Snowman Holiday Nail Polishes 2012!

Holiday Snowman Nail Polish

Around the holidays each year you might spot these cute Snowman Nail Polishes at your local drugstore for an average of $2 to $3 a bottle. They're only around for a couple months, and they're totally adorable and make for great stocking stuffers.

The Snowman Nail Polishes are available in a fairly large selection of fun holiday colors and some really pretty glitters. Although I see these polishes every year, I've never used them. I know some nail polish junkies love these, so I picked up a couple bottles to give them a try.

The odd thing is that neither bottle is labeled with an actual name or color, so I couldn't tell you the name of these, but I thought I'd share with you a couple of photos.

The pink polish is a raspberry pink filled with purple shimmer. It reminds me a lot of Essie Jamaica Me Crazy. The formula is really easy to work with. It's thin, yet it's not very sheer. I found that it dries very quickly and I don't have to wait much time at all to apply my next coat. It's opaque with two coats. It has a dull finish, so I applied two coats of a shiny top coat (Seche Vite).

The glitter polish is a festive combination of chunky silver, gold, blue, red, purple and green glitters. It's sheer with one coat, but the glitters get distributed pretty evenly across the nail. It's a really fun polish to top off your nails with.

Final Day for Sephora VIB Sale!

Final Day for Sephora VIB Sale

If you're a Sephora VIB (Very Important Beauty Insider), today is the final day in Sephora's exclusive VIB Sale. Everything is 20% off, so stock up on some of your favorites!

This is the first year I wasn't a Sephora VIB (I was $43 away), but someone was kind enough to share their code with me so I can receive the discount on my online order.

I've never experienced ordering online (I usually shop in-store) for this particular sale, but I was really surprised to see so many items sold out, including items that I was planning on purchasing. Almost every Nars blush is sold out!

Here's what my order looked like-

I wanted some new Guerlain Meteorites (my favorite setting powder) so I thought this sale was a great chance to grab one, but unfortunately, I waited too long to place my order and within a day every shade sold out. So, I was stuck getting the Limited Edition Emilio Pucci Meteorites from the Summer Collection. I'm hoping they'll work out fine - which I'm sure they will.

I also picked up my favorite facial self tanner Clarins Intense Bronze Self Tanning Tint (must-have!) and one of my favorite brushes for bronzer, the Sephora Pro #40. Since the brush is already on clearance, it was too good of a deal to pass up, and I could always use an extra.

I've been curious to try the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector for a while now because of the rave reviews, so I picked up the shade Opal. If you want to see a quick review/comparison, Bloomin Beauty Blog has an awesomely helpful post.

I tried a generous sample of Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation last year, and I thought it was amazing so I finally ordered a full-size!

Lastly, I cashed in on 500 of my Beauty Insider Points and got the Laura Mercier Best Sellers Kit which includes: Foundation Primer (0.5 oz), Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Nude (0.5 oz), Shimmer Bloc in Golden Mosaic (0.14 oz) and Eye Basics in Wheat (0.1 oz).

That's it! Nothing too exciting, but I was happy to save $40, and using Ebates, I was able to save an extra 4%, which ended up being a little over $6.. yay!

Did you end up getting anything?

*To become a Sephora VIB, you must spend $350 at Sephora in a calendar year. (read more)

Chanel Jalousie Glossimer Review, Photos and Swatches!

Chanel Jalousie Glossimer 

When you're looking for a picker upper, what's better than indulging in sparkly and needless material things? Or maybe taking a stroll through Godiva or See's Candy for a piece of ridiculously overpriced, yet completely delicious chocolate. I like browsing the Chanel counter, and that's how I came across this little gem. Absolutely necessary? Absolutely not. Gorgeous? You bet.

Chanel Jalousie Glossimer ($29.50) is a vibrant pink with a purple pearl. You could also call it a glistening fuchsia. (Jalousie means Jealousy in French, btw!) This shade launched in the Roses Ultimes De Chanel Collection earlier in the year. As far as I know, it's limited edition, but is still available online.

If I was rolling in money bags, I'd love to own every shade of this angelic gloss, but for now I only own a few, and I don't wear them daily because they are just that precious.

Glossimers differ in terms of color payoff, some are sheer, but Jalousie is opaque with one swipe. As it wears down, the color sheers up slightly, but it still provides full on color.

It of course looks great on it's own, and it pairs really well with other pink lipsticks to make them a little brighter and pinker. You could also layer it over a similar fuchsia lipstick, such as MAC Lickable Lipstick or MAC Girl About Town for an intense pink lip. 

Chanel Jalousie Glossimer on my lips.

Weekly Poll Results - What's Your Favorite Drugstore Brand for Most/All of Your Needs?

What's Your Favorite Drugstore Brand for Most/All of Your Needs?

It's that time of the week again! The results of another weekly poll. If you haven't noticed already, each week there's a new question on the right-hand side of the page.

I was curious to see which are some of your favorite drugstore brands. It's hard to say which is the best because each brand might excel in a category, while another category is a complete fail. For instance, Revlon has amazing products - especially their face and lip products. But their mascaras stink! Maybe their PhotoReady Mascara is so-so, but the rest of them are a waste of money. (This is my opinion only of course!)

So my question was, What is your favorite drugstore brand for all or most of your needs? Theoretically speaking - if you happened to lose all of your makeup and were given the money to purchase a whole new collection, and you could only purchase everything from one brand, which would it be?

It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. But here are the results!

The results are...

Revlon - 74 votes (38%)
Covergirl - 13 votes (6%)
L'Oreal - 48 votes (25%)
Maybelline - 64 votes (33%)
Rimmel London - 14 votes (7%)
Milani - 6 votes (3%)
Wet n Wild - 20 votes (10%)
NYX - 44 votes (23%)
Physicians Formula - 8 votes (4%)
Neutrogena - 6 votes (3%)
Annabelle (Canadian Brand) - 2 votes (1%)
E.L.F. - 39 votes (20%)
Other - 7 votes (3%)

This poll is based on 191 participants.

The #1 crowd choice is Revlon with the first runner up being Maybelline and the second being L'Oreal.

I'd have to go with the crowd pick and choose Revlon too. My main focus of my makeup is having a good base makeup, and Revlon does some really good foundations - in my opinion, better than what the other drugstore brands have to offer (in terms of coverage and lasting power). I prefer long-lasting cosmetics, and with Revlon's Colorstay line, they have tons of products that will get you through the day with minimal touch-ups.

I'm also a big fan of Revlon's lip products - and some of their eye products aren't too shabby either. Also, I know this shouldn't really be a factor, but I thought it was worth a mention that Revlon has good eye appeal. Although I'm not a makeup snob, I still don't want messy, broken tubes and compacts before I'm even done using the product. The packaging on most of their products is very classy and chic and doesn't reflect the low price.

I do have to say though, if I really did have to only choose one brand, it'd be pretty hard to give up my Maybelline and Covergirl Mascaras.

(photo credits: makeupandbeauty, vampy varnish and lipglossiping.)

If you participated, let me know why you chose your answer! Is there one product in particular from the line that persuaded you to choose it? Or multiple products?

If you didn't participate in the poll, let me know which brand you'd choose!