairy Dust  
  I'm not much of a glitter person, but the Fairy Dust gives a nice shimmer without making me look like an actual fairy. I don't feel silly or like a kid when I wear this. It does crease without a primer but it's long lasting, and when worn with a primer it lasted perfectly all day.
  
• tarte - deluxe lights, camera, lashes™ 4-in-1 mascara
  I already adored tarte products but I had yet to try this because I'm a big fan of Benefit and love their It's Real mascara. I'm glad I got this sample because it's a great mascara. I have severe dry eye and eye allergies and this did not irritate either one. I also have oily skin which means most mascaras smear quickly. This lasted all day and the only smear came after I wiped my eye too hard without thinking. The mascara lengthened and volumized without clumping, and it did so on the first swipe. On subsequent uses, I layered it for more effect and was very pleased with the results. I think I found a new favorite mascara.
  
• NYX Cosmetics - Butter Lip Balm 
  I hated this lip balm. I am an avid lip balm user and have tried pretty much everything out there (my current favorite is eos Smooth Stick). I usually prefer stains for color then use balm over them, but I have used a few tinted balms I like (BeneBalm, for example). This Butter Lip Balm is NOT one of them. It didn't moisturize my lips, but rather deposited colors in spots and accentuated any rough patches. I only applied to my bottom lip then quickly cleaned it off and have not used it again. It will most likely go in the trash soon. 

Reminder: Ipsy is a $10 per month service that sends awesome products out around the 15th of every month. You cancel it whenever you want and there are never any shipping charges. I love getting surprises in the mail and this is a perfect yet inexpensive way to do that. If you're interested, click here for more info.