Archive for February 2010

MAC 2010 Summer Collection: To the Beach (Pt. 2)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

So here's Part 2 of this new collection- some of this stuff is less appealing to me than others. Nail Lacquer In the Buff: Muted Taupe Avocado (Cream) Scorcher: Creamy Bright Coral Red (Cream) Skipping. I never buy MAC nail polishes. To the Beach Bag Cute, but it's $49.50 USD and looks like the rope handle would get dirty easily. Probably not for toting my beach gear to and from the shore. Cream Bronzer Beach Bronze: Golden Glow with Soft Gold Finish Weekend: Mid-Tone Deep Orange Brown with Soft Pink Pearl I have a deep rooted belief that I just don't look good bronzed. In my head, I know I should skip these, but the descriptions make me wonder... maybe it's possible? After all, I've never tried cream bronzer. Bronzing Powder Golden: Muted Golden Tan-Beige with...

MAC 2010 Summer Collection: To the Beach (Pt. 1)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Oof, I've been bringing MAC up a lot lately, haven't I? First Viva Glam lipsticks, now this. Well, I don't actually get too excited about MAC too often (in fact, in the last year I only purchased from them twice) but this upcoming summer collection has my bikini in a twist. It's actually been driving me nuts that they keep coming out with 'new' collections every 4 minutes, it seems like. And most of these collections don't even comprise of new stuff, just repromotes in new packaging. ChicProfile has all the info, but I thought I'd sum it up for you, and give you my thoughts (click here to go to read it in entirety from ChicProfile). Here's What You Need to Know: U.S. Release Date: May 27, 2010 The name is self explanatory- think warm beaches, Australian shores...

Is There Anybody as Excited as I am For These?

Monday, February 22, 2010

I'm really loving Target right now, honest. I recently picked up one of those famed amazing Studio Tools duo fiber brushes (more commonly known in the makeup world as a 'skunk') on clearance for $3.88. Although, I think it was red-tagged out because they're being discontinued, which does sadden me. But onto the more exciting news! Sonia Kashuk 2010 Spring line! Are those brushes not gorgeous? I can't wait to get my hands on some, but my local Targets are always slow on stocking new items. I saw a picture posted by a fellow MUAer, and it made me a little sad to see brushes that were touted as 'natural' being wrapped in hard plastic packaging. But then I took a closer look, notice how the ad says 'eco chic' not eco friendly? Sneaky. None the less, the brushes look like they are beautifully...

Reviving Gel Liner- What not to do!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

What does Bobbi Brown, Napoleon Perdis and MAC all have in common? They all have a gel liner that seems to dry out in the pot. After a few months of use, I always find that my gel liners harden a little in the pot. Actually, have you ever seen a gel liner tester at a store that wasn't rock hard and shriveled? Now, I hate waste and would really like to be able to use every drop of a product (I paid for it and I want it!), so I set about looking around the internet for a way to revive my liners. Some people said that they used oils, glycerin and Visine, among other things. Oils didn't work for me- neither did glycerin even though I all I added was one small drop and mixed thoroughly with a toothpick. Once I added oil to the gel liner, it didn't dry at all- and completely ruined the finish. Glycerin...

New MAC Viva Glam lipsticks!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Chances are, if you're obsessed with makeup, not only have you already heard of the new Viva Glam lipsticks, but you're tired of it being mentioned. But for everyone else, let me introduce to you the two newest additions to MAC's Viva Glam collection, VG Gaga and VG Cyndi. That's right- two of the most interesting woman on our planet now have luscious colors housed in black bullet lipstick cases worthy of them. I'm a huge fan of both, and even if I wasn't, these colors are still simply divine. VG Gaga is a bright bubblegum pink- though sheer and buildable, (both lipsticks are Lustres) it is a bit on the cooler side. Don't let that deter you though! I'm quite neutral and I can still pull it off. It's my belief that Viva Glams are formulated so that they are appealing to the most number...

A very (un)successful Valentine's Day weekend.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

I blew it. My February no-buy, that is. It started on the 10th, I was trapped inside my home from the three feet of snow lying on the drive way and resorted to browsing the internet to keep myself sane. Unfortunately, I picked up an order from AllCosmeticsWholesale and paid for my purchase before I could talk myself out of emptying out my cart. I ended up getting a 28 slot magnetic Stars Makeup Haven palette, a discontinued Smashbox tinted lip treatment in Solar and a Kiehl's #1 lip balm in cranberry. Argh. I also experienced a moment of weakness on the 12th, when I glanced at the MAC counter at Macy's and found myself buying Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi lipsticks. To be perfectly fair, I already knew that I would purchase them eventually, so I guess hastened the inevitable. I then rationalized...

EOTD-Burgundy crease

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

This is one of my favorite burgundy colors, I really love using it. Eyes: MAC eyeshadow in Vanilla, Jane eyeshadow in Dazzle, NYX Chrome eye shadow in Mink, and from my own personal palette- Dionysus. Prestige Total Intensity liner in Deepest Black, L'oreal Double Extend waterproof, UDPP, pixi Eye Bright kit. Brows: NYX brow powder in taupe/ash...

Packages

I keep receiving stuff in the mail that I ordered a few weeks ago. They really do seem to make my day, like mini presents I sent in advance to myself. It started snowing again last night, so I fear I will be trapped indoors for another two days. This will help tide me over. My three arrivals were Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream, pixi Eye Bright Kit, and three Prestige Total Intensity liners. Let's start with the first item, the BB Cream. This was a brand new product that I had never tried the likes of. This is what it's supposed to be primer, foundation, concealer, acne medication, wrinkle reducer, SPF moisturizer and whitener all rolled into one. Mind blowing, isn't it? When I first read about bb creams (blemish balm creams) my jaw literally dropped. I wondered why we didn't have a United States...

How much longer? (LORAC swatches)

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I know, I know- I haven't even been on a no-buy for two weeks, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. Luckily for me, packages that I paid for at the end of January are finally arriving, so it's like getting mini presents every few days. What first to talk about? Oh! That LORAC set I ordered a couple of weeks ago. It's spectacular, and the best $20 I ever spent on 7 items. I'm really trying to move away from buying lots of low end drugstore items and only being satisfied with 1/2, and instead selectively buying more middle end to high end stuff. Now, LORAC makes a lot of really great cosmetics, and this New Year's Neutrals set is no exception. I got 7 products- 1 lipstick, 1 lipgloss, 1 cheek stamp (blush) and 4 eye shadows. Including shipping- that ends up being under $4 per item (if that's...

NYX $1 Haul- Swatches

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Today is a snow day, and with 26 inches of the fluffy stuff piled on the drive way, there's absolutely no way that I'm going to be able to go anywhere. I guess I'll finally catch up with my swatching! I don't know why I've been putting it off, I had a fun new camera to play with (not really new- my fiance lost the expensive memory chip to his expensive camera and I finally found it again) the I ordered a ton of stuff off of the NYX website when they had a $1 sale going on about 3 weeks ago and I happily received my package sometime last week. I made a quick haul video on YouTube to quickly run over what I got (you can watch this here). Here's some of the items I got: In addition to these- I also bought 5 boxes of false...

Tutorial: Magenta Winged Look

Thursday, February 4, 2010

A fellow member of MUA asked me to break down this look- so I gave it my best shot. It's actually pretty simple, the most difficult part of this is creating that cut look on the side, and the blending to create that beautiful gradient. List of items used: 1 large fluffy eyeshadow brush. 1 small eyeshadow brush, 1 smudger brush, 1 blending brush, 1 eyeliner brush, a pair of scissors, a Post-it note, Wet'n'Wild Arch Envy, e.l.f. cream liner in black, eyelash curler, black eyeliner and 4 colors of eyeshadow- a pearly white, a bright hot pink (can be with or without shimmer), a shimmery violet (super pigmented) and a charcoal black (with or without shimmer). The first thing I did was to cut out a crescent piece out from the sticky part of the Post-it note- that's going to be the...