Wet n Wild - Megalast nail color (Disturbia, Sugar Coat, Red Tape)

Hi! Today I'm reviewing some new Wet n Wild megalast nail color polishes.

First up is Disturbia

This is with 2 coats. I really like this dark, eggplant purple color. The application was smooth and streak-free. The polish is also very shiny, the picture above is without a top coat so that I could show you the shine. I have to say, I really like this polish a lot.

The 2nd color is Sugar Coat

This is with 3 coats. The color is a very sheer, pinky / peachy shade. It can be worn in 2 coats, but I wanted to see how close to opacity I could achieve. Again this picture was taken with no top coat and the polish has a great shine to it. I'm not a big fan of sheer or nude colors, but this is nice and would compliment many skin-tones. It applied as well as the 1st polish and that's always a big plus for me!

The final color is Red Tape

This is with 2 coats, and again with no top coat. I'd describe this as a fairly sheer yet bold cherry tomato red! I really like this red! As much as I enjoy red polish on others, I never tend to choose it for myself. This one makes me want to wear red! It's a really fun shade!

So, overall, I think these are pretty great considering the price. There is a wide selection of colors, dry time is quick, and I had no chipping for about 4 days. Polishes are .3oz  They can be found at Walgreens, Amazon, and other drugstores.
My only complaint is that the brush is short and a little wide. If you have small nail beds, like mine, application is not the easiest compared to other brushes.
The formula is toluene, phthalate, and formaldehyde free (a big plus)!




** These polishes were provided to me for review, all opinions are my own**

Zoya nail polish for Sale in the Shop!

Hi ladies (and fellas)! I am now selling Zoya polish and anything else from the art of beauty line! Such great products!
You can check out everything available over at http://zoya.com/
Purchase by hitting the SHOP tab, and email me if there's something you want, but aren't seeing!

~ Alison

Q & A - ask away! or share your random comments, and thoughts!

I wanted to create a space just for you to ask questions, leave comments, or anything else that might not be relevant to any of my existing posts! This is basically a free-for-all area! Please be considerate, and please do not promote your own blog here. Email me at beautyblog411@gmail.com if you'd like me to help promote you! Thank you and enjoy!

Water Marble - Quick Tutorial for St. Patrick's Day

Hi! I really enjoy nail art, and think water marbling is a great method! I'm still very new to it and I will do future posts as I improve. It can be very frustrating when you first begin, but don't give up!
This is just a quick tutorial on the St. Patrick's Day marbling my sister and I did last night.
Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand a step, I didn't get quite as many pictures as I would have liked. Also, if you have suggestions to help me and others with the process, please share!

It is recommended to use filtered, room temperature water. I accidentally wrote 'distilled water' on the grocery list! But at a gallon for less than a dollar, I figured I'd just try it and it seemed to work very well.

First you want to basecoat your nails and allow them to dry. Usually people paint their nails in the lightest of the colors planned to use in the marbling, which is what my sister did. I actually just used ridge-filling basecoat and did not paint my nails.
Once they are dry, you want to tape around your nails. I use basic clear scotch tape.

I do a strip down each side of the nail, wrapping around under the free edge, and one piece across the finger above the cuticle.

The next step is where it gets tricky! Have your cup filled with the room temperature water. I like to use glass, but have seen success with many cups. Do not use Styrofoam because the polish will eat through it!
Not all polishes will spread in water, so there is some trial and error involved here.
When you find the colors you want and see that they will spread, you want to move somewhat quickly, dripping one drop of polish at a time, alternating colors, to form a bullseye.

This is an example using 3 polishes. You can touch the drip of polish to the water, but avoid touching the brush to the water!

Here is a second example, using 2 polishes.












Once you have made your bullseye, you want to 'draw' a pattern through it. I used a toothpick to do this. Try to keep the toothpick touching the polish, and not dipped too far into the water. Also wipe it off if too much polish is sticking to it.

I, unfortunately, only captured one picture of drawing. I will get more up for you! I find it best to start at the outer edge of the cup and bring a line in to the center, then repeat from the opposite side. Do this again to form a cross or X design. From there you can pull in from whatever area you like until you have a design you like! Remember not to take too long or the polish will dry up. You will also only want to dip 1 or 2 fingers at a time, so don't worry too much if your design doesn't cover the entire water surface!

Find the area you like best and dip your nails, trying to keep the nail flat going into the water. Once in the water you can straighten your fingers. Keep them in the water as you use an orangewood stick, q-tip, etc. to clear away the remaining 'floating' polish away from your nails so that it doesn't glob onto your nails as you lift them out of the water!

Once you clear around the fingers, lift them out! Clean leftover polish out of the water so that it's ready for your next nails. If it seems there's a lot of oils floating around, I find dabbing a napkin or paper towel onto the top of the water helps, like so...

Don't worry about the messy, dried up polish on/around the glass. It will not hurt the next dips. My cup looks like a disaster halfway through this!

Remove the tape! As you can see, it can still leave a mess, but it's so simple to clean up with q-tips, or cotton-wrapped orangewood sticks and polish remover. After clean up, apply a topcoat and you're set!
Here are our other various finished results from last night (before all clean up) The orange decided to stop spreading for me so my second hand is just the 2 green polishes! Like I said, possible frustration, trial and error!

I was really happy with this petal-like design we achieved!

These are my sisters nails, using the 2 greens.









The best advice I can give is have fun!
Some patience can be required, but it's honestly not as painstaking as it may seem!

Let me know if you'd like to see another water marble post, if you have questions, would like a picture to help show a step, or anything else! I was also considering doing a video tutorial, what do you think?

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Polishes used:
Lighter green is Essie- Navigate Her
Darker green is Zoya- Shawn
Orange is OPI- Home on the O-Range (not sure why that one stopped spreading on me?!)

Beauty Blog Shop Open!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know I've opened a shop on the blog! You can enter where it says 'SHOP' at the top of the page.
I will be adding more products very soon!
Please feel free to email me at beautyblog411@gmail.com with any questions.

Quick & Easy Polish Removal Method - Tutorial

I can't take credit for this removal method, I'm not sure who came up with it! I can say it is the quickest, easiest method I have used and want to share it with you!

To Start: You just need polish remover, a cotton ball, and I like to use a little dish to hold the remover (you can use the cap if you don't have anything).

First comes the cotton ball!
unroll a cotton ball, use your fingers or scissors and split it in half length-wise, then rip the strips into small nail-sized pieces as demonstrated below...

I get about 10 pieces per strip (20 total for 1 cotton ball)

Now it's time to remove that polish! Click on the pictures to enlarge them!
Pour a small amount of remover in a small dish or the lid.
Dip one piece of cotton at a time, just the tip (it'll travel up the rest of the piece) into the remover.
Place the wet piece onto nail, and continue with each nail.
I do one hand at a time, just a little easier to work with.

After about 20-30 seconds, push (not hard) on the cotton and slide it off the nail!

If there are bits of polish left, use your extra cotton pieces to finish cleaning up.
This took me less than 1 cotton ball, and very little remover, to remove all polish from 10 fingers!

Now GO! Try it! And tell me if you love it!!! 

Glisten & Glow - body lotions

I have had the privilege of finding Glisten & Glow, thanks to Facebook. Jill, the lovely owner, brings you handmade, customizable bath and body products in a huge variety of scents (75+) including men's fragrances! Not only can you customize your scent, but also your label, making it truly your own!
With some luck, and kindness, I won 4- 1oz body lotions through a recent Twitter contest, and would like to review them for you.

I chose the scents: Lemonade, Mango, Pina Colada, and French Vanilla.

The lotion has a nice consistency, (not too thick, not too thin) and left me feeling soft and smelling great, not greasy! I adore the packaging as well. These were customized with my original Beauty Facebook page's name, Express Your Inner Beauty, so cute! I like the size of these because it's nice to keep one in my purse for whenever my hands are feeling dry, or I want a bit of fragrance. They all smell great, I think my favorite is Pina Colada... *summer*!!!
I'm a big fan of supporting small business, especially when you find a quality product!
I look forward to trying more of the Glisten & Glow line, and I do recommend checking out everything available at  http://www.facebook.com/GlistenandGlow  where you can also shop or even contact Jill if you have any questions. You don't have to be a Facebook member to visit the site.


**These were won in a contest, all opinions are my own**

Essie - Navigate Her

With Spring quickly approaching, I notice there are a lot of greens this year. This is a review for Essie's Navigate Her from their Spring 2012 collection, also named Navigate Her and includes 6 great Spring shades.

This green reminds me of pistachio ice cream! I thought it seemed like a perfect shade for Spring.

This is 2 coats which reached the perfect opaque color.
I have to say, I am not super fond of the brush. 1st coat application was streaky, but smoothed out and covered well with the 2nd coat. The consistency is what I would expect for a polish in this price range.  I do like the color a lot and the polish is definitely good quality! Dry time was quick, I waited 4 minutes between coats and was dry in about 15 minutes (however, still take caution for an hour or so not to dent the polish!) It has worn very well with no chipping or tip wear at day 4, minimal tip wear after that. As much as it wasn't my favorite as far as application goes, overall it is a great polish. I intend to pick up a few more Essie colors to compare application and durability.
You can find Essie polishes at most major drugstores and online. Average cost is $8. but I have seen it for less.


**I purchased this product myself, all opinions are my own**

Sinful Colors nailpolish Blog Launch Giveaway!

I'm very excited about the beginning of Beauty Blog so I thought I'd do a giveaway to celebrate the launching of the site!

One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win these 3 polishes by Sinful Colors, which I really like!
The colors are: Rise and Shine, Timbleberry, and Nirvana.
You must be a public follower of the blog to win, and I can currently only ship within the US.
Thanks for your support and Good Luck!!!
fyi: The below Facebook link is not working, the address is www.facebook.com/beautyblogbyali Please like from here and I will confirm your extra entries!

Pure Ice nail polish - Bari Cosmetics

Hi! Here I am reviewing several PURE ICE nail polishes from http://baricosmetics.com !

This was my first "nail-mail" and I had never used Pure Ice before so I was super excited to try it out!

I was drawn to HEART BREAKER first...

It's a beautiful, almost turquoise blue. Unfortunately it was very thin and it took 3 coats just to achieve the still-sheer-look seen here. I was a little bummed, to say the least. Of course not bummed enough to give up on these lovely colors! You could also apply this or another sheer color over another polish and I'm sure you would reach a nice opaque. Then again, some colors are nice sheer.

Next is SILVER MERCEDES

Excellent, smooth consistency! Yay! This is with 2 coats and honestly, you could get away with one! Very high-shine silver. One of the better silver polishes I've tried.


TAUPE DRAWER

I thought this was a funny/cute name! Another excellent application! Once again, went on smoothly, I used   2 coats, but could wear it with one. It's a really nice muted purple. I don't usually like similar colors with my skin-tone, but actually really like this one. It may be my favorite of the bunch!


FLIRT ALERT

My 2nd favorite of this bunch! This is 2 coats. It also had excellent consistency and application. A very bright, bold pink, sure to draw attention!

All above colors had a quick dry time, I waited 2-3 minutes between coats. They can be found at http://baricosmetics.com/  and are currently listed at $3.07


Now, how cute are these little sets?!
Winter Crackle and Ice Duo - Pink Glitter with Pink Crackle

The pink glitter went on smooth but pretty sheer. I wanted to show it alone, that is with 2 coats. It is a gritty glitter polish but smooths out after using the crackle and a topcoat. I applied 1 coat of POUT pink crackle, and it "crackled" immediately, leaving a nice amount of the glitter peeking through. The pink color is very bright, similar to the previous posted FLIRT ALERT.





last but not least, Winter Crackle and Ice Duo - Gold Glitter with Black Crackle

This gold glitter alone is gorgeous! I couldn't capture it as well as I would have liked in the photograph. It's very sparkly with minor hints of other colors mixed in that you can catch under certain light. Applied great and probably could have gotten away with 1 coat. Also a "gritty" glitter, smoothed out after crackle and topcoat.Topped with one coat of STROBE LIGHT black crackle, this is a pretty stunning look!

The Crackle and Ice duos are currently priced at $5.98 on http://baricosmetics.com . They all include the cute little matching file, as well.

So, overall, I really enjoyed using these polishes (with the exception of the blue)! As I said, smooth application, nice sized brush (not too big or too small) and a pretty quick dry time. With a good topcoat the polish wore well for me, about 5 days with no unusual problems.
There is a wide range of really nice colors available!

What are your thoughts or opinions on Pure Ice?

**These products were provided by Bari Cosmetics, all opinions are my own**

Wet n Wild - Idol Eyes

In a quest to find a daytime, everyday eye-color I came across wet n wild's idol eyes in the shade: 130 Pixie

It was 1.99 at Walgreens, they had 6 shades available (dark bright blue, medium blue, green, purple, granite, and the shade I've shown). I've seen these pretty much anywhere that sells Wet n Wild, so they're easy to find.

It is a very sheer, very creamy pencil. I like the application a lot. Can be used all over the eyelids, or as a (wider) liner, and is great for blending. It does not dry up, it stays the creamy consistency on your skin. While I enjoy that fact, I did notice after a few hours that I had some crease lines. The bonus is it was easy to smooth it back out. For the price, I say it's worth it, but I do wish this shade went on just a little darker. Lasting time was pretty decent, I touched up after about 6 hours because it is so light.
I will probably try another shade, but this one is nice for a very subtle glow on the eyes.


**I purchased this product myself, all opinions are my own**

Lindo Swirly Do hair ties

The second product I tested by Lindo from http://facialwork.com/  is the Swirly Do hair ties.

The claim is that they leave "No Pony Lines" and "No Headaches".
They are stretchy, rubber-like little coils making them waterproof as well.
Here is my hair, out of the shower and straightened...

Wow, my hair's getting long! Anyhow... I hate ponytail bumps and the headaches! I also get lines when I use "claw clips" which I pretty much use daily. SO, I decided to put these to the test! I wore one all evening and then decided, why not sleep with it in? They are comfortable. Then I kept it in until late the following night. So here are the results...

A very minor wave in the front on my left side. That's it! It wasn't even enough to have to re-straighten my hair! That's a huge bonus for me! I am really pleased with these and have been wearing it more than my good old claw. I honestly thought these were just going to be a gimmick, but was pleasantly surprised.
I originally wrapped it around my hair twice and it was holding well. As expected, some hair fell out while sleeping. The next day I wrapped it three times just for a more secure hold.
If you wear your hair up, especially for working out or even just for style, I think you'll enjoy these.:)

Swirly Do on http://facialwork.com/ is priced at 7.99 or 9.99 for a 5-7 pack. They come in a color-variety pack and there are several color options to choose from. Right now all are on sale for 5.99 !


**This product was provided for review, all opinions are my own**

Lindo twist-n-roll tweezers

I received two products by Lindo from http://facialwork.com/, which I was very excited to test.

The first is called twist-n-roll tweezers

It came with very simple directions:

1. Bend into a ∩ shape and place the coils against your skin.
2. Twist the handles outward (so your thumbs roll in toward eachother)
3. As you twist the coil should roll slowly upward against your skin.

Always keep the coil bent in the ∩ shape

There is also a notation: to reduce sensitivity, place a hot towel on the area for a few minutes before use.

It is noted to “Gently remove hair on upper lip, chin, neck, forehead and more.”

Ok, I’ve tweezed and waxed and I’m pretty tolerant of pain.  I am not going to lie to you! It hurts!!! Mind you, my 1^st attempt, I did NOT use the hot towel before ‘tweezing’. As you can see, I left myself red, but it was all back to normal in about 10-15 minutes.

After a bit, I realized if you move a little quicker and do small amounts at a time, it isn’t as painful. Remember to keep your skin taught, as you would with regular tweezers. It also became less painful the 2^nd time I used it (I also applied the semi-hot towel this time!).

The results are GREAT! Super smooth, no breakouts or anything like that.

I will use it again when the hair grows back and update you on whether the pain is lessened. It definitely saved a lot of time compared to tweezing and you don’t have to use a mirror. I would NOT suggest using it on eyebrows because it grabs a lot of hair and that could just be a disaster!

Twist-n-roll is currently retailing at 14.99 on facialwork.com You can also see a demonstration video there. 
I did come across it on Amazon.com for under $10. 


**This product was provided for review, all opinions are my own**

Zoya Polish - Charla

Zoya Professional Lacquer - Charla

Charla is part of the Zoya Sparkle Collection for 2010.

Charla is a blue sparkle polish with a lot of micro glitter. There is a hint of green and gold in the glitter as well, which I just couldn't capture in the picture, but it's beautiful. It reminds me of the scales on a gorgeous fish or perhaps a mermaids tail?!
This is using 2 coats of polish.The polish went on super smooth. Dry time was very fast and removal extremely easy, even with the glitter! I really like Zoya polish brushes. They are a bit thinner, shorter and flat while still holding polish great and having a lot of flexibility and ease of application. Wear time was exceptional, minimal tip wear on day 5.
I have to say, I could not stop looking at my nails! This is a bright, bold, beautiful color and I think it would look great on any skin tone. Highly recommended!
Zoya polishes are formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, and camphor free. A vegan-friendly product.
Zoya polishes retail for around $8, and are available at  http://www.zoya.com , or can be purchased at certain salons and recently some of their line has been brought to Ulta.

**I purchased this product myself, all opinions are my own**

China Glaze - For Audrey

 China Glaze Nail Lacquer WITH HARDENERS 
in For Audrey

I originally eyed this for it's robin egg-like blue color, then I read the name! Being a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, I had to have it! The polish went on very smooth with exceptional coverage. This photo was taken with only one coat! I had no streaking problems. The brush is a nice size (even for smaller nail beds like my own) and holds onto the polish well. This also has had great staying power, day 5 and no sign of wear or chipping. I do have my hands in water a lot, cleaning, and doing other art-work so I tend to chip my polish pretty quickly.
This color was released in 2007 as a Limited Edition in honor of Audrey Hepburn. For Audrey is a fitting name as the color is nearly a true Tiffany&co Blue.

**I purchased this product myself, all opinions are my own**

essence Stay All Day long lasting eyeshadow

This is essence Stay All Day long lasting eyeshadow in the shade Glammy Goes To...

This is a very shimmering, cream shadow. 0.19oz/5.5g in a cute, domed, twist off container. A little definitely goes a long way with this shadow! I really like the creamy consistency, and "long lasting" is no lie! It has great pigmentation and can be put on sheer or built up. I had no creasing problems with this shadow.
I used my finger to apply which made a bit of a mess, but it was the first attempt! I would probably recommend a shadow applicator for better control.
I'm a fan of champagne colored shadows and this one really brightened up my eyes. I could see using this as an easy, everyday wear. It's so simple and quick to apply.

**product was supplied by essence for review, all opinions are my own.**

Next up is essence Forget It! 3 in 1 Concealer!

Available at Ulta for under $3.00, what a great bargain for this concealer! It is a 0.12oz/3.5g size in a clear plastic container. Each color does have it's purpose: "use pink against circles around the eyes, use beige against blemishes, use green against redness". The consistency is very creamy and light. I would recommend using a brush or makeup sponge for maximum coverage. Also, a powder to lock it in would help.
I have a medium skin-tone and it covered my dark under-eye circles and red blemishes very well. I think it would be even better on fair skin. Below are my before and after pictures...

Now, this is with no other makeup added. My skin looks much more even. I did apply a powder and the application lasted well for about 8 hours before I started to notice any need for touch up!
I think the only issue I had was that the container is slightly hard to open, you have to press in on a little "button" to release it, but in the same sense it also stays securely closed. Definitely not a big enough issue not to purchase this. Another plus is the smaller size, making it ideal to toss in your purse for anytime use. Overall, I am pleased with the 3 in 1 foundation and will continue to use it!


**product provided by essence for review, all opinions are my own.**

essence Reviews

Hi beauty lovers! I'm going to start off with reviewing the German line, essence.
First up is essence Cover Stick

This is in the color 01 Matt Sand. As I have a slight olive skin tone, this may not be the best color for me, but I tried it out regardless! The stick twists up and is a hard cream, like many cover sticks. I used my finger for application. Below I show you : Before (no makeup), right eye only, and the 3rd picture is both eyes and blemishes...

As you can see, there is quite a difference! This is not the "best" cover stick or under-eye solution I have used, but for approximately $1.99 I'd say it's a pretty good bargain! It is definitely tough for the under eye area, left creases noticeable, but it is workable. I preferred it on blemishes which you can see a comparison between the top and bottom photo. Essence is available at Ulta.
If you've tried one of these cover sticks, let me know what you think!



** This product was provided by essence, all opinions are my own**