Manicure Monday

Wow, 5 posts in 5 days. Don't get used to it, folks––you know it won't last ;) Today, I have a couple of polishes I received from Z for my birthday, as well as another Turkey polish and an OPI.

Butter London The Black Knight
I have wanted this polish since it came out a couple years ago, and Z generously bought it (as well as the Nails Inc, below) for me for my birthday! It was waiting for me when I got home, though my mother had stuck it in her room so I didn't know where it was for the first couple weeks after getting home. Fortunately, it was found and worn and I LOVE IT.

It's a black base with varying sizes of pink/red, yellow, and blue glitter. They dance and shine under the light, and it's so, so beautiful. I found it to be a solid 2 coater, though perhaps if you used thicker coats it could be done in 1. It's very top-coat hungry; I did 3 coats the day I painted my nails, and then another the next day, which made it almost completely smooth. The wear is phenomenal; it lasted a full 4 days on my nails with no tipwear or chipping, and I actually wore it twice in a row since it went well with the dress I wore to the wedding. I am seriously impressed, and now I begrudgingly want to try more Butter London (begrudging because they're expensive, and the British names are stupid for a company based in Seattle). It has taken up residence on the shelf reserved for true love polishes.

I Cut

My hair!

wet here

Skincare Saturday: Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve Shampoo Bar Selection Reviews

In preparation for my month abroad, I decided I needed some shampoo bars. I didn't want to pay Lush prices, especially since their bars contain SLS, and a quick Google search led me to Chagrin Valley, purveyors of shampoo and soap bars, among many other bath and body products. I ordered a few generously-sized samples, decided on the shampoo bar I wanted to bring with me, and then evidently never hit the order button, leading to a frantic search for shampoo bars in Eugene. Fortunately, it's a hippie town, so I was able to find one without issue (Camanu Rosemary Nettle, if you're curious), but I really liked the Chagrin Valley stuff in general and thought I should review it! Starting with the shampoo bars today and the soaps I've tried next week.

Solid shampoo is a great choice when traveling, as it's not subject to the TSA's ridiculous 3 oz limit on liquids. It's also nice for hair that doesn't fare well with traditional shampoo ingredients like SLS (sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate) and coco betaine. I have fine, curly hair that I dye, so I try to steer clear of ingredients that strip my hair––there are a number of liquid shampoos/cleansing conditioners that I find work well for me (I can talk about those later if anyone's interested?), but I like shampoo bars for their ease of transport.

One thing to note about solid shampoos, and SLS-free shampoos in general, is that it takes some time for your hair to adjust to them. I started with As I Am Coconut Cleansing Conditioner, a cream from Sally Beauty, which was a nice in-between step, so my shift to shampoo bars was pretty painless, but if you're going straight from traditional shampoos to natural shampoo bars, it could take a couple of weeks before your hair stops being grouchy.

As with normal shampoo, you have to concentrate it at the roots of your hair; I like to rub it around my hairline (face and neck) and up the top of my head, then thoroughly massage it over my scalp, gently spreading it down to the ends of my hair, then thoroughly rinsing. It takes 2-3 minutes for the whole process, as I try to make really sure I've gotten it all out, and if you live in a place with very hard water, shampoo bars might not be the right thing for you, as such water can be ineffective at rinsing it out, leading to limp, coated hair (gross). I luckily live in an area with very soft water (PNW ftw!), but you can check yours here; see also Ida's (Chagrin Valley's founder) discussion and suggestions here. Even in areas with soft water, she suggests doing a baking soda/ACV rinse every month or so, but I'm too lazy for that; instead, I just use a shampoo with SLS every few weeks to get rid of any and all buildup.

Good lord, that's a lot of background. Now, to the reviews!

Fragrance Friday

I got some Solstice Scents samples last week, so they're what I'll be talking about today!

Coquina (Summer Collection; sandalwood, orange blossom, clementine EO, beach sand, plumeria absolute, coconut, ginger EO, sea spray): I brought this with me to LA, and found it fit in perfectly with the palm trees and sun and bleached sand. The orange blossom is pervasive throughout, but fortunately doesn't pull soapy on me as so many do, and the sandalwood-sea spray accord gives it a very driftwood feel, which is softened by the plumeria and coconut, which make it very tropical. Altogether, Coquina is light, happy, sunny, and sandy, but thankfully never trite. I'm by no means a California girl––all the sun and people gives me hives––but Coquina lets me pretend I am, at least for a few hours.

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited BG 935 Review and Swatches

Sorry for my most recent absence! I went down to LA for a wedding of a friend of the boy's, which was lots of fun but didn't leave much time for blogging (or work, but shhhh, don't tell). I'm back at home again, though, and hopefully will be staying put for awhile! Which means more posts for you! Hooray!

So, I know the lipstick marks on the inside of the cap
are gross, but I figure it's good to show you what it
actually looks like after being used! (That, and I'm
too lazy to clean it. You're welcome.)

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?!

Manicure Monday

Finally, nail polish! On my fingers! Aaaah. It's nice to be back.

First up, Zoya Godiva, purchased when they had free shipping and waiting for me when I got home. Yippee! Unlike Miranda, I preferred Godiva without top coat. I actually liked it best at one coat, when it was sparkly and not too nude, but I didn't photograph it then. You'll just have to wait until I wear it again! It was quite opaque; I used 2 coats, and it's a bit too nude for my taste, but the silver sparkle helps. Very, very sparkly. It's fun!

Without and with top coat, respectively.

Fragrance Friday

I haven't gotten any new perfumes in awhile (though I have some new Solstice Scents headed my way!), so I figured I would talk about non-perfume fragrance today. Namely, a candle. Namely namely, this candle:

via Candle Delirium

I have a thing for fig candles, you see. I'm not crazy about it as perfume (Diptyque Philosykos continues to not make sense on my skin, every few months when I decide to try it again), but as a home scent? Hells yes. I love the creamy fruitiness of it, and how that's offset by a woodsy base and complemented by subtle leafiness. I got a mini Pacifica Mediterranean Fig candle a few months ago, which was great, but the throw was pretty mild, so as a pre-finals preemptive stress reliever, I ordered the Voluspa Maison Rouge Figue de Bordeaux, one of two fig scents they make (the other is in the Maison Noir line), from Nordstrom. It's a two-wick candle that burns approx 50 hours, though I have long since lost track of how long I've burned it so I can't actually attest to whether that's true. The packaging is gorgeous, but my favorite part is, of course, the scent: it's a creamy fig with a bit of coconut, lighter on the green than others I've smelled, and it scents the whole house when I burn it (and our house is not small, which helps explain why 3 generations can live in it without killing each other). Basically, I'm enamored with it, and I have a big long list of Voluspas I want to try, including Black Figue & Chypre, and a couple ambery ones, and some white florals, and...yeah.
$16 for 11 oz, available from Nordstrom and Candle Delirium (the latter of which also has 3 oz votives for $9 that burn 25 hours, but I don't think the throw would be as nice on those; larger sizes are available from both retailers as well)

Have you tried any Voluspa candles? How do you feel about fig scents?

LUSH Vanilla Puff Powder Review

I purchased this in New York after reading a post on The Non-Blonde about how she likes to use powders in the summer to keep herself fresh as a daisy. Knowing I was going to a hot and humid land (though not nearly as humid as NYC, contrary to what anyone might tell you), I decided to pick up a jar of LUSH Vanilla Puff Powder and give it a try.

via LUSH

Merhaba!

Hi! Remember me? I used to post on here about beauty things. It's okay if you don't; it's been a long time. I was traveling through Turkey, and Berlin (which is nearly part of Turkey, given the large number of Turks who live there), and then Turkey again for the past month. I got home a couple days ago, but between jet lag and needing to do other things, I haven't had the chance to do anything for y'all. Until now!

I bought a lot of stuff when I was abroad. You'll be surprised to learn it's mostly lippies and nail polish (/sarcasm). I'll have full reviews of everything eventually, but I also have a huge backlog of stuff I got before my trip, so...it may take awhile! Here's what you have to look forward to; if there's anything you're particularly interested in, let me know in the comments and I'll prioritize it!

Left to right, top row:
LUSH Vanilla Puff Dusting Powder
Nails Inc. Baker Street*
A butt ton of nail polishes, which I will name/review in Manicure Mondays to come (yeah, weekly features are making a comeback, y'all!)

Left to right, bottom row:
Benefit Watt's Up? Mini**
Golden Rose Perfect Shine Lipstick 239

Catrice Defining Blush 040 Think Pink

p2 Perfect Look Kajal 090 Turquoise

BeYu Care and Shine Gloss Stick 80

Manhattan Colour Splash Liquid Lip Tint in 94R Red Tulip

Catrice Ultimate Colour lipstick 210 Pinkadilly Circus

ARTDECO Perfect Color 82
La Roche-Posay Anthelios 50 Fluid

*Birthday gift from Z
**Birthday gift from Sephora