When the spoilers for the December Ipsy bag went up, I was hoping that I wouldn’t get a tube of the Bumble & Bumble blow out styling products. Not because I dislike the brand – but because I have a bunch of the travel sized ones already. I do really like the bag this month though.
➥ CAILYN Cosmetics Just Mineral Eye Polish in Orchid
➥ Beauty Without Cruelty A.H.A. 3% Facial Cleanser
➥ NYX Butter Lip Balm
➥ Sexy Hair 450° Blow Out Heat Defense Blow Dry Spray
➥ Tarte Deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara
This is the second or third Cailyn Cosmetics product I’ve gotten from Ipsy. I consistently really like how the product looks once applied. They all have been perfectly pigmented and seem to last a reasonable amount of time. However, I find the packaging a little cumbersome. Functional, mostly, but not always practical.
I’d love to give you guys a great mini report on the Beauty Without Cruelty AHA cleanser, but just using it once yielded less than optimal results. I know that most AHA products cause a little sensitivity or tingling when applied… but my face was feeling pretty sensitive for a day or so after, and then it started peeling a bit. This is what I get for not patch testing on my wrist first. Also their website looks a tad dodgy and is not very user-friendly.
I’m definitely a bit of a NYX fan girl, especially when talking about their lippies. The butter lip balm is pretty great for a balm: pleasant scent, smooth finish, decent amount of staying power. No idea about how pigmented the colors seem to be as I was sent Marshmellow, which is far too nude to tell. But it has been a great addition to my work tote.
I cannot even begin to describe how lovely the Sexy Hair heat defense spray smells, it’s probably one of the better smelling heat sprays I’ve used. Lately, I’ve been alternating between doing the curly girl method and occasionally blow drying my hair straight. So heat protectants are a must – especially since curly hair types are naturally more dry. One of the first things I do when I’m testing out a new heat protectant is to test it on my hand. I’ll spray one of my palms with it, let it soak in for a minute or so, and then blast it with a hairdryer for a bit. Then compare it to the other palm that didn’t get applied with the heat protectant. So far this one is working way better than the Nexxus pro-mend one I had been using.
Fun story, I have 3 of these deluxe sized Tarte 4-in-1 mascara tubes right now. Ok, maybe it’s not a fun story. But collectively it kind of counts as one full size one, right? Anyway, great staying power, fairly buildable, but clumps a bit more than I’d like. Though I’m thinking that’s just because the formula hasn’t had a chance to dry out a bit yet. Overall, I still like Tarte‘s Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara better.
♡Em
