As Requested Epielle BB Cream Review

Hi guys, thanks for coming back.

So I had a reader comment today about wanting a review for the Epielle BB Cream sold at Big Lots and other discount locations.

Lulu June 10, 2014 at 10:57 PM
“Yes, please if you can do a review of the Epielle BB cream, that would be great. Our Grocery Outlet sells it for $1.99. A great deal for a made in Korea bb cream, I think.”



If you are a Big Lots shopper you might already be familiar with the makeup removing wipes that this company sells that come in a couple of different options.  I know there is a cucumber and maybe 3 or more different kinds with this brand.  They retail for I believe a $1.00 for 50 wipes and I’ve used them fairly often with good results.  I never had any resulting breakouts or negative reaction to them.  The wipes themselves are medium size, soft and do a great job of taking off your makeup and even hard to remove eye makeup.

The BB cream was something I had seen in a blog post somewhere and was excited to see in my local Big Lots.  I had a post where I boasted about how wonderful the H&B department was at my location and in it I had listed this BB cream with a promise of review and I’m sorry it took Lulu asking for it.  In all honesty I had forgotten because I no longer use this product. 

At first I thought the BB cream was wonderful.  It seem to have great coverage for a BB cream and when mixed with my foundation, Estee Lauder Resilience Lift and buffed in, it created a dewy finish.  It wasn’t until I was in the car on day 2 of wearing it.  I looked in the mirror in the day time after wearing it for only a couple of hours and noticed it was breaking up, bad, especially around my nose and across my forehead at my hairline.  The finish was nothing like it had been when I first put it on.  Just for information I do have dry / combo skin so I was very surprised it was doing this on my face.  I’ve seen this more with oily skin, but haven’t experienced it much myself. 

Shortly after buying this BB cream I bought the It Cosmetics CC cream from QVC and really forgot about the Epielle BB Cream.  I am sorry to say that I was just so unhappy with it in the car that day that once I was wearing the It Cosmetics product I just packed it away and forgot about it.  If you read my blog often you are aware of my current living situation and our desperate hunt for a house, which we still haven’t found.  So room is very limited here at my Nannies house not really in area but in the fact that it’s her house and I’m trying to keep all my makeup and products put away best I can.  I have already taken over the formal dinning room table for a dressing table.

So in closing would I recommend getting the Epielle BB Cream?  Yes and No, if you are young with great skin, sure give it a try but if you have any problematic skin or aging skin, I might spend my $2.00 on a bottle of Wet and Wild polish or any of the other great beauty find at Big Lots.  On second thought who am I to judge.  Grab and bottle and go to town!  We are all beautiful no matter how good the Epielle BB Cream works. 

Thanks a million Lulu I hope this helps and thanks for reading my blog today.  Every time I see the counter go up  I am so humbled by it.  I am so blessed, thank you so much for coming back.  I promise to blog more often as soon as we move and I am comparing cameras for YouTube videos.  I am working on a full review this weekend of the It Cosmetics CC cream, for the most part I just love everything I have gotten from them. I will be getting my nonprofit, Makeup for a 2nd Chance off the ground soon as well.

Much Love and God Bless,

KelleyJo

Twitter @kelleyjo3334
Instagram @kelleyjojo333
Facebook @Kelley.lively
Pintrest @Kelleyjo333
LinkedIn Kelley Lively

Please Don’t Forget Me, We Got A House and I Am About To Move, AGAIN!!!

Hi guys, thanks for coming back!
If you have begun to wonder if I crawled under a rock and decided not to ever come out again, well close but not exactly.  I had told you about the big move from one state to another, well that took some time and effort.  It also left us scattered from one house to a storage room and beyond.  Also we have been staying with my wonderful Grandmother.  She was kind enough to open up her home to us until we could find a place of our own.  If you follow me on Facebook you already know we found a house this weekend.  We were beginning to get a bit worried.  The housing market in this area for rentals is very limited.  Chattanooga otherwise known as “The Gig City” is in the middle of a huge boom in new business and people moving to the area to open said business’.  The homes that were opening up were few and far between and most apartment complexes were full or close to it.  We really wanted a house though because of our little dog, Dolly, plus we just prefer a house over sharing walls with other families.  We lived in a large complex back in the mid 2000 when we lived in Knoxville, Tennessee and we decided then we would try our best to avoid this type of home in the future. 

So after scanning every rental website and the classifieds we had found a few homes that we were interested in and they were located in the areas that we wanted to live in.  Most important was the location in relation to my husbands employer and praying that it would give him a quick commute to and from work.  We had looked at a house last week that we really liked but unfortunately it was just to small for our needs.  A week ago I was scanning Craigslist and a new ad was posted with what seemed like a perfect house for what we needed.  I called the number and a lovely women answered and told me a bit about the property and told me I could drive by just to see if it was something we might like to see.  So me and a friend drove by last week and I have to say I thought it would be perfect, at least by what I could see on the outside.  I called the lovely lady back and asked if we could see the inside and made a date for yesterday Sunday the 18th.  My requirements for a house were 2 bedrooms, laundry hookups, hardwood floors, fenced backyard and as stated before close to my husbands work.  Check, check, check, check and check!  Can we get it please, please, please?  Chris loved it as much as I did so that wasn’t a hard question to answer for him.  After an hour the owner, Phyllis, her name was a good sign, that was my mother’s name, game us an application and told us she really would like to see us in her mothers home.  We filled out the application, emailed it back to her son whom we had meet and within 15 minutes had our answer, YES!  You can move in this Saturday.

So not only have I been busy with the first move but I am about to be busy with a 2nd move.  The big difference is this move is going to be moving all of our things into a house that will be ours to decorate, coordinate and do all of this to our liking and taste.  I thought the last move we made would be my last one for awhile but God had a different plan and I am thankful for whatever it may be.

Once we are moved in and unpacked somewhat I will return to, at the very least, 2 blog posts a day.  My short term goal is to buy a great camera for not only still pictures of products and swatches but videos.  I’m not sure how comfortable I will be on camera but you never know until you try and I do intend to try really hard.  If you have been reading my blog you also know about my nonprofit Makeup for a 2nd Chance.  I’m still unsure of what the final name will be and I do still intend to hold a poll so I can get your opinions.  It means a lot to have others chime in on this project.  I hope you don’t know what it feels like when you lose your mother who happened to be your best friend like mine was.  She was the trusted opinion and voice of encouragement and reason in my life, I really miss her and I miss not having her speak up on things I am trying.  Even putting on an outfit that I’m just not sure about, without her I’m still unsure. 

Thanks for all your continued support.  I will be posting my birthday haul hopefully within a day or two.  I am going to at the very least put up a post about the move here and there.  If you live in the area and own a truck or trailer, by all means get in touch, lol…

Much Love and God Bless,
KelleyJo

Twitter @kelleyjo3334

Instagram @kelleyjojo333

Facebook @Kelley.lively

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Finally It's A Beautiful Birthday

Moved to a page all it's own. Find it here...

Big Love, Big Lots

Hi Guys, thanks for coming back.

So I have learned something very, very important.  Not all Big Lots are created equal.  I have been to many Big Lots in many locations and all of the beauty departments are not the same.  Some are big, some are small and some are just right.  My home town location is a gold mine of drugstore brands, sometimes even current product lines.

.
Example 1: Maybelline Eyestudio Duo #10 Lawless Lavender $2.00

(These are the baked single pan shadows with 2 colors.  I seen the very same one in Kmart today for $6.99)

Example 2:  Revlon Colorstay Brow Enhancer Light Brown (brow tinted wax) Champagne (highlighter) $2.80



(This is a dual ended retractable pencil)

Example 3: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter #20 Brown Sugar $2.00

Example 4: Maybelline Colorwhisper #250 Nude Shimmer $1.50

Example 5: Epielle BB Cream Light Beige $2.80

As far as I know #5 is a new product made by Epielle.  I have bought the makeup remover wipes made by Epielle at Big Lots and I have always been very happy with them.  I have read one other beauty blogger who reported on this product, however I have just done a swatch on the back of my hand and I would agree with the blogger thus far, WOW.  I used my It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Flat Top Buffing Foundation Brush to just buff it into the back of my hand, for a BB cream it did everything it should and more, including leaving a nice illumination to my skin.  (I used this under my makeup and I really disliked it.  I can’t put my finger on why, especially when I liked it so much previously.  It might do fine if you use it on its own.  I will try it again and give a better review in the next couple of weeks.)

I had mentioned before that I would be moving so we have been knee deep in boxes since last week.  Last night we finally unloaded the last box into a storage unit until we find a house to rent.  We are so unorganized and I have a ton of things to get straightened out so I can post to the blog properly.  I am so sorry I didn’t include pictures in this post.  I will upload them tomorrow, I hope.  I am trying to make sure all of my pictures look good and have a consistent look to them throughout the blog. You can probably tell, if you keep up with my blog, that there has been an improvement to them in the last few posts.

During all of the packing and moving I continued to plan and come up with ideas for my program Makeup for a 2nd Chance.  I believe you will be seeing a name change very soon.  A close friend and I have been brainstorming names and we have it down to just a few.  I am thinking of having a poll to decide what the final name will be.  We both believe that the one we have now is just not the right one.  In the business of a non-profit you want to really get your message across in as few words as possible and that starts in the name.  Of course I would love to hear any suggestions you have in the comment section below.  My next post will be a favorite’s video for April, sorry it’s going to be so late.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Much Love and God Bless,

KelleyJo

Twitter @kelleyjo3334

Instagram @kelleyjojo333

Facebook @Kelley.lively

Pintrest @Kelleyjo333

LinkedIn Kelley Lively 

Wet N Wild Megalast Nail Polish, I'm sold!

Hi guys, thanks for coming back.

So I just wanted to make a quick post about this polish. As many of you know I am moving and the next week is going to be insane. My husband starts work on Thursday at his new job, yeah hubby!

So I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and I just wanted to pick up a cheap polish to welcome the spring weather and to see if the one I pick would survive a move. Well I'm still on the move part but I have to say I am impressed with the polish. I have never used or bought a Wet N Wild nail polish and when I was considering how much I was spending, the $1.68 price tag had a huge influence. I have only recently been informed of the quality of Wet N Wild. With the enormous amount of vloggers and bloggers it’s a never ending stream of information. After a few years of watching and reading I have narrowed it down to my most reliable reporters of the beauty news and I have mentioned them often here. EmilyNoel83 talks often of how good the quality is of this brand and she is one of my top picks for trusted and reliable information.

Last week I picked up one of the trios from Wet N Wild, Walking on Eggshells and I loved it. For the price you just couldn’t beat the pigmentation and blendability. So when I ran across the polish I thought why not, its $1.68, give her a go. I chose the Megalast in #206C, Undercover, a lovely pinkie mauve. The first thing I noticed was the sticker on the lid telling me the brush was a ManiCurve Pro Brush. I had not seen one of these but I think I remember reading about them briefly. This made application so much easier. It is more flat that your traditional polish application brush. It lays on the nail better and the 3 stroke application is just much more natural. It also left no streaks and I really didn’t have to go back over any more than once.

So I applied I coat, because it was very opaque and it didn’t seem to need a second. I wanted to avoid thick layers because I thought it would do better during the move. I topped it with Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat. I was sure to brush it across the tip to give it a good seal to prevent chipping, gave it a good 20 minutes to dry for good measure and went about my evening.

24 hours and 50 boxes later and it looks as good as it did last night after I put it on.

It’s really hard to impress me but this stuff really does. I change my polish almost every 3 days except when I take Tati’s recommendation for the gel polish top coat. If you don’t know about it follow the link and find out, it will make a huge difference. I didn’t do the gel top coat with this so it is doing it all alone and it is doing a great job.

I will be back hopefully early next week with something new. My program Makeup for a 2nd Chance is taking off so fast guys. I intend to help as many women as possible and I will need your help to do it. Stay tuned!!! I also want to give a quick shout out to all my new twitter followers. Would love to include you in that list, use the link below. I’m doing a better job a tweeting more often.

Much Love and God Bless,

KelleyJo

Twitter @kelleyjo3334

Instagram @kelleyjojo333

Facebook @Kelley.lively

Pintrest @Kelleyjo333

LinkedIn Kelley Lively

BTW, excuse my lack of a good mani!!

Sally Girl Eye Shadows, first impressions

Hi guys, thanks for coming back.

So yesterday I posted a picture of the $0.98 Sally Girl eye shadows that you can pick up at Sally Beauty Supply. I have seen these every time I was in a Sally's but hadn't heard anyone review or speak about them until recently. EmilyNoel83 had done a 4 or more tag and she had a nice number of these little guys. What she said was pretty positive about them so I picked 4 of them up yesterday. I was going to wear one or two today but I just couldn't get enough pigmentation out of them for the look I wanted.

I took my NYX HD Eye Shadow Base and used it to test these little fellows out. I wanted to give them every chance in the world. These would be perfect for my program because of the price and availability.  So here is what I found out.

The first one I tried was actually one she had mentioned, Beige.

Remember I laid down the NYX primer on my arm and did the swatch with my finger. I thought because they really have a buttery feel to them that they would be very pigmented but as you can see or can't see, it really left no color at all.

The next one is called Eggplant.

Eggplant did a bit better. The swatch is just one pass and I was able to build the color a little bit. In the swatch I wanted to do each one the same number of times so they could be fairly compared to each other and as a whole.

Auburn is next in our group.

Auburn also did better than Beige and it really preformed better than Eggplant. I think this would be a great fall color or a wash on the lid. The shimmer on this color really stands out well, you could build this color and after a few layers it could probably stand on it's own.

Up next we have Cinnamon.

Cinnamon like Beige is kinda barely there. It might work as a transforming color like the Transforming Perl in the It palette. It could be used as a brow highlight or inner corner pop of shimmer. It does have a warm tone to it and would be useful maybe to warm up other shadows.

First impression is not great. If I needed one color for one event and didn't think I would wear it again I might buy one of these shadows. The texture of the shadow is very nice and I really hate the lack of pigmentation. I'm not real sure of the staying power of these because as I said I did not wear them out today. Let me also say that I absolutely love EmilyNoel83 and I am sure she knows her stuff. This is just a first impression so I have not worn these shadows. With the right primer and know how they might be beautiful. The price makes it a no lose situation so try them yourself, it's just a $1.00.

Sally's was also having 50% off all of their clearance cosmetics and I also picked up a blush by Femme Couture in the color Cupids Arrow. Needless to say I know very well what is meant by "settling into fine lines and wrinkles". I just popped this blush onto my checks to get an idea of how bright the color would be. I looked into my lighted makeup mirror and instantly wanted a face lift. This shadow made my cheeks look like lizard skin. Ouch!! I didn't bother with pictures or swatches. I also picked up one of the Wet n Wild Color Icon shadow collections Walking on Eggshells. Couldn't have been happier and I spent less on it than I did on the 4 Sally Girl shadows. I got one less shadow but I will wear all of those compared to the 4 from Sally's. Just an observation. 

I would like to send a thank you to We Heart This, EnvyDerm, Chic Peek as well as a few others, they now all follow me on Twitter and I am very humbled and honored.

Continue to watch for updates about the program for women who have been incarcerated Makeup for a 2nd Chance. This is taking off and I can't wait to help my first group of women. I now have a page on LinkedIn and I am making connections everyday. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Much Love and God Bless,

KelleyJo

Twitter @kelleyjo3334

Instagram @kelleyjojo333

Facebook @Kelley.lively

Pintrest @Kelleyjo333

LinkedIn Kelley Lively 

Tried & True My Love of Makeup Geek Brushes

Hi guys, thanks for coming back.

I have a confession, I love Makeup Geek. Well not Marlena herself, although I do think she is absolutely brilliant, but her brushes. I know M.G. has just re-released their brushes and I can't wait to order them but my love goes back almost 2 years. I have had the brushes I am in love with for that long. I have spoken about them before but never in the detail that I am about to.

Bent Liner: 

   

This is the only way I can apply gel liners and that's OK. I learned with this brush along with M.G.’s gel liner in Immortal. This brush has the perfect angle in the bend to lay it flat on the lid and drag it across to make the perfect line. Everything meets and it doesn’t drag itself along. The bristles are thin and have a perfect point. There isn't any short hairs that catch or drag liner all willy nilly. Even with a weekly wash as with all of my brushes it remains the same.

Chisel Shader:

This is the perfect brush for smudging liner or shadow across the top lid as it was designed to do. I keep this brush for my dark shadows that I use as liner and to accentuate my crease. All of the hairs are the same length in the middle then they shorten just slightly at each end. Upon looking for this brush at the Makeup Geek store I found that they do not carry it, I am so sorry, however I am still going to include it to simply lend itself to the quality of these brushes as a whole.

Crease & Small Crease:

These are both my go to crease brushes. They both look almost exactly the same with the exception of size. I use the larger one for my crease because as the name implies it works best in my crease. It has just the right angle where the hairs go from the longest in the middle to the shorter hairs around the outside. This allows perfect control of your crease color and cuts way down on blending time. The small brush is great for the outer V and is still small enough to carry what’s left of the color down and across your bottom lash line. I can forgo the pencil brush at times because it can be utilized as both.

Angled Contour:

Just the fact that this brush has stayed as perfect as the day I got it says so much. This brush is soft and is my favorite brush for both cream and powder blush. It gives me complete control of placement my product as well as blends and sheers out product evenly.

I know these brushes might be intended for something other than what I use them for. I think I got the names right but I can’t be certain. I just wanted to write this because a) I’ve not done a post specifically about brushes and b) these are some of my most dependable and I consider them my Holy Grail brushes.

Makeup Geek has a great selection of new brushes and I really can’t wait to order all of them. The quality of the brushes I have is remarkable when I consider what I paid for them. I think they were all under $5.00 at the time when I ordered them 2 years ago. I believe the entire line is of great quality and value. I don't have a lot of it but everything I have ever seen reviewed was very positive. It is absolutely worth a look and if nothing else just order an item or two and try it out.

When I ordered the brushes and the gel liner I had just started watching YouTube videos and figuring out I really had a passion for makeup. Marlena and Makeup Geek helped spark my love of beauty and kept it going to where I am today. I am just beginning to find a place in the beauty industry. I am not going to start a cosmetic company and I don’t believe I am talented enough to be a great MUA. I do plan to change lives of women with makeup through Makeup for a 2^nd Chance and that is enough for me.

Thanks for reading this guys and if you haven’t read my post about my program please click the link and check it out. You can also subscribe by email and if you have or download the app Bloglovin it helps keep you up to date. I like it.

Much Love and God Bless,

KelleyJo

Lets Connect

Twitter @Kelleyjo3334

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KelleyLively@Gmail.com

LinkedIn @Kelley Lively Makeup for a 2^nd Chance

What's coming soon

Just wanted to write a quick post to let you know what's coming.

I have a piece I'm working on about the absolutely wonderful Makeup Geek brushes. Look for that later today.

I'm digging in on my program to help women who have been incarcerated.  Joined Linkin so find me there. Makeup for a 2nd Chance.

I am relocating this weekend as well so I will take all the prayers I can get from all of you beautiful people.

Much Love and God Bless

KelleyJo

Makeup For A 2nd Chance, my mission to pay it forward

Hi Guys! Thank you so much for reading my blog.

I have talked about the non-profit I am starting in a few places online here and there. Mostly I have mentioned it in comments or in private messages. So this is the announcement, let’s call it the official announcement.

Makeup for a 2^nd Chance is a non-profit organization for the purpose of helping women who have been incarcerated for a length of time not less than 1 year. 

I have been very blessed and it has been on my heart to start giving back to those less fortunate than I have been. When I came home from a combined 2 years that I was incarcerated between 2 states (I talked about this in my “About Me” post and if you know me personally you know about my struggles with drug addiction) I decided not to be ashamed and to talk openly about my past, that it might help someone either affected directly or indirectly by addiction. Talking about my past is not enough, I want especially to help the women who are going through what I have been through or worse. This is something that God has really put on my heart and it’s time to start doing something about it.

Halfway houses and programs that help people who are being released from prison or jail are primarily for men. I’m not sure if it’s because women usually have children to consider, I’m really just not sure why this is. There are a lot of groups that come in and teach classes and give information to inmates about how to fill out applications, how to answer questions in an interview and how to deal with the background checks and how much to tell a potential employer. The program I went through (RSAT, Residential Substance Abuse Treatment, Georgia’s answer to drug court) actually included a 14 week technical college course in which I received a certificate and college credits for completing the course. During these classes you learn Microsoft Office Suite and how to create a resume, you are also given information related to how to get clothes and other resources that may be able to help you while trying to get back on your feet. I believe there was one that would help you get a car if you lived in the area that it was located in. The one thing I do not recall seeing is a place that would help you in completing the look for a job interview or professional appointment, this is a women’s hair and makeup. Gray or any color roots grown out to your ears is just not a polished look, neither is a business suite without a little mascara and lipstick, it just makes you look put together, and the outfit is complete. Not only will this give a professional look it will do wonders for a women’s confidence in herself.

During incarceration, especially in a county jail, you really get very little sunlight and your skin reacts to this environment in a really bad way. I had a lot of hyperpigmentation around my mouth and nose. Things happen to your skin that you just don’t understand. There isn’t any access to any kind of special cleansers, toners or moisturizers, even if you could buy them from the commissary. During the times when I was outside, this is called rec time, I would take my shoes and socks off and rub the heels of my feet back and forth on the concrete pad that rec was held on just to get rid of dry skin and callouses. The food is horrible, you can hang up fresh fruits and vegetables, starch and carbs are the main course even in the food you can buy in the commissary. Ramen noodles, chips, candy bars and cool aid. So to sum it up, you come out 50 pounds overweight, with pale, acne prone skin and really rough feet, but you are there to pay a debt to society, you don’t deserved to look good, right?

I’m not going to get into the debate over inmate rights or what should happen to people who break the law. I know one thing, these women deserve a 2^nd chance, especially if they are willing to work for it. Most of the female population are drug addicted girlfriends and wives whose biggest downfall is that they love their man. Once they have some clean time behind them they start to realize they love their kids more and they start to regret what they have done and what they have put their children and families though. Drugs and men together or separate can have a powerful hold on a women, especially a women with low self-esteem. That’s why we have to start lifting these women up and building a foundation that they can stand upon and say “I matter!”

In a perfect world I would like to give every women a bag of beauty needs but I think what it will come down to is recommendations. I have stayed in contact with a group of ladies from a local church that work closely with female inmates in both Hamilton County in Tennessee and Catoosa County in Georgia. They fought to get permission from the Catoosa county sheriff’s office when I was transferred to Georgia so that they could minister to the women there. It was a wonderful thing they did and it was desperately needed in the facility in Catoosa County. I would like to use groups like this to get recommendations from for women they feel will benefit from this type of gift. So upon being chosen ideally we would like to hold a class once a month and bring all of the women together for a day of beauty. I would like to have a couple of cosmetologists who would donate their time to give haircuts, color and style for the ladies. I would then like to have a brief class about makeup and skin care. Then we would gift these ladies with a beauty bag which would contain makeup that would work for any skin tone and color. Next I would like to have a range of foundation, concealers and skin care products that would need to be matched for each person and have someone who could help the ladies choose the proper colors and formula for each of their skin types. The gift would also include hair needs like shampoo and conditioner, styling products and maybe hairdryers and flat irons if they need them to keep up the style of their hair, as well as hygiene items for bathing and other female needs.

This is something that I believe could change a person’s life. Just to find out that someone cares and that they matter can have lasting effects both spiritually and emotionally. The ladies group that prayed for me, wrote to me and even fought to get into the facility in Georgia so they could minister to all of the ones incarcerated there, it meant so much to me. When I got out they didn’t disappear and I continue to be in contact with them 

If you have comments or would like to help I would love to hear from you. You can reach me through my blog site or my Gmail address. I hope to have a separate page posted to my blog dedicated to the project within a few days. Thank you for reading this, it means a lot to me and it means a lot to the women that we will help one day very soon.

Much Love and God Bless,

Kelleyjo

Kelleylively@gmail.com