Albertini Skin Care Review

August 1, 2015Clare 1 Comment

Hello My Fellow Goo Horders!

I’ve recently gotten into skincare.

I’ll admit it. I slept in my makeup for almost 20 years.

Probably not the best thing to do, right? So, at the behest of a good friend, I started paying more attention to my skin. I figure that I want my skin to be good to me for at least the next 40 years, I better begin caring for it a little more, now. It’s been a year of hits and misses.

I was intrigued when I was contacted to review a couple products from Albertini’s skin care line!

Ready to find out about some fantastic items?

Let’s do this….

Rough Love. This is a body exfoliator. Wonderful scented with Rosemary and Eucalyptus oils. I love the fact that this scrub doesn’t smell sweet, it smells natural and earthy. Perfect amount of grit coming from the salt and dark mud combination. It’s the perfect exfoliator before a self tanner for me! It will feel like you have new skin. I’m an exfoliator lover (From way back, yo!) and this one is one of my new favorites! You’ll be so soft, like a baby’s bottom.

Warm Love. A Pumpkin Exfoliating Mask. OMG! Another product that I never knew I needed in ma life. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. This is warm pumpkin pie and whipped cream in a face mask. When you apply it starts to warm and you feel the creaminess and smell the spices, it’s just so homey and comfy and and and…. I like to use this one before bed a couple times a week, smooth it on and rub it around after I’ve washed my face and keep it on while I brush my teeth. I’ll wash it off amount 10 minutes later, after finishing the rest of my nightly routine. It feels luxurious and I feel fancy using it. In the picture below you can see the exfoliating bits.

My face feels soft and my skin looks brighter, happier. It’s all the goodness of Thanksgiving dessert in a face mask and none of the calories! It’s heaven in a tube.

Last but not least….

Pure Love. This is an oil cleanser that blends olive oil, argan oil and jojoba oil. This stuff is magic! Dissolves makeup including waterproof mascara. Emulsifies with water to rinse cleanly. There’s no film or greasiness at ALL! Gentle enough to use morning and night. Tough enough to really clean. There’s a gentle fresh warm scent to it. It’s really nice not having tight skin. I grew up being told that tight skin meant clean skin. This is so not the case! My skin feels amazing after I use this. I want a body cleanser like this. Seriously, I want to bathe myself in Pure Love!

I’ve noticed using these products that my skin is happier and more glowy. Who doesn’t want that? I’m always nervous trying new things because of my weird sensitive skin. I’ve not had one problem with any of these products. This makes me a happy woman! These will stay in my current rotation of skin care. Not only to I like using them, I’ve seen results.

Until next time, Stay Awesome!

Clare

*Items were provided for review. My opinion is mine, mine, mine and mine alone. *

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Ipsy Bag – October 2014

November 4, 2014Clare 5 Comments

I know what you are all saying, “Clare, you know it’s November, right?”

Yesssssss, I do. I’ve spent a few days of seeing friends, eating Thai food on the couch watching Hotel Hell (Srsly, Gordon Ramsay takes his clothes off in every episode!) and cleaning up my little misfit bungalow.

Better late than never, right?

Right!

So here we go…… :bang zoom:

This months bag is supah adorable! It’s teal and quilted. It has the circle thumb pull, which I so prefer. I love it!

Now for as overview shot.. Here’s the entire bag contents.

Minus the postcard inserts. Mine are somewhere?? 🙂

First Item- Starlooks Lipgloss in Guilty Pleasure. It’s a pinky browny nude. I like the color just not on me. This shade just doesn’t work on me. It smells like buttercream frosting with none of that plastic vanilla smell! Feels great on, too! Full Size is $12

Second Item- Nicole by OPI in Feeling Very Cherry. I’ve tried to find this on the Nicole by OPI website with no luck. Nonetheless, I LOVE IT! These vampy, sanguine fall polishes make me happy! So glad I got this shade. It applies smoothly. I used mine with a quick dry top coat at 8:30pm and was able to hit the sheets somewhere about an hour later with no marks. It did chip the next day, but that’s just the way regular polishes are on me. I’ll be trying this over gel this week. Average price $7

Third Item – Model Co. Volumeyes Mascara – (The link is for the Extreme Black.) I like this mascara. Works well with falsies. Very Black. And dare I say, :looks over shoulders: I like it better than UD’s Perversion. :A thousand gasps from the Goo Horders around the world: UD’s makes my eyes a little itchy, it’s not a smooth formula and makes my lashes the bad kinda spidery. I’ll keep trying it though. Model Co Volumeyes doesn’t do any of the above. So there. I might be burned at the stake for being the only one to go against the UD Perversion hype. (Send me macarons in Beauty Jail, please?) This is a $20 item.

Fourth Item – Epice Purifying Exfoliant. I think the Ipsy Team is watching me. Srsly, I’m a sucker for exfoliators, especially these superfine ones. I love the feeling of sandblasted, polished skin. I got the dr. brandt one a couple months ago and love it, too. Ipsy knows their audience, don’t they? The Epice on smells clean and does the job. It’s on the pricey side though. For 3.3 oz it’s $32. So, this 1oz tube is basically $10!

Fifth Item- Fig & Rouge Hand Cream in Rose Berry. If you read my August Favorites you know I have my HG hand cream. I’ve been using it for a decade. With that said, I don’t like hand creams/lotions. Only, The H2OPlus one. This will be going into the Friend’s Grab Bag. It’s okay. The smell to me is way too sweet and doesn’t dissipate. Personally, I don’t like my hands to smell like anything thing, but clean. A positive is that the packaging is ka-yoot! This tube is about $6.95.

Overall, I like this bag. There was only one total miss for me, the hand cream. The gloss, I can probably make work over a darker lipstick.

Let’s get a bag total: $44 (rounding up and that’s w/o the gloss) Not freaking bad, folks! Srsly for only $10.

If you want to join in on the Ipsy fun…. please use this link! I appreciate the points.

Stay Awesome.

Cheers,

Clare

Ipsy Bag – September 2014

September 18, 2014Clare 3 Comments

Yay for the Break of the Heatwave! Yay for getting some needed housework done after being under the weather and heat!

Today, after I get some stuff completed.. I’m picking up Toni the Art Model and we are going to have some Girlie Time ™. I know I’m going to be getting some Botox for my Elevens. Tomorrow we have a Retro Photo Shoot at the Beach planned.

But now… It’s Ipsy Time ™!

Here’s an overview:

This months bag itself? Super cute! It’s a square grey faux leather bag with some silver studs! Love it!

First, Nourish Organic Cucumber and Watercress Face Cleanser . It smells really clean. I haven’t used it, yet. I can’t wait to. Looks to be a deluxe sample!

Second, Crown Brush’s Infinity Shadow/ Crease Brush. I have used this. It’s soft, yet firm enough to blend out shadows beautifully! This brush will be in my rotation. Love it!

Third, Hikari’s Lipstick in Cabernet. It’s a beautiful pink (on me) wine matte lipstick. It’s creamy and pigmented. Wonderful bright color for Fall. This is another winner! It retails for $13!! Love it!

Fourth, is the Alterna Caviar CC Cream 10-n-1. Yesterday, I spent the day in the pool. Pool water is harsh, it took all the light pink I had put in a couple days ago. (I love pink hair, it makes me stoopid happy.). I also have bleach my hair twice in the passed week. As well, toning it 3 times. I hated the color. Out of weakness, I turned to the dye again. I decided to dye my roots (I started going white at 18.). After I shampooed the dark brown from my roots I decided to keep the blonde. Seeings out I didn’t condition my hair, because I thought I was going to go pink…. I put this and some spray leave-in, then blow dried. This stuff ROCKS!! It was probably one of the best blow outs I’ve given myself!! Love it!

Fourth, Pacifica’s Natural Minerals Eyeliner in Pewter. It’s lovely! Pewtery, sparkly and creamy. Can’t wait to use this as an eyeliner and as a base for shadow. Love it!

This months bag was really GOOD!!

If you want to subscribe to Ipsy @ $10 month… please use this link!

Stay AWESOME!

Cheers,

Clare

August Favorites!

August 27, 2014Clare Leave a comment

Hello My Fellow Goo Lovers!

Is it really the end of August!? This year seems to be speeding along at a furious pace.

As the kids are saying, “I just can’t even!”

It is the end of August and I have a few of my favorites to share with y’all.

Let’s start with nails, shall we?

This color!! I didn’t think I would love it as much as I do. I like fun colors, but greens don’t really suit me. The company is Mundial Impala and the color is Beleza Natural. I took a few coats to become opaque. The color reminds me of a this Fiat, but a tad darker. It’s like deeper Fall version of all the pastel blues and greens that have been so on trend this year. I’ve had it on for about 4 days over uv gel polish and no chips. That’s my favorite way to wear traditional polish.. over gel. If I don’t polish will chip in hours. Over gel, it can last longer than a week. I have several other colors from this brand and I really like them.

This top coat!! It’s from Abolute!, which is a Nicka K company. I found it at TJMaxx for for $3. It’s bloodly brilliant. It works. It’s shiny. What else can I say? It seems dries your polish completely in mere minutes!

The last day of Cosmoprof I picked up a random bag from this company. I have never heard of them, I think they are Russian (not sure). I’m in love with this mattifying powder. It’s called Matt Creation Shine Control from Verona’s Butterfly Collection. I’m simply in lurve with this stuff (but I repeat myself!). I use a huge fluffy brush after I’ve finished with my makeup and I’m shine free with NO powdery or cakey finish…. for HOURS! Even without makeup it helps to seemingly make your skin better looking. You don’t need a lot either. I haven’t read this blurb until now and YES!

Here’s what it says on the site:

“An innovative mattifying powder with Soft-Focus effect, which leaves the skin velvety smooth for many hours. Light texture gives a natural make-up effect that adapts to the skin color. The powder conceals imperfections, giving your face a healthy and beautiful look. Practical packaging with a mirror is from now on an irreplaceable item in your purse.”

I needed a heavy duty toner. Enter in Mario Badescu’s Glycolic Acid Toner. I’ll confess, I’ve only began even thinking about removing my make-up before going to bed. Genetics have smiled upon me, I have decent skin. It’s making up for my teenage years. I like this one. It took a bit for my skin to adjust to it, though. It’s strong and I only use it a couple times a week. I’ve used several different products from them. The Rosewater Facial Spray makes me happy happy. IT’S ROSES!

Even though it’s Summer here on The Left Coast my skin has been strangely dry. Not ABQ dry, but dry nonetheless. H2O Plus’s Hand and Nail Cream has been my favorite for almost 12 years. I picked this one up at Marshall’s for $6. I just checked the site and there seems to have been a packaging change. I really hope that it’s the same stuff. It’s different than most lotions. It feeeeeels goooooood. It’s hard to explain it just doesn’t feel like everything out there. Never greasy, absorbs almost immediately. I can use it and with in a minute use my iPhone. This thing lives on my night stand and I use it all over. And the smell is clean. It also comes it unscented.

Last but not least my Bargains of the Month! Chi Shine Infusion Spray and a pair of Calvin Klein socks. The shine spray was $5 and is just what I was looking for. I’m pretty sure I saw it in a Nicole Guerriero video. Go watch her, she FANTASTIC! I’ve got ombre bleached and colored hair…. this stuff does wonders. And the socks were 70 cents.. and they’re ROSES!

There you go, folks! What have been some of your favorite things this month?

Cheers,

Clare

Be a Bombshell Review.

August 25, 2014Clare Leave a comment

Hello Y’all!

By now you have figured out that I attended Cosmoprof North America 2014. Since The Boyfriend works 10-12 hour days and vacation is barely in his vocabulary…. he sets me loose at Trade Shows. A few weekends a year in Vegas (once in San Francisco and once in the Bahamas) and I get to sample all the new make-up and goo… Done!!

This year like last, I grabbed Mani Pedi Diva. We hopped into my trusty Coleoptera Car (Beetle) and sped through the desert to Vegas! Our first day while doing Recon, we found the Be a Bombshell booth. Immediately, we fell in lurve with them. I would totally add them to my Christmas Card List… (if I could actually get my Christmas Cards out. Shhhh!) After a bit, we decided they probably should talk to other people, we parted ways. As the final day was coming to a close, we swung by just to say goodbye. Much to our surprise they handed us a bag of swag. HEAVEN!! I might have squee’d a little.

Without further ado….. Let’s start this Bombshell party!

Just look at this color! This is Starstruck. The photo is reading more fuschia/magenta-y, it’s not at all… it’s a *true royal purple*. Creamy and blendable. I’ve only swatched this shadow, but it may bring me to the dark side of color. I’m pretty much a neutral/darks kinda girl. This color is royally awesome! With 24 colors you’ll definitely find some that you’ll love.

While standing at the booth and looking at all the shadows they had displayed…. I started having a little love affair with the green shade, Tease in this quad. I even took a picture of it so I could purchase it when I got home. Little did I know that my eyeshadow dreams were answered right here in the quad. This one is New York City and contains: All Nighter, Tease, Halo, and Dancing Queen. When I wear these shades my light blue eyes shift ever so green. I already own one of their other quads Bora Bora and it’s brilliant, too. There are 4 total quads available.

Next fantastic item is their lip gloss in Sangria. Feels wonderful and not sticky at all! Again, the photo is reading too pinky. This is a mauve-y shimmery shade. On me it’s very YLBB (Your Lips But Better) with a little sparkle. This lip gloss reminds me a Chanel Levres Scintillantes one I had years ago that I loved. I lost it moving and can’t remember the name to save my life. Now, I have Sangria to fill it’s place. Srsly, I love the texture and shine of this gloss. Check out the other 17 colors (and there’s a clear one)!

I take my eyeliner seriously. It sounds completely vain. I just love me some eyeliner. Someday, I take a picture of all my eyeliners and y’all will understand my terrible problem. Pencil, felt tip, cake, liquid, gel… I have them all. It takes something special for me to get excited. And this liner gets me excited. This felt tip in Onyx, it’s black, noooo it’s BLACK! (I’ve been known to layer different eyeliners to get the effect I want… 3 is my tops.) Once it dries, there’s no smudgin’ or budgin’ until you take it off. You can draw a thin line, thick line and anything in between. It comes it 5 different colors. It’s the Bomb(shell)!

Finally we have a blush. This shade is Sweet Cheeks. The texture is smooooooth and pigmented. It’s really a sweet pink with a little touch of coral. I’ve used this by itself and I have dust this shade over whatever blush I’ve used and it glows. I’m sure that you’ll find your favorite in one of the 12 shades that they have.

Here are the swatches. For some reason my camera was reading things a bit pink today.

If you have Be a Bombshell on Twitter/FB you might have seen this:

This is the last week to receive 5 of our best selling items FREE with purchase of $75 or more. Don’t miss out!

Go check out Be a Bombshell! Not only are they great folks, they have wonderful products. I hope run into them next year in Vegas. 🙂

Cheers,

Clare

Ipsy Bag – August 2014

August 21, 2014Clare Leave a comment

Hello Y’all!

I’m still on a Iggy Azalea kick.

Rocking out to ‘Work’ as I work on this reveal…. Just to let you know it’s not work or kidlet friendly by any means…

This morning I had some blood tests done. I’m glad I no longer have a BIG need phobia, it makes this (points at picture) easier.

And then I thought it would be a grand idea to add one of these things to my empty stomach! WEEEEEE!! HERE WE GO!

So, lets get this party started.. Ipsy Style.

This month’s very cute orange polka dot bag is a lot like the clear pink plastic bag we got a several months ago.. (which I think my mom ‘stole’ from me. Who am I kidding, I probably gave it to her. We use them in our purses.).

First thing I pulled out of the bag was Urban Decay’s Perversion Mascara. I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried it. I have a bunch of mascaras going at the moment. I really do want to try it and I’ll let y’all know when I do.

Second was Abolute’s You’re the Balm in Grape. This has been living on my night stand (tubes roll off or the cat thinks they are toys). I like it, I feel totally 12 when I use it! It’s GRAPE-Y! it looks like it has tiny flecks of glitter in it, doesn’t show up on the lips. The formula is very slick and seems to be moisturizing. I haven’t had dry lips in a week, so there’s that.

Third is Dr. Brandt’s No More Pores. I lurve this stuff! I used it this past weekend for a night out. My foundation went on more smoothly, seemed to last longer and made my face feel smoooooth. It was a good day/night to test it… it was 90 in my “getting ready” area in my house! While my hair drooped 30 seconds after curling it, my face stayed intact. WIN!

Fourth is Coastal Scent’s Forever Blush. The colors are pretty. Swatched nicely. I just don’t think they are in my color wheel house. A little too orange and a little too baby pink… Swirling them together is okay. I go for blushed that are darker, like MAC Breezy.

Lastly…. Lord & Berry’s Silk Kajal. It’s good. It’s very smuge-able, it doesn’t seem to set. I still could blend it out an hour after swatching. It’s black. It’s an eyeliner. I do love me some eyeliner. This will be in my backup.

There you go… Ipsy for August. A pretty dang good bag!

If you want to subscribe to Ipsy, CLICK HERE! It’ll help me rack up some more points. 🙂

Cheers,

Clare

NYX Suede Palette Review

August 20, 2014Clare 2 Comments

Hello Y’all!

First things first! I’m the realest.

(Sorry, I’m such a fan of ‘I’m so Fancy’. It’s totally my Summer Jam!)

Okay… First things first… RENEE WON the last GIVEAWAY!!! Congrats Lady. We’ll do lunch!

Second. I’ve been watching a lot of Haven and Supernatural. I have distinct urge to salt my windows and doors to keep out the demons. Also, I had this thought. What if you had the ability to actually know what was behind people’s social media post. Mostly the ‘OMG! My life is soooo awesome.’ -or- the ‘oh so wise quotey’ posts. And you know they are really sitting somewhere boring as heck, bored outta their ever-loving minds or they’re sitting in the loo, would be worth a giggle or two. WHAT?? Like none of you have ever had a thought like this?!

Third on to Beauty Stuff!

The NYX Suede Shadow Palette

I have a drawer of eyeshadow palettes. They are like crack to me. I love them. So when this little guy popped out at me at Cosmoprof NA… (I’m pretty sure it made my Instagram) I was hooked. After waiting a month and not buying any eyeshadows, I pulled the trigger. I also found a code on the inter webs: WELCOME25 (for 25% of your order)

They have a really smooth texture and very blendable. In the pan they seem really shimmery. For me, once they hit the skin the the shimmer mellows out. I can see myself reaching for this palette often, especially as we go into Fall. Most of the colors are rather neutral, even that dark blue/green isn’t a pow pow kinda color. Not only do they blend well, they layer nicely, too. This would be a great work/office palette. Here’s a quick look I did:

I used the dark taupe, off white and the dark blue/green. (This picture was a quick selfie, no judgin’!) On the eyebrows, I used the new NYX Eyebrow Gel in Chocolate. Since, it was my first time using this, dos brow be bold! (Eyeliner Rich Experience by MAC : One by One Mascara by Maybelline)

I think the secret to using this stuff is… to use the least amount of product possible. Unless, you like the Total Bold as &*%# Brows look! This could is a dupe for Makeup Forever’s Eyebrow Gel. That I wouldn’t know, haven’t used it. $7 for NYX vs $20 for Makeup Forever.. Take yer pick.

They you go..

In the next few days…. I’ll have an Ipsy bag unveiling, an August Favorites List and a Be a Bombshell blog going up.

Cheers,

Clare

GIVEAWAY – J.Andre Sponges

August 10, 2014Clare 2 Comments

I know I’ve been absent a bit from here. You want to know why?

I have the balance of a 90 year old woman.

Seriously.

So, there I was waiting for my Caturday Coffee. (It’s a thing in our house, The Boyfriend gets up and makes stovetop espresso on Saturday mornings. His coffee is better than mine. Don’t ask how, it just is.) Standing there minding my own business… our cat Simon, headbutts the back of my knee. As I was fighting the imminent fall, he comes background for the side swipe. It was all over. I was just a flurry of flailing limbs and BOOM… I squarely fell on me arse. Usually, there’s enough padding back there (Thanks, Grandma!), but this time I fell “perfectly” to feel my spine “accordion”. It took a few days to get back to normal.

Yes, this guy. He thinks it’s totally okay to headbutt the backs of knees.

To add insult to injury a few days after this event, when I was feeling better… I picked up The Boyfriend’s wheelie briefcase and pulled a muscle. *wanh-wanh*

Yes, I’m *that* much of a klutz.

There you have it… it’s funny now.

Back to Beauty Stuff!!

While I was at Cosmoprof North America, I met the CEO and Director of Sales of J. Andre Sponges. Two really awesome women. They gave me some samples.

Here’s a little info about these from their site:

“Every Sponge in both the Classic and Definition Collections naturally contain Vitamin E, are latex-free, and are Hypo-Allergenic. These healthy and skin-friendly properties allow the sponges to glide across your skin creating a flawless application with each and every use.

These durable sponges will never peel, flake or crumble. They are baby soft and will not your skin of any of its essential elements.

All of your J. Andre Sponges are completely washable and reusable, and with proper care will be your best tool for years to come.”

The other day, I whipped out the Sponge Applicator, the pointy oblong shaped one. I currently use a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush (Which I love!) or my fingers. I’ve used different sponges and brushes. I’m usually a skeptic when it comes to new things. Let me tell you, these sponges are the fecking bomb-diggity. I definitely put it to the test (for me). I dampen, it grew like other cosmetic sponges. I then squeezed it out in a towel… dotted Elf’s Flawless Face Foundation all over my mug. This foundation is notoriously hard for me to blend out for some reason. It sits on my skin, never looking natural on me. This sponge made it look like my skin, but better. I even asked The Boyfriend what he thought (He spent years performing under stage lights and understands makeup.) he said that my skin looked great, even in broad daylight. These sponges are super duper soft and a dream to bounce, bounce, bounce all around your face. I also noticed that it seems to *NOT* drink up my foundation. That makes me uber happy, I want more of it on my FACE than in the sponge. I can’t wait to try this with my Revlon Colorstay.

Next, I’m trying to guy out!

We’ve come to the GIVEAWAY! Some lucky reader will be getting all of the triangle sponges and a powder puff (not pictured). Same rules as the last one: Share this blog, Like this blog, Tell people. Sharing is caring, folks! Come back here tell me your favorite foundation. GIVEAWAY will end Wednesday at Midnight PST.

Here are my Top 5 Foundations, in no particular order:

1. L’oreal True Match

2. CoverGirl True Blend

3. Bare Mineral Original

4. MAC’s Face and Body

5. Elf’s Flawless Face Foundation (NOW!)

To sum up…. These sponges are a WINNER and I’m so glad I got to try them out. The women I met at J.Andre were wonderful. I love it when it all works.

Cheers,

Clare

A Domestic Goddess who loves makeup and food.

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Review

Albertini Skin Care Review

Ipsy Bag – October 2014

Ipsy Bag – September 2014

August Favorites!

Be a Bombshell Review.

Ipsy Bag – August 2014

NYX Suede Palette Review

GIVEAWAY – J.Andre Sponges

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