Product Reviews

Product Spotlight: Sally Hansen Sheer Color Therapy Nail Polish

March 30th, 2020 by Karen 5 Comments

If you like pastel paws but don’t want to go full-on painted Easter egg, these sheer Sally Hansen polishes hit the spot. They’re from Sally’s moisturizing Color Therapy lacquer line and are $8.99 each.

Fighting crabbiness one stroke at a time! Now, I’m not saying that the Sally Hansen Color Therapy Sheers will solve all your social distancing dilemmas (like, why is it so hard to find baking soda at the store right now?!), but they should help in a couple key areas, like if your nails need serious TLC! The moisturizing argan oil-infused Color Therapy formula helps reduce chipping and splitting.

And, is it just me, or is there something intensely empowering about a set of freshly painted claws? I feel like a tiny @ss kicker when my nails are done and I’m wearing big hoops.

These sheer shades, which are part of a sub-collection of the Sally Hansen Color Therapy nail polish line, are my new faves. There are only a handful of them, including cool-toned lavender Bare Tint, and cool light pink Bare Kiss, which has a hint of greige.

sally hansen bare kiss — Two coats of Bare Kiss, along with the Sally Hansen Color Therapy Nail Corrector Base Coat and High Gloss Top Coat

sally hansen bare kiss 7 days — Bare Kiss after seven days of wear

Like all of the Color Therapy polishes, these have a flat, extra wide brush that fans across your entire nail to completely coat it with paint in one swipe… Not that I’ve got anywhere pressing to go these days, but manis and pedis are much quicker when I use this brush.

Also of note

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TLC for Needy Nails: The Sally Hansen Color Therapy Nail Beautifiers Base and Top Coats, and a BOMB Cuticle Serum

March 24th, 2020 by Karen 21 Comments

Well, hello, nail polish. NICE TO SEE YOU, OLD FRIEND!

Now that I have a little more time to do something other than an occasional speed mani, I’ve been busting out the accouterments from the new Nail Beautifiers collection in the Sally Hansen Color Therapy Line.

Color Therapy is Sally Hansen’s line of moisturizing polishes infused with argan oil, and I started wearing them a lot after “the gel mani incident.” My nails needed some serious TLC, so I babied them for a couple months and only wore bare nails or Color Therapy until my nails recovered back to their former strength.

There are six treatments in the new Nail Beautifier family, including three base coats, two top coats and a Nail Cuticle Serum.

sally hansen give me a tint — I did this mani while I wrote this post! I used the Nail Corrector, followed by two layers of Color Therapy Sheer in Give Me a Tint, and topped it off with the High Gloss Top Coat. When it dried, I massaged the Nail Cuticle Serum around the base of my nails and my fingertips.

If you’re washing your hands 24/7 like I am…

The Nail Cuticle Serum ($8.99) is THE STUFF. You can use it on bare or polished nails — just apply to the cuticles and nail tips and massage until absorbed. It’s a thick serum, and it isn’t oily, so you aren’t left with slippery, greasy fingers afterwards.

I keep it on my desk and apply it whenever I get a chance, and ever since I’ve been doing this, my cuticles (which had been visibly dry and thirsty and came this close to going full-on raggedy) look and feel so much better.

sally hansen nail cuticle serum — So good!

If you happen to see this online or while you’re out, grab it. Your cuticles will send you a secret love letter ❤️🕊️ via carrier pigeon declaring their undying affection for your thoughtfulness.

All about the base

If you have some serious ridges like I did after the disastrous gel mani incident, then the Nail Corrector ($8.99), which smooths out dips and drops on the surface of your nails, is for you. It looks like a peachy cream in the bottle, but it applies as a very sheer, barely-there pink.

Do your nail tips chip and split easily? If so, the Strengthening Base Coat ($8.99), which, like the Nail Corrector, looks tinted in the bottle but goes on clear, would be a good choice. Added bonus: It doubles as a top coat in a pinch.

If you’re lucky enough to have healthy nails, grab the Nail Primer ($8.99). It irons out the nails surface just like the Nail Corrector but isn’t as aggressive with the smoothing.

Top it off

Two new top coats reinforce the strength of your nails and the durability of your mani while locking down your nail color. I’m a fan of the High Gloss Top Coat ($8.99), which has a reflective gleaming, glossy shine (so it looks wet even when it’s dry).

Some of my nails tend to split, so I’ll bust out the Strengthening Top Coat ($8.99) and use it on them for added protection.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. On my #stressbaking to-do list this week: SCONES.

I made some terrible ones over the weekend that were just dry and dense and gross and totally inedible.

My first attempt at scones, and for the record…they were terrible!

Do you have a fool-proof scone recipe or any suggestions? Do tell.

Product Spotlight: Laura Mercier Rosé Cheek Color

March 23rd, 2020 by Karen 11 Comments

laura mercier rose blush swatch — Rosé all day

“No-makeup” makeup people, take note: This warm pink powder blush will release you from your “blahs” while summoning your cheeks back to life.

I barely wore any makeup last weekend (real talk: I’ve been feeling kinda blah), but I *did* manage to put on some mascara, brow gel and Laura Mercier Rosé today, AND THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT!

Rosé is a warm-toned pink matte powder blush, and I didn’t realize just how much I’ve been neglecting my usual beauty routine lately until I looked in the mirror this morning and saw a mustache worthy of a Disney villain on my upper lip.

via GIPHY

A little makeup was definitely in order.

So, yeah, if you want to feel somewhat functional/normal, if only for a moment, wear blush — ideally, one like Rosé, which has that patented “no-makeup makeup®” thing going. It’s colorful without being intense, and matte, and it doesn’t look heavy or harsh.

Are you the type of person who skips foundation? Or do you just wear a touch of tinted moisturizer? If so, this blush is at its best when it’s dusted directly on bare skin or on top of a minimal base.

Hopefully, someday soon we’ll all have places to go with actual real live people in them again, and Laura Mercier Rosé will be ready. It’s available now on the Ulta website for $30.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Product Spotlight: Laura Mercier Caviar Volume Mascara

March 19th, 2020 by Karen 14 Comments

laura mercier caviar mascara — Ready to give you a lift

FOR DECADES I believed that a lash curler was a non-negotiable when dealing with stick straight lashes (mine will flex the curl outta everything), but that’s totally not so, man! My opinion changed when Laura Mercier’s marvelous Caviar Volume Mascara, which is part of LM’s permanent collection and available at Ulta for $25, rocked my world.

It all started one day a few weeks ago… I was running late for work and couldn’t find my lash curler, so out of desperation I whacked a few coats of this stuff directly on my uncurled lashes, and it finessed a perfectly lifted curl into place.

I was shocked! In fact, I’m still in awe, and I really have no idea how it works. I almost feel like I’m messing with supernatural blood makeup magic and probably shouldn’t go there, but I can’t help myself, ya know? Not only does this mascara lift and curl lashes without the help of a lash curler, but it also separates and elongates lashes while imparting a noticeable amount of volume, but not so much that your fringe looks fake or spidery.

laura mercier caviar mascara before after — No lash curler needed, babe.

It also doesn’t smudge or flake, and even though it isn’t technically waterproof, I’ve cried wearing it a few times (yes, I’m a big cry baby), and it didn’t run.

It comes in one shade, a glossy black, and you can find it at Ulta for $25 a tube.

Your friendly neighborhood fringe addict,

Karen

Product Spotlight: Laura Mercier Cocoa Caviar Stick Eye Colour

March 18th, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

What you need to know: Laura Mercier Cocoa Caviar Stick Eye Color is a flexible brown cream shadow stick your time-pressed self needs, so if you’re building a better makeup bag and you love a workhorse brown neutral, this absolutely HAS to be in there because it doesn’t move, and you can wear it a bunch of different ways. (It’s available at Ulta for $29.)

This cocoa is a pain in the butt.

It’s the cocoa powder we use at the bakery, and whenever I have to dig into the bin, the powder is so fine that it gets all over the place! — my apron, my leggings, my face, everywhere. As adept as it is at making stuff taste good, it’s highly annoying, especially when you accidentally leave two big ol’ cocoa powder palm prints on your backside and don’t realize it until a stranger buying tuna at Trader Joe’s points it out.

This other Cocoa by Laura Mercier is not a pain in the butt…

laura mercier cocoa swatch — A swatch of Laura Mercier Cocoa, which is like a less red cream eyeshadow version of MAC Teddy liner. I’m an NC42 in MAC, by the way!

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