The greige hue is overwhelming my polish fantasies y'all. There is not a single time when I can walk past a polish line and not succumb to purchasing a grey/taupe color combination. Something about how subtle and different it is makes me a sucker each time.

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I'm usually very skeptical of uber cheap cosmetics. Why should 28 colors ever cost under three dollars? What did they save money on? Was it color? Quality? Safety? Packaging? What's the secret!?!

There's a confession in order, every time I pass a drugstore, a sudden urge to go in and see the new stuff overwhelms me. Sometimes they're not equipped for my eager eyes and I leave spending nothing (good) and seeing nothing (eh, not so good).

The last visit was pretty eventful though, I felt like I unearthed a gem!

What I think are new Sally Hansen colors (sometimes the displays get bombarded by consumer hands and you can't tell what's limited edition from the vets, and what's new from the clearance) in Purple Gala and Mystic Lilac are shimmer heaven polishes. I love that the shades are not your typical reds, blues, or purples, as many collections have brought out, and instead are using the most popular neutral shades and spicing them up a bit.

The worst part of wandering drugstore cosmetic aisles is the inevitable money you will spend or debt you will force upon yourself (ok maybe that's just me). Why?

It's like a Murphy's Law of Cosmetics, whatever new and interesting product you can find that will be irresistible and beg to come home with you, will be found and will have to come home with you. Such was the case with the 100% Pure Cosmetics counter at Duane Reade (yes them again - I told you - they're taking over!!).

At first, just the title was enough to tempt me to take the bronzer home and dissect it.

The product testers piqued my interest twice as much after the super duper smooth application one swipe provided. It was a little pricey though for a beauty junkie like me, so rather than gamble on which color would suit my face, I settled on a bronzer. Who goes wrong with another bronzer in their powdery tan arsenal?

Remember my trip to Duane Reade? Well the new beauty center formerly known as a drugstore (select locations only) tempted my wallets plenty in one day.

My newest indulgence is a nail polish brand I was far from being familiar with. Have you heard of Freshcover Nail Color? I didn't.

I will be very honest and tell you I cared much less for the quality, or anything, really, once I saw the bottle shape. The handle was so interesting and pleasantly odd. The only thing left for me to choose was the color to take home with me. You know - sometimes I feel like items are meant to come home with me. Ever justify your shopaholic impulses so?

Continuing my search for the perfect range of coral polishes (because the search for the perfect one only taught me that I like too many to choose just one!), I chose Cuba Bella and continued to wander around the store.

Check out how they performed on the digits:

By my non-scientific count, the majority of the readers here are female. So it would behoove both you and I for me to share this information. You know our gift? Everybody has a different name for it. The monthly gift, code red, little friend, visitor, Aunt Flo, the red curse, etc. Any gentlemen reading? Not too worry - I won't be going in specifics. I'm talking about a fashionable and playful way to take care of business!

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Certain things are completely shameless to me. My momma taught me no such thing. When the time of the month came? Shoot, I had to do what I had to do. None of the blushing and carrying a whole handbag to the bathroom. But no judgement here! To each their own. But why not a pretty and fashionable each and own? Enter Moxie. I've come to appreciate the Aussies. Spurred on by Nancy from the Informed Makeup Maven, I've started to realize all the Aussie in my life has been a pretty 1:1 ratio of fabulousness.

Moxie is a brand that gussies up what is the mundane and necessary. They are the equivalent of having Helloy Kitty band-aids. They put tampons, pads, and panti-liners in cute tins. The name stands for gals with attitude (does it not? check dictionary.com - courage, aggressiveness, nerve). I love a company that doesn't prey on females as weak victims (oh no - we bleed!), but rather as tough beauties with strength (we do it every month with perfect accessories to boot!). Check after the jump for the rest of the scoop.

The love story with drugstores and me is that when I wander around aimlessly before my purchase, I am almost always guaranteed to find something new. Either to the market or to just lil' me. This time around? LASplash. I saw these at a Duane Reade. Bright colored eye liquid eyeliners and equally bright colored mascaras.

If you know me, you also know that I try nearly every color mascara out there because I just adore them. The trick to getting the color to pop is to have a dark eyeliner, and/or using a primer for your lashes or a white mascara. This will make the color pop even more (think about mixing paints: a blue will pop more if added to white than if added to brown).

These babies were $6.49 each but I also found them online at CherryCulture.com. The site has a rewards program that is a bit better than Duane Reade so if you are trying to get the biggest bang for your buck you know what to do. Also - I am not sure if other drugstores carry this brand yet. I know Duane Reade has the least amount of BOGO sales out of all the drugstores I frequent (but I still love it dearly). The mascaras on the site are $4.99 each and the liners are $5.99. If you get up to free shipping, you're getting them for a bargain. Also? The brand has eyeshadows, lipglosses, lipsticks, and glitter. You can check out their main website here but be warned they sell for $6.99 (but they have a full collection of ALL colors, and a Twilight inspired glitter mascara collection), so choose your battles lol.

Remember my swag attack post here, where I bought an eyeshadow palette for $5.00? I received a request to do a review, but I have been a little late in posting it since there were so many photos involved lol.

All laziness aside, I have tried to do a variety of looks and wore them to a variety of places (from a BBQ to work, etc.). I also originally wanted to give you actual time stamps and which colors I used, but with every extra look, the information slipped out of my mind. Regardless! Almost all the looks have both an AM and a PM shot. The time span in between each picture is at least 8 hours.

Another point (as if you don't have enough) is that I used cream shadow/primer and/or concealer under my eyeshadows as that is what I usually do. Using either of these products will always minimized the creases, and I also like to use my cream shadows as highlight colors by the brow.

What it is: A 98 shimmer color palette. I couldn't find relevant product info online kiddies. It is a lot more shimmery in real life.

Review (5 highest, 1 lowest):

Quality: 4 out of 5 (see verdict)

Look One in the AM

Look One in the PM

Look Two - sorry this one is a single!

Look Three in the AM

Look Three in the PM
(excuse the mess of the eyebrows - I was scheduled to get an eyebrow wax the week after my review!! :( )

Look Four in the AM

Look Four in the PM

Look Five - sorry this one is a single!

Look Six in the AM

Look Six in the PM

My Verdict:
When using this palette with good brushes (the applicators that come with the palette are super brittle and not really useful), the colors come on and stay on really well. Like I said previously, using a primer underneath this palette is KEY b/c the color fades. Just to make sure it wasn't one primer that works with this palette, each look was created using a different primer (I used Too Faced Lockdown Cream Eyeshadow that has Shadow Insurance in it already, UDPP, Shadow Insurance, Victoria's Secret Cream Eyeshadows - which by the way I think are too light to use as shadows on their own to begin with, and MUFE Concealer by itself).

The color of this shadow fades a little bit but I haven't seen it disappear completely off my face. As you can see in some pictures, the lighter colors fade and the brighter colors stay on.

I think that though the colors could be a little bit more vibrant, and that I do occasionally wish the palette carried more diverse colors (too many pinks for my liking), I think for the price, it is an excellent buy. The pans are not tiny, and the colors grab on quick. If you have these in your area, I suggest you grab one and start to playing with your eyes!

So as we decided - I will confess my shopping sins to y'all as soon as they are committed...

This is the damage post a visit to Duane Reade:

I got a 98 color palette for $5!! It was $9.99 and I used my $5 rewards... ta-da!

I also got three Revlon scented polishes (I have been visiting them in the drugstore for days already and I had to get a couple - at least I didn't get them all!!) I also got a Maybelline palette for either the goodie bag for the Doll Contest or maybe for a swap. I have also started myself on a bright pink lipstick kick and got one in the shade from Jane and Prestige. I also got a Styli-Style Khol pencil thingamabob (and a second one for gifting - not pictured) - it's new and seems interested.

Instead of letting y'all in on my problems with purchasing on a regular basis, I am going to make this monthly, so on the last day of every month - watch out for Swag Attack! This month I'd say I was good (at least in comparison to how I foresee March going down in the history books). Like my honey says when he sees new shadows/items: "I smell a big purchase in there."

Well here's what the scent carried folks:

Sephora Swag:
MUFE Glossy Full Couleur in pale pink (I think #7)
MUFE Flash Color E/S in Fard Gras (or pale green as Sephora calls it)
MUFE Eye Seal (wanted to see if it worked better than others... )
Sephora by OPI nail polish in Metro Chic
(got it b/c it was the closest dupe of OPI You Don't Know Jacques and I have been trying to track that down for weeks already - sold out - though now that I think about it... why didn't I order it online sooner? ... ANYWAY!! - See sample below)
Too Faced Mirror Mirror Gloss in I'm Perfect (scroll down to 2/26 to read my review)


It looks a little more gray in person.

Got some cheapies from Feel Beauty Supply in downtown Brooklyn. Everything on that list was $2 or under each (not counting the polish b/c that cost more and was from another store... Didn't get a chance to sample the polish yet!! ahh!)




Went to CVS and Duane Reade to get items to review and came back with aplenty.
Got a Gel Liner Palette from Pantina (their site is under construction) in Duane Reade b/c it looked interesting. I found an article snippet about the company here if anyone's interested.

Pantina Gel-Liner Palette (see swatches below)
CoverGirl Outlast Lip Stains in 420 and 415 (for a future review)
L'Oreal HIP Jelly Balm in Savory 420 (seems to be my # for lips I guess)
& Sally Hansen Insta-Dry nail polish in Lightening 10(I swatched it on a nail once before and it really did dry fast and I also happen to be a sucker for bright colors so when I saw it again, had to take it home - see sample below)

Also - me being me, I remixed the Pantina color names since they were a little too plain to me.


The colors in the palette are generically named:
Charcoal, Plum, Dark Gold, Green Blue, Bronzy, Black, Brown

Now you see why I had to switch it up?! =]~

Looked different in different lights.


I had to swatch it and photograph it in different lights because the photo of the actual palette didn't come out satisfactory. See for yourself!