True Blue Spa Sleep It Off Overnight Anti-Aging Hand Serum Review

I picked this serum up for $1.99 at the bath & body works outlet in Gettysburg, PA. For those of you who know me, you're probably thinking, what the heck is Sue doing in Gettysburg, PA. Well I went there last weekend to visit my brother & his lovely family.

There isn't much to do there except outlet shopping and Gettysburg battlefield tours. It is a quaint town however. I can see why some people like the small town life. There is a town center and everything you need is all right there; however, Gettysburg is one creepy town at night. When we were driving at night from my brother's place to the hotel in town center, we had to pass a half of mile of dark road (absolutely no street light) through the edges of the battlefield. :::shutters::::, wow thank god my DH was with me, because I don't think I could do it alone.

Overall, I had a great weekend with them and before we took off to drive back to the NYC area, I of course had to stop by the outlet. There wasn't anything there HAHAHAHA. The bath & body works outlet was the only place I could go into, and I actually hate their products. I think it's over scented, way too sweet, and the combined scent just makes me gag. It reminds me of junior high school and I just don't know what the fuss is about.

I walked into the store and the friendly SA greeted me. As I was looking around, I noticed that there were boxes underneath the display islands and I rummaged through them. I picked up some gifts and I found this anti-aging hand serum. I figured for $1.99, why the heck not, right??
WRONG!!!!!

I want my $1.99 back LOL
The product is suppose to cost around $16, so I was excited about the bargain, now I see why it is $1.99. Initially the scent was quite odd to me. It was citrusy, yet it almost smelled like citrus gone bad. But I needed this for my hands, so I decided to give it a try.

I am obsessed with my hands these days with my new found obsession with nail polish and when I look at The purse forum and all the lovely ladies in the nail care subforum (yep they shoved us into our own subforum), I get so embarrassed at how my 31 year old hands look so old. So I am trying anything to show my "youth" through my hands.

I'm going to give this product a big fat "D". I'll tell you why. The pump sucks on this product, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Then the smell is odd and the texture is even worse. It is a serum texture; however, it goes on quite gloopy. Also, if you decide you want to rub the serum in like you would with a hand lotion, it starts to flake into these little dirty brown flakes. I wash my hands a gazillion times a day, so it definitely wasn't due to my hands being dirty. It's disgusting, little flakes everywhere, and of course I had to wash my hands again. So that was my experience with it on the first day.

The next day, I decided to give it another try. This time, I didn't rub it in. I just applied the serum and gently rubbed one time and left it. It wasn't so bad, still stinks a bit like an old orange, but no flakes. That's why it got an overall review of basically failing.

if you guys see this for $1.99, don't get it, not even for $0.99.
Save yourself the agony and stay away from this product. I'm going to listen to my gutt next time and just avoid all outlet items at bath & body works.

Here is the culprit and what it looks like....

Lorac Multidimensional Spring 2011 Ulta Exclusive Set

I have been overwhelmed lately with all of the beautiful products out there. I think it's my defense mechanism in buying these little beauty items, because I'm nervous about having to shell out the big guns with my upcoming move to England.

I ran to Ulta today to see the Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe. I honestly can't say that I was blown away by the ulta version. I must the only girl who blogs about beauty that doesn't own or want these multi colored glitter bomb polishes. To me it just looks like a birthday party threw up all over my nails lol. I don't know what the hooplah is about.

But speaking of multi colored.......

I went over to the prestige cosmetic section and came across the Lorac section. Honestly, I haven't look at Lorac makeup since their lip polishes almost a decade ago LOL
But something caught my eye...

The Lorac Multidimensional set

This ULTA Exclusive Collection contains everything you need for MULTIDIMENSIONAL eyes and lips. Featuring 3 prismatic light-reflecting shadows for dramatic shimmering color and MULTIPLEX 3D Lip Gloss in ULTA GLAM for super glossy 3D lips. All enclosed in a metallic mesh makeup case that can double as your evening clutch. (image borrowed from Ulta.com)

I was very impressed with the shadows. When I swatched them they were silky/velvety and gave me a lot of color pay off. So I'm branching out to Lorac now and really wanting this set.

I hate it when a set is an exclusive, because it rarely comes on ebay. I am trying to rack my brains on how to get this the cheapest way possible, because it is losing out to the Nars Bento Box that I have been drooling over. I need to save my money for that piece of art, but I really am loving this set.

Has anyone got this? Can you tell me what your favorite piece is from this set and why?

Chat soon!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips on Clearance Haul

Hello hello!
Today my puppy was sick and wanted to swing by Petsmart to grab him some food and maybe a treat to make him feel better. So naturally my DH wanted to swing by Walmart. I hate Walmart, I hate the people, the smell, just everything. So I begrudgingly went there and went straight to the cosmetic aisle.

So anyways, the sally hansen display was bare empty, maybe one of two left, but they were completely sold out. So I decided to make towards the seasonal section to see if there was anything on clearance and I found over 20 Salon effects strips in the clearance section. Surely a mistake right? Didn't matter. I saw #240 Check it out (the houndstooth one) and I grabbed the two there, and wanted to grab one of each color, but I had to contain myself. Not all strips were there, so I took them to the counter and they rang up for $8.50 and I told the nice lady that they were in the clearance secton. She huffed and puffed - ok side note, why do people care, just give me the discount, it's not like you're pocketing this money - but she gave in and marked them at 50% off. Walmart sells these cheaper than anywhere at $8.50, and half of that was a bargain price of $4.25 for each one. I picked these up for gifts, but I'm definitely keeping the houndstooth one.

So glad I got these! Then I went home and another online friend sent me $1 coupons and I didn't see them arrive until after I bought this. Yes yes, I know it's only $1, but I could put that towards something else LOL Yes my frugalness has no end it seems :)

So enough blabbing, here are the pictures.

Here is the group picture:

Here are the side pictures, so you can see what's in the box and how it looks like from all angles.
Oh so let me mention that this packaging is such a waste. Here's my "green" rant, we shouldn't produce so much waste, but these boxes contain tiny strips and it comes in such a big box - so wasteful.

Inside the box come these tiny strips and a small file & wooden stick

It even comes with fool-proof directions (sorry about the poor image here)

and just a pet-peeve of mine, openings that don't open lol. You're going to need scissors to open these babies, even though there was an easy to peel tab.

So my apologies for no pictures on the application. I have a fabulous manicure from last nights black shatter post that I don't want to take off. But I will definitely post with swatches of the houndstooth/checkered one in a future blog!
I just wanted to get these up and to let you ladies out there to go and check your Walmart clearance aisles, because you may find these.

Happy Shopping!

OPI Black Shatter vs. Barry M Black Magic

So after a stressful day, I needed some relaxation and I decided to compare my shatter/crackle polishes.
Barry M is a british brand and was out way before OPI Black Shatter. It took a while for it to get to me, but it's finally here. I always thought trends tend to take a bit of time to reach the states. Below is my review on the two. Enjoy! Oh ladies and if you don't have either of these, it's so much fun, get it definitely (although OPI black shatter is a little hard to get right now, it's not impossible).

The color I had underneath was Orly - Shine

Here is the first swatch: Barry M's Black Magic.
A thin coat is all you need and within seconds, the polish begins to crack into squarish "islands". This cracks differently than the OPI Shatter and you'll see why.
I like this one better, because it gives a spotted look, which I like a lot.

Now the OPI black Shatter is the big craze and I like it too, but sometimes it cracks into really thin linear lines and I sort of enjoy the thicker lines better. I also am having an issue with the polish drying up too fast in the bottle, but of course I was told a little thinner will always fix it. I hope so, especially since this polish has a different formula make up.

So overall, Barry M wins in my book, but I love them both.
I am very happy this came out. It's fun, it's funky, it's very 80's and quite urban chic in my book. It's all the craze right now and I can totally see why.

For those in the US, I got the Barry M polish off of ebay for $10.95 with shipping included from the U.K. Not too shabby, yeah? :)

See you guys soon for my next blog about Sally Hansen's Salon Effects strips.

My Current Wishlist

I rarely do this, but I'm going to publish my current makeup wishlist. The reasons why I haven't purchased some of these yet have to do with the price and also availability.

Here they are:

Skincare:
Diorsnow products - I heard excellent reviews on the lightening benefits of Diorsnow products. I have a small Diorsnow concealer that I use sparingly and it does in fact lighten my acne scars, so I am very eager to dive into the world of Diorsnow to see what other products give this lightening effect.

Makeup:
Bobbi Brown concealer - I had this 2 years ago and I remember it worked well. Time to restock.
Cle de peau concealer - I heard great reviews on this. Eager to try it.
Mac – viva glam gaga II lipstick - I love nude lipsticks, this one looks creamy.
D&G – nude eyeliner - I am hoping this will brighten and widen my eyes.
Christian Dior 360 mascara - Just intrigued by the rotating mascara, don't know why lol
Guerlain Écrin 6 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette - Place Vendôme - Saw this on a forum & fell in love
Dior – gris gris palette & 5 Golds palette - Just so luxurious!


Nail Polish:
Dior – Rock Coat polish - Anything that darkens polish is something I need in my bag.
Dior - ebony polish - Dark polish? Yes please.
Chanel – Black Velvet - I loved the swatches of this online.
Chanel – Holographic HTF - A girl can dream right??????
China Glaze OMG HTF - Once again, I'm dreaming here again :p

But my Number #1 wishlist item that I want very very badly and will get my hands on this Christmas if it is still available is the Nars Bento box. Luxurious and in a beautiful minimalist Japanese bento box style box, I must have this on my vanity.
I know several girls on my forum that currently own this and they have raved on and on about it, so I will definitely be taking the plunge this Christmas. I just hope that this Very Limited and Very Exclusive Lipstick bento will still be available when I can get it.