Archive for December 2010

NOTD: New Year's Eve Mani!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Hello Readers! This is my last post of 2010, what an interesting year! I completed one calendar year of blogging and started school to get my cosmetology license, whew. I bought countless cosmetics and started to love nail polish (in fact, since May, when I started to get into nail stuff- I've acquired on average, one nail polish a day! Isn't that just nuts?) And so I thought I'd end this year with a opalescent glitter mani. This is Hard Candy Break Up. The glitter is thin, semi translucent and hexagonal. There's also micro silver sparkles in the clear base, along with the glitter. The glitter isn't very dense, so I did swatches with three coats and before deciding that it'd look better over a navy creme. Whoops, somebody forgot to moisturize her acetone dried fingers. 1x Essie...

2010 Favorites

I'm sure that by now you've read a bunch of lists by other bloggers about the beauty products that they've loved this past year and now it's my turn to clutter up part of the internet with my two cents. These may not be new products or brands, but they were remarkable in some way to me this last year. Best High End Cosmetics Company Rock & Republic gets my stamp of approval this year. I was introduced to this brand by Cheri from Blushes on Display late this year. Before MakeupAlley, I had never heard of this brand. I knew they made jeans that looked great on Kim Kardashian but had no idea that they made such lovely makeup. Their packaging is sleek and modern, yet their fancy R&R logo is definitely ornate and really makes for a beautiful product. This year, I tried their lipgloss,...

EOTD: Rock & Republic Chronic

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Hello readers! Remember that beautiful Chronic that I showed you yesterday? I decided to use it this morning for my EOTD. I paired it with tans and browns to really bring out the olive, rather than it looking kinda mucky khaki which happens when I pair it with brighter greens. Nothing fancy. My eye looks kinda mean and shocked though, like my camera was threatening my face or something. Brows: Maybelline Define A Brow Eyes: UDPP, Rock & Republic Chronic shadow, LORAC Smokin' shadow, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, L'oreal HiP Crayon in Meticulous, NYX Doll Eye masc...

Rock & Republic Green Shadows

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I've been on such a green shadow kick lately, it's crazy. Here's a few of my favorites- the ones from Rock & Republic. The formula of these shadows are fantastic, almost creamy. The pigmentation, as I've happily reported before, is out of this world when used over primer. The colors look so vivid! Direct sunlight, no flash Chronic is a more olivey, khaki green with shimmer. Envy is a shimmery dark forest green. (My favorite!) It's such an intense color, I really love it on my eyes. Jaded is a seafoam green shimmer. It definitely has more blue and more pastel than the other two. This one looks kinda weird on me, but does alright when blended with a true blue. Do you have any of these greens? Do you own any that look like them? Products were given to me as a gi...

EOTD: Blackened Teal

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hello! I had a snow day today, so I got busy and cleaned all day. I shampooed my carpets and also played with the dogs outside, they love the snow so much! I regret not taking my camera out there, but I probably wouldn't have gotten very many good shots- they move way too fast. But they really are a sight to behold, Kuma (the big white one) barrels through the snow at break neck speed while Nigel (the medium sized one) twirls and leaps like he's dancing. Anyways, after I had dinner, I played around makeup for a while, something I haven't had a chance to do for a while. I used: Brows: Maybelline Define A Brow Eyes: UDPP, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Fyrinnae Japan shadow, Rock & Republic Fatalistic shadow, Rock & Republic Spy shadow, L'oreal HiP Shadow Paint in Steely, Rimmel Soft Kohl liner,...

Wearable Nail Soakers Review

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Hello Readers! I really hope you enjoyed the holidays. I myself just came out of a food induced coma (how lucky am I that Mr. MakeupWithdrawal's father is a wonderful cook?) and decided that enough was enough- I desperately wanted to take off my acrylic set. This gave me a chance to test out the nail soakers that I bought off of eBay. A few sellers carry these soakers, they come in a set of 10 and are supposed to be acetone resistant so that you can use them to take off artificial nails. I was quite excited to try these out, I thought they were a great idea! Normally I either soak them in a bowl of acetone or use the foil covering method. I figured that these soakers would cut down on the acetone fumes and would allow me a bit more flexibility as I waited for the acrylic to...

Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Hello Readers! I hope you're enjoying what ever holiday you celebrate this time of the year! (Or if you don't celebrate anything, I hope you're enjoying the crowded malls, delayed postal service and the general overload of tinsel and red and green glitter) Anyhoo, I just wanted to say that I'll be taking a break from posting for a few days so that I might enjoy time spent with my family and friends. Don't worry, I'll be back right after Christmas! Have a fantastic holiday season, -M...

False Lashes from KKCenterHK Review

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Please note that the pairs I received were in sample packaging! I was recently given the opportunity to try out lashes from KKCenterHK. Up until I had been contacted by them, I had never heard of this Hong Kong based company, but when I browsed their site I was astounded by the huge array of lashes they have. They literally have hundreds of styles! For any lash obsessed gal like me, it is absolute heaven. They have everything from soft, natural lashes to beautiful, peacock feather lashes. It took great self control to stop myself from ordering bright pink feathered lashes right then and there. Anyways, I tried a few of their more natural lashes. I picked three styles- one clear banded (ES A52), one black banded (ES A134) and one style of lower lashes (ES A021). All the lashes...

More Wet'n'Wild Holiday Wild Shine Polishes!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Once again, procrastination has gotten the best of me. I was hoping to post these swatches last month, but kinda put it on the back burner. When I finally decided to put them up today, I realized that I had completely lost the original pictures and had to redo the swatches. Anyhoo, here's the few polishes that I did pick up. Extravaganza Indoors, flash Indoors, lightbox, no flash 2 coats, in both pictures. Extravaganza is this blue based red with gold sparkle. How festive! Toast Indoors, flash Indoors, under lightbox, no flash A neat silver foil shade. A bit thin, I did two coats in the pictures above but it could have used three for total opacity. Champagne Indoors, flash Indoors, no flash, lightbox This one is really interesting. Champagne has this sort of dark lavender...

Review: Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder in Nymph

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Happy Sunday, readers! A few months back, Dermstore had a fantastic code - if I remember correctly it was $25 off of $50. Hot dog, I jumped on that quick! I used that code to try a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise bought at full price, including a Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder. First, look at how cool the Becca packaging is. This powder looks like it is housed in a spaceship! What makes this PSP in Nymph different than other highlighters I'ved tried? I think it's the finish that sets Nymph apart from other pinky highlighters. While other highlighters (like BeneFit High Beam, Dior Amber Diamond, Hard Candy Honeymoon blush, etc) are shimmery or sparkly, Nymph is softly pearly. I found that while other highlighters sometimes emphasize the pores at the top of my cheeks...

OPI Designer Series Extravagance

Friday, December 17, 2010

Indoors, under lightbox, no flash 2x Extravagence, no top coat (which is why the finish looks rather flat) Hello dear readers!Ah, just look at this polish. There aren't even words to describe how beautiful it is. Let's just take a moment to take in the dazzling photos. This holo makes me almost cry with joy. It's just so stunning! And to think, I almost didn't buy it- I picked the bottle up on a whim at Cosmo-Prof and almost put it back. This magenta scattered holo doesn't just sparkle... it's like an array of jewels on your nails, each facet shining brilliantly. It only took to coats for it to look completely opaque, and the application was amazing! I really like how well OPI DS polishes apply, they just glide on and level so well.Let's look at some more pics! Indoors, flash. With...

Jeweled Black/Silver Mardi Gras Mask!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Hello! I did something that extremely time consuming today, and thought I'd share with you the fruit of my labors. For five hours, my lovely model Erica sat still while I did both her hair and makeup. The rhinestones took up most of the time, taking about two and a half hours to painstakingly glue to her face. One by one. All I have to show you is a crappy cell phone picture that neither flatters the model, nor does justice to my work! Alas, that's all I have- but if any of my class mates took any better pictures, I'll post them later. I used: A crap ton of rhinestones, feathers, DUO glue. UDPP, Ben Nye Light Concealer Wheel, Victoria's Secret Foundation, NYX Hebe Black Label Lipstick, Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black liner, Urban Decay Perversion shadow, Bobbi Brown Chrome Silver shadow,...

I Found My Zoya Kelly!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

No flash, under light box. 2x Kelly, 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri Hello Readers! Remember a few weeks ago when I moaned about losing my Kelly polish? Well, I take it that you read the title to this post... that's right, I found it! It was in the depths of my couch. How did it get there? I have no idea, but I was pretty darn happy when I reached down there fishing around for the remote, and when I opened my hand I found Kelly instead. If I did happy dances, I would have done one right then and there. Kelly is one sexy polish. I really don't think 'grey' adequately describes this creme, not by a long shot. Kelly is the color of burning indigo smoke, the color of a sooty twilight sky. It's everything I thought that it was going to be, plus more. The application was amazing- typical of Zoya polishes....

NOTD: A Favorite- Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

Monday, December 13, 2010

1x Essie First Base, 1x WnW Black Creme, 1x Hidden Treasure Nothing new or exciting- but I did one of my favorite combos yesterday. Hidden Treasure over Wet'n'Wild Black Creme. I've really been in a flakie mood lately (first Barielle Elle's Spell, Maybelline Colorama Sonic Sunset, now this!) and can't wait to get my hands on more. In fact, I have 4 NYX flakies coming in the mail. I'm also trying to get a hold of some Golden Rose flakies, but it's really hard since they're based out of Malta and discontinued. Why, why must my heart yearn for the unobtainable? And maybe after Christmas, I'll splurge and order a bunch of Nfu Oh ones! Don't worry, my holo obsession hasn't gone anywhere, it's just sitting on the back burner at the moment. Anyways, I've must have worn this combo at least 10 times...

FOTD + Also, My Dog In a Poncho

Sunday, December 12, 2010

You can tell I'm going somewhere fancy by the hippie tie dye t-shirt I'm sportin'. Hello Readers! I haven't posted a FOTD picture in a really long time because after I ran out of MUFE HD, I bought MUFE Mat Velvet and that photographed horribly with flash. Unfortunately, with my school hours I'm not able to get natural daylight pictures either. Well, I picked up a new foundation and have been mixing it with MUFE Mat Velvet in equal parts and that seems to have taken care of that whole ghost face issue. Hooray! I used: Face: LORAC AquaPRIME, MUFE Full Cover Concealer, MUFE Mat Velvet Foundation, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, YSL Blush Variant in #12 Lips: Wet'n'Wild Just Peachy (it's really grown on me!) Eyes: UDPP, Shiro Cosmetics Poliwrath and Rattata, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline,...

Merlot Natural Grape Seed Night Cream

Saturday, December 11, 2010

image from walgreens.com This review is long overdue! So long overdue, that I've lost all the pictures I took of my tub of the night cream and had to use a stock photo. I read a few raving reviews for Merlot creams on MUA, so I thought I would give them a try. Unfortunately the day moisturizer contained zinc oxide, so I ended up buying the night cream-Merlot Moonlight Radiance Natural Grape Seed Night Cream. The first thing I noticed when I read the ingredients on the back was squalane was high on the list. I had wanted to try squalane for a long time, ever since I heard that it was a great, fast absorbing oil that did miracles for skin.The cream was $19.99 at Walgreens and came in a pretty large tub. There's a light scent, but I found it rather pleasant. The first time I put it on,...

NOTD: Wet'n'Wild Midnight

Friday, December 10, 2010

1x Essie First Base. 3x Wet'n'Wild Midnight, 1x Sally Hansen Insta Dri I bought this polish a few weeks ago, along with a bunch of other limited edition holiday Wet'n'Wild polishes. The vivid blurple color stood out to me and I found myself reaching for it even though it's not really a finish I would normally wear. Midnight is a bright, frosty violet-blue with tiny, winks of holographic glitter. You know what it reminds me of? When you see colorful pictures of deep space, and there's that lovely blue tinge around white specks of stars. Just look into one of the nails in the picture to the left, and imagine that you're hurtling through space, traveling at the speed of light. I find this color very beautiful and mesmerizing in the bottle, but it's just not a shade I find appealing on my finger...

EOTD with Bright MUFE Shadows!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

I did my friend April's makeup today. I wasn't too pleased with how the face turned out with the foundation and all, but I did like the eyes, so I took some pictures! Unfortunately I only had my cell phone, so the picture quality isn't super great. Used: Brows: MAC Brow Shader in Walnut/Malt Eyes: MAC Soft Ocher Paint Pot, UDPP, Hi Fi Cosmetics High Impact, Make Up For Ever Shadow #171, Make Up For Ever Shadow #83, MAC Clarity shadow, Prestige Total Intensity Deepest Black liner, True Cosmetics Hy Performance Mascara Thanks April for modeli...

Fantastic Flakie: Barielle Elle's Spell

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

indoors, no flash, lightbox. 4 coats. I never really paid attention to Barielle before this new winter collection. When someone told me that one of the polishes in it had flakies, I couldn't wait to get my painted phalanges on Elle's Spell. The first time I went to Ulta to pick it up, I forgot my wallet and had to leave without it (and pretty furious at myself). The next day, I went back and bought it- good thing too! The display had been full the first day, but when I went back there was only two bottles left. Elle's Spell is a gorgeous crimson jelly with flakies that flash from yellow-green to orange. I feel like the beauty of this polish will only be appreciated by the wearer, because only when is it on your fingers and you move them around in the light can you see the full range of flashing...