Philosophy 3-in-1 Shower Gels on Sale at Nordstrom (with free shipping, as always!)

Thanks to Musings of a Muse for this tip:

6 oz bottles of Philosophy shower gel are available at Nordstrom for $7.50 each, 2/$12, or 3/$15, in these scents:

Sugar Plum Frost
Ginger Berry Frost
Fresh Vanilla Frost
Peppermint Bark
Holiday Lights Aglow
Twinkle Berry
Brown Butter Cookie
Christmas Cookie
Snow Angel
Peace on Earth
Senorita Margarita
Vanilla Birthday Cake
Cinnamon Buns
Raspberry Sorbet
Hot Buttered Rum

Shipping is free (always! as are returns), and this is a great way to try out their shower gels if you haven't, or pick up some new ones to try (especially since, if you order 3, they're cheaper per ounce than the full sized ones!). I've only used their Vanilla Birthday Cake, since I got it for free from Sephora, and while I'm not completely cuckoo crazy for it, I do like it (and it's lasted a long time). It's running low now and I've been planning to get some new shower gels anyways, so this sale came along at the perfect time! I ordered Holiday Lights Aglow (citrus and evergreen), Peace on Earth (orchids), and Cinnamon Buns, based solely on what I thought sounded best from the descriptions, so we'll have to see if I like them as much in actuality.

Will you pick up any? Are you a fan of Philosophy shower gels?

P.S. Also this is my 200th post!  We'll say those shower gels are a gift to myself for making it this far :-)  Thank you all so much for reading and commenting; this blog would be pointless if not for you!

Coming Up on Beyond Just Beauty

I'm sorry for the relative paucity of posts recently; I've been battling a very tenacious cold for the past week, and haven't had the energy to do much besides class and sleep.  Even eating lost its appeal, and regular readers of my blog (and those who know me personally) know that me losing my appetite is a sign of the apocalypse!  I'm finally feeling better, though my voice is a pretty good approximation of Darth Vader's, but the boy is visiting until tomorrow and school is getting busier and busier, so posting will be continue to be sporadic.

I received my Sephora order (finally! Curse you, West Coast shipping time), and once we get some decent weather I'll take pictures and swatches of all those.  Besides that, I've got a lot of new polishes, and I'm hoping to do a round-up post on all my makeup brushes with tips for how to find good quality, affordable brushes, and further posts in the Winter Skincare series are also in the works.  I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry!

How have you been lately?  Have you succumbed to the first cold of the season?  Have you gotten your Sephora F&F order yet?

Wet N Wild Fast Dry Nail Polish in Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire Review and Swatches

Oh, Wet N Wild, why do you insist on such terrible puns?  This is better than Hannah Pinktana, but that's not saying much.  BWtbaM (wow, that's not a helpful abbreviation...we're just gonna call it "Blue" from now on, mk?) is basically Hannah, but blue: a sheer lightly holographic polish with itsy bitsy glitters.

Blue in sunlight

Fragrance Friday: Bond No. 9 West Side Review and Pictures

After trying Bond No. 9's Andy Warhol Lexington Ave. thanks to a friend, I was hooked.  Yes, the perfumes are obscenely expensive, and the scent-associated-with-a-New-York-neighborhood/landmark theme is a little kitschy, but after discovering that there are 0.057 oz vials of perfume on eBay for ~$6, I can discount the first issue (and I personally like the themed perfumes!).  After many hours of research and reading too many reviews (there may have been a spreadsheet or two, no judging), I decided to order West Side.

Image from Bond No. 9

Bond's description of West Side is full of fluff and sparse on content: "a melodious full-bodied coloratura perfume, with dark-light, high-low, sweet-sharp floral and woody notes".  That's great, guys, thanks for nothing.  They list the notes, though, which is more helpful; rose, ylang ylang, peony, sandalwood, amber, vanilla, and musk are all in the perfume, which I thought sounded nice for colder weather.  Users on Fragrantica and Basenotes classify it is a (floral) oriental, and give overwhelmingly positive reviews, which is another reason I chose to try this one first.  Herewith, my thoughts (and some rambling other information):

Tarte Lip Service Limited Edition LipSurgence Collection Review and Swatches

Here's the long-awaited (can you hear the sarcasm?) full post on the LE Tarte LipSurgence collection, available now at Sephora and Tarte.com.  I've been pretty much wearing these non-stop since I got them so that I could get this review up before it sells out on Sephora again, but I also wanted to be sure to give as thorough and accurate a review as possible.  I think this is a happy medium!  For arm swatches and my initial thoughts, see here.

Left to right: Glitzy, Perky, Flashy, Swank, Dazzled

Three of these are Lusters and have shimmer, and two are sparkle-free tints.  I found that, overall, the lusters felt a little gritty from the shimmer, but they also seemed to stay moist on my lips for longer than the tints, which were not gritty, but lost their slip within half an hour.  The tints leave behind a lovely stain of color when they wear off, while the lusters last an hour+ (depending on the pigmentation) but leave behind less of a stain and a sprinkling of glitter.

They all have a very slight peppermint smell/taste, which gives the tiniest bit of tingliness when applied, but it's very mild.  They supposedly increase moisture by 6000%, which is just so ridiculous I can't even say.  They are moisturizing, definitely, more so than Clinique Chubby Sticks, but I do still rely on my Jack Black after a day of wearing these.  I'd initially thought their texture was softer than Clinique's, but I think that's only true for Perky, the light pink tint, as it seems to be softer than the others (and is also looser in its casing, so it has smooshed against the side of the tube a bit); I wish I could compare them, but, alas, I lost the Clinique one.  The texture is balmy, but firm, so there's no wasted product.  Overall, I would describe them as a glossy staining tinted balm, which is a mouthful, but I really think that covers all the pieces.

Pictures and descriptions of each shade:

Recommendation Thursday: Winter Skincare, Lips Edition

For a more thorough explanation of how to keep your lips happy through winter, see the TT post here.

I'll talk about lip balm first; I have a lot of personal knowledge of balms, so most of the products recommended here have been tried and tested by me, as the notes accompanying most of them will attest. I also included a few that are very popular and well-liked but that I haven't tried myself, because I am nothing if not thorough!  A note before I continue: all of the lip balms discussed below are highly rated on MUA (minimum lippies of 4/5, minimum buy-again of 75%), so you'll notice several popular products that aren't included (many Burt's Bees items, for example).  I have given notes on those that I have tried, and some of them I really disliked, but since the general consensus is contrary to my experience, I figured it was still okay to include them in a recommendations list.  And, as always, your own suggestions are very much appreciated!

Lip Balms with SPF (because your lips can get burnt, too!)

Image from Sephora

Jack Black Lip Balm SPF 25 is HG for me (and Christine from Temptalia, who is the one who inspired me to give it a try).  It comes in several scent variations, and all except the Natural Mint are flavorless and free of any ingredients that induce tingliness and possible irritation.  My favorite is Grapefruit and Ginger, though I've yet to try the Black Tea and Blackberry (but I included it in my Sephora F&F order, whee!).  Lemon and Chamomile was too sweet-smelling for me, though I've used it nightly for close to 6 months (can't let it go to waste!), and the Lavender and Vanilla scent is actually quite masculine to my nose.  It's $7.50 for 0.25 oz, but, as mentioned above, it lasts a very long time, and it is intensely moisturizing and stays on a long time as well as leaving lips soft and healed once it wears off.  Also: there's a set of 4 out for the holidays, including Natural Mint, Lemon and Chamomile, and two new varieties, Mango and Mandarin and Shea Butter and Vitamin E, and if you buy it during F&F, it's $20 for 4 balms, or $5 apiece, which is 33% less than they are individually!  The two new scents are exclusive to the set, though I suspect they release individuals of them once the holidays are over, as that's what happened with Black Tea and Blackberry and Grapefruit and Ginger.  So if you're wanting to give it a try, the set's a great way to acquaint yourself with the brand!

Sephora Friends & Family is ON!

Go here for your personal 20% off code, good for one purchase between now and November 2!

Let me know what you haul!

NYX Girls Nail Polish in Spot Light Review and Swatches (WARNING: SO UNBELIEVABLY PIC HEAVY IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY)

This is the last thing I picked up when I was in New York and had access to NYX makeup.  It was $1.50, and it looked so awesome in the bottle that I couldn't resist getting it (didn't even really try, honestly).  It looked like a rainbow-filled glittery miasma of glory.  I'm happy to report it looks just as awesome on my nails.  Like, I'm planning on wearing it indefinitely because it's just so awesome.  Bored in class?  Just look at my nails.  Feeling stressed?  Check out how my nails sparkle!  Feeling sad?  But my polish changes colors!  Seriously, unbelievably awesome.  Possibly the best purchase I have ever made (excepting food, of course).  I wore it over Sonia Kashuk Blank Slate (which I'll be reviewing soon); the first day with just one coat of glitter, and the second day I added another.  I liked it best with 2 coats, because the level of sparkly glowage was just unbelievable, but 1 coat was plenty to see the effect, and less gaudy for those sensitive to such things.  Now then, brace yourselves for a deluge of pics (and enlarge them for a better view of the sparkle!)...

Bottle in the sunlight, out of focus to show the crazy sparklies

And even in focus you can see how shiny it is!

The only shot I managed to get of it in the sunlight, when I stuck my hand out of the window in my office during a brief window (bahaha) of sunshine

Tip Tuesday: Winter Skincare, Lips Edition

Up first in my as-yet-undeterminedly-long Winter Skincare series is How to Keep Your Lips Happy When the Temperature and Humidity Drops and They Start Wanting to Fall Off Your Face, or "Lips Edition" for short.  As it gets colder and drier (in most parts of the country, at least; here in the Pacific Northwest we get to look forward to near-constant rain, but that's neither here nor there), your skin and hair lose moisture and can get cracked, dry, itchy, scaly, and/or grouchy.  The first thing to go for me is my lips, hence why I'm discussing it first (that, and because I don't really have to do any research for it!).

You want to have a good lip balm, for starters.  This can be anything from Vaseline to ... whatever the opposite of Vaseline is (Burt's Bees, maybe?), but it should protect your lips from the elements and feel good on.  In olden times, people would use axle grease or lard to treat chapped lips; fortunately, things have gone uphill since then.  Petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) and mineral oil are common ingredients, as are shea butter, beeswax, carnauba wax, and lanolin.  Many balms have ingredients that make lips tingly, which can definitely be fun, but those things actually irritate your lips further and leave you in worse shape than you started (generally speaking, at least; if the base is moisturizing enough, that effect is mitigated).  Menthol, which is used in Carmex and Blistex, among others, is a common culprit, along with camphor, clove oil, phenol, mint, and salicylic acid.  Ideally, you want to heal your lips, not just make them feel cool (pun intended), and especially in the wintertime, when they're prone to chapping anyways, finding a solid balm without tingly additives is key.

Lip balm with SPF is also recommended, especially if you live anywhere with snow and/or sun (though even those of us in dreary rainy states should wear SPF, too!), because your lips can get sunburned, too, and nobody thinks to put sunscreen on them (and, if they do, they soon realize that it feels disgusting).  Some people are sensitive to SPF ingredients, though, especially in higher concentrations, so be aware of that when trying balms out.  You can also use a different balm at night than you use during the day; I don't like carrying around a tube of Aquaphor with me, but it's extremely moisturizing and works great as an overnight treatment.

To help keep your lips from getting dry and scaly, you can make a homemade scrub from sugar, salt, honey, and/or various kinds of oil.  Mix a little in the palm of your hand and rub gently over your lips to exfoliate, then rinse it off and apply a nice rich lip balm immediately after.  Alternatively, you can brush over your lips with a soft-headed toothbrush in a gently circling motion for gentle exfoliation.

If you wear lipstick, try and stick to the more moisturizing varieties.  Many matte lipsticks can be drying, and put that with already-dry lips and you've got a recipe for flaky disaster.  A tinted balm works nicely, or layering lipstick over lip balm (this can cut down on wear time, but that's a small price to pay!).

What are your tips for keeping your lips in tip-top shape through winter?

Tarte Lip Service Limited Edition LipSurgence Collection Sneak Peek

ETA: For a full review write-up and lip swatches, see here!

Last week, I ordered the LE Tarte LipSurgence collection from tarte.com with a 20% off code (create an account, put stuff in your cart, and then leave it there for a few days, and they'll send you a code! Thank you, Retail Me Not) because it was sold out at Sephora and I didn't want to miss out on it.  It's back in stock, fortunately, so my review won't have to be a "what you can't have" type thing, but if you want it, I would snag it soon, since I'm sure with the start of Sephora's F&F sale (it begins this Thursday and runs through November 2nd, but order early if you want to ensure you get everything you want!) it'll go pretty fast.  Normally, a LipSurgence pencil is $24 for 0.10 oz, but you get 5 full-size pencils/lip sticks for $29 in this set.  And with 20% off, that's a mere $23.20, less than one regular pencil!  So, seriously, I couldn't afford not to get it.

It only just arrived today, and I immediately took some pictures and swatches so I could post them for your enjoyment, since I don't know exactly how long it'll take me to test and review them fully and wanted you to have some idea what the deal is if you're planning on buying it soon.  Anyways!  Here they are; I'll post a more thorough review with lip swatches and product break-down once I've had the chance to play around with them some.

In their pretty box, left to right: Glitzy, Perky, Flashy, Swank, Dazzled

1 swipe each, top to bottom: Swank, Perky, Dazzled, Flashy, Glitzy