What I Did This Weekend (Photoshoots, etc)

I had 2 photoshoots on Sunday with a photographer that I work with often, and I got free reign to do whatever makeup I wanted. We were at an abandoned warehouse near some old railroad tracks, and he intended on having the girls wear gas masks in some of the photos.

The first girl was an adorable goth girl, so I did something dark on her but not overly dramatic as she didn't want to do her usual.

Sorry for the shite photo, it was REALLY sunny and it was sabotaging my photos. I used the purples and highlight from the Sleek Bad Girl palette over NYX Jumbo Pencil in Purple Velvet, and used the black from the palette to smudge along her lashline. The black liner on her waterline was Physician's Formula. Mascara was her tube of The Falsies, and concealer was Hard Candy Glamoflauge. On her cheeks, I used elf's Contouring Blush and Bronzer kit. Lips were Cover Girl Queen lipstick in Girly Pink with Hard Candy Glossaholic in Chill Out over top.

This girl was a similar style, but she was wearing all black so I felt the urge to do brights. Eyes were Inglot (374, 504 and 491) and Jesse's Girl eye dust in Secret Weapon. I used the Physician's Formula liner on her upper lashline and Sephora Waterproof in Blue on her lower waterline. The black glitter is Collection 2000 Glam Crystals in Rock Chick. I don't remember what I used on her cheeks as I had to try a few products before finding something that wasn't too light (I really need blushes for darker skintones in my kit) and on the lips was Cover Girl Siren lipstick applied with a lip brush.

I also recorded a video for The Makeup Heroes... just some January favorites:



For the makeup in that video, see below:

It was a cool concept, but trying to use all cream products didn't quite work out for me. You can see the bald spot, which was invisible to my naked eye. I used the Inglot shadows that Priscilla gave me. The eyeliner was NYX Jumbo Pencil in Cucumber, Sephora Jumbo Waterproof Pencil in Green and NYX Jumbo Pencil in Sparkle Green. On my lips was Cover Girl Darling with NYX Mega Shine Gloss in Lala over top.

As a random side thing, creepy iris is creepy:

That's all for now! Would you like to see some of the professional photos from my photoshoots?

Another Mini Haul: Ulta!

I picked up some bits at Ulta yesterday as I was nearby and had a $3.50 off coupon. My local Ulta is usually really bad with their selection, and while they still had absolutely no new China Glaze or OPI, or Real Techniques brushes, they had redone the entire NYX section. Here's what I got:

They had a ton of Essence stuff on sale for 50% off as well.

On the left is Essence eyeshadow in #36 Knock Out. It's a matte so I know the pigmentation isn't great, but I tried it over primer and over Milk jumbo pencil and it was pretty good. It was also a buck.

The two right swatches are new shades of NYX Jumbo Pencils. Middle is Sparkle Green and right is Cucumber. I swore these off after how bad Purple Velvet and Lime were for me, but these new colors are different. They actually dry down and when you smudge them, the color doesn't go all patchy. I love love LOVE Cucumber. These were $4.49 each but all NYX was buy one, get one 50% off. The new colors are not listed on the Ulta website yet, unfortunately.

On the left is NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Silky Cashmere. I've looked at this every time I've gone in but never gotten it. This and the next one were also $4.49.

The middle is the Retractable Lip Liner in Nude. I've been needing a "my lips but better" liner for my kit and this is perfect.

On the right is Essence XXXL Shine Lipgloss in Wanted. So dirty -_-. Funny story about this is that after Jerry showed She-Zam dazzleglass from Mac, I wanted it so bad. This isn't as sparkly or quite as silver, but it's good enough for me. This was also... ready for it?... 1 dollar!

That's all for today -- hope you enjoyed!

New Darling Girl Collection (Darling Grrl and Valentine's Day) Swatches!

I have swatches of some new items from Darling Girl -- first up is Darling Grrl, which is a punk rock inspired collection. This will be expanded with new colors as time goes on.

Left to right: Vicar in a Tutu, Miniature Sun and Die, Die My Darling.

Vicar in a Tutu is a bit like Mac Vex without so much green shift; a really gorgeous color. Miniature Sun changes a little when I use it on my lid. The yellow base lightens and it's more a pale yellow with strong blue glitter on me. Die, Die is a really interesting army green with pink sparkles.

Left to right, top first: Roots Radicals, Rise Above, How Soon Is Now and Wanna Be Sedated

Roots Radicals is a pretty green-teal with gold shift and some pink sparkles. Rise Above is a blackened navy blue; super sparkly! How Soon Is Now is an odd shade -- it's sort of taupe, sort of grey, but has hints of blue. Wanna Be Sedated is one of my favorites, it's a gorgeous chocolatey bronze with tons of sparkle.

Next up is the Valentine's Day mini collection. This has 3 eyeshadows and a blush that is a duochrome but can also be used as an eyeshadow.

Promise Ring is on the left and Cupid's Bow is on the right.

Cupid's Bow is a really soft white with gold sparkles, it's really lovely as a highlighter. Cupid's Bow is a surprise favorite -- it's a peachy pink, again, really soft and girly.

On the left is the blush, Be Still My Heart (swatched over Glitter Glue) and Lovestruck is on the right.

Be Still My Heart, when used as a blush, is a plummy brown. I had a really hard time photographing this without it looking bruise-like (it's my skintone) on the back of my hand, but I would definitely use this as an eyeshadow or as a contour on medium skintones. As an eyeshadow, it's more of a mahogany brown with a hint of plum. Lovestruck is fascinating -- it's similar to Comet from the Darling Deer collection, but it has a strange greenish twinge with pink sparkles. Love this one.

Pictures of the Valentine's Day collection together:

Lastly, just some odds and ends -- a previously unreleased eyeshadow and a blush, specifically, Susan's dupe for NARS Orgasm. I absolutely love the blush, I'm going to need a petit sized as I'm almost out of my sample already. I foiled the eyeshadow to show you the insane metallic-ness!

I love to use Sunshine Daisy Bliss over the Haystack Watercolour, it's such a flattering combo on brown eyes.

See anything you like? Let me know what you haul!


DISCLAIMER: Post contains products sent for review by owner. This does not change my opinion of said products and I received no monetary compensation for this review.

FOTD: Fiery Friday (also Hunger Games Inspired: Katniss)

So I've finally done one of the more dramatic Hunger Games looks. I didn't want to wear red eyeshadow to work but it is SO dreary here that I had to do something bright and interesting. At least it's warm, right? Can't complain about 67 degrees in January.

Of course, I had to do something fiery like this... she's 'the girl on fire'! (ho ho ho, tacky, I know) I used a really pretty MUA glitter liner on the lower lashline, but it comes up in pictures as looking a bit chunky! I promise it's pretty in person.

FACE:

- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light

- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink (just the highlighter portion)

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk

-Inglot eyeshadow #60 (lid and lower lashline)

- Inglot eyeshadow #383 (middle lid and lower lashline)

- Inglot eyeshadow #50 (outer lid and lower lashline)

- Matte, cool highlight shade from Inglot (not sure of the number)

- MUA glitter liner in Shade 3 (inner tear duct)

- Milani Liquif'eye eyeliner in Silver (lower waterline)

- Sephora Waterproof eyeliner in Black (upper lashline)

- Wet n Wild Mega Last Liquid eyeliner in Sparkle Black (over black liner)

- Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara (Black)

LIPS:

- Hard Candy Glossaholic in Fireball

Mini Drugstore Haul (with lip swatches!)

I got a fair amount of new stuff from various drugstores on Tuesday, so I figured I'd do a swatchfest for you! I will do my best to provide where I got the items from and for how much.

First up, I got two more L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows. I love these! I think I'm going to stop myself at four total though, because none of the other colors really interest me.

On the left is Perpetual Purple, which I used in a look here, and on the right is Midnight Blue. I really love Midnight Blue as it's hard to find a shimmery dark blue that actually looks BLUE. I got these from CVS for $7.99 each, but they were buy one get one 50% off. I will say to go to Walgreens if you want to pick any up this week, as they are $6.99 for a limited time. I'm not sure if the buy one get one 50% off on L'Oreal cosmetics applies to these though, bit confused!

On the left is Milani Liquif'eye in Silver. This is insanely pigmented; I love these liners! I got this at CVS for a mere $1.57 as it's on some sort of clearance.

The middle is Rimmel's new gloss (at least in the US) called Stay Glossy, and the color is Black Diva. A black lipgloss, from the drugstore?! Yes. This was $4.99 from Rite Aid.

The right is Milani Glitzy Glamour Gloss in All About Me. I've wanted the Hourglass Siren lipgloss for months now, but I refuse to pay $28 for one lipgloss. I got this feeling like it would be a good substitute and might satiate the need; we'll see. I believe this was $6.99 from Target.

I also picked up some Cover Girl Queen Collection lipsticks (they're basically the Lip Perfections for darker skin tones). Heather got me Regal Raspberry for my birthday and I adore it, so I checked out the display at Target to see if there was anything interesting. These were $5.99 each and the first three swatches left to right are the lipsticks in the following order: Girly Pink, Royal Plum and Burgundelicious. I really struggled on whether I wanted Royal Plum AND Burgundelicious, but ended up getting both (whoops!). All three have a really gorgeous metallic finish. Girly Pink is going in my freelance kit and I may pull Viva Glam V out so that it can stay with me ;-).

The right shade is Milani Color Perfect Lipstick Mandarina. This was also on clearance at CVS for something like $1.79. I love these lipsticks -- they smell nice, are long lasting and not drying at all. This is a creamy orangey coral.

Onto the lip swatches!

Milani Glitzy Glamour Gloss in All About Me

Cover Girl Queen Lip Color in Girly Pink

Cover Girl Queen Lip Color in Royal Plum

Cover Girl Queen Lip Color in Burgundelicious - this one was a bit slippery. Lovely color but a pain to apply.

Milani Color Perfect Lipstick in Mandarina

Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipgloss in Black Diva - The first picture is one thin coat, the second is two thin coats. I used a lip brush as this is for my freelance kit, so if you use it straight from the applicator it may be more opaque. It would definitely work over a black base.

Someone asked on Twitter if the black gloss had a scent; I couldn't detect one.

That's it for today, are you lemming anything right now?

FOTD: Haven't We Done This?

Yeah, so this is practically identical to a FOTD from October. Posting it anyway. /emo whinge

FACE:

- Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in Ivory

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light

- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- BeautyUK Eye Spark in Purple (base at lashline)

- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Perpetual Purple (lid and lower lashline)

- MUA eyeshadow in Shade 9 (crease and lower lashline)

- MUA eyeshadow in Shade 4 (inner corner and brow bone)

- Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof in Black 

- Maybelline Illegal Length mascara (Black)

LIPS:

- Milani lipstick in Mandarina (sheered)

- BeautyUK Lip Lust in Cocktail

National Protest SOPA Day - Are You Showing Support?

 
In case you chanced a look at the main page of my blog, specifically my header, you may notice a bit of a difference. I'm showing my support of the protest of SOPA/PIPA and any other legislation that may censor/limit the internet. I am a firm believer in free internet and information sources, and SOPA would change all of that.

This will affect everyone living in the United States, and I urge you to read up on what SOPA is and what the United States government is attempting to do in the name of protecting its citizens. January 24th is the day they will vote - make them hear us! We don't want censored internet.

For more information on  how you can support the strike, please visit http://sopastrike.com/