Tag Archives: Eva NYC

Empties – May through July 2014

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Garbage time!

My empties bag has clearly since better days. Poor guy.

As per usual, makeup items first.

Benefit They’re Real mascara
Benefit They’re Real mascara

It’s a mascara graveyard here today. I had so many bite-sized mascara samples to use up and they got completely mauled throughout the last few months.

Anyway, back to the actual product. Benefit’They’re Real is amazing. I’ve never given in to high end mascara hype because I don’t WANT to love the product. I really do not want to develop a habit of enjoying $30 mascara at all! However… My mom even thought I was wearing false lashes when I had this on. Having used this sample size, I have to say that there’s a high chance I’ll actually end up dishing out the money on this one in the future (once I run through all my deluxe mascara samples!).

Purchase? More than likely.

L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black waterproof mascara
L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black waterproof mascara

I used to love this mascara, but this time round the block L’Oreal‘s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara just didn’t cut it for me. I’ll leave it for a while and then revisit it in a year or so. Maybe.

Repurchase? Eventually.

Make Up For Ever’s Smoky Lash Extravagant
Make Up For Ever’s Smoky Lash Extravagant

A surprising favourite out of the bunch. MUFE’Smoky Lash Extravagant builds up quite well and doesn’t clump. It dried up after a month or two though. I didn’t love it more than the Benefit one though.

Purchase? Unlikely.

Pop Beauty mascara
Pop Beauty mascara

No. Just no. Useless and dry.

Purchase? Hah. NO.

NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base
NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base

Love this. I’m one of the unfortunate people that NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base doesn’t actually work on its own to prevent creasing, but it does work in conjunction with Urban Decay‘s primer potion to kill all creasing so I love it for that reason. Word to the wise though, even when the wand pulls out nothing from the tube, cut that baby open and get out the remainder. There is MONTHS more product in there even after it feels empty.

Repurchase: Definitely.

Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee
Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee

Absolute favourite. Revlon’Creme Brulee lip butter is my favourite nude lip. This is my second tube of the stuff and it’s one of the easiest lip shades to wear on my complexion.

Repurchase? More than likely.

MAC Omega eyeshadow
MAC Omega eyeshadow

*The* eyebrow shade for blondes. MAC‘s Omega has the right kind of grey tint to the powder that makes my eyebrows not look overly ridiculously blonde (not that I have much in the way of eyebrows to begin with). I loved this eyeshadow, but I’m currently plugging through my Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade to try something new because this eyeshadow lasted me longer than a year even with daily use!

Repurchase? Maybe eventually, but for now I’m having fun exploring other options.

MAC Prep + Prime for lips
MAC Prep + Prime for lips

Second… third maybe? tube of MAC’Prep + Prime for lips. Fantastic for preventing lipsticks from bleeding outside my lipline.

Repurchase? Already have!

Murad – Oil-Control Mattifier
Murad – Oil-Control Mattifier

I didn’t notice Murad’s mattifier working especially well, but then I also noticed the expiry date was roughly four months prior to when I used it. Whoops. It also smelled like glue. Ew.

Purchase? No thanks.

Barry M – Diamond Glitter
Barry M – Diamond Glitter

 

Ohhhh yes. Barry M‘s Diamond Glitter nail polish had a lovely home on my toenails for about six months this past year. The bottle is dead empty now which is a shame since you can’t buy Barry M in Canada!

Repurchase? If I find myself in the UK again, I will *definitely* pick this one up!

Quo – Nail Polish Remover
Quo – Nail Polish Remover

I swear Quo is the only brand of nail polish remover I can ever find at the drugstore. I default to this because it’s there, it’s functional and it’s relatively cheap.

Repurchase? Yes, because I don’t know of anything better out there!

Neutrogena Wipes
Neutrogena Wipes

No shocker here. Neutrogena‘s makeup removing wipes are the only ones I use now. Definite preference to the hydrating ones.

Repurchase? For sho.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-Up Remover
Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-Up Remover

 

I’ve used several bottles of Neutrogena‘s makeup remover now and have another one cracked open. It doesn’t work as well on waterproof makeup as my Marcelle stuff did so I think I’ll be reverting back to the Marcelle one.

Repurchase? I have an open bottle, but aside from that I think I’m going to try something else out next time.

MOR Hand Cream – Kale and Watercress and Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer
MOR Hand Cream – Kale and Watercress and Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer

The foil packets of the lot.

MOR Hand Cream in Kale and Watercress smelled nice, but it’s a hand cream… Nothing amazing here.

Purchase? Pass.

Urban Decay‘s Anti-Aging Primer Potion is basically the same as the Original really. I didn’t notice it really having any anti-aging properties (I basically think that anything that claims that is utter hogwash really) so meh.

Purchase? I’ll just stick to the Original one I normally use.

Fortune Cookie Soap – Captain’s Berried Booty Whipped Cream
Fortune Cookie Soap – Captain’s Berried Booty Whipped Cream

FCS‘s whipped cream body butter is an awesome formula, however, their Captain’s Berried Booty scent was totally nauseating to me. It’s fruitloops and cardboard, basically.

Repurchase? Not in this scent!

Fortune Cookie Soap – Tick Tock Whipped Cream
Fortune Cookie Soap – Tick Tock Whipped Cream

Another FCS whipped cream. I liked their Tick Tock scent quite a bit. I have no idea how the scent relates to the Hunger Games, but anyway… it basically smells like clean laundry to me. Very detergent-y, but it doesn’t bother me.

Repurchase? I liked it, but not enough to repurchase it. There are other things I like more.

Tree Hut Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter
Tree Hut Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter

Sample size of Tree Hut‘s Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter. This was okay, but not amazing. The smell wasn’t really my cup of tea either.

Purchase? Nope.

Dermal Therapy – Hand, Elbow & Knee Moisturizer
Dermal Therapy – Hand, Elbow & Knee Moisturizer

This stuff isn’t fancy, or pretty, but oh man does it ever work. Dermal Therapy products are a godsend for anyone with incredibly dry skin. I get pretty scratchy elbows and ankles and this works miracles on them.

Repurchase? Definitely.

Dermal Therapy – Heel Care Moisturizer
Dermal Therapy – Heel Care Moisturizer

And this ganked up nasty jar is Dermal Therapy‘s Heel Care. The best thing EVER for heel cracks. This can repair the Grand-freaking-Canyon of heel cracks and make your heels look baby-butt smooth in the span of a week. I’m not kidding because I’ve seen it happen on me. (You’re welcome for that visual.)

Repurchase? Forever and a day.

Burt’s Bees – Almond & Milk Hand Cream
Burt’s Bees – Almond & Milk Hand Cream

Burt’s Bees Almond & Milk Hand Cream smells nice, but it’s super thick and super greasy.

Repurchase? Nah.

Clean & Clear – Deep Action Cream Cleanser
Clean & Clear – Deep Action Cream Cleanser

One of my usual cleansers. I like how this one has a cool tingle on the skin. I do find your skin gets used to that tingly feeling though, so I tend to swap out my cleansers pretty frequently.

Repurchase? Definitely.

Boots No7 – Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser
Boots No7 – Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser

Snagged this from a friend who didn’t want to finish it up. Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser is good but the scent is a little bizarre to me. This may be completely offputting to some, but it smelled faintly like cigarettes. Or like the afterburn of a cigarette. It truly wasn’t as gross as I’m making it sound, but there was that scent to it that was really hard to place.

Purchase? Maybe, if on sale.

Fortune Cookie Soap – Lemon Drop It Like It’s Hot Microdermabrasion Scrub
Fortune Cookie Soap – Lemon Drop It Like It’s Hot Microdermabrasion Scrub

FCS‘ first skincare item. I liked it at first, but the scent started to bother me over time. Nicely abrasive though.

Repurchase? Nah.

Philosophy – The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash
Philosophy – The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

Another product I swiped from that same friend as before. Philosophy‘s Exfoliating wash smells terrible to me. Did not enjoy it at all.

Purchase? Nope.

Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant
Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant

Dr. Brandt‘s Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant was AMAZING. It completely cured me of a milium spot I had on my lower left eyelid. This stuff packs a hefty price tag, but I fortunately received this sample size in an Ipsy bag. If I had milia again in the future though, I would absolutely pick this up even at the full price.

Repurchase? If necessary due to skin problems, then absolutely yes!

Aveeno – Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer
Aveeno – Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer

A staple daily moisturizer for me. The packaging’s all messed up though. I normally get the Radiant one, but this one says Clear Complexion in English… but Radiant in French! What the hell? They’re normally two different types!

Repurchase? Definitely. I’m almost done another bottle in the bathroom already.

Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask
Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask

I wouldn’t normally post hair stuff, but this came in an Ipsy bag so I thought I’d mention it. This is nothing more than a hair conditioner. I don’t feel it did anything extra special to my hair, even when I left it on for a good ten minutes in the shower.

Repurchase? Nope.


PHEW! That’s a lot of garbage to get through. Looking at some of these products, I kind of wish I’d saved them for Kalyn’s Sample Killah month. Darn!

Ipsy – May 2014 Glam Bag

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Another month, another Ipsy bag! I really like the bag this month – I’m a sucker for anything green and leafy. It’s also a cloth bag this time so that’s… moderately interesting? (Honestly I really have no idea what to do with all of these bags.)

Let’s dive right in.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive (full size)
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive (full size)

This was definitely the most exciting thing in my bag. The chubby stick lip craze that seems to have swept the beauty world for the last year or two was just something I never really got into. My first exposure was the Revlon Balm Stains and I was not a fan of those. Those ones fade really funny, slide around on my lips and they feel really waxy/hard to apply.

That being said, everyone keept going on about the matte balms, but I held off on buying them because I didn’t need/want anymore. So I was definitely happy to get this for “free” in my bag. The colour is a bit tame, but obviously this makes it easier to please everyone who may get this colour.

And I have to say… this is awesome. Revlon‘s matte balm in Elusive is a damn showstopper. It goes on smooth, dries down to an almost transferproof finish (not right away though, you may want to blot a little to get it that way) and it stays PUT. I tried this without a primer because I was feeling lazy and it definitely lasted several hours. It even lasted through a semi-greasy lunch until I swiped at my mouth with a napkin to tidy up and it all came off then. The other side of this is now I want EVERY SHADE.

 

Hang Ten Classic Sport – SPF 50 (trial size)
Hang Ten Classic Sport – SPF 50 (trial size)

I don’t really have much to say about Hang Ten‘s Classic Sport since it’s a sunscreen and I haven’t had the opportunity to use it yet, but unlike a lot of people who got this in their bag, I’m more than happy to test this out. I usually stick to SPF 30 but I’ll try this out when I play soccer throughout the summer and see how it holds up compared to my usualCoppertone Sport sunscreen. I also like that it comes with a safety seal on the tube and that it’s not even remotely close to expiring which I know has been a concern with beauty box samples before.

Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask (trial size)
Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask (trial size)

Eva NYC is a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with. The instructions for their Therapy Session Hair Mask say that it can either be used as a deep conditioning mask, or an every day conditioner. Now, I’m not really sure what the heck the difference is since I leave conditioner in my hair for about five minutes every time I shower anyway. It left my hair feeling no different than any other conditioner so I didn’t feel like it was particularly special.

Pacifica – Duo #2 Eyeshadows
Pacifica – Duo #2 Eyeshadows

I’ve known of the brand Pacifica for years, but had never tried their products. As far as I’m aware, they’re well known for their lotions and butters, so I didn’t really know what to expect from this eyeshadow duo. It doesn’t help that they don’t seem to sell single or duo eyeshadows on their site – they’re all in palettes.

Anyway, this duo (#2?) turned out to be a dud in my opinion.

Pacifica Eyeshadow Duo Swatches & Look
Pacifica Eyeshadow Duo Swatches & Look

The white-gold shade is really patchy and chunky. The purple takes a lot of swipes and packing in order to get any kind of decent colour pay-off. In the end, the pictures really look better than I felt it looked in person, but by the end of the day the whole thing had faded and I didn’t even think it was that pigmented to begin with. So I basically went from a soft smudged out look (unintentionally, I just could not get enough colour to come off on my lids) and ended up with a faded out muddle of a look by the end of the day. Boo.

derma e – Microdermabrasion Scrub (trial size)
derma e – Microdermabrasion Scrub (trial size)

I was a bit surprised to get another microdermabrasion scrub in my bag since I got one just last month (however, I was so pleased with my previous sample that I sure wasn’t going to turn my nose up at this one!). I didn’t have anything in particular to use this derma e on so I just used it on my upper arms in the shower since I have a few random dry spots there. It felt exactly the same as the Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion scrub, although this one smelled rather lime-y (a positive for me!).

Ipsy’s May 2014 Glam Bag
Ipsy’s May 2014 Glam Bag

Ipsy May 2014 Breakdown
(all prices in USD)

  • Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive ($8.99, full size)
  • Eva NYC Therapy Sessions Hair Mask (60 ml @ $4.80, full size is $40 for 500 ml)
  • Pacifica Natural Beauty Duo #2 (they don’t sell single or even duo eyeshadows on their web site, so I’m taking a complete price guess here based on their palette price ~$10)
  • Hang Ten Classic Sport SPF50 (30 ml @ $2.20, full size is $12.99 for 177 ml)
  • derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub (28g  @ $16.25, full size is $32.50 for 56g)

BAG TOTAL = $42.24

My Thoughts

I’m a little indifferent to this bag. I’ll certainly use the hair conditioner, sunscreen and microdermabrasion scrub up, but they’re not really things I would get super excited about. The eyeshadow is something I’m really happy to try out, it’s just a shame that the pigmentation is a bit of a dud.

The Revlon matte balm is an amazing product though – I’m really happy that was included in this bag because my disappointment with their balm stains had turned me off chubby lip pens entirely.

Anything you love or hated in your bag?