Nail The B.y.t.c.h Swatch & Review

Hey beauties!  Today I have a fun nail polish review for you!  Lanaia from Nail The B.y.t.c.h sent me a polish to try out!  I was so excited because I had looked over the site and was in love with the adorable packaging, names & colors!  After I read what "b.y.t.c.h" stood for I just had to know more!  The website states that b.y.t.c.h = Be Your True Creative Heroine...isn't that awesome?! This line was started by 2 cousins, Jennifer & Lanaia from Chicago in 2010. I love what this line stands for! All polishes are 3 free, which means they are formulated without formaldehyde, DBP & toluene (yay!)

I picked out the color Tasty Pasty's (told you the names were awesome!)

Seriously, isn't it adorable?! 

Such a fun spring color! (Those are
my fingers btw...they are manly LOL)

When I first applied this to my nails, it applied like a normal creme polish except the formula was VERY thin...it started dripping into the sides of my nails :(  The picture is after 2 coats.  The first coat was really streaky, I wouldn't of been able to get away with just 1 coat. I added a top coat because the finished color just wasn't as shiny as I would've liked it.  It did take a lot longer to fully dry because of the amount I had to put on my nails.

I had it on for just a short 8 hours when the middle finger on my left hand peeled off! Like, completely peeled away :( so bummed! I don't know if I should've tried it with a base coat or what. A little after that another finger chipped...it hadn't even been a full day.

Since this chipped so quickly, I don't see myself purchasing a back up.

This color, plus 9 others can be purchased from the Nail The B.y.t.c.h website by clicking here
These sell for $6 each are the same size as OPI & China Glaze polishes.

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Five Faves Friday Vol 9...REMIX!

Instead of doing my Five Faves Friday like I normally do, I decided to just do my March Favorite's video!

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Artisan Naturals Skin Care Video Review

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Coverblend Multi-Function Concealer by Exuviance Review! LOVE LOVE!

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Acure Organics - Oil Control Day Cream Review

Happy Sunday, beauties! I was sent a product from Acure Organics to review for you all & I have fallen in love! It's the Oil Control Day Cream...amazing! I have super oily/acne prone skin (sexy, right?) and this has been really great, my skin is loving it.  I have been using this for well over a week to make sure I can get a good idea about how my skin reacts with the product.  

The Acure Organics website described this product as:

This easily absorbed blend of organic botanicals improves texture and tone while minimizing fine lines and wrinkles. The powerhouse combo of Co-enzyme Q10 and organic rosehips pack a serious antioxidant punch to moisturize and protect. Helps control sebum production while dealing with underlying dryness issues with an ultra-light moisturizer. Most people with oily skin don't realize that it can be from an underlying dryness issues causing the skin to overproduce sebum. Problem solved! 1% Chlorella Growth Factor

Awesome! $1 from each bottle is donated to BeBrightPink.org
a non-profit breast cancer organization!

This has a spearmint scent that is amazing, it makes my skin feel cool and refreshed, PERFECT for these upcoming hot summer days!  I have noticed my skin has had so much less oil after a few hours than normal.  I haven't noticed any breakouts & in fact, my skin looks so much better! My makeup has stayed in place and isn't slipping off my oily spots.  I usually have had problems with "creams" in the past as they seem to be too heavy for my oily skin, but not this one.  My skin felt so hydrated without being greasy! 

My one complaint would have to be the bottle...I love the pump but I'm not a fan of the glass bottle. This makes traveling that much more difficult (AND heavier!) I wish the bottle was in a different package :(

Overall, I am so happy with this product, this has been a lifesaver for my oily skin.  I will definitely keep this in rotation with my skin care routine.  I also love how affordable it is! $18.99...compared to other organic brands & just other moisturizers in general, this is a very good price, I was expecting this to cost so much more.

This, along with many other great organic face & body products can be purchased at the Acure Organics website by clicking here.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Comments make me smile!

Until next time,

Marina - mCubedMakeup

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Five-Faves-Friday Vol 8 - Hunger Games Obsessed?

This week seemed to go so slooooooooow! I had been anticipating watching The Hunger Games movie since the second I heard there was even going to be a movie! Every day this week I would check my countdown app to see how many hours left! Last night FINALLY came! I went all out...had my Katniss braid, Girl On Fire makeup, Hunger Games T-Shirt AND my China Glaze Hunger Games polish on! All I needed was a bow & arrow but I used my better judgement & left it at home ;) We got to the theater around 9:30pm to wait in line for the midnight release...SO AMAZING! 

Right before we left the house! EXCITEMENT!

 So now that I got a bit of my HG excitement out...I'll proceed with my Five-Faves of the week! :)

The Hunger Games

Ohhhh how did you EVER guess?! Obviously my first fave is going to the The Hunger Games.  I first discovered this book from my amazing cousin Tracey (Hey girl, hey!) while I was on vacation in Las Vegas! She was telling me about it & I wasn't really sold, it sounded graphic and disturbing. I'm a chick-lit kinda girl.  Well, my curiosity got the best of me! On the plane ride home I bought it on my Kindle.  Best. Choice. Ever. I become so engrossed in this book it was insane! To this day, it remains one of my top reads. I hope if you're reading this and you haven't read The Hunger Games, RUN...do not walk & get a copy to start reading immediately! You'll thank Tracey & I later.

MAC - Call Me Bubbles Quad

 This is from the recent release of the Shop MAC collection.  I saw this and wasn't excited one bit.  These are colors I don't usually ever buy. I probably wear pinks, corals & oranges once in a blue moon.  Why would I spend my money on shadows I'm not going to use? Well I saw some swatches online and was sold! I ordered this and had it overnighted. It came last week and I've used it at least 5 times! I am in love! Probably one of my most favorite quads I've ever come across. Yay for getting out of my "neutral-rut" I even used this for my "Girl On Fire" look last night!

Mineral Hygienics Foundation

I recently did a full in-depth review of these which can be found by clicking here.  (There also may, or may not be a promo code ;) check for yourself)  I have used these every day since last week! My skin has never looked better! I've gotten so many compliments recently, this stuff is like magical skin powder! Everyone I talk to I've been telling them about this. I am HOOKED! I can't wait to use this on some of my clients.  My skin is definitely going to be thanking me come the 100 degree weather! It's going to feel so good not having to wear heavy liquid foundation. Woot Woot!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar

I looove me some peanut butter. I looove me some chocolate. I looove me some Lara Bars! Wait, what?!  All three combined? YES! I recently discovered this particular flavor and oh my stars. I love these puppies! They seriously taste like candy bars! I love Lara Bars because of the ingredients they use, in this particular bar, there are only 4: Dates, peanuts, salt & unsweetened chocolate chips! Not bad, eh? I've always got one of these in my pro kit, my purse or in a secret drawer I have in my desk.  

Popcorn Indiana All Natural Kettle Corn

 Kettle corn usually isn't my forte. When it comes to popcorn, I'm more of a "slathered in warm butter" kinda girl! I tried these at my Aunt Sherri's (Hiiiii Aunt Sherri!) during our first annual Valentine's Day Card Making & Cupcake Party.  She whipped up a fun trail mix for all of us and this kettle corn was in it. WOWZA! After I left there, we went grocery shopping & I told my husband the first thing we MUST get is this kettle corn! I found cute little portion controlled baggies! These are now a staple in my snacking routine...that's right, I have a routine...for snacking :)

So that's it! Have you read The Hunger Games? Tried the Lara Bars? Looking to try the Mineral Hygienic Foundation? Your comments make me smile!

Until next time,

Marina - mCubed Makeup

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What's on my suuuper-di-duper awesome iPhone? Video & Screenshots

So this is just a video of what's on my faaaabulous (yeah, right, I'm not that cool!) iPhone! One of my awesome YouTube viewers, lurizia requested the screen shots! I will add the screen shots of the main pages and my games folders!  Thanks for watching/reading! <3

There ya have it! My iPhone!

Until next time, 

Marina - mCubed Makeup

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***CLOSED***GIVEAWAY! GOODIES FROM SAUCEBOX COSMETICS!

****CLOSED****
Morning beauties! I have an AWESOME giveaway for you all! SauceBox Cosmetics has sent me some amazing goodies to giveaway to 1 lucky person!  I am so excited for this because I LOVE SauceBox Cosmetics! You can click here to see my past review & swatches on some SauceBox items! The products are high quality & very fun/funky! This giveaway will end on April 5th!

Here's what you can win:

Lumishine Lip Gloss in Lust 

Complexion Primer

Blush in Cocktail 

Silky Shadow in Tremor 

Liquid Liner in Prism - the picture 
doesn't do it justice! This is probably
 one of the most gorgeous liners I've
 ever seen! 

Enter below by filling out the entries in Rafflecopter below! Good luck!

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RAVE REVIEW! Mineral Hygienics Foundation (PROMO CODE!)

Hey beauties! I'm bursting at the seams to bring this review to you! I was sent some items from Mineral Hygienics to review and O-M-G! I am in love! I have been using these products for over a week and I am so excited to finally be able to tell you about it, I will also be adding a promo code at the bottom so you all can try this out!

I was sent 2 Bronzers, 1 Foundation in Medium (PERFECT color for my usually fair, now tanned face) 1 Silk Translucent Finishing Powder & 1 Full Coverage Kabuki Brush!

I did a little research before trying these products out and saw SO many people raving about this line! I was really intrigued because they only use 4 ingredients! FOUR! Usually mineral foundations and powder foundations haven't really ever done too much for me and they always felt like they just sat on top of my skin and accentuated all my dry spots...Bare Minerals left my skin a WRECK!  This foundation was like something I'd never tried! 

I first tried this by just swatching it on the back of my hand and it was like magic...it transformed from a soft powder to a full coverage foundation! It literally melted into my skin!

I have very oily/acne prone skin so I was sure that within a few hours I would be a grease slick...wrong! This foundation wore ALL day and ALL night! It didn't even look like foundation, it looked like beautiful glowing skin. I can't even explain how amazing it looks on. It looks so natural.  I never really receive compliments on my skin, but every day I went out with this on I received at least 1! 

I usually wear liquid foundation, powder foundation on top and then set with a oil control powder....well, with the Mineral Hygienics, all I used was the foundation! No additional coverage or powder was needed! I have pretty bad skin and pack on the foundations but wow, I just can't stop looking at my face! I have been talking about this foundation NON-STOP! I seriously can't get enough of it! I'm even wearing it in one of my YouTube Video Reviews...you can see how amazing my skin looks by clicking here. I have not had any breakouts from this and my skin seems to have less pimples overall!  I was also sent 2 bronzers in Warm Kiss & Cool Kiss, these are gorgeous shimmery bronzers, I've been wearing Warm Kiss as a blush and it soo beautiful! Very smooth and natural! The Silk Translucent made my skin super soft! They also make a finishing powder for oily skin that has mattifying properties, I will definitely be trying that soon!

These are 20gram jars...pretty big right? Well 
the full sized ones are 40 GRAMS! Wow!

This foundation is probably going to last forever!
LOVE!

Full Coverage Kabuki Brush

It was pitch black in the car, 2am & my makeup had already 
been on for over 12 hours!  This picture was taken with a very 
bright flash! Wow, it looks like I had JUST put it on!

They have full sized starter kits, mini starter kits, foundations, concealers, brushes & more! I think these foundations are such a great deal because a little goes a long way with these!

You can purchase anything from the Mineral Hygienics website and get 10% off by using the code: mcubedmakeup from now and until June 12, 2012!

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Are you planning on trying it out? Have you tried this brand before?

Until next time, 

Marina - mCubed Makeup

I was sent these products for review, this does not influence my opinions or thoughts. 

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Overall Beauty Product Review

Hey beauties! I was recently sent some mineral shadows, a blush, foundation & a brush from Kim over at Overall Beauty to try out and review for you all!  She sent me the cutest package with all of the minerals in a fun Easter baggie! Overall Beauty has TONS of things on their site!  For this post, I will just be reviewing some items from the Overall Minerals Line!  All of the mineral products have a higher percentage of pure mineral pigment and NO FILLERS! A 5 gram jar of mineral shadow is expected to last twice as long as the same size pressed eyeshadow! Pretty cool, huh! They do NOT test on animals (THANK GOODNESS!!!!) & their products are formulated without talc & bismuth oxychloride! ALSO...At the end of this review, I will be post information about a giveaway that Kim has graciously offered you awesome readers! Keep reading :)

Mineral Shadows

These were all swatched with my finger on bare skin, no primer.

Mineral Shadow in Snow 

Mineral Shadow in 3500 Feet Airborn 

Mineral Shadow in Bronze Turquoise  

Mineral Shadow in Turtle Dove 

Mineral Shadow in Mink

These shadows applied sooo smoothly! I was really surprised as how vibrant these were without any type of primer or mixing medium. I wore Bronze Turquoise on my lid, Mink in the crease & Snow to highlight! They blended really easily and the colors didn't end up turning muddy or fading.  They didn't crease and were just as vibrant when I went to take off my makeup that night. I will add a picture of it below...please disregard my always messy brows! :-P

Aren't those colors GORGEOUS?!

Mineral Powder Blush 

This was swatched with my finger on bare skin, no primer.

Mineral Powder Blush in Iced Wine

This was just as buttery smooth as the shadows! I am not usually a fan of shimmery blush, I usually only add shimmer for highlighting my cheekbones but WOW! I have used this blush for the past 4 days! I can't get enough of it! It warms up my face and looks amazing with bronzer! Even my hubby commented on how great my cheeks looked! (YAY!) This blended flawlessly! I had no problems with it fading either! Love!

Mineral Powder Foundation

Mineral Powder Foundation in Porcelain 

Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the foundation...it accentuated my dry spots, even though I moisturized VERY well.  I felt as if it "sat" on top of skin and didn't really blend that well.  The color is pretty light, I figured it would be best, but it was quite a few shades too light...no biggie, I was able to add some bronzer to make it look more natural.  I'd always rather have a color that's too light than too dark! This gave me little to no coverage...you can see in my swatch how it didn't seem to blend too well. This was the one miss of the bunch.  

Eyeshadow Brush that Kim included! This really helped these colors go on precisely!

All of the items listed above (plus TONS more) can be purchased at Overall Beauty. Prices for the  Mineral Shadows are -  Samples: $1.50, 5gram jars: $7.99, 10gram jars $11.99

 Mineral Powder Blushes are - Samples: $1.50, 3gram jars: $4.99, 5gram jars: $7.99, 10gram jars: $11.99

Mineral Powder Foundation - Sample (5grams): $5.75, 10gram jars: $15.95, 20gram jars: $21.95

I am so impressed with the blush & shadows! There are soo many colors to choose from! What are YOUR favorite colors?

GIVEAWAY!
How would you like to win:
6 Mineral Shadows of your choice
1 Brush Set
AND
Samples of the 4 brand new, never released colors from the upcoming Spring Collection from Overall Beauty
Well then continue on my friends....
To enter, you must head over to my Facebook page by clicking here..."like" my page as well as Overall Beauty's page and "share" the giveaway post on your wall! Simple, right? Exactly! The giveaway will close on Friday March 23rd at 10pm MST. The winner will be chosen by using Random.org
Best of luck to you all! I know you are going to LOVE these products! 

You MUST like M Cubed Makeup Artistry's & Overall Beauty's FB page as well as share the giveaway post to be eligible! 

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Brown, Bronze & Gold Eye Tutorial Using UD Naked Palette

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Gud by Burt's Bees Review!

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Five-Faves-Friday Vol 7

Whoa! WHAT. A. WEEK! I completely over-exfoliated my face to the point where it was raw! Horrible! I was in so much pain and NOTHING seemed to help! I spent all weekend miserable.  I finally did some researching online and have been able to get my face looking semi-normal again.  The following items are what have really helped my face this week...I don't think I'd be going out in public if it wasn't for them! 

Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream for Dry, Sensitive Skin

Photo credit - amazon.com 

Since I have the worlds oiliest skin, I was really freaking out when my whole entire face was covered in dry flakey patches! It literally felt like sandpaper. UGH! There wasn't a drop of oil on my face...since all the products I own are for oily skin, I did some research for the best drug-store moisturizer for dry skin...good ol' Makeup Alley led me in the right direction.  This thing is HUGE! It will probably last me 19000 years...it's really thick and I had to dig in there to get product out.  This immediately soothed my skin and has helped me get some moisture back into my face. I've been using it for a week and today was the day I finally didn't need it, I have a few little dry flakes but I was finally able to go back to my oily skin items :) 

Drinking Water

Photo Credit - aimfree.org

 Water is my absolute favorite drink, I drink at least 8-10 glasses a day.  For some reason during this whole "face trauma" I stopped drinking it...bad move, buddy! This made my face even more dehydrated.  As soon as I jumped back on the water drinking wagon, my face started to change back.  It's amazing what water can do for your skin.  Yes, I still had some dry spots but my skin didn't feel so tight as if it was going to split open if I smiled.  It really helped bring moisture into my face. 

Merle Norman's Aqua Balance Foundation

Photo Credit - makeupalley.com

I will start by saying this, I DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT SOME FORM OF MAKEUP ON MY FACE! With all of these dry patches, it was sooo hard to put makeup on, everything looked horrible.  I decided to go through my foundation drawer and see if I could find my most moisturizing one of the bunch.  I picked up this little guy and mixed it with my next favorite (Strobe Cream) and I was finally able to put my face on!  This really gave me amazing coverage without being too drying or oily.  I forgot how much I love this stuff!

MAC's Strobe Cream

Photo Credit - maccosmetics.com

I use this for EVERY single one of my clients...I think it is one of my top HG's for my kit.  You can watch my video here of why I personally don't use it on myself...well in this case, I needed it.  This helped deflect the focus off of my flaky skin! It made me look moisturized, dewey & radiant! It was the macaroni to Merle Norman - Aqua Balance's cheese! They went perfect together. This helped hide all my imperfections with the foundation. LOVE!

Birthday Cake Flavored Oreo's

Photo Credit - forked.com 

 "Oreo's again?! But they were in your LAST Five-Faves-Friday!" Yes, yes, I know...the horror! Well since I had a horrid face week, these little guys helped cheer me riiight up! They taste like the Rainbow Chip icing tubs with cookies!! YUM! I may or may not of eaten the whole bag this week...

So my beautiful readers, tell me about your week! 

Until next time, 

Marina - mCubed Makeup

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Influenster Love VoxBox Video Review!

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Dolce Mia Soaps & Lotions Review

I was contacted by Tamara, a super sweet representative of this amazing line to do a review for you guys! I checked out the Dolce Mia website and was totally taken aback by how adorable everything was.  I hadn't ever tried nor heard of anything from this company before.  They are a family run business that has all natural soaps, liquid soaps, body lotion, instant hand cleanser & more! The packaging is so adorable, it is definitely something I would love to keep on my bathroom counter for guests to see.  There's quite a few different scents to choose from.  I just love the whole "vintage" look of everything. So fun!

The following items are items that were sent to me for review purposes (the soaps wrapped in plastic shown do not come in plastic wrapping, they come in the adorable packing shown with the Tropical Citrus bar, I was sent a mix of retail products as well as some of the bar soaps to try out!)  

I was so excited when I opened my box! Everything was wrapped in tissue paper and there was a handwritten card in there! So cute that it happened to say "Hula" on it because hubby & I are about to celebrate our anniversary...we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon so it brought a big smile on my face seeing this card!

Sweet Almond Lotion & Amberly Lavender Travel Sized Lotion

These lotions are in the scent Sweet Almond & Amberly Lavender...aren't they the cutest?!  The Sweet Almond smells exactly like you would think! Mmmm! The Amberly Lavender was a little more complex, the lavender is perfectly blended with warm amber to make such an amazing scent I can't even describe it! I've been using it all weekend long! The lotions are really light and airy, I was worried about them not being moisturizing enough but I was wrong! These didn't leave me feeling greasy but they left my hands perfectly moisturized!

Tropical Citrus Lotion

When I read the words "Tropical Citrus" I thought this was going to be more citrusy, to my surprise, this was more on the tropical side of the scent spectrum! This reminds me of Pina Coladas and laying on the beach! Ahhh! Smells like vacation to me! This has shea butter so I was really excited because that always seems to moisturize really well for me! Just like the 2 lotions before, this went on very light but moisturized perfectly.

Tropical Citrus Bar Soap

I wasn't sure how these bar soaps would work for me, I've used some before and they don't really lather and then they leave me feeling dry!  This was the opposite! The lather was phenomenal and my skin felt so clean!  All 3 scents lingered but when I added the corresponding lotion, I could smell the scent for HOURS afterwards! 

Sweet Almond & Amberly Lavender Bar Soaps

These smell just like the amazing lotions and together I didn't even need to use perfume, I felt so fragrant and yummy! I feel like the Amberly Lavender soap/lotion combo left the most scent for the longest amount of time.  Next was the Tropical Citrus and the one that lingered the least was the Sweet Almond.

I completely recommend this company! The products are superb and the packaging is the cutest ever!  I plan on picking up quite a few more items when my budget will allow it.  I've read some really great reviews for their liquid soap so I am hoping to order that soon.  All of these products can be purchased from http://www.dolcemiastore.com/catalog/?rep=hatn Their prices are pretty affordable and the quality is seriously amazing.  I love when I am so surprised by a company!  

I'd love to hear what you think! Have you tried anything from this brand before? Is there something you plan on purchasing?

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Influenster Love VoxBox First Look

I am sooo excited! I received my very first VoxBox today!  I learned about this program from a few of the girls on YouTube & I know I had to get in on it!  You answer questions, earn badges and then you qualify to get a box of goodies sent to you...FOR FREE! I have been on pins & needles waiting for this since I know a lot of other people received theirs last week! It's finally here!! I'm just going to do a first impressions kind of thing for now!

A peek inside! 

As I'm writing this, I'm actually drinking a cup of tea! It's the Lemon Ginger with one packet of the Truvia that came with my box! Sooo good! I had 1 too many slices of pizza tonight & the grease really made my stomach feel icky, this tea really soothed it! So delicious! 

 I'm a Sweet-N-Low kinda gal & I've been trying to switch FOREVER!  I was really excited to try this out because I've heard great things about it! There wasn't an aftertaste so that was fabulous!

 Chocolate = AWESOME. I absolutely looove me some chocolate! I'm really excited to try this because it's milk chocolate, one of my faves.  

 These look soooo cool! They have tons of silver rhinestones on them! I looked at the back of the box to see how you apply these and it looks really simple. Hopefully they are as easy as it looks!

This seriously came in the nick of time (no pun intended) my razor was on its last leg! I've been reading such amazing things about this razor so I can't wait to try it out.  Been looking for a new razor to start using especially since summer is coming :)

So those are the fabulous items I received in my VoxBox! So cool, right? I will do an full review on the items as I use them!

Did you get a VoxBox? What did you think?  If you didn't get one, are you going to sign up?

Until next time,

Marina - mCubed Makeup

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