Wet N Wild Limited Edition Spring Forward 8 Pan Palettes - Review & Swatches

There's nothing I hate more than driving all over town looking for limited edition products. Fortunately, I found an almost full display of these Wet N Wild shadows at the first CVS I went to. Score! Okay, well, maybe there's one thing I hate more and that is when retailers price above MSRP, especially when the MSRP is written all over the display. CVS had these priced at $5.49 each, although the display said $4.99. Not cool CVS.

I've just recently discovered the cheap and cheerful joys of Wet N Wild eyeshadows, so when I heard there was a neutral palette, I knew I had to pick it up. Nude Awakening contains 8 neutral, nude shadows ranging from ecru and taupe to gunmetal and a near black. The brown crease shade on the left is matte, while the others have more of a satin or glittery finish. This palette was a no brainer for me and something I'm sure to get a lot of use out of.

Going in the Wild however, was an impulse purchase and one that I'm glad I made. First off, can I just say the name "Going in the Wild" sounds weird and almost grammatically incorrect and makes me think of peeing outside. Now that I got that off my chest, I really surprised myself with how much I'm enjoying these pastel colors. I love the violet crease shade and I'm obsessed with mint anything right now.

As with other Wet N Wild shadows, these all have a buttery soft texture and are easy to blend. I appreciate that these shades aren't as super glittery as some of their other shadows though. My favorite thing about these palettes though has to be the packaging - I love the white and the little flowers on the front - how very spring time!

Limited Edition Maybelline Baby Lips - Complete Set Review and Swatches

L to R: Twinkle, Melon Mania, Pink Wink, Coral Crush, Yummy Plummy

Same order as above

This post is quite belated because I picked up these Maybelline Limited Edition Baby Lips earlier this year, but I think you may still be able to find them in store. I actually ended up ordering all of them on eBay because I was going crazy driving around to drugstores looking for them. They were a bit more expensive on eBay (obviously), but I figure with the price of gas and my time, it really wasn't a bad deal in the end.  I don't really know why I like these so much. At the end of the day, they're just glorified chapsticks with a little bit of color and fragrance! Oh well, they're like Pokemon to me - I gotta catch em all. So lame lol.

You can't really see Twinkle on my arm because it is basically clear - maybe with a little bit of sheen. I don't have any of the non-tinted Baby Lips, so I can't really compare. In the bullet it has a very sheer pinky peach color, but it doesn't translate at all onto the lips. I like the smell which is a bit like Starbursts. Melon Mania is also very sheer despite the hot pink color of the bullet. This one doesn't have much of scent to me which might be a good thing considering I'm not a huge fan of melon. My least favorite of the bunch is Pink Wink because the light, creamy pink color leaves me with white, dead zombie lips. It also smells like bubblegum, which again, I'm not a fan of. Coral Crush is probably my favorite color for it's punchy sheer peachy orange color and citrus scent. Yummy Plummy is also one of the more pigmented colors in a mauve shade. I don't think it smells like plums, but then again, what exactly do plums smell like?? I'm not sure how this compares to the permanent Grape shade because that's the only color I'm missing! I guess I need to pick that one up.

If you're a fan of sheer lip colors, then Baby Lips are definitely worth trying out. They're only about $3-4 so they won't take a bite out of your wallet either. The hardest part is finding all of the colors in store! For more information on Cherry Me and Pink Punch, check out my original blog post here.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Buenos Aires - Review and Swatches

Buenos Aires, Antwerp

I just double checked the spelling of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream to make sure it was spelled "cream" and not "creme". I don't know why, but I really hate it when it's spelled "creme." I thought creme meant fake cream, as in Oreo creme, but it looks like people use the two words willy nilly. You know how some words just give you the heebie jeebies? Like my friend can't stand the word "moist." Well, I hate "creme" unless it is used in the French way with the accent. That's tolerable.

ANYWAY, what was the point of this post? Oh yeah, the NYX Soft Matte Lip CREAM in Buenos Aires. I'm not sure if this is a new shade, but I bought it off the NYX website and I don't see it available at either Ulta or Cherry Culture. NYX calls Buenos Aires a "soft coral"which I would agree with. Initially, I thought it might be similar to Antwerp, but as you can see from the swatches, they are totally different. Buenos Aires is a soft peachy, orangey coral. On the other hand, Antwerp (described as "mid-toned yellow-tone pink") is a pinker coral. 

If you've never tried a Soft Matte Lip Cream, they apply like a gloss with a sponge applicator then dry to a matte finish. For a matte lip product, I find they wear quite comfortably without becoming overly dry. I will say that Buenos Aires is a bit patchy in application and take a little effort to smooth out. I don't find this to be the case with darker colors of the Lip Creams. They are very reasonably priced at around $6 and available at nyxcosmetics.com, cherryculture.com and Ulta.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter - Juicy Papaya

L to R: Juicy Papaya, Tutti Frutti, Peach Parfait 

L to R: Juicy Papaya, Tutti Frutti, Peach Parfait 

Recently Revlon brought out a couple new shades of their infamous Lip Butters - Sorbet, Wild Watermelon, Pink Lemonade and Juicy Papaya. I found Sorbet and Juicy Papaya at my local Target. They were mixed in with the old shades, but there weren't slots labelled for them yet. It looks like these are permanent shades (ie, NOT limited edition), so you don't need to go crazy driving around town looking for them!

I picked up Juicy Papaya and I'm glad I did because it just might be my new favorite shade! Juicy Papaya is a peach without any glitter or shimmer. It's quite sheer so it may require some building up if you have pigmented lips. It has the same balm-y texture of the other lip butters and lasting power is so-so. Honestly, I'm the worst person to ask about how long lipsticks last because they all last about 15 minutes on me! It's gross, but my stomach must be full of lipstick... ANYWAY, as you can see from the swatches, Tutti Frutti is considerably more orange and Peach Parfait is pinker and way more glittery. 

I'm going to say, you need Juicy Papaya so get off your butt and start looking for it NOW!

MAC Archie's Girls Betty Powder Blush in Cream Soda

I had no intention of buying anything from the MAC Archie's Girls collections. First of all, I'm not a MAC "collector" so I don't feel the need to jump on every LE collection. Second, I have ZERO interest in Archie. Third, there's that whole pesky spending ban thing.  So how did I end up with this blush?

I'm weak. I was browsing the MAC counter the other day and I asked for some help getting matched to a foundation and the salesgirl applied not only foundation to me, but a bunch of other stuff including this blush, which was a beaut. I thought Cream Soda was pretty when I saw it online, but I figured it would be too light and wouldn't show up on my medium skin tone. Boy was I wrong. I mean, the effect is subtle, but you get a gorgeous, natural peachy glow. I'm not that familiar with MAC's blush formulations, but Cream Soda is a satin blush and although it looks matte in the pictures, there is a little bit of shimmer running through it.

Sooo, I bought something I shouldn't have, but I'm super happy with it. What else is new?? Maybe I should just give up on this whole spending ban thing completely! Just kidding... sort of.

Secret Outlast and Clinical Strength, Plus a Ramble

I don't know why I was thinking about this, but I remembered reading an article in the New York Times a few years ago about a new trend in bathing. Well maybe it wasn't so much a trend because I'm sure they were talking about a very small group of people and it really wasn't about bathing, but more about NOT bathing. The article, called the Great Unwashed, is still available online and you can check it out here. 

I guess the whole point of this is that I have a confession: I don't always bathe every day. There I said it. Every other day at the very least, of course, but I feel like I can be a pretty objective judge of my own cleanliness. It seems pretty acceptable now to not wash your hair every day, but the same can't really be said of showering. I work in an air conditioned office, drive an air conditioned car, live in an air conditioned house and don't work out every day (not necessarily a good thing). All of this adds up to me not getting dirty or sweaty or even being outside! But of course, these are just my opinions.

The one thing I am fastidious about though is deodorant. I just said I don't sweat, but that was kind of a lie because I do get sweaty underarms. I sweat when I work out, but I also sweat due to anxiety or stress. I was just talking to my mom about this and telling her how unfair it is because I am literally the only person in my family who wears deodorant on an every day basis. Can you believe it?? I am telling you that my mother, father and twenty-something brother do not wear deodorant and they do not sweat or smell!! So see, showering and shampooing and deodorant wearing and whatever else really is on a case by case basis. I'm just assuming (hoping) you can be a judge of your own case. The same cannot be said of an intern I had several years ago, but that's another story...

Well that was a huge ramble and I wish P&G were paying me for that treatise, but sadly they are not. And hey, did I tell you I switched deodorants recently? Ta dah!

I picked up these Secret Outlast deodorants at Target the other day for $4. I mentioned before that I had been using Dove for years but was looking for a change. I can't say with 100% certainty, but I do feel like switching things up has been a good move. I use the Outlast during the day and a few times a week I will put on the Clinical Strength at night after I shower. I tried Clinical Strength in the past and I also used Certain Dri, but I'm quite capable of sweating through both of them! They're okay, but I don't know if they're worth the price if you are a heavy sweater. I need to pay a little more attention before I can deliver a verdict. I'm not sure if exercise sweat is really a fair judge because I will absolutely sweat when I have a good work out. On the other hand, it's hard for me to anticipate stressful situations and when one comes up, I'm so well, stressed, that I don't notice my underarm situation! Odor actually isn't really an issue with me and for a long time I used unscented deodorants (or I guess they're really anti-perspirants). With that said, I quite like the scent of Completely Clean which is clean (duh) and fresh without being powdery. I smelled the Sport version at the store and I think it was similar, but a bit stronger. I prefer solid formulations because I don't like the feeling of cold liquid or gel on my underarms and I don't want to wait the few seconds for it to dry. I just take a little extra precaution if I'm wearing dark colors, even though they are supposed to be clear. By the way, I remember reading a tip that if you do get deodorant on your black shirt, you can rub it off with a nylon stocking. Handy!

Wow that was a long ass post. I was going to put up a poll asking how often you shower, but I can't figure out how to put it on just on the post, so I'll ask you to leave a comment. How often do you shower, wash your hair and do you wear deodorant?