Hot Summer Nights: Ipsy July "Unbagging"

I have to admit that my July Ipsy bag is probably the most disappointing for me so far, with the exceptions of a few items. First and foremost, this review is going to be short. I've only used a few of these items. Second, I forgot to take a picture of my bag, so I had to download one from the Ipsy site. I have to give credit, where credit is due. Third, I'll be discussing these in order of what I loved, to what I didn't like. Fourth, I used my points on something that I thought should come in this bag, but didn't show up?

Photo of my bag from the Ipsy site. 

1. Too Faced Hangover Rx Primer:  OMG this is by far my favorite thing in the bag. I already have a large tube of this, which I purchased myself a long time ago, and now I'm almost out of it!!  I love the way it smells and the way it feels on my face. I've used other primers that have a silicon base, which this does not, and I didn't like the way they felt on my skin. This primer is cool and refreshing. It costs $32 and is worth the price. When I tried repurchasing it a few weeks ago, the Too Faced Sephora rep, said the entire company was out of it, so a sample to hold me over is perfect. By the way, Too Faced is one of my favorite cosmetics companines. They're corporate office is located right here in Orange County, Irvine I think. They are also a cruelty free company. Too Faced


 2. BellePierre Cosmetics, Banana Setting Powder: Wow, this is going to be a favorite of mine. The full sized powder runs you $32. I feel like my sample will last forever. I use this on my eyes, after my shadow primer to set it. This works well with my ColourPop shadows. BellePierre's products are cruelty free and paraben free. According to their site, they were awarded the Natural Health and Beauty Award for Excellence. I love my makeup to be as natural as can be and this is a company I'm very interested in for the future. Bella Pierre

3. Vasanti Cosmetics: Professional Contour Eyeshadow Brush. I really like this brush to pick up my Colourpop eyeshadows. It's a nice crease, outter corner brush. It costs $21, other than that, I don't know much about the company. Vasanti Cosmetics

4.  The Balm Cosmetics Meet Matt(e) Trimony in Matt Moskowitz: This is a purple burgundy brownish color. It would nice in the crease. I found it to be a bit patchy when I swatched it on my arm. I am curious about The Balm Cosmetics. I've gotten things from them before and from what I know about the company, they seem pretty good. They are talc-paraben-cruelty-free which I like. There are a bit on the pricey side. This particular eye shadow comes in a $42 pallet. They do sell individual eyeshadows for $5.50 a piece, which isn't pricey.   The Balm

5. Nunzio Saviano Anti-Frizz Sheets:  I got five individual sheets for my hair. It looks as if you just rub your hair with these to calm the frizz, which may be fine and dandy, but they aren't for me. I will pass these along to someone with frizzy hair, which mine is not. My hair is pretty straight, I do have a slight wave to it and I like my wave. I have fine hair, which gets really greasy and I feel that these will just add to the grease. One box of 15 sheets can be bought on Amazon for $18. I will give the product a fair try and let you in on how I actually feel about them later. For right now, with the summer heat, there is no way I'm rubbing these on my hair.  Nunzio Saviano

Overall I guess my bag wasn't as bad as I thought. I will get use out of some of the products and the others I'll test out. This bag gets 3 out 5 Pink Gerber Daisies. 

Spoilers......The Secret Life of Pets

If you haven't seen The Secret Life of Pets and you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading now. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My husband and I go to work everyday, and everyday, I wonder what exactly do my dogs do while we're gone? What trouble do they get themselves into? The Secret Life of Pets sets out to answer those exact questions. (Well sort of, remember it's an animated movie.) The Secret Life of Pets, released on July 8th, is an animated film from the makers of Despicable Me and Minions. 

Is this what they do when I'm gone?

I must say that this is one of the cutest movies I've seen this summer. I was anxious to see this movie after watching the trailer months ago.  This movie was so much fun and had quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. 

This is my Max. Sammy was the OG. 

The storyline was super sweet. Katie gets puppy Max, a "small dog". Years later she adopts the large and goofy Duke from the pound, much to Max's chagrin. Max looks for ways to get rid of Duke, who has come in and upset Max's happy existence. No longer is Max allowed to share Katie's bed. To the floor he goes, next to Duke. I know, this doesn't sound too sweet just yet, but it gets better.

This is my Duke. Mia was our rescue. 

While out for a walk, Duke seeks his revenge against Max. Both he and Max find themselves in some precarious circumstances. They must, work together as friends, to escape feral cats, a street gang of displaced pets and the dog catchers close on their "tails", chasing them through the mean streets of Manhattan. Hilarity ensues, especially with Kevin Hart as the voice of Snowball, the white bunny and leader of the New York street gang.  

With the help of Max's pet friends, Gidget, Chloe, Mel and a few others, both Duke and Max find their way back home to Katie and by the end of the movie, they become best buds. Max knows that without him and Katie, Duke would be all alone, without a family to love.

While the main story focuses on Max and Duke, some of the supporting characters definitely stole the show. Gidget, voiced by Jenny Slate, is a tiny white Pomeranian who looks more like a Fefe than a Gidget, is by far, my favorite "Pet". She has a mad crush on Max and is the first to notice Max and Duke missing. She will stop at nothing to try to get them back. She even enlists the help of Tiberius, the hawk chained up on the roof, who at first tries to eat her. She's the pampered pet with an edge. Her "Kung-Fu panda dog" attack on the animal street gang was the best. The small things that distract the pets' were hilarious, think "Dug" in Up and "squirrel!" because, yes, there were quite a few scenes like that....."ball". But that's how dogs are, right? You have their attention for a minute and then bam, they find something else to entertain them. 

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't familiar with many of the actors who voiced these characters. I did know Ellie Kemper (Katie), because I absolutely love the Netflix show, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Dana Carvey (Pops), Eric Stonestreet (Duke), Albert Brooks (Tiberius), Lake Bell (Chloe) and of course Kevin Hart (Snowball). I had no clue who Louis C.K (Max) and Jenny Slate (Gidget) were, but like I said earlier, Gidget was by far my favorite character and I'm excited to see what Jenny Slate will do next. I heard a rumor she's dating "Captain America", good for her! Albert Brooks also voiced Marlin in Finding Dory, released earlier this summer. Another one of my favorite movies of the year so far. 

I almost found that this animated film was more for adults than for kids. I asked my husband, "was this a kid's film?" He said he didn't think so. Some of the jokes were more adult oriented. The jokes weren't bad and would probably go over the heads of young babes, but there were some innuendos that adults would definitely catch on to. 

One of my fur babies snuck out of the house once. She followed my husband out of the gate, he didn't know. I was working on the computer, when all of a sudden I heard a familiar cry. I looked out the window and who do I see? My Mia. Thankfully her adventure wasn't as intense as the Max and Duke's. She didn't she have to run away from any street gang or fight feral cats 

I love this little girl too. She's not ours though. 

I knew this movie was right up my alley. I'm a pet owner and my two dogs stay home alone while I'm at work. It breaks my heart when I have to leave them home alone. I love my job and I work so that we can have a better life, but I know my Mia has separation anxiety. Sometimes shoes and clothes get destroyed. It would be interesting to set up a camera to see what really goes on in my house when I'm gone.  At the end of the day, I guess that old saying, "While the cat's away, the mice will play" still holds true.
  

I enjoyed this movie, it was funny and sweet. If you love animals and are curious to see what they do when they're home alone, go to see it. This is a film that both adults and children can enjoy. The Secret Life of Pets gets 4 out of 5 Pink Gerber Daisies.

ColourPop Super Shock Eyeshadow June Purchase

I'm obsessed with these eye shadows! I love the way they feel. Don't get me wrong some colors suck. I've had massive issues with Girly and Glow. I've already hit pan with both colors. I bought a bunch of colors when ColourPop was having their 20% off sale back in April. Because their prices are so affordable, ColourPop rarely goes on sale.

One of my favorite colors is called I Heart This. What I do is cover my lid with Stark from the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette and then go over it with I Heart This and the effect is amazing. It's very shimmery and beautiful. 

Be careful, because sometimes I feel that ColourPop's descriptions are off. I found that these shadows do crease with the NYX primer. They don't crease and they last all day with the Urban Decay primer. Does ColourPop sell a shadow primer? I know they sell a lip primer. 

In early June, I decided to purchase some more shades, even though I was on the fence about buying anymore. I had a bad experience with one of their Ultra Satin Lipsticks and, like I said before, I hit pan after only using Girly and Glow a few times. At $5 a piece I thought I'd give the products another try. So, I bought these. Again, some of the colors are STUNNING and others are great to use on top of other shadows.

All of the new colors minus Fringe

One color that I absolutely adore is Weenie. It is so beautiful swatched. It's a pink rose gold pearlized finish according to ColourPop. It glides on like butter. I can't even describe how beautiful this color is. I've used it quite a few times now and this is one color I will repurchase. I used to not like these types of colors, but as I've gotten older and my dark brown eyes have gotten lighter, I really gravitate towards the golds.  Swatched, this color looks like liquid gold, it's beautiful!!

Weenie The next color is very similar to Weenie and is also rose gold, but in an Ultra-metallic finish called La La. I've also used this color a few times. Once as an all over the lid color. To me the swatch wasn't as opaque as Weenie. I still think it's beautiful and I will repurchase this color again. This is the color I was wearing when I noticed creasing with the NYX primer.

La La

Below is a side by side of La La and Weenie. They're obviously similar and you don't need both. I love them equally, but if I had to choose, I would probably just buy Weenie. It seems to be more pigmented than La La, however La La is an Ultra Metallic.  

Weenie and La La

Another color that I bought and have used a few times is the color Fringe. It's a metallic champagne color with gold and silver sparkles. I've only used this on top of other colors because I know it's not very opaque. I'm curious to see how it would work with Bare Minerals Queen Anne. Something to try.

Fringe

A color that is similar to Fringe is called Lovely. Again, this is a color to put over another color, because it's very light. It's a metallic, soft light gold.

Lovely

These colors are very light and are best suited to layer on top of another color. Here they are side by side with I Heart This. You don't need all three. If I had it all to do over again, I would only get I Heart This.

I Heart This, Lovely and Fringe

I also bought Liberty. According to ColourPop, it's an Ultra-metallic true silver. Like Weenie above, it swatches like liquid silver. It's stunning. I used it on the 4th of July all over the lid. It's a little difficult to use this with another color, except for maybe creating a smokey eye look. This swatch, however is just heavenly.  The heavens have opened and the angels are singing. That's how I feel about this color.

Liberty

The next color I bought was Eye Candy, a cool toned Lavender. This is one that I haven't used yet. It seems to be a little light, but this may look good layered over another shade. It seems a little light on it's own.

Eye Candy

Keeping with the purple theme, I purchased Stereo. The swatch does not do this color justice. As a matter of fact, when I first swatched this color I thought it was ugly and regretted buying it. Stereo is a blackened burgundy, with copper and pink violet glitter in metallic. It looks great on the outer corner of the lid. After wearing it out, this color quickly became my favorite of the bunch. In the swatch it looks more bronze/brown, but is more of a purple tone on the lid. 

Stereo

Wearing Stereo on a night out

The last color I got was in Bubbly. I love the color pink. I have so many pink shadows with Bare Minerals. Again this is a good color to layer on top of another shadow. I find that ColourPop doesn't have a wide selection of pink shadows. According to the ColourPop site, this is a true pink with silver and bubble gum pink glitter. 

Bubbly

Many in the ColourPop shadow line are neutral in tone. I'm not a huge fan of the matte's and I didn't get any matte colors when I made this latest purchase. The lighter colors do not build up. I've mentioned this issue before in another post. The lighter shades layered on a powder shadow, like those from the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette, work beautifully, but on their own, there is no pigment, just shimmer. Blending the darker colors in the crease can be a bit tricky. Because you can only purchase ColourPop online and their descriptions don't really match their products, each purchase is really either a hit or miss. At $5 a shadow, it's worth it to play. Maybe in another post, I'll list my faves and hates. Actually "hates" is such a harsh word and I really don't hate any. I know there are some I won't repurchase.  

I am well passed the age that ColourPop is targeting. It's a young, fun company, that really got notoriety through YouTube. I'm not old by any means, but really I'm passed the target demographic. I wouldn't have known about this company if it wasn't for the fact that I use social media. Don't get me wrong, anyone can use these products and age really is just a number. As long as you are happy with who you are, nothing else matters. Do what you like and enjoy!

SPOILERS***Independence Day Resurgence: See It or Save Your Money?

SPOILERS.....Stop reading now if you still want to watch the movie.

A few years ago, when I heard that Independence Day was getting a sequel, my heart skipped a little beat. I remember exactly where I saw Independence Day in 1996, with whom and when. I remember every single detail, 20 years later! I loved/love that movie. I have a copy on DVD, it's one of my favorites. As a matter of fact, last year, my husband and I went to see Independence Day (the original) on the "big screen" at the Honda Center in Anaheim. So when it was announced a few years ago that a sequel was in the works, I was over the moon with excitement. 

Then it was announced that Will Smith wasn't going to be in the sequel because of other commitments (Suicide Squad?) and I began to worry. He's the star of the movie, how could he not be in it. He made 2 sequels to Men in Black. Independence Day was 1000x's better than Men in Black. It was also announced that Mae Whitman wouldn't be returning as Patricia Whitmore either. There were some rumors about this recasting, apparently she didn't have the "look" to be romancing Liam Hemsworth's character. Basically, she wasn't a big boobed blonde?

Guess what? The actress they did cast in the part, did a horrible job. Her acting seemed forced, there was absolutely no chemistry between Hemsworth and Maika Monroe, who played Patty Whitmore and she just didn't seem right for the part. To be honest, I felt that most of the acting was bad. Liam Hemsworth was not a great replacement for Will Smith. The charm of Captain Steven Hiller was truly missed. Even Bill Pullman, who was awesome as our 1996 president, just seems to be a shell, a parody, of his former self. In this movie, he seemed more like the crazy character Randy Quaid played instead of someone who once led the world into victory against the ET's. Vivica A. Fox, what was your point in the film? Really, her part seemed non existent and then she died!!! Sela Ward was a waste of a really great actress. Her character was more hateable than likable. Jeff Goldblum was probably the best thing in this joke of a film and even his acting seemed silly. Oh and what happened to his (ex) wife, the one who he got back together with in the last movie. There was no mention of her. Actually, the best part of the movie wasn't Jeff Goldblum, it was Jessie T. Usher who played Dylan Hiller. He wasn't as mediocre as the rest of the cast.  

The plot holes..... there were so many plot holes!  Why didn't the world know that there was a 20 year Alien War going on in Africa? How and when did Captain Steven Hiller die? How and when did Jasmine Hiller go from stripper to doctor? Where is David's wife and what happened to their relationship. Who are those kids in the car? Oh and just because Judd Hirsch says, "hey come live with me," they do. The kids didn't need to be in the movie, they served no purpose. I know that Judd Hirsch's character is reflecting on not having grand kids and these four are the substitution, but there's not context to it. It's just, we drove to Area 51 together, so now come live with me. Weird.  

Why wasn't the aliens' technology more advanced in 20 years. They had a bigger ship, that's it. Who the hell is Catherine Marceaux? (Charlotte Gainsbourg goes from nymphomania to scientist in 3.0 seconds. Sorry lame attempt at a joke). That alien ball is just dumb. That ball is going to save the planet? Why couldn't the good aliens fly in and help the earthlings. The plot was just really really bad!

The CGI was terrible! You'd think that in 20 years the alien technology and the CGI would be better than what we had to sit through. This movie was really really bad. Will Smith and Mae Whitman, you both dodged a bullet with this one. It had huge shoes to fill and just couldn't. I didn't care about the characters and it lacked the humor and charisma of the first film. SAVE your money or go see The Shallows instead.  

My husband and I went to see Independence Day: Resurgence Friday, opening night, and the theater was not full at all. This picture was taken about ten minutes before the movie started. 

Independence Day: Resurgence gets 1 out of 5 Pink Gerber Daisies.