Even MORE looks of the day!

Who's afraid of a little COLOR!?...

Rainy day neutral...

Pinch me, I'm peach...

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More Looks of the Day - Catching up!

Purple Haze...

Strong Brow...

Recent Looks of the Day

As good as gold...

And the winner is...(drumroll please)...

To be completely fair, I printed out all of the names who entered the drawing. Throwing the slips into my favorite "Crocodile Dun Dee" hat, I chose the winner!

Are you ready?



And the winner is...




Congratulations! I will be sending you an email shortly to get your shipping information.

Thank you to all who entered, look for more drawings to come!

Nails of the Season

Two coats of Looks Like Rain Dear from the OPI for Sephora collection. To add that little "je ne sais quoi", I painted a very thin french tip on the edge using Revlon matte suede in Powder Puff.

I love the super thin white tip. It reminds me of cinnamon roll frosting with it's white creaminess.

Mmm... frosting...

And Visions of Sugarpill Danced through her head...

Review to come!

Cheeks: MAC Ombre in Azalea Blossom
Lips: MAC Currant Lip Liner, Prestige Plum Royal lip liner, Clear Gloss

Oh Em Gee - My First Giveaway!

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The rules are super simple:
1. Comment on this post telling me what is on your beauty wish list this holiday season.

That's it! Super simple right?

I will pick a winner at random among all people who leave a comment before 11:59pm December 23rd. Ho ho ho, the winner will be announced Christmas Eve (just call me Jamie-claus) so be sure to check the website.

*don't forget to use a valid email address. the winner will be contacted via email to get shipping instuctions-I'd hate for someone to have to lose the prize because I couldn't reach them!*

And now for the prize:
MAC lipstick in Cosmo
MAC Lipglass in Rich and Ripe
Wet and Wild eyeshadow in Brulee 251A

AND sample sizes of the following:
TARTE Provocateur Pressed Powder in Fair 02
TARTE Mineralize Bronzer in Park Ave Princess
SUGARPILL loose eyeshadow in Magnetric

Video Review: Estee Lauder Daywear Plus

Swatch City!

I was clearly set to stain my hand twelve different colors when I hit up my local MAC counter today, but I was on a mission.

Ruby Woo, one of MAC's iconic reds, has been following me lately. I ready about it on Dita Von Teese's twitter, saw it in a magazine, and THEN saw it featured in a holiday look makeup video. Everyone raved about it being the perfect matte red. To see whether Ruby Woo truly wooed me, keep reading...

Reds from left to right: MAC Red, Russian Red, Ruby Woo

Both Ruby Woo and Russian Red are in the matte lipstick line. The website describes Ruby Woo as a "vivid bluish-red" while Russian Red is described as a "intense bluish-red". What the difference between vivid and intense is, I'm not quite sure, but I digress.

MAC's Red lipstick is in the satin category and described as a "vivid bright bluish-red".

First things first....looking at the picture, do the two red swatches on the right look matte to you? Nope? Me either. Ruby Woo, without a doubt, is what I would imagine a matte shadow should be. Slightly dry and a smidgen challenging to apply. No shimmer, sheen or shine to it unless you add a gloss. Now placed next to Russian Red (matte) and MAC Red (satin), I have a hard time selling myself on the fact that Russian Red is a matte also. It clearly has a more similar texture to the satin line than Ruby Woo.

The texture, as I mentioned above, was quite dry. I was not "woo"ed off my feet upon first swatch. I took quite a few swipes to get the swatch you see above, while the other two red are only one swipe a piece.

Overall I'd have to say that Ruby Woo did not woo me. I found the texture slightly chalky and applying it to be difficult. When placed next to the other two reds above, Ruby Woo just doesn't seem as decadant a red, maybe it's MAC Red's less popular sister?

Bottom Line: Skip it. There are cheaper matte options out there (have you checked out Revlon's matte line?) and MAC itself has better red options for us pin-up look dreamers.

Brush Guards - A beauty must have.

Any beauty enthusiast can tell you that brushes are one of the most expensive investments you will make toward your makeup. A single brush can cost as much as 100+ dollars depending on what it is made of, the brand and the brush’s intended purpose. Frankly, the cost is insane.
A classic brush is like the ever supportive best friend: Always there to blend out my hard lines, buff away my dark circles, and bring me natural looking glow. All those perks AND they last forever…
IF you take care of them.

I would easily argue that the quality of the brushes you use are MORE important than the quality of the product itself. Application is key and brushes are the pencil to my paper, the keyboard to my computer, the… oh nevermind.

As with any item that you cherish, extra care must be taken to keep your brushes happy, clean and healthy. This includes treating trimming their leaves, talking to them in a coo and watering once a dayyy…wait, that’s plants. Ah you get the point.
One of my must have items for brush care is the Brush Guard.




Brush guards are little tubes made out of plastic webbing seen above. They come in a variety of sizes and must have been made with pixie dust, because I think they’re magical.

After washing your brushes, you have few options of how to lay them down to dry. Often we put them on their sides, or *gasp* may even put them standing bristle up in a cup. The problem with either of these methods is that inside your brush, there is glue attaching the hair bristles to the handle. This glue and water, see, they’re not friends. Water is like the shady neighbor that always comes over to say “Hi” and then steals your pizza; you just don’t want him hanging around too long.
When water gets into the farrell (the metal part of the brush), it has no way to evaporate out of the metal casing. As a result the water will start to deteriorate the glue holding your brush together. This is the reason brushes will shed or even fall apart after washing.
To avoid this, you want to keep water as far away from that glue as possible. The only way to do this to hang the brush upside down, but you’d hate to damage those expensive bristles. .. Enter the BRUSH GUARD!
Wash your brush, and while wet, slide the appropriate sized brush holder over you bristles (starting from the handle and moving up, in the direction of the hair). Then place upside down in a cup to dry like so…




The glory of these lil’ guys is that this position of bristle down allows the magic of gravity to pull the moisture away from where the glue AND, as an added bonus, keeps your bristles nice and shapely.

My favorite is when I wash my angled blush brush, or my blending eye brushes. They get so frazzled after a while, splayed out in all directions. Wash them, slide on the guard and let dry. When you pull your lil’ new best friend off the bristles will be lying neatly, all in the right direction, and the shape of the brush will look good as new.

If you've ever had a brush fall apart, you know the pain it causes. My beloved MAC 109, may it rest in peace, actually drew a tear when it, quite literally, came unglued. I’ll never have to face that trauma again now that I have brush guards to keep me safe.

The Brush Guard - a No Rules, Just Beauty MUST HAVE to keep your brushes safe and sound for the long haul.

p.s. cooing to them might not hurt either

you can find these at www.thebrushguard.com

The Face of Inglot

Still LOVING my inglot products. Will list specific numbers soon.

I will say, "Inglots - change your naming convention. Numbers are much harder to remember and reference than names."

As smooth as Purple Velvet

Eyes:
Estee Lauder Vintage Violet Doublewear Cream Shadow (base)
Bobbi Brown Black Velvet Sparkle Shadow (lid)
MAC Brule (brow bone)
MAC Pearlglide pencil in Designer Purple (lower lashline)
MAC Smolder eye kohl (waterline)

Lips:
MAC Soar Lipliner
MAC Lovelorn lipstick

Cheeks:
MAC Hang Loose Mineralized Blush
MAC Strada (contour)