Hard Candy Cosmetics

Imagine my excitement when I received a FedEx box in the mail yesterday from Hard Candy! Once I opened it I found these:

Eye Def in Sequin

Plumping Serum -
Fat Pout Lip Gloss
in Nude Beach

Hide & Glow Cheek -
Cheek Tint Duos
in Hot Date

First of all, I love the Eye Def shadows. They are overflowing with glitter and are so easy to use! I always look for products that are quick and easy. The color is a really pretty purple color, the texture is creamy and dries nicely. I do find that the color stains my skin a little bit. BUT as you can see, I am insanely fair. I don't find that to be so problematic that I wouldn't use the product. As you can see in the photo below, I used the Eye Def in Algae in the inner corners of my eyes and it looks fabulous!



The Plumping Serum - Fat Pout Lip Gloss was a gorgeous color. Nude Beach is a gorgeous neutral color with lots of sparkle. This shade would be really easy for anyone to wear. It made my lips all tingly too! I used the gloss with MAC's lipliner in Subculture. As for plumping, I've always had a pouty lower lip, it's my upper lip that is challenged!


Last but not least, there are the Hide & Go Cheek - Cheek Tint Duos. I really like these. The colors looks a little dark when you first look at Hot Date, but once you get them on the skin, it really is a sheer wash of color. Again, I love products that are easy to use and this is. Just swipe on your cheeks and rub. And there is no need to panic or rush, like there is when you use a liquid cheek stain like Benetint. This doesn't stain upon first contact, so you have some time to blend it out nicely.

All in all, I really like everything they sent me! I know I definitely want to pick up the Eye Def in a few more colors. And I know that Hard Candy is going to be releasing a lot of NEW products sometime this month and I look forward to trying them. (Especially their Lash Ink, a mascara that tints your lashes for 4 days!)

Now, I know some of my readers are Anti-Walmart and this can turn into a heated debate (Hard Candy is exclusive to Walmart). For some it's just the experience of going to a Walmart store, for others it's feeding into the big box store that has taken over areas and put a lot of small businesses out of business. If it's the prior situation and you just don't like going there, you can order Hard Candy products on their website with FREE shipping. If it's the latter...there really isn't anything to say. I understand the stance and respect all views on that subject.

**Oh, and for my vegan readers, here's a list of vegan products Hard Candy makes:

http://www.hardcandy.com/updates.php?a=69 **

EOS Lip Balm: Smooth Sphere

We all know that I am a sucker for packaging! When there is something that is different or cool looking, I am most likely going to try it.

When I first saw the EOS Smooth Sphere lip balm, I was intrigued. It took me a couple weeks to pick one up. The flavors I was finding were mostly Sweet Mint and Lemon Drop, neither which appealed to me, so when I came across the Summer Fruit flavor, I snatched it up.

The sphere is a matte finish, which makes it easy to hold onto and open. Once you do open it, there is a semisphere of lip balm! It doesn't twist up or do anything fancy like that, it's just a semisphere of balm. It's different, it's interesting...but maybe not the most practical thing. It's a little bulky. It would be best suited as the lip balm I use before bed time, rather than one I throw in my purse.

Using it is kinda interesting. The sphere of balm is kinda big, so I felt silly rubbing it on my mouth. It's almost like you should just pucker your lips, hold it up to them and twist, like you're juicing an orange. The directions on the website say, "Twist off top. Pucker up. Smooth on. Smile.", so I guess I wasn't too far off the mark.

I'd say it's a lightweight lip balm. I put it on and about 15 minutes later, my lips were soft, but the product was pretty much gone. With that said, here it is 5 hours later and my lips are still soft. The Summer Fruit scent/flavor was quite nice...very peachy.

I went to the EOS website to learn more about them and there are some interesting facts:

"eos lip balm is 95% organic, 100% natural, and paraben and petrolatum free. Packed with antioxidant-rich vitamin E, soothing shea butter and jojoba oil, eos keeps your lips moist, soft and sensationally smooth."

The lip balm is also gluten-free, paraben-free, petrolatum-free and phthalate free.

They also make a stick lip balm, if this isn't your cup of tea. The packaging for the hand cream is kinda cool too.

Want FREE Stuff For Valentine's Day??

Who doesn't, right?

Well, the amazing Glitter Bitches have put together a "VD Survival Kit" Giveaway! And if you like handmade, crafty items (like I do), then this is for you!

Each of the Glitter Bitches have contributed a cool item(s) to the mix! Check it out and enter today, what have you got to lose??

http://glitter-bitches.blogspot.com/2011/02/giveaway-bitchs-vd-survival-kit.html

New Glittersniffer Products

Okay, so there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Glittersniffer Cosmetics over the past few months. It is a very heated topic that people feel passionately about, whatever their opinion is. This blog is strictly a review of the new products that I received today. I'd like to keep the drama at a minimal, if not non-existent level, please. I'm strictly going to discuss the product, packaging and my experience today.

First thing I noticed is that there is a lot more detail to packaging. There were bows tying up the bubble wrap. Extra touches like the "whipped cream" tops and charms are very cute. I can tell you my 8-year-old daughter was chomping at the bit to try to get her mitts on them.

The next thing I noticed is that two of the stacks had containers that were not properly sealed. the same thing goes for the random pot that was included, but fortunately in it's own bag, because it leaked. I didn't fix them because I wanted to photograph it first. BUT as I was lying on my bed taking photos, the Carnival Collection container came open and dark gray powder spilled out all over. The Valentine's Collection also spilled out onto the ribbon that was on it. I'm not going to lie, this really annoyed me and started off my process of photographing and swatching the colors with a bad taste in my mouth.


Now, onto the collections:

The Carnival Collection

The rainbow colors of the Carnival Collection appealed to me.
They are bright, they are pretty. The textures were nice and seemed to blend well.


The next two collections didn't have names, so I named them. They are NOT GS names. FYI.

The Browns Collection

The lightest color and the next lightest color blended the best. The next color looked like a medium tan, but started to show a lot of red, the more that I rubbed it. The next darkest color was fine. The next to darkest color was very gritty. The darkest color was slightly smoother. I dabbed the color, rather than rubbed so the glitter would stay in place.

The Valentine's Collection

It looks like the white color has some pink iridescence to it, but when I swatched it, I didn't see it. The silver is pretty, but started to get darker the more that I rubbed it, you can see in the swatch. The lavender, burgundy and pink are pretty.


The Unicorn Collection
The colors here are quite nice. The textures were comfortable on the skin.
The colors were consistent, without any odd rubdown.

The Random Pot

The Harajuku Collection

These are my favorite colors of the bunch, it's a shame I only got samples. I did not swatch them today, I find baggies to be messy and I had already had enough mess today. Will swatch soon.

Random Samples

The top photo is of a couple random samples I got, the bottom photo is of the ingredient list on the back of the Harajuku Collection bag. It was the only ingredient list included in this shipment.

All in all, I can see the Glittersniffer is trying to step up their game and I believe that they are on their way, but there are still some recurring issues that need to be taken care of. Sifter stickers are critical. It makes a customer feel like their product is safe, not wasted and sanitary. For me, this is especially the case when dealing with stacks of pigment. (I am not a huge fan of stacks, in general.) I know that it is an added expense to get sifter stickers and then there is time invested in placing them on the sifters, but I'd much rather spend the money on that and not have an accident, rather than cute packaging. I mean, you don't even have to invest in the stickers companies put out which are intended to go on sifters, basic round price stickers work just fine at a fraction of the cost. It just feels so awful to have a mess and waste product before you ever get to use it.

As you read in the review of the pigments, there were a couple that were a little gritty, so I would hesitate before using those, simply because I fear they would irritate my contact lenses.

I look forward to seeing Glittersniffer continue to step up their game.

Zoya, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways...

Recently, this fabulous nailcare company, Zoya, had a promotion on Facebook. If their fan page got over 25, 000 fans, they would give away three bottles of nail polish (retail value $21) to whoever ordered and had the special coupon code. All you had to pay was $6.95 shipping!

Of course I had to partake! I had such a hard time choosing colors, they have so many beautiful ones to choose from. Pastels, brights, sparkles, glitters, creams, mattes, duochromes...you name it, they've got it! It was like nail polish overload!

I decided that to make the most of this opportunity, I needed to get the widest variety of polishes I could. I chose Veruschka, which is a beautiful matte, yet sparkly, emerald green. Then I chose Shawn which is a creamy, hunter green. Last but not least, I got Adina. Adina is a duochrome and has a purple base. When you look at it in one light, it has an aqua/green shimmer to it. Shift your hand slightly and it has a pink shimmer. It's a real stunner!

When the polishes arrived today, I was so excited that I couldn't wait to swatch the colors. I had already planned to drive to my Mom's house for the weekend, so I swatched a nail every time I had a few moments at a stoplight. Now this is a practice I do NOT condone or advocate. Do as I say, not as I do, right? As a result, the polish job is a little messy. Adina went on the easiest, but it's more of a sheer color, so you have some room for error. Veruschka was the next easiest. It's so interesting to watch the color dry down to the final matte finish. Shawn took the most coats (3) and required the most concentration. In the end, the color is beautiful and I'm sure that it was purely my painting my nails in my car that was the issue.

My Mom got in two of her polishes today. They are lovely! I will swatch those and post photos later this weekend.

In the end, Zoya's promotion was a great success. I am curious to know how many orders were shipped out as a result of it. It's a lot, just gauging from their frequent Facebook posts of how another 10,000 orders were shipped out.

Would I recommend Zoya? Oh yes. They have such a wide variety of colors, there is something for everyone! You can also get on a mailing list to be made aware of new promotions and deals. Here are a few things you should know about Zoya, from their fan page:

"Zoya Nail Polish - Formaldehyde, Toluene, Camphor and Dibutyl Phthalate Free Nail Polish and Treatments. Choose from over 300 fashion shades. Zoya is the new color of fashion."

Veruschka, Shawn and Adina


The colors I got are the top row.
My Mom got the ones on the bottom row.

Sunny and Jordana

Adina (Detail)

Covergirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balms

I am a huge fan of colored lip balms. I like to be able to apply a color that doesn't look like it's wearing off, when it is in fact wearing off. I like to be able to just grab a tube and apply, without the aid of a mirror. So, when I saw the new Covergirl Gloss Balms, I figured I'd give them a shot. I wasn't really drawn in by the "NatureLuxe" name. I have a hard time thinking anything put out by the major companies is all that natural. But that's just me being cynical.

The two colors I got are Coral and Sandstone. They both are colors that would look natural on, of course Coral is more of an orange shade and Sandstone is a warm, medium pink.

Sandstone applies with a lot more pigment than Coral. It also has a good amount of sparkle too it that makes it feel a little bit gritty on the lips. Coral was barely visible when I swatched my fingertip. I had to rub and rub to get it to show up. In a way, this sounds exactly like what I want from a colored balm, but I expected a little more. Perhaps I should've tried a darker shade like Clove or Peony. It's just such a gamble trying to figure out if a company is going to make something too sheer or too pigmented. I'd say Sandstone was the closest to a happy medium.

If you like washes of color, then this is for you. If you want a more tinted balm, then I would recommend shopping around. I know Madd Style Cosmetics makes some lovely ones, as does Sleek Make-Up, MAC, Tarte and Deluxe Beauty.

Sandstone

Coral

Sandstone on the top finger.

Coral on the lower finger.

Hello, Hard Candy!

I have been coveting this adorable make-up bag from Hard Candy for a while now, so I recently broke down and bought it. I love the zipper pulls, the fabric, the zip pocket inside the top and the size. It's bigger than what you would carry in your purse, but not overwhelming. Perfect for a vacation.

While I was at the store, I came across these beauties, Eye Def cream eyeshadows. The green color, algae, totally sold me! It's full of sparkle and shimmer and once you put it on, it pretty much stays in place! I got the neutral brown so I would have a foolproof basic, but there is an aqua color I see myself owning sometime soon! You apply the color to your lids with a wand, very much like a lip gloss wand. It's quick and easy and dries really fast. I even used my finger to blend it out before it dried completely.

Hard Candy is one of those companies that is reasonably priced, but there are SO many nifty things, I am not sure when I will get around to trying them all! (Hint, hint if you'd like to send some product my way, Hard Candy!) And for you nail buffs, I noticed that they have a clear top coat that makes any polish matte, which I know is a big trend right now. I can't wait to give that a spin!

It's really funny, I was looking at new make-up today on Sephora.com and while I my interest was slightly piqued by Tokidoki, Hello Kitty and Kat von D, I found myself even more excited about my latest Hard Candy acquisitions. I'm all about bang for your buck. And I really adore my sparkly, Eye Def shadows. I do believe that there are drugstore companies that give boutique companies a run for their money and Hard Candy definitely falls into this category.

Last but not least, I've been wearing my Sleek nail polish on my toes for almost 3 weeks now and it still looks awesome...so while I have some issues with Sleek as a company, I still have to rave about their products.