Mary Kay Review

Hi friends!  I hope you are well!  Today, I'm reviewing some Mary Kay makeup I got from Influenster for free for the purpose of writing an honest review.  Influenster is a really cool program you can join and they give you products to test out and review.  I love it!

I used to be a Mary Kay consultant over ten years ago.  I enjoyed the makeup then but have not tried it recently.  I was really excited to try it!  I loooooooove makeup and really enjoy experimenting with it!  I'm going to write mini reviews of each product I received.

1. Mary Kay Nourishine Plus Lip Gloss in Mango Tango
This is a very smooth formula lip gloss.  It gives good pigmentation and can be sheered out for a more natural look.  It does not dry my lips out and is not too sticky.  It's quite comfortable on the lips.  It has a very faint vanilla type smell.  This shade has a bit of micro shimmer in it.  I don't mind it at all.  It does not leave flecks of glitter on my lips like some lip glosses.  This shade is really pretty.  It's a bit intimidating in the tube but really pretty on the lips.  Would I repurchase?  Yes.

2. Mary Kay Lash Love Mascara in I heart Black
This is a thin formula mascara.  It builds a lot of length but I could not build a lot of volume without making it clumpy.  I have very thin eyelashes.  I also have oily lids and skin.  I wore this mascara on my top and lower lashes and it did not smudge at all.  I was very impressed with the staying power!  I usually have to use waterproof to get mascara to stay on me.  This is a good mascara for people who just need length or for lower lashes.  I had to layer it with another mascara to get the volume that I prefer.  Would I repurchase?  Maybe.

3. Mary Kay Bronzing Powder in Light-Medium
This shade was very natural on me.  I would say I have medium skin.  The product has a pleasant slightly perfume-y smell but it's very light.  There is a little bit of shimmer in this so it's not great for contouring.  I usually only use bronzers for contouring so this product didn't really work for me.  However, if you are the type that likes a dusting of bronzer, I'm sure this is nice.  Would I repurchase?  No.

4. Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Shy Blush
This is my favorite of the products I received!  It's a very pigmented blush that can be sheered out.  It has a golden shimmer in it and gives your cheeks a healthy glow.  It has no smell that I can detect.  What really impressed me about this blush is how long it stayed on my cheeks!  I feel like blush is the first thing to fade off my face.  I checked this blush after 7 hours and it was still there.  Would I repurchase?  Yes!

5. Mary Kay Powder Brush
I'm a firm believer that you need good brushes to apply beautiful makeup.  This brush worked just fine and it seems sturdy.  However, it's not the softness I prefer.  I would not call this brush soft at all and it sheds a little bit.  If you don't mind a medium texture brush, this would work for you.  Would I repurchase?  No.

6. Mary Kay Cream Eyeshadow/Concealer Brush
This is a nice dense brush and it has a good shape.  It's not soft but for cream shadows, it's doesn't really need to be.  It's effective at applying the cream shadow.  It does shed a little bit.  Would I repurchase?  Maybe.

7. Mary Kay Gel Eyeliner with Expandable Brush Applicator
The formula on this is extremely creamy.  It's SUPER black!  It's very easy to apply.  The brush works really well with it.  It stays very well on my oily skin, even when I did winged liner.  It did not irritate my eyes at all.  Would I repurchase?  Yes.

8. Mary Kay Translucent Loose Powder
This is a finely milled powder.  It has a very faint perfume-y smell.  It leaves my skin with a matte finish and does not irritate my skin.  It does not leave a white cast in photos so that's nice.  This powder works fine but it's nothing to write home about.  Would I repurchase? Probably not.

9. Mary Kay Cream Eye Color in Apricot Twist
This is a nice cream shadow with no scent I can detect.  It has a shimmery finish.  It lasts all day on my lids without a primer.  I didn't crease either.  The only issue I ran into was when I was trying to build up more color while the product was not quite dry, it got a little clumpy looking.  However, if you just let it dry in between, it works fine and you can build up to a very pretty golden color.  You can also use it sheer around your tear ducts and under the brow to highlight.  Would I repurchase?  Yes.

Here's a look I created using ALL the Mary Kay products I received.  I added my own BB cream, concealer, navy eyeshadow, and an extra coat of mascara.

The product links I provided are to my friend Brooke's Mary Kay site.  She's a very nice woman who I've known for about 6 years now.  And I've NEVER felt any sales pressure from her.  I have not purchased from her site but if I was going to buy Mary Kay, that's how I would go about it.  :)

Please leave me a comment if you are interested in more makeup reviews.  I have LOTS of makeup!  :)  Have a great day, friends!

Mani Monday... on a Tuesday

Hi friends!  I meant to blog yesterday, but I was SO sick!  I think I got the flu but I have the flu shot so it lessens the symptoms.  Is that how it works?  I slept almost ALL day yesterday and I'm feeling at least alive today.  Sigh... I was lucky enough to have Dustin take a day off work to take care of me and the kids.  I'm on my own today though.

Today, I have some manis to show you.  I was lucky enough to get this awesome Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure box from Influenster for free to try out and review.  I was SO excited about this product!  It claims to be a 7 in 1 with base coat, strengthener, growth treatment, color, top coat, chip resistant, and gel shine.  The thought of being able to just use one product REALLY excited me because as a mom of 3 young kids, I don't have a lot of time to just sit and let my nails dry.

 The first one I used is Jaded at the same time, I put Pat on the Black on my toes.  I didn't take pics of my feet.  I really don't like the way my feet look and refuse to subject you guys to them.  I was really excited about this pretty mint color since mint is SO on trend.  I originally did 3 coats and let them dry and went to bed.  The color was very translucent and I needed 3 coats for it to be opaque.  The next day, I noticed a few imperfections so I painted on a fourth coat.  That's what you see here.  Once that fourth coat was on, it was perfect!  The color was lovely and it held up beautifully!  I had to take it off 4 days later because I was on a TV show (should I blog about this?  Leave a comment if you want to hear about the TV show.)  But it held up just fine.  My toes also lasted great until I took the polish off.  I only needed 2 coats for my toes with Pat on the Black.

 Later on, I tried Red My Lips.  I only did two coats and wanted to see how they would last.  I mean, the point was to SAVE time right?  Honestly, they began chipping right away and a few days later, I had to take them all off.  So, 4 coats really will make it last the best.

Overall, I think it's a great product.  Do you have to paint on a bunch of coats?  Yes.  But it's all you need.  You don't have to buy extra products.  Also, my nails did feel nourished afterwards so that's always nice.  The colors were nice too.  I would repurchase these with no problem.  Hope that helps!  Talk to you soon, friends!

I'm linking up on Mani Monday on Glitter and Gloss.

Influenster Box #2: Ferrero Rocher

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well.  We are scraping by here.  It's been a rough transition and we are still in it with the kids.

Today, I wanted to tell you about my second Influenster box.  I talked about Influenster in THIS POST last month.  Basically, you can sign up to try out FREE products if you agree to review them.  How cool is that?  My second box came from Influenster and it was a GORGEOUS golden box of Ferrero Rocher!  18 pieces!  Not some tiny sample.  Look at how pretty it is!  Now, because I am reviewing it, I didn't give the whole box away though it would make a great present!

In case you've never had Ferrero Rocher, they are individually wrapped little balls of goodness.  There's a hazelnut in the center surrounded by a chocolate cream then there's a wafer cookie layer and they top it with a chocolate coating that is loaded with hazelnut pieces.  If you love hazelnuts and hazelnut spreads, you will love these!  They are so yummy!  Now, I wanted to keep them all for myself but after a long day of taking care of all the kids, I pulled out my box and sat on the couch and gave some to my husband too.

Here's the description from the company:
Ferrero Rocher® is a unique and delicious chocolate experience made by Italian chocolatier Ferrero, since 1982. The chocolates are a tempting combination of smooth chocolaty cream surrounding a whole hazelnut; within a delicate, crisp wafer. . . all enveloped in milk chocolate and finely chopped hazelnuts. The chocolates are individually wrapped in gold foil.

Have a great day, friends!  

Cosmo Voxbox From Influenster

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are doing pretty good, just having a slow weekend at home.  The kids have school next week then will be off for Christmas break after that.  I'm excited to (hopefully) sleep in.  :)  Isn't that a big dream?  

Today, I'm sharing a really cool program with you.  A couple weeks ago, I joined a program called Influenster.  You basically fill out surveys and reviews and based on your likes and needs, you get FREE product to try out.  Then you blog about it or make a YouTube video or post to Twitter or Facebook.  This is the first box I received and I ALREADY got another one too!  If you want an invite, contact me through my sidebar and I'll see what I can do.

Here's what I got in my Cosmo Voxbox and what I thought:

1. Ghiradelli Sea Salt Escape chocolate bar - I have not tried this NEW flavor before and it was really yummy.  It starts with a nice bite of salt but ends sweet.  I already like Ghiradelli so I was really excited to try this flavor.  It's nice quality chocolate and I love the crunch from the almonds!

2. Venus Embrace Razor - I'm already familiar with this product.  I love my Venus razors!  I have this razor already and I use it all the time.

3. Venus and Olay razor refill - I really enjoyed this razor refill!  It snaps right onto any Venus razor that you already have so you don't have to buy a whole new razor.  There was a nice layer skin conditioners on both sides of the razor for a more comfortable shave.  I thought it was a nice improvement.  It's more luxurious than the regular razor refill.

4. FriXion by Pilot Pen - I got this pen in black and red and I like them both.  They write really nicely.  I've yet to find a gel based ink that writes this smoothly.  I didn't need to put another paper down underneath to write which is nice and it worked great when I was writing on the go too.  I'm blown away that you can ERASE this pen too!  So cool!

5. Forever Red Eau de Perfume from Bath & Body Works - I'm really picky about perfume so I'm actually really surprised that I like this.  I wore it for almost a whole week.  I'm sensitive to some smells but this didn't bother even my overly sensitive pregnant nose.  It's fruity and a little musky.  Perfect for this time of year!