Archive for December 2011

Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Quick last minute post of 2011.
I put a matte top coat (OCC Flatline) on top of Finger Paints Twisted for my NYE mani.

Pretty festive, no?

What are you guys doing for makeup/nails for New Year's Eve? Anything festive and shiny?

Happy New Year!

See you guys next year! (That joke NEVER gets old for me.)

Products featured were purchased by me for my own use. For additional information, please to my Disclosure Policy.

Finger Paints Special Effects Flakies

Friday, December 30, 2011

I got these for myself for Christmas. I had to have 'em all. Let's just get right down to it. These are all swatched one coat over black.

Flashy- your standard flakie (the same type in Essie Shine of the Times, Nubar 2010, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure) that flash from a warm copper to a spring green.

Flecked- flakes that flash from aqua green to blue. The same as the ones in NYX Purple Ave.

Motley- flakies that flash from cobalt to a deep indigo.

Asylum- very unique combination of warm coppery flakes (like from Flashy) and these violet flakes from Motley.

Twisted- the best of the bunch. This looks like Asylum taken a step even further with flakies that flash from green to blue (think of it as Asylum + Flecked).

I'm not going to lie to you-what it comes down to is that if you owned the first three, Flashy, Flecked and Motley you can pretty much layer them to make Asylum and Twisted.

The are a little sparse in the milky base, much fewer flakes than Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure but more than the NYX Ave flakies. I don't really see the color of the base when layered over a dark color, which is good but it bothers me a little how yellow and milky it is. Like buttermilk.

I like them. But I don't love them. I think I was so excited for them, and then once I got my hands on it the thrill of the chase wore off. However, Twisted does look wicked awesome, especially with a matte coat.

Good night!

Products featured were purchased by me for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Another Small Fyrinnae Order

Thursday, December 29, 2011

A comment from Larie of Eye Heart It reminded me that I made a tiny little Fyr order and forgot to post about it. It was a little pick-me-up order that I made right after finals, mainly to replenish my Pixie Epoxy (my tube is finally running low after a year and a half of frequent usage!)

I ordered six mini shadows and received one sample. I'm truly sorry that the cold weather outside does not allow me swatch these the way I want to, out in the sunlight.

In all the swatches, the left hand side is on dry skin and the right hand side is over Pixie Epoxy.

Polar Bear is a light beige-y gold with a slight smokey base. One of my all time favorite shadows. I actually owned this before but managed to lose it. It's so good, I had to rebuy.

Book Of The Dead is a tawny gold sparkle.

Pyromantic Erotica (Arcane Magic) is orange with a subtle green sheen.

Velvet Vampire (Arcane Magic) is a rose with bright pink sparks.

Tyr looks like a light minty jade in the pot, but it turns out to have a black base with green and gold sparkles.

Dark Fantasy (Arcane Magic) is also a blackened base, with rich green forest sparkle.

Steampunk (Arcane Magic) has a dark base, with brown sparkles. At some angles, it looks magenta, truly a marvel.

Sigh. I wish it was spring already.

Sooty Silver EOTD

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Hello!
Today I an eye shadow from my stash that I truly admire yet fear at the same time. Bobbi Brown Chrome Eye Shadow in Silver. It's just so ridiculously bright and metallic, I almost felt like I wasn't worthy. Plus, I just had no idea what exactly I wanted to do with it. In the end, I used Make Up For Ever #33 (Slate Grey) that leans blue to bring the silver down a notch.

I used:
Brows: NYX Brow Shaper, NARS Bali shadow
Eyes: LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Bobbi Brown Chrome Eye Shadow in Silver, LORAC Beige shadow, L'oreal Lineur Intense liner, LASHEM Double Trouble Mascara*

*indicates a product that was sent to for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Guest Post on Clumps of Mascara!

Hey guys!
I am very honored that Brittany of Clumps of Mascara asked me to do a guest post that was featured today.
I would be very thrilled if you could head on over to read the post, it has some of my best nail art to date.

Click HERE to read the post!

CLEAN Skin Perfume- Observations From An Olfactory Simpleton

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

image from Sephora.com

Today I have a joint review, as it incorporates both my experience, as well as my boyfriend, Morgan's. (He, being blunt and of not many words gave me a general rundown that I *ahem*, elongated and made more elegant. Since he has never looked at my blog, I don't think he'll object.) We tested out this perfume about a month ago, over a weekend together.

Oh, CLEAN Skin. This is perhaps, the most divine substance I have ever had the pleasure of inhaling.
A balanced and blended perfume, I had problems picking out the notes the first time I wore it. I didn't question it, I just closed my eyes and breathed it in deeper.

According to Sephora, the notes include:

Sheer Honeydew, Lotus Blossom, Fresh Air Accord, Dewy Petals, Aquatic Notes, Blue Rose, White Musks, Amber Wood, Creamy Vanilla.

When I spray this perfume on a tester strip, I smell absolutely nothing at all. It's amazing how body chemistry and heat transform a fragrance. I love the touch of aquatic that laces together the honeydew and lotus blossom. To be honest, the blue rose was lost on me but the warmth of the vanilla and musk was evident throughout and lingers like a soft caress.

We both found Skin to be a very intimate scent. One that lured him in, inviting him to move closer to me and find the source. He lifted up locks of my hair and nuzzled my neck, closing in on where I spritzed my perfume earlier.

After we parted ways, a few days later, he called and told me that he missed the scent of my perfume, I was a little surprised yet deeply satisfied. He said he loved how I smelled, that it was sensual and sexy.

This, coming from a man who I am not certain knows all the colors of the rainbow.

This, coming from a man who is baffled by makeup and polish. ("Why do you need more? You never finish what you have.")

So when this man decides to comment positively upon anything beauty related, it's worth taking note.

"I don't have a full bottle of this," I told him sadly.
"I think you need it," he replied simply.

A few weeks ago, I received a package from Sephora. He bought me a full bottle.

CLEAN Skin Eau de Parfum is $69 for 2.14oz. on Sephora's website. A 1 oz. size is also available on Amazon.

Zoya Yara

Monday, December 26, 2011

Good evening! I hope that you had a great weekend, and that if you celebrated Christmas you had a great time with loved ones.
Today, I wanted to show you Zoya Yara, a beautiful polish that I should have used right when I received it, but didn't because I completely forgot about it. Facepalm.
A gorgeous drab olive creme with sparse micro gold glitter. Not super complex or anything, but I'm amazed that I don't own anything like this already nor can I think of something similar by another brand, off hand.

Perfect in two generous coats.
By the way, I wanted to add that next month I'll be doing the 31 Day Nail Challenge starting January 1st. I figured I would have some extra time to work on my designs since classes haven't started yet, and I've had a blast brainstorming ideas. I can't wait to show them to you (if they turn out as grand as they are in my head).

Have a great night!

Products featured were purchased by me for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Candy Cane Nails

Friday, December 23, 2011

After having the day off, I'm in a much better mood now and actually feeling a bit festive. I changed my mani to something a bit more seasonal. Candy cane nails. So easy to do free hand- start with a base of pure white, and alternate thick and thin red stripes.
My pointer finger is a bit streaky because I forgot that I was using OPI Top Coat for the first time instead of my usual Seche Vite and as it turns out, you are not supposed to use it on top of damp polish the way you use fast dry top coats. Whoops.

I used a mixture of Sally Hansen Polar Bare and Ulta Snow White as my base color, and Ulta Deck the Halls (how appropriate) as the red striping.

Have a great night!

Products shown were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

FOTD!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Good evening! There's been a whole slew of holiday inspired looks, but I just haven't been feeling it. I went with orange eye shadow today, just to be contrary.

I used:
Brows: NARS Bali shadow
Eyes: LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer, Fyrinnae Fyromantic Erotica, Fyrinnae Steampunk, Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Cream liner, LASHEM Double Trouble Mascara*
Face: MUFE Full Cover concealer, Graftobian Hi Def Glamour Creme Foundation, BECCA Pressed Shimmer Powder in Nymph, Too Faced Pink Leopard bronzer
Lips: Dior Addict #566

*Indicates a product that was sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

A Christmas Mani (I Dub This Polish 'Elf Vomit')

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Last year, my friend went on vacation to Florida and stopped by a beauty store. For some reason, unknown to me, she picked me this BTouch polish- a mixture of fine green and red glitter called Green Glitter. Not that I'm not grateful that she thought of me and brought me back something... just that I really actually hate Christmas colors together.
Yeah. I said it. I don't like green and red. Plus I'm kind of all glittered out, this last season of nail polish was so full of glitter releases, it was somewhat overwhelming.
Still, I appreciate a gift from friend, so I'm giving it a try tonight over Essie Pretty Edgy.

This is why I can't stand Christmas-y polishes like China Glaze Party Hearty or Twinkle Lights. I just find the combination of the colors on nails somewhat tacky, I can't help it!

Have a great night!

A Quick Swatch

What is this polish, you ask? You'll have to wait to find out. I'm being mysterious. Very hard to capture, I'm hoping that I'll come up with a way to photograph it so that you see its full potential.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Liptar in "Harlot"

Sunday, December 18, 2011

I have only reviewed the polishes from OCC, but today I have perhaps what they are best known for, one of their Lip Tars to show you.

Bloggers and makeup junkies everywhere have always extolled the wonders of OCC Lip Tars, and I am somewhat late to the party. Mainly because I don't wear lip products all that often and when I do, I have a handful of limited favorite lip products that I always reach for.

Today I am happy that a new and beautiful vibrant red joins my stash. Harlot is this insanely pigmented vibrant coral red. There is no way you could wear this lip color and not expect people to notice. It is not subtle and it is not for the faint of heart.

The original reason I never purchased any Lip Tars up until now was because of the name. "Tar" seems to indicate a thick, gooey texture and I'm pleased this is not the case. This product is actually quite thin and fluid, which is why I had an interesting time figuring out how to best use this Lip Tar.

At first, I applied it directly to my lips, without any liner. Due to its thin nature, it bled a bit. However, I discovered that using a flesh toned pencil such as MAC Chromagraphic or Stila Topaz to outline my lips or filling in my lips with a lip liner first remedied this problem.

Harlot mixed with clear gloss

There are a million ways to wear Harlot. I mixed it with clear Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Crystal to create beautiful glossy lips, I wore it by itself blotted down for a long lasting matte lipstain. I even wore it on top of another red lipstick to add a touch of coral-y red to my lipstick.

Though it comes in a lipgloss squeeze tube, I would highly recommend a fine lip brush to apply your Lip Tar. You will literally only need the tiniest drop. I'm pretty sure that I will never finish this small little tube in a lifetime, even if I wore it every day. It's that pigmented.

I most definitely want to buy more Lip Tars so that I can mix even more custom shades. Truly, this is a marvelous product and there are a whole host of reasons why you should treat yourself to one. Or two. Or a bunch.

OCC Lip Tars are $13 each and can be purchased online at their site (here).

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Grandma

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Hello! Here's another one from my little OCC order. It's called Grandma and it's anything but old and crotchety.

Grandma is this super vibrant coral-cherry. My pictures don't do it justice. Somehow, my photography makes it look harmless when it is indeed, attention seeking and fiercely vivid. Take my word for it that it is more intense than it appears.

Grandma also had an excellent formula, like the other polish I tried- Tattoo. It was a little different in finish though, whereas Tattoo was a true creme, this one had a little "squish" to it, a bit of jelly-ness so I used three coats.

Again, I need to state that I love this new bottle shape and the long handle with an excellent brush. I am without a doubt, addicted to OCC polishes. I sense more of them in my future!

Rock on, Grandma.

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

New Spoiled Polishes

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Hullo!
I'm finally done with my finals. I'm so happy that they're over. A month of pure relaxation! Oh wait, except for the part where I'm working a ton. Other than that, I'll be doing just dandy.
Today, on my way home I stopped by a CVS and found the new Spoiled line by Wet'n'Wild.
Hmm, these colors look mighty familiar.... oh wait, I could swear that half of them are clones of Sinful Colors. I definitely saw something that resembled Call You Later (fine mixture of green glitters), I Miss You (magenta mix of glitters) as well as a dupe for a lot of vibrant shades. They do have some really intense, fluorescent neons though.
Not very unique, but oh well. They're cheap. $1.99.

This one is called I Only Eat Salads. A vibrant chartreuse creme, I love it. Pretty much a dupe of Sinful Innocence.

This one is called 2 Weeks Sober. Strikingly similar to Sinful Verbena, perhaps a touch darker. Purple creme, not totally saturated. This is what I expected Zoya Mira to look like (it's more red based).

Finally, we have Toad-ally Amazing, which looks like Sinful Mint Apple. Same light minty color, with a touch of fine shimmer.

The formula on these was pretty good. All three were two coaters but I had to do three because of the wretched, horrible, disgusting, disagreeable, annoying, irritating, ... you get my point, brush.
It's truly awful. Scrangie thought it was a quality control thing, but after examining more and more brush heads and reading reviews, I've come to the conclusion that they're supposed to be like this.
Fluffy, jagged, with this odd sloppy round cut. I've never met a worse brush for nail polish. The bristles drag the polish, leaving furrows. Luckily the formula leveled well. I'm still annoyed at the brush though.

I kinda like them. I'll probably buy more if they're ever on sale, to use for water marbling and such (come on, I can't be the only one who shudders at the idea of using Zoyas, OPIs or my 'good' polishes) because that process wastes a lot of polish. Unless they dramatically change the brush (why would they do that on purpose? They want us to have ugly nails?!), I don't think they'll ever be my favorite. It's nice to see Wet'n'Wild do full sized bottles though.

Have you seen these new Spoiled by Wet'n'Wild polishes yet?

Products feature were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

NYX Peach Ave Over OPI Sapphire In The Snow

Monday, December 12, 2011

Good evening! Tonight, I have an interesting combination to show you. I borrowed a friend's bottle of OPI Sapphire In The Snow last week and fell in love with how perfect this dark, rich indigo creme is. I need to get myself a bottle!
I never actually intended this to be actual mani- I was fooling around and slapped a coat of NYX Peach Ave on top, and the flakes absolutely popped against the dark base color. I think it looks even better than it does on top of black creme.
Here's what Sapphire In The Snow looks by itself:

The only thing about NYX Peach Ave... well, two things actually.
1.) The flakes are very sparse. In these pictures, I had to layer THREE coats of it and there's still not that many flakes on the nail.
2.) There are two different versions of NYX Peach Ave. One has these beautiful multichromatic flakes and the other has these large chunky orange foil bits. They're completely different.

Being the nut job that I am, I have both.
I can do a comparison post about them sometime, if there's interest. With actual pictures.

Have a great night!

OPI Sapphire In The Snow was borrowed from a friend. All other featured products were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

A Tropical EOTD

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I really like blue/green eye shadow color schemes. I really do.
They're eye catching, NSFW and I can never get enough of them.

Usually I use my right eye for taking EOTD shots, but today I used my left because I had an unsightly blemish. I wanted to spare you.
I wanted to use my new Coastal Scents Midnight Blue Hot Pot but it was so dark in color, it actually made the look more muddy as I blended it in, dulling the colors instead of enhancing them. Oh well!

Brows: NARS Bali shadow, NYX Brow Shaper
Eyes: Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Wheat, Wet'n'Wild I <3 Matte palette (blue, jade, white, nude shades), Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Fyrinnae 1.22 Gigawatts, Prestige Total Intensity Liner in Deepest Black, LASHEM Double Trouble Mascara*, Coastal Scents Midnight Blue Hot Pot, NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk

This upcoming week is finals week for me and on top of that I'm probably still working 30 or so hours, so my posting might be irregular. I can't wait for it to be over!

Have a great week!

*indicates a product that was sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

A Few Coastal Scents Hot Pots

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I mentioned previously that I made a small Coastal Scents order. I added a few shadows to my cart because some of them looked positively enticing.
I bought ME01, ME02, M17, S10, and S18. It's somewhat confusing on the site because each shade has a name, but the only way to identify these shades is a sticker on the back of each shadow which only lists a letter and number combination.
Anyways:
ME01= Dark Golden Olive (which is precisely that, a metallic dark golden olive)
ME02= Aluminum Taupe (a very light, frosty taupe sheen)
M17= Midnight Blue (a very dark matte blue)
S10= Green Steel (a very complex dirty metallic silver with a very subtle touch of green)
S18= Maize Yellow (a slightly shimmery bright yellow with a touch of chartreuse)

For each pair, the left side is without primer and right side on top of primer

The quality of these shadows really vary. The shades with more shimmer/frost are more buttery and soft, while Maize Yellow is somewhat of a disappointment. Rather poor pigmentation and it barely shows up even with a primer (I see what it was on clearance now, ack.) To be fair, that shade was an impulse buy. I was curious as to what I could do with yellow eye shadow.
The other four shades, Dark Golden Olive, Aluminum Taupe, Midnight Blue and Green Steel are quite good but definitely need a primer. They are extremely soft though, and I've noticed that in just a few days of playing around with them that I've already created a dip in the pans which is something that never happens with my higher quality shadows such as LORAC or NARS. They're extremely blendable, which is a nice perk.
So it's a trade off. Cheaper price ($1.99 each)- but also overall a lower quality. If you're interested in Coastal Scents Hot Pots, might I suggest that you pick up shades that you intend on only "playing around with". For instance, maybe a neon pink eye shadow that you've been suddenly craving and leave your every day reliable shadows to better companies. Coastal Scents also frequently has sales, so if you sign up for their emails you'll be alerted of the deals and score them for even cheaper.

Side story: I tried to take swatch pictures outside. That didn't work out since it was absolutely freezing outdoors so my arm was covered with gooseflesh. Kuma did enjoy it though, he loves the cold weather.

That's his supermodel wind blowing back his fur pose.

Thanks for reading!

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Tattoo

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Hey guys!
Recently, OCC had a few of their nail polishes on sale, because they're redesigning their bottles. I ordered a few and low and behold- I received two of my polishes in the new bottles. I was quite thrilled, because I really like the flat rectangular shape with the long handles. It makes applying polishes quite easy.

Tattoo is my first polish from OCC and I am mighty impressed. The formula was very creamy, leveled well and opaque in just one coat. I did two because my camera loves to find flaws and out of habit (I started on my second coat before I realized I didn't need one).

I see why this color would be called Tattoo- a dusty, dingy, murky sort of green that you might seen black ink fade into on an old tattoo. I don't think I've ever really seen this color in a faded tattoo. I have however, seen a few ladies with old cosmetic tattoos that have faded into an interesting shade of blue. Blue eyebrows. Not exactly the natural look!

OCC is also vegan, and cruelty free. An admirable company, if I do say so myself.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics can be purchased online at their website (here). Their polishes are $8 each for .5oz bottles.

What do you think of this color and the new OCC bottle shape? Have you ever seen a tattoo fade into this color? I sure hope mine never does!

Good night!

Product featured was purchased by me. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

China Glaze Let it Snow! Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much, everyone for the all the entries! I truly enjoyed reading about the people in your lives that you care about, that you would love to gift polishes to.

Congratulations to Sarah!
As determined by Random.org.