Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Giveaway bump from another blog :)

Just posting this for a fellow makeup blogger :)

http://l1lmamaj.blogspot.com/2010/01/blogger-6-month-anniversary-contest.html

Monday, January 25, 2010

Mac Face Chart: Love Lace

I am in looove with this look. Not as an everyday look but I am really loving the colors and the way it photographed. I think my camera finally got off of it's period.

Please note that I wasn't trying to copy the Love Lace look exactly... at all. I have nothing from the collection and just wanted to try it out for fun and photography purposes. Enjoy!

FACE:
- Mac StudioFix Powder in NC25
- Mac Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW20 (around nose area)
- Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NW20 (under eyes)
- NYC translucent powder w/ puff
- Mac blush in Prism (contour)
- Rimmel blush in Pink Rose (over Prism... contour)

EYES:
- Mac e/s in Folie (brows)
- Mac e/s in White Frost (under brow)
- Mac e/s in Tilt (all over lid)
- Mac e/s in Deep Truth (over Fluidline, and in crease)
- NYX jumbo pencil in Milk (used brush and applied to inner eyelids)
- Mac Fluidline liner in Blacktrack
- Rimmel SexyCurves mascara in Black

LIPS:
- Wet 'n Wild lipstick in 547B (after blotting lips with translucent powder)
- Little bit of Wet 'n Wild lipstick in 511B (just to pinken up the lips a little)


































































































Thursday, January 21, 2010

FOTD: Berry Colors

Loved this look yesterday when I did it!

FACE:
- Mac StudioFix Powder in NC25
- Mac Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW20 (around nose area)
- Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NW20 (under eyes)
- Mac mineralize skinfinish in Petticoat
- Mac blush in Prism (contour)

EYES:
- NYX jumbo pencil in Milk (all over lid)
- Mac e/s in White Frost (inner corner and lower inner lashline)
- Ulta e/s in Pink (inner 1/3 of lid)
- Mac e/s in Stars 'n Rockets (middle 1/3 of lid)
- Urban Decay deluxe e/s in Fishnet (outer 1/3, made into a slight cat eye shape, also outer lower lashline)
- Mac e/s in Sushi Flower (outer top part of crease towards brow)
- Random e/s from The Icing, it's a duo w/ orange and a purpley pink (inner crease)
- Revlon matte e/s in Vintage Lace (brow highlight)
- Mac e/s in Tilt (inner lower lashline and overtop of black eyeliner on top lashline)
- Maybelline Lash Stiletto in Black
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance (of course)
- 2True glitter mascara #1 (silver glitter)

LIPS:
- Mac lipglass in Perky (frosty lavender... gorgeous!)







Saturday, January 16, 2010

(Decent) Haul from the Holidays/After

I've gotten a lot of stuff in terms of makeup and nail polish between Christmas, the boyfriend, and a bit of shopping for myself. I'm going to be doing reviews of some of these items (the glitter eyeliners are done) in the future, hopefully.

MAKEUP

- Milani mineral blush in Luminous (Nars Orgasm dupe... it's pretty good)
- Mac mineralize skinfinish in Petticoat (discontinued... got it from my local CCO)
- Barry M dazzledust in #20 (baby blue)
- Collection 2000 eyeshadow in Enchanted (shimmering mint green)
- Mac eyeshadows in Deep Truth (dark blue), Glamourcheck (pearl brown, discontinued), Mink & Sable (khaki/olive green... odd color) and Stars 'n Rockets (Pink w/ purple duochrome)
- Urban Decay Stereophonic set (which included heavy metal liner in Distortion and 4 24/7 pencils in Zero, 1999, Flipside, and Mildew)
- Bourjois Smoky Effect liners in Intense Black, Deep Green and Dark Purple (my boyfriend accidentally got these instead of the smoky effect mascara, but I love them!)
-NYX jumbo pencil in Milk
- Rimmel VolumeFlash Max mascara in Black
- Collection 2000 Glam Crystals glitter liner in Dancing Queen (pink!)
- NYX megagloss in Chandelier
- Milani lipgloss in Baby Doll (I think... I peeled the label off)
- Mac lipglass in Perky (discontinued)

NAIL POLISH
- Milani "Garnet Gems"
- Essie "Mint Candy Apple"
- Icing "Uncommited" and "Peel Me an Orange"
- Sinful Colors "Let's Talk"
- Claire's "Starstruck"
- LA colors glitters in blue, purple and silver (the tiny bottles)
- Love and Beauty "Jade" and "Black/Purple"
- OPI "Shim Merry Chic"
- Essie Matte About You topcoat

And that's it...

Random pic from the past three weeks and why I haven't been posting:

Battle of the Glitter Liners

Contestant #1: Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner
Color Tested: Distortion (described as iridescent)
Price: $18
Size: 0.25 oz
Where Available: Sephora/Sephora.com, Ulta and Ulta.com and UrbanDecay.com

Contestant #2:
Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Glitter Liner
Colors Tested: Hustle and Dancing Queen (silver/black/blue glitter and multi pink glitter)
Price: £2.99, around $5.50 - $6.00 depending on the exchange rate
Size: 0.33 oz
Where Available: In the UK mostly, at stores like Boots and Superdrug. I would also try eBay.

I will start out by stating that I know that the Collection 2000 item is not the easiest thing to find. But I still have gotten asked by friends to compare these two products and what I think of them, especially because of the huge difference in price.

I got the Collection 2000 eyeliner first, in Hustle. It was on one of my many trips to England and I couldn't believe how cheap it was. This color is GORGEOUS. I used it when I was going out clubbing over there and it just added that extra oomph to my makeup. It is black and silver so it's pretty versatile with a lot of different types of makeup. I got Dancing Queen from my boyfriend for Christmas (oh yeah, he brought me makeup from England... <3)
















Excuse the crappiness of the photo. My camera has been overloaded the past few weeks with picture taking so my batteries are hurting, and I don't have anymore so I had to snap the photo quick. So anyway. Look at the color payoff! That is literally one swipe. I can pretty much do my entire eyelid across in one swipe. I have to say that I love these two for the fact that they are so pigmented for such a low price. The only negative thing I can think of is that they do sometimes take a bit to dry, as with most gel liners. I usually just keep my eye closed and fan a piece of paper over each eye. I generally don't have fallout issues with these, so they are a little difficult to get off. Even after washing my face, I sometimes still have bits of glitter running down my face. But it's okay. For $5, I'm in love.

Next up is the Urban Decay liner. I only have one (and it's a full size that came with the Stereophonic eyeliner set... love!) and that is Distortion. As with the other two, this color is stunning. It's iridescent but I find that it leans a bit green/purple. This makes it a great winter color. I went ice skating and put just a little on the inner corners of my eyes, and got a ton of compliments. Someone told me that the ice on the rink was reflecting off of the glitter particles and making my eyes twinkle. Very pretty.
















Yeah. I had to use a stock photo. This color is impossible to photograph without flash and unfortunately, when I do flash, it washes out my skin so much that you can't see it. That leads me to my issue with this glitter eyeliner: little color payoff. It's very pretty, after 4 or 5 swipes across the eyelid... it will then actually have some color. I don't know if this is the case with all of the colors, however. I'm assuming that it being white/clear glitter is the problem. I also have a small issue with the brush. It's a bit dinky and narrow for applying over pencil eyeliner (which is what I do with these), so you have to go over twice and try to make two straight lines. However, as I stated above, this color is so pretty for winter and I love adding a little to feel like I'm a little snow princess. What girl doesn't like being a princess?

My overall opinion is that I'd rather pay $5 instead of $18. It may just be this color, but I just don't see $18 in this product. If I had bought this separately (i.e. not in the Stereophonic set, which I adore), I honestly would have returned it. I debated buying a few of these when I first got into UD's products, but I'm glad I waited and got it in the set. The main positive to the Urban Decay is simple: they are more available in the United States. I think that if you are able and come across them, you should check out the Collection 2000 liners. I am also impressed with their eyeshadow (I got one for Christmas).

Another alternative is the NYX glitter liners. I haven't used them so I wont comment.

(Usual disclaimer is that all of these products were purchased by me or family members and the companies have not influenced my opinions in any way.)