Nuance Salma Hayek Walnut Body Scrub & Passion Fruit Nourishing Body Cleansing Cream Review

Ok so since my first review on Salma's line wasn't a glowing one, I wanted to post a second one on some products I really liked.  They are two from the body line, the Walnut Scrub and Cleanser.

I will start with the packaging. It is really nice! I love the flower design and the neutral yet pretty colors.  The body cleansing cream is a thick and creamy formula. It has ingredients like passion fruit, acai, rice bran oil and shea butter.  It applies nicely and rinses off easily. It also made my skin feel nice and soft.  It also has a nice yet subtle honey scent.  I definitely liked this, and it was a good size.  Retail was $9.99 - although it is on the high end, since I got it as part as the buy one get one free, it was pretty affordable.  

Next up is the Walnut scrub. I have to say I really loved this!   It contains ingredients like walnut shells, acai and passion flower seed oils, annato and rice bran oils and caffeine. Wow, pretty long list of promotional ingredients in one product! I was pretty surprised.  I like scrubs that have a grit to them instead of the exfoliating beads, I never feel that the beads actually exfoliate well. It has a sand-like texture which really exfoliated well but is still pretty gentle.

Retail was $7.99, which is a decent price. And it also has a great, nutty scent.

I give both of these an A+, and if you can get them on sale, even better. I definitely recommend picking up both items, they were excellent.

Salma Hayek Nuance Full Effect Ultra-Volumizing Mascara Review

So I am sure most of you know that CVS recently had a big introductory sale for the Salma Hayek line, Nuance. It's a fairly extensive line, and exclusive to CVS. She has cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and body care.  Although the cosmetics range isn't huge, she still has everything from primer to lipstick and translucent setting powder. Basically, everything you need from head to toe. Naturally, with a buy one get one free sale, I had to stock up. I got a little from each of the 4 areas, and overall I was impressed with her products. And I love Salma, and I enjoyed the reason she was inspired to do the line. 

"My line is inspired by my grandmother, who dedicated her life to keeping women beautiful. My products are designed to help every woman enhance the nuances that define her individual beauty, and make my grandmother proud."

She used very interesting ingredients in her line, like agave and meadowfoam.  If you have not had a chance to pick up anything, I would definitely recommend several items. I will post more reviews soon. There were also some samples on some displays. I managed to get some for tinted moisturizer, body cream and firming body cream. And the body products came with a  $2 off coupon. Nice!  And I have to comment on the packaging. She really paid attention to detail on the packaging she used. She kept the design consistent throughout and it is very understated yet elegant.


Onto the review. Unfortunately I am starting with a negative review.  I am a mascara fanatic, and the more volume the better. I typically do not prefer a light, day look. My current fave is Maybelline the Falsies mascara. 


Salma had two mascaras in her line, a defining and volumizing. So I went straight for the volumizing in Black.  It seemed to be a pretty good formula based on the information on the CVS site. 

"Silk powder thickens and strengthens your lashes without clumping. Vitamins A, C & E condition and nourish. Meadowfoam, chamomile, sweet almond oil, sodium hyaluronate & panthenol prevent your lashes from becoming dry and brittle."

The packaging was nice, seemed pretty sturdy and pretty.  Sadly, this is where my being impressed with this mascara ended.  I could tell by the brush that it would not deliver on the volume claim.  The bristles were just too far apart. I do like that it's not the increasingly popular molded brush, and is the traditional bristle.  I also like that its on the shorter side. I don't really like really long brushes. My eyes are not that big! lol. I digress.

The formula seemed nice, not too thick or dry, and it did not clump at all. I applied three coats, and still could not build up this formula. The brush did provide some length and definition, but this is a volume mascara.  It is nice for someone looking for a light day look. On the plus side, it did not flake, and was easy to remove.  Sorry for the creepy eyeball but I didn't pluck the brows.

Overall I would give this mascara a C. It has a nice formula (didn't flake or smudge and easy to remove) and package, but it did not provide the volume I was expecting even after 3 coats. My lashes looked sparse. If you like a lighter mascara that does not give that full on false lash look, then this is for you.  Otherwise, this was a pass for me. 


Luckily, there were way more positives to her line than negatives, so look forward to reading more!


This mascara retails for $9.79 on cvs.com.

Nail of the Day: China Glaze For Audrey

So I had been reluctant to actually buy this polish. Not sure why, but I figured it was a shade I could easily find a dupe for. Well, I never really found anything, and so I went ahead and snatched it up. And, I'm glad, cause I love it. I love China Glaze polishes, they apply well, have great formulas and the bottle design is nice. Oh, and they are not expensive at all. I used two coats in this picture. It applied nicely, formula was good, not too thick or watery. Typically a cream needs 3 coats to get it even but not in this case. Once again my picture does not do it justice. It is supposed to be close to the blue in the Tiffanys packaging. I would say it's pretty close. It's not a true blue as my picture shows, it's a tad dustier with a little bit of grey. Amazing color!  Sorry the application is not perfect. I am lazy and don't usually go back to clean up the edges.

Nail of the Day: Color Club Disco Dress

Hi everyone! I have a bunch of catching up to do on reviews, so I will start with my nails. CVS is having a sale on Salma Hayek's new line, Nuance, and I bought a bunch of products. Will be doing reviews soon. Onto the nails. Today I have on Color Club in Disco Dress. This is an amazing purple color. I am not sure why it did not photograph true to color, but it dries matte, which makes it part of the neon family.  So, I figure that's why the color wouldn't come up accurate no matter how many pix I took. This is an amazing and vivid purple. It looks blue in the pic but it is not, it is a true royal purple color. Very bright yet deep if that makes any sense. And I got it for about 3 bucks, so definitely go out and pick up this color!  It applies nicely and evenly, this is two coats in the pic.

Julep Nail and Becoming a Maven! Birchbox for Nails!

Hi, I just wanted to give a quick update on something new I checked out today.

http://www.julep.com/AP.aspx?ID=XX&EID=14665637


Click on the link to check out their site and sign up for a monthly membership. They offer polishes that are tailored based on a quiz you take, and also have other hand treatments like lotions and glycolic washes. I will update more when I get my first order but wanted to share this new site. It's like Birchbox but with all polishes. Their polishes seem pretty nice. Also Beautystat is offering a 50% off for the first month by using the promo code'beautystat'. 
http://www.beautystat.com/site/headline/polishes-on-my-doorstep-every-month-thanks-julep-nail-exclusive-offer-giveaway-sponsored-review-photos/

Nail of the Day - SinfulColors Pull Over

Ok so I was checking out  a recent review on the Daily Varnish on this shade, and I just so happened to stop at a Rite Aid. I saw the color and had to get it.  It's such a bright taxi yellow color I couldn't resist.  It applies nicely, but a tad on the streaky side, but this seems to happen with all yellows I have.  It was opaque in three coats.  For two bucks....it's worth picking up for a nice sunny pick me up. I used another SinfulColors shade I picked up in Paradise on my thumb. It's hard to tell here, but its a nice sky blue.  Definitely cheered me up all day!

Review - Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer/Concealer

Hi! I wanted to do a quick review on the Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer/Concealer. I received this as a sample, which I am really happy I didn't spend the money on this.  First off, here are the claims it makes on their site: This dual-action power primer works 360° around the eyes to make concealers AND eyeshadows STAY PUT. Concealers don't crease, eyeshadows stay vibrant and true...you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

Application: It applied nicely, and i thought it was promising. The formula is lighter and less creamy than a typical primer, more like a liquid concealer.

Wear: By lunch, I have barely any shadow on, it looks awful. It did not really crease it which is odd, it just disappeared completely.

Normally I do love Benefit products, but this is a pass for me. I have oily lids so I need something that is really durable.  I took a photo of my eyes at lunch, on the left is my HG Urban Decay Primer Potion, on the right is the Benefit.   You can see it barely looks like I have shadow on. I loved their FY Eye...and I'm thinking they need to reinvent it and bring it back to life!