Drugstore Madness. Just Madness.

Alright, it's not really madness. Just a few new things!! These were all going to be a part of the "Beauty Products" blog I posted on Monday, but it was just getting so long that I decided to split it up into two posts. Hopefully you checked out the LUSH blog with the first half of this bundle of goodies! Now onto the drugstores.

Shoppers Drug Mart:

Soap & Glory Hand Food - $10 for 125 mL / 4.2 fl oz

I mentioned in my LUSH blog how busted my hands have been and that I've been scooping up some new hand creams to try to remedy the problem. This Soap & Glory hand cream is like a wonderful, non-greasy whipped cream for your hands. It seriously comes out of the tube like a whipped little dollop of sweet-looking goodness - like you're squeezing a tube of soft, white marshmallow. Hand Food actually does contain marshmallow, as well as shea butter, macadamia oil, and a whole slew of other weird shit. I'm so happy I bought it. I'm actually kind of flying through this tube - maybe I should pace myself!

I always browse the Essence section at my local Shoppers Drug Mart because there's often something new in their "nail art" line, and it's always inexpensive. This time was no diffffff.

Essence Nail Art Stickers - $1.99

I'll likely use these as striping tape, rather than as actual stickers. I've only attempted taped stripes on my nails once before, but since the strips of tape were a total DIY on my part, they weren't that uniform... and the stripes overall didn't turn out that great once the tape strips were removed. Hopefully these strips of nail stickers (which I will trim down and use as needed) will make my stripes look like a big girl made them, rather than a first grader. At $1.99, it doesn't hurt to try them out!

Essence Effect Nails 3D Glitter (in black and silver) - $2.49

So you may remember that several months back, I tried out the Essence 3D Effect nail art pearls. (Actually it's one of my most popular blogs!) The success of those cute little pearls gave me high hopes for the Essence 3D Glitter in the same line of products.

Guys, I can't stress enough how bad of an idea this glitter product is.  I immediately regretted using it, but still I pressed on to try to make it work. I even removed it all and tried again, I was so willing to make it work. But no.

First, I'll show you what it looks like...

Doesn't it look really cool - like it wouldn't suck at all? Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

Here are the problems:

1. The glitter adheres to your wet base coat but it leaves stubborn patches, so it was terribly impossible to achieve uniform density of the glitter across my entire nail.

2. Loose glitter makes a huge mess, in general. I don't know what I was thinking! On top of the normal surface area that gets dusted with glitter, there's also the "after" effects of dealing with glitter - you know, when you discover a rogue speck of it next to your eyeball three days later. #IKnowYouKnowWhatIMean. #DontFront.

Those two problems were pretty killer. I almost wish I hadn't bought it at all. Almost.

As a final note about this glitter - if you DO buy it, do not try to roll your wet nail into it, the way you would with the Essence 3D Pearls. That will result in a weird, chunky, smooshed, goopy glitter application. And whatever you do - don't add a top coat. You will feel like a total chump if you do that. Go ahead and try it if you don't believe me. I dare you to see how it looks with top coat. Hint:  It's not attractive.

The Doctor's Night Guard - $36.99 (ON SALE. FML. This thing costs $20 in the States!)

I didn't take a picture of my new night guard before I molded it and started using it, but you can see what a new one looks like here. I wear a night guard every night while I sleep because otherwise I will grind the bejesus out of my teeth. This night guard needs to be replaced every once in awhile, and I was due for my replacement... even though the price tag almost made me want to barf. It's definitely more affordable in the US! Anyone else grind their teeth? You better take care of that shit! You'll regret it, if you don't!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jade Jump - $6.49

I saw this nail polish and was all, "Whaaaa?!" and then I snatched it off the shelf before anyone else could beat me to it. It comes off a bit minty in this picture, but in real life it's got more of a jade-mint quality to it. I hadn't seen this color before from the Insta-Dri line... it's new to me! I'm a sucker for anything jade OR minty, so this was a double-whammy. I haven't used it yet but it swatches beautifully - super, super opaque... and potentially non-streaky. We'll see.

London Drugs:

London Drugs is the other "big" drug store in Vancouver that I was introduced to after moving to Canada. There's a sizeable one down the street from my gym, so there always seems to be a good (enough) reason to juuuust pop inside to see what they've got. Some of the beauty blogs I'd been reading while I was home in Massachusetts were the catalyst for these next two purchases...

Baby Lips Dr. Rescue Medicated Balm in Berry Soft - on sale for $3.99

With a handful of Baby Lips balms already in my stash, it's safe to say I am a fannnn of these inexpensive little guys. When they come out with new flavors or new varieties, I am - how you say? - all about that shit. I heard about the new Dr. Rescue medicated balms and scooped one up as soon as I could! These balms are medicated with menthol, which gives them a eucalyptus smell and creates a cooling sensation on your lips. Dr. Rescue comes in 6 different shades; I chose Berry Soft, which definitely goes on lighter than it looks.

Maybelline claims that Dr. Rescue balms do the following:  "In 1 minute, lips feel soothed. In 1 day, lips look more smooth. In 1 week, lips are renewed." That's probably not all 100% accurate, but the product actually has made a difference for me.  My lips felt noticeably smoother after about 3 days of use. Note that the package says not to use this balm more than 4x per day - it doesn't say that anywhere on the tube itself, so it's possibly important to note this before you throw the package away. Not sure what will happen if you go ahead and use it that 5th time... Maybe your lips turn into MJ's werewolf character at the beginning of Thriller? I'm not going to risk it.

Revlon Parfumerie nail polish in Balsam Fir - $6.95 for 0.4oz

These are a scented line of polishes from Revlon. Throwback to the 90s, you say? Maybe. And that's fine with me! This polish actually does smell like some sort of a fir tree - I will give them that. I love this color, and it would have been helpful if I'd found it when Emerald was the Color of the Year. If all goes as planned, you'll see this polish in a mani on Friday.

Sally Hansen Strengthening Fast & Gentle Nail Polish Remover - $3.99

I haaated the smell of my last polish remover. I had to wash my hands 3 times before the smell of it would start to fade from my fingers. The end of that bottle was finally near, and I couldn't wait to get a replacement. Once this Sally Hansen remover came home with me and I realized how much more pleasant it smelled than my Quo remover, I literally dumped the last half-inch of my other remover down the drain. I wanted nothing else to do with it!

Well thanks for making it through another obnoxiously long blog post about new beauty products. I didn't realize that it was going to turn into several mini-reviews! Hope you found some of it useful in your own beauty product endeavors.

Have you tried any of these products?

How is your week going?

Whatcha wearin'? ;)
FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST

{Linking with I Feel Pretty and Beauty Buzz}

All products were purchased by me!

Revlon Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliqués

In mid-September I attended a fun blogger event in Vancouver called Blog and the (Van)City, also known by its less formal title, #blogvancity. I showed you the excellent bag of swag that came home with me from the event in this blog.

One of the items in the bag-o-swag was a little kit of 3D Jewel Appliqués from Revlon. (So yes, I did get this product for free, but all thoughts are MINE. ALL MIIIIINE!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!)

These Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués are in the style "Evening Garnet," and they come in a kit with 18 stickers (I'm going to stop calling them appliqués now because I'm really not classy enough to pull it off)...

.  minus the one i used  .

... As well as a mini nail file and a plastic pressing tool to help with the application process:

So as you might suspect, you choose which nail art sticker is the best size for each nail, peel it off, and stick it onto your nail.  Use the pressing tool to smooth it down onto the entire surface of your nail, making sure to press down around the edges to really stick it on there well! Then use the mini filer to file the excess sticker length from the tip of your nail

I decided to do just one accent nail on each hand using these appliqués (oops, I said it again). Since my nails are pretty small, I was actually able to use just one sticker for both of the accent nails.

However, because my nails are so small, most of this pack of stickers is not really going to work for me! I need more of the smaller ones and fewer of the larger ones... or I just need them to scale down the entire pack.

It would be amazing if someday nail sticker manufacturers could make boxes of them in different sizes, so that you could choose small, medium, or large. Because hey, some of us are circus freaks with tiny hands.

On all my other nails I used a China Glaze polish that was also part of my #blogvancity swag bag - Kiss My Glass from the Fall 2013 line from CG. It's a dark, slate sort of blue with a slightly silvery sheen. My nails are still "recovering" from the extreme nail filing I gave them last week, so the brush of the CG polish was a little overwhelming (read: large) for my tiny little nails. The polish got EVERYWHERE when I was applying it; I felt like a preschooler trying to paint my nails. #Oy.

So now for my actual thoughts about these Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués, after wearing them for most of a day. Yep, it only took that long to form some thoughts. They're cute, easy to apply, and I kind of like the bumpy texture on top of my nail. The end of my nail (where I'd filed off the excess sticker) was a bit rough and was catching on things a little bit, but nothing major. The real "issue" was that I took a shower later in the day and one of the stickers popped right off! I didn't even notice for another 20 minutes or so afterwards, when I looked down and noticed that the accent nail on my right hand was totally naked. So I guess you should wear these after your daily shower for best results.

What do you think of the jewel appliqué look? Will you be trying out this Revlon 3D nail art sticker line?

Find me on Facebook! ~ Holla @ me on Twitter ~

{Linking up with The Nail Files, Friday's Fab Favorites,  What I'm Loving Fridays, Friday's Five} 

Essence Effect Nails: 3D Nail Art

Whoooop it's Friday bidddddies! And that means it's nail day! It's also the start of a long weekend, which is exactly what I need right now. Did you know that it's also Labor Day weekend here in Canada? Except here it's "Labour" Day weekend. To me it actually seems more labor intensive to add a "u"... not at all in accordance with the holiday's spirit. But I digress!

Nails!

Have you ever been into a bead store and been like..... "Damn I'd really love to have these beads all over my fingernails." Well you are a) eccentric and b) in luck! They make stuff like this now!

The Shoppers Drug Mart near my apartment sells a random assortment of essence products, which are all really cheap. Because they're so inexpensive, they make for fantastic impulse buys. I can try out products without having to invest a lot of money. If the products suck (like the French tips sticker set I mentioned in this blog), then I'm only out a couple bucks. Fortunately, in this particular case, the product I bought impulsively ended up being a deece purch! Hoozah.

Effect Nails are a new line of 3D nail art products from essence. They each come in a tiny little .29 oz pot and range in texture from pearls to flakes to glitter. I picked up a colorful pearls Effect Nails that is apparently called "Candy Buffet" - though that name is nowhere on the package itself. #NiceMarketing.

These things are really easy to use, but a little bit messy. The pearls are really bouncy and roll around a lot. The instructions for these Effect Nails advise you to pour some of the pearls into the lid of the pot, and then roll your fingernail into them. However, the lip on the lid makes it pretty impossible to fit your whole fingernail into it to get even coverage, so I had to pour a small amount of the pearls onto a flat surface instead (a notepad). This is when they start rolling everywhere. #CurseYouPhysics

Application really is as simple as rolling your nail into the tiny pearls till your nail is completely coated in them. First, paint your nails 2 coats of polish. I was using a pearly Rimmel polish called Crushed Pearl. It's a beautiful formula - smooth and silky - but it's a bit sheer.  After you paint your nails, roll them into the pearls while the polish is still wet. This is what will make the pearls stick to your nails. I was suspicious about how well they'd actually stick... but they surprised me!

"Seal" the pearls onto your nails with a nice thick coat of top coat. Try not to drag too much while you're applying your top coat or you will drag some of the pearls along with it.

It's kind of hard for the camera to focus on the pearls very well since they reflect so much light, but I think you get the general idea.

These are actually staying on my nails pretty darn well. Occasionally one of them falls off, but they're so tiny that the ones that do fall off don't seem to make that big of a difference to the overall look.

Overall I'm pretty stoked on these things! I'll be going back to Shoppers Drug Mart to try to pick up some of the other Effect Nails soon!

What do you think of this 3D nail art look?

Find me on Facebook! ~ Holla @ me on Twitter ~

{Linking up with the Nail Files}