Beauty Blogger VoxBox Part 1

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! I am terribly behind on posting about my Beauty Blogger VoxBox from Influenster. I received some awesome products in it. None nail polish related this time. 

There are two other products aside from these, that I will talk about a little bit later in the week. As you can see, it is an interesting combination of goodies to try.

First up is the NYC (New York Color) IndividualEyes Custom Compact. This particular one is Dark Shadows, meant for every eye color. They offer compacts for specific eye colors as well. It comes with two crease/contour shades, all over lid shade, highlighter shade, illuminator and primer.

I used all six parts to create a subtle smokey eye. I have never done a smokey eye. And I shy away from bold or dark colors for my eyes. So I'm positive that someone more comfortable with a smokey eye would do a dramatic classic job. I love my subtle one though!

The back of the compact provides a picture of where to use each shade. If you lift up the flap, it gives detailed instructions. As I said, I used all six for my eyes. Each is pigmented and contains just the right amount of shimmer. The primer did not work for me. I finally took the plunge into eyeshadow primer a few months ago. I will never go back. All of my shadows would melt into the crease. With primer, my shadow stays put all day. This primer, however, did not do its job. The shadow melted into my crease. Everyone's skin is different (mine being combination leaning more toward oily), so the primer might work well for someone else. In fact, I have seen reviews were the blogger raved about the primer.

The illuminator is amazing! The packaging says it will "transform any dark shadow into a brand new color & to add dramatic highlight to the upper brow bone." It really does. I can see using it with all different shades of shadow.

My overall opinion: I love it! If you are not good with combining colors or simply want everything all in one convenient place, it is a good product. And has a great price at only $4.99. Check out their website for locations.

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream. The first thing I noticed was the smell. A light coconut scent which smells amazing. The texture and consistency is nice. Not too thick, not too thin. You apply it through damp towel dried hair. It distributed evenly. I let my hair air dry, but you can blow dry with this product. I used to have horribly frizzy hair which has calmed over the years. On a typical day, my hair is not that frizzy. I hoped this product would smooth out the remaining frizz. It did not.

So overall, I'm on the fence about this product. The smell, texture, and consistency are great. It did not weigh down my hair at all. But I did not see a difference in frizz. Perhaps if I had a major problem with frizz it would have made a difference. Plus Smooth Moves is meant more for straight hair. My hair is wavy/curly for which their product Kinky Moves is meant for. Each retails at $6 for 4fl oz. Check out their website for locations.

Bath & Body Works Mini Candle in Pumpkin Cupcake. This candle smells amazing! The scent is just the right strength. It lasts a long time as well. Several hours even being a mini. I have a wide variety of products from B&BW, but no candles until now. The scents are lovely, I just never get a chance to burn candles often.

Overall, I'm in love with this candle. I will definitely invest in a large candle soon. The prices vary depending on size. Mini Candle $3.50; Small Candle $9.50; Medium Candle $12.50; 3-Wick Candle $19.50. They are a tad pricey, but B&BW always has sales. These can be purchased in store or online.

My final product of the day is EBOOST Natural Energy Booster in Orange. Please excuse the picture and condition of packet. It was torn during shipment and the crumbled state made photography difficult. I tried this powder one Friday morning when I had to get up at 4am and go to work. I usually have an energy drink. I was out, so I decided to give this natural energy boost a try. It was easy to make, just pour the powder into eight ounces of water. It has a bit of refreshing fizz. It worked just as well as an energy drink does. Even better, its all natural and contains no sugar. The flavor is good too.

Overall, I definitely recommend these if you want a boost of energy and do not want to turn to energy drinks or shots. The prices vary depending on the size of the product and they come in a variety of flavors. A 20 pack of Orange Natural Energy Booster retails for $28. Sounds a bit pricey, but it breaks down to $1.40 per pack, less than the cost of a typical energy drink or shot. They can be purchased online or in store (their website has a store list).

Essence Modern Romance

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! I do not feel well enough to attempt any nail art or you would be seeing poppies today for Veterans Day. I deeply appreciate each and every individual who has fought for our country. My grandpa served in World War II. He died in 2005.

Essence Modern Romance is a very light peachy pink shimmer. The formula is a bit streaky, but does even itself out. It is opaque in two coats. This particular polish is from the old Colour & Go line, not to be confused with the new line that has a polish of the same name, but not the same color.

Tip Top Swatches & Review

I hope you are enjoying your Saturday! Today I have several polishes to show you. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Joan Kahn (Director of Tip Top Nails CC and Founder of Tip Top Products) after she saw my Facebook page. She offered to let me try Tip Top polishes. Honestly, I had not heard of the brand before. But after seeing the Facebook page and website, I knew I definitely had to try them.

Tip Top was founded in 1981 in South Africa. The products were originally exclusively for professional nail technicians and is now available to everyone. All the polishes are vegan, containing no formaldehyde, toluene, DBP (dibuthyl phthalate) or camphor. So they are Big 4 Free, in addition to being cruelty free (no animal testing).

I received five polishes from the NailChic line, two crackles (not pictured above), base coat, and a top coat to try. My immediate reaction upon opening the box and unwrapping these bottles was how gorgeous they look. Believe it or not, they look even better on the nail.

For all of my swatches, I used the Toughen Up Maxi Growth Base Coat and Top Coat (for dry, brittle, and damaged nails). The base coat goes on very smooth, as does the top coat. I will let you all know later if they increase growth. All of the polishes come in a 10mL/0.33 fl oz bottle and contain vitamin E for extra moisturization.

Meringue Surprise is a light pink creme, a tad dustier than most pale pink polishes. The application is smooth and opaque in two coats. Its a gorgeous neutral shade and honestly different than the other pale pinks I own because of the slight dustiness. 

Rough Melon is a dusty melon orange frost like shimmer. The name fits this polish perfectly. It leans toward being a frost, but with minimal visible stroke lines. The application is good and opaque in one coat, though I used two for good measure. Its a beautiful color though I'm still on the fence about whether or not its a good color for me.

Decked Out is a bright red toned orange jelly filled with gold shimmer. Its a bit sheer with slight visible nail line after three coats. The VNL is not nearly as noticeable as it seems in the first picture, much more subtle like the second. I had a hard time capturing just how much shimmer this polish has. Its simply gorgeous. The application is a dream.

Chocolate Truffle is a deep red toned brown jelly. The application is smooth and glides on like a dream, opaque in two coats. I honestly thought this was a simple brown creme when I saw the bottle. I was blown away to see how amazing it looks on the nail. Its absolutely gorgeous! Smooth and glossy even before top coat.

Jeepers Creepers is a darkened teal with green and blue flecks. The application is perfection and opaque in two coats. I love the shimmer in this one. Very aquatic. Its stands apart from the other darkened teals I own.

White Confetti is a white crackle creme. A basic crackle color. However, the application and crackle effect are much better than the most of the whites I have tried. Gold is a gold shimmer crackle. I expected it to be sheer, since shimmer crackles tend to be sheer. It went beyond my expectations and applied opaque with a gorgeous shimmer.

The application on all of these polishes is perfect, with the exception of Rough Melon. It was not bad, just not up to par with the rest. Let's not forget the brush. The brushes on these was very easy to work with. Flat, flexible, and just the right width.

After trying all of these polishes, I have to say I am very impressed with the brand. Honestly. If I have a bad experience, I let others know because I hate for people to buy something when its not worth purchasing.

Make sure you check out Tip Top's Facebook page. They hold nail art contests on a regular basis.

Disclosure: The product in this post were provided to me for consideration. All opinions are mine and honest.

L.A. Colors Sassy Sparkle Glitter Tips

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! I meant to post this manicure earlier, right after Color Club Nouveau Vintage.

I was not ready to remove the lovely Nouveau Vintage, so I added glitter to the tips. Usually glitter covers up tip wear, but not this time. L.A. Colors Sassy Sparkle is a clear jelly base filled with small holo glitter.

No H8: Eradicate Hate in the Nail Polish Blogger Community

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday! My post today is about important. Bullying. I am so unbelievably happy to see so many blogger participating in the movement today. This post is not just about bullying in our little nail polish polish community; its about all bullying. Its wrong. Imagine how much better the world would be if people would be kind to one another.

I've been lucky and have not had any bullying result from my blog, aside a stray Pinterest comment. However, I grew up being bullied. It still happens. So raising awareness about bullying and showing support is something I care greatly about.

So today, in support of eradicating bullying, I have a purple manicure to share.

For my manicure, I chose Sally Hansen Lustrous and Essence It's Purplicious. I used one coat of the former then two coats of the glitter.

"Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay.

Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.

As members of the nail polish blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog.

In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community."