Quick review here! This is another installment of my favourite indie polish series and today I am going to talk about Journey and Co.
I discovered Journey and Co. at The Makeup Show NYC this year. I love that the Makeup Show continues to provide a platform for smaller brands especially those that are women, POC or LGBTQIA+ owned. So, while browsing one of the upper floors of TMS, I came across a small booth with the most precious, black girl selling nail polish. I just could not resist! Her name was Journey and with her mum, founded a nail polish brand with a purpose. Each polish is handmade in NJ and carries an inspirationa, positivel message. This idea came about when Journey moved to a new school that lacked diversity and she maked nail polishes for all of her classmates to celebrate all of their differences.
J&Co. polishes are Big 10-Free, cruelty-free, vegan and kid-friendly. I bought 3 colours from their debut collection GRL PWR, but they have added more shades since then. The GRL PWR Collection was created “to inspire young girls to ‘Be Seen and Be Heard’ – to take lead in shaping their futures” (taken straight from their website).
You know my signature look is the twistout. It’s just so easy to do. And I love lightweight creams that give a little hold without being crunchy, especially since I don’t use hair gels. So, Whitney White aka Naptural85, an OG YouTube blogger has been working for years to create the perfect haircare products and she has come out with Melanin Haircare. I was very excited to support this black owned, woman owned brand and placed my order last October when she opened pre-sales. Fast forward to 2019 and I finally received my products. I ordered her two hair products, the The Melanin Twist-Elongating Style Cream and The Melanin Multi-Use Pure Oil Blend. There are two other products that are available, a Logo Visor and Logo Head Wrap, but I didn’t get these.
Melanin Haircare is a natural haircare line, specially made for people who have curly, kinky, coily natural hair. Whitney is a bit of a legend on YT, here hair is amaaaaaazing and she has been giving us her tips for healthy hair for years!
The Twist-Elongating Style Cream – a lightweight cream that is buildable and it hydrates, softens and seals in moisture onto the hair stands. It uses some of the best known natural butters in the natural hair community – shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter (one of my faves!), kokum butter and cupuacu butter. It also contains aloe vera juice, which is well known for being very hydrating and a number of natural oils like argan, avocado and sweet almond oils, which helps adds nutrients, emolliance and makes the product spread easier. There are some naturally derived synthetic ingredients that help with the stability, emulsify and enhance the conditioning properties the product. It is an off-white creamy product that does not feel greasy. It melts into my hair quickly and can add more product if needed without weighing down my kinks or making them feel sticky.
This comes in a 16.1 fl. oz or 475ml container with a coral cover. It’s a LOT of product. I have been using this product for weeks and it looks like I have barely touched it. It can easily last 6 months or more. You can be liberal with the application, or you can share it with other family members. Whitney mentioned this in her video, that she wanted to give customers a lot of it, cuz, we typically have a lot of hair and we use a lot of product at any given time.
Coloured mascaras! I am so excited! Colourpop Cosmetics recently came out with 7 new coloured mascaras – 1 black and 6 colours. These are the Colourpop BFF Mascaras. Coloured mascaras are not that prevalent on the market in the US and for the most part, companies bring out black (and variations of black), brown, navy and maybe a burgundy. Oftentimes, brands will bring out a limited edition coloured mascara collection for summer, and this is a permanent line, so that makes me very happy.
If you are interested in looking at my video review instead, click here…otherwise check out the review below.
BFF Mascara Details
There are 7 shades. I bought 5. I did not get the black shade nor the yellow shade. They are available on the Colourpop website and they retail for $8 each for 7 oz. You can buy the entire set at a discount or there are lots of discount codes floating around on the internet (unfortunately I don’t have one).
Colourpop claims that this product volumizes, lengthens and lifts lashes, using a unique nylon brush and does not flake. The formula is also buildable.
BFF Mascara comes in a pale lavender box with multicoloured foil and iridescent text, mimicking the colours of the mascaras. The tube is made of white plastic with metallic foil matching the colour of the mascara.
Colourpop BFF Mascara
The BFF Mascara has a large bristle brush with shorter bristles in the middle of the brush. The formula has a slight sheen to it and was not too thick.
Hey!!! Kat Von D Lash Liner is here. As far as I know, this is the first liquid inner lash/waterline liner that is made specifically for consumer use in the USA. Most liquid liners are not suitable for use on the lower lash and waterline and for those of us that are fans of that sultry, eye catching look, we are left with using kohl liners. Kohl liners have been used for centuries for protection and beautification, but while they impart that smokey, black look to the eyes, they are also quite soft and run over time. So the Lash Liner promises to give you a longer lasting lined look.
Kat von D Lash Liner – Packaging and Product
So this product comes in classic KvD packaging. A sponge tipped applicator that dips into a well of jet black liquid pigment. The entire product feels similar to your typical eye pencil, i.e. a skinny product that is relatively easy to hold in your hand. The applicator is rounded at the tip and it is fairly flexible. Like a doe-foot applicator but thinner and flexible.
According to the brand, it is a Fluid-Gel formula that dries in about 15 seconds, and it has a rich texture. The clay ingredients allows it to stand up the natural watering process of eye. The liquid pigment applies super shiny but dries down quickly to a semi-matte finish. And it is very, very black. It comes in the shade “Trooper Black”, which is their blackest black shade. Kat Von D also claims that this product is water-resistant, transfer-resistant, vegan and cruelty-free.
Kat von D Lash Liner – Video
So here’s a video review and demo that I did, so that you can see exactly how to apply this. Keep reading below for tips on using the product and my thoughts!
Maybelline The Burgundy Bar Review: The palette is finally stateside! It was released in Europe a few months ago and people have been raving! It has been a long time since I have heard this much hype over a drugstore palette. This is a continuation of “The Bar” line that Maybelline and it has arrived in the US. I am not sure if they had originally planned to have a U.S. release, but a few weeks ago, while browsing Twitter, I saw that Maybelline was directly linking to and selling this palette on Amazon! So, that surprised me a little bit and I was not aware of this. I had to get a few other items so the palette was added to my shopping cart.
This is a 12-shade palette – 10 shimmers and 2 matte. Most of the shades are champagnes, taupes and brown neutrals with a few red-toned shades. My favourite shade in the palette is the deep, rich burgundy one on the second row. The shimmer shades definitely have reflects, but none of them are glittery. There are only two matte shades, a medium taupe and a cool dark brown. According to Maybelline, the palette gives 13 different looks and it is broken up into 3 quads, or 4 trios or 5 duos. The ways the colours are arranged, adjacent colours in the quad trio or duo are meant to be used together.
Swatches – First quad
Swatches – Second quad
Swatches – Third Quad
Here’s the video review and tutorial that did using this palette. Check it out below. All the products that I mentioned are going to be listed further down in the blog post, as well as close up pictures and more details on the product.
