Thursday, August 29, 2013

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder With Real Cocoa: Swatches + Review!


I'm still sick which means not much gets me excited these days other than taking a NyQuil during the day (ooo, naughty!) and chocolate (ooo, gluttony! #leavemealone); enter the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder With Real Cocoa (seriously, can we recruit tinyurl.com to help makeup companies with their names? When I have to take a breath to type out a name there's a serious problem).

Regardless, this bronzing powder had me at "chocolate"... and I doubt I'll ever be able to let go.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

OOTW + Goodwill Haul!!





Just a super quick YouTube update for anyone interested in watching some fashion-related videos this weekend! I'm still sick as a dog so I know that's what I'll be doing for the next few days... feel free to join me in the couch potato shenanigans.

xoxo - Cassie

Thursday, August 22, 2013

NOTD: Illamasqua "Freckle"


This isn't actually on my nails right now but heck I'm hopped up on NyQuil (oh yeahhh gimme some snot free z's) and nothing else matters hahahahhah what am I talking about what is coherency. Is it okay to write blog posts while sick out of your mind? Regardless, this is happening so I hope you all understand and send thoughts of soft kleenex and Sudafed my way.

Ahem/achoo.

Let's get on with the nail polish, shall we?


I don't know that you need to read my history with this polish but I figure if I tell you about my health status I may as well tell you about my feelings.
When Illamasqua released their "I'mperfection" line of products at the beginning of this year I wasn't super jazzed with anything... except this polish; leave it to a nail polish fanatic to cry and drool over the latest and greatest the industry is throwing at the beauty community. And if you remember (like I do), Illamasqua was quite literally throwing these polishes at us through PR samples tossed to the oh-so-fortunate big-name beauty blogs. Every time I logged onto blogger (who am I kidding, I've got it on the automatic log in setting because I'm sad and check it every five minutes) I saw a new post gushing about these beautiful bottles of speckled magic. So many wants and needs overcame me and, in a fit of self control that I still to this day cannot comprehend, I resisted placing an order for "Freckle".

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???"

That sentence echoed through my soul for the next, oh I don't know, days upon weeks upon months because it sold out. Bam. Done. Never to be in stock again... or so I thought.




I was randomly looking through my shopping list on Sephora's website one boring afternoon (as you do) and, as I scrolled by the long gone but not forgotten Illamasqua polish I noticed... there wasn't an angry red text next to it informing me it was out of stock. "WHAT?????" my soul bellowed in despaired bliss; had Sephora made a terrible error and not emailed me to tell me this was back in stock, or was the internet playing a terrible trick on my heart strings through the exclusion of necessary information?
I didn't care; I whipped this into my shopping cart (as well as a couple other things because I don't allow myself to pay for shipping) and checked out ASAP. The next few hours/days were excruciating because I was sure a message was going to pop into my inbox telling me it was all a sad mistake and the polish wasn't really in stock. 
But LO AND BEHOLD not one shred of lies or deceit was involved with this transaction. 
"Freckle" is now mine... and I couldn't be happier.

The amount of happiness that this polish has brought me is disgusting but overwhelmingly wonderful at the same time. My nails were the talk of the town (well, okay, maybe a few people took the time to comment) for the duration of this manicure and I'm happy to report that their stay was fairly long lived! I've only tried one other Illamasqua nail polish before but thankfully I've found the formula to be consistent; the opacity, longevity, and uniqueness is outstanding and, though my bank account whimpers at the thought, I can see myself purchasing many Illamasqua polishes in the future.
And by the way, Sephora still has this in stock if you thought you missed out like I did ;)

Have you tried any of Illamasqua's "I'mperfection" polishes?
Love 'em? Hate 'em?
What are your thoughts on speckle nails?
Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

CARGO "BALI" Water Resistant Blush: Swatches + Review!


Remember waaaaaaaaaaay back in May when I received this in my Birchbox? Well, regardless of whether you do or don't: I did. It took me awhile to test it out because a.) Summer laziness, and b.) I had a slew of other blushes I was trying out/drooling over.
Excuses aside, I finally got around to test driving CARGO's "BALI" blush this month and I'm ready to share all sorts of makeup feelings with you lovely readers!

Take the jump for the full review and swatches :)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Back To School Haul + NOTD!!



I am SO sorry for my lack of posting here on Blogger everyone!! One of my best friends from back home came to visit me for the past five days so I've been busy having fun outside of the internet (yay for real life interactions!)! 
That being said I posted a new video on YouTube a few days back so, if you want to shop vicariously through me for a little while, it's available for you to watch through the embedded video above.

And if anyone is interested about my nails in that video, here's a couple pictures to show you the design (I clearly had too much time on my hands last week...):



Ahhhh another glorious Pinterest manicure come to life; I was extremely pleased with this design and the beadwork bling, I cried a little (mostly on the inside) when it started chipping and I had to marinate my phalanges in nail polish remover. I guess that's what photos are good for though, right? Beautiful memories from before the pain and anguish of parting through acetone!

Anyways, look forward to regular blogging starting tomorrow... I'm glad to be back :)

xoxo - Cassie

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Revlon Nearly Naked Makeup: Swatches + Review!


This review is SO beyond overdue... my apologies. I've had the photos kicking around on my computer for a couple of weeks now but I've just been trying to enjoy the last month of Summer by embracing my inner sloth (not my top vice amongst the seven big ones but definitely up there); writing blog posts just doesn't dance with Galileo-cuddle-time while catching up on Dexter. 

Anywho, excuses aside, let's take the jump together to look at this extremely hyped foundation shall we?

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Desperately In Need Of Your Help + A Special NOTD!!



It's down to the wire people!! I've made it to the finale of Jen's (jenluvsreviews) "Best In Beauty" competition... but I'm currently losing haha. I'd be so appreciative if you could head on over to this video and leave my name (Cassie or ThriftThick) in the comments section. Truly, I'm so humbled to have made it this far but it would be extra special to take home the gold (how desperate do I sound, haha?)!!

I even did my nails a little special for the occasion...




Tux bow nails!!! Or something to that effect...
They were, as per usual, something I saw on Pinterest and thought they were appropriate for the 'finale' occasion at hand (get the pun?? #SOgood).

Anywho, I truly do appreciate all your love and support so here's a super cheezy THANK YOU for each and every one of you. I wouldn't be where I am today without you and I couldn't be more grateful for that.
Until the next post~

xoxo - Cassie

Sunday, August 11, 2013

August '13 Birchbox!


Oh yay, a Birchbox to remind me that school starts in less than a month. Well, okay, technically it has nothing to do with school school but the fact that the theme has the word 'school' in it at all gives me the heebie-jeebies; don't mind me if I grab Galileo and do the under-the-sheets-hibernation-huddle (DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT)...

Ahem.

I know my box looks quite empty this month but I can assure you it was filled with some intriguing goodies! Take the jump to read all about it :)

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Semifinals (WUT??!?!??) + OOTW!





My brain is slightly fried at the moment (I think I did one too many blogilates videos this evening) so I'm going to keep it fairly short and sweet; I just wanted to stop in real quick and post my two newest videos for you all in case you wanted to catch up on that platform of mine! The second video is a really basic OOTW (not much accessorizing or anything because of utter heat induced laziness) and the first is my Round 6 "Best In Beauty" Competition video... alskdfwln!!!
Honestly, I'm so overwhelmingly flattered and grateful to have such wonderful subscribers/followers/viewers/people in my life (that includes you!) to have gotten me to the semifinals in a competition that came upon me by chance. Jen (jenluvsreviews) really has outdone herself in creating this competition and I'm having so much fun creating content for it. So, if you liked my "My Makeup & Me TAG" video (the first in this post) and want me to make it to the final round (!!!) all you have to do is head on over to this video and leave my name in the comments section.

I hope you're all having a wonderful first (full) week of August and I will talk to you all very soon!

xoxo - Cassie

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

DDF Acne Control Treatment Salicylic Acid Acne Medication: Swatches + Review

 

I've had acne since I can remember. 
Truly, apart from random memories of wearing Winnie the Pooh overalls while drawing Pokemon from the poster on my brother's door and chubby time jiggling on the trampoline with said brother and the sprinkler going underneath (ah, the good old days of awkward adolescence) pretty much every other memory from there on out involves a pimple or two. That may sound a bit extreme, but if you've had continuous blemishes (be it on face or body [or in my case: both]) for as long as you can stretch your memory, that constant self-consciousness sticks.

To go along with those memories are a myriad of acne products; from pills to scrubs to overnight creams, I've tried most things so long as they promised me blemish-free skin. Some products failed me (more face washes than I can count), some made me sick (the pills made me nauseous), and some have been a staple in my medicine cabinet since purchase (Acnefree's Terminator 10 Acne Spot Treatment, Neutrogena's Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Triple-Action Toner, and a slew of Origins face masks to name a few). A recent addition to said stash is the DDF Acne Control Treatment which, I must say, has surprised me in the most delightful of ways.



I received this sample in my Birchbox last month and finally had the chance to try it out this past week because of a terrible case of facial acne. I'm talking the painful, all-over, I-can-feel-every-inch-of-my-face-even-though-I'm-not-touching-it kind of acne. I'm not sure what exactly caused it (I'm assuming a mixture of the climate, hormones, and back-to-school commercial inducing stress) but either way I needed a solution and fast; face washes, masks, and gallons of water just weren't getting rid of it quick enough so I was happy to try out a treatment that I was able to (according to the package) apply up to 3x a day.

Salicylic acid based treatments tend to be hit-or-miss for me so I wasn't sure how this particular medication was going to fare on my skin. I was doubly skeptic because of the extremely watery consistency of the treatment (it really feels like you're rubbing water into your skin which is surprisingly soothing when pimples are aplenty) because I'm used to thick and creamy products being the most effective for me. 
However, I think the results speak to the effectiveness of the DDF Acne Control Treatment better than my ramblings. Take a look:

Click the collage to get a better review of the results!

I'm thrilled!!!
You can see that even after just two days of use my skin is nearly back to normal (which, for me, is mostly clear with one or two active breakouts). The blemishes are (if not gone) less red, nearly-healed, and absolutely pain-free. 

I am extremely pleased with the formula of the DDF Acne Control Treatment as a whole. Apart from the obvious effectiveness of the product on my skin, it has a multitude of other pluses that many acne treatments are lacking: it's lightweight, scentless, and doesn't dry out the skin excessively (if at all). I've always had to be careful with acne treatments in the sense that I have to concentrate it on the blemish(es) so as not to dry out 'normal' areas of the skin but this is completely safe to use across the skin as a whole. Huzzah! When you're used to treating a handful of pimples at once you know how much a tedious (albeit necessary) process spot treatments can be. 

As much as I hate to add another acne treatment to my medicine cabinet (I feel like it just begs for breakouts) I'd much rather have medications ready for combat than have a face full of pimples staring at the cash register as he/she scans your acne products (it's about as embarrassing as buying a pint of Ben & Jerry's, a couple candy bars, and tampons all at the same time). 
So thank you Birchbox for adding another staple into my bathroom wardrobe!

Have you tried the DDF Acne Control Treatment?
Love it? Hate it?
What are your favorite products for combating acne?
Do share!

xoxo - Cassie

Saturday, August 3, 2013

July Favorites + A VLOG!





Just a quick little update before I skedaddle off to work for the day; here's my two latest videos from YouTube!! Feel free to check them out if you're finding the Saturday morning TV selection isn't quite cutting it for you (seriously though, it's the worst) or if you just haven't gotten around to watching either of these yet :)

Hope your weekend has been lovely so far!

xoxo - Cassie
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