2 Heads Are Better Than 1: January Head-Turners

Happy Saturday, lovelies!
I mentioned a while back that my bestie/fellow makeup-obsessed chicky, Beelex of Spanglelime Connection would begin collaborating with me monthly on a series of posts.You can read my original post HERE. Well, that time has come! Here are a list of products that caught our attention at the end of 2012/beginning of 2013 and our thoughts on them:
Juice Beauty CC Cream 
Price: $39
Where to buy: https://www.juicebeauty.com/store/stem-cellular-repair-cc-cream.html 
D's Thoughts: I recently had the pleasure of reviewing this HERE. Having had near-perfect skin since high school, the fact that age is starting to catch up to me at almost 30 is really bothering me and I see it a lot in my complexion. It's less even and bit splotchy! Being ingredient-conscious, when I saw Juice Beauty produce a CC Cream I was immediately excited and the prospect of finding something that suited me! I think I immediately shared it with Beelex because I know we share similar skin backgrounds and similar concerns now. I think that the slightly darker shade will be find for my complexion as long as I don't get super tan--and I'm not planning on baking in the sun anytime soon. 
B/A's Thoughts: My skin has been basically perfect most of my life (save a few years in childhood but I think those are best left to parents, agreed?) so when I saw it start to fail me I kind of freaked. Mind you, only people who know me really well saw what I saw but that's still not exactly a self-esteem booster. My Neutrogena-advert skin was showing signs of my real age. When Doria sent me the link for Juice Beauty we both did the 'virtual-awesome-internet-beauty-find-dance' (imagine the Snoopy dance in your head then two people not actually physically doing it, just showing that level of 'ZOMG THRILLED'). They have a really kickarse range but the CC cream was our joint first pick. I was really impressed with the clinical results page on Juice Beauty (http://www.juicebeauty.com/about-us/clinical-results/) That sealed the deal for me and I wanted it all...a slight Verucca Salt moment I admit! 
Illamasqua Speckled Polishes 
Price: $16
Where to buy: http://www.sephora.com/speckled-nail-varnish-P377106?skuId=1481373 (also available on the illamasqua site but shipping is cheaper to purchase in the US from Sephora)
D's Thoughts: I'm a bit on the fence about these. I really like the overall effect and I love that they remind me of Cadbury mini eggs, but I feel like the speckles make them a tad less versatile and aside from an "easter egg" mani or regular mani, I'd personally be less likely to pair them with anything else. That being said, I like the way they look on their own. 
B/A'S Thoughts: Let me admit this first and foremost: I don't have any nails, finger or toe. I've picked and pulled at them since I was tiny. That's probably never going to stop. Anyway!...; back on track, I have no nails so I live vicariously through you lucky people who can grow your nails and make them pretty. When I saw these new polishes from Illamasqua I just thought, 'I want mini-egg nails!'. Loving the pastel neutrals, like Mottle, Scarce and Freckle, a creamy olive green, beige-pink and grey-brown (I could be wrong, remember, Ms. NoNails here can't get any in-person swatches!) and the speckles make it that much cooler for me. I like my beauty products bright and bold and in-your-face so these are special to make me lust for them.

I am the sort to buck trends and wear what I want when I want to, so if I had nails to decorate, I'd probably pull these babies out quite a bit to switch up my hypothetical mani bc I like looking at the speckles. 
Honey Bee Holistics Moisturizers 
Price: Varies
Where to buy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/HoneyBeeHolistics 
D's Thoughts: I've been using Honey Bee Holistics moisturizers for ... over 2 years now easily. I absolutely love them. The ingredients are amazing, they're long-lasting moisture-wise, and Melissa (the owner) is lovely. We purchased the Naked Bee lotion and an ointment this past winter for my older guy who has really sensitive skin and often develops dry patches on his face. Using these lotions every night has not only cleared the patches (which were awful), but has left his skin so soft and smooth. I intend to start using it on myself at night as well! I recommended them to Beelex not too long ago because she was having some skin difficulty. She can share her experience as well! 
B/A's Thoughts: I had psoriasis as a kid and dont remember much except a gross prescription cream that smelt really bad. I thought I'd grown out of it for good but over the last year it hit my face hard, first the left eye, then the right and then down the sides of my nose. For a person who thrives on makeup of some sort and doesn't leave the house without some sort of eye makeup (usually liner, I am the queen of eyeliner bc I run so late constantly!), making the decision to leave the area product free was very difficult but necessary since the skin is so delicate.

I tried foundation and concealer when it did get worse (on the face, not the eyes!) but it accentuated the problem areas and I found myself despairing to Doria constantly over this. She'd suggested Honeybee Holistics before, but when her son had a similar skin issue and Honeybee products were able to reverse it entirely I was sold. I ordered the same products Doria was using for her son and when I got them I applied them and fell in like, now love.

I tell everyone that Honeybee is the best moisturizer in the world bar none (unless you use vegan products, then it cannot help you, sorry! All the beeswax!). I cannot and will not go back on using Honeybee for skincare, I am now obsessed. The best part is how inexpensive such amazing products are, and all created by a stay-at-home mom. There is nothing I regret about using Honeybee...my 1.5oz pot of face cream (totally eye-safe btw, I haven't tried it as a primer yet but I'm going to!) has lasted 1.5 months so far and I expect another 1.5-2.5 months to come from it.
This is a long thoughts section but like I said, I cannot say enough good things and it saved me many expensive dermatologist visits and a faceful of chemicals. BUY FROM HONEYBEE! 
Upcoming Sugarpill Cold Chemistry and Sparkle Baby Palettes 
Price: I would assume each palette would be the typical retail price of $34
Where to buy: Not yet available, but when they are I'd assume they'll go up on Sugarpill.net
Portrait of Mai blog did a lovely post from IMATS that includes a great shot of the soon-to-be launched Sugarpill loose and pressed shades including the 2 new palettes that I've been oogling: http://www.portraitofmai.com/2013/01/imats-la-2013-friday-and-saturday.html 
D's Thoughts: I love Sugarpill and will almost certainly find myself purchasing both palettes, but I'm undeniably more drawn to Sparkle Baby! Why? Well, while I'm definitely a color-drunk makeup lover I really love that Sugarpill (while notorious for insanely colorful cosmetics) has put out a softer palette. I can see myself going to this palette on a daily basis easily. So excited, I cannot wait for its release! Let's hope it's soon! I had tweeted Sugarpill regarding this palette back at the end of January and Shrinkle had been lovely enough to tweet me that they were hoping to release it in a month or so--fingers crossed!!! 
B/A's Thoughts:I love Sugarpill (well really who doesn't?) but I feel like we've been waiting an age for these palettes. I cannot wait for them to release on the website finally (though I am feeling a bit miffed because Sparkle Baby originally included a dupe of MAC Vellum, a white with a violet duochrome, and it's been reformulated since the debut of the new pressed shadows and chromalusts in 2011. I wanted a Sugarpill-sized Vellum dupe!)

Cold Chemistry is the dark, black sheep sibling of the pressed Sugarpill range and obviously designed for some smokey eyes Sugarpill-style. I love the packaging and Amelia Arsenic, and Urban Decay's Black Palette is my all-time favorite for anyone who asks (why did they discontinue Black Dog? It's a black shadow that swallows light and I only have one shadow blacker than it-a cosmetics brand that retired itself so I'm treasuring all my loose shadows from there. OFF TRACK!). Anyway, SWATCHES: http://www.confessionsofaglitterholic.com/2013/01/sugarpill-cold-chemistry-swatches.html
Sparkle Baby is the softest side of Sugarpill we've seen yet (for the record, Candycrush was the shadow that got reformulated from its original Vellum dupe-iness and is making me sad. I still want it but I am sad!) and I'm really interested to see people create looks with this palette since before Sugarpill's lightest shadows have been Tako (a stark matte white) and Lumi (a glowing white/turquoise duochrome loose shadow).
Wrapup-can't wait for these to be for sale on the website finally, it's been forever since the first sneak peek debut and I know Amy's a perfectionist when it comes to formula and color but COME ON HURRRRRRY!
 
OCC new Liptars (Metallurgy)
Price: $16
Where to buy: http://www.occmakeup.com and http://www.sephora.com (several exclusives)

D's Thoughts: I have a love/frustration relationship with OCC lip tars--I'm sure you've seen swatches of some of my favorites on the blog before! I absolutely love the range of colors (pink heaven!) and I love that the ingredients are pretty good for lip products. Yet for some reason, despite many consultations with OCC staff, lip tars do not always stay on my lips. I have what I refer to as "teflon" skin and nails. Rarely does anything stick on my lips, nails, etc. This is not exclusive to OCC, but given their oil-base it makes them a tad more likely to feather on me than wax-based lippies. Even with incredible care, primer, liner, etc. this is an ongoing issue for me. That being said, when I work out the formula to make each lip tar work on me for a few hours (that's a long time for me) without it seeping off my lips into the tiny lines beginning to form around my mouth (oh age, why do you hate me so?) I am in love! I refuse to give them up because the colors are too fabulous and the new metallic range is just heaven to me! I've been going back and forth on which to buy and I think I've narrowed my favorites of the Metallurgy ones down to Yaoi, Super NSFW, and Electric Grandma. But they're all gorgeous.

OCC had tweeted not too long about the new metallic emerald "Power Plant" lip tar, which will launch exclusively to Sephora on February 15th. While I don't see myself wearing it out and about despite green/aqua being my favorite color (I'm more of a pink, coral, red lip person) I would definitely be tempted to purchase it simply because of its unique, amazing color. I can definitely see Beelex being really into it--she loves the shock-factor of nontraditional lip colors as much as I love the shock factor of super insanely bright lip colors! See it here: instagram.com/p/Ur6drBy0Tj/