Sample Sunday: Kate Somerville, Ole Henriksen and Dead Sea Premier

1. Kate Somerville

CytoCell Dermal Energizing Treatment

 This is supposed to stimulate stem cell activity. I don't know if it does, but I like the way it feels when I put it on. My skin has gotten really smooth and much more even since I started using the Clarisonic. I've been able to try so many products without irritation. Some products seem to help improve my skin and some don't seem to do anything. Honestly I couldn't tell the difference with this. I won't purchase the full size.

2. Ole Henriksen

Truth Serum Collagen Booster

for all skin types

Another product I didn't notice a huge difference with, but I do like the consistency and packaging. I also like that I didn't have to use another moisturizer at night along with this serum. I don't know if I will ever purchase a full size version. I have a lot of samples to go through.

3. Dead Sea Premier

Instant Stretching and Revializing Mask

This is the typical Dead Sea mud mask. I have enough masks that I won't need to buy one for some time.

Sample Sunday: Kate Somerville, Boscia and Make Up For Ever

I have a lot of samples. A lot. I sell most of them on eBay or give them away, but some I keep for myself. These are a few I've tried recently.

1. Kate Somerville ExfoliKate 

Intensive Exfoliating Treament for all skin types.

I've used this treatment a couple of times before and I really like it. It really burns my face so it makes me think something is working, but I don' think it's supposed to burn as much as it does. I might be sensitive to it.  It smells Herbally. A bit like tea. ExfoliKate is a grainy, green cream. You're supposed to apply it in circular motions for 30 seconds to clean, wet skin and let it sit for up to 2 minutes. Then rinse. I used this sample after I had a hormonal breakout. It did just what I wanted and left a clean, soft face. My spots dried up and I'm good as new. ExfoliKate has parabens so I won't purchase the full size, but I will use up he samples I have.

2. Boscia B.B. Cream

SPF 27 PA++

I used this packet up in a couple of days. The color was dark for me, but I love the finish and the SPF. There seems to be a bit of sparkle in it which is weird though. I won't buy the full size because I like my Artistry Tinted Moisturizer- alone, mixed with foundation or layered under mineral foundation depending on my mood.

3. Make Up For Ever

Sens'Eyes Waterproof Sensitive Eye Cleanser

I never buy makeup remover. I use samples, face wash or lotion to remove makeup. I liked this just fine. It isn't worth paying full price.

I hate birthdays.

    "Not only is the glass half empty, but the water is warm and it tastes bad."

    I hope you read this with the understanding that I am almost never 100% serious. Everything I say should be taken with a grain of salt. I like to complain, but things really aren't that bad. They never are.
    The night before I turned eight years old I cried because I thought I was getting old and my parents were going to die. That was twenty years ago. Twenty! The day I turned ten I told my Nana that I was a decade old. I'm almost three decades old now. I turned twenty-eight today. To some that might not seem like a big deal, but to a little girl who, for no good reason thought death was nigh at eight years old, it's painful.
    To be clear it isn't my death I fear. It's of those that I love. Death is something I've always been very aware of. My first best friend died when I was three. Her name was Alma and she was a smoking, cussing, wheelchair bound ninety-eight year old woman in a foster home for the elderly. Then an aunt, classmates, friends of the family, church family, a life-long friend, my sweet Papa. I understand loss is inevitable. I believe that I will see some of my loved ones again and I am comforted by that. I have watched friends lose their parents so young and again I am thankful that mine are still here.
    How did a post about birthdays become a post about death? Well you get older on your birthday. To me it's a day that boasts the loss of time. Time really goes in a blink of an eye. Even a long life seems short. I've always struggled with change and get frustrated with the lack of control I have with time. If I had one super power it would be to control time. To be able to pause those rare, perfect moments in the sun with loved ones when you're perfectly content. Obviously I don't though. I don't even have half decent time management skills.
    Getting old isn't the only reason I don't like birthdays or even one of the most nagging reasons. The reasons I get upset on my birthday are much more simple and even more selfish. I want acknowledgement and presents and to be the queen. I get sad when it doesn't happen. Boohoo. That makes me feel ashamed and then I'm a party pooper.
    I have no good reason to hate birthdays. I'm a selfish brat. I have had not so good birthdays and great birthdays. Today was a good day. I had a good birthday and it started with me having a better attitude from the start. I complained, but there was no crying. There was a lot of smiling, some laughing, a few hugs, a couple of presents, a good dinner cooked by my loving husband and some great birthday songs sung by my nieces and nephews.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte #7 Lingerie Pink Lipstick Review and Dupes!

    Let's hope this goes better than the last review/dupe/swatch post. 

    Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick comes in twenty-one shades. I have two very similar shades. #1 Nude Beige and #7 Lingerie Pink. I'm going to focus on Lingerie Pink, but I'll swatch Nude Beige as well. The possible dupes I am swatching are NYX #595 Strawberry Milk and Revlon Lip Butter in #055 Cupcake.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick

This is the most luxurious packaging I've ever gotten my hands on. I'm unfancy so that might not impress you, but trust the hype this time. It's a beautiful, golden, metal tube with the YSL logo wrapped around a plastic underlay. Each lipstick's underlay matches the shade found inside.

YSL #1 (left) YSL #7 (right)

 
• The texture is like nothing else. It glides on smoothly covering my lips in pure pigment. It feels like butter going on, but isn't greasy at all. It doesn't drag or clump on dry spots at all.
• For me it wears nicely. Lasting a few hours and fading gradually. I've read a lot of reviews saying it's moisturizing and while it feels that way in the beginning, my lips tend to get a little dry when I wear it.
• The two I have tried leave a completely opaque, glossy finish. No gloss needed. The color is so saturated it makes #7 a difficult color to wear for some. I prefer a light pink or nude lip so I love it. I have no idea if I look silly. 
• To me these lipsticks smell like watermelon.
• I also think they taste a bit like watermelon, but if it were a watermelon perfume/scent and not a flavor. Does that make sense?
• 0.14 oz. $34
• Available in 21 shades.
• Made in France Oo-la-la!

   

Now for the possible dupes!

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter

Revlon #055 Cupcake

 Pink So Foxy  on YouTube said that the Revlon Lip Butter in #055 Cupcake is a dupe for the popular YSL #7 Lingerie Pink so of course I bought it. I actually find it a bit harder to pull of than the YSL and wouldn't recommend it in place of the YSL. In the pictures though it looks like it's almost a match so it's up to you.

• I'm sure you're familiar with the lip butter texture by now. They were one of the most hyped about products on Youtube for quite a while. I really like them. The lip butters are soft, smooth and moisturizing. They aren't sticky at all, but they don't glide on as smoothly as the YSL. 
• The Revlon wear and fade nicely. They aren't particularly long lasting. The wear time and texture are much like a nice lip balm.
• Lip butters are semi-sheer in one layer and buildable to medium opacity, shiny finish. Also no gloss needed for these. This one has a tiny unnoticeable sparkles.
• Cupcake smells faintly sweet.
• I don't taste anything.
• 0.09 oz. $6.48 and up
• Available in 20 shades.
• Made in USA

NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick 

NYX #595 Strawberry Milk

In my opinion this is a better dupe than the Revlon Lip Butter. I find it a much closer shade to the YSL #7. If it's the color you're after and you're willing to give up the luxury for the price I would say this is a close enough dupe.

• NYX Round Lipsticks have a creamy, moisturizing, thin texture.
• Not very long wearing.
• Sheer to medium coverage. Strawberry Milk has tiny little sparkles that are unnoticeable .
• To me this lipstick smells slightly like sunscreen, but I have to practically stick it up my nose to smell it.
• There isn't much of a taste. Maybe a very slight sunscreen taste.
• 0.14 oz. $3.99
• Available in 124 shades.
• Made in Taiwan

TL: YSL #1, TR: YSL #7, BL: Revlon, BR: NYX

As you can see the light is a little different in the last picture. I tried to get them all taken in the same lighting, but failed. Sorry.

YSL #1 in natural light and direct sunlight

YSL #7 in natural light and direct sunlight

NYX in natural light and brighter natural light :/

Revlon in natural light and direct sunlight

 

Meet Tuff and A Shameless, But Amazing "Affiliate" Link

    I'm not feeling well this evening so I'm sitting in bed watching LisaLisaD1 on YouTube with my little Tufferly. Surprise! Surprise! I thought it would be a good use of my time to update the ole blog. My one reader will be so excited :)
I have so many things I want to blog about and have such a hard time finding the time to put the words together and take pictures. Anyone else? I thought now would be a good time to just do a 'Get To Know Me' type post. I got distracted by that wicked siren, Sephora and have completely forgotten what I was going to write about. Fail! At least I used ebates and am getting 8% cash back. If you don't use it, you should! It's the best thing for online shoppers. I even order things through ebates and then go pick them up at the store just to get the cash back. With a home renovation it's coming in handy at Home Depot.

Sleepy puppy pillow

So in keeping with the 'Get To Know Me' idea here is a part of me. My little Tuff puppy. He was 9 months old on the 3rd. He's such a good boy. If you're into yorkies he has his own instagram, "tuff_enough".  Don't make fun. Haha

His shaggy chic look.

How We Met

This is the short version of how my husband and I met. 

The groom's story...

Long story short, I went to a party at the river. When I got there my friends asked if I had seen the hippie yet so I looked around. I thought they were talking about H. That was when I first laid eyes on my beautiful future wife ;) The night went on and I had tried talking to her once or twice, but she blew me off. Her friend Ginger (a boy) told me not to bother trying and that it was a waste of time. Later on I was standing by the fire and I felt something tickle my ear. I turned around and saw our friend Jake with a smirk on his face so I thought it was him. That happened a couple times until I decided it had to be H. I followed her around and annoyed her for the rest of the night and got a ride home with her and her friends.

The bride's story...

Oh boy...Well, I don't think I looked like a hippie. I had curly hair and a shirt with flowers on it. I was not the fire dancing girl with dreadlocks. 
My sister, J introduced me to all of her friends at the river. One of them she called Spud. Everyone else called him Idaho (Where he's from). We were there quite a while and I got bored. I picked a piece of dead grass and looked at the people next to me. Without thinking it through I used the grass to tickle an ear a few times. I immediately regretted that decision. I claimed it was Jake and walked away, but it was too late. This Spudmuffin guy followed me around for what felt like hours. He wouldn't give up. When it was time to leave he asked for a ride home and I told him there was no room for him. Ginger was driving and being the nice guy he is told the truth and said we could give him a ride. Idaho talked the ENTIRE way to the boat (Where he lived. Fancy!). When he got out he made a phone with his hand, put it to his head and said, "Call me." I replied with, "Yeah right!" and thought, 'Oh crap...'

The rest of our story...

Idaho made some bad impressions the next several times we met, but no matter how mean I was to him he wouldn't give up. I found him so amusing and funny I couldn't be mean for long. I stopped resisting and soon we became friends, but I still wouldn't date him. I planned on moving to Oregon and he was supposed to go back to Idaho after crab season. I thought we would move away and lose touch. Idaho joked about us getting married from the beginning. Neither of us thought he would be right. His late boss/friend and my dad seemed to push us together. Once my dad even called his boss, told him Idaho was done working for the day, picked him up from work and made him go to dinner with us. We became fast best friends and started dating on Idaho's 20th birthday. I was 24.

This always makes me think of my husband.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain vs. L'Oreal Color Caresse Wet Shine Stain

    L'Oreal bought Yves Saint Laurent back in '08 so while I was doubtful I had hopes that these products would be similar if not the same formula. Not only would the same formula be awesome, but the same or similar colors would be amazing. A highly raved about $32 product for $9.99! Impossible...right? 

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain:

• The packaging is substantial. It feels like quality and it's just pretty.
• Texture is very smooth and moisturizing for a stain. At first it's cold and thin. Then as it sets it feels slightly sticky.
• Surprisingly long wearing. It left a long lasting silky coat on my lips for a good 5-6 hours. 
• Very pigmented. I've only got one shade and it's very light, but it's visible with one coat and even better with two.
• It smells quite strong. I can definitely smell the alcohol and a strong perfume. Alcohol > Perfume
• It tastes like it smells. 
• .20 oz. for $32.00
• Available in 24 shades.
• Made in France

YSL Beige Aquarelle 1 Coat

YSL Beige Aquarelle 2 Coats

Ingredients: 
Free of parabens, sulfates and phthalates!
Octyldodecanol, Aqua/Water, Trimethylsiloxyphenyl Dimethicone, Ethylcellulose, Sorbitan Stearate, Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Sucrose Cocoate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Silica, Benzyl Alcohol, Limonene, Calcium, Sodium Borosilicate, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Alumina, Benzyl Benzoate, Anise Alcohol, Acrylates Copolymer, Tin Oxide, Fragrance. 
May Contain: Ci 77891/ Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Ci 15850/ Red 7, Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499 / Iron Oxides, Ci 17200 / Red 33, Ci 15985 / Yellow 6, Caramel, Ci 42090/ Blue 1, Ci 19140/ Yellow 5, Ci 75470/ Carmine.

L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain:

• The packaging is light. It feels cheap, but it's still pretty.
• The texture is also smooth and cold when first applied. It sets similar to the YSL, but feels a little lighter.
• This doesn't wear as long as the YSL, let alone the 6 hours L'Oreal claims. On me it wore about 1/3 of the time as the YSL.
• The lightest color (Pink Perseverance) is very sheer, but slightly visible in two coats. The darker shade I have (Rose On And On) is visible in one coat.
• It smells strongly of alcohol and perfume. Perfume > Alcohol
• The taste is overwhelmingly perfumey at first.
• .21 Fl oz. $5.99 and up. I paid $9.99
• Available in 12 shades.
• Made in USA

There's nothing like taking 20 pictures of sloppily applied lip stain in the blinding sun to show how uneven a girl's lips are. And to show that pictures in blinding sun wash out all color.

Pink Perseverance 1 Coat

Pink Perseverance 2 Coats

Rose On And On 1 Coat

Rose On And On 2 Coats

Ingredients:
Octyldodecanol, Aqua/Water, Trimethylsiloxyphenyl Dimethicone, Ethylcellulose, Sorbitan Stearate, Alcohol Denat, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sucrose Cocoate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Benzyl Alcohol, Parfum/Fragrance
May Contain: Mica, Ci 77891, Titanium Dioxide, Ci 77491, Ci 77499, Iron Oxides, Ci 17200/Red 33, Ci 15985/Yellow 6, Ci 16035/Red 40, Ci 15850/Red 7, Ci 19140/Yellow 5, Ci 42090/Blue 1

    I have to say they are not the same. I purchased nearly identical shades in both and while the applicators and ingredients are close, the results I got were not close enough. For the price L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain would be a great option if you're looking for color. The lightest shades, however are not worth it in my opinion. The L'Oreal is less pigmented and drying and just doesn't compare to the YSL Glossy Stain. While doing this experiment I found another product I actually prefer from a completely different brand, but that's for another day:)

P.S. Can anyone say the ridiculous names of these products in one breath?