Monday, February 28, 2011

Getting Married

Noooo, not me, silly! One of my dear friends!

I had the pleasure of attending my friend Amanda's wedding on Saturday and it was absolutely lovely! They did such a great job decorating and the location was beautiful. I will be sure to post the professional pics when I see them, if you guys are interested!

Anyway, I was one of her bridesmaids and she asked me if I was able to help with makeup. When I got there, I was tasked with doing eyes, lips and cheeks on two girls, and then her (the bride's) blush and bronzer... here's how everything came out!

























Her bronzer is Smashbox Pressed Powder/Bronze Lights Duo in Fair/Light, discontinued.
Her blush is Mac's Shell Pearl Beauty Powder from Liberty of London, also discontinued.

She also wore Cover Girl's Lip Perfection lipstick in Fairytale (not shown).

The first bridesmaid that I made up was Moriah. She had already done her foundation and eyebrows, and I set out to do something natural and effortless looking. She wears glasses, so I wanted her brown eyes to stand out without being over the top. So I went with very soft purple tones.
















































I used the shades from the WetnWild Petal Pusher palette, along with a little bit of e.l.f.'s single eyeshadow in Pebble in the crease. For her top and bottom lashline, I used Physician's Formula liners for green eyes (just the black shade, it has a little green sparkle).

For her cheeks, I used NYX Desert Rose blush.

On her lips, I used NYX round lipstick in Thalia with NYX Baby Rose gloss over top.

Next up was Questa. She has lovely blue/green eyes so I wanted to still incorporate purple (her and Moriah were both wearing purple dresses) but use more grey to intensify her eye shade.
















































On her eyes I used Maybelline's Velvet Crush quad (all 4 shades). I also used MUA Shade 3 (grey pearl) to intensify the crease, and a little of the "Crease" shade from WetnWild Petal Pusher. I applied the purple liner from the Physician's Formula green eyes gel liner set on the lower waterline, and then the black shade on the upper lashline.

I used Ardell #110 false lashes, which were perfect and natural looking.

On her cheeks, I applied Hard Candy's Living Doll blush for a bit of glow.

Her face powder was the matte shade in Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Shimmer. I used just a little of the shimmer side on her cheekbones to highlight.

I unfortunately do not know what was on her lips, she applied it herself!

Overall, I am really happy with how the makeup turned out and I think everyone (especially the bride) looked beautiful. Since I did my own makeup, guess you want to see that right? Wouldn't want to leave you guessing!

























Crap photo but we were in a rushed tizzy all afternoon... on my eyes I used e.l.f. Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn as a base. Over top I used WetnWild single eyeshadow in Nutty and Kitten (lid and crease, respectively). I darkened the crease with a little bit of Make Up For Ever #92. The liner on both the upper lashline and lower waterline was Mac's Fluidline in Blacktrack.

False lashes were Ardell Accents #305 (which are bloody fantastic btw, so much more comfortable than full ones on me!)

On my cheeks I used Mac Prism blush as a contour, and Mac Prim and Proper as a blush. I added a VERY small amount of my MeMeMe liquid highlighter on top.

On my lips was none other than Mac Up the Amp lipstick (oh yes, the bride WANTED me to wear it =P) with Mac Perky lipglass over top.

If you're still with me, a little more about what we wore. I will have some full outfit photos later but all I had was a half mirror to take a photo with!

























Feather hair piece made custom by the bride.
Necklace is from Francesca's collection (purple and topaz with ribbon).
Cardigan is from Target (slightly greyed purple).
Belt is black patent leather from Target.
Dress is grey with a sequined bust from American Eagle.

Andddd... that's it :). Hope you enjoyed!

Friday, February 25, 2011

FOTD: In My Comfort Zone

You like what I did thur, didn't ya?

...

Anyway.

I LOVE THIS PALETTE. I genuinely think that this is my favorite palette ever, or at least definitely my favorite in my stash. I love my Urban Decay Naked palette but this one just... UNF UNF, you know? If you don't have it, get it. Sell a piece of your soul, raffle off your first born child... but somehow, GET IT. $4.99 gets you a palette of awesome.

I've been using it all week and most of my looks have involved something similar to this FOTD. It started last week with a quick look involving a couple of random eyeshadows I pulled out... a champagne, a taupe and MUA Shade 12, which is a greeney-blue-brown duochrome. I liked how it came out so I wanted to expand the colors used and add a bit more dimension.

FACE:
- Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Base
- Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC20
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Sleek Rose Gold blush

EYES:
- e.l.f. Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn
- WetnWild Comfort Zone palette (Left side: "Eyelid" and "Crease", "Browbone" and "Definer" from right side)
- Revlon matte e/s in Vintage Lace
- Little bit of Definer shade from left side as liner, not much at all
- Maybelline Define A Lash Volume in Brownish Black

LIPS:
- Mac Thrills lipstick
- NYX gloss in Chestnut

















































Monday, February 21, 2011

New Feature: Get the Look


























I thought I'd try out a new feature on the blog -- something that gets my readers involved!

Ever seen a celebrity makeup or even a music album cover look that you loved but were stumped on what products to use? Submit it to me! I want to feature a breakdown of how to create different looks at least once a week, but preferably twice per week.

It can be anything -- a model photo, a concert image capture... I'll try to help!

You can submit it in numerous ways:
1) Via email: guitarsoloist07 at yahoo dot com (please title it "request for Get the Look" or something similar)
2) Via my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Turtle-Beauty/143025935750203 ... post it on my Wall!
3) Via Twitter... Send me an @CydonianMU message or direct message with your image link!

Please leave a name that you would like to be recognized by, and a blog if you have one, so that I can credit you when I post the information on how to get the look.

I can't wait to see what you guys send in... I love researching products from photos and trying to find how to go about recreating the look!

So what are you waiting for, anyway? Go go go!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

FOTD: Blue Had Me at Hello (and new hair!)

I FINALLY used a proper dark base today to make a smokey eye... and even more so, it wasn't a grey or black one... it's a teal one! I really like how this came out, especially with my hair being freshly dyed.

I was going to hold off on getting it done but with my friend's wedding coming up, I didn't want to have roots in her photos, haha (I'm a bridesmaid). It came out amazingly pretty! Video of it is at the bottom of the post (you gotta see it in motion!)

FACE:
- Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Base
- Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Mac Prim & Proper Blush

EYES:
- Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Strut (dark grey)
- WetnWild Blue Had Me at Hello palette (Left side: "Crease" and "Browbone", "Eyelid" and "Crease" from right side)
- Revlon matte e/s in Vintage Lace
- Merle Norman eyeliner in Navy
- Maybelline Define A Lash Volume

LIPS:
- Mac Viva Glam Gaga
- Revlon Super Lustrous lipgloss in Lilac




































































































Lipsticks mentioned in the video:
- Mac Impassioned (B2M)
- CoverGirl Lip Perfection Eternal
- CoverGirl Lip Perfection Embrace
- Maybelline Color Sensation Coral Crush


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Email to Crown Brush (Update #2)

I was contacted by the owner of Crown Brush yesterday and decided to sit down to write an email in response to what he said to me yesterday. I won't go into too much detail -- I lay it all out in the email... but essentially, he offered me a full refund and for UPS to come pick up the items at the company's expense.

This is very long and quite wordy, so congrats to you if you get through the entire thing!

Regarding Wendy ______'s refund

Thursday, February 17, 2011 9:54 AM
From: 
To:dan@crownbrush.com

Dan,

This is Wendy ______. We spoke yesterday regarding my order #7798. I would like to have a full refund. If we can arrange UPS to pick up the items from my work, that would be easiest. I just need to know when they will pick up so that I can have them with me.

As that is worked out, I figured it was appropriate for me to explain my position of dislike for your company instead of just requesting the refund and moving on. When you contacted me yesterday, it seemed as though you were unsure as to my reasons for wanting to refund the product. As you are the owner, I think it's fair for you to know what is going on within your company.

10 years ago, and maybe even 5 years ago, one had to learn about a company through word of mouth or the occasional newspaper/magazine article. Now, with the internet being the source of most stored information, companies have to realize that word travels fast. It works in a positive and negative way; you can build your business' clientele by using advertising and other tools on the internet, but you can also greatly damage your reputation by one bad review on the internet that thousands of people could potentially see.

That being said, I contacted your company on January 7, approximately 12 days after ordering my items, and stated that there were some issues with my order. I was unsure as to whether discussing the issues over the phone was appropriate or via email. I got no response and on January 12, I contacted again stating that I hadn't heard back from your company. I was given a phone number to call in relatively short order. I emailed again on January 24 as at that point, I had called twice and left messages with multiple phone numbers to reach me on, and I never received a return call. On January 26, I still had not received a reply email or a phone call. I emailed once again on January 26 and said that I would file a dispute with my credit card company if I did not hear back by close of business that day.

I got a phone call within 2 hours, was unable to answer my phone, but called back the customer service number in about an hour after they left me a message. No one picked up. I again left my information. On January 28, I emailed again stating that I would be following through with the dispute (remember that I gave your company an additional 48 hours to respond).

Later that day, I received a phone call from a young lady who asked me if I was "Allie Cosmetics". I said no. She fumbled, and then finally got my name correct. She asked me what the problem with my order was. I went into great detail; I explained that 2 of the brushes were very poor quality and the rest were improperly described on the website. They were not useful for the purposes that I purchased them for in my kit. She replied with a mere "okay", and we sat in silence on the phone for a while. I finally asked what was going to be done about it. She offered to let me return both of the defective brushes at my own expense and offered no other help on the other items. I said that was unacceptable. She put me on hold for nearly 10 minutes, came back on the line and told me that I could mail ALL of the items back at my own expense and my refund would be processed within 14 days of receipt of the items. I was uncomfortable with that option, but I asked her for the mailing address anyway. She gave me 3 different addresses before finally settling on the last one as being correct (this is while speaking to another person quite loudly in the background). I said I would consider it and got off of the phone with her.

My initial issue with your company may have been the quality and usefulness of the products being sold, but after my first emails, it became an issue with your customer service. Frankly, you should never not respond to a customer. It makes your company appear as though it doesn't care about its customers, which are essentially why you have a business in the first place. Your response when I told you this yesterday was that you received over 7,000 orders in the month of December.

While I understand your plight, this is simply no excuse. Unfortunately for you, companies like Qtica/Zoya, Sephora, and even non-cosmetic companies such as clothing stores, etc., received a high volume of orders in the month of December. It is the holiday season; that is quite normal for that time of the year. I ordered from all of those companies and had no issue with contacting customer service and working out any possible issues with my order. Specifically, Qtica/Zoya is a small company such as yours, and received 10x the order volume you had in the span of 4 days. Myself and others had no issue contacting their customer service. This is how it should be. It's the holiday season, you have to prepare accordingly and cannot fall back on the excuse of being understaffed. Maybe you should not have run the sale if you did not have the appropriate amount of team members?

The point of all of this is the following: I have a blog. On said blog, I have over 400 regular followers and 28,000 page hits. I am also on the front page of Google on many of my blog posts. I blogged about the customer service issue with your company, got a high response, and also had other people relating their own issues with your company and it's service. Bad customer service spreads like wildfire on the internet. People WILL hear about it. No one wants to order from a company that doesn't care about it's customers. In today's world of fast paced technology and communication, you have to keep your company to a certain standard of customer service and a customer should never be allowed to be treated how I was treated.

I would have been happy at the onset of the issue to exchange the brushes for others, thinking that maybe I read your descriptions wrong and selected the wrong brushes. After being ignored numerous times, I no longer wanted any of your company's products. You essentially have lost me as a customer, and therefore my money, and quite possibly anyone else's who comes across my page or one of the other people that have had problems with your company. Just the other day, I read a story where someone ordered around the same time I did, and as of yesterday's date had not received their items... nor a shipping confirmation. Are you aware that in the United States, regulations force a company to ensure that a customer receives their items within 30 days from the date of purchase, or the customer is allowed a full refund? I made sure they knew that.

All of this is adding up to me trying to tell you that you need to have a look into your company's practices and who you hire. The woman that called me on the phone on January 28 was one of the most unprofessional people I have ever spoken to from a company. You never call someone not knowing who you're calling (she referred to me as "Allie Cosmetics") and you certainly don't read up on the issue at hand before calling them... that would have saved her repeatedly putting me on hold to check with who I am assuming is a supervisor. If she was looking to a supervisor for help, maybe the supervisor should have been the one to call me? Having untrained and unprepared customer service reps also makes your company look bad. All employees need to be knowledgeable about the products; and further, need to have read up on a customer's issue before calling them completely clueless.

I apologize for this being lengthy -- but I feel like as the owner of Crown Brush, you are owed a full explanation of what your company is doing wrong. I hope that you can take in some of the words I've written to you and reconsider how you are running your business. I also urge you to research on the internet some of these customers that have been left in the dark by your lack of customer service. You'd be surprised how many of them there are.

Good luck,
Wendy
UPDATE: 10:30 AM on 2/17/2011:
I received a response email already from the owner. He completely misunderstands my angle and probably barely read the email. His justification is that no matter what, you will have unsatisfied customers. Sounds very familiar... I'm sensing some "Sleek" attitude in this. What a joke. He's issuing me a refund and letting me keep the products, but I'm gonna stick them in a cheap envelope and send them back anyway!


Wendy,
I appreciate your email, but I just want to resolve your order. We have been in business for over 30 years and trust me orders and emails get lost and delayed form time to time. Honestly the surge of orders we had during the month of December was like nothing we have ever seen. We did our best to complete each order and answer each questions as quickly and best as we could. I realize that there were some mistakes made during this process and some unhappy customers. One thing that I realized in this business is that you can be giving out free gold and your still going to have a few unhappy customers. We just do our best and if there is a problem, try to solve it in a manner that is satisfying to the everyone.
I will be more than happy to refund you and even take it a step further to complete this transaction as quickly as possible. Please keep the product you purchased and do with it as you wish. I will make a full refund on your order and we will consider this matter closed. The refund will take place today and will take up to 2 business days to post on your account.
Thank you
Dan Barajas
Crown Brush

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Inglot Eyeshadow Swatches + Review

Oh yes, you read that title right. I haz Inglotz.

I've been eying the products for a while, but as everyone as heard... their prices are increasing (or were increasing? Who knows at this point?) I had set up for someone to do a CP for me, they notified me of the higher price and said they could try and get what I wanted before the price hike. That fell through and I ended up sending my order through email to one of their locations. The prices were set to increase on February 7, and I sent it the day before... didn't hear anything for 2 days until finally an associate called me back to get my credit card info.

Now, if I had to complain about the phone/email ordering system... it would be two things: one, I didn't get a formal receipt and therefore have no listing of what I ordered (just to confirm that I got what I asked for, you know?) and also that the palettes were stuck inside of an unpadded box. Nothing was damaged... but these are eyeshadows and they easily could have been.

I picked out what I wanted based on swatches from a few different websites. In terms of pricing, the 10 square palette was $50 (I'll go into more detail on value later). The problem is that I know that price through bloggers... they don't actually list it on the website and I have no idea how much the 4 square palette was. My total came to $78, with shipping. Assuming shipping was $8-$9, I am guessing the 4 square pan is somewhere in the $15-$20 range.

So without further ado, let's get into swatches! (This will be pic heavy!)






















































The packaging is really sturdy... even my husband noticed how much heavier this is compared to say, a Mac palette. The closure is quite interesting as well -- it's a magnetic sliding cover. It was a little weird at first, but now I really like it as I feel it securely closes.













































I went for a taupe palette with this. I didn't realize the top right and bottom left shades were SO similar, unfortunately.

Now for swatches (first is flash, the rest are natural light to show the shimmer in the shades!):

Left to right: 420P, 460DS, 465DS, 434P













































































The darkest shade is fabulous. I cannot get over how multi-tonal these colors are... They look a little flat in the pans but when you swatch, they just come to life! I'm excited to have a little taupe palette, even if two colors are similar. 420P is a perfect taupe!




































































You know I'd go for a colorful palette, come on now :)

Swatches (again, first is flash, second is natural light to show the dimension of the shades):

Left to right, then bottom: 60A, 15AS, 72A, 14AS, 441P




































I needed a matte yellow and this one knocks Mac's Chrome Yellow out of the park! This is one swipe! It's got some loose sparkle in it so technically it's a satin, but it appears matte on the skin. 72A is also the same formula -- that's the burgundy. I had been wanting Sketch from Mac but something was holding me back. I'm glad I waited because this one is so pigmented. This took two swipes but I tested it with a dense brush and it has lovely pigmentation. Very happy with this part of the palette so far... oh and 15AS is a more pigmented version of Firespot. I will do comparisons in another post.

Left to right, then bottom: 395P, 44AS, 59A, 412P, 429P






























































I was really into greens when I ordered this, apparently. Again, their matte/satin formula is fantastic! 59A is a great dupe for Mac Bitter, only way more pigmented. 412P was one I was unsure about but I am so glad I went with it -- it's got a beautiful gold shift with a little bit of pink lurking around. 429P is a rare shade of cornflower blue that shifts slightly gold and silver. Quite interesting.

Overall, I love each and every shade. I honestly cannot say that there is one I don't like. They are unique, pigmented, and easy to use. I am still in the testing phase so I won't comment yet on their lasting power or anything... but so far, so good. I will post some FOTDs later.

I know that $50USD sounds like a lot of money, but when you remember that it equals out to $5 per shadow... and Mac is $14.50 per shadow, it's more than worth it. Also bear in mind that these square pans are 2.7g, while Mac is 1.5g. You are getting nearly double the product for 1/3 the price. Can you really complain? Even with the price increase to $80 for a 10 pan palette, they are still cheaper than buying the equivalent number of Mac eyeshadows (for the record, that would cost you $145). Further, the price increase is currently on hold until May. The associate I spoke with couldn't even confirm that, she said the company just told them to hold it.

Inglot is available in numerous countries. You can purchase by going into the store, ordering over the phone or by email (like I did). I've heard they are working on an online store... I am excited to see what that will be like! I would also love to go into a store and have a look... (as my wallet cries for mercy...)

Monday, February 14, 2011

FOTD: Petal Pusher (Valentine's Day!)

Completely off topic, but rather important: My best (female) friend has a blog and I have convinced her to post her Outfits of the Day as she is so cute and fashionable. She was hesitant because she is considered plus size, but I think she is gorgeous and I would love it if you guys would check her out and support her by following. Her latest post can be found here: http://the20somethingcatlady.blogspot.com/2011/02/st-valentines-day.html

I played with my WetnWild Petal Pusher palette today... and of course added some glitter in celebration of Valentine's Day! What is more girly than pink and purple glitter?

I feel like I could have done a better look -- a dramatic one really, but as this was for work I kept it more soft and feminine. I'm not completely happy with the shadows in the palette, they tend to muddle really easily but I will admit they photograph nicer than I thought they would. I bought this intending to use it for a wedding and I may still use it!

FACE:
- Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Base
- Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC20 (I hit pan, woooo!)
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream
- Mio Piccolo flower cheek #2 (Asian brand blush)

EYES:
- WetnWild Petal Pusher palette (Left side: "Eyelid", "Crease" and "Definer" and "Browbone" from right side)
- Almay Intense I-Color liner in Purple Amethyst
- Collection 2000 glitter liners in Dancing Queen and Shake It Up (Dancing Queen applied first, then faded upwards on the lid, then Shake It Up over top of just the liner)
- Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions mascara

LIPS:
- Mac Up the Amp lipstick
- NYX Baby Rose gloss (very lightly over top, just to give shine)














































Friday, February 11, 2011

Tips for Writing an Accurate and Useful Review

This may turn into a bit of a rant... but I'm going to try and keep it as concise as possible. I am not trying to offend anyone reading this and I refuse to list names, but these are things that I've identified over my time of reading beauty blogs as being a real annoyance.

I'm not saying I have perfect reviews, perfect FOTDs or anywhere close. I am simply going to pass along tips that I use to try and ensure that all of my posts meet a certain level of concise and accurate writing.

If you have anything to add, please feel free to comment! This could be an interesting discussion.

1) Please post clear and accurate photos: This seems like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised at how many blogs I come across that have either blurry or overexposed (or both) photos of color swatches. It is really important when someone is looking for a swatch of something for said swatch to be clear and accurate in color. I understand that not everyone has the macro function on their camera, but if you don't... at least hold the camera steady or use a tripod to keep the photos from blurring. I don't mind so much if an eyeshadow swatch is blurred a little, sometimes it actually helps to show glitter or shimmer. As for color accuracy, I also understand that some photos are difficult to catch in the correct lighting (reds and purples are notorious for being tricky buggers), but at least SAY that the swatch is slightly off. No one is going to fault you if you took 100 pictures of a purple eyeshadow and it appears slightly blue... so long as you say it's off in color a little, and explain how so. If I'm looking at a swatch of Mac Russian Red, it should not appear orange... because it's NOT ORANGE.

2) Learn your camera and how to use it properly: You know those manuals that come with your camera? Try sitting down and reading it. Take some test photos. You'd be surprised what your "dinky" little $150 Sony Cybershot can do. Most cameras now, even cheap ones, have color, flash and ISO adjustments. Set the ISO to the lowest possible number when using flash, it will help to prevent overexposure. If you don't have the paper manual anymore, try looking online. There are camera specialist forums that have tips listed for most popular models of cameras on the market.

3) Make sure your information is accurate: If you are making a simple observation that is not confirmed by the company (such as me saying the WetnWild 6 pan palettes were discontinued), simply state that it was YOUR observation and it is not confirmed. Please stop spouting untrue verbal diarrhea onto the internet. It's really a pain when someone is trying to find information and 6,000 people have a different story to tell. Also, ensure your pricing information and product availability is accurate. My best tip on this is that if you're unsure of something, and you can't find the answer anywhere, don't say "I don't know"... for example, I cannot tell you how many times I've come across a Mac review that says "this is a repromote, but I don't know from what collection." Either don't mention the repromote part, or use Google as your buddy. Seriously. It's irritating. It will also make a reader Google it themselves, and when they find that other blog that has said information, plus more, they will inevitably leave yours to read that one instead.

4) Make appropriate post titles and tags/labels: The next blog that I click on where a post is titled "X Foundation Review and Swatches" where there is not a single fricking picture of the product packaging or a swatch of the product, I will comment on that person's blog telling them to edit their post title. A review is just that -- a review of the product's positives, negatives, uses, price, availability... to be quite honest, I don't give a flying eff if you write that the foundation is "really nice on the skin, lasts a long time and covers up all of your pimples". I want to see the packaging (is it useful, bulky, etc?), a swatch including how well it matches your skin, and a picture of you wearing it. I want to see the coverage as that is the most important thing in a foundation. HOW long does it last? HOW well does it match your skin? You've got to be more detailed. If it's a creaseless cream eyeshadow, is it indeed creaseless? Take one for the team and wear it without primer... it'll be okay. You will NOT die. Try it on the weekend when you don't need to be anywhere. Your review on an anti-crease product is USELESS if you don't talk about wear time or whether it does indeed crease.

5) Quit posting new products just to get blog hits: If you are going to post promotional images, say IN THE TITLE that they are promo images and it is NOT a review. I see so many websites getting Google hits from appearing like they have swatches or a review, and all it is, is a slew of promo images we've seen 1,000 times this week.

6) It's not bad if you get sent a product for free, but at least respect the company who sent it to you: This is a touchy subject for me. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know I was complaining the other day about bloggers, small and big, getting products or entire collections for free and then writing up a 5 minute review and calling it a day. If I get a product for free, ever, to review, I am going to do a detailed review just as if I paid for it myself. BUT, it is completely and insanely disrespectful to say, get a BRAND NEW collection of anti-crease products from a company and then literally type up 4 sentences and post it on the internet.
I'm going to take the new Urban Decay Shadow Pencils as an example. One very big blogger did a pretty excellent review on them... it was detailed, she tested the wear time, she also had very detailed color representations and even went so far as to compare them to the original Urban Decay eyeliners. On the release date, I noticed a literal slew of bloggers posting reviews on the very same product and literally slapping up a packaging picture and a swatch picture, saying they were pretty colors, the retail price, and that was it. COME ON... are you forgetting that this product is meant to be used on it's own? You need to test that! Your review is useless to me if I want to know whether or not they last without a primer. But hey, the blogger was successful... they got Google hits, and that's what matters, right? (Wrong.)
The same thing happened with NYX's new HD line, by the way, which is what sparked the ENTIRE above rant. Even if an item is too dark for you, at least still test it (if you got it for free) as it will be helpful to those reading your blog. I don't care if it feels nice on the back of your hand.

7) Stop photoshopping swatch pictures: Believe it or not, I see this quite frequently. I obviously can't spot it on products I haven't used myself, but I've seen too many review posts where there is no way the person got the colors of x item to show up in such a way. It's quite blatantly photoshopped, and I can tell because most of the time, the person isn't good with photoshop. I don't really need to say more on this... this sort of goes with the "post accurate and concise pictures", doesn't it? Why would you photoshop something that a person is relying on to make a buying decision?

8) Use spellcheck: Added on request by Jade. Nothing more needs to be said.

9) Don't be afraid to post a long review: If it takes me 10 minutes to read a darn good review, I don't mind. If I read a terrible review that blathers on for 10 minutes, then yes I will be a bit miffed. Longer isn't always better but the more information you pack into a review, the more beneficial it's going to be... and most importantly, the more your readers are going to keep coming back to you knowing you have a talent for posting good reviews. If you go through all the trouble of doing comparisons to other posts, and pictures of it on other people just because... post it! Any extra information is always useful. I appreciate the work that goes into a review.

Hopefully this helps you guys... and maybe it will allow you to vent some of your frustration as well!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Just a Little Tease...

Coming soon at Turtle Beauty... Prepare for awesome.
















You love it really.

FOTD: Sleek Sunset

Even though it's snowing here today, I've been playing with the Sleek Sunset palette all week. Admittedly, most of my looks have been a variation of this FOTD but I've been tweaking it all week trying to get it just right. Think I nailed it today!

Originally I was going to do a review on this palette and a FOTD below, as I often do. Somehow, I lost the swatches... I think they may be on my old memory card, which I've misplaced :( The palette has been well loved now and I feel weird photographing it with dips and swipes across the shadows, lol! BUT, if you'd like to see a review, let me know!

I took a million pictures to try and capture the gradient of the gold to the orange to the red, so sorry for that! On my cheeks was e.l.f. Candid Coral blush (new favorite!). For lips I used NYX Indian Pink, which is perfect for this, with Boots High Shine gloss in Whisper over top.

























































































































Excuse the sorry state of my eyebrows at the moment, I've really got to sit down and take care of them! It seems like I pluck them and they don't grow for a week, but then all of a sudden I have insanely long hairs, lol!

Hope you enjoyed, I really love this version of the look as I felt the earlier ones weren't quite what I wanted.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

New Stuff at the Drugstore! (February 2011)

Sorry I've been a bit lame lately with posting FOTDs. I've (kinda) been doing makeup but I am on a new sleep schedule and thus haven't had time to photograph in the morning before work. Rob finally got a job so I'm driving him now, and it means getting up an hour earlier than I used to! Getting up at 7:15ish has never been an issue for me but 6:15 is just too much :-P

I will try to work on a Sleek Sunset look tonight and get it posted!

For now, I present you with new drugstore stuff! This is between Walgreens and Rite Aid. All pics were taken with my phone so sorry for the shite pics... and sorry if you've heard about these releases but at least you see them in the flesh now, right? RIGHT?!

























Essie will apparently be carried at Walgreens now. I heard about this late last year but no details were given. They appear to have the full permanent line, as well as the new Spring collection. As you can see, nothing has been stocked yet but I am assuming it will be full soon as the Spring collection was released recently. There were also no price tags yet so I can't help you much there!

I don't have a picture, but WalMart is currently stocking Essie's permanent line colors as well. Not just reds and pinks like Target, but the full line including blues and such. They are about normal price, I think $7.75, so not much of a discount but it's good for those who didn't have an Essie stockist near them.


























This N.Y.C. display is SO TINY at Rite Aid, I nearly walked past it. Looks like they have 4 new mascaras and 3 new custom compacts. To me, it appears like they are trying to battle with WetnWild (understandably so). None of the palettes really interested me, though there was a "blue eyes" palette that was out of stock so that one may be pretty. The burgundy shade in the front palette caught my eye but I swatched it and it wasn't too interesting. The palettes are $4.99 (familiar, much?) and I believe the mascaras were $3.99.

























New N.Y.C. lip stains and glosses! The glosses look standard and boring (but some colors were missing as you can see) but the stains look awesome! I've heard through the grapevine that WalMart carries both of these cheaper so I didn't indulge (Rite Aid wants $4.99 for the stains and WalMart is supposedly doing $2.99 for them). I am really impressed with the range of color, there were two nudes (a pink and a brown), tons of wearable pinks, even a berry and a dark vampy purple. Excited on these!

























New Physician's Formula! I've never bought any of their products but the new eye shimmer strips look pretty. But what's with the random hot pink/coral in the blue palette? Haha! There were also new eyeliner sets. Pretty on par with their normal pricing though, which I think has always been a bit high.

























Jesse's Girl baked eyeshadows. They are jumping on the trend -- these look pretty but none of them really caught my eye except for the green on the right. They have new nail lacquers too but that display was so picked through I didn't bother taking a pic. There's a supposed dupe for RBL Scrangie amongst the new ones, and a really bright coral.

























WOO! We asked for it and Milani delivered! People kept begging for dark blue, purple and green Liquif'eye liners. The only difference is that these are retractable for some unknown reason. They were $6.49 and 2 of them may have come home with me 0:-) (This is at Walgreens)

























The baked eyeshadows aren't anything new, but notice that they are in the permanent line display, along with the Lip Flash pencils peeking in from the right. Some Walgreens do carry Milani but it was a limited selection. It appears that they are going all out and carrying everything now... and now I know the baked/marbled eyeshadows are permanent. I'm totally getting Famous (which I gave away in a giveaway, saw swatched and went DANG IT)

So that's pretty much it! I hope you enjoyed and maybe I've added some items to your lemming list? I will be reviewing the retractable Milani liners, possibly an N.Y.C. mascara, and some of the N.Y.C. lipstains (for sure).