Hello, Beautiful!
I received the 10-Piece Nail Ritz Professional Nail Art Kit in the mail today. I was beyond excited to open it up and test it out. I fell in love right away!
The fine tip of these polish pens are really amazing. You can make really small details on the nails that you would never be able to do with a regular polish brush, or maybe not even with a fine tipped paint brush. It's basically like writting on your nails with a fine tipped Sharpie marker.
The polishes dry pretty quickly, which is a nice feature if you want to layer your colors to make a pretty design. The colors are nice too.
HOWEVER, I'm very disappointed because one of the fine tips already broke!!!! I only used it one time and it's not like I was digging it into my nail. I used it delicately. I think putting the cap back on was when I messed up, and the tip bent down and then broke off. It was on the yellow color. I'm so not happy with that. If the rest of them break that easily this kit will be going back to QVC real fast. I'll continue to test it out and let you know how durable it is. For now, just be careful putting the caps on!
Since I experimented so much on my own nails I won't show you the results just yet. I'll do some designs and then take pics of those to show you (which I might be able to do later this weekend). Plus, my nails got messed up because there was a snake in our backyard and we had to get it out. Yes - a freakin snake! But that's not the first time. We do back the woods and live in the moutains. We've had bears in our backyard, and our backyard is fenced in! They break down the fence!! So yeah, I'll have to take some time to do my nails pretty and then report back with pics.
On another note, we're uploading the newest shopping special for ValentineKisses.com!
Receive a FREE 5-Piece Girly Grab Bag with your $25 or more merchandise purchase!
Details: No coupon code needed. Spend a minimum $25 on merchandise (total taken prior to tax/shipping) and a free 5-Piece Girly Grab Bag will ship with your order. This offer will not show up in the shopping cart but will ship with all eligible orders. This offer IS good in addition to our Everyday Bonuses (which means you'd also receive one Everyday Bonus Item for spending $25). Offer expires September 5, 2010.
Happy Shopping!
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
August 31, 2010
Victoria's Secret Soft Focus Liquid Foundation
Hello, Beautiful!
Another late night post... it seems I have insomnia lately. But that's okay because I get a lot more done. Like tonight, I'll continue organizing my closet. I have a rather large walk-in closet. Within it I keep all my makeup, hair supplies, nail stuff, etc. - plus the usual clothes, shoes, accessories, jewelry. I've been working on making it pretty and organized. I can't stand dis-organization, but I'm not a neat freak (and yes, there is a difference). I've been putting off this project for awhile now and it's become a giant mess at this point. It's really bad right now actually. Maybe I'll take before and after pics so you can see the transformation.
Anyways, back to the topic on hand. I picked up the Victoria's Secret Soft Focus Liquid Foundation several months ago. In fact, I think it may have been last November or December. I really can't remember when, but I do know I loved it then and I love it now!
For just $16 you get a really amazing foundation. It gives you a natural dewy finish, with light to medium buildable coverage. I stopped using it because it's not full coverage enough for me, but when my skin is behaving I like to use it because it really is a great foundation.
To me, it's almost a dupe for Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation (which I also own). It's a dupe in the way it applies, the way it looks natural and the way it wears. Although MUFE's HD Foundation is medium to full coverage, so that's why I prefer that over this - but that's the only reason!
Really, you need to try this if you haven't already. It also comes in a great range of shades! You need to go to your local Victoria's Secret to test out the shades for yourself or you can try to match your shade online but they don't give you any shade descriptions - just color choices and shade names.
I have this in Light 40 - which is a little light for me now in the summer, but worked perfectly when I bought this. Here are some pics & swatches for you:
Have you tried this foundation out? If so, what are your thoughts?
If not, click here for a link to check it out on Victoria's Secret's website.
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
Another late night post... it seems I have insomnia lately. But that's okay because I get a lot more done. Like tonight, I'll continue organizing my closet. I have a rather large walk-in closet. Within it I keep all my makeup, hair supplies, nail stuff, etc. - plus the usual clothes, shoes, accessories, jewelry. I've been working on making it pretty and organized. I can't stand dis-organization, but I'm not a neat freak (and yes, there is a difference). I've been putting off this project for awhile now and it's become a giant mess at this point. It's really bad right now actually. Maybe I'll take before and after pics so you can see the transformation.
Anyways, back to the topic on hand. I picked up the Victoria's Secret Soft Focus Liquid Foundation several months ago. In fact, I think it may have been last November or December. I really can't remember when, but I do know I loved it then and I love it now!
For just $16 you get a really amazing foundation. It gives you a natural dewy finish, with light to medium buildable coverage. I stopped using it because it's not full coverage enough for me, but when my skin is behaving I like to use it because it really is a great foundation.
To me, it's almost a dupe for Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation (which I also own). It's a dupe in the way it applies, the way it looks natural and the way it wears. Although MUFE's HD Foundation is medium to full coverage, so that's why I prefer that over this - but that's the only reason!
Really, you need to try this if you haven't already. It also comes in a great range of shades! You need to go to your local Victoria's Secret to test out the shades for yourself or you can try to match your shade online but they don't give you any shade descriptions - just color choices and shade names.
I have this in Light 40 - which is a little light for me now in the summer, but worked perfectly when I bought this. Here are some pics & swatches for you:
Have you tried this foundation out? If so, what are your thoughts?
If not, click here for a link to check it out on Victoria's Secret's website.
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
August 30, 2010
WTF Beauty...
Hello, Beautiful!
It's after 1:00am and I just can't sleep. I'm tired, but I have beauty on my mind and felt like I needed to make a blog post. But not just any blog post, I wanted to bring you the first edition of WTF Beauty.
Yes, WTF really does stand for what you think it does. If you don't know what WTF stands for, it stands for "What The F*ck". Yup, nothing pretty about that! But hey, that’s the first thing I think of when a beauty product disappoints me. Basically, WTF Beauty is just like a ‘Don't believe the Hype' or 'Beauty Rant' type of post.
Anyhow, in this edition I will address fake cosmetics (one product in particular) and a few tips on how to shop smarter.
I warn you ahead of time, this post will be long. Shall we get started?
A few months back I purchased the Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in shade Light from an online discount beauty retailer. It was only $29.99, although it didn't include the mini kabuki brush, and I thought to myself 'wow, that's a great deal - it's mine!'. And sure enough as soon as it arrived I had to test it out. I had heard such amazing things about this powder and was expecting to jump for joy over this.
No jumping for joy happened. It did give me a glow, but not right away. I think my oily skin was to thanks for the glow and not the powder. Considered this product talks up how great the “Halo Glow” is I really thought that would happen. Sadly, it just looked really powdery and dry. As it sat on my skin it just got worse as the day went on. It didn't look fresh and natural like Smashbox said it would. I kept thinking that it must be my skin and I'll just have to work with it. Time went on and I continued to work with it, but only having the same less than favorable results.
Then I recently picked up the Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in shade Medium from that QVC kit I blogged about. I needed a darker shade, since the Light shade made me look really sickly pale. When I got this in the mail I immediately tried it out. Jumping for joy finally happened! It is like night and day from the Light shade to the Medium shade. It was almost like I had a completely different product.
The Medium shade did everything Halo claimed to. It went on beautifully, looked totally natural instead of totally noticeable, it made my skin look hydrated and healthy instead of dry and powdery, and best of all it gave me that Halo glow that I’ve heard so much about.
I then jetted up the stairs, into my closet (which is where my makeup table is set up), pulled out my Halo in Light and started to compare the two side by side. Right away I noticed the sticker on the bottom of the compact was different. They looked similar, and if you didn’t know any better you’d think they were the same. But there were differences – like the symbols being switched to the opposite side. Right there an alarm went off in my head and it was like I could hear someone yelling ‘It’s a fake, it’s a fake’! That’s when I said “WTF!”
Ugh, I was so angry! Who knows what I’ve been putting on my face for the past few months! I feel gross just thinking about it. I know that powder will never touch my face again – ever!
But I guess I should look at both sides of the story and try to piece together a rational explanation. Maybe, just maybe, Smashbox has re-formulated Halo. Okay – that seems silly. If they did it would be listed on their website and talked about in their demo’s on QVC. Plus, the product isn’t that old to need a reformulation so soon. Okay, so then maybe, just maybe, Smashbox changed their stickers and packaging ever so slightly. I mean, that could happen – I could see that happening. Ugh, who am I kidding?? It’s probably a complete fake! I’m 99.9% sure of it!
I'm going to eventually take pictures of the two Halo powders side by side for you to see and compare. Then we can all play 'spot the difference' to find the fakeness.
Another thing that ticks me off is a few months ago I purchased two other Smashbox products from the same retailer. One was a Jet Set Liner in the black shade. I thought at $6.99 this is a deal, esecially since it is $22 retail. Well when I got in the mail I looked at it and didn’t think it was authentic. The jar looked the same, but again, the sticker threw me off. But my original Jet Set Liner’s sticker was so worn that I couldn’t compare the two. The other product is the Photo Finish Primer. The bottle looks a little different, and the performance of the product really is not up to the same standards. Now after the Halo situation I’m questioning those products too. However, I should mention that I’ve purchased other Smashbox and other brands from this same retailer and they’ve been 100% authentic. Either way, I’m hesitant to make another purchase because I don’t know if I’ll get a real item or a fake one.
[NOTE: I purposely did not mention the online retailer’s company name or website address. I don't want to bash anyone on a public blog. However, I do want to protect my readers. If you’re interested in knowing the retailer I purchased these items from you can email me and I will let you know. I won't give you their website address or company name, but I will tell you clues as to who it is. From there you can decide to Google it or not.]
Here are some tips to help you all shop smarter:
1. Beware brand new products at unbelievable prices!
This one is tricky but I wanted to start here. Since I own and operate my own discount website, which carries cosmetics, I know a little about the discount beauty business. It's perfectly normal and common to see items at discount beauty retailers that are still in other stores at regular price. I've sold, and still sell, many items that you can see on store shelves at Wal-Mart and Target for full price.
However, it's not all that common to see brand new, just on the market beauty items at discount beauty retailers. Items that are limited edition, new collections, or a breakthrough new product, are generally items that won’t show up at discount beauty stores for awhile. For example, the retailer I talked about above had posted items from the Smashbox Heartbreaker's collection (they had a shadow palette and roller ball gloss), and that collection had just hit stores a week or so before. I thought "wow, who are their sources? I want that kind of availability". But the truth is their sources are probably not authentic, not even close to it.
It's incredibly easy to re-create popular high-end beauty brands. Companies overseas (mostly in China) can have a product re-created - packaging and all - and out to you in less than a week. It's crazy! Smashbox, NARS, and MAC are some of the most popular and commonly re-made fakes.
And remember to ask yourself why those products are so deeply discounted. Being in this industry I understand why most of the products are discounted. Discount beauty stores deal with store overstocks, manufacture overstocks, manufacture packing changes/formula changes, store closings, and discontinued products. So for example, if Smashbox wants to change their packaging, or re-formulate a product, they'll want to clear out all the original packaging or formulation to make room for the new changes.
2. Educate yourself with what the fakes look like and what the real deal looks like too!
One of the easiest fakes to spot are the NARS blushes - not just on eBay, but other discount beauty retailers too. You'll see a NARS blush with the word "NARS" imprinted into the blush. NARS never has, and probably never will, do that to their blush. That's an obvious fake! But not all fake NARS blush has that obvious imprint. But that's where educating yourself on what the real deal looks like is important. Go to the brands website and check it out. Then re-visit the product you're looking at. Compare and decide from there.
3. Beware sellers who use stock photos!
A stock photo is a photo the brand/manufacture has taken of that product. That image can be used at authorized online retailers worldwide. This can be tricky too, because a lot of retailers use stock photos - even eBay sellers (and not always with authorized use).
If a seller uses stock photos of certain products, but photos they’ve taken themselves of other products, that’s usually a huge red flag. They don't want you to see what the actual product you'll receive will look like because then you might know they have fakes. The pretty, perfect (and almost always photoshoped) stock photo is what lures buyers in.
Look for sellers that have taken the pictures of the products themselves. It's okay if they include a manufacture picture or two (such as a swatch) but you want to see exactly what you're buying.
But again, it can be tricky! I've seen an online retailer selling NARS blushes - with the 'NARS' imprinted in the blush – with nicely taken photos (taken by them) and photoshoped them pretty professionally. To an uneducated buyer the photos look like they could be stock photos from NARS. And to some, pretty professional pictures usually mean pretty, professional products.
So you see, there are many reasons we don't sell as many high-end/luxury brands at ValentineKisses.com as we would like to. It's extremely difficult to find authentic products and authentic dealers. It's a risk we as a small business can't afford to take, and we certainly don't want to sell anyone a fake product! We're lucky to have found an authentic Smashbox dealer, and from time to time we do get in some other authentic high-end brands - but it’s not all that often and we’re working on changing that.
I will write a more in-depth article about spotting fakes (and I'll do one for each brand that is commonly reproduced as fakes). But ladies, please beware and shop smart!
I think it's finally time for bed (it's nearly 3am now!), and I'm worn out from a full day of swatches, and then an evening out at Chuck E. Cheese with family. Won my son over 2,000 tickets - go me (and my husband)!
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
It's after 1:00am and I just can't sleep. I'm tired, but I have beauty on my mind and felt like I needed to make a blog post. But not just any blog post, I wanted to bring you the first edition of WTF Beauty.
Yes, WTF really does stand for what you think it does. If you don't know what WTF stands for, it stands for "What The F*ck". Yup, nothing pretty about that! But hey, that’s the first thing I think of when a beauty product disappoints me. Basically, WTF Beauty is just like a ‘Don't believe the Hype' or 'Beauty Rant' type of post.
Anyhow, in this edition I will address fake cosmetics (one product in particular) and a few tips on how to shop smarter.
I warn you ahead of time, this post will be long. Shall we get started?
A few months back I purchased the Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in shade Light from an online discount beauty retailer. It was only $29.99, although it didn't include the mini kabuki brush, and I thought to myself 'wow, that's a great deal - it's mine!'. And sure enough as soon as it arrived I had to test it out. I had heard such amazing things about this powder and was expecting to jump for joy over this.
No jumping for joy happened. It did give me a glow, but not right away. I think my oily skin was to thanks for the glow and not the powder. Considered this product talks up how great the “Halo Glow” is I really thought that would happen. Sadly, it just looked really powdery and dry. As it sat on my skin it just got worse as the day went on. It didn't look fresh and natural like Smashbox said it would. I kept thinking that it must be my skin and I'll just have to work with it. Time went on and I continued to work with it, but only having the same less than favorable results.
Then I recently picked up the Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in shade Medium from that QVC kit I blogged about. I needed a darker shade, since the Light shade made me look really sickly pale. When I got this in the mail I immediately tried it out. Jumping for joy finally happened! It is like night and day from the Light shade to the Medium shade. It was almost like I had a completely different product.
The Medium shade did everything Halo claimed to. It went on beautifully, looked totally natural instead of totally noticeable, it made my skin look hydrated and healthy instead of dry and powdery, and best of all it gave me that Halo glow that I’ve heard so much about.
I then jetted up the stairs, into my closet (which is where my makeup table is set up), pulled out my Halo in Light and started to compare the two side by side. Right away I noticed the sticker on the bottom of the compact was different. They looked similar, and if you didn’t know any better you’d think they were the same. But there were differences – like the symbols being switched to the opposite side. Right there an alarm went off in my head and it was like I could hear someone yelling ‘It’s a fake, it’s a fake’! That’s when I said “WTF!”
Ugh, I was so angry! Who knows what I’ve been putting on my face for the past few months! I feel gross just thinking about it. I know that powder will never touch my face again – ever!
But I guess I should look at both sides of the story and try to piece together a rational explanation. Maybe, just maybe, Smashbox has re-formulated Halo. Okay – that seems silly. If they did it would be listed on their website and talked about in their demo’s on QVC. Plus, the product isn’t that old to need a reformulation so soon. Okay, so then maybe, just maybe, Smashbox changed their stickers and packaging ever so slightly. I mean, that could happen – I could see that happening. Ugh, who am I kidding?? It’s probably a complete fake! I’m 99.9% sure of it!
I'm going to eventually take pictures of the two Halo powders side by side for you to see and compare. Then we can all play 'spot the difference' to find the fakeness.
Another thing that ticks me off is a few months ago I purchased two other Smashbox products from the same retailer. One was a Jet Set Liner in the black shade. I thought at $6.99 this is a deal, esecially since it is $22 retail. Well when I got in the mail I looked at it and didn’t think it was authentic. The jar looked the same, but again, the sticker threw me off. But my original Jet Set Liner’s sticker was so worn that I couldn’t compare the two. The other product is the Photo Finish Primer. The bottle looks a little different, and the performance of the product really is not up to the same standards. Now after the Halo situation I’m questioning those products too. However, I should mention that I’ve purchased other Smashbox and other brands from this same retailer and they’ve been 100% authentic. Either way, I’m hesitant to make another purchase because I don’t know if I’ll get a real item or a fake one.
[NOTE: I purposely did not mention the online retailer’s company name or website address. I don't want to bash anyone on a public blog. However, I do want to protect my readers. If you’re interested in knowing the retailer I purchased these items from you can email me and I will let you know. I won't give you their website address or company name, but I will tell you clues as to who it is. From there you can decide to Google it or not.]
Here are some tips to help you all shop smarter:
1. Beware brand new products at unbelievable prices!
This one is tricky but I wanted to start here. Since I own and operate my own discount website, which carries cosmetics, I know a little about the discount beauty business. It's perfectly normal and common to see items at discount beauty retailers that are still in other stores at regular price. I've sold, and still sell, many items that you can see on store shelves at Wal-Mart and Target for full price.
However, it's not all that common to see brand new, just on the market beauty items at discount beauty retailers. Items that are limited edition, new collections, or a breakthrough new product, are generally items that won’t show up at discount beauty stores for awhile. For example, the retailer I talked about above had posted items from the Smashbox Heartbreaker's collection (they had a shadow palette and roller ball gloss), and that collection had just hit stores a week or so before. I thought "wow, who are their sources? I want that kind of availability". But the truth is their sources are probably not authentic, not even close to it.
It's incredibly easy to re-create popular high-end beauty brands. Companies overseas (mostly in China) can have a product re-created - packaging and all - and out to you in less than a week. It's crazy! Smashbox, NARS, and MAC are some of the most popular and commonly re-made fakes.
And remember to ask yourself why those products are so deeply discounted. Being in this industry I understand why most of the products are discounted. Discount beauty stores deal with store overstocks, manufacture overstocks, manufacture packing changes/formula changes, store closings, and discontinued products. So for example, if Smashbox wants to change their packaging, or re-formulate a product, they'll want to clear out all the original packaging or formulation to make room for the new changes.
2. Educate yourself with what the fakes look like and what the real deal looks like too!
One of the easiest fakes to spot are the NARS blushes - not just on eBay, but other discount beauty retailers too. You'll see a NARS blush with the word "NARS" imprinted into the blush. NARS never has, and probably never will, do that to their blush. That's an obvious fake! But not all fake NARS blush has that obvious imprint. But that's where educating yourself on what the real deal looks like is important. Go to the brands website and check it out. Then re-visit the product you're looking at. Compare and decide from there.
3. Beware sellers who use stock photos!
A stock photo is a photo the brand/manufacture has taken of that product. That image can be used at authorized online retailers worldwide. This can be tricky too, because a lot of retailers use stock photos - even eBay sellers (and not always with authorized use).
If a seller uses stock photos of certain products, but photos they’ve taken themselves of other products, that’s usually a huge red flag. They don't want you to see what the actual product you'll receive will look like because then you might know they have fakes. The pretty, perfect (and almost always photoshoped) stock photo is what lures buyers in.
Look for sellers that have taken the pictures of the products themselves. It's okay if they include a manufacture picture or two (such as a swatch) but you want to see exactly what you're buying.
But again, it can be tricky! I've seen an online retailer selling NARS blushes - with the 'NARS' imprinted in the blush – with nicely taken photos (taken by them) and photoshoped them pretty professionally. To an uneducated buyer the photos look like they could be stock photos from NARS. And to some, pretty professional pictures usually mean pretty, professional products.
So you see, there are many reasons we don't sell as many high-end/luxury brands at ValentineKisses.com as we would like to. It's extremely difficult to find authentic products and authentic dealers. It's a risk we as a small business can't afford to take, and we certainly don't want to sell anyone a fake product! We're lucky to have found an authentic Smashbox dealer, and from time to time we do get in some other authentic high-end brands - but it’s not all that often and we’re working on changing that.
I will write a more in-depth article about spotting fakes (and I'll do one for each brand that is commonly reproduced as fakes). But ladies, please beware and shop smart!
I think it's finally time for bed (it's nearly 3am now!), and I'm worn out from a full day of swatches, and then an evening out at Chuck E. Cheese with family. Won my son over 2,000 tickets - go me (and my husband)!
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
August 28, 2010
Another QVC Haul
Hello, Beautiful!
Damn... QVC has drained my wallet again! Beginning last night at 10pm, and through the end of the day today, it's all beauty - all day! My husband cringed when he heard, knowing it would be near impossible for me to not buy something. Of course I did buy something... a few things acutally.
First, I purchased the Bare Minerals Makeup Revolution 6-Piece Collection in Medium Beige - which is $39.50 on QVC.
The kit itself includes their foundation (I selected the Medium Beige shade), Bisque (which is their concealer and I have zero faith in it - I just don't see how a powder concealer can mask my flaws.), Mineral Veil, a mini Sugar Cookie Natural Lip Gloss, and two brushes.
The next purchase I picked up yesterday and I'm super excited to receive and test out! It's one of the most unique nail art products I've seen. It's the 10-Piece Nail Ritz Professional Nail Art Kit - which costs $22.32 at QVC. I picked this up in Matte - which includes all your basic shades to get you started. They also have this kit in jewel tones and in shimmer tones - but they were sold out. Even if they weren't sold out I think I still would have chosen the matte set.
This set is really amazing because of the fine point application tip to give you precision control over doing nail art. You can almost barely see it in the photo below:
Damn... QVC has drained my wallet again! Beginning last night at 10pm, and through the end of the day today, it's all beauty - all day! My husband cringed when he heard, knowing it would be near impossible for me to not buy something. Of course I did buy something... a few things acutally.
First, I purchased the Bare Minerals Makeup Revolution 6-Piece Collection in Medium Beige - which is $39.50 on QVC.
I actually ordered this back on August 22. I'm a little irritated that it hasn't even shipped yet (especially since it said it would be here on August 27). I haven't been a fan of Bare Escentuals in the past, I'm a liquid foundation lover, but I thought I'd give it another try. If anything, it might work for those mornings I take my son to school and I'm rushing. We'll see if I still prefer liquid foundation after I try this kit out for a little.
The kit itself includes their foundation (I selected the Medium Beige shade), Bisque (which is their concealer and I have zero faith in it - I just don't see how a powder concealer can mask my flaws.), Mineral Veil, a mini Sugar Cookie Natural Lip Gloss, and two brushes.
The next purchase I picked up yesterday and I'm super excited to receive and test out! It's one of the most unique nail art products I've seen. It's the 10-Piece Nail Ritz Professional Nail Art Kit - which costs $22.32 at QVC. I picked this up in Matte - which includes all your basic shades to get you started. They also have this kit in jewel tones and in shimmer tones - but they were sold out. Even if they weren't sold out I think I still would have chosen the matte set.
This set is really amazing because of the fine point application tip to give you precision control over doing nail art. You can almost barely see it in the photo below:
It also has a regular nail polish brush too so you can paint your nails like normal if you wanted to (although that is not why I purchased this kit and not how I intend to use it). I don't normally do nail art on my nails, but I used to way back in the day when I did "professional nails". No, I wasn't a professional working in a salon. I was around 10 years old when I started doing nails and by the time I was 12/13 I was doing acrylic nails on myself and friends. That's when I started "Krystal's Pro Nails" (yes, I spelled my name with a 'K' back then because I thought it was cooler than a 'C'). That eventually lead to learning how to apply fiberglass wrap nails and gel nails too - which lead to me charging people for my service. I was as good, if not better, than any real salon worker. Back then I didn't have a fancy system for nail art like the one I ordered from QVC. I had to use thin tipped paint brushes. So as a nail lover at heart, I'm excited to play around with this. It has shipped, so I should have it next week and will be able to do a full review soon!
Then today I picked up two Mally Beauty products. I only have one Mally product (which is a double ended eyeliner that I picked up during the QVC Super Saturday Sale for $7.99). Her products always seem so amazing on TV, her energy gets you excited over the products, and the models always look beautiful. But for the longest time I held off on purchasing her products because they get such mixed reviews. But what I've come to find is a lot of QVC shoppers don't know a whole lot about makeup, or how to apply it (of course not all QVC revievers are makeup challanged, but there are reviews that clearly state they can't use the product, or state how they are using it and it's completely wrong). Because of that there are a lot of bad reviews on otherwise amazing products. So I dove head first, ignored all reviews, and picked up two items:
The first item is Mally's Ultimate Performance Full Coverage Foundation - $36.48. I picked the Medium shade. The thing that sold me on this foundation is one of the models had massive amounts of hyperpigmentation - either that or sun damange or just something that left her face with lots of flaws and after they applied the foundation her face looked absolutely flawless! Since my skin is awful too, I thought this may be a great product. I hope it works just as good as I'm picturing in my mind!
The second item is Mally's Poreless Perfection Skin Finisher & Brush - $40.92. This is supposed to be better than traslucent powder. I don't even know why I got this. It was an impulse buy I guess. If I hate it I'll just send it back to QVC, but I will try it out and hope for the best!
And finally, the last item I ordered was the Smashbox Finishing Touches 3-Piece Collection - $29.16.
The kit includes a Brow Tech To Go (I got Brunette), Soft Focus powder eyeliner in Gunmetal (which is a new product), and a Lip Enhancing Gloss in Allure (named after the magazine). I needed more Brow Tech, and I thought the to-go version would be perfect. That alone sells for around $24, so for just a few bucks more I got their brand new powder eyeliner and a beautiful gloss!
Once I receive all these great items in the mail I will report back with reviews and swatches!
So, tell me, did you buy anything on QVC today during their amazing all-day beauty event? If so, what did you pick up? What item did you not pick up but wish you did?
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
August 26, 2010
Makeup Blog Sale Coming Soon!
Hello, Beautiful!
I have a lot of makeup that I don't use - most of which have only been swatch tested. When creating the Valentine Beauty Closet (which is also coming soon) I collected a lot of makeup. Most of which I got in for ValentineKisses.com and saved shades to use as swatch testers. I don't want to hang on to all these pieces of makeup so it's time to sell them.
It's going to take some time to get the list together, but I wanted to give you all a heads up at the sale that is coming. I'll list the items on this blog for about a week before I add them to the website under our new "Swatch Tested" category.
There are hundreds of items that will be in this sale - some of which will go for as little as $0.25 per piece. Each item will either be swatch tested or flawed in some way. There are no new items in this sale. No additional discounts can apply on these items, but I promise they are at rock bottom prices. For example: We currently sell L'Oreal's Colour Riche Lipsticks on our website for $2.49 each. The ones we have that have been swatch tested will sell for $1.00 each.
Brands that will be in the sale:
So stayed tuned!
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
I have a lot of makeup that I don't use - most of which have only been swatch tested. When creating the Valentine Beauty Closet (which is also coming soon) I collected a lot of makeup. Most of which I got in for ValentineKisses.com and saved shades to use as swatch testers. I don't want to hang on to all these pieces of makeup so it's time to sell them.
It's going to take some time to get the list together, but I wanted to give you all a heads up at the sale that is coming. I'll list the items on this blog for about a week before I add them to the website under our new "Swatch Tested" category.
There are hundreds of items that will be in this sale - some of which will go for as little as $0.25 per piece. Each item will either be swatch tested or flawed in some way. There are no new items in this sale. No additional discounts can apply on these items, but I promise they are at rock bottom prices. For example: We currently sell L'Oreal's Colour Riche Lipsticks on our website for $2.49 each. The ones we have that have been swatch tested will sell for $1.00 each.
Brands that will be in the sale:
- L'Oreal
- Milani
- Lumene
- Maybelline
- Revlon
- CoverGirl
- Mary-Kate And Ashley
- Rimmel
- Sally Hansen
- Styli-Style
- NYX
- Smashbox
- Philosophy Beauty
- Korres
- YSL
- Sephora Brand
- e.l.f. Cosmetics
- And so many more!
So stayed tuned!
xoxo with love & beauty,
Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com
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