Duane Reade – Sometimes Yaya

Cityscape NOTD

The greige hue is overwhelming my polish fantasies y’all. There is not a single time when I can walk past a polish line and not succumb to purchasing a grey/taupe color combination. Something about how subtle and different it is makes me a sucker each time.

You can probably tell which is the flash and which is without.

Prevail is a polish company found in Duane Reade drugstores on the east coast. Being that the company was bought by Walgreen’s, I am unsure if that means it will be on shelves nationwide.

How do you like the color?

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Sally Hansen Problem Child

This is a story all about how… yours truly walked into a drugstore (Duane Reade) and failed to leave empty handed yet again. My new indulgence? Two colors that caught my eye for different reasons.

Sally Hansen‘s Problem Child is a purple creamy pearl shade (make sense?) with a slight black and metallic overtone. The best part are the gold flecks swimming around the bottle. Touch of Mink was a must as the new addition to my gray/brown family. The color just looks so darn smooth.I could have a photo shoot with just the bottle.After complete and utter joy at swatching the first shade (and thus a plea to ignore the lack of signs of a cleanup by the cuticles), I found that the gold flecks, though visible, are more clear under intense inspection, but rather hidden and secretive – a bit like a hallucination moment from afar.

Added any new colors to your collection?

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Affordable Eyeshadow Palettes

I’m usually very skeptical of uber cheap cosmetics. Why should 28 colors ever cost under three dollars? What did they save money on? Was it color? Quality? Safety? Packaging? What’s the secret!?!My last trip to Walgreen’s had me come face to face with a Profusion wallet palette, retailing for $2.99. My suspicions were only halfway put to rest by my previous experience with the brand and their lipgloss, and I thought the brand may be a sister company (or even the same?) to the Profound $5.00 palette. Plus, I thought, how much damage can you do with $2.99 I already decided to spend on unneeded items like gum and chocolate (I put them down in favor of cosmetics!)?The beauty wallets are very space friendly and boast a plethora of different colors. The wallets are in various color combinations and correspond to the color of the packaging. I purchased the violet and lime green, but there were others available. The size of these is slightly smaller than a cd case overall, but pretty much as thick as a cd case is.As you all may continue to read, I am a packaging junkie. I really like their ‘Beauty Wallet’ premise, but opening the packaging had me verging on temporary insanity. What I thought would be an easy plastic case to remove turned into a rage of ripping up the packaging.

This could have damaged the shadows had I not aimed away, or if I dropped the darn thing (happens often to me). If you decide to purchase this palette, take it from me and use scissors to open it up.The sleeve on the packaging doesn’t contain much information other than the ingredients. The palette doesn’t name any of the colors (which isn’t the greatest idea, because I’d like to know if they’ve been reused in other palettes), but does have a chart on the back of the sleeve numbering the colors – which aid in depicting swatches for me.
I took inventory of how the colors come off by swatching them on paper and then applying with a wet brush to my skin.Some of the colors look very similar to one another, but after trying them all out, I can say I like the combinations and that there is variety to the palette, compared to others having preference to neutral or blush colors.The wallet looks most attractive without the product sleeve and doesn’t look like a palette from the outside at all.

Pros:

This is a definite win if you’re trying to mask your “I need nothing to look like this” plan.
The price of $2.99 cannot be beat.
The color payoff is pretty good, especially when applied wet.
There is a mini tutorial on the inside cover.

Cons:

It is not an organic product (meaning it contains talc, mineral oil, and synthetic wax among others).

Verdict:
Skip a machiato or a soda for the day and grab this palette.

Have you tried this? Do you want to?

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Sparkles Galore in the Drugstore

There’s a confession in order, every time I pass a drugstore, a sudden urge to go in and see the new stuff overwhelms me. Sometimes they’re not equipped for my eager eyes and I leave spending nothing (good) and seeing nothing (eh, not so good).

The last visit was pretty eventful though, I felt like I unearthed a gem!

What I think are new Sally Hansen colors (sometimes the displays get bombarded by consumer hands and you can’t tell what’s limited edition from the vets, and what’s new from the clearance) in Purple Gala and Mystic Lilac are shimmer heaven polishes. I love that the shades are not your typical reds, blues, or purples, as many collections have brought out, and instead are using the most popular neutral shades and spicing them up a bit.

Doesn’t all that shimmer speak to you? (No? Just me then…)

I bought mine at Duane Reade but you can get them at any drugstore or Walmart conveniently located and fully stocked around your way. Stay tuned for when I rock a full mani with these babies!

How do you like these colors?

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100% Pure Cosmetics

The worst part of wandering drugstore cosmetic aisles is the inevitable money you will spend or debt you will force upon yourself (ok maybe that’s just me). Why?

It’s like a Murphy’s Law of Cosmetics, whatever new and interesting product you can find that will be irresistible and beg to come home with you, will be found and will have to come home with you. Such was the case with the 100% Pure Cosmetics counter at Duane Reade (yes them again – I told you – they’re taking over!!).

At first, just the title was enough to tempt me to take the bronzer home and dissect it.

The product testers piqued my interest twice as much after the super duper smooth application one swipe provided. It was a little pricey though for a beauty junkie like me, so rather than gamble on which color would suit my face, I settled on a bronzer. Who goes wrong with another bronzer in their powdery tan arsenal?

I had a fab photo shoot with the product. The little bird on my cardstock (my secret to the fab backgrounds! shhh!) made me think of Twitter and landing on a branch to nibble on my new bronzing fave.

When I opened the tin, I found that the cap can be used as a mirror – extra useful for on the go application.

Alright mad scientists. From what I’m reading, I’m pretty impressed with the ingredient list. You? Let me know!

See that little compact with the 12M towards the bottom? That’s the product life of the pan after you open your product. Neat, huh?

Learn more about the bronzer:

“COCOA PIGMENTED BRONZER

100% Natural, 100% Vegan, Gluten free

100% Natural bronzer will give you a warm, beautiful, sun kissed glow instantly from pigments of cocoa, coffee, tomato and berries. Luminescent, light reflective pigments will give you a subtle shimmer. Concentrated with anti-aging vitamins, antioxidants and skin nourishing ingredients. Use all over your face and body whenever you desire a sun kissed look

Colors:
Honey – lightly sun kissed
Brown Sugar- golden sun kissed
Cinnamon – richly sun kissed

100% Natural Ingredients: Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Powdered Pigments of Cacao, Apricot, Peach, Pomegranate, Blackberry, Raspberry, Coffee, Papaya, Tomato, Black Tea and Acai, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Lavender Flower Powder, Rosehip Oil, Avocado Butter, Mica (natural mineral shimmer), Vitamin A (a-palmitate), Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

Net wt. 9 g/ .32 oz

US $25.00 “(source: site)

Have you ever tried 100% Pure?

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Nails Fresh(ly)Cover(ed)

Remember my trip to Duane Reade? Well the new beauty center formerly known as a drugstore (select locations only) tempted my wallets plenty in one day.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B002Q2DHUA&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrMy newest indulgence is a nail polish brand I was far from being familiar with. Have you heard of Freshcover Nail Color? I didn’t.

I will be very honest and tell you I cared much less for the quality, or anything, really, once I saw the bottle shape. The handle was so interesting and pleasantly odd. The only thing left for me to choose was the color to take home with me. You know – sometimes I feel like items are meant to come home with me. Ever justify your shopaholic impulses so?

Continuing my search for the perfect range of coral polishes (because the search for the perfect one only taught me that I like too many to choose just one!), I chose Cuba Bella and continued to wander around the store.

Check out how they performed on the digits:

Left is with flash and right is without.

This coral is the most relaxed and easygoing shade of coral I have ever come across. I say this as though the color and bottle have a personality, but when you have purchasing habits similar to mine, you start building relationships with inanimate objects, partly from the financial guilt, and otherwise from the love of all things colorful and beauty.

Though I enjoyed the application, the overall experience was weak. The polish is a little weak in opaqueness and seems to me to be a mix between a jelly and an opaque polish, ending up a bit sheer and temporary. The wear for this polish was also not perfect – about three days before chips appeared.

I’d recommend this to a gal who does her own nails and frequently switches it up, if the bottle tickles your fancy, like it did for me, then that’s a plus too. Otherwise – save your dineros!

Have you tried FreshCover polish?

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Nails will Prevail

Drugstores are my weakness. Well maybe not just me, but when I peruse through the beauty, skin, and haircare aisles, I seem to be the only one to aimlessly look around and buy things I don’t really need in my life, save for the need to quell my curiosity.

Duane Reade has been stepping it up lately. They are on the beauty wagon of all drugstores. Notice how every drugstore near you has a skincare consultation center, skincare specialists, and even beauty events?

Some Duane Reade locations in Manhattan have an aisle or two to compete with the best of the Sephoras out there with brands like Nailtini, POP Beauty and Becca fully stocked on their shelves. That though, is for another post on another day. When I went to the neighborhood Duane Reade, I didn’t necessarily see the extravagant brand names, but I did spy a new nail polish brand that was begging to come home with me. What could I do? I obliged!

Prevail is a brand completely foreign to me. When I went on an initial internet hunt for the company, I found a link to purchase products from the brand at drugstore.com and got extremely excited that the search was so quick and efficient only to learn that the products on the site were adult diapers. Whoops! It turns out Prevail is a private brand of Duane Reade. It is part of their makeover of the brand and overall company. (source Private Label Mag).

When I was at the drugstore, all I needed to see was the color selections and the color names to start the “I need this because…” conversation with myself. Upon a quick (and taboo) swatch test, I picked three colors to come home with me. A bright pink, purple, and a forest green. The first and last colors seemed to be shades completely unlike any in my collection, and the purple quite similar to the Mattese and Color Club purples I own; both of which are uncommonly similar in name (Mattese is Pucci and Color Club is Pucci-licious).

I love the names because a lot of them are named after New York streets or neighborhoods.

Have you seen Prevail on your shelves?

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How Do You See Your Day in Hell?

By my non-scientific count, the majority of the readers here are female. So it would behoove both you and I for me to share this information. You know our gift? Everybody has a different name for it. The monthly gift, code red, little friend, visitor, Aunt Flo, the red curse, etc. Any gentlemen reading? Not too worry – I won’t be going in specifics. I’m talking about a fashionable and playful way to take care of business!

Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Certain things are completely shameless to me. My momma taught me no such thing. When the time of the month came? Shoot, I had to do what I had to do. None of the blushing and carrying a whole handbag to the bathroom. But no judgement here! To each their own. But why not a pretty and fashionable each and own? Enter Moxie. I’ve come to appreciate the Aussies. Spurred on by Nancy from the Informed Makeup Maven, I’ve started to realize all the Aussie in my life has been a pretty 1:1 ratio of fabulousness.

Moxie is a brand that gussies up what is the mundane and necessary. They are the equivalent of having Helloy Kitty band-aids. They put tampons, pads, and panti-liners in cute tins. The name stands for gals with attitude (does it not? check dictionary.com – courage, aggressiveness, nerve). I love a company that doesn’t prey on females as weak victims (oh no – we bleed!), but rather as tough beauties with strength (we do it every month with perfect accessories to boot!). Check after the jump for the rest of the scoop.

The tins are packaged with simpled pink stripes and a petite bow. Just enough to keep us girly, but not in a high tower yelping for assistance from a knight in shining armor. It is a new era, ya know. Gals can ride horses too!

I like that the tins are so attractive that you can use them as coin jars or tins for credit cards and cash afterwards. Business cards, or whatever else you can think of!

Here are some screenshots of the packaging:

Did you notice their slogan?

My favorite product from the bunch is the pack of tampons. The design just gets me. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I love creative packaging.

These babies are widely available in Australia and New Zealand. No – it doesn’t stop there. Duane Reade carries them on the east coast (and with the recent Walgreens‘ acquisition of Duane Reade, I am not sure about the technicalities of the contracts Duane Reade has with vendors and if there will be rollovers going on) everyone on the other ends of the US or other countries are welcome to visit drugstore.com. The site actually runs very good deals on the Moxie products, and they have some kind of sale going on on a month to month basis.

The actual products are pretty good. I have tried the regular products and they deliver on the promise. I have yet to attempt with the heavy and overnight products, and will let you know when I do. The tampons are a bit more bang for your buck than the pads are, in regards to quantity, but I really feel like the packaging makes up for it. None of the products are over ten dollars and range from four to nine a pack.

They have a Facebook (if you become a fan you can request a free sample!)and Twitter account. The pinup spokesperson, Millie Moxette is the gal behind all tweets. Check her out and tell her @MyOwnJudge sent ya!

How do you make your day in hell brighter?

To remain full transparency with the MOJ disclosure policy, it should be noted that some of these products were provided to the author from the company during a product preview event, and some were purchased in Duane Reade.

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LASplash at a Drugstore Near You

The love story with drugstores and me is that when I wander around aimlessly before my purchase, I am almost always guaranteed to find something new. Either to the market or to just lil’ me. This time around? LASplash. I saw these at a Duane Reade. Bright colored eye liquid eyeliners and equally bright colored mascaras.

If you know me, you also know that I try nearly every color mascara out there because I just adore them. The trick to getting the color to pop is to have a dark eyeliner, and/or using a primer for your lashes or a white mascara. This will make the color pop even more (think about mixing paints: a blue will pop more if added to white than if added to brown).

These babies were $6.49 each but I also found them online at CherryCulture.com. The site has a rewards program that is a bit better than Duane Reade so if you are trying to get the biggest bang for your buck you know what to do. Also – I am not sure if other drugstores carry this brand yet. I know Duane Reade has the least amount of BOGO sales out of all the drugstores I frequent (but I still love it dearly). The mascaras on the site are $4.99 each and the liners are $5.99. If you get up to free shipping, you’re getting them for a bargain. Also? The brand has eyeshadows, lipglosses, lipsticks, and glitter. You can check out their main website here but be warned they sell for $6.99 (but they have a full collection of ALL colors, and a Twilight inspired glitter mascara collection), so choose your battles lol.

Check out more pictures and swatches below!

Don’t laugh. You can see me taking the picture in the reflection. I just had to do it though, saw it and out came the camera! These are the mascaras. Peep the black with glitter one on the right!

These are the liquid eyeliners. I really like the bold colors.

I was in the store looking at every one of these and then opening them up to see what the inside held. The main pet peeve of mine with drugstores is that you rarely get to test the product before you purchase it, and even more rare is the ability to return the product if it’s not a good fit for you. I even had a saleslady come up to me and tell me to stop opening these products and I had to bite my tongue back not to be rude as they ALL said ‘Tester’ on them. Anyhoo, the colors of the mascaras are pretty much the same as the packaging.

Almost all of the mascaras had this brush. I like this kind of brush (also seen on CoverGirl Lash Blast and Chanel Inimitable). Instead of a winding brush it is rubberized with little spokes coming out. I feel like this kind of brush gets the best coverage and the least clump.

And of course only one stinkin’ mascara out of all of them had to be special. The light blue (or Blue Fantasea) is the only one with a different wand. When I checked the Cherry Culture site though, they had way more colors. So I don’t know if the other colors have different wands as well.

For the eyeliner swatches, refer to the image above where I showed toy the liners in their display case. I swatched the colors from left to right.

These colors are all pretty vibrant, no? I am most impressed with the most right hand green liner with a hint of shimmer.

This was a smudge test. The bottom smudge was right after application, and the top was after about seven minutes, when I was sure it was dry. As you can see it sticks pretty well, but when you smudge it at first the color leaves in sections instead of blending. This would not be a liquid liner you want to blend with for a look.

This is after ten hours of wear. I had this on my hand as I finished my holiday shopping the day before Christmas. My honey and his family have a big get together at their house and so of course after weeks and months of procrastinating I was out and about all day. This means that I used lotion and washed my hands with water once. I’d say it’s not great, but not bad either.

I will be doing a more thorough review of these babies soon as I got a couple of both the mascaras and liners to try out for my readers.

On a completely different tangent – when you read their name aren’t you tempted to call them ‘Lash Splash’ instead of LASplash? I know that’s what I’ve been doing!

Have you ever tried LASplash? Seen this in your drugstore? Like the swatches?

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Palette Review (pic heavy)

Remember my swag attack post here, where I bought an eyeshadow palette for $5.00? I received a request to do a review, but I have been a little late in posting it since there were so many photos involved lol.

All laziness aside, I have tried to do a variety of looks and wore them to a variety of places (from a BBQ to work, etc.). I also originally wanted to give you actual time stamps and which colors I used, but with every extra look, the information slipped out of my mind. Regardless! Almost all the looks have both an AM and a PM shot. The time span in between each picture is at least 8 hours.

Another point (as if you don’t have enough) is that I used cream shadow/primer and/or concealer under my eyeshadows as that is what I usually do. Using either of these products will always minimized the creases, and I also like to use my cream shadows as highlight colors by the brow.

What it is: A 98 shimmer color palette. I couldn’t find relevant product info online kiddies. It is a lot more shimmery in real life.

Review (5 highest, 1 lowest):

Packaging: 3.5 out of 5 (the applicators that come with it are practically pointless,
Price: 5 out of 5 ($9.99 at Duane Reade – I got it with my $5 coupon!)

Quality: 4 out of 5 (see verdict)

Overall: 4 out of 5

Here are some looks I created using the palette:

Look One in the AM

Look One in the PM

Look Two – sorry this one is a single!

Look Three in the AM

Look Three in the PM
(excuse the mess of the eyebrows – I was scheduled to get an eyebrow wax the week after my review!! 😦 )

Look Four in the AM

Look Four in the PM

Look Five – sorry this one is a single!

Look Six in the AM

Look Six in the PM

My Verdict:
When using this palette with good brushes (the applicators that come with the palette are super brittle and not really useful), the colors come on and stay on really well. Like I said previously, using a primer underneath this palette is KEY b/c the color fades. Just to make sure it wasn’t one primer that works with this palette, each look was created using a different primer (I used Too Faced Lockdown Cream Eyeshadow that has Shadow Insurance in it already, UDPP, Shadow Insurance, Victoria’s Secret Cream Eyeshadows – which by the way I think are too light to use as shadows on their own to begin with, and MUFE Concealer by itself).

The color of this shadow fades a little bit but I haven’t seen it disappear completely off my face. As you can see in some pictures, the lighter colors fade and the brighter colors stay on.

I think that though the colors could be a little bit more vibrant, and that I do occasionally wish the palette carried more diverse colors (too many pinks for my liking), I think for the price, it is an excellent buy. The pans are not tiny, and the colors grab on quick. If you have these in your area, I suggest you grab one and start to playing with your eyes!