Prime Time Summer - NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer

I know that technically it's not Summer yet but it's close enough. It's warm and I like warm (hot) so I'll dub it Summer.

For some strange reason, I have ended up with several tubes of primer and pore smoother and face blurrer. I thought about trying them out and making it Blurry June but when I counted the tubes that I have, I realized that have too many to give them a good test during just the month of June. So, I'll try them in June, July and August.

Well, I am probably breaking the rules already (and would you expect anything less?). I've been using this primer for the past month. I've been using the NYC Smooth Perfecting Primer in shade 684. I chose this primer because I hadn't really used primers regularly and I wanted to make sure that my skin would be ok with primers and BB creams and concealers and powders, all on the same day. My face can get claustrophobic and too many products on it makes me feel bad. Really, I just want to remove my makeup instantly.

With this product, my skin was just fine.

 

I wish you could see the pearlescent color. It's really pretty.

I didn't have any problems with the primer at all. The drop that you see is the same amount I use for half of my face. I don't know if that seems like too much to you but what I found was when used in that quantity, it gives my face a dewy finish. Once I put on my foundation and powder that finish was pretty much gone BUT on the weekend I use my moisturizer (with SPF) and then mixed this primer with my BB Cream and a light dusting of powder and it looks great.

Now, the back of the bottle says that it "minimizes skin imperfections, lines and pores for a perfect complexion". I'm not hoping on that train folks! I get a glow but that's about it. It also says "skin feels smooth, silky and moisturized". I can't put money into that claim either because I use it with my moisturizer.  And, I think that's ok. I paid half of $4.49 (BOGO half price baby!) and a nice weekend glow and possibly silky skin is totally worth $2.25.

Would I buy this again? Sure, I'd pay half price maybe even full price. But, I'm saying that before Prime Time Summer has even begun. Let's check back in August, shall we?

Have you figured out your holy grail primer? Or, have you just decided you don't need one. If you are on the fence, try them with me! 

Nail Polish Change - Nanacoco in Las Vegas Dream and Revlon Treat & Boost

I've mentioned that one of my favorite brand of lip glosses is from Nanacoco. It's $1.99 for the glosses and you get them from your local beauty supply store. I picked up some new gloss colors about a month ago (Baby Cheeks, YOLO and Party Rock) and I saw that Nanacoco also has nail polish.

I've never used their nail polish but it was only $1.99 and it looked so cute in the bottle I just couldn't pass it up. And, if it didn't work, it's only $2.

Oh, it works! Isn't that color great? It's all pink and sparkly. The pink is a nice strawberry pink that kicks off summer just right. It has just enough sparkle to be pretty without being overwhelming. The formula is good too! It's just as good as any polish that I've ever used. The brush is regular BUT the formula is a tiny bit runny. I know that doesn't sound good but it means you can apply a thin layer of polish. It's great. I really like it.

Underneath it I tried out the Revlon Treat & Boost that I got 50% off at CVS. I'm going to keep trying for a few weeks before giving my opinion.

I didn't get the best picture because I changed polish mid week. I was working on a DIY project and my nails looked kinda ragged so I started over. That color is coming up next week!!

Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain

CVS had a BOGO half off sale on Revlon products, so I used the opportunity to purchase the new Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains in 001 India and 010 L.A. There were 8 colors at my CVS but I've seen internet displays with as many as 12 colors. The images on the web are so pretty. I had a tough time choosing between all of the gorgeous colors at my store. I wanted to add Milan, New York Scene and London Posh to my basket but I needed to try out the two I had first! You can't just buy 5 lip stains and you don't know how they will look!

Get ready to gasp folks. I don't like these lip stains.

There. I said it. I wanted to like it because everyone else does. I should have figured out by now that just because everyone else likes something doesn't mean I will. Everyone knows I'm different!

The colors are pretty but they are so streaky. It took several swipes to get the product on and even then it left streaks. Maybe this is a symptom of lip stains. If it is, I don't like it. I like a smooth glide on lip product and this didn't do it. And, it took a bit to build up, which is bad for a lip stain! You can't slather on 3 coats of lip stain. It's virtually a liquid lip color. 2 coats is really all you can do. Anything more is yukky looking and tasting!

Yes, tasting. Because I didn't realize 3 coats would be bad, I could taste the lip stain and it wasn't nice. It just made me want to take it off immediately. I tried to wear them and see how long they would last but they didn't feel good on my lips so I had to take them off and pull out my Baby Lips lip balm.

I don't often take products back. I'll exchange if I need to, but I rarely return unless I just can't work with the product. I plan on returning these. I kept them long enough to write this post and that's about all I can stand.

I hate that too because I really like Revlon lippies! I have more lipsticks and glosses by Revlon than I can count (well, I do know the number but I'll never tell). But, this pretty line will not be in my collection. I just can't do it.

Have you tried these? Did you like them? Are they like other lip stains and I'm just being crazy?