Loved & Loathed Beauty Products: September 2015

Disclosure: Two of the items mentioned in this month’s post were received from brands. I received the Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer in an Influenster VoxBox and while I am a self-paying subscriber of Scentbird, they sent me a second scent this month to try out. I am not being paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form to mention these products and as always, honesty and transparency are at the top of the priority list. All opinions are completely 100% my own.

I am a little late getting this monthly favorites post up but its better late than never, right?

This month I have both loved and loathed beauty and style products to share with you! I have a variety of makeup, body products, and even some jewelry! Let’s start with the good stuff, shall we?

1- Remembrance Necklace for Charlie: It is so hard to believe that it has been over nine months since we had to say goodbye to Charlie. I still miss her and my heart aches for her every single day. I knew I wanted a piece of remembrance jewelry and I was browsing Jane.com (basically a daily deal site for Easy-Type shops) and I found the perfect necklace from the shop Hand Stamped by Dani. It says, “I will hold you in my heart until I can hold you in heaven” and its just perfect. The length is perfect and it is a great every day piece. Her shop is full of beautiful hand stamped jewelry and other items so I highly recommend checking her shop out on Etsy or keeping an eye out on Jane.com. Heck, I recommend keeping an eye out on Jane.com on the daily for some great deals (plus you can now use Ebates on Jane! Yay!) (referral link)

2- Scentbird: There are a lot of wonderful monthly subscription services out there (and I’m a member of a lot of them) but Scentbird is definitely one of my new favorites! It is a monthly perfume subscription service and every month they send you 30 days worth of the perfume of your choice. The vials last way longer than 30 days for me since I don’t wear perfume on a daily basis but it is the perfect way to try out a perfume to see how you like it before purchasing a larger size since that can get expensive in a hurry. Or if you like to change up your scent frequently, then you definitely need to check it out. Like a lot of these sites, they have you take a style quiz so they can make the best suggestions for you or you can freely browse and create your own queue. I am a paying subscriber but Scentbird did send me an extra perfume this month to try out. This month I received Anna Sui Forbidden Affair and Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium and OMG, I hit the perfume jackpot this month. They both smell absolutely gorgeous and are not overpowering. I think if I were going to put “me” in a bottle, it would smell like either one of these perfumes. They are perfect for the fall. At only $14.95 a month (less than the price of a perfume rollerball), this is definitely a great way to try out new scents without breaking the bank. (referral link)

3- Dove Dry Spray Antiperspirant: When I saw this Dove Antiperspirant Dry Spray Beauty Finish sitting on the shelf for the first time, I was definitely intrigued as I though dry spray means no annoying white marks but I hesitated buying it because I sweat. A lot. I don’t “glisten” or “glitter,” I sweat like nobody’s business. I usually need the clinical strength deodorant to stay dry but it was on sale, so I thought what the heck and I am so glad I did. This controls my sweat and body odor better than anything else I have EVER tried. I mean EVER. And you know, being post-menopausal, I have major night sweats and hot flashes going on and this product goes the distance. I have the Beauty Finish scent and love it. Definitely two thumbs up.

4- Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer: I received this Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer in my Influenster VoxBox and I was so excited to give it a try as while I have dry skin, Abby’s skin is like the Sahara and we have been trying everything under the sun to try to keep her moisturized. This feels so good on your skin when you get out of the shower! You put it on before you dry off so it has a chance to really sink into your skin. It has definitely made a difference in both of our skin. One thing I want to mention about Influenster is that you don’t have to be a blogger or blogger to join. Anyone can sign up and through your profile, they match you up with different VoxBox campaigns and they send you a box of products and you just share your thoughts!

5- L’Oreal True Match Lumi Powder Glow Illuminator: This L’Oreal True Match Lumi Powder Glow Illuminator has been getting a lot of mixed reviews across the interwebs and YouTube. Some people love it and some people loathe it. I have mine in the shade Ice and I love it. It works great with my uber pale skin because it is both light enough and cool enough to match my skin tone. One of the criticisms is that it is too glittery and I think on darker skin (darker as in not really pale), it may appear that way but it works well for me. I do have to be very careful and be very light handed as it can get wild in a hurry but by using a light hand and tapping off any excess, it creates a gorgeous highlight across the tops of my cheekbones. It may appear on some people’s loathe list but on mine, its a love!

6- Tarte Deluxe Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer: I received this product in my August Ipsy bag and I really didn’t want to like it because as you may know, Tarte products are not cheap but I fell in love with it. It is cool enough to work on my skin without making me look like an Oompa Loopma but also magically added warmth to my skin. This was one of those glam bags that was out of this world for included a deluxe sample size of such a high end product for $10. Luckily, I have turned my sister to the dark side (LOL) and she joined Ipsy but doesn’t use bronzer so she gave me hers as well so now I have a spare. Ipsy is still one of my favorite subscription services! I will definitely do a post in the future featuring my top 5! (referral link)

7- Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow: Again this is another high end product that I didn’t want to fall in love with but Ulta was having a special promotion for Platinum members (those of us who buy way too much makeup! LOL) and they were on sale half price so I was able to pick up the Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Moon Spoon for $10. Can you take a guess why I picked out this shade? It is a beautiful grayish-purplish-taupe with enough sparkle to knock your socks off. It is so absolutely gorgeous that I cannot put into words. I need to put together a look with it and make a tutorial as the swatch just isn’t doing it justice.

8- Jesse’s Girl Eyeshadow Palette in Sounds of the City: I was browsing Rite Aid looking for something completely different and came across this Jesse’s Girl Sounds of the City eyeshadow palette. It was only $5.99 so I had to give it a try. Every lady needs a great neutrals palette in their collection. This palette contains six shimmer shades and four matte shades. You can see from the swatches that the palette includes a nice range of shades and with the exception of one or two, the pigmentation is great. The colors blend beautifully and are not powdery or chalky. Its a great inexpensive essential and if you can catch it when Rite Aid has Jesse’s Girl Buy One Get One 50% off, you’ve got yourself an even better deal! Keep an eye out for their liquid eyeliner as well!

9- Duo Brush-On Lash Adhesive: I am far, far from being an expert at putting on false eyelashes. I love the way they look but it is definitely not a beauty trick I have mastered by any means. I’m lucky if I don’t somehow end up gluing my eyelids together. I’ve learned that I work best with brush-on adhesive versus the squeeze tube and Duo Brush-On Lash Adhesive has definitely become my favorite. The brush is easy to use, the glue turns from blue to clear when ready to apply, and this formula contains vitamins A, C, and E which is bound to be a good thing, right?

Now its time for the products I loathed this month (loathe seems like too strong a word but I like the way it sounded matched with loved). I will put a disclaimer out that I’m not saying that these products or brands are absolutely horrible so please don’t get offended if you love these products or brands. These products just didn’t work well for me which is why they ended up on the loathe list.

10- Morphe 35 Color Glam Palette: I really tried to like this Morphe Glam Palette as it was a gift from my husband. I really did. It is loaded with bright shadows in both matte and shimmer formulas. You can see from the swatches that pigmentation was definitely not the issues.  I just found them to be really chalky and could not get them to blend worth a darn. This is one of their older palettes I believe and since they seem to have increased in their popularity thanks to YouTube, I am wondering if the quality of the shadows is kicked up a notch in their newer palettes. I have heard that Morphe brushes are great and have heard a ton of great things about their 350 Eyeshadow Palette (which is a more neutral palette) and would love to give it a try if it is ever not sold out. So I haven’t written the brand off completely. Its just this palette is being handed down to Abby to play with.

11- NYX V’amped Up! Lip Top Coat: I had really high hopes for this product as I really love the NYX Simply Vamp Lip Creams that I mentioned in my January Favorites video. According to the product description of the V’amped Up! Lip Top Coat, “Infused with shea butter and vitamin E, this glossy pencil moisturizes while transforming light lip colors to deep, vampy shades.” You can see from the swatch that it really doesn’t do much of anything besides make a mess. I have tried it over all kinds of lip products and it never ends up with a positive result. I love NYX and I especially love their lip products but this one was definitely a major no-go for me this month.

There you have it! Those are my monthly favorites! My September loves and loathes. I will make sure to get my October post up a lot sooner and it should be a lot easier as I’m using all Colourpop products this month with the exception of foundation, concealer, powder, mascara and eyeliner! They have eyeliner coming soon (yay!) but its not quite out yet! Colourpop is the epitome of affordable so I can’t wait to share my favorites (and not-so-favorites) with you in a couple weeks!

What have you been loving and loathing this past month? What are your monthly favorites?

Disclosure: Two of the items mentioned in this month’s post were received from brands. I received the Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer in an Influenster VoxBox and while I am a self-paying subscriber of Scentbird, they sent me a second scent this month to try out. I am not being paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form to mention these products and as always, honesty and transparency are at the top of the priority list. All opinions are completely 100% my own.