Several of MAC's oldies but goodies are retiring - click here to take a look. What's even better? FREE SHIPPING with any "goodbye" purchase with the code GOODBYE at checkout!
I was browsing Sephora's sales and noticed they have a section for new collections that have come out and I immediately went towards the Dior "Once in a Blue Moon" Collection because of the beautiful indigo blue (called "Metallic Blue") eyeshadow in the picture below (click to enlarge):
I'm not a huge fan of the color blue on me, but this color is so beautiful, I could see doing a smokey eye with it. You can order it here.
I especially love the lipgloss, which is Dior Addict High Shine "Casual Beige" 222. What a perfect color for dramatic eyes. This can be ordered here.
I'm sure some of you stumbled across these during your holiday shopping, but I just saw it and thought I would share!
Happy New Year (almost)! I thought I'd share some specials from Sephora that I received in my email this morning. This is a great way to pick up some of your favorites, and receive a deluxe sample in the mix! Each brand has a specific code, so click the pictures for a larger image if you have trouble reading them. I, for one, am eyeing the Bliss freebie!
Also, don't forget to check out their sale page - there are lots of goodies available at great discounts, from Bare Escentuals to Stila, Bliss and anything in between!
I will be taking a brief hiatus over the Christmas Holiday and will resume posting next week. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Hopefully I'll have lots of goodies to post about!
I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted - work has been a haze and the week just flew by!
As I mentioned earlier, I purchased the Bare Escentuals Ruby Collection from Sephora, and I wanted to post the pictures and swatches for the set. These colors are great, with a beautiful warm, but pink undertone to the colors. This reminds me of the colors in the Champagne Diamonds kit I received earlier last month, but with a bit cooler in tone in comparison.
The entire collection can be seen below:
The Buxom "Ruby" lipgloss is absolutely gorgeous - full of color and a great crushed ruby/rose color, this lipgloss has enough color that it doesn't require you to wear both a lipstick and lipgloss together.
Along with the shadows and radiance, the kit also came with a double-ended mascara. One end has your basic "Big Tease" mascara, and the other has a Ruby Luminous Lashes, which is a gorgeous ruby sparkle to add some glitz and glam to your lashes. The closeup can be seen below.
The one thing I love about all these kits are the wonderful new brushes that you get, as a basic freebie in the collection. This kit came with a flat, crease brush - double ended with a fine tip liner brush, as well as a flawless face brush (above). The crease brush is below.
Crease brush view 1:
Crease brush rotated 90 degrees:
The other end of the brush, focusing in on the fine-tip liner brush:
The liner/shadow in this kit is called "Wild Ruby", which is a deep chocolate with hints of rose and lavender shimmer. When applied wet as a liner, the glimmer comes out as more of a lavender color against the chocolate, which is beautiful!
The all over face color in this kit is absolutely my new favorite radiance, called "Ruby Radiance". This color makes the perfect blush and is truly the color of my cheeks after a day out in the snow. The glimmer in it makes this just a beautiful color, as can be seen in the swatches below. I have been using this as a blush ever since I received it, especially since my skin tone has become extremely fair since winter has arrived.
Swatches are below - I will try and do a FOTD in the near future if time allows!
Crease brush rotated 90 degrees:
The other end of the brush, focusing in on the fine-tip liner brush:
The first shadow/glimmer that came in this kit is "Golden Ruby", which is a beautiful shadow that has a warm yellow undertone, with lots of glimmer.
A gorgeous crease color, but also perfect for a warm smokey eye, "Vintage Ruby" is a rosy charcoal color, with a hint of warmth. The glimmer in this kit runs from charcoal, to pink, to blue, as you can see in the picture below.
The liner/shadow in this kit is called "Wild Ruby", which is a deep chocolate with hints of rose and lavender shimmer. When applied wet as a liner, the glimmer comes out as more of a lavender color against the chocolate, which is beautiful!
The all over face color in this kit is absolutely my new favorite radiance, called "Ruby Radiance". This color makes the perfect blush and is truly the color of my cheeks after a day out in the snow. The glimmer in it makes this just a beautiful color, as can be seen in the swatches below. I have been using this as a blush ever since I received it, especially since my skin tone has become extremely fair since winter has arrived.
Swatches are below - I will try and do a FOTD in the near future if time allows!
Cherry Culture has had their NYX cosmetics on sale, so I decided to buy a few things to try out, including the NYX Doll Eye Mascara (Lengthening), which I got for $5.50 with the discount. I have read a lot of good reviews of this product on Makeup Alley, and decided it was time for me to try it out.
When I pulled the wand out of the tube, I was pleasantly surprised to see all the little lengthening fibers, below. Not only that, but when I applied the mascara, it was nice and thick, coated each lash, and definitely gave my lashes some much needed depth and length. 
Retail Price: $6.50-7.00 USD
Where to purchase: Ulta, Cherryculture.com
Product: 5 out of 5
Price: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5 - I love the shape and size of the tube!
Overall: 5 out of 5
Would I purchase again? Definitely - in fact, I already have another order on the way!
I have to say that recently with the dark, gloomy and cold weather, I haven't been motivated to do a whole lot with my makeup. I decided to change that and try and dark and smokey look with a charcoal color sweater I had. I found this look to be so extremely simple, yet definitely a bold look, and perfect for any night out! The three colors I used were Fyrinnae "Shinkirou" pigment, NYX "Midnight" eyeshadow, and Bourjois Wet/Dry eyeshadow in "Gris Delicat".
To achieve this look, I used:
UDPP as a base
Bourjois Wet/Dry "Gris Delicat" - inner corner and lower lashline
NYX "Midnight" outer corner into outer crease
Fyrinnae "Shinkirou" as highlight and blended into crease
Mary Kate & Ashley Liquid eyeliner "Black"
NYX Dolleyes Lengthening Mascara - Ultimate Black
I've decided I'm in love with Nars blushes, and went to Sephora to see what the other colors look like. I immediately went towards Lovejoy, which is a beautiful warm pink/peach with gold shimmer. With my fair skin, it's hard to find a warm color that doesn't go on orange, but this one definitely doesn't. It adds a darker color that Orgasm or Super Orgasm, but with the same blendability and shimmer. More pictures to come!
We just got back from Thanksgiving out of town, and I had to stop by CVS to pick up some basics for the remainder of the weekend. I love this time of year because I feel like I stumble upon neat stocking stuffers in the makeup aisle that I would have likely overlooked any other time.
This time it was the Wet 'n Wild i-Sparkle eyeshadow palette that caught my eye. I think I read about these at some point, but never saw them in my store. This time, I stopped because of the palette full of golds and browns, "Solar Eclipse".
This palette is absolutely gorgeous, and practical! Not only does it hold four beautiful and pigmented eyeshadows, but it also opens up to have a mirror for easy application. 
The colors, up close below, are gorgeous and full of shimmer. I ever was able to swatch them and was very impressed with their color payoff. I can't wait to wear these and see how they wear!
Not bad for $3.99!
Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to you all! What a whirlwind - I can't believe it is already the end of November! I will be out of commission due to the holiday and traveling. Hopefully when I get back I will get the rest of the posts together that I have planned.
I hope that you all have a great holiday and enjoy time with your family and friends!
As I posted earlier, I ordered the Champagne Diamond Bare Escentuals kit on QVC a few weeks back when it was the Todays Special Value. This set is composed of a 3 eye colors, 1 radiance, 1 blush, mineral veil, 3 brushes and a lip color (not shown because it is in my purse!).
The three brushes are great. On the far left is their new liner brush, which I am obsessed with. It reminds me of a detailed brush for painting - it is somewhat stiff, has nice long bristles and is thin and flat, so you are able to get a precise line, or a bit of a thicker line if needed. The second brush (middle) is their crease brush, which I haven't tried yet, but I am so excited about. The third and final brush is their soft cheek brush, which is on the far right. This reminds me of a bit smaller and less dense version of their old flawless face brush.
The blush in this set is called "Rose Diamond". This is a beautiful cooler toned coral color with a hint of shimmer due to the crushed diamonds.
My new HG and favorite highlight is Flawless Diamond, below. This is literally the color of mineral veil in the container, with tons of sparkle/shimmer. If you apply it dry, this adds a sheer shimmer to any color. Once applied wet, it is an intense ivory with sparkle. Absolutely perfect!
Smokey Diamonds is their eyeliner/shadow. This color is beautiful! Perfect if you don't want black, but need a dark liner. The color is a deep charcoal color with tons of sparkle. If you apply it dry, the sparkle isn't so evident. If you apply this wet as a liner, it is a beautiful dark shimmery charcoal. This is perfect for creating that beautiful smokey eye that is so it now.
Cognac Diamond is the other eyeshadow that comes in this set. In the pot it is a beautiful deep chocolate with gold shimmer. Once you apply, it transforms into a color that compliments the gray/charcoal of the Smokey Diamonds. Together, the two make a perfect smokey look. The Cognac is a bit more warm and the Smokey Diamonds adds such a beautiful depth of color in the corners and around the lower lashline.
Champagne Diamond Radiance looks a bit intimidating in the pot. I thought, "Wow, this is going to be dark!", but in reality it adds the beautiful glow that one needs, especially this time of year! I think this would also make a great blush, if applied liberally, and a beautiful eyeshadow.
Swatches are below - these are all applied dry, but two times on each so you can get the color. Obviously, as with any Bare Escentauls product, you don't need a lot to get such a beautiful payoff!!
I will be doing some EOTD's/FOTD's later this week with these gorgeous colors!
A few days ago I posted about the Avon 8-in-1 palette I received. I finally got my swatches uploaded, so you can see them below. The colors are very pretty, some are matte-subtle shimmer, and there are a few with a bit more shimmer in them. The color payout has been pretty good, and when I use my Urban Decay Primer Potion, I have no worries about any fading.
...Cherry Culture is having their private sale, which is 25% off of all NYX items. I absolutely love these, and definitely need to try some of their lipsticks, so I think I know where my next online purchase will be made!
I think this is the last installment of the new line that came out for NYC Color, Metro Metals. I saw these, and although I was a bit leery of the "roller ball" application, decided to splurge the few dollars to try them out. Once I got home, I swatched them, which can be seen below.
The swatch is done with one pass, no primer, dry on my wrist.
I have to say, these may be one of my must-haves, especially the City Citrine, as it is a beautiful and shimmery high light color to be used with any of the warm shades you have. City Citrine is a shimmery version of MAC's Vanilla pigment in my opinion, and definitely going to be used a lot by me in my day to day looks. Amethyst, although the name implies would be purple, is actually a beautiful mica color. It is very warm undertoned, with hints of purple and silver in the shimmer. The Amethyst color is a bit "chunkier", but still goes on very smooth. Once I have applied the shadow with the roller ball, I use a shadow brush to blend it all over the lid, or in the area that I am using the color for. I tell you, though, if NYC comes out with more colors in these roller shadows, I am definitely going to buy more, because the quality is great, the staying power is fantastic, and the pigmentation I would put next to any high end product I have tried thus far. Even more, if you don't like the roller ball application, it is easily popped out and the color could be added to an empty pigment jar for easier application with a brush.
So I did some major damage this year with the Sephora Friends and Family event. How could I not, with free shipping and 20% off, I was ready!! Although I debated about the Urban Decay Book of Shadows, which I really wanted, I decided to downsize my cart ($$$) and ordered the Urban Decay Primer Potion instead (which I am thrilled about!).
As you can see below, I ordered the UDPP, Bare Escentuals Extreme Glimmers, Bare Minerals Ruby Collection and the Nars Super Orgasm Blush. I also received my QVC Today's Special Value, the Bare Escentauls Champagne Diamonds collection at the same time, so I've included it in the picture, as well. The samples I received were some perfumes, none of which were really for me once I wore them, but I'm glad I tried!
I swatched the collections tonight, but don't have time to upload the pictures, so hopefully tomorrow I will do that - they are beautiful!
I am definitely a glitter girl, and absolutely fell in love with the Nars Super Orgasm. I know that a lot of people don't like chunky or glittery items, so if that is the case, you probably want to stick to the basic Nars Orgasm blush, as it still has the shimmer but doesn't have the "glitter" that you see in the picture below. The color of this blush is stunning, though. It is a really pink/coral color with golden shimmer undertones, and it definitely blends right in and is beautiful on. Everyone is right about Nars blushes, though - they are wonderful!
Not only did my Sephora Friends & Family order come, but I also got my Avon order in the mail this past weekend. Something I ordered because it was on sale was the Avon 8-in-1 Neutral Eyeshadow palette. I had read that it is similar in color to the Bobbi Brown Shimmering Nudes Palette, and figured it was worth the try.
I took a closeup of the palette below, but my camera battery died before I was able to swatch it for you all - so I am definitely charging so I can work on that tonight.
I did wear this palette the other day, and the colors were great, especially if you are looking for a basic line of neutrals that can be worn everyday. The colors went on really smooth and the pigmentation was better than normal for Avon eyeshadows, in my opinion. Swatches soon to follow!
