Archive for July 2010

NOTD: Sad Panda

Friday, July 30, 2010

Why is this panda sad? 'Cause he doesn't have any friends, I only painted one on my ring finger. He's also sad because my nail art skills are lacking, and that I have no nail brushes so that he came out kinda of crappy. In addition, he's miserable because I was very lazy and didn't really do such a good job on the rest of the nails. Hah! Actually, he's kind of more Googly Eyed Panda than Sad.
These pictures were taken before I put on Seche Vite Top Coat and cleaned up, because I had a feeling that it might smear and I was right. Sad Panda ended up in a very pitiful state indeed.

1x Essie Protein Base, 3x Confetti Moonstruck, and I used those brandless white and black nail pens.

Better luck next time, Panda.

FOTD: Now This is a Bad Idea

Thursday, July 29, 2010

I dunno, I just really wanted to pair magenta with maroon and gold. What was I thinking? And on a side note, my closeups of my eyes always look so oily, anyone know how to fix that? In real life, it's not oily at all, honest.

Face: Revlon PhotoReady, L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base, e.l.f. Complexion Perfection powder, NYC Creme Blush Stick in Wild Berry
Brows: NYX brow powder in taupe/ash
Eyes: UDPP, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Some random magenta color I made using TKB micas and e/s ingredients, Smashbox Ambient Quad, Etude e/s (some gold shade, forgot the number) Beaute Sense falsies in Tigress, Rimmel Soft Kohl black eye liner.
Lips: Dior Addict High Shine #566

Gross, why do I look like I need a bath? >.<
Anyways, special thanks to my makeup fairy godmother for the Dior Addict High Shine, all other products were purchased by me.

FOTD (Golden) + NOTD (OPI My Private Jet)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I had a really good day today, bright and sunny. I kept the makeup really simple and with a bit of golden glow.

Face: Monistat Anti Chafe Gel, L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base, Revlon PhotoReady, Avon Coral Radiance blush, e.l.f. Complexion Perfection.
Brows: NYX dark brown brow powder.
Eyes: UDPP, Pixie Epoxy, MAC Melon Pigment, Coastal Scents Inter Gold Sparks, Sephora brand mascara.
Lips: Wet'n'Wild Just Peachy lipstick, Smashbox Luminary gloss

And here we have the polish. OPI's My Private Jet. No, I don't have the awesome true holographic version, just the version that's dark brown (almost a little greyed out like a taupe) with chunky holographic bits. Still kinda pretty, but how I wish I had the true holo!

Rock & Republic (Part 3): Blushes

With the flurry of R&R sales recently, and being dropped from major department stores, I have to wonder- are they being discontinued? If they are, I'll become ~~horribly, inconsolably violent and angry, and curse the makeup gods~~ pretty upset. I emailed R&R about this a while ago, and they told me no,- their cosmetics will continue to be sold on their site but I wonder if that will change.
Now, these are what I consider to be the gems of the cosmetic line- the blushes. I love that there are so many of them, and they range from bright, vivid, shocking colors to deep, muted shades. If you take a look to the left, that's Cheri from BlushesOnDisplay's marvelous collection.

I bought Call Me and Spank, which are both soft and pretty.

Call Me on left, Spank on right.

Call Me looks really orange, doesn't it? It's not, I promise! It has a lot of gold shimmer, which combined with the pinky peach base makes it photograph orange. Here's some swatches:

Left set; harder swatches, right side; blended. Left swatch-
Call Me, right is Spank

Call Me is pinky peach with a lot of gold shimmer. Spank is a light, matte baby pink At first I thought it was cool, but now I'm starting to think that it's fairly neutral.

The quality of both are astounding! Very highly pigmented, Call Me is one of the softest I've ever felt (second only to a few LORAC blushes) and Spank is as far away from chalky as you can possibly go! The pigmentation makes me feel all tingly inside. Like the shadows, there's very little fallout- meaning that I get exactly the amount of product I want and not a whole dust cloud of powder when I swipe it with my brush. Delightful.

Though I will say that I seem to own a lot of pinky peach blushes with gold shimmer- take a look at some comparison swatches:

All blushes are more shimmery with gold than they appear.

Basically, I'm in Love with these blushes. Definitely saving up for more! These retail for $40 each (gasp, I know). I hope there's another 50% sale in the future, I'd love to get Foreplay and All Nighter.

All products featured were purchased by me, for my own use.

EOTD + NOTD: Blue All Over

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My fear of being associated with Mimi Bobeck, from the Drew Carey show is the main thing that keeps me from using blue eyeshadow more often. Quite frankly, I don't think I have the demeanor to pull it off, it just feels over the top to me and you can usually tell I'm not comfortable when I'm wearing it. This was a bit of an experimental look, but I actually kind of like it.
The sad thing is, the best parts- subtle purple sheens were completely and utterly lost when photographing.
I'll just tell you about it, you can imagine it in.
There was a lavender opalescent sheen in my inner corner, from this lovely shade in the Dior quint Urbanity. There was also a hint of purpley duochrome on the main part of the lid, because I used one of Fyrinnae's excellent unique shades, Javan Rhino. Blast you, camera.

Used: UDPP, Pixie Epoxy, Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero, Fyrinnae Javan Rhino, Wet'n'Wild Lagoon, Dior Urbanity quint, Opera Volume control mascara. NYX brow powder in Ash/Taupe.

Special thanks to my makeup fairy godmother for giving me the quint!

That blue polish yesterday made me so happy, I figured hell- I'll do blue again!

1x Seche Clear, 3x Alice

This polish is by a brand called "Funky Fingers", the same company that makes Color Club. It was an unexpected treasure find at 5Below, where I ended up paying $20 for 10 nail polishes. The quality is great- maybe a little sheer, smooth application. But as you can see, three coats did this shiny metallic foil polish great justice. Grow, gross little nails, grow!

Till later then! I should have the R&R blushes reviewed shortly!

All items mentioned 'cept for the quint were purchased by me, for my own use.

FOTD + NOTD: Khaki Crease Cut Eyes and Blue Jelly Glitter

Monday, July 26, 2010

I feel like I've been posting a lot lately. Sometimes I want to overshare, with pics of everything but other months I have to kick my own butt to write. Oh well. More pictures for you, then.

Face: MUFE HD, L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base, NARS Douceur Blush
Brows: NYX Brow Powder Taupe/Ash
Lips: BECCA Giselle l/s
Eyes: UDPP, Opera Volume Control Mascara, Dior Sweet Street quint, R&R Snakeskin shadow, Rimmel Soft Kohl black liner.

Special thanks to my makeup fairy godmother for providing the quint and lipstick for today's FOTD :)

Now, for the glittery nail special.

1x Seche Clear, 3x Punk

This is L.A. Girl's Punk- blue glitter in a jelly base. What you can't see from the pictures is that the glitter reflects purple in certain lights, a little duochromey. I really love glitter in jelly, somehow it's more forgiving and less garish. Not to mention, I find jellies in general pretty easy to apply and remove.

Good night, beauties everywhere!

All products shown/mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use. With the exception of the Dior quint and lipstick, which were given as a gift.

Rock & Republic (Part 2): Eyeshadows

You know, I'm clearly falling in love with this brand. I can't help it, it's so... sexy. Look at the packaging, just LOOK at these shadows. Hell, I even like the music that's playing on the website (I've had it open on my laptop for like the last hour. Mr. MakeupWithdrawal is sick of the sound).
Well today is Day 2 of Rock & Republic worshiping series, and I want to talk about three of the shadows- Affair, Snakeskin and Tempting. I have another one coming in the mail (I'm shameless, right) but Lawsuit is going to get it's own post for being special, and I'll tell you why when I write about it.
Ok, so back to the shadows. They are housed in cool, metal, sleek (and heavy) packaging, the likes of which I have never owned before. However that also = freaking impossible to keep clean of finger smudges.

Click to enlarge. Left swatch over bare skin, right side over primer

Affair is a sheer frost light peach color that can still be built up to be quite opaque.
Snakeskin is a khaki shade with it bit of very fine shimmer.
Tempting is a muted purple grey satiny base, but over primer it looks more metallic.

The interesting thing about these shadows is that they're not straight up holy-bat-crap pigmented. But they can definitely be built up, and it doesn't look chalky like you'd expect from piling on eyeshadow. Maybe I'm doing a bad job of explaining it, but let's just say that it's refreshing to have a shadow that can be taken from mild to intesnse in a matter of a few brush strokes. I also have found that compared to all the other brands of shadows I own, these have the least amount of fallout. I can even brush some of the shadow loose in the pan, and flip the eyeshadow upside down and it doesn't fall off in a powdery mess. It just wants to stick to itself- great binding formula.

Full priced, these shadows go for $28 for a big pan of shadow. However, at recent HauteLook sales and even an ongoing R&R site sale, they were half off. I'll reveal how little I paid when I finish up the series about R&R. *wink*

FOTD: Stila Marrakesh Quad- Natural

Sunday, July 25, 2010

A dear friend gave this to me, and I thought I'd try it out today. It's uhm, very sparkly. Very. I think I might save this for when I need to dazzle, not day to day use.

I managed to tone it down for this look though! Super simple, day to day.

Face: Revlon PhotoReady, Smashbox Hybrid Primer, Spank Blush, TBS Matte & Shimmer Cheeck Color, R&R Spank.
Eyes: UDPP, Stila Marrakesh Quad, Urban Decay 24/7 Zero liner

Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous In the Glow

All products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use. Except for the Stila, which was gifted.

Helmer is Home and Purple Holo Nail Pity

I finally upgraded my makeup storage! Yesterday, I conned Mr. MakeupWithdrawal into going to Ikea with me to buy a Helmer. I ended up putting it together all by myself because I was a little too proud to ask him for help. It took me about 5 hours- I kept getting it wrong- but once I figured out what I was doing wrong, it only took 45 minutes. I'm not done putting my makeup into the thing, but here's a quick look at the finished Helmer.

Kitty not included!

However, while assembling the Helmer, I tore a nail. I was stupidly trying to pry a metal flap open (guess what won, metal or my nail). I didn't have any silk wrap handy to repair it, so I shaped all my nails down to a stubby square. Oh, how sad this makes me- this is the shortest I've had my nails since I started to take care of them last May. Ok, pity party over- I painted them a badass purple holographic.

This is Color Club's Wild at Heart. It's a grape purple with that amazing fine holographic that I love. Sadly, it's raining out, so no under-the-sun super dazzling pictures for you.
My cuticles are still kinda flooded with polish- I'm so awkward with clean up. I wonder if I should get a manicure pen.

So! What think you of my new storage and grape Kool Aid holo nails?

All products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use.

Rock & Republic (Part 1): Eye Brushes

Wow, it's been a while since I hauled anything! I've been picking and choosing my purchases pretty carefully lately, but I went a little nuts at the Rock & Republic sales both on their own website and on HauteLook. Luckily, I had a lot of credits on HauteLook, so I paid very, very little!
Anyways, I wanted to talk about the brushes that I bought first. This is completely a whole new level of quality for me, brush wise.

Here's trusty George for comparison!

Look at these tools. They're objects of beauty, to be admired. Instead of just a metal ferrule, the entire handles are made of polished chrome. The brushes are light though, though I kind of expected them to be more solid and hefty. The cool metal feels pleasing in my hand, I feel like I'm capable of creating something beautiful just by picking one up. The hairs are so amazingly soft, like kitten fluff.

This is the Blending #203 Brush (retail $32).

Very fluffy rounded tipped blending brush. Great for blending out dark colors, maybe a tad too big for intricate blending, but good for large open areas like outward swooped shadows.

And this here is the Defining #204 Brush (also retails for $32).

A very soft pencil brush- the bristles are packed to medium density. Super great for deep creases, smudge work etc.
I've washed them both a few times- no shedding or bleeding- both thumbs way up!
Am I a little nuts for praising brushes so much? I can't help it, they reek of quality and distinction. Oh, and they're super shiny.
The best part is that I can tell, with good care that these brushes will certainly outlive me. Hah, what a weird thought, I won't pass jewelry or other heirlooms down to my grandkids, just makeup brushes.

All products shown were purchased by me, for my own use.

NOTD: Garters and Fishnets, How Scandalous

Friday, July 23, 2010

No FOTD today, but I thought I'd share a quick nail art picture! I so badly need to get into Konading, don't I? This one is inspired by lingerie. My lingerie, specifically? Well, wouldn't you like to know.

NOTD: Brushed Nickel Nails

I did these on a whim, I wasn't even sure that this would work. First, I started with Essie Firstbase base coat, then one thick layer of OPI's Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede. Next, I took a dry water color brush and lightly went over each nail with a bit of China Glaze Millennium for that wire scrubbed look. I topped it off with China Glaze Wireless Holographic top coat for random dimensional shimmer. It doesn't look super glossy, yet not completely matte at the same time, I'm fascinated!

Finally, Some More Fyrinnae Swatches

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I promised these two weeks ago, whoops!
I ordered 7 shades and got Javan Rhino as a free sample (and a sticker). Since I've never even used up a mini size (so generous), I see no point in ordering full sized shadows!
I was a bit more adventurous this time around and got more vivid colors, and only one taupe. Before I babble on more, I'd like to share swatches.

Click to Enlarge

1.22 Gigawatts is matte bold blue with a little glitter (I'd be happier if it wasn't glittered, I feel like that takes away from the texture). Japan is a blackish teal shimmer, Sea Otter is satiny Tiffany & Co.green-blue with blue sheen. Javan Rhino is a satiny robin's egg blue with periwinkle sheen. Dressed to Kill is a super sparkly intense olive green. Equality is a medium taupe completely saturated with rainbow microglitter, and Herbivore is a lavender-blue duochrome shimmer.
With the swatches, I applied it over Pixie Epoxy but both Sea Otter and Javan Rhino stained a bit from contact with the gel. I loved all of them, except for maybe Equality which was a bit too glittery for my taste.
Great shades though!

What do you think? Have any of them?

All products mentioned were purchased by me for my own use.

NOTD: Pink Leopard Mani

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I was looking at the Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer today, and kind of felt like duplicating it on my nails. Why? No idea. Don't even like leopard print. Ambivalent about pink.

I used Seche Clear as a base, Essence Gold Rush as the champagne color, China Glaze Prize Winning Mare as the brown and the pink is L.A. Colors Art Deco in Baby Pink.

Products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use with the exception of the Pink Leopard Bronzer, which was given.

FOTD: Over the Top Poolside Glamour

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bathroom lighting, no flash.

I went and sat under the umbrella by the pool for a bit in a ridiculous, over the top red lips with falsies get up. I have no idea why, but I had a fun time envisioning myself as a poolside pin up gal (shush, I have a very powerful imagination).

Face: Monistat Anti Chafing Gel, L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base, MUFE HD, NARS Concealer Ginger/Custard, MAC Chromagraphic NC15/NW20, MAC Marine Life, YSL Blush Variation #12
Eyes: UDPP
Lips Rimmel Red Hot lipstick, NYX Crystal Red Gloss (I love this gloss so much, ever since I bought a tube from the $1 sale, highly recommend it!)

Super red from the heat!

Products mentioned were purchased by me, with the exception of the blush which was gifted.

EOTD: Style Snob

Monday, July 19, 2010

My dear friend Rina sent me a pan of MAC Style Snob and I was so eager to use it. I did a rather boring FOTD with it though, super simple. I'm actually not happy with the lip color, I used the famed Rimmel Airy Fairy for like the second time since I got it months ago and it just looks too cool/pastel for me. So I actually am just gonna show you my eyes!
I love the almost pinkish glow that Style Snob has. Thanks, Rina! :)

Brows: NYX Brow Powder in Taupe/Ash
Eyes: UDPP, Style Snob, Milani Java Bean, Rimmel Black Kohl liner, Sephora Mascara.

All products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use. Except for MAC Style Snob, which was gifted.

Rodarte and MAC Really Push My Buttons

Promo Image from MAC Rodarte

Nothing disturbs me quite like companies earning money from the unfortunate suffering of human beings. Since the release info of MAC's new collection collaborated with Rodarte, a flurry of anger and drama has ensued, rocking the makeup world.
I want to present some of the information-
First, you can see Rodarte's fall collection of dresses here, which is the 'inspiration' behind the MAC collection.
Stylist.com has an article here.
To find out more about the MAC collection, visit Temptalia's release page here.
Addicted To Blush blogs about it here and so does Pink Sith (with remarkable amount of research) here.

I feel like both Rodarte and MAC have really crossed the line here- in my mind MAC being the worse offender for going beyond tasteless for naming their products 'Factory', 'Juarez', 'Sleepwalker' and so forth. Perhaps worst of all, 'Quinceanera' Blush. Is that supposed to be a glimpse of beauty among all the horror? Is the juxtaposition of a young maiden's glorious day, when she's among her family and loved ones and celebrates her life, against the violent crimes that kill women supposed to be 'artistic'? It just sends a chill down my spine, actually.
I really don't think MAC had any intention of trying to bring attention to the plight of the Jaurez, they only decided to donate a portion of their proceeds during a statement released after the initial outrage concerning this collection. To me, that doesn't make amends for trespassing taste and dignity, in order to sell makeup.

NOTD: Essence Everybody's Talking About

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Have I raved about Essence polish before? No? I really love the formula, at least of the polishes that I've tried so far. Very smooth, great leveling and quite opaque cream shades. 99 cents, too! The bottles are not very big, but I think it's great for sampling colors and to use these to play around and franken with.
This shade is such a nice bright magenta (similar to NYC Magenta Flash) but slightly .... oh, almost a hint of coral. I only used two coats! Topped with Seche Vite Top Coat, with Seche Clear underneath.

NARS Rajasthan Duo - Fall 2010

Saturday, July 17, 2010

NARS? Again? I have NARS Fall 2010 fever and there is no cure. I love everything about this collection, I really do. If I had the money, I would buy all of it in a heartbeat (except for maybe the lipstick). How tasteful! The inspiration behind this duo, Rajasthan, (hence the name) is Indian in origin, and the other duo Tzarine, has Russia to thank. These duos really remind me of times past, of men sitting atop howdahs perched on elephants and Catherine the Great clad in rich furs.

Today I want to show you the Rajasthan duo.

On one side, we have this nice tan shimmer- a very basic staple but done very well. The other side is shimmery navy blue in a black base.

I wish it wasn't overcast out, so that you could appreciate the full beauty. The better the lighting is, the more shimmery both the colors appear- and the navy-ish color looks more colorful and dimensional as well.

Note that this is under cloudy skies! :(

Both the colors have great pigmentation and texture, though it should be noted that the dark side does that thing where the shimmer buffs away from the base color if you blend too excessively (a lot of NARS shadows do this, I feel), so pat the color on and be gentle, less windshield wiper brush work!

What I'm really excited for is to use this duo as both a day time and night time look. During the day, I envision the tan all over the lid, with the navy smudged into the lash line in a sultry kind of way. At night, I hope to use the tan on my brow bone and to use the navy as a smokey eye which should be more visually interesting than just using black and shades of grey!

What do you think, do you heart this duo as much as I do? (The answer is no, no you can not possibly love this duo as much as I do).

Items shown were purchased by me, for my own use.

MAC Dare to Wear Collection Preview

Friday, July 16, 2010

Here's a quick snap shot of MAC's upcoming collection. A sales associate was kind enough to let me snap a pic of the display. Aren't the colors vibrant? I myself probably will not be purchasing from this collection, there's nothing that I can really picture myself wearing a lot.

The sales associate also told me that they only had like 9 of each gloss, I expect that to sell out rather quickly!

NARS Fall 2010 Collection (Douceur Blush Swatches!)

Left to right: Coconut Grove, Mangrove and Daphne
single shadows, $23 each

Ladies and gentlemen, I have found the most amazing nude blush. Yesterday, the NARS Fall 2010 collection debuted on the NARS site, but if you're a beauty junkie like me- you already saw promo pics. If you're even more like me, you would have gone all soft and bubbly on the inside at the sight of the new limited edition fall blush. If you're exactly like me, when you heard that some Nordstrom NARS counter already had the collection, you would have ran quickly to your car in a disheveled state, trying to score your next blush fix. Here's some sloppy pictures I took with my cellphone- they didn't even have a display up yet (probably because they're so busy with the Nordy's anniversary sale) but a most kind sales associate let me take a closer look.

Left to right: Tzarine and Rajasthan duos, $32 each

I apologize, I didn't get pictures of the lip products. The SA was a MAC counter gal, and she wasn't super familiar with the collection. Anyways, I gleefully snatched my blush and ran home (ok no, I thanked the SA, paid for my purchase and drove home like a safe driver) and took gazillions of pictures of my new blush.
Let me explain: I've been searching for a nice nude blush for a while now. I've come close to finding "The One" but all of them fell short- too pink, too peach, too brown, too orange.
But Douceur is love- a soft pink-brown that's almost sheer because it's so light. I'll go ahead and warn you, I don't think it'll show up on tanner and darker skin tones. But if you're a pale beauty looking for a slight, impossible to mess up natural flush Douceur is for you.

Again I repeat, if you're looking for a bright, pigmented pop of color, stay away. Don't even look at this blush's direction. For the first time ever, the NARS logo is etched into the blush pan, in delicate double lines that disappear the first time you use the blush.
Now he's the funny part, the blush is almost matte. True, if you squint at it closely, you do see a faint shimmer, but it's not discernible once on my skin. However, I have seen swatches of this blush online that look quite shimmer, I don't know why there's swatching discrepancy. The Douceur I tried in store wasn't shimmery either, beats me.

Boring you say? Nay, a beautiful, natural flush! Douceur blush, $26

Anyways, here's the sad part- some of this collection is limited edition including this blush (I'm already looking at mine sadly, knowing someday it will go to the blush grave). So run off to your NARS counter or stop online to take a look! Use this code 071510CP2 for 18% off any purchase of $60 or more. It expires in two weeks, I believe. Shipping is also free over $50. Hit up Karla Sugar for full promotion pics here.

Photos taken at Nordstrom counter, item purchased for my own use.

FOTD: Russet Bedroom Eyes

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Sexy eyes? No, not really. I mean, these pictures were literally taken in my bedroom, on my bed. Hah! You thought I was gonna make some sexy faces for you, weren't you? I had a lot of fun with this look (and managed to get some interesting shots with hair all over my face!) and used yet another Fyrinnae color.
Face: L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base, NARS Ginger/Custard concealer duo, MUFE HD, Jane Baby Doll blush,
Eyes: L'oreal HiP Cream Shadow Paint in Secretive, Fyrinnae Sea Otter, MAC Blue Brown pigment, e.l.f. cream liners in Ivory and Black, Sephora mascara.
Brows: NYX brow powder in Taupe/Ash
Lips: Revlon Rosy Nude lipstick

The duo chrome Blue Brown pigment looks a lot more lovely in real life, the blue really compliments the teal well. Ah, if only you could see it.

I also got a couple shots of me in the bathroom, unfortunately the light is rather yellow, and it gives my skin a sallow cast.

What did you think of my new location?

All products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use.

NOTD: Strawberry Swirls and Silver Filigree

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Two nail posts in a row?! Is this turning into a nail blog? Mimi, are you turning into a nailphile? No no, rest assured I'm not! My skin has been breaking out lately, so I haven't had the heart to post FOTD pictures (they'd scare you away) and it's all because of my new foundation. I'll tell you about it soon! I need to do a proper review!

This is my second water marbling attempt and you know what? I'm proud of the improvements I've made! I read up on water marbling tips and it went much smoother this time. I used water that was room temperature to keep the surface from skinning too quickly and Vaseline around my cuticles for easy clean off. Can't wait to do it again!

I used one coat Seche Clear and one coat of OPI Mauve-lous Memories as the base. The marble itself is Mauve-lous, Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine Dazzling and Confetti Silver Slippers.