WOW! It's Been a While!

So, I haven't forgotten about this blog. And I haven't forgotten that I've promised cool product reviews for the future. I just had a temporary set back in September. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks, you can read the whole story on my other blog, Holy Stoltz!

As for reviews, there are some good ones coming!! I've been waiting a while to write my review of Glittersniffer Cosmetics because I wanted to see how the transition, from an Etsy shop to it's own private entity, would go. I can tell you one thing, the products look nifty. And there is bath stuff too, although I am not sure when I will get a chance to try that.

Another Etsy shop I'll be reviewing is Madd Style Cosmetics. Their colors are also very fun and I am most excited to try their awesome lip bombs I've read so much about.

I hope you enjoyed the Konad nail blog. I plan on getting in touch with the China Glaze people to see if I can get a couple of bottles to try out with the Konad plates.

OH, and before I forget, I won 4 AWESOME shopping bags from Bungalow 360! I just answered a trivia question on their FB fan page and the rest is history! I love the bags! Already putting them to good use! (Be sure to check out their website for bags that are only $10 or $15!!! You can't beat it!!)

Konad Nail Art

I've been promising this review for a while now and here it is!

If you go to Konad's website, they describe their product as follows:

"Konad Stamping Nail Art ™ is a new and innovative nail-imprinting kit that allows you to stamp beautiful pre-designed images on your nails in minutes! Our kits do not hold back on quality, it delivers beautiful delicate images that hand painting cannot achieve.

Not only are the kits cost effective and time saving, but they are also versatile; You can also use them on accessories like sunglasses, cell phones, earrings, and almost anywhere you wish!"

I came across this in Las Vegas at the Adventuredome in Circus Circus. Of course, my daughter Tate was immediately taken by the idea of stamping a super-cool, intricate design on your fingernail in a matter of seconds! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued too.

The process is relatively simple. The patterns are etched into stainless steel plates. You take nail polish and brush over the design you want. Then squeegee the excess polish off and press the blank stamp into it so you can transfer it onto your nail.



Tate got a very pretty butterfly. I got a french manicure tip with a scrolly sort of design over it (see below).


And I have to say, it was simple and the results are fabulous!

So, suckers that we are...we bought a set. Now I realize you may be asking yourself some questions now. The basic set we bought comes with a plate of 7 designs, a small white nail polish, the blank stamp and the scraper you use to squeegee off the excess polish.


No, not just ANY nail polish can be used. I've read that if you cannot get the Konad special polish, then there are thick "china glaze" polishes that do well.

The set we bought was kinda steep, $30. I've seen the same set on eBay for around $17-$20. There are many imitators, so be aware of that. The biggest difference I can tell about the imitators is that the design plates are not as intricate and the designs aren't as sharp and clean as the Konad set.

BUT to try it out, I would recommend getting the set they have on Ulta.com for $2.99. The only thing it doesn't include is the polish. From there you could decide if you liked it and could invest in more design plates from Konad...I firmly do think they are the best. And they have new plates that have designs that cover the entire nail in one stamp!

When it comes to the special polishes, I think the two "must have" colors are black and white. You can work with any base color if you have those and they look great on your natural nail.

Now, let me tell you this. The key to being successful with this product is SPEED. I cannot stress that enough. If you don't get the polish scraped fast enough, it will not transfer to the stamp. If you do not get it from the stamp to the nail fast enough, the design will not transfer to the nail. I found that my first time out with my daughter, I had about a 50% success rate. While it was frustrating, I know the more I do it, the better I'll get.

I just need to keep an eye on eBay for some reasonably priced polishes...this small bottle isn't going to last too long while I'm working by trial and error!

The bottom line is that once you get it mastered, it's fun and relatively easy. I like that the designs are so intricate and precise. You can't get that with airbrush or hand painting.

Twilight Beauty - Hip or Hype?

For Mother's Day, I decided I wanted some pieces from the Twilight Beauty collection (http://www.twilightbeauty.com). Instead of hitting them up for products to review, I had my husband place an order the old-fashioned way.

Sure, I like the Twilight series alright...but I'm not one of these crazed fans that must have everything associated with the franchise. What stuck out about this collection were the mini palettes and the lip stains. I really like sheer lip colors and mini palettes always rock.

I ordered the "Bella Beauty Set" that had a mini palette of nude shades called "Bella", a glittery, fragrance spray that smells like vanilla and one of the infamous Lip Venom's by DuWop (but with a new twist, a splash of glittery red color). It's a really good deal because you save over a third of what these items would cost if ordered individually. I also ordered a reddish staining balm called "Just Bitten".




Well, the order was placed on May 3rd. I didn't figure I'd get it in time for Mother's Day, but that's really no big deal to me. On May 5th, I got an email explaining that the palette I ordered was out of stock. I could either wait a week or so for the new stock to arrive or substitute another palette. I decided a week or so isn't so bad, so I'd wait.

I waited and I waited. I finally emailed on June 2nd to find out what was up. I explained I've been a make-up artist for 18 years and dealt with many cosmetics companies, but this really takes the cake for poor service. I also explained that I write reviews about products straight from the box. The response I got explained the delay as a mix-up with the manufacturer and that my package would be mailed out the next week. My last email correspondence was on June 10th.

This was good news, I recently moved and was reassured the package would show up before I actually left the address they had.

The bad news is they shipped it to my husband's house, which was the billing address...not to my place, which was the shipping address. This was bad because when it arrived, he was at my place helping me get packed up. So, my goodies sat out in the NC heat for 2 days. I got the package way beyond a month after I placed the order.


The lipstick was a tad soft from being in the heat and had indentations from the tube on the sides of the bullet. That made me pretty unhappy. I get really anal retentive when it comes to my make-up.

As for the products, I really like the staining balm. It's a great, wearable red that anyone could wear. The palette is very neutral, which is foolproof for people who are afraid of make-up. There's not a lot of color to the eyeshadows, the lip glosses have almost no color, but the blush is quite nice.

I can remember when DuWop's Lip Venom was the latest and greatest in make-up. They were the trailblazers with the whole lip-plumping product trend. But, somehow, I managed to never try it. I have quite a full lower lip, but my upper lip is challenged, so I was definitely curious to see what it would do. The consistency is very thin, almost like an oil. But it's not slick or oily. It dries and leaves just the stain of color, which is not too different from Benefit's Benetint. I personally do not like those kind of stains. The color tends to be uneven and you have to work with them very fast because once they set, they are impossible to blend. There was a little burning which I suppose is to make my lips feel fuller, but they weren't. I even had to apply the staining balm over it because it's just not sufficient to wear by itself.

I really struggled with writing this review because I hate having a bad experience with something. I really hung in there hoping for some sort of redeeming factor to pop up, yet while the staining balm is cool, it's not cool enough to counterbalance everything else. The bottom line is that overall, the products are fair, the customer service is poor and if I had to do it all again, I would've canceled my order and gotten something else.


**My next review will be of Konad's nail stamping products!**

A Quick Tip...

What do you do when you're at a make-up counter and are facing dozens of lipsticks? What urges do you feel? I'm willing to bet that you mark up the back of your hand with tons of little color swatches...no?

Well, the most accurate way to test a lipstick without actually putting it on your mouth is to put the color on your fingertips! It's messier, yes, but will give you a better representation of what the color will look like on your mouth, with your skin tone!

So carry a pack of purse-sized wipes with you (but any good counter will have supplies for you to clean up) and have fun!

Hard Candy's "Hot Smudge" - Hot or Not?

The latest product I've picked up is Hard Candy's "Hot Smudge" cream eyeliner. Sounds sexy doesn't it? It's in a sleek case that's about 1" x 4". The hinge is on the short side.

I'm not sure if many of you know this, but a couple of years ago, the cosmetics part of the Hard Candy brand was sold. While the fragrance part was not sold off, the cosmetics are no longer part of the same company as Urban Decay. You can now find Hard Candy at (get ready for this) Walmart...GASP!!

The change isn't necessarily bad. Some of the packaging has remained the same. The nail polishes still come with a plastic ring. There are more products with glitter than you could imagine! Glitter eyeliners, eyeshadows, mascaras, glitter pencils, body glitter, etc. The colors are trendy and fun. The packaging on the new products is pretty nifty! The lipstick tubes have old school-style tattoo flash art on them! And the line is expanded beyond what Hard Candy had available when it was sold in department stores. See more at www.HardCandy.com.

But back to the item at hand. The duo I got is called "misfit" and is number 291. The first thing I noticed when I opened the case is the brush. It's double-ended with a sponge for smudging on one end and a PINK flat, angled, nylon liner brush on the other end. BUT what I noticed was odd...the pink end of the brush was seriously OILY. I've tried to think of a reason to justify this, but have failed to come up with one. I immediately grabbed a paper towel and cleaned that off.

The colors seemed pretty safe, one is gray and the other is an olive green. But how wrong was I!! Once I started using the brush in them and working down the top layer, the colors are quite sparkly and metallic! I only tested them on my hands today because I am not feeling so well and did not feel like doing my make-up.

The colors applied smoothly and the nylon brush did a great job creating nice sharp lines. Unfortunately, I hate to report that unlike other gel liners by Bobbi Brown, Stila, MAC, etc., this liner doesn't set to an indelible finish. I left the lines on my hand for a few minutes and when I went back to see if they would smudge or not, I was disappointed to find that they totally wiped away!!

So, my final verdict is this: I like the idea of this product. I don't think it's fully there yet. I would recommend using this as a base to apply shadow on top of...but I have a feeling it is going to crease, just because the product is so creamy. Therefore, I would say use it to accentuate your regular eyeliner. Use a black or a black/brown eyeliner and use this to smudge it out for a smoky look with a pop of color. These eyeliners are available in a wide variety of colors, the most interesting being a royal blue with a clear, glittery counterpart. I'm sure that would make for a very cool look.

More From Sleek Make-Up...

When I was in London, I wrote a blog about some fabulous deals I found. The products I was most excited by were from Sleek Make-Up. They have intense colors that are packed full of pigments and perfect for all skin tones! And their prices are out of this world!

So upon my return, I was showing my Mom my purchases and she commented on really liking the iDivine Eye Shadow Palette called Storm. I figured I would order her one and a lipstick or two for Mother's Day.

The site is pretty much the same, but with prices for the US market which are slightly higher than the British prices....even after you take the monetary conversion into consideration. While I was slightly peeved by that, the products are just SO good that they are worth the extra couple of bucks.

I ended up ordering the Storm Palette for my Mom and the Chaos palette for myself. It has a lot of bright colors, but they are all matte. This is unusual for me, because I don't usually use a lot of matte products. I also ordered 3 of Sleek's Sheer Cover lipsticks in the colors: Cashmere, Organza and Calico.

Let the review begin:

First of all, I placed the order on April 27th. It didn't get shipped until May 5th. I received it today, May 13th. Shipping was just over $13, which I consider reasonable, because I know that mailing parcels via the Royal Mail is quite pricey. I am finding more and more companies have a longer processing time. I can understand if it's a small, grass roots company. But I suppose I'm just spoiled from shopping other companies with faster turnaround times, the best being Amazon Japan who always gets me my goods in 3 days with their standard shipping. (On a sidenote, my Mother's Day presents were ordered from DuWop cosmetics the weekend before Mother's Day and while I knew they wouldn't arrive in time, I was disappointed to get an email on May 5th informing me that something was backordered. Really? It took half a week to notify me? And they still had the product listed as in stock on their site. That's just NO BUENO in my book.)

But I digress. Because I like Sleek's products so much, I am willing to overlook the extended time it took to get the product to me. This is also not totally uncommon, you can read quite a few shipping inquiries on their Facebook fan page. I just know not to order with any time constraints. I would also recommend waiting and placing a large order or going in with friends to place a large order, so that way the shipping is not as much of a sting.

So, what is so great about Sleek? Why am I willing to look past this and that? The colors are fabulous. The prices are beyond the deals I get with various industry discounts. Sleek seems to have a very loyal following worldwide. They ARE doing something right. They are staying cutting edge, winning over new fans with limited edition items. They have products that rival the great cosmetic companies out there...and in some instances exceed the rivals. For example, I picked up Sleek's tinted lip balm and I love it so much more than MAC's. I've tried to like MAC's over and over again, but the flavor is just off. Sleek's is sweet and tastes like dessert and the colors are very wearable. Win win!!

When I opened the box, I have to tell you, I was most impressed. Sleek does something that NO other make-up company I've dealt with does. They reuse the boxes product is shipped to them in. So instead of the way MAC does it, where they put the products loose in a box with lots of black tissue paper, Sleek put the 3 lipsticks I ordered into a box that they receive lipsticks in. The 2 palettes were placed in a box that usually holds 3, so they put some bubble wrap in to take up space. That's very smart. More companies should take note.

My only other gripe, which is common when ordering and NOT being able to test something before hand...the color representations of the lipsticks online is far from accurate. The site shows Calico as being darker than Cashmere. Not so. Cashmere is darker and Calico is the color of cafe au lait (see photo above of Calico). I know my Mom loves browns, so I took a chance and figured I would wear the one she thought was too light. Now the online swatch for Organza was pretty much spot on. I had not tested these when I was in London, because I didn't see them when I was out and about.

And did I mention you get a FREEBIE? Yep, you can choose a color of their teeny, tiny, mini lipgloss!

My final verdict is...ORDER from Sleek. Remember the processing time and shipping may not be as fast as some other companies, but it in the end the cool products are worth it. I cannot see how any fashionista will be disappointed with these products.

**Photos by Glamourpuss**

Congratulations!

Congratulations are in order for @ByHandGiveaways!!

Danelle, you won the Mother's Day Giveaway! Here's a screenshot of the random name picker I used (I found the cutest one that looked like a slot machine!):


Thank you so much for following my blog, my tweets and spreading the word about my promotion! I will be in touch with you shortly to get your information so I can get the necklace out in the mail to you ASAP.

And thank you to all who participated, I really appreciate your feedback about my shop!