Thursday, February 24, 2011

Feeling Zen with Ocean Love Potion (SOPI)

This morning I decided to go to work a bit late and instead do some computer work (and dilly-dallying) at home instead. Sooooo I had the time to paint my nails. I was drawn to Sephora by OPI's Ocean Love Potion, which is one of the oldest SOPIs in my stash. The blue-green creme is such a calming color- it's the perfect color-therapy for stressful times at work. I also notice, the more stressed I am, the more likely I am to paint my nails!


In terms of application, it was flawless. SOPI's have great formula in general, but Ocean Love Potion is on the better end of great! I fell in love with SOPI all over again. I'm a little conflicted since OPI was bought out by Coty, a known animal cruelty company. Supposedly PETA still supports OPI since it has pledged to remain cruelty free, however you can't help but think that some of your money is ending up in the wrong hands. I'm not sure what sort of cut OPI gets from Sephora by OPIs, making this even more murky. I  think I may tentatively continue to purchase select SOPI colors I really love, but not as often as I did before.

On a more positive note, surprise! Baby Bird is making an appearance in this entry =). For those of you who don't know Baby Bird, she's my mischievous secondhand poodle. I found her in a shelter almost three years ago. She doesn't really like the smell of polish (who does?) and ran away shortly after this pic.


Finally, here's a picture of my jade plant, or rather what's left of my jade plant. I've had it for about  a year now--- I think it was from Trader Joes. If you've seen Jade plants usually they're big and branchy and tree-like. My plant used to be this way, until I took bad care of it and it all but died. Maybe I watered it too much? However a few branchlings took root (as succulents often do) and there are a few little plants growing. You can see one BIG leaf, which was the leaf size of my original plant. The little guys are growing reaaaally slowly. This plant is a lot more finicky than my other succulents for sure. I'd like for it to grow faster--- so if anyone with a green thumb has ideas, I'd love to hear!


Last time I wrote about feeling like spring... however it's supposed to snow again soon according to the forecast. Sigh. My new sunhat and a yellow bikini lemmings went down the drain. Well, a girl can dream....

Love, Dovey.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

CHANEL Rouge Coco in Peregrina + everyday lip favorites

Recently, I completed my third round of Project Ten Pan, and ‘rewarded’ myself with a couple CHANEL lip colors. This was actually the first time I completed PTP without any slip-ups, so I was pretty proud of myself. The first time, I slipped up and bought a Pacifica Blood orange hand lotion, and the second time I bought Burt’s Bees honey and orange wax body lotion. Doing PTP has helped me realize I’m more addicted to buying things than I’d previously thought, especially bath and body products. The annoyance of trying to use up all that stuff has really made its point, so for my Ten Pan haul, I decided to get something special I’d really love and use.




I’d really been in love with the CHANEL Rouge Coco in Peregrina since I saw it in the spring 2011 collection online. The only concern I had is that reviews seem to say that Rouge coco’s are really drying, and I have really dry lips. However, I’m pleased to report there’s no significant drying when use balm and/or lip scrub beforehand. It’s definitely not moisturizing or hydrating, but comfortable. Lately I find that lip glosses, while they look and feel moisturizing, leave this tacky residue behind which becomes more drying in the long run.   






Peregrina is the third lipstick I’ve ever bought. Therefore, I don’t have a lot of comparisons. However in the photos you can see that it’s a light and bright peach. Not much pink when compared to Voile de Rose which is a warm pink lip color.  I have warm skin which drowns out some of the yellow and makes it look pinker, however it still has a lot of orange tones. Hence, great for me, but probably not for cool-toned skin.  All in all, two thumbs up (if you have warm toned skin)!


Edit (3/13/11): I realized how peach and not pink my swatch is pulling in this picture! I've been wearing this for month now, and it looks much better when on the lips. It becomes a bright pinky-peach on my light/medium colored lips. It's become an everyday staple for me, probably because the hint of peach on the lips looks more natural than a neutral or blue toned pink. 


Finally, here are my pre-treatment necessities for lipstick. LUSH Bon Bon lip scrub to make my lips smooth (it tastes good too- like sweet lemon) and my trusty minty Burt’s bees beeswax lip balm which I put on before lipstick. I like the beeswax balm as opposed to other more emollient / creamier balms because it 
doesn’t mix in as much when you put on the lipstick.


Hope you enjoyed my photos of Chanel rouge coco in peregrina. If you have any lip treatment ideas, please do share, as I’m a relative newbie at this!

Love, Dovey