Peanut Gallery: Bain de Terre Rise 'n Shine Volumizing Foam

I received Bain de Terre's rise 'n shine white willow volumizing foam for Christmas last year (and I'm secretly hoping I'll get more this year). It quickly became one of my favorite hair products, especially during the winter. I don't usually do reviews on hair products but I wanted to do a quick one on this wonderful item. Just as a frame of reference I have fine hair that loves to lay flat against my head thus the need for volume :P

Touchable Volume: (B-) Is this the most volumizing product I have ever used? Honestly, no but it is definitely not the least volumizing product I have used. It probably won't give you extreme volume (unless you use it in addition to other volumizing products, ie ones that you focus on the roots) BUT it will give a decent amount of life to limp fine hair without hair feeling gunked up or dirty. My biggest pet-peeve with hair products is when I can feel them. If a product makes my hair crunchy, stringy, dirty feeling, etc. I will hate using it. This gives me volume I can see but can't feel. That said you may get more volume out of it than I do if you use the 3-4 pumps it says to use. I use 1-2 pumps in an attempt to make it last as long as possible and because I have relatively short hair (my hair is cut in a bob).

Texture: (A+) It is a light foam that isn't sticky at all. As mentioned above once it is in your hair you really can't feel it so hair stays nice and soft. A

Smell: (A+) It has a very light fragrance that is very pleasant. I'm really not sure how to describe it.


Added bonus: Static obliterated! (A+) I have a very hard time, especially in the winter, with static electricity causing strands of my hair to stick out. In the winter if I wear any kind of hat or coat as soon as I take it off it looks like I rubbed a balloon on my head. In the past any product I have used to address this problem have really weighed down my hair and/or made it look kind of oily but this foam is like magic. If I use this product on my damp hair I have no problem with static at all through out the entire day!

Price: (A) I'm not sure what the retail would be in say a salon but I found it on amazon.com for just under $12 (before shipping etc.)

Overall: I would definitely recommend this product to anyone with fine hair like mine especially if they were looking for a product to deal with the static-y craziness that winter brings with out flattening their hair.

Final Grade: A

Poll time: I'm trying to determine whether or not I should include some sort of rating system (grade, points, stars, etc.), Thoughts?

Where to buy: amazon.com and any of the places listed here: bain de terre - where to buy

Influenster - Holiday Voxbox 2011

I know some of you have already heard of influenster.com, but for those of you who haven't I'll give a short explanation before diving into my VoxBox. The goal of Influenster in short is to connect brands with as they put it, trendsetters. You register to join influenster, fill out information about yourself and your interests to unlock badges, and wait for your badges to be approved (a couple of mine were approved really fast but I remember my beauty badge took FOREVER for some reason. Once you unlock badges you get access to products and offers. The big thing that has made Influenster a hit with some of my friends are the VoxBoxes. VoxBoxes are boxes of products for you to try out and they are completely free, you don't pay a penny. Then you are supposed to review the products and share your thoughts on them. The more you review and actively participate the more likely you are to get VoxBoxes in the future. There are other parts to Influenster but for the point of this particular blog that is what you need to know (and about all I knew when I signed up).

I originally signed up for Influenster in June (signing up is free by the way). I was selected for a Voxbox a few months ago but I had to reply that day and did not see the email in time to reply so I missed out on that one sadly. When I received an offer for the Holiday Voxbox I jumped on it immediately. About a week and a half after I expected to receive it (based on when they told me they shipped it and where they shipped it from) and an unanswered email to their customer service inquiring about my box I now have my Voxbox in hand. Everybody had the same 6 main items in their box (though some may be in different colors, etc.) and some were selected, based on the information they filled out and their badges, to receive one of three additional items.

The items in my box were:

• imPress Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails
• Softsoap Coconut Scrub Bar Soap (2 full size bars!)
• Montagne Jeunesse Juiced Cucumber Peel Off Masque (trial size)
• New York Color Liquid Lip Shine in Nude York City (appears to be full size)
• Mentos Pure Fresh Gum in Fresh Mint (container with 15 pieces)
• Lärabar Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Food Bar (mini size)
• X Out Wash-In Treatment (2.5 oz, this was one of the three possible extra items)

WARNING: prepare to be spammed with pictures lol

Dundundun THE VOXBOX

*sings* Out of the box, out of the box

The box included a card with info on each item

I will be doing reviews on the beauty related items in the box but for now here are some pics and my first impressions.

imPress Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails
Thoughts: mine arrived in a broken box and apparently I'm not the only one who had this issues, so that was a bit of a bummer but nothing was damaged. The design is interesting, it reminds me of what one can do using a water marbling technique. They aren't colors I would normally select for myself but hey, doesn't hurt to try new things. In the past I've had bad luck with press on nails so I'm skeptical but I will definitely give them a try.

broken box :/

I love how the nails are in a little case that looks like a bottle of nail polish!

coupon!

Softsoap Coconut Scrub Bar Soap
Thoughts: The "sample" size of two bars is very generous and I'm excited to try it. My skin gets dry in the winter so exfoliation is a plus.

Montagne Jeunesse Juiced Cucumber Peel Off Masque
Thoughts: I've tried one other Montagne Jeunesse mask and I liked it so I'm looking forward to trying it. It is supposed to lift away impurities. In the past peel off things have not worked very well but we'll see.

New York Color Liquid Lip Shine
Thoughts: Lip glosssssss <3 Any form of makeup is exciting in my book. It might be a little too brown for me but we'll see.

582 Nude York City

size reference

Mentos Pure Fresh Gum
Thoughts: Omnomnom gum. I may  have had these before but it would have been quite a while ago so I'm pumped to try them again.

Lärabar
Thoughts: It says cookie dough which instantly makes me want to devour it, however, cookie dough things usually fall into two categories; delicious and nasty. We shall see. :P

info booklet

sticker and coupon inside the info booklet

X Out Wash-In Treatment
Thoughts: This is a product by the maker of Proactiv and it is a one-step wash-in treatment. My skin is very acne prone. I used Proactiv for a while and it worked alright but my skin essentially got used to it and it stopped working very well. I'll give it a shot though.

letter providing info about X Out

While going through the pictures I noticed that some of the products were a little dirty... all of it was sealed aside from the nails which seemed to be clean so its not a big deal just not very professional.

While Influenster could use some improvement in the customer service area considering the items are free I really can't complain much. I'm looking forward to trying out these products!

If you have gotten a VoxBox what did you think? For those who haven't do you think you will sign up to receive them?

The Peanut Gallery: e.l.f. Essential Shine Eraser

image source: eyesllipsface.com

Many people, including myself, sometimes have problems with their face getting a 'lil too shiny. Oil blotting sheets can be a great, albeit temporary, solution.  I just started using them a few months ago because before I couldn't convince myself to spend money for a few little sheets. I really just didn't want to drop $4-$5 to buy a pack of blotting sheets. Then I found the e.l.f. Essential Shine Erasers at my local Target and they were only $1 so I decided to give them a go.

On their website e.l.f. claims:

"These amazing little sheets instantly absorb oil, minimize pores and mattify shiny skin. Woven texture eradicates shine and keeps skin matte for hours. Green Tea Extract helps re-texturize skin and masking facial imperfections. Travel pack fits neatly into your purse for on-the-go touch-ups. Contains: 50 sheets."

That's an awful lot for one little sheet to do so lets take a look at what it actually does.

- Absorb oil and mattify shiny skin?

       - It does to a very good job of removing oil quickly and easily. The directions say to use one side on your T-zone and the other for the rest of your face but sometimes it may require the use of more than one sheet.

- Minimize pores?

       -Nope, not that I've ever noticed and my pores are rather large so any improvement would be awesome for me. 

-Re-texturize skin and mask imperfections?

       - Not that I noticed. 

-Packaging

        -The packaging is compact and it is very easy to carry in a purse or bag. The way it closes makes it a little difficult to open originally and it can be hard to get out just one sheet.

-Price: $1 for 50 sheets

Overall: So, do they live up to all the promises? Eh, not so much but they do what I need them to do. I don't expect oil blotting sheets to magically shrink my pores or anything like that. They remove oil well and that is what I was looking for. I will definitely buy them again and recommend them to anyone looking for oil blotting sheets.

image source: eyeslipsface.com

If you wanna find out when I put out new reviews and looks don't forget to like Stephanie's Makeup Madness on Facebook! <3

Look/Contest Entry

One of my new favorite indie cosmetics companies, Pretty Addictions, is currently holding a contest (click the link to go to their Facebook page to check out the contest). The winner gets to help pick the colors for their 4th pressed pigment trio, help name it, and get a free one of the trios they helped designed. Anywho, since I haven't had a chance to post much lately (the few weeks of school are kicking my butt) I thought I'd share my entry. :)

click for full size

The Peanut Gallery: Ulta Professional Brush Cleaner

Note: I will at times be comparing this brush cleaner with my previous brush cleaner, Bare Escentuals Quick Change

Pros:

• Thorough
• I've wiped a dry brush on a paper towel until nothing comes off and the brush seems clean (at least clean of makeup particles not necessarily germs) then used this brush cleaner and the amount of makeup that comes off the brush is surprising
• Sanitizes
• It's a really quick and easy way to disinfect your brushes in between washes. Not all spray on brush cleaners do this so this is a major plus.
• Smell
• pleasant light smell (at least in my opinion)
• No noticeable residue 
• Brushes stay soft
• Affordable

Cons:

• Dry time
• With this brush cleaner you are supposed to thoroughly spray the brush and then wipe it clean (versus the Bare Escentuals Quick Change where you are supposed to spray the paper towel or tissue and then wipe the brush with it). The problem with this is that it means the brush takes longer to try. If I'm using the same brush for more than one color for the same look this is kind of inconvenient, however I found that if you spray the paper towel, etc. and wipe the brush with it as you would with the Bare Escentuals Quick Change it still does a thorough job and dries almost instantly.

Cost: $12 for 4 fl oz (versus $18 for 3.7 fl oz of the Bare Escentuals Quick Change)

Overall: This is a great product especially for the price. Baring finding something better between now and then I will definitely buy this product again when I run out (which probably won't be for a while, a little goes  a long way) and I would definitely recommend it.

Sale Alert: BH Cosmetics

BH Cosmetics has some of it's palettes for sale for $11-$12. It is today only so check it out!

http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/eyes/

Look #17: Sugarpill High

Elf Eye Primer & NYX Jumbo Pencil in Cottage Cheese & Madd Style Cosmetics' Awesome Sauce
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark-Circle Roller

Eyeshadows: (inner to outer): Janet by Madd Style Cosmetics, Magentric by Sugarpill Cosmetics, Weekender by Sugarpill Cosmetics, Junebug by Sugarpill Cosmetics.

Highlight: Snowflake by Virus Insanity Eyeshadow

Eyeliner: Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Zero and Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Mildew on the waterline

Mascara: Maybelline Falsies Mascara


Blushes: Strawberry Milkshake by Indie Girl Cosmetics and Fox in a Box - Smooth Talker by Hard Candy

Lips: Custom liptar with Ulta Super Shine Lipgloss in Princess overtop

Giveaway Alert

Aull About You is having a massive 100 followers giveaway.

Here are some of the Prizes!: 

- Madd Style Cosmetics Sugar Lips Bomb - Taboo

- Madd Style Cosmetics Sugar Lips Bomb - Skittlez

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Star Gazer

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Dr. Rockso

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Snuffy

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Trashed

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Spooky Girl

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Final Fantasy

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Tiny Dancer

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Mr. Roboto

- Madd Style Cosmetics Pigment: Pixie

- Cherry manicure set

- Hello Kitty snap hair clips

- Ardell Fairy Wings false eyelashes

- Nail stickers

- Broadway Nails - Tiger Print

- Bare Minerals Pigment - Bamboo

- Alima Eyeshadow - Platinum

& plenty more!

Go check it out and enter! click here!

The Peanut Gallery: Rue 21 Beauté! Nail Stickers

Up until recently I have avoided nail stickers. The concept is cool but I just couldn't convince myself to drop $10  for nail stickers that I could get one, maybe two uses out of when I could just buy nail polish instead and use it many more times. Recently I found two different types of nail stickers that were more affordable and decided to give them a try. Here's a little review of one of them.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Cool design
• Comes with the tools you need to apply them

Cons: 

• Difficult to apply.
• Compared to the other brand of nail stickers I tried these are really difficult to apply. They were thinner than the other nail stickers and because of how thin they were the kept crumpling up on me and wouldn't lay flat no matter how hard I tried.
• Also because they were so thin they were hard to file to the right length, even tho I trimmed them really close to the end of my nail with my small sewing scissors.

• They don't stay on.
• This is the biggest con in my book. Despite using top coat they just did not stay on. I did my left hand the day before the Halloween party I was attending and my right hand the day of the party (yea I walked around with only one hand done for a while but I didn't have time to do both).
• The ones on my left hand started falling off after just over 24 hours and I think the last of them fell off after about 2 days.
• The ones on my right hand started to fall off after just an hour and a half, thus leaving me frantically painting my nails on my right hand black right as we were supposed to be leaving (thankfully I had my OPI Spokkettes in my bag). Also, I forgot to use topcoat on one nail on this hand and that sticker fell off with in half an hour.

Needless to say I was NOT amused.

• Topcoat doesn't agree with them very well.
• As I said I used topcoat in the hopes they would stay on longer. While the topcoat did help them stay on longer it also gave the stickers a strange appearance. They got kind of crackly looking, kind of like you put a clear crackle coat over them. While I love crackle polish believe me it was not cute.

It is a tad blurry but you can still see what happened with the top coat

• The directions 
• The directions tell you to place the strip and gently stretch the sticker and smooth over the entire nail. Only thing is they don't stretch and they are near impossible to smooth.
• The directions also say "Carefully remove excess sticker" but don't tell you how. While you may know how if you have done nail stickers before why bother including directions if you aren't going to actually explain how to do things?

Price: Normally about $4 (before tax) but I picked this particular set on clearance for $1.99
Final Thoughts: I will not buy Rue 21 nail stickers again and I definitely don't recommend them. I love their clothes and accessories so I guess I won't hold one flop against them. :P

Psssst. stay tuned for our upcoming giveaway

The Peanut Gallery: Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Cream

I have combination skin and I struggle with dry patches on my nose and between and around my eyebrows. I've tried many different moisturizers and pretty much all of them either made me break out or only helped my skin for a few hours and then it would be back to dry and patchy. However, I can finally say the search is over thanks to this little miracle in a jar.

Effectiveness: I use my previous face moisturizer which is part of Mary Kay's anti-aging line and this product and my dry patches have been virtually eliminated. It lasts too, it stays moisturized all day without feeling greasy. It hasn't caused me to break out.

Smell: It has a somewhat cucumber-y smell that I find to be very pleasant.

Texture: It feels very cool and light. It isn't greasy or oily at all.

Packaging: Nothing fancy but hey it works :) and the jar is decent sized.

Cost: Approx. $6-$9 (depending on where you go) which, for the amount you get and how well it works, is a steal.


Overall: This is hands down my favorite moisturizer and is a God-sent for my skin.

What is your favorite moisturizer?

Hot Topic War Paint Giveaway

Hot Topic is doing a daily giveaway on their new makeup brand, War Paint. Go like their page and enter for the chance to win!

MAC GIVEAWAY by Maneater Makeup!

So one of my favorite makeup blogs, Maneater Makeup, is doing a giveaway.
The prize is a MAC Chromagraphic pencil in "Hi-Def Cyan"!

Free MAC? Come on that is just plain awesome! Entering is really easy! So go check it out and ENTER! (click heeere) (and if ya like tell em sw.musicaddict sent ya ;D )

Nail of the Week: You Look Good in DEAD

 As you probably know, Halloween is only about two and a half weeks away. I personally love Halloween; it's just so much fun! I was playing around with some grey nail polish and some red sparkle nail polish. Originally I was going to attempt a gradient with the glitter over the grey but in the spirit of Halloween I decided to go with blood drips instead. I'm really happy with how this one turned out!

Polishes used:

- Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus

- Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in 310 Gunmetal (see picture below)

- A no name red glitter polish from Hot Topic (see pictures below

- Sally Hansen 30 Second Top Coat

Tools:

Tutorial!

This is my video tutorial so it's far less than perfect :P But hey ya gotta start somewhere.

pardon the chopped off text at the start, etc. it wasn't like that when I previewed it. :/