Happiness is...

Owning all but ONE color of the Urban Decay 24/7 liners

(missing color: 1999)

My first, home made, lippy palette.

Top row is random favorites (MAC, Rimmel, Revlon)

Bottom is the new Bobbi Brown Rich Lip colors (LOVE!)

Dupe it Up: MAC Sublime Culture

Top: Rimmel Exaggerate Liner in Addiction $4-5

Bottom: MAC Creamstick liner in Sublime Culture $17.50

Top:Rimmel; Bottom: MAC

While there is no doubt that MAC puts out a good liner in a large variety of shades and textures (creamsticks vs pencils), sometimes the high prices make close my wallet and run the other direction.

The glory of a bad economy right? We are walking away from the high brow and looking for more affordable options. In this case, my friends, we've struck gold.

Enter Rimmel Automatic Liner for 4-dollars and change at your local drugstore...

Rimmel left, MAC right

FIVE DOLLARS? Huzzah to the cheaper alternative.

The Nitty Gritty:

The Rimmel liner is a little bit larger at the point, which can make it slightly more challenging to get the thin, precise, line you may be looking for and the texture is less creamy than it's more expensive cousin. However, the product is more available since you can find it at any drugstore carrying Rimmel products and it's price point more than makes up for it's different texture.

As a color comparison, the two are pretty spot on. If I HAD to nit pick I would say that Sublime Culture is a pinch more peach whereas Addiction pulls a pinch more pink, but the difference is hardly noticeable at glance.

Bottom Line:

Run, don't walk, to replace your more expensive MAC Sublime Culture for it's cheaper relative, Rimmel Exaggerate Liner in Addiction and use the extra cash to buy yourself a coffee, cause "ya done good kid".

Wet 'n' Wild: Walking on Eggshells

Walking on Eggshells is one of the neutral toned three color palettes recently released from Wet 'n' Wild. After my intense love for the six color palettes which came out a few months ago, my expectations for these gorgeous friends were pretty high.

Walking on Eggshells, No Flash

Walking on Eggshells, Flash

The soft, smooth, texture of these shadows is greatly deceiving. Similar to the soft application that I find from Urban Decay and Dior shadow palettes, this Wet 'n' Wild palette had me fooled into thinking I paid much more than 2.99 (or .99 per shadow).

Pigmentation is solid and the three color combo with highlight, crease and lid make these palettes a shoe-in for the inexperienced makeup enthusiast. This palette, in particular, is versatile since each of these three colors could be a lid color in a rush, used to brighten and lighten while running out the door.

My single complaint? Shimmer, shimmer, shimmer.

Maybe it's because I'm quickly approaching my later 20's, when shimmer emphasizes the bad instead of looking youthful and fun, but I am closing the drawer on many a shimmer obsession.
Walking on Eggshells, with three colors of all high shimmer, reduces the number of people this palette would work for AND also removes the ability for it to be an "all-in-one" product for me.

I adore these colors with a matte highlight on the browbone (MAC Brule or Blanc Type), using the shimmery white "browbone" color on the inner corners of my eyes instead. Texturally, I think the difference between the matte and shimmer creates a more smooth transition also.

Three shimmers, layered together, can easily look muddy when your eye can distinguish the different between the three corresponding, yet different, colors and instead just sees a big ball of shine. Not a deal breaker, but it will require I have a different highlight color available when using this gorgeous girl.

The Nitty Gritty:
Price - at a measly 2.99 these palettes quickly fall into the "too good to be true" category

In Store Availability- Available at most drugstores: Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid

Online Availability - no easy solution here, check ebay. The shadows are cheap enough that I don't imagine many fakes exist. It would cost more than the product to make the fake!

Wear Time- with my Nars eye primer, this palette lasted a full 8 hr work day without fading.

"Winnah!" or "Losah!"- WINNAH. The soft texture, great pigmentation and low price point makes these a no brainer in my book.

Dupe it up: MAC Fresh Salmon

It happens at least once in every large limited edition release, you find something you. just. love.

The following story may sound familiar:

Love at first sight, you wear your new found "holy grail item" for a week straight. Days or weeks pass and you suddenly notice that your use of this beloved item is starting to show. An irrational fear begins to creep, "Omg, what will I do when it runs out?!"

You tell yourself to stop using it so much, limit it to special occasions or maybe put it in a bottom drawer and out of sight. Initially, it taunts you from the bottom drawer, begging for use but, eventually, a new collection comes out and you forget about it entirely. Your newly obsessed "holy grail" becomes old news and is quickly replaced with the next collections "must have" item...until...

One day you're cleaning out your makeup drawer, the one on the bottom that you hardly look at, and you stumble upon it. Its like meeting a new friend all over again, usage increase, and the irrational fear is just around the corner...the cycle repeats.

MACs Fresh Salmon has been like Gollum's ring to me since it was released in the Spring Color Forecast last year. Everytime I use it I am filled with equal parts joy and guilt because I know soon my days of the perfect pinky coral will be ovah.

I was determined to find a dupe, and dupe it I did.

Rimmel Moisture Renew in Coral Shimmer (120) on left, MAC Fresh Salmon (lustre) on right

Coral Shimmer left, Fresh Salmon Right (no flash)

Clearly it's not a perfect dupe, as seen in the photo above. Fresh Salmon, right, has slightly more pink undertones as compared to Coral Shimmer's more, well, coral/peach undertone. But they're sooo close!

Coral Shimmer (left w.flash) has a smidgen more of a shimmer as compared to Fresh Salmon's subtle sheen which often accompanies MAC lustre formula.

Close enough for me. And with the Rimmel Coral Shimmer at an incredible 7-ish dollars, I will gladly swap out one for the other. Fresh Salmon, you are official moved out of the bottom retirement drawer. Huzzah!

L'Oreal Infallible Le Rouge - Perpetual Peach is Practically Perfect

With as fair skinned as I am, light lipstick colors are the one thing I will forever work to master. Too light? Night of the living dead. But, when you find that perfect neutral pale color which brightens your face without making too bold of statement, ladies, buy it in bulk.

Behold Perpetual Peach from L'Oreal Rouge Collection:

L'Oreal went big with their new launch of Infalliable Le Rouge lipsticks. Choosing someone as iconic as Gwen Stefani to lead the campaign, L'Oreal made sure that they were seen.

The line has 33 shades listed on their website ranging from delicate pinks to rich reds through the spectrum to deep berry tones. Clearly, if you swatched enough, there would be a color for everyone in this bunch.

More than picking a great spokes person for the line, L'Oreal's performance claim for this product is huge:

"...10 hours of vivid, hi-definition, colour and shine..."

10 hours! woah. It actually took me a moment of thinking, "Do I even WANT a lipstick to last for 10 hours? That's more than a full work day, longer than an average 8 hour sleep cycle. A lipstick that won't come off through breakfast, lunch and dinner? The jury was out on this one.

(Sunlight)

(Shade - with flash)

I tested this product for over a week, and after eight hours of wear, two cups of coffee, and one pasta lunch the application was not entirely flawless, but pretty close to it. I was impressed.

The texture, when freshly applied, isn't dry or tight like many long wear lipsticks I've tried, though it does feel slightly tacky when freshly applied. There is a soft shine to it, and the frost is kept to a minimum. I would put a sheer coat of my favorite chapstick, Nivea Moisture, on top to get rid of the sticky feeling - which didn't seem to effect wear time or color.

My two complaints on the product are thus:

a 10 dollar drugstore lipstick?

Its a hard pill to swallow. What happened to the days of 5 dollar lippys that made it easy to take a chance on a "questionable" color because you wouldn't be out a bank load?

packaging

This is not a one handed twist lipstick. I'm not sure why they decided to do this, but you have to turn more than a normal amount to get this lipstick to come up high enough for application. Seemed a little strange, slightly awkward, but really, not a huge problem.

After testing for one week I went back and bought the glorious red that Gwen Stefani wears in the advertisements. Yet to have tested, sometimes I just like staring at it and dreaming that there may be a drugstore lipstick to rival the famous Ruby Woo and Russian Red with the staying power of the stain.

The Nitty Gritty:

Price - 9.99 but watch out for "Buy one, get one 50%" specials

In Store Availability- Available at most drugstores: Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid

Online Availability - Ulta , L'Oreal Paris Website

Wear Time- 6 hours plus. Sustained through eating and drinking.

"Winnah!" or "Losah!"- Ladies, we have a WINNAH!

Out of the Beauty Box: o2b2 San Francisco in Review

This is just a quick preview with pictures from the Out of the Beauty Box Tour in San Francisco. I drew the lucky straw that day and actually got to do Elessa's (of Pursebuzz) makeup! Expect a full write up of the event once I get pictures from the gorgeous girls over at Beautylish.com

Please be sure to check out my youtube videos for a full review of the classes, my experience, and the loot...omg the loot...here

Here are some pictures from the classes:

Pause for a Laugh from Twice Shy: Should You Shave Your Legs?

Twice Shy: Should You Shave Your Legs?

Originally seen on The Gloss

Product Reviews: What do you want to see?

I've decided to make a more concerted effort to review products that I'm using.

The amount of research that I do before I buy certain products is solely based on other beauty bloggers experience, swatches and reviews. I thought I would "add to the gene pool", so to speak.

In deciding to do reviews, I had to think long and hard about HOW to actually review a product. Reviews should be concise, and to the point, but factual and honest. Most importantly, they should be consistently rated based on a specific, standard,set of criteria.

My biggest review pet peeve? Reviews like this:

Um, I really like this product because, uh, it's pretty. And, um, it's cheap, so you should buy it." k, tnx bai.

I would love to know how that helps ANYONE! Pssht. Anywho, as I was searching for a consensus on how other beauty bloggers come up with a rating system, I ran across the website kelko.co.uk, which is a reviewing website for consumer products. I think their guidelines are pretty on point for reviewing products.


Guidelines for writing a review as written by Kelko.co.uk

-Be objective and truthful. Tell us how you really feel. Useful reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why.


-Be detailed and specific:


*Did the product meet your expectations
*How does the product compare to other similar products
*What features of the product do you like or dislike?
*Would you recommend the product to others?



-Stay "on topic". Keep your comments focused on the product.


-Try to keep it short.


-Don't spoil it for others. Reviews should not harass, abuse, or threaten, make false statements, defame, or impersonate


-Don't copy or otherwise infringe others' material, trademarks or other intellectual property. Reviews should include your own, original thoughts.

What do you think? When you read a review, what items are you looking for: personal experience, swatches, similar products, pros and cons? Help a girl out here.

Color Me Pink: Recent Wedding Shower Gig

I love seeing glowy brides celebrating this exciting time in their lives.

Happy Wedding shower day to Sydnie!

Tarte Lipgloss-mania!

If there is a lipgloss heaven, I have found it.

When Tarte had their friends and family sale I dipped into the kool-aid not once, but twice! Using the 40% discount, I couldn't hold back from ordering both their Good As Gold lip gloss set AND their Crown Jewels holiday collection.

Prepare for drool worthy photo bomb in 5, 4, 3, 2...








While I'm not completely versed on the Tarte brand, I have found some stand out items from them which made me anxious to try these pretties out. The colors are creamy and pigmented, and I'm pretty sure my husband mumbled something along the lines of, "With all those colors, you'll never buy a lipgloss again." Oh darling, only in your dreams. :)

With the two sets I have a complete range from Nudes to Pinks and Reds. Don't let the photos deceive you though, each lipgloss is about half the size of a normal lippy making it the perfect travel size for on the go.

Wear time is around 2 hours and tackiness is kept at a minimum. My one and only complaint is that each color does not have a label with it's name listed. While the box, I'm sure, gave me a full breakdown of what each gorgeous vial contained, I ripped it open in such a fury that I think only shreded remnants remain. With better planning I could have busted out ye ol' label maker and went to town, but that seems like an awful lot of effort in retrospect.

For now, the colors will be goreous pink, other gorgeous pink, saucy red, and so on. I think they're a great value for the money at 29.00 and 39.00 and the F&F discount made them highway robbery at nearly two for the price of one!

Instead of the 12 days of Christmas, can I have the 12 days of Lipgloss?

Check them out here:

Tarte Crown Jewels
Tarte Good as Gold

Vichy Dermablend Foundation Review

So there's been a lot of buzz in the beauty world about Vichy Dermablend foundations and I've finally checked my ego to show my naked, makeupless face to the world. *gasp* THE HORROR!

Here is a picture with Dermablend in color 15 Opal on the right side of my face. Clearly it goes without saying that it does a brilliant job of smoothing out the redness and uneven tone in my skin. It's quite like the Phantom really, with half a white mask covering the mess underneath!

with foundation...


au naturale...



Please ignore the demon eyes, my allergies have thrown me for a loop this week.

So all of you lovelies that think that my skin is just gorgeous and fair...well the jig is up! It's red, uneven and quite rubbish most days. But makeup makes everything better doesn't it?

So the nitty gritty on the review side:

Product:
The texture of this foundation is quite thick. I have applied with sponges (have you tried the beauty blender?), a foundation brush, and my fingers. I quite prefer a brush with a little fix+ to dampen the brush. I find that thinning out the foundation is an added plus to application otherwise it can feel quite like smearing elmers glue on ya face.

Coverage:
Covers everything you'd never want the world to see...that is unless you plaster your face on a website like I just did :) Originally intended to cover severe acne scarring and birthmarks, this baby goes the distance.

Finish:
I find that it's a little on the dry side for my skin. Again, add a little fix+ to your brush when applying, or use a web sponge, and that added moisture will go a long way. I always set with a translucent powder, although it does set to a more matte finish.

Price: 28.00 for 1 oz.
Not the cheapest out there, but the coverage is leaps and bounds better than some of the drugstore foundations on the market.

I HAVE to have it, where can I buy it?
I bought mine at CVS but have recently seen it in the beauty aisle of Bed Bath and Beyond.

The Subtle Smokey Eye

(Breakdown of the look at the bottom of the page)

The Subtle Smokey look is like the black belt of beauty; master this and you'll never be caught unprepared again.

Largely made popular by the Kardashians in pop culture, with their brown and black neutral smokey looks, a smokey eye may look daunting but with practice it can be subtle, quick and *gasp!* even easy

Perfect example was today's look:

To create this smokey eye I started with an all over skin tone color (brule). This creates a nice smooth base for my blending. I then start with the lightest color (tete-a-tint) from lashline to just above crease; Next darker (cork) from lash to crease and lastly, the darkest color (carbon) smudged right into my lash line. Taking a clean MAC 224 brush, I blended the colors together for a seemless transition from dark to light!

The end result is a subtle, yet striking, smokey eye that could be dressed up or down - ready for anything in five minutes flat. Two coats of mascara (Covergirl Lashblash Volume), a peach lip and cheek...Watch out world, I'm coming for ya.

Face:

Estee Lauder Doublewear Powder in Ecru

Cheeks:

Ripe Peach Ombre from MAC (discontinued)

Lips:

Rimmel lipliner in 057 Ravish, L'Oreal Rouge in Perpetual Peach, MAC dazzleglass in Euro Beat

FOTD: As Good as Bronze

Face:

L'Oreal True Match liquid foundation in Soft Ivory (N1)

Bobbi Brown Color Corrector in Light Bisque

MAC Studio Fix+ powder in N4

Laura Mercier loose setting powder in Transluscent

Cheeks:

NYX blusher in Peaches

Nars blusher in Orgasm (highlight top of cheek bones)

MAC Bone Beige contour powder

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight (This stuff is A-Mazing!)

MAC Patina (lid)

MAC Cork (crease blended up)

MAC Espresso (outer v to define)

MAC Teddy eye kohl (lashline, blended)

Sephora liner in Flashy Brown (lower lash line)

Ultraflesh Panthera Mascara in Black

Lips:

MAC lipstick in Cosmo

NYX gloss in Beige (which is actually a pink color)

Sometimes two products and 30 seconds is all it takes.

Phew! Life has been racing down the track like a horse outta control lately. Good things have come, better things on the horizon, but I can hardly catch up!

As a result of my cray-ZAYschedule, my beauty routine has been suffering. My general morning looks something like this:

1. While stuck in traffic, pull out your MAC Studio Fix Foundation and smear it all over your face with the included round sponge. No mirror, all faith.

2. Take whichever pink lipgloss you've found in the bottom of your purse (Really how long HAS that been there?) and attempt to give yourself some color by applying to lips.

3. Find your nearest pair of glasses, and slap 'em on. Hey, at least they'll cover up the dark circles under your eyes!

If I'm lucky, and I'm having a good skin day, the end result looks like this:

MAC Studio Fix Powder N4, Sephora lipgloss in Pin Up Pink

Not too bad for a normal day in the office, that is, until you have a SUPER important meeting (that.you.totally.forgot.about).

I searched the depths of my makeup bag and found MAC Beet lipliner, and as a godsend it was actually sharpened, and MAC pearlglide eye pencil in Industrial. What to do, what to do.

Ever the optimist, I snuck into the bathroom to make it work. I applied Beet to the edges and colored in, layed the Pin Up Pink on top. Took the blue eyeliner to my waterline and lashline, smearing with my finger. THEN I got all fancy-creative and took some of the pink lip gloss and added it to my cheap bones for a dewy pink blush. And VOILA...

Not half bad eh?

Before and Afters are SO fun!

These are pictures from a bridal shower I did this weekend. I love seeing the transformation!

Similar but different - A tail of two neutrals

I have a personal goal: To not get into a makeup funk. Every day I try to use different products from the ones I used the day before; no two eyeshadows, lip combos, even mascaras are duplicates from one day to the next. But, le sigh, regardless of how I strive to vary my routine, my FOTD's sometimes kick me right in the face.

Consider the images below, a tale of two neutrals. While the eyeshadow combinations in each photo are COMPLETELY different, somehow I'm feeling a case of deja vu.

Eyes: Patina, Espresso, Tete-a-tint, Vanilla

Eyes: Creme Royal, Dream Maker, Cork, Brule

illamasqua Blush Review

Face Primer Review - Too Faced, Cover FX and Dr. Brandt

December Favs!

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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