$10 Smokey Eyes and a Dupe of a Famous Lipstick

A while back, I showed the Stila Adventurous in Aspen palette in a haul post. I swatched it, and was admittedly a little uninspired by the swatches. I set it aside and said I would work on it later.

If you don't remember, here are the swatches:













































Pretty unassuming, right? Anyway, back to my story.

I had been using Fyrinnae all week, collecting photos to complete my review. Some looks came out awesome, and others not so much... after a day of fail, I wanted something fool proof.

As I started applying the shadow over primer, I realized how easy it was to create a smokey eye, so I ran with it! I used all of the eyeshadows except for the gold, the lip and cheek stain on both my lips and cheeks, and a lot of Urban Decay's Zero eyeliner. However, you could easily use the black wet and get a very intense smokey effect. I just wanted to slick on a ton of black eyeliner. It's therapy sometimes.






















































































Now, does anything look familiar to you? I applied the lip and cheek stain (called Rosy) to my cheeks and wasn't much impressed... then I did my lips and went WOAH, hold the train... I think we have a dupe here.

























In this photo, I am wearing none other than the holy grail of pink lipsticks, Mac Viva Glam Gaga. I don't have a side by side swatch because swatched they don't match at all really. On the lips however? Nearly identical. I think Gaga is ever so slightly more pastel, but that makes the Stila Rosy a lot more wearable.

Now, the problem is that Rosy is not part of their permanent line of Convertible Colors. So, you can only get it in this palette. BUT, the fact that you're getting 4 eyeshadows plus this for only $10 makes it a really awesome value. Moral of the story is: if you've been dying to get Gaga and either can't afford it or it's sold out where you live, get this if you can. The eyeshadows are quite pretty over primer (it's a different take on a smokey eye, slightly grey/purple tone) and the lip and cheek stain is just cute.

I hope you enjoyed, I love finding you guys inexpensive but versatile products!

Last Purchases Before My No Buy (with swatches)

I picked the worst month to go on a makeup no buy. I really did! All these new collections are coming out and I cannot have. No new makeups for Wendy.

Prior to going on the no buy, I ordered some items online in mid to late December that have finally arrived. Instead of doing individual reviews on these items (I have so many posts lined up, I gotta clear out somehow), I figured I'd do a bulk review/haul on them.




















The Asian items (towards the center) were sent to me by a lovely girl I did a CP for a while back... I didn't even know it was coming! She is a total sweetheart and the items are amazing! I've never had Asian makeup before. I am impressed so far.

















First up, e.l.f. Hypershine Glosses. These are a dead dupe for Stila's lip glazes in terms of the packaging and many of the colors. I don't know about the formula as I've never owned any Stila ones. However, I do love these e.l.f. glosses, I am really surprised! I picked them up in a 5 pack set from Target around Christmas. It was an impulse buy but totally worth it. The gloss is nonsticky and lasts about 4-5 hours on me, some even stuck around after eating.
The colors in the picture are (left to right): Berry Cherry, Pageant Princess, Ruby Kiss, Raspberry and Au Naturale.
It looks like Berry Cherry is the only one available individually but their stock could be low on the website so the others have been temporarily removed. Anyway, try these out! The brush to apply is a little strange but that is because I'm not really used to it!

























I ordered some discount Urban Decay items from AllCosmeticsWholesale. My first time ordering from there and I'm surprised I didn't go crazy! The two eyeshadows are Strip and Revolver (a matte) and the purple liquid liner is Ecstasy. The two bottom liquid liner swatches are from another e.l.f. set I got at Target -- a plum and a black. There was a silver too but that one is honestly shite and I didn't leave it in the picture. If I ever get this gallery feature working on the site, I will have a smokey eye look posted with the two UD Shadows.























The swatches on the left are my Asian goodies... excuse me before I try and name the brands, etc. because the packaging was difficult to tell what was what. The top is a Mosaic lipstick #10, the middle is Dodo eyeshadow #P28 and the blush (bottom) is Mio Piccolo flower cheek #2. Wow, these are gorgeous! I love the blush! The swatch on the right is Lorac Rhapsody eyeshadow. I swatched this in Sephora and had to have it. I haven't used it yet so I will report back on that or use it in a FOTD post!













































This is Stila Adventurous in Aspen. What a cute little palette! I didn't expect it to be so compact. I can't seem to locate any labeling of the eyeshadows, but I think it might be on the back of the palette. The colors are (left to right, eyeshadows): Snow Angel, Glisten and Icicles and Ajax. The blush is a convertible lip and cheek color in Rosy. What a pretty blush! I like Snow Angel and Glisten, but Icicles and Ajax are a bit of a let down. These are not over primer though so we shall see. This would be good for on the go makeup needs.

That's pretty much it! I haven't had a chance to review everything but I like what I got. I also got a cute pair of shoes for $10:



















Wore them yesterday and they are a wee bit uncomfortable but for $10, I can't complain!

I also got a Z Palette but unfortunately it arrived damaged :( I have contacted the company and will wait to post anything further until I get a response from them. I have a bad feeling about it, the palette is busted on the bottom corner and also looks used. But we shall see.

Coming up I've got a new concealer review, a comparison of NYX's new lipstick formula versus Mac's new formula, Fyrinnae swatches, Shiro Cosmetics review, and also a review of the huge Kat Von D Tattoo Chronicles palette! Stay tuned :)