December Empties & Mini Reviews

Another month, another set of empties! I hope you all are enjoying this addition to Nailed, because I'm having a lot of fun keeping track of my empties. I started blogging about them in an attempt to motivate me to finish more of the products in my ridiculously huge stash and I feel like it's really working. I've already surprised myself with how much I've been able to get through! Here's what I finished up this past month!

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser: This is desert island, HG, must-have... Whatever you want to call it, I just NEED this fantastic makeup remover in my life no matter what! You can read my full review HERE for more details on Purity's awesomeness.

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara: I've really come around on this. At first I thought it was kinda clumpy but I got the hang of it after a while and quickly became obsessed with the volume this mascara gives! I feel like the formula performs better after it dries up a teensy bit in the tube. It's a little too "wet" before that and would gum up my lashes. This mini came with my Stardust Palette and I found it completely dried out waaaayyy quicker than my full-sized tube did. I would definitely re-purchase a full-sized one again.

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara: Delivers everything it promises: length, lift and definition--even with my straight, stubby lashes. It is strictly a lengthening mascara though, so you'll need to layer a more volumizing mascara over top if you want more dramatic lashes. Makes a fantastic partner for Better Than Sex.

Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus: It's hard to draw too many conclusions from a sample size, but overall I enjoyed my trial run with this serum. It's got a nice, smooth texture that makes my skin feel soft and supple, plus I love that it can be used for both face and eyes.

Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream: This moisturizer is rich without feeling greasy or heavy. Lack of volume isn't really a concern of mine (I have a super round face) so I can't comment on it it really lifted or plumped my skin, but I did enjoy the feel of it. A good choice for the winter months. I've used several other Algenist products (I got this one as a gift with purchase) and have liked them quite a bit, especially the Complete Eye Renewal Balm.

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in Light 44: This stuff will cover anything! I've repurchased it several times because I love the full, flawless coverage it gives and how long it wears. I had a little trouble with the texture when I first used it, because it is quite thick and it dries fast, but applying with a Beauty Blender made a huge difference and helped me fall completely in love with this foundation. I don't recommend it for dry skin, as it's extremely matte, but if you have oily skin and want/need serious coverage, give this a try! I always get a lot of compliments on my skin when I wear it, which makes this acne-prone girl feel good!

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NW15: Another favorite foundation. I wish it had slightly more coverage (just my preference), but I adore the longevity and smooth finish of the formula. I'd describe it as a medium-buildable foundation, so you can layer it to full coverage if desired. 

IT Cosmetics Brow Power: I used this pencil exclusively until I discovered the magic of Anastasia Brow Wiz. It's still a fantastic product, but I've come to prefer the skinny tip and more precise application of Brow Wiz to the wider, oval-shaped stick of Brow Power. This is a great pencil for filling brows--it'll even fill in and stick to areas where you have hair--but the wider tip makes it a little trickier to shape your brows. I'm a big fan of the IT line in general and find most of their products to be excellent quality and this one is no exception; I just found something I like better for me.

Jack Black Lip Balm in Natural Mint: No, this line has no relation to the actor. They do make a fantastic lip balm though! This is one of the very few I've tried where I feel like my lips are being nourished and hydrated, not just covered in gel that will leave my lips feeling parched again in a few hours. The mint gives it a very cooling, soothing feel on the lips too.

Redken All Soft Heavy Cream: A great conditioning treatment for dry, brittle hair. I like to do a mask of this and Redken Extreme mixed together to help keep my hair healthy after bleaching it.

Elizabeth and Janes Nirvana Black Dry Shampoo: I knew I'd love the scent of this, because Nirvana Black is one of my very favorite perfumes, but I didn't expect it to be such an amazing dry shampoo too! Really de-gunks and de-greases. Why don't more fragrance brands make dry shampoos? It's a pretty clever idea. The scent is a woodsy mix of sandalwood and vanilla--very sensual yet cozy too. 

Bath & Body Works PocketBac in Heirloom Pear: I always have one of these clipped on my purse. This one smells like pears... Yep. That's pretty much it.

So there you have it: December is in the books! I'm off to a pretty slow start with January empties so far, so I don't think I'll finish quite as many products as I did this past month.

What was your favorite product you recently finished? I'm always looking for new recommendations, so feel free to let me know in the comments section! :)

September Empties & Mini-Reviews

I thought it would be fun to start sharing my thoughts on each month's used up products with you guys! I'm a huge makeup and skin junkie in addition to my polish addiction (I'm just a beauty freak in genral, really) and while I hardly ever finish a bottle of polish, I go through other products on a fairly regular basis. Plus I figured doing this type of post would help motivate me to work through more of my massive beauty stash.

This is one of those months where a ton of things ran out at once--11 in all! Most of it's skincare, but there's some makeup too. Read on to see my thoughts on each product...

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye in Light: This is THE best under eye concealer! It's super pigmented and wears all day. You need the absolute smallest amount you can squeeze out of the tube, since a little bit goes a loooooonnngggg way. This little tube lasted me over a year! I've already got another one ready and waiting.

MAC Prolongwear Foundation in NW20: Another all-time favorite product. I love the wear time on this and the coverage is great too. I'd classify it as medium buildable. It feels very lightweight on and doesn't cake or crack. If you have oily skin, definitely check this out!

Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitizer in I Love Cinnamon Buns: It's true, I do! I always keep one of these little guys clipped on my purse. Great for when you're on the go.

Urban Decay Big Fatty Mascara: I like the volume this gives, but it is super hard to get off. My go-to makeup remover, Philosophy Purity, can remove ANYTHING (ever notoriously tough mascaras like Benefit They're Real) but it can't get Big Fatty off without giving me some serious raccoon eyes. I believe UD has recently discontinued Big Fatty now that Perversion Mascara is out.

Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle Turbo: I'm currently using a prescription retinoid on my face for post-acne marks, but I was having a bad reaction to it only on my forehead for some reason, where it'd get really red and flaky. I don't have any acne marks on my forehead, but I wanted to use the retinoid in that area to help with brow "11's" that were starting to show up. Unwrinkle was a great alternative--no irritation (peptides and hyaluronic acid are the main active component rather than retinoid) and I did see a decrease in the width and depth of the 11 lines. This little guy lasted a surprisingly long time, too! The big bottle is pretty expensive, so I won't be investing, but I liked this and am glad I tried a mini of it.

Bare Minerals Well-Cared For Brush Conditioning Shampoo: My go-to makeup brush cleaner. I use a Sonia Kashuk brush spray when I need to be quick, then use this shampoo for deep cleaning. It works great with both synthetic and natural bristle brushes. It's also got conditioner built right in, so it leaves your brushes smooth and soft afterwards.

Lush Dream Cream Hand and Body Lotion: I got this as part of a set. Dream Cream is designed for sore and sensitive skin. It has calming ingredients like oatmeal, lavender and rose water. I have KP on my upper arms and this felt nice and soothing on that, but overall there are other Lush lotions I like better...

Lush Sympathy For The Skin Hand and Body Lotion: For instance, this lotion! It smells super scrumptious! The dominant notes are vanilla and banana, but like a real banana, not a fake banana Runts-type smell. The texture is rich without feeling greasy. The only thing I didn't like is that, as you can see, the lettering on the packaging kinda disintegrated over time, so it would come off on my hands whenever I used it.

Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant: This is like a reset button for your skin. When I have days where my makeup isn't setting quite right or my skin looks tired, I know it's time to bust out this stuff! It's pretty intense, so I use it sparingly and only massage it very, very lightly against the skin. If you were to rub it in like your normal face scrub, you'd probably take a layer of your face off.

Lush Cupcake Fresh Face Mask: Probably my all-around favorite Lush mask, although I haven't tried the newest ones. It smells like chocolate and gets all the gunk out of my face--what's not to love? I've bought this a couple times now. You can read my full review HERE.

Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Base Coat (not pictured): I've gone through several bottles of Gel Lab and I'm still crazy in love with it. I'm curious to try the re-formulated version, Gel Lab Pro, as I've only used the original. If you want to learn more about Gel Lab, I did a full review on it HERE.

Hope you guys enjoyed my first attempt at an empties post! Is this something you'd like to see more of? What products did you finish this past month?

Twinsie Tuesday: MAC Fluid

This week's Twinsie Tuesday theme is "something borrowed." I'd been meaning to ask one of my friends if I could borrow a polish from her for this challenge, but when I saw her last week, it completely slipped my mind and now here we are. Eeeep!

So the polish I chose technically isn't borrowed, but it did used to belong to someone else, so that kinda counts...yes? Not really, but humor me. A while back, a girl at work brought in a bag of polishes she didn't use anymore, with a note saying that anyone who wanted something from the bag was free to take it. MAC Fluid caught my eye, so it came home with me that day!

Fluid is a rose-tinted shade of bronze. I searched online and found next to nothing about this polish, so unfortunately I have no idea when it was originally released. The more I look at Fluid, the more I think it's actually a little grandma-y (gotta be careful with those roses and mauves), but it does have a very pretty glow to it!

I only have one MAC polish (the ridiculously beautiful Bad Fairy) in my collection because in general, I'm not all that impressed with their polishes. I think that given that the bottles are pretty small and the colors usually aren't the most original, they're overpriced. I do have to say though that Fluid applied beautifully. It's a little brushstroke-y but otherwise it's got a top-notch formula. I used two coats here.

Be sure to check out what my fellow Twinsies are up to this week! And I'd be curious to hear your take on Fluid in the comments section: granny color or no?

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Traci at DrinkCitra

Maybelline Coral Burst Blush: Review & Swatches

As part of their new limited edition Color Goes Electric Collection, Maybelline released something we hardly ever see at the drugstore level: orange blush! I don't think I've ever tried a Maybelline blush before (maybe at some point in high school), but I am a fiend for orange make-up, so Coral Burst blush came home with me! I got it for about six bucks at Walgreens.

Coral Burst looks very bright in the pan, so I was a little wary it might turn out to apply sheer. But I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality of this blush!

The texture is very smooth and blendable. The blush is also quite pigmented, but you can easily diffuse that intense color to give a softer look. Coral Burst has a satin finish, so there is some soft shimmer, but not outright sparkle.

Left: Unblended. Right: Blended.

I'm very impressed with both the blendability and the color pay-off.  It's an absolutely stunning color and I think it will be perfect for the warmer weather we (hopefully) have coming up.

I himmed and hawed over buying Coral Burst for at least a week, because I thought it would be too similar to another orange blush I own, MAC Modern Mandarin. But after failing to find a comparison between the two online, I finally just bit the bullet and thankfully, they are not dupes! I've included a comparison shot here in case it helps anyone else with their purchasing decision. They photographed pretty similar, but the difference is much more distinct in real life. Modern Mandarin is lighter, less intense and less red than Coral Burst. Unless you really love orange blush though (like me), then you still probably don't need both.

  Left: Modern Mandarin. Right: Coral Burst.

MAC Bad Fairy

Have you ever had a lemming for so long that you A) can't remember when you first started wanting it and B) pretty much give up all hope of ever owning it without paying an arm and leg for it? Well, that was the story of me and MAC Bad Fairy. Luckily I had a polish angel, my friend Sam, who cut me a great deal since she was looking for a new home for her bottle! Thank you, Sam!!

If you, unlike me, have not stared lustily at swatches of Bad Fairy before, then allow me to introduce you: Bad Fairy is a shimmering metallic red with gold duochrome. It originally came out as part of MAC's Disney Villians Collection but nowadays, more or less the only place you can find this legendarily HTF polish is to throw yourselves to the wolves and pay a jacked up price for it on Ebay. I own a ton of MAC make-up but this is actually my first MAC polish ever! Not bad for a first try, am I right? ;)

The gold duochrome is soooo gorgeous! I love how prominent it is and I could watch it flash and change in the light all day. I used three coats for this mani and had no problems with application. Longevity, however, left a bit to be desired. I had chipping and visible tip wear within 24 hours. I did some touch-up though and wore this mani for three days total, because it's so gorgeous!

I'm surprised this isn't one of those polishes like Chanel Peridot where every brand seems to have its own version of it or that MAC hasn't brought it back. There's certainly a collector's market for it. But if you can get your hands on Bad Fairy without paying an arm and a leg for it, do it! It truly is a stunning polish and I can definitely see why there is so much hype surrounding it.

MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Heart Hangover: Swatches & Review

I only picked up one item from MAC's newest round of collections: a Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Heart Hangover, from the Beth Ditto Collection. Heart Hangover is a brown-based burgundy that's perfect for vampy looks!

The application feels smooth and creamy, delivering nice opacity. There's a bit of a sheen to this color when you first put it on, but after a while it fades to a semi-matte finish. Although this is a longwear formula, it likely won't survive your lunchbreak, but other than eating and drinking, not much else will disturb Heart Hangover. It's not prone to fading or feathering. MAC claims the Pro Longwear Lipcremes last for 12 hours but I'd say you can expect around seven to eight hours of wear from this lipstick, which is still very respectable. It leaves behind a bit of a stain too. The formula doesn't feel particularly drying or moisturizing either, just your regular ol' lipstick texture.


This is admittedly quite the opposite of the lip colors I normally go for. I tend to gravitate more towards bright, vibrant pops of color on my lips but it's fun to change it up! Something about this color really drew me in and Heart Hangover can lend some instant drama and glamour to any look. It's very Clara Bow, don'tcha think?

MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglasses: Swatches & Review

So after thoroughly convincing myself that I wasn't going to pick up anything from MAC's new Hey, Sailor! Collection, the other night I made an impromptu late-night purchase off the MAC website and picked up two of the lipglasses from the collection: Blessedly Rich and Riviera Life. Overall the collection struck me as a little underwhelming but these two beauties caught my eye.


Blessedly Rich is a coppery coral with gold and pink shimmer.

The coverage on Blessedly Rich is fairly opaque. The texture is rather sticky but personally I didn't find it bothersome. The gloss didn't feather or settle into lines at all on my lips, despite a bit of the settling you see on my hand here. It lasts about two to three hours on me before it's probably time to reapply. Or, this gloss fades very evenly to a subtle, peachy sheen, so you could also leave it as-as if you like!


The second gloss I got is Riviera Life, a bright orange with gold shimmer.

Riviera Life is the more opaque of the two glosses and it covers extremely well. If you like colors like MAC Morange, you'll definitely be a fan of this gloss as well. It actually reminds me a lot of China Glaze Riveting, albeit in lipgloss form, obviously. I must confess that I'm a huge fan of bright, dramatic lip colors so an orange gloss is right up my alley. This has the same texture as Blessedly Rich and also leaves behind a bit of a stain after fading. Weartime is comprable to Blessedly Rich and also like Blessedly Rich, Riviera Life doesn't feather or settle on me either.

Also, if you're curious about the packaging, the glosses, like the rest of the Hey, Sailor! products, come in an adorable nautical-themed box:

I like Blessedly Rich but I love Riviera Life! However, I'd say both are worthy purchases. Riviera Life has the superior formula but both are great, so your personal color preferences may swing your decision one way or the other. Blessedly Rich is admittedly the more versatile of the two shades and would be easier to wear everyday. Both glosses retail for $15.50. (There are also three other glosses from this collection that I didn't get.) You can get them at your local MAC store/counter or online at the MAC and Nordstrom websites.

MAC Trés Cheek Blushes: Swatches & Review

I recently picked up two blushes from MAC's Trés Cheek Collection: Peony Petal and Modern Mandarin. MAC comes out with a ridiculous amount of collections that can be very overwhelming to keep up with, but these two colors really caught my eye. I'm a fan of bold cheek colors and these looked very fun and fresh, especially with warmer weather starting up.

Modern Mandarin is a soft, citrus-y orange with a satin finish. It's super silky and richly pigmented. The color can be built up for a dramatic look but also blends and diffuses extremely easily if you want something more subtle. All around, it's a really fantastic blush to work with and a pleasure to apply.


The swatch on the left is one swipe with a finger and on the right, I applied with a brush, going a bit heavy so that you could see the true color clearly.

Peony Petal is a bright, blue-based pink with a matte-esque finish. In the pan it looks completely matte but there is a very slight shimmer on the skin. Compared to Modern Mandarin, Peony Petal feels a bit chalkier in the pan but is still very blendable and workable to apply. The pigmentation is rich and flexible enough that, like Modern Mandarin, you could build the color up to pan intensity or do a lighter wash of color. (The swatch on the right below is somewhere in between.) The texture isn't quite as dreamy and smooth as Modern Mandarin but Peony Petal is still an excellent blush on its own merits.

I'm ridiculously pleased with both of these colors and can't wait to try out some new looks! My go-to blushes are NARS Orgasm and the long-discontinued MAC Merrily (I will be beyond sad when mine runs out!), so it'll be fun to have some new colors at my disposal. Either (or both!) of these blushes would make an excellent addition to your spring/summer beauty routine. They are currently available on the MAC and Nordstrom websites and you may also still be able to find them at your local MAC counter. Both shades are limited edition. Happy hunting, ladies!