Monthly Favorites + Weekly Outfits!

Just stopping in to do a quick little video dump! The first is my monthly Best & Worst of Beauty video and the other is my most recent OOTW video. So, if you're interested in watching one (or both; go crazy!), feel free to sit back, have a snack, and enjoy!! 

I hope you're all well and hanging in there if you're going through finals like me… blarg!

xoxo - Cassie

NOTD: Urban Outfitters "CREAMSICLE"

Today is a sad day you guys… today is the day I report that I finally found an Urban Outfitters polish that is just plain fugly. And I know, I know, you're probably thinking "well why the heck did you buy it in the first place then?" A perfectly good question my friends! 

There were a few factors involved here: 

a.) my good track record with Urban Outfitter's polishes (I own and adore 6+ of them), 

b.) the classic 2 for $8 deal (I just can't resist a pretty polish for only $4), and 

c.) the fact that this polish looks completely different on Urban Outfitter's website. 

"CREAMSICLE" looked so pastel! So pale! So pretty! Yet in person it's nothing more than a gloopy neon pile of puke much more suited to belonging in the toilet than on the nails.

If you've ever tried to photograph something neon then you know how impossible it can be (is). So please trust that "CREAMSICLE" is one of the brightest sherbet oranges imaginable. Truly, it is beyond putrid and obnoxious; it's the kind of neon that is able to penetrate the night and glow in the dark. No need to stumble your way to the toilet at 3 A.M., just let these nails guide you! Careful though… your eyes may be tricked into thinking they're seeing the sun and make it impossible for you to fall back asleep.

Not only was I deceived by the base color of this polish, I was also tricked in terms of the assortment of speckle colors mixed within. Online it looked like a mixture of predominantly red and lavender flecks but in real life… well… I was overwhelmed with the amount of deep blues and teals I was seeing. This was not the pastel splattering I was expecting and it only got worse on the nail.

"CREAMSICLE" is a hot mess in a bottle. The formula is thick and gloopy and the only glitter specks that show up are the blue/teal ones. It's not a cute color combo and blinding in all the wrong ways. I could only handle having this on my nails for a day before ripping it off in a sheer rage. 

To remedy this I quickly slapped on one of my favorite Urban Outfitters polishes and now I thankfully feel all better again. Nail polish stress is the last thing I need at the end of a hectic semester!

What do you think of Urban Outfitter's "CREAMSICLE"?
Love it? Hate it?
Have you ever painted your nails a color that you just can't stand?
Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie

benefit Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer: First Impression + Review!

As if one video-update-blog-post weren't enough… here's another!! 

I was actually planning on writing a 'real' blog post today but I got caught up in registration and finals stuff and now I have to rush to work. Oh such fun the end of the semester is! 

Anyways, like said, I just posted a first impression/review video on the benefit Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer over on my channel last night so, if you're interested, go ahead and take a look! 

xoxo - Cassie

Another Installment Of Empties!

I feel like such a space cadet recently; I can't believe I forgot to post my newest video here on the old blog! So, if you haven't seen it and are craving some trash talk and rambling, head on over to my YouTube channel and watch my eighth installment of empties!! 

To be honest, the first time I filmed an empties video I thought the idea would never last/stick but they have actually become some of my favorite videos. It must be something about the nostalgia involved and throwing used up products into the trash can one by one… ah~

xoxo - Cassie

NOTD: Behind On Blogging Blues

The title says it all folks: I'm insanely behind on my blogging photo files and these nails happen to be blue. Clever huh (don't encourage me)? In all seriousness though I was quite shocked to see this file kicking around in my iPhoto albums list… this was from a freaking month ago! Granted, I do have photo albums of beauty products much older than this (it makes me sad too, don't worry) but with a manicure this special it's sad to see it go to waste!!

Something about spring weather makes me go blue nail polish cray cray… I mean, I just said "cray cray" so you know I'm serious about the level of crazy here. This particular manicure may be a month old but I've actually got blue on my nails right now (essie's "mint candy apple" which is, in my eyes, not mint at all but rather a robin's egg blue) so it feels appropriate to be posting this right now; not to mention it just feels good to get this out of the archives and into the public. 

I wish I could take credit for this NOTD but I was actually inspired by my dear friend Salamanda! She was sporting it in our thrift swap video a month ago and that's where the love affair began. Obviously I loved watching her open up the thrifted goodies I sent to her but her nails also had me enamored. Somehow I had to replicate her creation so I went through my polishes, found essie's "bikini so teeny" and Sally Hansen's "Pacific Blue", and knew it was meant to be. Whether these were the colors Salamanda used herself or not I couldn't (can't? WHAT IS GRAMMAR) be bothered to care because I think the manicure turned out spectacularly!

I loved the quirk of having two accent nails (rather than the typical one) and I think the two colors worked quite harmoniously together. Making the triangles is really easy too and something I feel anyone could do, artist or not! Just paint your nail with the triangle color, letting it dry completely. Then, with your outside color, angle the brush from the inside of your cuticle to the far side of your nail tip and swipe!! Dip a q-tip in some nail polish remover and clean around the nail as per usual to get rid of any mess. Easy peasy!

In fact, if I wasn't about to go take a nap with Galileo (oh yeah, I live my days off to the fullest) I'd probably repaint my nails with these polishes right now...

What is your favorite spring nail polish?

Any colors you become obsessed with when warmer weather finally surfaces?

Do share!

xoxo - Cassie

Battle Of The Brows!! Gel VS Wax

Ever wondered who (what) would win in a battle of the brows? Which is the better option: wax or gel? 

Well I decided to take matters into my own hands last week and answer this pressing life question (the makeup drama is real) by wearing one waxed brow and one gelled brow out and about in Boston… 

find out which product won at the end of the video! 

Also, for anyone interested in helping me out, my filming camera is finally starting to show signs of excessive use in the form of dirt on the inside of my lens (translating into a black spot in the video playback). So if you can spare a buck or two I would be absolutely touched to receive a donation towards a new camera!! I'm just a poor art student so I can't do it on my own; here's the link if you're able/want to check out my campaign page…

http://igg.me/at/thriftthick 

Thank you for all of your love and support over the past two years!! Words will never be able to express how much you all mean to me but I sure to do try and show it in every blog post I photograph and write, video I film and edit, and reply back to you in the comments (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

xoxo - Cassie

Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat: Swatches + Review!

If you know me even in the slightest (or have seen the complete and utter joy radiating from every orifice of my being when throwing away certain products in my "Empties" videos) then you know I'm all about using up my beauty products to the very last drop. I spend far too much on frivolous makeup purchases (leading to twenty shades of the same eyeshadows, five different foundations I 'need' to test out and try for myself, etc.) to just toss them aside, much less away, if I don't like a couple of their quirks. Heck, even if I loathe the product's every attribute (need I remind you of my experience with a certain foundation?) I'll use it up because darn it all to hell if I'm going to let something I spent an hour's worth of sweat, tears, and other leaking bodily fluids working retail for go to complete waste.

Enter the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat; the exception, the UFO spotting, the rule when it comes to me being unable to use up a beauty product. 

I tried so hard to use up this top coat, really I did. But nearly halfway through the bottle and I just can't do it anymore… I can't handle chips and desert-esque cracks showing up in my nail polish the day after I paint them. Especially not from a brand that I typically trust in terms of all things nail polish. Truly, Revlon is probably one of my favorite brands for nail care (and probably my top favorite from the drugstore) so having such an intense hatred for one of their products comes close to killing me in more sadistic ways than one. 

However, just like my hips, the photos below just don't lie (I really hope you caught that reference…):

These pictures were after only two days, TWO DAYS, of wear, neither of which were spent doing heavy labor. I know it's all due to the top coat because the polishes I'm using under it are nothing short of spectacular (the one above being the beautiful polish from this post). I'm so gutted you guys… but I just can't keep on keepin' on with the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat. It may live up to claims of drying super fast (truly, it's solid after a minute or two), has never caused problems with bubbling (I'm assuming because of its watery consistency), and looks great for the first 24 hours but after that… well… you can see the pictures above; it's just not pretty. Not practical. Not worth ruining plenty a pretty other polish.

In other, better, news: if you didn't already see in my blog's sidebar or hear me say it in my last video, I got an instagram account the other week! You all seemed really gung-ho about me getting one so I hope you enjoy the Galileo-centric posts to come over there. Feel free to follow if you'd like!

Anyways, have you tried the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat?

Love it? Hate it?

What's your favorite top coat?

Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer: First Impression + Review!

Ohhhh yeahhhhhh, a new video is up on my channel as of about an hour ago so feel free to check it out if you're interested in the NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer! Or, heck (if you'll allow me to indulge my ego for a moment), if you just plain old missed me!! 

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend so far… after working pretty much non-stop for the past 30 hours (gotta love those back-to-back-to-back work schedules where you question bringing a sleeping bag so you can sleep in the break room rather than go home and coming back the minute you wake up) I know I'm going to sleep goooooooood tonight (∪｡∪)｡｡｡zzz

xoxo - Cassie

MILANI LIQUID EYE liquid-like eye liner pencil: Swatches + Review!

It's been a stupidly long time since I've written anything other than an art history paper for my Masters program so please excuse me if this post is utterly lacking in sparkle and pizzaz (art historians [not that I am one… I just play one while I'm at school] leave that up to the beautiful pictures and paintings, not their linguistic wit and charm). I figured though, since I talked about this eye liner in my last Best & Worst of Beauty video, it was about darn time I wrote a proper blog review on it! 

So, without further ado… here you go (I told you not to expect articulation from me)!

Quick Update + OOTW!

I'm so sorry for my absence this past week everyone! Things have been truly hectic around here (general life things, end of the semester madness where you have multiple critiques/reviews/essays/presentations/registration/nonsense things due all at the same time, work, etc.) and thus I haven't had time to blog or make videos other than my latest outfit of the week. So, if you haven't seen that yet and miss my face (shucks) then it's there for you!! 

Hopefully you all are well and hanging in there… just one more month until summer! (๑꒦ິ  ̼ ꒦ິ๑)

xoxo - Cassie

March Favorites (& Not-So-Favorites)!

For those of you who can't get enough favorites videos (heck, I've got a soft spot for them myself), here's my monthly version! I hope you all got through April Fool's Day unscathed (being the cynically skeptical/gullible fool [quite the combo, I know] I am it's probably one of my least favorite days of the year) and are looking forward to the month ahead! As always, if you watch the video, I hope you enjoy~

xoxo - Cassie