POP beauty Plump Pout Fuchsia Freesia

I am a lipstick girl. I have a drawer full of lip glosses I never touch. The poor things were abandoned almost entirely years ago. But, I do love lip products (almost as much as I love nail polish) so I was excited to try out a new product from POP Beauty; Plump Pout. 

POP beauty calls this a lip perfecter. Admittedly, I love the packaging. It’s a flattened lip gloss tube with a rubber top. Because the packaging is wide, instead of long, the applicator is shorter than your average lip product. This allows for more control and easier application.

When I put this on for the first time I was worried it was going to be a sticky mess as POP beauty claims this is a high shine product. I was pleasantly surprised when it had a lovely creamy, moisturizing texture. It feels smooth and comfortable on the lips. Even a bit luxurious.

The finish is shiny but it’s not overly shiny as the formula contains no glitter. I’m someone who doesn’t like alot of shine on my lips. I like a light sheen and sometimes I do top a lipstick with a glitter free gloss and I found I liked the amount of shine I get from this product.

The Plump Pout products come with 2 major claims. 

1. Plumping: I didn’t find that this actually plumped the lips. Yes, my lips look fuller because I have on a gloss, but I didn’t notice any plumping action beyond that.
2. Long Wearing: This didn’t wear any longer than other glosses but it did leave behind a slight stain. So while the shine did wear off the color has a bit of staying power.

The pigmentation of this product is pretty fabulous. It’s not quite as opaque as a lipstick but it does give the lips a good amount of color. Fuchsia Freesia is a bright medium pink. It’s a great color for cool toned skintones. There is a swatch below the jump.

One thing I do love in lip products is a nice scent. This one has a sweet vanilla scent that I quite like. There is no noticeable taste.

Overall, I like this product quite a bit. Fuchsia Freesia is a perfect color for my skintone and this has turned into my go to option when I don’t want to wear full on lipstick. 

Below the jump there are additional pictures of the packaging as well as a swatch. I’ve turned into quite the POP Beauty junky. You can check out my POP Beauty nail polish reviews over on The Daily Varnish. I also reviewed an eyeshadow palette. That review can be found here.

I discovered POP Beauty on Hautelook (which is where I’ve purchased all my previous POP Beauty products) but POP Beauty is also available at Ulta.

Alli

The product(s) used in this post were provided to TDV for review. For more information check out our disclosure policy.

Pop Beauty Pop Portfolio in Picture Pop

If nail polish is the love of my life, I frequently have an affair with makeup. I love eyeshadow and lipstick, in particular, and have accumulated a fairly large collection of both over the years. Recently I’ve been trying to cut back on my makeup purchases. But when I saw this palette on HauteLook I just had to have it!

Picture Pop  contains 36 metallic eye shadows in a wide range of colors. I’ve been completely obsessed with the palette for almost a month now and have created everything from really natural eye looks to super smokey and colorful eye looks.

All of the shadows are very well pigmented and apply beautifully. Often I don’t even bother with a primer and still the color lasts all day (I do not have oily eyelids, though).

This is a great basic palette for anyone and while the normal $26 price tag would be completely worth it I got this from HauteLook for $8. Yes, $8. Might be the best $8 I ever spent.

The only negative thing about buying items from HauteLook is the slow shipping. It took a couple weeks for me to get this palette. (Also beauty products are not returnable)

I am obviously not a makeup blogger but I really love this palette and wanted to share. I have one other Pop Beauty shadow palette that I got about a year ago and love it as well. I definitely need to keep my eye on Pop Beauty. If you have any Pop Beauty products you really love please leave a comment so I can check out some more Pop Beauty products.

Along with this palette I did get a nail polish to try. I’ll be posting a review of that over on The Daily Varnish soon.

There are a few more picture below the jump!

Alli

Julep Maven: June 2013 (It Girl)

Oh my gosh! It’s been months since I’ve gotten a Julep Maven Box. The last one I received was in February when I chose the Boho Glam box. I sent my March box to my sister and I skipped April and May.

When I saw the theme for June, Sail into Summer – The Nantucket Nostalgia Collection, I knew I had to have it! I am a summer girl through and through and the preppy fun colors were an absolute must have.

Generally, I’ve had a good experience with Julep’s beauty extras (still absolutely in love with the Topcoat for Hair), but I had no interest in the DD (EE, FF, GG?) cream so I chose the It Girl Box with two polish add ons (I was like a kid in a candy shop!)

For color descriptions and more pictures, make sure to look below!

PISTOL polish: May 2013

Happy May!

I haven’t been doing a monthly PISTOL polish post recently because I more or less find them to be a bit unnecessary considering I review the polishes over on The Daily Varnish anyway. But this month there were a few changes so I thought I’d do a post.

If you’re not familiar with PISTOL polish they provide a monthly nail polish subscription service. Each month, for $17.99, 2 polishes show up on your doorstep.

This is the 4th PISTOL polish duo I’ve received. A few things have changed (and I noticed something new).

First of all, the box the duo arrives in has 2 pistols printed on the outside. As it turns out the pistols match the duo inside. This is not new. I just happened to notice that this month. I thought it was a nice touch.

The packaging of the duos changed this month. Previously the duo’s were in a box like this. I liked the packaging but it was a tad bit bulky. The new packaging is less bulky and easier to deal with. There are pictures of the new packaging below the jump.

The last change has nothing to do with the polishes but with the PISTOL polish website. It has been updated and is now much easier to navigate.

As far as the May duo goes I’m pretty excited! The 2 polishes are called Run the World (I have a really hard time not adding Girls after that…) and Nailed It. Run The World looks to be a lovely silver glitter with some holographic tendencies and Nailed It is a purple jelly. Basically, this duo was made for me!

I am continually impressed with PISTOL polish. All of the nail polishes I have so far are great in terms of quality, application and wear. They always surprise me with some unique colors (like Dean’s List from last month’s duo) along with more traditional yet slightly edgy polishes (like Smoking Gun).

PISTOL polish is a fun company and that personality really shows in their product.

I look forward to reviewing these polishes and can’t wait until next month’s duo arrives!

Below the jump there are photos of the new packaging, color descriptions, etc.

PISTOL polish: March 2013

Another month, another PISTOL polish duo!

Promptly on March 2nd my duo arrived in my mailbox. Even though a duo comes at the beginning of every month I kind of forgot about it so it was a nice surprise. I couldn’t wait to open up the box and see what colors were in this month’s duo.

I was immediately excited when I saw Pay Day; a gorgeous bright blue creme that will no doubt be perfect as the weather gets warmer this month. The other polish included is Corner Office. I’m always on the hunt for not so boring neutrals with a good formula. I’m hopping Corner Office fits the bill! As always, PISTOL provides a much more entertaining description of their polishes. Make sure to check out their descriptions below the jump.

There were a couple things I noticed that were different about this month’s duo. The first thing is there were pistols printed on the box (picture below the jump). A nice touch. The second is the slight change in the polish bottles. The word “polish” has been added (you can see the old bottle style here). Both are minor changes but worth noting.

PISTOL polish is a subscription nail polish service that costs $17.99 a month. For more info on PISTOL polish check out my post on the February 2013 duo or the PISTOL polish website. And, of course, reviews of both polishes in this month’s duo will be on The Daily Varnish soon!

There are, as always, more pictures below the jump!

PISTOL Polish: February 2013

As many of you know I live in Charlotte, NC. And as probably all of you know I’m a bit of a shopoholic. I follow one of my favorite local boutiques on Facebook, The Boulevard at South End, and was very interested when they posted a photo of a new polish brand they recently started carrying called PISTOL polish.

Immediately I punched PISTOL polish into Google and landed on their website. As it turns out, they’re a local Charlotte company that has a nail polish subscription service. For $17.99 a month 2 PISTOL polishes arrive in your mailbox. I’ll pretty much try anything once plus it’s always nice to support a local company so I signed up.

On the 2nd the February duo arrived in my mailbox. The first thing I noticed was the return address. The PISTOL polish offices are located in South End, a part of Charlotte were I spend alot of (ok, way too much) time. I opened up the box and was really happy with the polish colors. Unlike other nail polish subscription services, PISTOL polish doesn’t let you pick what colors you receive. Each month there is a standardized duo and that’s what everyone gets (though, I must point out, PISTOL claims that the “two full-size nail polishes are carefully selected based on color trend studies”).

The packaging is super cute. Not only do I love the little pistol charm on the bottles, the back of the box the duo comes in has a description of each color with a little story. The personality of the company really comes through which I appreciate.

I’ve already tried Firecracker (and completely loved it!). I’ll be doing a full review of that polish on Thursday over on The Daily Varnish. I also did a super cute Valentine’s Day manicure using Firecracker as a base (you can get a sneak peek of that here) that I can’t wait to share!

Below the jump there are pictures of just about everything. The polishes, the packaging, the color stories, etc, etc. Also, I want to point out that PISTOL polishes are made in the US, D4 free and are not tested on animals. Talk about Alli approved.

If you want to learn more about PISTOL polish make sure to check them out on Facebook or Twitter (or both….).

Julep Maven: December 2012 (It Girl) & January 2013 (Bombshell)

First, I’ll start with wishing everyone a happy New Year! 2012 flew by! If you’d like to catch up on some of the highlights of our year, please check out Alli’s 2012 Year in Review post here!

Before I get to those two boxes, I want to assure anyone who was worried about “the case of the missing add-on” from November’s box that it arrived safe and sound, with great turnaround from Julep’s Customer Service department.

Feedback Request: I’d also like to request some feedback from you guys! I’ve started using my Julep Jules (/referral points) to get add-ons for giveaways. I gave away the Glitter & Glow holiday set here and have another 5 piece set and a GORGEOUS trio to giveaway also! The alternative would be to use my points to do periodic box giveaways like I did here in July? Which do you prefer?

If you’re ready to see what I chose for December and January from Julep – click below!

Happy New Year!!

Julep Maven: November 2012 (American Beauty)

I was over the moon for OPI’s Suede polishes a few years back and just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see how Julep’s Suede finish polishes measured up!

For the first time in a long time I ended up sticking with my normal style: American Beauty. My box included 3 individually wrapped nail polish remover pads, Pink Grapefruit Body Frosting, and 2 suede finish polishes: Amber and Brit.

Now, usually I post my boxes before I’ve had to try every product – but this time I’ve tried and loved every single one. I’ll be doing full polish reviews of Amber and Brit over on The Daily Varnish. I have oodles to say about the products in this box as well as a quick run down of the new Julep Jules reward program so I’d love it if you clicked below to keep reading!

Shopping Diaries: NYC New York Color Rite Aid Haul

NYC is a brand that wasn’t really on my radar until earlier this year. Back in 2010 I discovered their nail polish and tried a few but as far as makeup goes I never gave the brand a second thought.

But then I tried the much talked about Sunny Bronzer. I fell in love instantly! It’s a perfect matte bronzer to use for contouring. Since I had such good luck with the bronzer I also gave their Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup a whirl. Again, I was impressed. It’s not an everyday foundation, and it wouldn’t be good for those with oily skin, but I have normal to dry skin and this is the perfect foundation for those light makeup days.

This week Rite Aid has all NYC cosmetics 40% off so I figured it was a perfect time to stock up on foundation and bronzer as well as try a couple new items. I picked up the Show Time volumizing mascara in Extreme Black. I’m a bit of a mascara snob (Clinqiue High Impact is my HG mascara) but I’m going out of town for Thanksgiving and wanted a less expensive mascara to take with me. I’m looking forward to giving this one a try!

The only other items I picked up were 2 nail polishes from the NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel line; Starry Silver and Broadway Burgundy. Both look super pretty in the bottle!

It’s worth pointing out that all of this cost me a whopping $7.15 thanks to Rite Aid’s 40% off sale. If you’ve yet to try anything from NYC this week is a good time to give it a shot!

I’d love to know if you have any favorite NYC products. I’m always up to trying new beauty products 🙂

Makeup Review: wet n wild Sparkle ‘Til Morning Coloricon 8 Pan Eyeshadow Palette (LE)

Admittedly I have a bit of a nail polish hoarding problem. That is well documented over on The Daily Varnish. But I also have quite the eyeshadow collection and surprisingly most of my favorite eyeshadows are from wet n wild. So when I was at CVS and saw a limited edition Where’s the Party? display featuring 3 eyeshadow palettes I was pretty excited. Sparkle ‘Til Morning immediately caught my eye though I debated on whether or not to pick it up. The colors looked a bit on the warm side which don’t generally look good with my cool complexion. As it turns out…I love this palette!

Sparkle ‘Til Morning features 8 mostly neutral shadows with the exception of an aqua shadow. All of the shadows are very pigmented and have a buttery texture. As with many of wet n wild’s shadows these can be a bit powdery but I don’t have any issues with fall out.

These palettes retail for $4.99 and while I can’t say this palette is a definite must have since none of the shadows are particularly unique for the price and amount of use I know I’ll get out of this palette it was a great purchase.

There are more pictures and swatches below the jump!