Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New Lush Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon

Lush just launched a whole load of new products! And not just new scents, but completely new products!


So once I found this out, off to Lush I ran as I had to check some of these out! unfortunately for me, a lot of the products are rose scented - a scent I detest. But I still managed to do some damage. I got some new soaps Lust and Dirty (lust I dont like at all and dirty I love so much I put a small piece in my giveaway prize box I have ready to go to the winner).



But the product I was most excited to try was the new Bubbleroons! I got the Yuzu one and couldn't wait to run home and try a bubble bath! Since my surgery I was unable to take a bath for so long (stupid shower only rule) and I am now more obsessed with them then ever! I think I have had a bath every day except today since I got the green light last week to start taking baths again!


Anyways, the description on the website is as follows - Inspired by the Japanese fruit the yuzu (kind of like a Satsuma orange), this Bubbleroon has a delectable orange chocolate fragrance. It makes mountains of fluffy white bubbles and the most supremely soft bath water.

Now let me start with the pluses. It smells AMAZING!!! Unfortunately, thats where the pluses end. It is supposed to easily come apart in to two pieces for two luxurious moisturising baths. It DID come apart easily. But it was dry and crumbly. It never fully dissolved and at the end of my bath, a lot of those little pieces you see in my hand had to be cleaned from the bottom of the bathtub!



As you can see, unlike a bubble bar (which I only need a quarter or a fifth for a massive tub of bubbles - and I have a BIG bathtub) this one kind of crumbled more than disolved into bubbles.




And that is the bathtub after an ENTIRE bubbleroon! And we are supposed to use HALF??? Not even enough bubbles to coat the top of the bathtub THINLY, let alone a nice big tub of bubbles. I understand that it has shea butter in it and the oils prevent it from bubbling AS MUCH as a normal bubble bar, but all in all, a BIG disappointment. And the first lush product regret I have.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Jacob Nail Polish Review & Swatches (Skinny Jeans, Runway Diva & Tuxedo Chic)

So if you are Canadian you might have been hearing a lot of hype about the Jacob nail polishes that have just been released in Jacob stores around the country. I had to go check out the store and see what all the fuss was about. Its a very small collection, and when I walked in to the store I saw these:

Yet I held off getting them. It wasn't that there was something wrong with them, or that there were no colours I liked. It just felt like there were no colours screaming out at me. Then when I got the email that the entire store would be heavily reduced all week (30% off everything in the store) I jumped. I got these three:




I got three of the eight in the collection, Skinny Jeans, Runway Diva and Tuxedo Chic. 




The application was ok on them. Skinny Jeans was the best, being the perfect consistency and opaque in one coat. The other two were on the thinner side. Runway Diva needs three coats to be opaque, and Tuxedo Chic needs two. The only real frustration I had was with the handle. I found it very uncomfortable to hold. THEN - when taking the pictures, guess what I noticed?



The brush was thin, but sturdy and held a good amount of polish without holding too much


Are these colours unique? No. Are they pretty? Yes.

StrangeBeautiful Library of Color Volumes 1, 2 & 5 Swatches!!

Before going on to the swatches, I just have to show you the new set that is having its presale now. OMG, am I in LOVE!!!


The Scoop
For her Dickensian Volume of Color, STRANGEBEAUTIFUL creator Jane Schub drew inspiration from photographer Joel-Peter Witkin; Edward Gorey’s The Loathsome Couple; the Brothers Grimm; A velvety lump of coal; the dull, yet metallic shards of broken shale that line the hills of the Hudson Valley; and Dickens.
The Dickensian Edition features a range of 10 compelling elusively metallic colors each shade slightly disturbing and exquisite to wear.


Thanks to Heather I have swatches for you today of three volumes instead of just my volume two!! These sets are GORGEOUS! They are also very pricey! Each set will run you 85.00 and they do NOT go on sale! If you are like me and live in Canada, expect this:



And that is for ONE set!! Now you know why volume one has remained on my wishlist! EEK! Anyways, these are a lovely formula that depending on the colour range from one coaters, to two coaters. The bottles are basically the same shape and size as the Julep bottles which I find a great size and shape to hold and work with. 

My biggest pet peeve with these polishes is the lack of names. But not only do they lack names, they lack numbers. They lack any type of identifying method whatsover! And to make matters worse, the Library of Colors used to have 8 larger bottles in the set, now they have ten MUCH smaller bottles and all the colours of have changed. So my volume one will be totally different than an OLDER volume 1 and again, no way to distinguish! BAH!!!!!!!!! 

VOLUME ONE (thanks to Heather!)
The Scoop
Volume 1 was inspired by: Josef Albers Color Theory, A Mid Century Modern Knoll Fabric, Oscar Wilde, the exuberant paint colors used to decorate the walls of the Federalist period, a color inspired by an Andy Warhol painting at the Dia Museum, the color Puce which I remember mixing when oil painting as a child, a green - winged teal, the dark inky blue of a never ending deep lake at night and the fear of swimming in it, and of course the Ettore Sottsass Red Valentine typewriter.

Willful and provocative, the StrangeBeautiful library of color will change each season so grab it while you can.




Volume 2
The Scoop
Volume 2, takes inspiration from a variety of objects: An interesting color palette of Camo called Tan and Water camo used by an elite German anti- terrorist unit. The slate blue color of a uniform in an 1846 N.Currier print “The Death of the Gallant Major Ringgold”.V iolette (Pansy Violet) ink from the venerable French ink company J. Herbin founded in 1670, the dull red color of a lobster shell immediately after it has been removed from boiling water.

These inspirations are what came to mind when creating StrangeBeautiful’s richly perverse color saturated Volume 2.



Volume 5 (one more, thanks to Heather)
The Scoop

For her Volume V Library of Color, STRANGEBEAUTIFUL creator Jane Schub drew inspiration from the spectral banks of the Hudson River estuary upon which her 19th century brick factory looms like a prescient structure in a foreboding Bosch painting.

Moody, erotic, irreverent and tender, the STRANGEBEAUTIFUL Volume V edition features 8 diaphanous veils of wildly haunting colors, each shade slightly disturbing and yet effortless to wear.
Inspirations and references range from the vampiric gradations of a healing bruise; the moody rusts of menstrual blood; sooty, phantasmal India ink; the profile of a gray blue Heron scooping fish against a background of gooey river runoff and the apocalyptic color palette of Medieval Flemish paintings. Visceral and private, each shade cloaks the finger in an aqueous film of color for an effect that is strange, beautiful, and impossible to forget.

Unlike traditional nail polishes, the Volume V shades coat the nail in a gossamer bath of color. Not quite transparent, the effect is fluid and semi opaque, as if the nail itself had taken on a mysterious life of its own.



Julep Two for Tuesday Sale!!! Buy 1 get ! Free!!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Face Time Fundraiser for the Look Good Feel Better Foundation


This past Saturday night was the annual Bay Beauty Gala to raise money for the Look Good Feel Better Foundation. Tickets were only ten dollars, and two dollars from every purchase went to the charity. The other eight dollars was good for product at any of the beauty counters. As anyone who knows me knows, I am a complete and total Dior girl, and OBVIOUSLY I purchased my ticket through them! So did my mom. Though she had had a bad experience with this event in the past, and was kinda peeved at me when she found out I was making her go AGAIN! Hehe. That's what daughters are for, right?


So when you walk in, you are immediately given a little Givenchy ribbon with two drink tickets on (they had both red and white wine being served by men with trays), and a clinique wrist band that I handed right back asking for any colour other than pink. My mom got a green one and handed THAT ONE back and ASKED for pink. Where did I come from??? HUH??




They were then handing out Givenchy paper shopping bags that were full of samples! Who doesnt like free stuff?


They had people waxing eyebrows (too bad I had just had mine done!), tables set up doing free Chanel manicures and hairstylists doing peoples hair. Both me and my mom got our hair straightened and styled. But what I wanted was my makeup done by Marci, my favourite Dior sales associate who had the nerve to get promoted and leave the counter! HOW RUDE!! Now she travels around doing makeup and helping with promotions at all the Dior counters. And of course, she had to do my moms makeup too! Anyways, Marci is better at doing my makeup than anyone else I have ever had do it. She knows what I want, what I like, and knows where to push and make me go outside my comfort zone and when not to. And she has no problem changing a lip colour or what not if I do not like something.




Now what do you purchase though? First she put on foundation and concealer. Both of which I have. The mascacra I also have. Seriously, is there any mascara better than plain old original Diorshow? Badgal lash comes close, but of course I have it! I had no interest in the eyeshadow palette she used (I have a similar Dior quint already). So I bought the lipstick and lipgloss. Its funny, she asked me if I wanted a gloss on top of the lipstick and I said "no, I hate gloss. I hate the sticky feeling!" Well people, let me tell you, Marci was right when she said it wasn't sticky. I love it!


The lipstick she used was Rouge Dior in 428 Pisanelle Pink. It is a lovely beigey pink lipstick, with some purple undertones. It can easily be described as one of those “your-lips-only-better” colours that doesn't really draw attention to itself, yet is gorgeous nonetheless.

It is a very smooth creamy and moisturizing lipstick, but as such, not the best wear wise. I highly suggest a lip pencil with this one girls! On its own it will give you about 2 hours wear, not what you would expect with payigng 32.00 for a lipstick, but its worth it! If you want it to last longer, a lip liner will do the trick, though I don't wear lip liners. And being as its so very soft, its very delicate. The first lipstick I brought home was broken when I opened it and I had to exchange it for a new one! So be very carefull when applying. Even some of the testers were broken!

Also, note that all the Rouge Dior lipsticks are scented though not to strongly. I cant put my finger on the exact scent, but it is certainly there. Its light and sweet. If scented products bother you, step away now!


Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Pearl in 227 Beige Tweed. This is a pinky beige with a hint of shimmer and works perfectly over the new lipstick. The first thing to mention is I noticed NO scent whatsoever with this product. And it is not at all sticky which is my reason I don't buy lipglosses! I hate the gooey feeling. When Marci said it was not sticky I did not believe her. I am always being told formulas are not sticky only to find out we have two different versions of sticky. This lipstick is very moisturizing and has a shiny, smooth slick feel if that makes sense? It’s very comfortable and doesn't feel like a traditional lipglosss. I can not reitierate this enough - ITS COMPLETELY NON STICKY!!

from left to right lipstick, lipstick with lipgloss over top, just the gloss

From bottom to top lipstick, lipstick with lipgloss over top, just the gloss
Now with the Dior counter at the Bay the gift with purchase seems to always be with the purchase of ANY two items. While in no way shape or form the reason I choose Dior, it certainly is something I appreciate. Always a pet peeve when I find out I am $2 dollars away from the set amount to get a gwp! GRR! Any ways, as you will recall with the last Dior GWP I was royally annoyed. This GWP was certainly much better.



Look how cute the makeup bag is!!! And the mascara is my mascara, so will certainly come in handy. I have never used the diorshow lash primer before, I always use Lash Primer Plus from Estee Lauder. I am excited to try this one out! The perfume I am throwing in with the giveaway prize, as I will never use it, and the lipstick........ OMG, the lipstick. Besides the fact that it is oh so cute (I have a few mini Dior lipsticks and they are always a perfectly identical just smaller version of the normal one), I LOVE IT!!


Rouge Dior in 644 Rouge Blossom. I wont go into the formula as I just did above for the full sized one I purchased but this is exactly the same formula, just a different colour. It is a beautiful rosey-strawberry-reddish hybrid, that is so easilyworn for everyday or for office looks that even I WILL WEAR it. And my fear of colour is well known. Makeup wise I am a neutrals only girl. Never a red lipstick. Except I will wear this one and actually want the full size!

Ji Baek of Rescue Beauty Lounge - The Face of her Company.

In an earlier post I stated that I was not prepared to give MY money to a company that had the customer service of Rescue Beauty Lounge. I had very negative experiences personally, and they were never addressed. I mentioned things I'd seen but went into little detail as the point of the post was not to BASH RBL. I gave away all my RBL polishes, but never through them out. I have never suggested that people should not support them, just that I wont.

Until NOW. The story goes (and this is what I had heard, not fact) that a woman posted swatches of a new BIB polish she bought and wanted opinions as she thought the colour was not the same as the original.  The complaints were not complaints more as they were questions. And never were they brought to Ji. Again, this is NOT fact, though it seems to be substantiated enough through screenshots and info others have shown me.

Now on to the FACT. Ji posted on her facebook page RIP BIB. She stated she had been accused of selling a mismatched colour (in comparison to the original) and since she hates drama, she is cancelling all BIBs present and future. HUH?????????????? Because of one complaint you are cancelling such a big campaign that brings in a massive chunk of your bottom line? It made NO SENSE to me. NONE. And if it really hurt her so much (and the only way I could see it hurting her so much if it was one accusation was if it was accurate and an ongoing issue she was having behind the scenes) and she hates drama, why would she blame it on a customers unhappiness? I replied on the thread (this is DIRECT copy and paste)

" I find this ridiculous. If we are to believe you, you are cancelling all future BIBs because ONE person claims the colour is different? REALLY? I think its Immature and ridiculous to react to ONE accusation that way. And if that really is the reason, why bring it to everyones attention. Talk about creating drama. This company does nothing BUT create drama. You could have nicely and maturely announced that this will be your last BIB and you have chosen to make your limited edition colours TRULY limited edition, yet once again you chose the immature and drama laden path and pull this."



I really found it offensive to the person who had the issue to be the public reason why she was cancelling the BIB and felt the need to stick up for her - though I have no idea who the girl is in real life.

I proceded to be ATTACKED!! It started with THIS twitter comment from ji herself.


Now what does she mean be outed? The last person that disagreed with her publicly had all her personal info published by Ji on the RBL page. So I asssumed some private info was about to come. Turns out she was just announcing me as the writer of this blog! I am FINE with that.


"Hello and welcome. I most welcome all new fans, it seems this thread is out of control however. Shayna (AKA Polishjinxs) thank you for gracing us with your presence, as far as I know you have been  badmouthing me amd my company for awhile even though I did reply to yoru emails - you even vow to give away yoru RBL polishes to our fans here. Why do you care about the BIB vote then? And although I welcome new bees here always, it seems to me lurkign from afar and jumping in when there is sa negative feed is not what this community is about. I'm not perfect by any  means and please I'm not all of you -human! Not a PR droid! XXX Thats all!!

Now what about this thread is out of hand? That I suggested that your comment was immature and drama creating? That makes the thread out of control? And one post saying I personally won't use the brand any more is my badmouthing her and the brand? Maybe a bit, but REALLY???? And yes, she replied to my email, a month after my blog post. It apologized for NOT replying and told me I should have come back to have the polish fixed up. REALLY? Not I'm sorry it chipped so badly so quickly. It instead blamed me for not taking 3-4 hours out of my day to go back to the meatpacking district to get it fixed up? Any ways, no Ji, I don't think you are perfect or need to be. Just professional. So I state this. I do not appreciate being told that I am trolling just to jump.

The suggestion that she make a personal facebook page for herself, and keep the RBL company one a professional one hit a nerve!

"And which media agency to do you work for? Have you ever owned a company? Why do all company Facebook have to be boring cookie cutter--? And your credibility is from? I'm different and this is who I am! If you Don't like my company and this page why are you here? Every negative comments I see int he cyber world is you - yes, I do my research and no-- I rather close my company than be a broing one like everyone else! This is me - want to change me? Open your your very own company! Criticism is the easiest thing to do- to live, breathe and run a company for past 13 years however- is something! Still standing and making colors! You were the inspiration for my announcement nexxt week - for that I think you!"

Wow. I am the only one badmouthing her company on all the internet - shes researched it! (and by badmouthing I guess she is referring to my one blog post. And why did I still follow her page? Maybe I was hoping I would be won back by a mature attitude that I guess now I know will never come. And she IS still standing. She couldn't afford to keep her spa running (and having been there - I know why!!) and she constantly states she cant afford to have promotions and sales and make a profit, but yes, she is still here an still alienating customers.


"I can't get personal but you can? Thats really unfair! Why because this is my company fb? Look at this wall sweeties, we call each other by first names and we discuss everything under the sun. last thing I will do is pimp my own products! I never deneid to state your opion as you are denying to never state my emotions and my opinions becuase "this is RBL facebook wall" and if I do - I'm imature, unproffesional drama queen. THanks Shayna!"


She just doesn't get that no one was attacking her. But fine. Someone right afterwords (not me called her out on her REAL reasons for cancelling the BIB. They pointed out the complaint was not a real complaint, was on a private board, and that she merely wanted to move the BIB to her own private forum she was building. So much for NOT deleting posts or threads. IMMEDIATELY deleted .

But thats not the end unfortunately. She stated that I had inspired her big new announcement. And she makes it. 

A new thread where she can monitor, delete and bounce any members who disagree with her. Since Ji stated in black and white I was the reason behind the announcement (wow! HOW MUCH POWER OVER JI DO I APPARENTLY HAVE??) I had to come find out why I inspired all of this. 

I feel justified in being offended that she called me a troll. I was never rude, and her tantrum was ridiculous. Her response? She deleted the comments and blocked me from every posting on the page again. But some people wont let her forget that she blamed my 2 month old post for this new forum she started working on six months ago. It also means she NEVER planned on getting rid of BIBs just wanted to do it behind closed doors. So it was nothing more than crying for attention and drama.


Finally!!! How much back and forth and someone's accusations of screen shots before she finally admits shes a liar and she said it, she just did not mean it. And why is it that her ReBels as she likes to call them constantly begs her to delete all negative posts?

I know Ji thinks that I have something personal against her. I have a hidden agenda she has stated and I want her to fail. Now I have no hidden agenda. I love polish, and want her to grow up, put on her big girl panties and act like an adult. I see now that it is never going to happen. But why on earth would I WANT her to fail? It makes no sense. I do however hope people will think twice if this is who they want to support. Maybe that is the only way for her to grow up and realize that she needs to change.

If a piece of constructive criticism can warrant a temper tantrum of this magnitude, she is in the wrong business.

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