The Evanescence Fallen inspired eyeshadow palette finally got restocked today! I’ve already got my order in and cannot wait to get it!
Order yours here: https://loungefly.com/evanescence-fallen-exclusive-hipdot-cosmetics-eyeshadow-palette/EVACE0001.html
Evanescence partnered with HipDot to release the most amazing makeup palette to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album Fallen and its already sold out. Even I didn’t get my hands on one! And for good reason. Look at it!
Its perfect for what I like to call the Winter Girl aesthetic. And the cd packaging is a nostalgic bonus for many.
According to the website they are planning a restocked and you can sign up to be notified here.
Skin care ingredients are subject to trends and fads like anything else. They’re the big buzzwords used to market new products and they’re often the reason we select the skin care and beauty products we use. And while we, the consumers, might know what the big hitters in our favorite products do, or at least what the companies say they do, how often do we actually know what all the other little ingredients do? Are they good for us? Are they dangerous? What do they even do?
We know the good ingredients we want based on trends or well known benefits, and we typically know the big bads to try to avoid (sulfates, parabens, micro plastics, etc)
Hyaluronic Acid, for example, is a highly popular ingredients great for adding moisture to the skin making it great for dry, dehydrated, or aging skin. But it can be found in everything from high end serums and creams to dollar store sheet masks. It’s really all those other seemingly random ingredients that determine it’s quality. And since most people don’t have an education in esthetics, aren’t a skin care geek, and might not have the time to thoroughly research each individual ingredient, it can be difficult to know which products are really worth your hard earned dollars.
I’ve always tried to mention the important ingredients of a product in reviews, and those are pretty important. But between my previous love of skin care ingredients, and my new understanding of them (who says you don’t learn practical stuff in school?), I’ve decided to add two new features to the site. The first is that going forward, ALL ingredients will be listed in reviews and more information about the featured ingredients of each reviewed product. The second will be a built in skin care ingredients wiki. You’ll be able to click on any ingredient in the list and be taken to a page giving you everything you need to know about it. It’s uses, if it’s good or bad, who should avoid it, and products it’s found in. I hope this will become a useful tool to help enhance my reviews and to help you make the best informed decisions about which products to use on your skin. Your skin is your body’s largest organ after all.
Because I believe in the importance of these features, I will be adding the ingredients list to all existing reviews on the site whenever possible. While updating these reviews most of them will be set to “private” until updated. So if a particular article you’re looking for has disappeared it will be back up shortly!
Also coming soon will be more skin care related content, including what products you should be using for your age, foods and lifestyle habits for great skin, and so much more!
Decided to try out a few of the Wet n Wild Zodiac glosses. I picked out Sagittarius because it’s my own sign, and Aries because I thought it would be one I’d wear frequently. They both were a bit different in color than they looked on WnW’s website. Here’s my thoughts on each color:
Sagittarius— (left/ top swatch) It was smooth and buttery feeling, and surprisingly pigmented. The gloss is super shimmery and glittery, but not gritty like many glitter glosses are. It’s more red than the picture online which looked more neutral.
Aries— (right/bottom swatch) It was lightweight and smooth. Even more buttery feeling than Sagittarius. It’s very pigmented, I was anticipating it to be more sheer. Not sticky at all, which is always a plus. There’s no shimmer so it could be worn for work, but the darker color also makes it great for nighttime looks!
Both colors would also pair amazingly well with the brand’s Rebel Rose collection!
I’ll be honest. I’d never tried a cleansing conditioner despite their popularity in the last several year. A major concern was that it wouldn’t adequately clean my hair and that I’d end up with a greasy mane instead of soft and touchable. So on a whim I picked up this trial size packet of Renpure Solutions’ Vanilla Mint Cleansing Conditioner and decided to see if skipping shampoo could possibly be as good as people say.
I have normal to dry hair that breaks easily and is sensitive to harsh products, including most shampoos. I strictly use sulfate, paraben, and phthalate free products on my hair and this was free of all three as well as dyes making it extra gentle. It is however packed full of nourishing ingredients such as coconut oil, keratin, and shea oil. It smells amazing! I was also very happy that it doesn’t test on animals and the packaging itself is recyclable. It’s also safe for color treated hair so I chose to use it following my most recent hair dye experiment (read about it here).
The application process was pretty simple, more or less like a deep conditioning treatment. You simply apply a generous amount to all of your hair and leave in for 3-5 minutes. I applied it to my hair and went about the rest of my usual shower-time routine and it actually shortened the time I was in the shower considerably.
Day 1- After showering my hair definitely felt just as clean as if I’d just finished using a traditional shampoo and conditioner. When it dried it also looked just as clean. On the downside, as I typically use volumizing shampoos, my hair seemed a little limp and lifeless. But not bad at any way. It didn’t strip any color from my hair, which was impressive because semi-permanent dyes seem to have a tendency to fade even with just water. My hair was easy to brush through and felt so soft!
Day 2- The next morning, roughly 24 hours post shower, my hair still looked pretty decent. It wasn’t quite as “clean” as my hair typically looked 24 hours after using my normal shampoo, but it was decent enough to leave the house as it was without dry shampoo. Later in the day I did add a little dry shampoo before going to hang out with friends. My hair was still incredibly soft but not yet greasy and was very manageable.
Day 3- The third day was not good. I can usually go three days without shampooing my hair with my normal products, but not so much with this. My hair overnight had turned into a grease ball. Now, in a pinch it could have been easily fixed with a bit more dry shampoo, but I opted for just hoping in the shower and finishing off the packet of cleansing conditioner.
Overall I was really impressed. Not quite impressed enough to ditch my shampoo completely, but this might be sneaking it’s way into my winter staples. It’s not quite what I’d want for summer, as I don’t think it’ll work quite as well when it gets hotter around here. But I think for that certain part of the winter when my hair turns into a dry, static mess, this will be the perfect fix. I was also pretty impressed by the fact that I was actually able to get two full, very generous, applications out of one packet. I have rather long hair, about to the middle of my back, although it is on the thinner side, but typically trial sized packets of a similar size usually get me only 1 use.
If you’re looking for a cleansing conditioner I’d definitely recommend checking this one out for yourself!
As someone who is very fond of the floral goth aesthetic I simply HAD to have this collection. Even the Lady of Manners, Jillian Venters immediately coveted it (you can see her review here).
While the individual products are available at Ulta, I was a tad disappointed to find they were not carrying the boxed set even though I somewhat expected it as that’s what happened with the Goth-o-Graphic collection as well. If you’re looking for the boxed collection it comes in 3 variations, makeup only, skincare only, and the full collection and can be ordered on the Wet n Wild website (click the version types to go to their product page). If you’re only after individual items hit up Ulta so you can get your reward points!
**As of 6/21/19 the products are no longer listed on Ulta’s website but can all still be purchased from Wet n Wild directly**
I purchased the full collection set.
I have to say I was incredibly impressed with the packaging. Even just the box was so nice looking.
Inside the box the products were in 2 layers. The skincare collection is comprised of the photofocus Rose Toner, photofocus Rose Multi-Use Oil, photofocus Rose Primer Serum, perfectpout Lip Scrub, and perfectpout Jelly Balm all of which are vegan.
The second layer contains 3 coloricon eyeshadow quads called Bed of Roses, Secret Garden Rendezvous, and House of Thorns; 2 Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipsticks in Kiss of Death and Deviant Damsel; 2 Liquid Catsuit High-Shine Lipsticks in Petal Poison and Bud Romance; a coloricon creme blush in Rose in Peace; and blush and eyeshadow brushes both shaped like roses.
I was incredibly impressed with the serum, oil, and toner. Not just the product themselves but the packaging as well. The bottles are sturdy glass and the oil and serum both come in apothecary bottles with droppers. They look gorgeous just sitting on your vanity or dresser! The toner was refreshing with a light rose fragrance. The oil was hydrating but not overly heavy, and I loved the dried rose petals in the bottom continually infusing the oil with real rose essential oils (give it a quick shake before using to get the full effect). Not only does is look pretty, but it’s packed full of nourishing and moisturizing ingredients like passion fruit seed oil, vitamin E, Argan oil, and Rosa Damascena flower extract. If that wasn’t amazing enough, the oil isn’t just for your face! It can also be used as cuticle oil and a hair oil! In the bottle the serum looks like it’s going to be highlighter level shimmery, but once applied to the skin the shimmer is barely if at all noticeable and I found made for a smooth foundation application. The serum was very watery in consistency so applied very light and a little goes a long way. The serum contained cucumber and Goji Berry extracts among other botanicals to moisturize and help smooth the skin. On their website, Wet n Wild suggests using the toner first, followed by the oil, followed by the serum. This application order does make sense if you’re using the serum strictly for primer. If however you’re using it more as a serum in the traditional sense, I suggest applying it before the oil. Typically you want to apply skincare products from lightest to heaviest, and water based before oil based. Your skin absorbs them better this way. I’ve actually added them to my nighttime regimen in this order.
The lip scrub was great and made for smooth lips. It had a good consistency and wasn’t overly dry like many I’ve recently tried. It reminded me almost of the consistency of Perfectly Posh’s lip scrub (my personal favorite) but a tad grainier. I was not fond, however, of the lip balm. The color it gave was nice enough, but I found it almost drying. It was certainly not hydrating! It contains argan oil, passion fruit seed oil, and vitamin E among other nourishing ingredients that should in theory provide a ton of moisture but just didn’t. The first time I tried it was right after using the lip scrub and I thought perhaps that was why it felt so drying. But I tried it again later without the scrub and it still felt drying. I also couldn’t stand the taste of it on my lips. It tasted awful! The balm’s only real benefit is the color shift which changes it from the burgundy brown to your own custom bright pink. Much like the blush. Overall, the balm was a hard pass for me but I loved the scrub.
At first test I didn’t actually like the blush much. It looked pretty, sure, but the sparkle looked dull. I’m not vary familiar with creme blushes (or blush in general if we’re being honest) so when I first opened it I took a quick swatch and moved on disappointed. Later I relooked at it and played with it a bit more and liked it a LOT more. The top of the blush has almost a waxy coating that seems to separate it. I rubbed it off and the color pay off underneath was this wonderful deep burgundy full of purple and gold shimmer. Like the multi-use oil, the blush actually has a lot of nourishing ingredients, like murumura seed butter,shea butter, vitamin E, argan oil, and passion fruit, so it’s actually good for your skin.
The top swatch here is of the jelly balm and the bottom swatch is the blush. Both change to suit you and may look nothing like they do on me when you apply them to yourself. I found the blush actually didn’t change on me nearly as much as the balm did. The balm actually went on almost clear! So your mileage may vary.
I think I was most excited to swatch the eyeshadows. The shimmers and metallics went on butter smooth and went on very pigmented and blended easily. The shadow quads are worth picking up for them alone. I wasn’t nearly as impressed with the matte shadows. They just didn’t go on as easily as their shimmery counterparts and I really felt like I had to build them up to get good color. The pigmentation just seemed lacking compared to their color in the compact. They also didn’t blend nearly as well as the others. For the swatches I prepped with the Rebel Rose toner, oil, and primer, so it’s very possible they will blend easier and be more pigmented over an actual eye primer. The shadow colors themselves are not named. I did really like the variety of colors. Everything from shimmery nudes to deep red to forest green to black. The shimmery neutrals and pinks have become regulars in my looks.
I am a huge fan of the Liquid Catsuit matte lipsticks and these were no different. These colors are gorgeous! I however am still undecided on Liquid Catsuit High-Shine Lipsticks. The have the pigmentation of a lipstick but wear and felt more like a lip gloss. I keep wearing them because I love these shades, but I think I’ll be passing on purchasing more. I’ve simply been too spoiled by their long-wearing matte counterparts. As you can see in the swatches they are definitely glossy and didn’t dry at all so when I wear them I personally end up touching them up constantly. The matte versions usually last me an entire night, even while eating and drinking with only minor if any touch ups.
The final items in the collection, and quite possibly my favorites, are the blush and eyeshadow brushes. They are shaped like roses on a long black stem and give me a nice sense of nostalgia reminding me very much of the old Fantasy Makers nail polishes they used to make. The bristles are heavenly soft like you’re applying your makeup with a cloud. And the best part is that like the majority of the products in the collection, they’re vegan*!
*The eyeshadow quads are NOT vegan and contain carmine.
