SALLY HANSEN: STRANGER THINGS

Prepare yourself for another post in our Feeling Pretty series...

There I was, minding my own business, wandering the grocery store (pretending not to impulse buy cookies) when BAM, I spotted the limited edition Sally Hansen 'Stranger Things' collection.

Now, full disclosure: I used to be a 'Stranger Things' fan, but these days...meh. (Please don't throw cookies at me, die hard fans.) What did stop me dead in my tacks? The crackle nail polish!

It's been, what, a decade since crackle polish was last cool? So yes, I was excited. Like, embarrassingly excited.

Here's the thing. These polishes were not what I expected. I thought we were getting spooky Halloween vibes, fun colors that literally crackle. Instead, I got stained white nails (cute...), black crackle on top (umm, wasn't the point color crackle?), vertical cracks, so half my nails looked more "zebra chic" than traditional crackle.

Don't get me wrong, they dry fast (not insta dry, but like...damp enough that you don't ruin your nails opening a bag of chips). The bottles themselves? Adorable. The 'Stranger Things' logo on the lid? Totally cool. The polish inside...eh.

Rift:

On the nail this one is...pink. Yup, it stained my white polish pink and then layered a black crackle on top. Kinda of like a strawberry zebra moment, if that's a thing. It can be purchased on Amazon, Ulta, Walgreens, and Smith’s Marketplace.

Between Worlds:

This one turned my base polish a soft orange with the black crackle over it. Honestly, it looks less "mysterious parallel universe" and more "pumpkin tiger." It can purchased on Amazon, Walgreens, and Smith’s Marketplace.

Missing:

This polish left behind a green stain on my base polish with black crackle over the top. It's giving zombie slime chic, which could be a Halloween aesthetic, I guess. It can be purchased on Amazon, Walgreens, and Smith’s Marketplace.

Nether:

This one turned my base a light purple and gave me the same black crackle on top. Think "goth lavender," but make it vertical stripes. It can be purchased on Amazon, Walgreens, and Smith’s Marketplace.

In theory, these should've been amazing. In reality? Meh. The front of the bottles show colorful crackle, which, sorry Sally Hansen, feels a lot like false advertising. Plus, the staining is annoying, and the cracks just weren't "crackly" enough.

Final verdict: fun nostalgia, but not worth the hype or the money.

Sorry Sally Hansen, but I'm not recommending these to anyone unless you really, really love zebra nails.

What do you think, are you team crackle or team "never again"? Comment below!

WET N WILD: CHAMELEON CHROME

Prepare yourself for another post in our Feeling Pretty series...

When my sister first told me about the Chameleon Chrome Collection, my brain immediately screamed "SHINY!" (am I the only one that thought of the song 'Shiny' from Moana?). I mean...Chrome! Glitter! Shimmer! Color change! Basically, it's like unicorn tears in makeup form. What's not to love!?!

Then I looked on Wet n Wild's website and -- surprise! This collection is basically the sample platter of makeup. They have 2 highlighters, 2 lip glosses, 1 eyeshadow, and 4 eyeliners. That's it. Honestly, I've seen bigger collections in my Halloween candy stash!

I personally wasn't interested in any of the eyeliners and one of the highlighters does have a warm hue to it, so I only got a couple of items from this collection. 

Venus Swing:

I've been on the hunt for the perfect shimmery white highlighter for ages, and Venus Swing showed up finally showed up. 

It's an icy white with flashes of pink, purple, and blue depending on the light. Listen carefully! One gentle tap with your brush is plenty. Two taps and you're auditioning for the role of a glow stick! A little goes a very long way.

There's two white highlighters in this line, because apparently one wasn't enough. Venus Swing is a cool tone white, and Too Sirius is a warm tone white. Choose wisely. 

The beautiful shimmery Venus Swing can be purchased at Wet N Wild's website, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens.

Lip Foil:

These glosses are gorgeous! Smooth, shiny, non sticky...everything that your lips could be looking for! The only downside? After a couple hours they dry down a bit, like your lips forgot to drink water. 

Halo's Way:

This called Pink Panther when I saw this pretty pink gloss! This shade is a bubble gum pink with gold shimmer, subtle but still sparkly enough to make you feel like you did something with your face, even if you didn't. 

Halo's Way can be purchased at Wet N Wild's website, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens.

Celestial Dance:

This gloss is DRAMA! It's magenta that shifts into purple, green, gold, bronze...basically a mood ring for your lips. Way more bold than Halo's Way, but still wearable.

You can purchase Celestial Dance gloss at Wet N Wild's website, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens.

The glitter just spreads around like butter on hot toast. Don't expect to get rid of it quickly, you'll be sparkling until next Thursday!

I'm into the products I picked up, but can we all agree this collection was begging for an eyeshadow palette and some nail polish? Like...chameleon chrome nails? YES PLEASE!

That said, it's definitely not for everyone. These shades are intense, you're either here for the shimmer life or you're not. 

Comment and let me know what you think of this small collection!

WET N WILD: NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Prepare yourself for another post in our Feeling Pretty series...

I was pretty excited when my sister discovered the Wet n Wild Nightmare Before Christmas collection while she was at Walmart. Neither of us were aware that Wet n Wild were releasing a limited edition Halloween collection. I'm not a huge fan of Nightmare Before Christmas, but the items in this collection are just so cute!

The Nightmare Before Christmas display is a bit on the smaller side...like I passed the display multiple times trying to find it, but I did eventually find the collection!

On the top row of the display there's three colors of lip and cheek colors, two colors of color changing lip oils, and a two piece multistick set. On the second row there's a three color blush palette, finishing powder, eye and face palette, sticky face primer, and mascara. On the third row there's three liquid eyeliner's, dual contour stick, and a glitter body illuminator. On the fourth row there's makeup bags. 

As always I got the eye and face palette! I decided to get the face primer because I've never tried a dewy sticky primer before. My sister was kind enough to let me try the lip oil that she got, not only so I could try it, but I can post about it too!

Nightmare Before Christmas Eye & Face Palette:

I noticed that this palette is on the smaller side, like the eye and face palette from the Scooby Doo collection, and it makes me wonder if Wet n Wild are switching to this smaller palette size. The other thing that I noticed is that this palette doesn't have any embossed patterns in it, like the previous eye and face palettes. There are 16 pigments in the palette, including glitter, shimmer, and matte pigments. The pigments blend really nicely, but some of the shadows do take a bit of work to build them up and blend than normal, and they feel soft! Like the other limited edition palettes from Wet n Wild, the palette is an eye an face palette, so some of the pigments aren't eye safe. The Nightmare Before Christmas Eye & Face Palette can be purchased on the Wet n Wild website, Amazon, Walmart, CVS, and Ulta.

First row of shadows

Fright is a matte sandstone.

Creepin' Cute is a shimmer bronze.

Sew and Go is a shimmer periwinkle. 

Skull is a shimmer white (apply with damp brush or finger).

Second row of shadows

Stitches is a shimmer baby blue (it's not as bright in real life like in the picture).

Full Moon is a glitter yellow. 

Scream is a matte magenta. 

My Bugs! is a shimmer caramel. 

Third row of shadows

Shadow is a matte navy. 

Dice Roll is a shimmer olive green.

What's This? is a shimmer dark lavender. 

Sandy Claws is a shimmer fire brick. 

Fourth row of shadows

Good Boy is a glitter silver.

Night Shade is a matte mauve. 

Frog's Breath is a shimmer teal. 

Nightmare is a matte black with subtle shimmer.

Color Changing Lip Oil-Two-Faced:

This lip oil caught my attention not only because it's shimmery, but because it's purple! I thought the beautiful shimmery purple was just so amazing looking from inside the bottle I just had to try it! I also thought it was cute that Wet n Wild put the mayor on the lip oil. When my sister first showed me the lip oil her first question was "what does it smell like to you?" so I smelled it and the scent reminded me of peppermint mixed with something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what the other scent was. My sister told me that it smelled like Hershey lip balm, and I realized that's the other smell that I couldn't figure out. The scent is peppermint mixed with chocolate! The Color Changing Lip Oil-Two-Faced can be purchased at the Wet n Wild website, Amazon, Walmart, CVS, and Ulta.

I was disappointed with this lip oil, sorry Wet n Wild. To me it looked like I was wearing a clear lip gloss, I couldn't even see the shimmer on my lips like I was able to with other Wet n Wild shimmer lip glosses. Normally I don't really get reactions from makeup but I did with this one. After wearing the lip oil for a full minute there was a tingly sensation that quickly turned into a burning sensation. I had to wipe the lip oil away before wearing it for a full five minutes! I would not recommend this lip oil not only because I had a reaction to it, but it just looked like a clear lip gloss.

Sticky Serum Primer:

I purchased the face primer because, as I've previously have stated, I've never tried a sticky dewy face primer. I've only tried gel and putty face primers, so I was excited to test out this sticky primer! The Sticky Serum Primer can be purchased at Wet n Wild website, Amazon, Walmart, CVS, and Ulta.

It really is sticky! It does take a hot minute until the product finally comes through the pump. I used the sticky primer on half of my face and the e.l.f Poreless Putty Primer on the other half of my face, when testing this product. I didn't notice a difference between the effectiveness of the two primers. However, I did have to use extra powder on the sticky primer half to set the face because I was able to feel the stickiness of the primer through my makeup, which is kinda annoying to need to use extra makeup to take care of that. 

I personally love the eye and face palette as always! There's so many pretty colors in the palette and the shimmers are so beautiful!

Since I had a reaction to the lip oil and it didn't boast a unique color, I wouldn't recommend getting that product.

I was disappointed that there wasn't a change when testing the sticky primer. I even used a completely different type of primer and they looked exactly the same. With that I also wouldn't recommend purchasing the primer. Sorry Wet n Wild!

I really hope I like the next limited edition collection better! I hope next Halloween Wet n Wild considers a Hocus Pocus, Casper, or The Addams Family collection! Any of those would be really fun!

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WET N WILD: SCOOBY DOO COLLECTION

Prepare yourself for another post in our Feeling Pretty series...

My sisters and I grew up on Scooby Doo. I loved Scooby Doo so much as a child that I got a stuffed animal of Scooby for Christmas when I was three or four years old. My oldest sister remembers our dad regularly letting her get up extra early when she was little to watch Scooby Doo with him while he worked out. I remember cozying up with my favorite stuffed animals, Tiny (a very cute dog) and Scooby, to watch Scooby Doo every day as a kid. I even remember marrying Tiny and Scooby when I was a kid because those two were my favorite stuffed animal toys. My sisters and I always watched our favorite Scooby Doo movies every Halloween season and often throughout the year. 

In fact, for about a year I've been telling my sister that I wish Wet n Wild would make a Scooby Doo Collection. Then a few weeks ago, I learned WNW was releasing a limited edition Scooby Doo Collection! To say I was excited would be a colossal understatement. Instagram indicated the collection was at Walmart, so I hopped on the Walmart app to find where the collection was near me. 

The Scooby Doo display is so cute and also perfect for Halloween! There's three sides to this display. On the main side: two piece eyeliner set, three pieces glow in the dark makeup brushes, glitter palette, eye and face palette, Mystery Machine makeup mirror and Scooby Doo keychain, three piece crayon set and three piece nail polish set.

On the left side of the display: a glow in the dark makeup sponge, green and blue shimmer liquid eyeliner, lip mask, two individual lip balm stains and two individual cream blush. 

On the right side: a Mystery Machine makeup bag. I personally think it can pass as a lunch box too - you know, if a kind in your life - or you - happen to be in the market for one! 

The Scooby Doo packaging is so cute. In fact, this is probably my favorite collection yet! Although perhaps I'm biased, as Scooby Doo is so nostalgic for me.

I of course had to get the eye and face palette and the quick dry nail polish set (if you've noticed a trend in my purchases of the same items from all of the recent collections, that makes two of use!).

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

I do wish that this palette is bigger with more colors (wishful thinking, right?). The eye and face palette is so cute, with beautiful pigment colors perfect for fall! I love the embossed designs in the pigments! There are 16 pigments in the palette, including matte and shimmer pigments. There isn't any glitter in this palette, so if you're someone who doesn't like glitter but does like bright colored pigments, this might be the palette for you! A few of the pigments do stain the skin if you try to remove it right after applying, so I recommend waiting five minutes before removing this makeup. The pigments blend really nicely on the eyes and they feel soft! Just like the last few palettes from Wet n Wild, this palette is an eye an face palette, so some of the pigments aren't eye safe. Scooby Doo, Where Are You can be purchased on the Wet n Wild website, Amazon, and Walmart.

First row of shadows

Spooky is a shimmer ivory.

Boo! is a warm matte pumpkin.

Ham Sandwich is a shimmer copper.

Haunted is a matte black with silver fine glitter.

Second row of shadows

A Little Batty is a warm matte cantaloupe. 

The Brains is a warm shimmer orange. 

Raggy is a warm lime.

Leader is a warm turquoise (stains skin).

Third row of shadows

Pawsome is a warm tiger (stains skin).

Scoob is a warm crimson (stains skin). 

Fashionable is a warm orchid.

Full Moon is a shimmer silver.

Fourth row of shadows

Mysterious is a cool matte navy blue with fine silver, blue, and purple glitter.

Creepy is a shimmer duo chrome with copper and mauve.

Scrappy-Doo is a warm cinnamon. 

Danger is a cool forest green (stains skin).

Ruh-Roh!

This three piece nail polish set are perfect for not only Halloween, but also in general for the fall season. I love that Wet n Wild included the villains on the nail polish! These polishes are a 40 seconds quick dry, and while I wouldn't agree that it's fully dry in 40 seconds, it does dry much faster than most nail polishes. I only needed one coat and I didn't experience any streaking. The three nail polish set can be purchased on the Wet n Wild website, Amazon, and Walmart.

So Franken Cute

This polish is a beautiful cool violet. This polish will need 1-2 coats, depending on how thick it's applied to the nails. I did experience some air bubbles with this polish, but other than that I really do love this pretty purple nail polish.

Wrapped Up

This polish is a beautiful warm shimmery golden green. This polish needs 2 coats with application, and a few air bubbles with this polish as well, but not as noticeable because of the shimmer.

That's the Spirit

This polish is a pretty dark barn red. The polish needs 1-2 coats depending on how thick it's applied. There are less air bubbles with this polish compared to the So Franken Cute (purple polish).

Mystery Slime

The Mystery Slime has an apple scent smell to it and this beautiful lip mask is more of a jelly like balm. After applying the lip mask to my lips, I noticed that my lips felt more hydrated, silky and it even has beautiful shine (looks like I'm wearing a clear a lip gloss). Be warned, a little goes a long way - if too much is applied, it does feel sticky. The only thing I would change about the lip mask is that it would be in a stick instead of a pot. The Mystery Slime can be purchased on the Wet n Wild website, Amazon, and Walmart. 

I'm so happy that Wet n Wild has finally done a Scooby Doo collection! My personal favorite is of course the eye and face palette, but the nail polishes are so cute and such pretty colors and the lip mask smells so good and feels great for the lips! This Scooby Doo collection would also be great stocking stuffers for those who love Scooby Doo!

P.S. If you like this post, then don't forget to check out our other posts and leave us a comment! We love hearing from our readers and appreciate your support!

HARRY POTTER FAIRY GARDEN PENSIVE

Prepare yourself for another post in our Crafty Chaos series...

As you probably know by now, my sister is a big Harry Potter fan and she's been creating a book-ish theme in her yard. So, after spending a couple of years unsuccessfully trying to grow plans in a little bird bath in her backyard, it felt like a no-brainer to instead turn the bird bath into a Harry Potter fairy garden. 

She's in the early process - there's only a couple of things there so far, but we thought we'd share our first two pieces, including our first endeavor into resin crafts. 

She started by buying a little castle - her "Hogwarts" - made for an aquarium (purchased on Amazon). This felt like a perfect option as a little rain or snow won't hurt it. She cut down a small piece of rebar and placed it under the base of the castle to help secure it in the bird bath during wind storms.

For our first DIY piece, we decided to make a pensive (big thanks to our friend, Michelle, who suggested this!). This was a very simple project. 

We started with a bird bath from the fairy garden collection at Hobby Lobby for $2.49 - and then filled it with some colored resin - it was really that easy!

Despite this being a simple project. Kaitlyn was too scared to do the resin project herself and insisted that I should do it because I have more experience...I have never worked with resin before. But apparently watching resin videos on YouTube passes as having resin experience -at least, it does according to my sister.

Kaitlyn purchased an epoxy resin kit from Amazon.

Following the directions included in the kit, we mixed resin in a small, clear container. I then scraped off some powder from a blue piece of chalk and mixed that in. 

This created a soft blue color - that in the gray bird bath gave us that blue, silvery look we were going for. We poured the mixture into the bird bath and then let it cure on a flat surface indoors for a few days. 

Note: After pouring the resin into the birdbath, I noticed that the birdbath wasn't quite level! So we improvised by putting a popsicle stick under one side to level it out so that the resin would cure levelly.

Creating a miniature Harry Potter pensive for your fairy garden is a fun and easy project that doesn't take much time. The result is a magical addition to your garden that will delight Harry Potter fans of all ages. So why not give it a try and see how it transforms your fairy garden?

We'll continue to share additions to the Harry Potter fairy garden as we create them, so stay tuned!

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