Review: Butter London Lippy Bloody Brilliant Lip Crayon in Lady Bird (and win one!)

Butter London recently sent me some items to review and while I've mentioned their Lippy Bloody Brilliant Lip Crayon here and there, I haven't done a proper review. In case you couldn't already tell, I have been quite pleased with the product. It's described as an "all-in-one formula" with "highly pigmented colour" and the "intense shine of a gloss". Now I wouldn't call it intense shine, necessarily; but I actually prefer it this way; it's glossy, pigmented and comfortable on the lips.

While it doesn't promise to stain the lips; it does wear off and since I'm horrible about drinking enough water, after a few hours it did go a bit patchy on my lips and clung to the dry patches that had developed. Moisturized lips are a must and so is some amount of reapplication, especially if you are eating or drinking; however this was 6 hours after application with some drinking (not water like I should have been, but an iced coffee). Still, a little lip balm and a tissue to wipe off the excess and my lips handled another application and looked just like I first applied it.

The pencil features a built in sharpener in the lid and I really like how the color is at the end of the stick so I can find in my stash or handbag easily.

From left to right is 1 swipe, 2 swipes, and kind of a "fill in" like you might do with a lip pencil. As you can tell, it's glossy and pigmented, though the color isn't exactly coming across well. One other major reason I like this pencil is it doesn't smell strongly of mint which seems to be a trend with these lip crayons and I don't hate mint, but I don't love it.

Butter London generously sent another Lady Bird Lip Crayon for one of you to try out! Still in the box and never touched. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below! No required actions necessary but it wouldn't hurt to give @butterLONDON a shoutout on twitter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway






* Butter London provided products for review. I always provide my honest opinion of a product.

Reviews Coming Soon to a Jeweled Thumb Blog Near You*

I'm a tad bit exhausted but I wanted to show you all what you can expect me to be blogging about soon. The Cover Girl and Butter London items were sent for review consideration. The hair dye related stuff was purchased by me; tonight actually!

I am going grey (well white as it turns out), especially around my temples and it's really starting to bother me as I'm only 31. These were on clearance at ULTA at around 75% off and don't have peroxide, ammonia or from what I can tell, formaldehyde and mention covering grey so fingers crossed. My hair is brown with some red in it, so I'm going to be mixing the brown with auburn and applying to those areas and not my entire head. I will report back. I am kind of scared to use "real" dye at this point in my life and these seem like a healthier option. But will they work? You guys will certainly find out!

Cover Girl sent me the new super sizer mascara and the intensify me liquid liner - which I'm usually horrible at applying ... we shall see!

Butter London reached out to me and sent their "shine out loud" collection and I'll be slowly working through the products. In any case, there will be a giveaway, so keep a look out for the reviews and giveaway post(s)!

I also have a few other posts in the works, but this is the most I can put together for now. You know, when there's a hole in your dining room, that's usually the priority.






* Had a lovely Memorial Day weekend trip with my MIL to the NYC family apartment. Then came back to absolute chaos. Hole in the ceiling, water raining down in our dining room, and plans to have to redo our Master bedroom/bathroom. Thanks, universe!

January, February and March 2015 Empties

I was - I'll say diligent - about making sure all of my 2014 empties posts went up before starting 2015 (what diligent means is my tiny bit of OCD kicked into gear and I just couldn't do empties posts out of order - the horror!). Anyway, I've very pleased with what I've finished so far in 2015. I've made a big effort to use up body care products. Well, to be honest, I want to finish everything that could technically expire. I had to throw away some things when I was cleaning our closets and all I saw was money washing down the drain. It stung. But just to make things clear, I am not jumping on the bandwagon of people who are buying nothing, getting rid of many of their possessions - even things they like, etc (I'm selling some clothes that no longer fit or aren't to my tastes and some makeup that I don't use or something I've had for way longer than I should without even trying which definitely suggests it would be better suited in another person's collection but I'm not making myself get rid of "x" many eyeshadows or telling myself I can't have more than 2 taupes (madness!) or condensing my makeup collection to something that fits in a small makeup bag). My husband collects board games. I collect makeup. We aren't starving, we live in a house that could be cleaner but wouldn't show up on hoarders. End of story. Ok, getting off my high horse now and onto the empties!

• Mor Italian Blood Orange Body Butter - This was scented beautifully but took forever to use up as it was quite thick and until I used the method of "heating your body butter", it was just too arduous to apply. It was like my skin needed it, but it couldn't consume it. Then I warmed it up and bam! sunk in like a dream and actually did what it was supposed to do and ... used all 5.1 ounces of this up!
• The Body Shop Cranberry Joy Body Butter - Another body butter that I destroyed after using the water bath method. This was nice, but I was starting to get tired of the scent and so was my husband so I was happy to move onto other things after finishing the mammoth 6.7oz tub.

• Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea Shower Gel 3oz - Sweet Pea took me back. I think I got this in a Beauty Army box or maybe it was a freebie at some point but back in the 90s this scent was all the rage. It's nice and sweet but easy to tire of.
• CO Bigelow Almond Superb Body Cleanser 2floz - This smelled/smells amazing. It's a sweet true almond scent. Not almond flower, not really marzipan. You can smell the nut and then you can smell a sweet vanilla on top. It was lovely.

• The Body Shop Ginger Scalp Care Shampoo - If you've been with me for any length of time, then you've seen plenty of these in empties posts. I really enjoy this shampoo as it smells much better than most effective dandruff shampoos on the market (a slightly spicy ginger ale) and it's actually effective. The only issue I have is it has to be switched up every few washes as my scalp seems to get used to it and then it doesn't work as well.
• Organix Hydrating Macadamia Oil Intensive Moisture Mask - I used this as my regular conditioner as my hair is quite dry (I use all moisture masks like that). This was ok. It smelled good. It did a decent job, but it has quite a number of silicones and I try to stay away from those. I am nearly sure I have another one of these. CVS put these on sale practically ever week in preparation for the brand's re-launch/rename.

Anyone want to ensure I win the lottery so I can douse myself in these oils everyday? These are wonderful body oils, but since my skin is dry, it drank these babies up. Granted, they are minis, but still. I can imagine this could be an expensive habit.

• African Botanics Marula Firming Botanical Body Oil (.57oz) - Didn't find it firming, but honestly, should we really expect things we place on top of the skin firm layers much deeper? I don't. Smelled delicious, sunk in quickly but was very effective in keeping my dry legs less dry. Would totally repurchase. 
• Caudalie Divine Oil (.5oz) - Caudalie indicates you can use this on body, face and hair but I used this on my legs. Pretty much the same comments as the African Botanics. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and was sad to see my little bottle get empty so quickly.
• Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Use Dry Oil (.33floz) - I know this is a classic. I enjoyed it like the others, but wasn't quite so jived with the scent, though it was just as effective.

Soap! So a little story. I noticed that the soap in my husband's bathroom was running low as was the soap in the basement (his mancave more or less) but there were two soap bottles at each location and it seemed he had abandoned the nearly finished ones in favor of new ones. Oh men! So I took the near empty ones to my bathroom to use them up so they wouldn't clutter his counterspace and so they wouldn't just sit there gathering dust.

• CVS Mandarin Citrus Anti Bacterial Foaming Hand Soap (7.5floz) - I doubt I paid much for this if anything. Smelled citrusy, was effective. Basically, cheap and fine. 
• Essence of Beauty Lemon Twist Hand Soap (12floz) - This was a gel and took forever to finish. I know as I am occasionally allowed in the cave (just kidding, I'm downstairs all the time). Anyway, I got this super cheap when they were about to change the packaging on Essence of Beauty Products. Smelled lemony but not too pledge-like and was effective. 
• Mor Hand and Body Wash in Basil and Grape (11.8floz) - After the blood orange scent, I think the Basil and Grape scent is my absolute favorite from Mor. The reason I started using this was my lotion's pump in the same scent had broken and I needed to replace it. I e-mailed Mor but they were unresponsive so I decided to take matters into my own hands (literally). I had originally thought I was going to use this as a shower gel, but due to massive amounts of shower gel I was trying to work through, I noticed this was a hand and body wash, so it became my daily soap. No anti-bacterial properties and as it was meant for body as well, it was not quite as drying as other hand soaps I've used in the past. Sad to see it's gone as Mor is no longer sold in the US to my knowledge, but I do have another hand cream in the scent. I actually wound up giving the broken bottle to a colleague of mine who sniffed it every time she walked by. She didn't even care the pump broke!

• L'Occitane Dry Skin Hand Cream (.3oz) - This is actually the hand lotion my husband prefers but in another edition of men, he had used maybe 85% of it before deeming it finished, but there was still enough for me to use it for a week (I have since bought him the magic key, even though it is $10 for a piece of metal, it really helps make sure you finish the metal tubes of these without puncturing them and causing a lot of mess and waste). This isn't my favorite hand cream as the scent doesn't do it for me, but it is rather effective.
• Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream (1floz) - This is my absolute favorite hand cream. I made sure I got every last drop in this tube out! 
• butter London Powder Room Nail Polish Remover - Ugh! I found another one. This smells like baby powder mixed with acetone, though it says it's acetone free. I hate this nail polish remover. Not to say it isn't effective, but the scent is just vile. Seriously. They need to stop putting this in sets and kits. No one should have to use this stuff.  

• Maybelline Lash Discovery - This Lash Discovery was a true unexpected discovery. I had forgotten mascara on a trip and my husband and I popped into a local grocery store. I picked the cheapest waterproof mascara they had where the brush wasn't massive and a love affair began. I literally got to the point of trying to pump the wand in the tube and wiggle it around to get more product! My only complaint is why was this something ridiculously cheap like $4.50 in Georgia and when I look for it in Maryland it's nearly $10. Not cool, Maybelline!
• Makeupever Sense'Eyes Waterproof Sensitive Eye Cleanser - Holy grail, holy grail, holy grail. Seriously, skip the Bioderma and all the hype and use this. I have been using it for years and nothing, really nothing compares.

• First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream - I know many people use this cream on their hands, but I use this on my face under makeup, and not just this cream, I add a generous helping of whatever oil of the moment I'm on. (I know some of you will be jealous, but oily skin prevents wrinkles!) My foundation lasts all day with the repair cream + oil combo. Anyway, this was so good that I cut open the tube to ensure I got every last bit of product out. While I like how hygienic tubes are, they do waste a lot of product if you don't destroy the container, and some packaging just isn't suited to that. Already repurchased.
• L'Occitane Amande Shower Oil - I used this for shaving as many do. It's nice and I certainly wouldn't say no to it free or significantly discounted, but I don't think I'd repurchase.
• Sure or unsure?

Some foil packets: La Fresh Makeup Remover Wipe, La Fresh Instant Body Soother, Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment, 2 Nivea In-Shower Body Lotions, Pangea Organics Balancing Oil

Now you could really tell I was missing blogging when this happened. Exhibit A: Writing notes on the back of finished products with my brief impressions. Apparently, when I used these in NYC, I found the Tocca Cleopatra Grapefruit Cucumber Body Cream "Yum" on January 12th (uneaten) and wrote quite a bit on the Hada Labo Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Mask which I recently repurchased during the 20% off sale (the 4 pack). I can't really make out my notes, since the sharpie turned purple and smudgy (likely from all the oils I used up), but I did the mask on January 10th and I remember loving it and noting (thankfully un-smudged) "lots of extra serum if you squeeze". Well, don't mind if I do.

I also decided not to share my ""last empty"", a broken hair elastic that literally lasted for years. But I know how the internet tends to feel about hair. Thank goodness they don't live with me, I shed everywhere so I wouldn't want to subject those people to a few stray strands.

What have you finished recently?

Maybe I'll have a decent amount going forward that I can do these every month so they don't get massive.

2014 Empties Part III

It's Part III of my 2014 empties (reference Parts I and II here and here). This time it's Bath and Body (and sorta miscellaneous - but they involve the body, so they mostly count).

Cuticles & Super Dry Skin

• Tarte Maracuja Oil 5ml - While I do love the tarte oil on my face, I found this little baby size perfect for applying to my cuticles.
• Atopalm - This came in a beauty box or a free sample with an order. I think I may have another one hiding somewhere. I hated it on my face. It was too sticky and thick and hard to spread (repeat for any other skin), but when it came to my cuticles, it was awesome! Seriously, I have to go digging for my other jar. Also, I did like it on kind of dry and crusty (ew sorry) blemishes to kind of gently exfoliate them on the go. I carried this with me and used every last sticky drop.
• Shea Terra Menthe Cardamon Ultimate Moisturizing Body Cream - Similarly to the Atopalm, I found this simply too thick to spread, even though my body tends to be super dry. But then I tried using this on my cuticles and loved it! I think in my favorites post I mentioned that I'd likely try another scent, but I wouldn't say no to one of these little jars again.

I don't think I've technically reviewed it, but I love the Caudalie Hand & Nail Cream as you can see above. I literally got every last drop out of that tube and now I give it and the lip balm to all of my friends as gifts since they are so awesome. This was the 2.5floz size in the old packaging.

Someone remind me for the zillionth time that I should only buy small minis of products so I actually use them up and don't get bored. Not that I'll listen, but I should!

• The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Butter (50ml) and The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Scrub (50ml) - These were delicious. My only qualm was the body scrub lasted for maybe 2 or 3 showers and the butter lasted much longer. But unlike some TBS scrubs in the past, this one was actually scrubby! I'd rebuy both products, but again, I should stay with the small sizes.
• The Body Shop Satsuma Beautifying Oil - I love these oils. I usually use them as a shaving pre-treat (which is reasonable only if you get them on sale) or after shaving. I don't really use them on my hair or my face though I have occasionally. Something about putting a fragranced product on my face, I don't know, it just seems strange to me. Anyway, I will certainly repurchase, although for the first time in many years, I have let my Love Your Body membership lapse; trying to declutter a bit in the bath & body department.
• Crabtree & Evelyn Citron Honey & Coriander Body Lotion 27ml - Apparently I was into citrus scents last year. Anyway, this was actually a hotel sample which I thoroughly enjoyed while traveling and used up. I think I may have another lurking somewhere... hmm... Not sure I'd repurchase, but it was quite nice!
• Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream in Blueberry - As I mentioned in my review, I wasn't a huge fan of this, but I did use it up. Not only did I use it up, I cut the tube since it was rather thick and I know I didn't get all of it out. There are cheaper shaving creams out there that are superior, especially for ladies with dry skin so I wouldn't purchase.
• Le Couvent des Minimes Skin Softening Honey & Shea Body Balm 50ml - (I am having a minor freak out as I can't find this on their website - thank goodness for back ups!) So if your legs feel as freaked out as mine do on the daily and especially after shaving, then you would (sigh) love this stuff. It's a balm, but the butters actually melt in your hands unlike some high intensive body care items (hint: the items I wound up using as cuticle butters) and it easily spreads over even the roughest of skin. I like shaving (well actually, I hate shaving), but after shaving, I slather my legs in this and put on a pair of comfy pajama pants and in my morning, I don't feel like I want to claw my legs off. Now where are those back ups... all this cleaning has messed up my messy organization. 

 

• The Body Shop Spiced Vanilla Bath & Shower Gel - I used this as a shower gel and it lasted forever. But I got through the full 8.4floz bottle! Go me! This was lovely and a bit thicker than The Body Shop's normal shower gels (which are a bit more runny). But I seriously don't need anymore shower gel and I don't know how some people get through them so quickly!
• LUSH Happy Hippy Body Gel 3.3floz - I don't know why I expected this to smell like patchouli, but it was a lovely citrus scent (again with the citruses). The only annoying thing was my exfoliating gloves kept on getting caught in the cap.
• Philosophy Love Sweet Love 1oz - I love these little 1oz sizes and they are great for traveling. It doesn't hurt that I've found the Philosophy shower gels some of my favorites as they tend to be slightly thicker than the others. I'm going to keep this little bottle around since I have a big (I know I know) Love Sweet Love to decant.

And finally, some slightly random bits that don't really fit into any of the other categories:

 

• Butter London Powder Room Lacquer Remover - Well they weren't kidding about the name. This stuff smells vile (well unless you love the smell of acetone mixed with baby powder). This came free in a set and as you can see, there's still some left - but I won't subject myself or my husband to anymore of this. Just no.
• Fancy Dove Deodorant that's supposed to make your hair not grow as fast... meh
• Spongeables Pedi-Scrub Foot Buffer - Awesome in the summer and lasts for way more than 5 washes. Sorry for the packaging. It got a little damp. Anyway, these are great if your feet are feeling a little funky; either from socks and boots in the winter or sandals in the summer. A little bit of scrubbing (though be gentle the first few times - they are rough), some warm water and your feet will be looking and smelling like new. Love.

Two 2014 empties posts remain! Now to toss these!

NOTD: Butter London No More Waity Katie

I know I bought this ages ago but I finally painted my nails with Butter London's No More Waity Katie which is a murky purple sheer base with lavender glitter. It's gorgeous but super sheer. Certain angles make it look even more sheer.

That's the same hand by the way!

The polish is pretty and I don't have anything else like it but I absolutely refused to do 3 coats (this is 2 plus my lovely Dazzle Dry) though it could have used it. I've heard the sheerness is unusual for Butter London polishes so we'll see if whatever I pick up during the ULTA promo is any better.

Danger Driving Weather Haul

I had a few hours to kill after work yesterday. The DC Metro area received torrential downpours conveniently timed during rush hour so I could either sit in my car on the beltway and not move, or I could sit in a nice coffee shop or browse a store while I waited for the craziness to die down. I chose the latter.

I went to a few places, but only bought items of importance at ULTA and Marshalls.

I got my hands on the LE No More Waity, Katey Butter London set. No More Waity, Katey is gorgeous and even though it's more of a fall color, I finally took off my July manicure (which would have lasted more than the week I had it on) and this is definitely going to be next!

I also picked up 3 of the ULTA brand Automatic Eyeliner Pencils. These are fabulous; soft and long lasting and only $1 each in July which is a fab price! I got 3: Olive,  Bronze & Deep Brown.

I also found a great deal in Marshalls. I have been wanting to try the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream for awhile. It has many many fans in the blogging world and on YouTube, but I hadn't gotten around to picking it up.

I found the Eight Hour Cream 100th Anniversary Celebration Set which includes:* 1x Skin Protectant 50g/1.7oz (this alone retails for $17)
* 2x Cream Lip Protectant 12.6g/0.44oz

for $19.99 - not too shabby!


Hope everyone is having a fab weekend. I have a midterm thingy to do but given that I am the queen of procrastination, I am blogging first!