Influenster Jolly VoxBox Review and Swatches

I signed up for Influenster in August and proceeded to not log-in again for another, um, 3 months. Somehow, they still thought I was a good candidate for the Jolly VoxBox (I'm great at filling out questionnaires!), so I gleefully received these goodies (for free, but all opinions are my own! Which you could probably figure out on your own after reading my comments, as they are not all favorable...):

Puffs Plus Lotion tissue 10-pack* 

(though the card in my box says I should have received 

the lotion-free kind, I'm not complaining)

These tissues are a welcome addition to my purse, now that we are solidly in winter cold season. They're soft, smell vaguely medicinal, and are very very lightly moisturizing, enough to keep my nose from getting chapped from nose-blowing. I can't say I would purchase them myself, because I am extremely cheap when it comes to some things (like tissues, for example) and would never opt for brand name when store brands are the same thing, but I'm certainly happy to have these!

MAC Lipsticks, Part 1

I heard about The Body Needs from Life's Entropy; it's a website that has handmade cosmetics, as well as samples of pretty much every MAC lipstick and pigment, glitter, and paint pot. After trying Plumful and falling in love, I added TBN to my email list to wait for a sale, and within a few months, there was 30% off everything, so I pounced and picked up 9 that looked promising, in a variety of formulas. I've been playing around with them the past few weeks (my other lippies are feeling somewhat unloved, ha!) and will share my thoughts, split up over a couple of posts. Today, I'll show you the bright warms; next time, I'll show you the pinks and reds, and the final post will cover purchase information.

Left to right, one swipe each: Crosswires, Ultra Darling, Catrice Pinkadilly

Circus, Speak Louder, Impassioned 

Catrice Ultimate Colour lipstick 210 Pinkadilly Circus

I picked this up in Berlin, as it was a pretty color and comfortable price (€3,49, I think? Definitely less than €4,00), and I figured even if it didn't end up working out, I could still get a post out of it. Happily, it's been a raging success!

Yes, I used it before I photographed it. You didn't expect

me to wait 2 weeks to get home before wearing it, right?!

Quick Review: Korres Quince Lip Butter

I've been wanting to try Korres' lip butters for years, but never got around to it. Until I was in Sephora, and they had 4 shades to try, and I had 15% off, and I figured why not. I debated between the deep red Wild Rose and the lighter, warmer pink Quince, and obviously decided on the latter. I figured I had enough reds already, and I wanted something "natural" but pretty.

It gets smudgy after you've used it for a bit. Sorry.

Burberry Mallow Pink Lip Glow Review and Swatches

Happy Easter! Here's a real, actual, beauty-related post.

I wanted it, and I got it! Hurray! This was my lone purchase at the Burberry counter at the Bellevue Nordstrom with Larie, as the hordes of people proved to be way too overwhelming for my frail psyche. Also, I didn't want to pay 10% sales tax on anything else! Because I am from Oregon, where we do not pump our own gas or pay sales tax. BUT I DIGRESS. Is it everything I hoped it would be?

Burberry Mallow Pink Lip Glow

Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Strawberry Review and Swatches

Hey, y'all! Today's the last day to enter the giveaway, if you haven't already! Also, you may have noticed I changed the look of the blog. It was done as a procrastinatory measure, but also because it's approaching summer now and I felt like a change (summer 'round these parts is GREEN, hence the color scheme). Let me know what you think/if there's anything you'd like to see different!

For anyone who's not read the blog before: I tend to hate lip gloss. It's sticky and messy and glops up all weirdly (though see Fraise Crème and pH Matchmaker for success stories). And yet, sometimes the hype is enough for me to be willing to try one, and when you combine that with a 40% off sale, you get the perfect gloss storm. Sometimes, though, the risk pays off, and such is the case with Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Strawberry (though let me just say, no natural strawberry has ever been this color––not that it's a bad thing, just a slightly misleading name!).

Prettyyyyy

Guerlain Rouge Automatique Lipstick in Chamade Review and Swatches

I've wanted to try the Rouge Automatique line since Temptalia reviewed Champs-Elysees and showed that it lasted through an Italian meal and said it was moisturizing to boot. Guerlain's Rouge G line of lipsticks is widely regarded as one of the best lipstick formulas there is (and is Temptalia's favorite), and Rouge Automatique is apparently nearly as good for $11 less. Unfortunately, that still means it's $35, so I knew I needed a good excuse to buy one. Guet-Apens was my long-time lemming, but I ended up deciding on Chamade since I figured I didn't have anything else like it, whereas I do have other darker lippies. Temptalia's review, which said Guet-Apens was lacking in the formula department, just confirmed my choice.

Guerlain Chamade Rouge Automatique

Wet N Wild Wild Shine Nail Polish in Blazed Review and Swatches

The remainder of this week is unintentionally nail week; it's midterms season (=no time for blogging) and I just happened to have a lot of nail polish swatches and reviews ready to post. Not to worry, though, BJB is not going to turn into a nail blog––I'm lacking in the dedication and skill to do that many swatches! I've got a lot of fun stuff coming up for you soon (like Fyrinnae, Too Faced, NYX, and a couple giveaways!), so if you're not the nail type, take heart, regularly scheduled programming will be returning soon. Now, excuse my while I go meld with my syntax midterm...damn take-home's eating up all my time!

I picked this up during a 40% off WNW sale at Rite Aid because I was hoping it would work for a jelly sandwich (google it, they're awesome), but it turns out I don't have any glitters that are quite right for sandwiching, and this is just a little too opaque to work with the ones I do have. It's still a beautiful color, though, and definitely worth the 60¢ I paid!

Wet N Wild Blazed

Wet N Wild Fast Dry Polish in Waves of Enchantment (from the Mermaid's Cove Collection) Review and Swatches

I'd seen swatches of this polish at the beginning of the summer, but didn't see the limited edition collection anywhere in my area, so figured I would have to live without it.  When I was in DC, I happened to look at a completely non-makeup-related shelf in CVS, and was simply overjoyed to see a few bottles of various polishes from the Mermaid's Cove collection.  I ended up only buying one, Waves of Enchantment, because I knew I would have to fit anything I bought in my quart-size bag, and it was the only one that really caught my eye.

Waves of Enchantment; you can see the base color better in the left picture, but the right shows the gold shimmer and resulting peachiness better