New York Color Pleasantly Plump Pink Lip Gloss Review

So who's ready for the last round of my Influenster Reviews? I've got three more products(two after this post) to show y'all. As always, my disclaimer is that I received these products compliments of an Influenster Voxbox. Now on to the fun stuff!

So this is what the item looks like in the packaging. Very pristine and luxurious looking. It did have a seal on it as well, for those of you who worry about proper sealing. It looks like it might be a little too dark for me in the packaging, but that changes as I put it on. Here is a shot of my lips, pre-gloss.

Pretty boring, but if you know me, you know that I don't really wear makeup very frequently, if at all, especially lip products other than balms. Regardless, I decided to give this a shot. Here is what the color looks like on my lips and pail skin.

They are noticeably brighter and glossier, but the product isn't heavily pigmented like the packing would lead to believe, which I like. It felt a little thick when I first put it on but as I wore it a little longer it thinned out and felt a bit more natural(again, this could be due to the fact that I typically don't wear lip gloss or stain). I found that I liked it, and I do think I will use it on special occasions. Here's a little bonus, for those of you who like to see it swatched on skin.

Overall, I liked this product and I would be willing to try other products from the brand if I am afforded the opportunity. High gloss, not heavily pigmented, and not too heavy. Seems to be long lasting so its perfect for those of you who are at work all day and can't bring your beauty products with you or to a night out. This product, New York Color Pleasantly Plump Pink Lip Gloss gets a thumbs up from me as Life Tested and Gabrielle Approved. Catch y'all next time with Clearasil's Refreshing Superfruit Wash!

Sincerely,

Gabrielle

Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved

Tide Pods Review

Item number two of our Varsity Voxbox review set up for today is... Tide Pods! To be clear, this product was received complimentary of Influenster if you haven't been following along, and if you look in the right hand of my blog you should see a little Influenster widget that should take you straight to the website, if you're interested in learning more.

Now that that is out of the way, on to the review! The package I received from Influenster was only a single sample pod, and here is the packaging it came in:

Very small, simple packaging. It was easy to slide open and the directions were clearly printed on the back. All you need to do is turn the water on, toss the pod in, and then throw your clothes in. Simple as that. The actual pod looks like this:

For review purposes and also because I only received one pod, I used it on my comforter and two blankets. I used hot water and tossed the pod into the drum of the washing machine. It looked like this initially and didn't dissolve instantly as I suspected it would:

Once the pod got under the water flow, however, it bubbled up and began to dissolve, so I imagine that the packaging is trigger to disappear in water. Finally I tossed the aforementioned blankets in and let it be. I didn't take a picture of the blankets coming out of the dryer, but I do have an image of my bed made up only a day later. Just promise you won't laugh at my still-7-year-old-at-heart stuffed animals and cat lady blanket:

So, how does this product stack up against regular detergent and softner? First off, the product is marketed mostly on ease of use. I would agree, this was very easy to use. All I had to do was toss in the pod and then add the laundry. There was never any measuring of soaps, Oxyclean, or any other cloth cleaning product. The convenience alone goes a long way with me, as I hate laundry with a passion and anything that cuts down my time in the laundry room is fine by me. As for the actual quality of the pod, my blankets smelled fresh and came out soft and clean from the dryer. I would recommend this product to college students, anyone who does not have their own washer and dryer and has to rely on a laundromat, or any other lazy launderers like me, and for that reason, this product is Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved. Please feel free to share your own experiences in the comments, and keep an eye out for the remaining three reviews still to come from my Influenster Voxbox. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Gabrielle

Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved

Kiss Nail Dress Review

Just as I promised, here is my Kiss Nail Dress Review for Mani Monday! If you haven't been following along, this product was received compliments of Influenster for review. The nail dress I will be applying today is called Princess and it is glitz and glam from start to finish. Here is the outside of the package:

The packaging is fairly simple, a thick plastic with good explanation of the product. I did struggle with finding the actual name of these specific nail dress stickers, which was on the top as Princess. The package was easy to open and this is what came included in the kit:

So what I did first was clean my old nail polish off(I had a Walking Dead inspired manicure on my fingers from this weekend). Then I used Deep Sea Cosmetics Dead Sea DSC Platinum Manicure Nail Kit Set to get my nails smooth, buffered, and prepped for applying the nail dress. If you've never used a buffer kit before, I highly recommend it, even if you don't paint your nails or use any nail stickers, because it makes them look smooth and shiny like they're fresh from a nail parlor. I had never used one before my fiance and I came across them in the mall and now it is an essential for all my manicures.

With my prep work done, I moved on to the application. The hardest part of this whole process is trying to match a size to my nails. Kiss does put the stickers on transparent sheets which is nice, but nails are round so it is still a bit difficult to make sure you are pulling the right size. Also, I found that using the square side for the base of my thumbs applied better than a rounded edge. It's probably because I have awkward thumbs, but I digress. Once you line the base of the sticker up with your cuticle and begin to press on the nail, this is what you are left with:

As you can see, the nail sticker is extending well past my nail. I keep mine rather short, but the extra length is good for those who do keep their nails longer. From here, the instructions say to bend the excess over your nail and file it away. Unfortunately it is not as easy as they make it sound. If you fold it in the middle you have awkward corners at the edges that you can easily mess up with the nail file and if you start in the corner you can also ruin the sticker. What I found worked best was using a pair of scissors to snip it closer to the end of my nail, then starting from one corner with filing and working my way around the edge of the nail. Also, if the edge looks rough, try filing vertically to smooth the rough excess. This was my end result:

All in all, the application took about fifteen minutes and does give a unique effect to the nail. The pros are that they are easy to apply and remove. The cons are that the instructions could be a little clearer, and with this particular nail dress, there is a rough surface from the jewel embellishments that I am not a fan of. Otherwise, if you find a pattern you like, I would definitely recommend giving them a try, especially for a fancy event or if you're short on time but can't stand to see your nails naked. Also there are 28 nail stickers in each package so you could easily get two manicures and a couple of accent nails from one set. If you're interested in this particular nail dress, you can find them in your local Dollar General or drugstore.

I will return to this page to update on how these stickers hold up throughout the week, to give this a true "Life Test." In the meantime, we'll mark this one Gabrielle Approved.

Sincerely,

Gabrielle

Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved

UPDATE 10/16/13:

The nail stickers are already gone! After less than twenty four hours the tips were pulled back and the sticker wasn't reaching the end of the nail. I tried to stick it out through today but it began to peel on the edges and my OCD couldn't keep them on so I peeled them off. It's unfortunate that it lasted such a short time because it was the one time I have gotten compliments on my nails in a long time(and I usually paint them myself twice a week). I am now updating to say that these are useful in the event of needing them for one night, but they certainly do not hold up for ten days, at least not on this girl! If you have experienced anything different with the product, feel free to share below in the comments! Gabrielle out.

Influenster's Varsity VoxBox

Good afternoon ladies and gents and welcome to my first post here at Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved. As you can likely see, this blog page is presently a hot mess. Don't worry though, I'm working on getting it cleaned up and pretty as soon as possible. For now... just bear with me.

Last week I received a Varsity Voxbox from Influenster.com, an awesome site on the interwebs where you can get free product in exchange for your honest opinion. Over this next week I will be reviewing products from my Varsity Voxbox, starting with the Kiss Nails for Mani Monday. Here's a look at what will be coming up this week:

Included:

• Airheads Extreme Bites in Rainbow Berry (Full Size)
• Kiss Nail Dress in Princess (Full Size)
• Tide Pods (1 Pod)
• Clearasil Refreshing Superfruit Wash (Sample x 3)
• NYC Plumping Lip Gloss in Pleasantly Plump Pink (Full Size)

Keep an eye out for my review posts!

Sincerely,

Gabrielle

Life Tested, Gabrielle Approved