Savannah Bee Royal Jelly Body Butters Review!

Okay, I'm excited to post about these! I've been taking these to work and letting the girls I work with try them to get more opinions on these as well. The company had provided me with the original and the sensitive skin version for review. You can find their shop here at https://savannahbee.com/ as well as their shop on amazon here at http://www.amazon.com/The-Savannah-Bee-Company

If you sign up for their emails on their store website, you get 10% off of a purchase which is pretty nifty.

These are the Savannah Bee Royal Jelly Body Butters in the Original Formula and the Sensitive Skin Formula. They retail for $24.70 for the full sized jars which are 6.7 oz/190g of product (That's quite a lot!) and these pictured below are the "mini" sized products which retail for $12.90 each for 1.65 oz/48g of product, which is the PERFECT size!

The packaging is sleek and unique. They come in little boxes with a hinged lid.

They have a silver embossed lid with the brand logo. On the inside of the box's lid, it reads:

The most precious product of the hive, Royal Jelly is a "Cinderella" substance that turns a worker bee into a Queen...and allows her to live 40 times longer than the average bee as a result! Replete with a multitude of vitamins, proteins, lipids and sugars, this amazing natural substance is known for it's nourishing and deep moisturizing properties--as well as it's ability to promote skin's elasticity  and smooth appearance.

Seriously, these would make AMAZING gifts for Mothers, Sisters, Friends, Teachers, etc.

You get a pretty heavy glass jar of product. The weight is 1.65 oz/48 grams, which is the "mini" size. These are pretty large for being called "mini," to be honest. It's not often that I find beauty products that come in actual glass jars, so this company get's an A++ for packaging! It's cute, practical, reusable and sturdy.

As soon as you unscrew the jar of the original one, you get a wonderful whiff of a sweet aroma. It's sweet like candy (I imagine it's because of the sugar) and it smells amazing. Everyone who has used it has commented on how great it smells! After a few minutes this smell fades to light, faint, comforting scent, which is not overpowering whatsoever. With the Sensitive Skin Body Butter, there's hardly a scent at all.

When you apply the products to the skin, they have a medium thickness (which is awesome because it coats evenly and well without running) that actually absorbs fairly quickly. It left my hands matte yet hydrated, but without a silicone/greasy feeling. It's hard to describe--I haven't tried a product like this before...my hands stayed incredibly soft for over 4 hours after application. I applied it twice during my work shift. I use less than the amount you see pictured here on my hand...and it does the job. I wanted to get a pretty good picture of the consistency for you guys, so I kinda gooped a bit on my hand, lol. It reminds me a bit of an emulsion cream without the greasy feeling. 

What I really enjoyed the most was the fact that even though my hands felt moisturized and I had applied lotion to them, I had no slip and no problems while typing during my shift! My hands looked and felt supple and soft without the standard "I just applied lotion now I can't type for crap" feeling. That's huge in my book since I type all day at work. I had no problem using my mouse, and I was able to grip anything and everything I needed. Since Royal Jelly is an anti-aging product, I think I'm even more excited to use this daily. I do a lot with my hands, and I'm noticing a few small wrinkles which have appeared on my hands over the past 2 years. 

This product was a HUGE hit with about 10 of us gals at work. A few of them were even asking day after day if I brought them in, ha ha ha!

Would I repurchase?

Without a doubt. I used to love The Body Shop and Bath & Body Works, but this product kind of pairs my fave things about both brands such as: I love the BBW scents, but I hate how runny their lotion can be and how much the scent fades...not really worth their prices in my honest opinion. With this product, the scent does fade, but I can still smell it for HOURS, and it moisturizes without leaving me greasy. A little bit goes a long way, AND it has anti-aging ingredients...that's a HUGE win with me. With The Body Shop, I absolutely love their products, but their lotion leaves me greasy, and I have to reapply it quite often. For the price point of TBS, it's not as price efficient for me unless they are having a sale, and even then, most of their products do not smell as delicious as this. With this Body Butter, the scent is there even if it's light, any time I have my hands in front of my face I can smell it...and my hands are not left with a greasy feeling. 

Review: MAC Retro Matte Relentlessly Red Lipstick!

Looking for a rich, vibrant and sassily bright lippie to rock everyone's socks off this Winter? Look no further, this flattering bright vintage shade is here. Your Grandmother would approve! I give you, MAC Cosmetic's Retro Matte Lipstick in Relentlessly Red!

This shade can be found on the MAC Cosmetics website and retails for $16.00. They have a total of 4 fabulous shades that are "Retro Matte" to choose from. (I'm eyeing Ruby Woo)

The color is a bit different in person than it was on my monitor. It's very close to a neon pink--it's that bright!On the website, it looks closer to a true red. Don't be fooled!!! If you are okay with bright pinks and oranges on your lips, you'll love this shade! However, if you want a more traditional matte red, you'd hardly reach for this one.

This shade is such a bright one, that it's almost black light reactive! It's a neon red that borders on "pink." This color is long lasting, matte and glides on evenly. The only downfall to this particular shade is that it's a very dry formula. If you have chapped lips, do NOT wear this! ANY flaw that's on your lips will be extremely noticeable. Since the formula is pretty dry, I apply a small amount of softlips, lip balm, chapstick before applying the lipstick. That way, it will glide on over my lip's sad little wrinkles and look/feel much better than if I applied it without.

On to the swatches!
And ignore the orange lip liner. I didn't really have anything that would go with this particular color.

Notice how it hangs on the chapped part of my lips. Not an awesome formula for those of us who have chaptastic lip flaps! Exfoliation is our friend...

The swatch on the left has been built up with a few swipes. The swatch on the right is just one swipe. The coverage can be built up for opacity, but the color remains the same.


The Bottom Line:
Would I repurchase this lipstick? Probably not. The formula is too drying, and if I didn't have super chapped lips all of the freaking time, I'd love it. However, since my lips are dumb and sad most of the time, I can see this color bringing out my flaws more often than not. I really do enjoy the color though, I just wish the formula wasn't dry as a desert.

Have you guys tried the retro Mattes? What is your opinion on the formula? What do you like or dislike about them?

Indie Thursday! Armoaleigh's Lisette!

Everyone is going crazy for "Indie" cosmetics nowadays (I'm even working on my own indie line!) And I wanted to share a very beautiful pink sparkly shade with you guys. You can check out Aromaleigh's store here. This shade has been discontinued before I was able to review this shade, HOWEVER...there are shades very similar AND the quality of her products are AMAZING enough for me to review a discontinued product! (I do not normally do that because I feel that it's kinda crappy, but seriously the sparkle and shimmer in her products are simply stunning and there are similar shades to try out!)

The color is far more sparkly than the little sample bag leads on.

Here you can see some of the pretty sparkles and shimmers through the shadow.

Swatches Left to Right: Lsette on it's own, over black base, over NYX's White Eyeshadow base. I tried to get the light to catch the sheen of this shade. It looks best when used with a white base.

Out of focus for light-catching particle properties. There are TONS of light-catching particles. Seriously, this is shiny!

The color itself has an irredescent look. The color change goes from this pink to an almost purple shade. It's a medium pink with tiny metallic nude colored flecks as well as tiny blue-toned shimmer. This color has to be used with a base for maximum effect of course, however if you are new to bold colors and are looking for something soft and subtle yet out of your comfort zone, this would be a great time for you. The formula lasts very well with a primer of course (I use the Elf Essential Glitter Glue) and it lasts for around 8 hours.

Here are a few shades (Pictures have been taken from her web shop, and names of shades link to their according eyeshadow) that I think would be close enough in shade to love whole-heartedly:

Aspasia

Bellissima

Brainy Is The New Sexy

Have you tried her stuff? I've yet to actually purchase anything from her store--this sample was given to me by a friend to try out. I'm thinking about making a purchase soon! (It's so hard to just pick a few things, you know? I want to try ALL THE THINGS and I just cannot decide on things for a "blogger pack." Do you have any fave shadows from Aromaleigh? Any suggestions on ones I should try? If so I'd love to hear what you suggest!

And a quick update for my readers:

My Dad had an accident and is in the hospital right now. We were told that he's probably not going to make it, and if by some miracle he does, he's not going to be the same, nor be able to take care of himself. For those of you who knew what has been going on, I want to thank you so very much for your support during this time. I'm trying to keep my shit together, and it hasn't been easy. So thank you guys for the kind messages, the hugs and the shoulders that I've leaned/cried on these past few days. I want all of you, readers, friends and family to know that I appreciate all of you, and if you could send prayers/positive thoughts in our direction it would be lovely. Thank you for being amazeballs.


   Love,
        Nicole.

Review: Tarte 24-Hour Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush

I'm a super huge fan of the ALL of Tarte's blushes. I could rave all damn day about how great the pigmentation always is, how amazing the quality happens to be and how awesome the ingredients are, but that would take ALL DAY and you guys would call me a freak. Is it that good? Yep, it's THAT good. This 24-Hour Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush is perfect--it's a beautifully pigmented pink shade, it's matte, it stays on FOREVER, (Well, okay, maybe not forever, but I've NEVER had to touch up my cheeks when wearing this stuff) and it's like, my Holy Grail Blush. So let's get down to business!

The packaging is nice, thick and sturdy. There is a tiny hole in the back of these where you can use a pin to pop out the pans which makes depotting easy-peazy.

Can't you just hear angels singing!? Simply stunning!

Such a nice pink--this shade will compement EVERY skin tone and it's matte! Having a decent matte blush in one's collection is a MUST. Just look at that print! Quick--over there! Is that a monkey!? J/K, but in all seriousness, this is just as pretty in it's packaging as it is on one's face.

And the swatch. Nice medium pink, matte-y goodness.

This is with 2 quick sweeps. I applied this blush 8 hours ago--and it STILL looks as if I just applied it! I didn't do any touch ups at work. Obviously the color is buildable, and light as a feather. It doesn't feel like I'm wearing anything at all. Nice, light, quality ingredients--what more can a gal ask for? This blush gets an A+  from me. I will continue to add more colors to my collection! This blush runs for $26 at Sephora and TarteCosmetics.com

What's your fave Tarte blush?

Fave Winter Products Part 1: Sweet and Feminine and Light-Catching!

These products are perfect for the transition of Fall to Winter. Soft and Girly, a bit of Glitz and Glam to make any outfit shine this Holiday Season! So let's get into what they are:



Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette:

Why it Rocks:
This palette of amazingness brings such a nice innocent and youthful glow the skin. It's perfect for highlighting, sweeping all over the face, light contouring, and so much more. The light reflecting particles just illuminates one's skin perfectly! You can be confident that you are going to get a nice subtle glow every time you use it, and there's really no way to over-do it. The palette has a shade for everyone!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Singles in Snatch and Midnight Cowboy:

(Right: Snatch. Left: Midnight Cowboy)

Why Snatch Rocks:
This color is the perfect flirty peach with gold glitter. It has a pearl-like shine that's light attracting and the gold glitter keeps this shade interesting. It's soft yet very pigmented and the glitter is sparse enough that you could wear this to an evening party, or even work without looking like a glitter-bomb went off in your face.

Why Midnight Cowboy Rocks:
This shade is a bit more pale in comparison to Snatch, and has silver glitter instead of gold. This is more of a nude peach that is universal enough to work with any skin tone and shade. If you have a deep shade of skin, apply this shade on the lid as well in the inner conrer of your eye to catch a bit of soft light. The glitter is sparse, so yet again, no need to feel like a glitter-bomb went off in your face. It's just that classy.


Sephora X Nail Polish in Ice Princess:

 Why Ice Princess Rocks:
The shade is flirty and fem, with a tiny gold shimmer mixed with a surprise of 2 different sized Rose Gold glitters. It catches light, and prevents ,your nails from being boring. It's soft color compliments any skin tone, and in my opinion would be the PERFECT main mani color for New Year's and Thanksgiving. It's soft, it sparkles, it's awesome.

What will you guys be wearing this Holiday Season?

Review: OCC's RX Lip Tar

I've hopped on the blue train, and this shade is so pretty and daring! As much as I love this color, it feathers terribly. I have been using the Elf Lip Lock Pencil to help keep this bad boy from wandering all over my face, and it works wonders! This product is opaque and bright--just what is needed when wearing a bright hued lippie! On to the swatches!

This brightly hued Lip Tar REALLY packs a punch to the eyeballs. It's sooooo bright! It has an amazing consistency--non sticky, lightweight and comfortable.

As you can see, the feathering can be super redonkulous without a clear lip liner or an adhesive medium. I absolutely LOVE this color and will be wearing it to work very soon. I purchased it from Glambot.com to use with my other blue Lip Tar, Technopagan. I do have to reapply this color every few hours, but honestly I don't mind doing so for the opaqueness and vibrancy of the product! I have been extremely impressed with OCC's Lip Tars so far! The feathering was a huge turn off, but honestly it's completely fine if you can get your hands on a clear lip liner. :)

How do you guys feel about crazy colored lipsticks? Have you tried any? Any recommendations?

Review: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Peaceful

Like most of you guys, I've been going through my collection and rearranging products to use for this Winter/Holiday Season. I'm hoping to have a HUGE post of all of my fave blushes for this time of year up in the next week or so, but I felt this blush needed a pretty good review and I just couldn't wait to post about it!

If you have tried Tarte's blushes, you already know what I'm about to say--they are freaking AMAZING, and I'm super in love with them!

Here it is in all it's GLORY. Beautiful, shimmery, and the color itself is natural and universal meaning that it will be so gorgeous on any skin tone and shade! The packaging is sturdy and has a tiny hole on the back for those of us who enjoy depotting our stuff.

The swatch on the left has been lightly blended in. The swatch on the right is a straight swatch to show the true color of the product before being blended.

I have olive skin, and this blush just has such a nice nude flush! It lasts for more than 12 hours, and the ingredients are phenomenal for your skin. The price point is pretty steep, but I feel it's worth every single cent. you only need a little bit at a time because this blush is awesomely full of super pigment that is easy to blend and it stays put!

Ignore my nails and my blemishes, lol. For those of you who are interested:

Products Used:
Lancome Eyeliner in Black Coffee, Urban Decay Eyeshadows in Snatch, Busted, Cherry, Walk of Shame, Elf Mineral Infused Mascara, Tarte Lipsurgence in Wonder, Benefit Gimme Brow in Light/Medium, MAC Brow Duo in Brunette, Elf Smudge Pot in Pearls of Wisdom and Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light. The review will be up on Youtube in the next few days, so check my channel out soon!


This blush has won a permanent spot on my vanity top and I'm going to use it pretty often this Season!

Have any of you tried Tarte's Blushes? If so, what's your fave shade? What do you like the most/Least about this product?