Monthly Beauty Favorites: April 2012

Another month, another favorites video... (and another empties video too!)

Products Mentioned:

• Carol's Daughter Monoi Shampoo and Conditioner
•  bumble & bumble tonic lotion + brilliantine 
• No. 7 Hot Cloth Cleanser 
• The Body Shop Almond Hand and Nail Cream 
• I Coloniali Deep Massage Body Cream with Myrrh 
• Urban Decay De Slick Setting Spray  
• NARS Makeup Primer w/SPF 20 PA++ 
• Chanel Vitalumiére Aqua in BR12 
• Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer - Porcelain 
• MAC Blush - Immortal Flower + Modern Mandarin 
• Make Up For Ever HD Blush - #6  
• MAC Lipsticks - Rebel, Innocence Beware!, + Hue 
• Essie - Sew Psyched + Vermillionaire 
• butter LONDON - La Moss

Butter LONDON - Blagger

Blagger is my third and final (for now!) Butter LONDON polish. I was initially really excited for this polish, but now I kind of regret this color choice over other more sophisticated options. I should probably stick to cheap brands, like Sally Hansen, where it comes to "out there" colors instead of dropping mad dolla dolla bills on Butter LONDON. It chipped after a few days wear, so that too was a bit of a disappointment -- but could easily have been a result of my application and not an issue attributable to the actual polish. Nevertheless, I like the color and had fun wearing it. Once the chipping started, I went with my ole faithful trick and quickly applied a really light coat of the glittery Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Time to Shine to extend the life of the manicure.

A Year in Review: My Favorite Beauty Products of 2011

A yearly favorites video can be somewhat repetitive, given that I present my favorites at the end of each month; but, I still thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite make up items, brushes, perfumes, and nail polishes. Maybe I should do one for clothes and shoes??? Enjoy!

Favorite Products:

-Make Up For Ever Primer
-Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 110
-Make Up For Ever HD Concealer in 310
-Tarte Amazonian Clay Tinted Moisturizer in Agent 00
-MAC Studio Fix Powder Foundation in NW15
-MAC Brushes: 187, 217, 266
-NARS Blush in Luster
-MAC Blush in Notable
-e.l.f. Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance
-MAC Eyebrow Pencil in Spiked
-Stila Smudge Sticks
-Smashbox Eye Beam Double Ended Brightener
-Urban Decay Naked Palette
-MAC Mega Metal Eye Shadow in Prance
-MAC Prep + Prime Eyelid Primer
-Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara
-MAC Lipstick in Dubonnet, Rebel, Vegas Volt, and Girl About Town
-NARS Lipstick in Afghan Red, Barbarella, and Heatwave
-Essie Nail Polish in Sew Psyched, Chinchilly, Lady Like, Merino Cool, Tart Deco, and Turquoise and Caicos
-Butter LONDON Nail Polish in Wallis
-Vanille Insensee by Atelier Cologne
-Stella by Stella McCartney
-Bioderma
-Stella in Two Peony by Stella McCartney

Butter LONDON - Wallis

One of my favorite polishes I discovered in 2011 was Butter LONDON's Wallis. First off, the packaging. It's beautiful, sleek, chic, whatever you want to call it. The actual polish color is a gorgeous too, a real unique shade, and I love the way it catches the light. It wasn't incredibly long lasting, but I let that slide given the awesome color. Just like beautiful people, beautiful colors get away with everything... This brand of polish is a little pricey, so keep your eyes open for deals -- ULTA regularly has Buy 2, Get 1 Free deals on this polish (that's where I bought mine).

Butter LONDON - La Moss

I'm flabbergasted at how into this color I am since I'm normally pretty ambivalent towards deep reds and maroons. I fell in love with Butter LONDON's "La Moss" as soon as I started painting it on my nails. It is the most amazing bloody, rich red -- exactly what I want for the Fall. It was a little difficult to apply -- could be patchy in some places -- but the color is so perfect and it lasts so long that I ignore that fact. If you want full, opaque coverage -- especially in the sun -- I'd recommend three thick coats.

Now lady friends, I know Butter LONDON polishes are expensive... so if you don't know of any promotions running on them currently, check out Skinstore.com, AKA my new skincare retailer FOR LIFE. BFFS. Chelsea and Skinstore sitting in a tree. They are on Ebates too! I recently discovered this online shop and found out they always are running 20% off promotions, running daily deals, and they sell EVERYTHING: makeup, skincare, nail polish, haircare, etc. Their discounts + Ebates rebates = SAVINGS. I just bought some Korres products yesterday and my wishlist is insanely long. My name is Chelsea and I have an addiction to promotional codes and free shipping.

Fall Polish Options

I made a video where I go through my favorite colors for the new season, but I wanted to share my picks here as well. The color themes I am most excited for this Fall are berries, bloody reds, purples, greens, oranges, and metallics. NOTE: This is by no means the complete list. I picked exactly 20 colors from my collection -- mostly because that many colors would fill up the nail wheel -- but I could have kept going! (You may recognize some of these colors from previous Nail File posts!)

My Favorite Fall Nail Picks

-Butter LONDON "La Moss"

-Essie "Damsel in a Dress"

-Essie "Angora Cardi"

-Essie "Merino Cool"

-Essie "Chinchilly"

-Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Grey Area"

-NYC "Battery Park Purple"

-OPI "Lincoln Park at Midnight"

-OPI "Brisbane Bronze"

-Butter LONDON "Wallis"

-Revlon "Copper Penny"

-Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Time to Shine"

-Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Midnight Sky"

-OPI "Jade is the New Black"

-Essie "Sew Psyched"

-Essie "Going Incognito"

-Essie "Pretty Edgey"

-Essie "Vermillionaire"

-Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Sun Kissed"

-Essie "Meet me at Sunset"