Last Day to Enter Aromaleigh's Contest for a Sample Set of Ancient Magick!

Info below and at my post here:

Product: New Aromaleigh Ancient Magick eye shadow collection

Where is this available? Aromaleigh Mineral Cosmetics v.2

Price: Currently 25% off! Regular jar price: $8.00 -- now $6.00. Regular sample price: $1.00 -- now $.75.

Seee video close-ups of the colors here.

Enter the Rafflecopter contest to win one of five sample sets of this collection here.

And here are some fabulous labeled skin swatches from the Aromaleigh Web site. I recently ordered Bast, Anubis, Horus, Tawaret, Aten, Selkis, Khonsu, Apophis, Shu, Ma'at, Isis, Hathor, Nut, and Seth. Happy shopping!






 
 

Sephora is on Groupon Right Now . . .

. . . but only for 1 day 16 hours and some odd seconds as of publication of this post, so I advise you to pronto up if you want one. It appears that you can buy only one $10 Sephora e-gift card for $5.00, but who doesn't want free Sephora credit?

It's good in stores, via mobile device, on-line, and at Sephora sections in J. C. Penney. I'm assuming it's good only in the United States, but those abroad may search and find otherwise.

Go here to get yours :-)

Video Close-Ups of New Aromaleigh Eyeshadow Collection, Ancient Magick, Plus Contest to Win One of Five Sample Sets!

Product: New Aromaleigh Ancient Magick eye shadow collection

Where is this available? Aromaleigh Mineral Cosmetics v.2

Price: Currently 25% off! Regular jar price: $8.00 -- now $6.00. Regular sample price: $1.00 -- now $.75.

Seee video close-ups of the colors here.

Enter the Rafflecopter contest to win one of five sample sets of this collection here.

And here are some fabulous labeled skin swatches from Aromaleigh. I recently ordered Bast, Anubis, Horus, Tawaret, Aten, Selkis, Khonsu, Apophis, Shu, Ma'at, Isis, Hathor, Nut, and Seth. Happy shopping!

Cool New Tool: CVS 100% Cotton Exfoliating Nail Squares

Product: CVS 100% Cotton Exfoliating Nail Squares

Where did I buy this? I bought two packages of these at a local CVS. I don't know if any other store has them; this is the first time I've seen anything like this.

Price: They were BOGO half off when I bought them (total = $7.49 plus tax), but the regular price is $4.99 per package. That's pricey, but the squares are fairly large, and there are 130 of them (almost twice as more than in most packages of cotton rounds), so you can easily do two with one square. If you stock up when there's a sale, I don't think the price is too bad for the good value offered by the product.

"Nubblies" on pad.

Performance: Excellent! The before and after photos below speak for themselves. Little "nubblies"on the pad help to get glitter and other topcoats off without a lot of work and wastage of nail polish remover and extra pads.

Before with regular cotton pad: Nail polish and glitter topcoat left after several dips into the remover and about 50 rubs.

After with CVS exfoliating pad: Nail polish and glitter topcoat left after 2 dips into the remover and about 3 or 4 rubs.

Packaging: Clear plastic bag with a zip-lock closure that doesn't need to be snipped of first (I hate that), so it's easy open, easy close.  The bad "stands" upright for easy storage.


If I lost, spilled, or broke this item, would I buy again? Undoubtedly. They are probably the only polish-removing cotton pad I will use from now on.


Overall rating: 5 of 5 possible lippies!

Aromaleigh Lost in Faerie (Revisited) Prize Winner

Well, the response to my contest was dismal. I don't know if the Rafflecopter tasks were confusing? I thought they were very simple and easy to follow, but I'm open to comments and opinions. I think Rafflecopter is used enough nowadays that people know how to use it. I know I have 23 followers on Blog Lovin', and I routinely get 25 to 60 hits a day, so I'm bummed that more people didn't enter. Admittedly, it was a very small prize, but who doesn't want to win free eyeshadow, especially when your odds of winning are so good? Not me, LOL.

Neither of the entries were complete: Two people entered the contest, but one person completed only one of the mandatory tasks. Another person completed three of the four required tasks. Therefore, I didn't even use the Rafflecopter's "choose-a-winner" feature; the winner was the person who completed most of the tasks. Technically, I shouldn't give out the prize at all, but I like to give out prizes! I'm rarely one to follow the rules and technicalities, so I'm choosing to send the five-sample set to Helen F. of BBFF* blog, who completed the most  tasks.

Congratualtions, Helen :-) I'll be emailing you shortly.

Helen's wee prize

Can't Wait for This New Aromaleigh Collection

Gaaaaah, I can't wait to try this new Aromaleigh Egypt-inspired eye shadow collection -- Ancient Magick. So many gorgeous neutrals for fall and brights for winter! Skin swatches and video will be released when they have some sunny weather! More info (and enlargement of colors and a link to a Pinterest board for the collection) is available here.

Why, Yes, I AM Actually Only 12 Years Old!

You have three more days to enter the Aromaleigh contest here :-)

Background: You all know by now that I am an absolute dork and geek, and I'm proud of it! I have no qualms about admitting publicly that I recently bought a kid's nail dryer from Avon because I thought it might make my one-nail manicure dry harder and thus last a bit longer. And it did:-)

Product: Avon Going Dotty Nail Dryer

Avon Going Dotty Nail Dryer

Where did I buy this? I bought this from my Avon rep, Lisa Wetherby (great rep BTW). It doesn't appear to be available on the Avon Web site any longer, but I found it on Bay. The seller currently has six of them available for $14.99 plus free shipping.

Price: $9.99 + tax.

Avon Going Dotty Nail Dryer in action, LOL

Performance: Excellent. I've never used a nail dryer before other than the only time I had my nails (yes, all 10 of them) done at a salon. Call me wacky, but I think the nail dryer actually dried my nails to a harder finish. My one-nail manicure often chips within hours of application, but my "nail" dried under the dryer lasted for a few days, plus it was more fun using this dryer than the traditional waving-my-hand-and-blowing-on-my-nail method (how's that for a mega compound adjective?). It takes a couple of AA batteries and seems to be holding up pretty well. You activate it by placing your hand on the little "platform" under the dryer head. It's obviously made for little kids, so the platform is pretty small. If I did  full mani, I'd probably have to dry half a hand at a time, which would be quite time-consuming. It's pretty noisy, so it doesn't work to use it while I'm watching the boob tube, but it's OK to use during commercials.

Packaging: Just a small brown box :-) Otherwise, no packaging or storage.

Recent single-nail mani with Confetti Silver Slipper and Wet 'n' Wild silver hologrpahic top coat with no chipping after three days!

If I lost, spilled, or broke this item, would I buy again? Actually, based on my experience with this little nail dryer, I would definitely purchase a real adult's home nail dryer. If I couldn't find a reasonably priced one, yes, I would buy this product again.


Overall rating: 5 out of 5 lippies!

How Low Can You Go? Urban Decay Sale

Wowzer. Lots of goodies on sale on the Urban decay sale page here! If there was anyway I could even slightly justify owning more makeup, I'd be all over these. Free ship with $50 purchase s usual. Make sure it's true love. All sale items are final! Just to show a few of the items:

 

L'Oreal Chrome Shine Eyeshadow in Rose Mordore (Golden Rose) Over Meow Cosmetics i-Prime

Product (s): Meow Cosmetics i-Prime (scroll down page to view it) and L'Oreal Chrome Shine Eyeshadow in Rose Mordore (Golden Rose)

Where did I buy this? I bought the eyelid primer at Meow Cosmetics, and I got the L'Oreal Golden eyeshadow in  a custom-purchase/swap with Helen F. of BBFF* blog :-)

Example of opacity of i-Prime

Price: The Meow i-Prime was $7.50. The Golden Rose runs about 6.19 pounds (approximately $7.46 USD as of today's exchange rate).

Golden Rose under natural light (left = no primer; right = i-Prime)

Performance: i-Prime: I really like this product. As you can see in the pic above, it applies opaque and so provides "clean slate" over which to apply your eyeshadow. I don't know for sure since Golden Rose is such a light color, but this feature may help colors to apply my truly to what you see in the pot or pan. Although it looks so in the photo, it's not sticky at all. I abhor anything sticky on my lids, so I thought it was quite comfortable. It's firm to the touch like a medium-density balm, so you just have to glide your brush or fingertip over it lightly. At this rate, one pot should last me forever! L'Oreal Golden Rose: I liked this shade a lot. I can't wear any yellow golds on my lids, although I adore them, but this shade is neutral enough that I can pull it off. Although it barely shows up without primer (and thence might make a good brow bone highlight), it came up beautifully over the i-Prime. It's a good "go-to" color that would suit most any situation. I read in another review that a more pale rosy shade lies under the champagne-gold color, but this was not the case for me. If I try hard (LOL), I can see just a tad of rose mixed in, just enough maybe to keep it from being to yellow? It applied in a silky fashion with the applicator provided. Some of you may not like the applicator, but I think that a sponge-tip applicator is sometimes the best way to apply drugstore eyeshadows to get a thick, even coat of shadow.

Golden Rose under shady natural light. I actually think this photo shows it's true nature :-) (left = no primer; right = i-Prime)

Packaging: i-Prime: lidded pot; L'Oreal Golden Rose: standard drugstore pressed eyeshadow case with sponge-tip applicator.

Golden Rose under incasdescent light

If I lost, spilled, or broke this item, would I buy again? Yes and yes! The i-Prime is different enough from all  of the other similar nonsticky eyelid primers I've used (UPFF, TFSI, Art Deco) that it' sure to become a repeat buy for me (and to think I was just trying to get my Meow cart up to $50 to get free shipping [what a happy accident]). And the L'Oreal Golden Rose looks pretty with my hazel green eyes and is a wonderful, yet different, neutral. Most of my similarly colored neutrals are uber-sparkly, so it's light frost is a nice change of pace.

Overall rating: 5 out of 5 lippies for both products!

Eye Extravagaza Month (Coupons Galore) at Rite-Aid!

I'll cut right to the chase. Yes, Riteaid has all of these coupons (and more) for offer at Riteaid's Facebook page [see sample below]). They are good for the first 10,000 fans, and as of right now, only one coupon is "sold out." They all appear to be valid through 10/19/13, so there is plenty of time (and plenty of weekly sales) to use them.

You must click the "click for coupons" in a circle at the top right of the page for the coupons to work. Yes, you can stack these coupons with manufacturer's coupons, and your purchases count toward the Eye Extravaganza Up+ Rewards. And, yes, you can use these coupons on sale items!

Here's what I printed out:

• $1.00 off any Maybelline eyeshadow (hope they have some LE Color Tattoos)
• $1.00 off any Almay makeup remover (one of my staples)
• $1.00 off any Wet 'n' Wild eyeshadow
• $1.00 off any Wet 'n' Wild eye pencil
• $1.00 any L'Oreal mascara
• $1.00 off any Wet 'n' Wild mascara
• $1.00 off any Jesse's Girl eyeshadow
• $1.00 off any Rimmel mascara
• $1.00 off Physician's Formula mascara or eyeshadow
• $1.00 off Maybelline Volume Express Falsies of Falsies Flare mascara

Lots more brands and products are represented, but the above are probably the only ones I'll personally use. The coupons are about a half page in size, so I just rotated one page to print a coupon on the other page. Save some trees by seeing if your printer can/will do the same.

Shop on, people. Shop on.