u/curlycomedy

Love how this combination looks magnetic but doesn’t require me to buy a horseshoe magnet or cool spinning tool (as fun as they seem). Optical illusions R Us.

I just did layers (base coat, blue, scattered sparkle) and a stripe with the teal shimmer, a halo around the stripe with the purple shimmer, and top coat.

The ring finger is my favorite and really looks magnetic to me. The middle finger blends in with the rest, but when I look at it too long, I can see how the bold center stripe looks hand-painted and not like a gathering of magnetic particles. Gotta try this again until I get all the nails right! But I’m very pleased with it.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Mega Strength 005 Strengthener
Base color: Patricia Yankee Clean Slate
Next Layer: Ioni Purple Rain (Aqua Pop line)
Stripe: Pretty Woman Teal Green (Siren Shimmer collection)
Halo: Trust Fund Beauty Mermaid Vibes
Top coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel top coat 100
Not used: L.A. Colors Opal Ocean

I’ll be honest, I still think the viral lip mask everyone loves is the third best option at the Tree. It really boils down to what people want out of a lip moisturizer (mask, gloss, balm).

My ranking (the photo shows the best starting from top to bottom)

Global Beauty Care Lip Soothing Mask - Raspberry Soufflé or Lavender Lemonade. I like both flavors combined. Moisturizing, comfortable to wear, and with just a hint of shine. 

⁠Le Mercerie Perfect Hydration (old formula, flat cap) - Nice cherry candy flavor, not medicinal. Glossy

B-Pure Hydrating Night Lip Mask (the viral one) - no fragrance that I can detect, soothing, comfortable.

B-Pure Peptide Lip Mask (says “clear,” but it changes pink with your pH) - Thick! Like honey. Truly a lip mask. I like to layer it over the GBC Soothing Lip Mask above. It smells like coconut to me.

B-Pure Strawberry-scented Lip Mask - Love the heart applicator. I was using the skinnier end at first which is a mistake. The heart makes it apply so easily. Love the gelatin-like look and cute two-tone packaging. Formula feels nice. 

Beauty Intuition Lip Glaze - I have Cherry Kiss (other flavors: Peachy Dreams, Peony Breeze, Citrus Vanilla). Thin formula, slightly tinted pink.

Just 4 Girls Beary Sweet Lip Gloss - Love the banana flavor, thin formula, slick texture, and how it feels moisturizing. No tint. 

B-Pure Hydrating Lip Oil - no flavor or scent and a nice, light formula. 

B-Pure Watermelon Lip Oil - similar formula but appealing watermelon scent. Plus sparkles.

Beauty Impressions Lip Plumping Juicy Glaze Gloss. I like the uniquely thick texture and that it does not tingle despite being for plumping. 

Beauty Impressions Hydrating Lip Balm - slightly tacky, but sinks in to feel moisturizing. 

⁠B-Pure Exfoliating lip serum - I gave this a bad review at first (it was too thin) and repurposed the tube to be concealer. But I saved the serum in a jar. Based off advice here I use it for the retinol properties. I put it under a lip mask, otherwise it is too thin. Because of the retinol I use it at night, to avoid UV rays.

Reminder: these Dollar Tree Pencil cases in the first picture hold seven regular Essie bottles, which is enough for a six-color collection and a treatment, if you are traveling! The collection in the first pic is the Summer 2023 Push Play collection.

These Essies are relatively recent and from some Target-exclusive collections! I’m surprised they’re at Dollar Tree honestly.

Left to right: Patch it Up (Fall 2024 Punk at Heart collection), Toad You So (Spring 2024 Light and Fairy), Grass Never Greener (Summer 2023 Push Play), and Sunshine Be Mine (Summer 2023 Push Play). There were other colors like berry and light blue (look up the collections listed to see more shades to get an idea of what will be coming to your store), but I am burned out on collecting polish. The ones I am holding I already have at home (except for Patch it Up, apparently - now that I check my stash!)

Love the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri options too for Spring! This Hershey’s Kiss collab came out Spring 2024.

I looked at the ingredients, and this seems more like a serum than anything else. Don’t be misled by the word Feminine on here. It may be intended for the bikini area, but it is gentle enough for the face. Carbomer is non-comedogenic. It is clear and odorless with a watery, gelatinous texture.

I have used it two days in a row under moisturizer, and I have not had any breakouts. I should compare this to the Spa-scentials Element Essence facial serums I have (maybe Earth, and Water).

If this ends up being similar to other DT serums ingredient-wise, then this 4oz bottle is a better value given the size.

Pointer to pinky: Ioni Purple Rain (Veil of Allure display), L.A. Colors Surf’s Calling (Aquatichrome display), L.A. Colors Opal Ocean (Aquatichrome display), and Pretty Woman Teal Green (Siren Shimmer display).

One coat of each over black.

Clearly Surf’s Calling and Opal Ocean are packed with the same kind of blue-to-purple shifting shimmer, so they look identical on the nail. Womp womp, but good to know.

Teal Green looks like a glimmering emerald! 🤩

Second to last pic is the same as pic 2 but without editing. I have not been moisturizing after washing my hands, so the skin around my nails looks like the aliens in Cocoon. Lo siento.

I wish I had grabbed more of the Nightmare Before Christmas hand lotion bottles last month. They have the best caps. I love that little screw-on sphere, and it fits my BBW hand lotion bottles. I removed the Jack Skellington face with acetone and a cotton round.

I pulled the Ioni lipstick bullet out of the Veil of Allure packaging and put it into an empty Japonesque packaging so I could make it match my other lipsticks in the drawer. The Japonesque tubes have magnetic caps (not at DT yet, but they were in my local discount store. So they may come). The original Japonesque lipstick bullets had a terrible formula that bled easily, so I felt fine throwing them away.

I took the Strawberry Shortcake Lemon Pie lip balm out of its cute yellow packaging and put it into the Ioni because the Ioni is so chic. Lemon Pie has a slanted tip like a lipstick, not flat like a lip balm.

There is also a toner bottle hack: decant into the Must Have Beauty spray bottles, and cut the label off to put it on the new bottle. You can also put a pump-spray nozzle in the toner bottle (which means you wouldn’t need to transfer the label).

I don’t remember seeing a display by Ioni called Healthy Aura, but these three concealer options were mixed into my store’s makeup jail today.

The models on the sides of the box look too weirdly similar to be real people. Plus I know how they like to use A.I. for their packaging. Tsk tsk

I didn’t want to try to mix these to get my complexion, so I put them back. They don’t have a yellow undertone so they would probably look too red or chalky on me. I would mix the two on the left in a 1:2 ratio though, if I were going for a match.

Also new to my store: Le Mercerie Pore Diffusion makeup primer. I have enough so I didn’t get it to try, but I am curious. It looks wet like it would leave a dewy finish.

Peruse the latest fragrance drops I saw at Marshalls.

Three scents with musk in the name by Sand + Fog.

Tru Fragrance Élément Édition I Pearl is a popular skin scent

The Scent Club Cabana Boy was very salty ocean plus suntan lotion musk. I think a lot of folks will like this one for Summer.

Noir de Jardin Berries & Musk (didn’t catch the brand on the bottom of the bottle. Most likely Tru Fragrance) is true to its name. Opens with big mixed berries (think Paris Hilton, Escada, Victoria’s Secret fruits), and a nice clean musk note. Very fun butterfly cap.

Noted Sweet Musk - I smelled this a couple of times and couldn’t place it. Maybe trying to be another Glossier You, but I forget. I keep hoping they’ll bring back Noted

The Good Scent Coastal Musk - standard clean scent that leans masculine

OOO and Fleur de Blonde by Le Monde Gourmand are great musks. Fraise Fouetté (French for whipped strawberry) is a bold strawberry scent. Le Beach is MM Replica Beachwalk-adjacent, and Santal Supreme is a milder Le Labo Santal 33 to my nose. All of these are good.

Two new Sand and Fog kits if you like these popular scents.

The last one is a new Curations by the Good Scent called Raspberry Mirror Glaze Cake (what a name!). It was adequately raspberry and chocolate (the airier kind like chocolate flake candy not a rich, fudgy cake). I don’t want to smell like chocolate anymore, so it didn’t hold my interest.

Will buy again:
Skin Nutrition Botanicals tea tree and salicylic acid face wash - well-known in this sub for clearing acne-prone skin. I find it gentle and effective.

Dermasil Labs Facial Cleanser for Acne Prone skin - Tea tree oil, glycolic acid, azelaic acid, licorice root, Salicylic Acid, witch hazel and eucalyptus oil - so much good stuff! Smells pleasantly herbal, rinses without stripping. Nice flip-top cap.

Will use up but not repurchase:

Global Beauty Care Cleansing face wash (purple tube): love it for being fragrance-free. Hate the cap you have to twist off and how fast the product comes out. Needs to be transferred to a pump.

Dermasil Labs oatmeal - I can’t find this one to verify, but I think it has a gelatinous texture. Is that right? I’ve heard it smells weird, but I don’t remember a scent on this one. I must have destashed it. I like the flip-top cap.

Global Beauty Care Rice Water Foaming Enzyme Cleanser - it smells like coconut to me which is played out to my nose. I am tired of coconut thangs. Feels fine. Reliable as a cleanser.

Destashed because life is too short:

Global Beauty Care Bluberry + Hyaluronic Acid hydrating facial cleanser - very similar to the purple tube by GBC. Rinses well. Face feels clean and not stripped. Nice blueberry scent. Hate the cap and how it spills out.

Happy Skin Healthy Skin Berry Glowy - left my face feeling tight aka stripped. Good for oily skin I’m guessing. The little white top slips out of my hand when I try to put it back on in the shower. I don’t like the pouch container style.

Dermasil Melon Jelly Cleanser - no complaints really, except for having to screw the dumb cap back on. I like flip-top. Formula works fine. I think this one is popular in this sub.

Have you seen the Revlon Ultra HD gel lipsticks in your Tree? I collected a handful of them some months back. I forget when. I am decluttering my old makeup, and I wondered if anything I had matched my ancient bullet of MAC Craving. The Amplified Crème lipstick line was discontinued in 2024-5.

I discovered a close cousin! Revlon HD Vineyard 760. Both look like a rosy-berry shade on my medium-deep complexion. There is a reflective sheen on the Revlon swatch that makes it look lighter than the MAC.

Both are so emollient they wear off on me, so I can’t really speak to wear time. I talk, eat, drink, touch my face, etc. I don’t wear lipstick so it will stay all day, just for a few hours if I need it for an audition.

MAC Craving from their Amplified Crème lipstick line (discontinued 2024-5) is a rosy mauve shade that looks like a cool-toned rose-berry on my medium-deep complexion. My bullet is ancient, and I was about to throw it out, but I thought I would swatch it to see if I have anything in my stash that compares.

I found Revlon HD Vineyard 760 from their Ultra HD gel line (slim, metallic pink tubes) comes quite close ! Especially on my lips. You can see on my hand that the MAC is a hair darker, but there is also a reflection on the Revlon swatch that hampers the view.

On me, lipstick wears off easily, especially emollient formulas like these two, so I can’t really compare wear time. I talk a lot, eat and drink, touch my face, etc. The Revlon actually popped up in my local Dollar Tree.

From far away it looks awesome, but up close it is quite messy. I took my time and did one nail at a time to minimize the mess. It’s still gritty due to my inability to time the tackiness right. I followed a sub member’s tip and set a timer for 2 min. That allowed the chrome to adhere, but I guess I am tapping/rubbing it on wrong (too quickly? Too slowly? Too much force?) because it only occasionally looks as smooth as a spoon.

Pic 1: far away

Pic 2: up close (left hand, my better version) holding the product

Pic 3: left hand opening blinds. Reflective!

Pic 4: my other hand up close, no clean-up. Too patchy and textured, which messes up the reflective shine effect.

Pic 5: first attempt (base coat too dry, chrome wouldn’t adhere)

Pic 6: right hand first attempt. Messy!

Pic 7: chrome powder smear. Don’t paint outside. The wind can blow it everywhere.

Pic 8: In-store display, Ioni Pink Cowgirl (that I will forever remember as the Pink Pony Club)

Pic 9-10: Base and top coat you will need (you can use any “sticky” base coat really, but you need to seal it in with a water-based top coat)

Pic 11: the chrome powder options from this display. Callie Pink and Blue Jean

Pic 12: left hand (best version) up close again.

For the time it takes to get it right, the steep learning curve (as opposed to just painting on a chrome polish), the difficult clean-up, the powder container being ridiculously insufficient, and the results not matching my expectations I give it a 4/10. Definitely not worth the trouble in my opinion, but if you like a challenge, I bet better results can be achieved. I’ll play with it one more time (in better lighting, since I did these last night watching TV in lower lighting), but as far as this method goes, it is not for me.

My best recommendation for the Pink Cowgirl nail bar is to get the water-based top coat. It comes in handy for nail art. Namely for chrome application. It locks it in before you add regular top coat. Hey look! This display also comes with more chrome. I’m trying it again.

Let me tell you: there is a learning curve with this chrome powder! It’s why I destashed all the other colors that have come through. I was feeling adventurous, so I grabbed this blue. You have to let the base coat be tacky but not wet. If it’s dry the powder won’t stick, and you will get all those bald spots you see in slide 16. I had better luck smearing it on my hand and rubbing the nail quickly to buff it in. The little applicator took me too long.

I only like one nail (middle finger right hand - last pic), so next time I do this, I will go ONE NAIL AT A TIME. Apply base. Feel for tackiness. Dab powder. Rub it in. Brush away excess around nail. Apply water-based top. Let it dry. Apply regular top coat. Let it dry. Clean-up with remover. Then move onto the next nail. It’s the only way to get this to look nice. For me, chrome polish is the better option.

L.A. Colors Baked Eye Shadow “Long-lasting intense colors.” I have zero experience with “baked” eye shadow, and I don’t know what it means to apply it wet. Wet your eye shadow brush and then dab it on? Wet your finger? Two styles have popped up in my store: praline (browns) and nightlife (grays).

Next, this Kristin Ess brush is substantial! It’s bigger than your average DT option, flexible bristles feel like they detangle, and the handle is shiny. There was also a scrunchie that functions as a bonus pocket. Store your key, some money, or gum inside. I would 100% lose this item if I put something valuable in it. Or I would accidentally put it in the wash and the dryer if it had gum inside. Like it would be in a hoodie pocket, and the rest is history. Or I would have a panic attack looking for my key everywhere and forget it was on my head. It has disaster written all over it for someone like me.

This Kokie gel eyeliner looks perfect for my needs. I used to swear by the L.A. Colors auto liner since I prefer self-sharpeners (I lose mini sharpeners - see the above explanation for zippered scrunchies). But u/NiaNeuman says they drag and skip and are not smooth. Not worth the time.

This dual-color serum has Clycolic acid. I thought the G had part of it rubbed off, but all of the bottles said this. I am a volunteer typo-finder.

I thought because it recommends to wait 15 seconds it would be a dupe of my holy grail cuticle remover. It does not work as thoroughly or quickly as the Sally Hansen, but it DOES work. Texture and performance is closer to Blue Cross cuticle remover (cloudy-milky, gelatinous, needs to sit longer on the nail).

And just to be annoying, I will remind you that the cuticle is the dead skin that grows on your nail plate, NOT the skin at the base where your nail plate grows. That is the proximal nail fold. Don’t trim it. It is living skin, and cutting it will cause it to scab over and stay crunchy that way. Just soften it with cuticle oil my babies.

The Garfield print towel is the one sold at Dollar Tree. The pink one is a standard makeup removing towel. Just add water for both. Removes any and all makeup without soap. Totally cool. Garfield is a little thinner and shorter, but just as wide and just as soft.

You see what I did there? These tiny razors for brows by Ardell are a new look compared to the standard microblade tool.

A comparison of two similar brow products. Le Mercerie Shape Defined Brow Pencil in deep brown and Ioni Brow Duo Pomade + Brush in dark brown (Butter Bae display). This is my first time seeing the Ioni - it’s not a stick with a brush tool, it’s pomade that comes out of the brush?? Interesting. Maybe too opaque for me. Less is more for my brows these days.

Beauty Intuition Lip Glaze is supposed to be good based on someone’s rave review in this sub. I didn’t remember which scent (or color) they liked or have time to look it up, so I went with Citrus Vanilla since I don’t like floral flavor lip products.

This is my store’s Ioni Pink Cowgirl Lash and Makeup Bar display. The bottom stuff went fast. I didn’t grab anything from it. I have enough makeup at home I guess, and I want reviews of the blush and eyeshadow before I just grab it. It tends to sit unopened at my house. Are you able to use what you buy right away? What is your secret??

I came for a Kristen Ess claw clip someone here recommended. This chain headband was all my store had. I got it with the hopes that it doesn’t squeeze. It feels good at first, but all headbands squeeze me after a while. I can’t do these kinds all day. Scrunchie to keep my hair back for the win. Also the plastic chain design is haphazardly glued to the band so it’s slightly askew. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

The Beauty Intuition Mani-Fest colors have an image on the packaging that suggests these are shimmers, but I am pretty sure they are cremes. I don’t see any shimmer in the bottle. I did not get a shot of the ingredients, but the first is butyl acetate, so these are not water-based like the others they have released.

The Pretty Woman Siren Shimmer collection has PACKED the shimmer in their color called Teal Green so it looks like a blue flash. I love that kind. But I got Glam Ab Glitter and swatched it over navy blue for you.

The Kozmic Colours Hologlaze collection of shimmers are a pass for me. They have colorful shimmer in the same sheer white base, and they are toppers. Alone on a bare nail the shimmer doesn’t show well. Maybe over black these look better, but the shimmer doesn’t look packed.

Pretty Woman also has a collection in stores called Candy Chrome. I got three of them and swatched them alone (two coats) and over matching color cremes (one coat over two coats of creme). They just look like sparkly silver and not as cool as they look in the bottle, so I need to pick better base colors.

The L.A. Colors Aquati-Chrome is still in my store, and I will link to my post about the few I got in the comments. I watched a Youtube review by Linry and went back and got a few more (the metallics).

Chrome Powder so you don’t have to wait for them to appear in an Ioni display.

L.A. Colors striping brush polish. These have been in stock for years.