Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Darling Deer Christmas! (Swatches)

Susan sent me some bits from her Darling Deer Christmas collection, which is available on the website right now. Petit sizes (1/4 tsp.) of these shadows are $2.25 and full sizes (3/4 tsp.) are $5.50. She's also got a blush, glitters (which I will show you), and lip products.

I want to start off by showing you a new product from her that isn't part of the Christmas collection, but that I received along with it. It's called Watercolor, and is a cream eyeshadow/eyeshadow base product. These sell for $4.75 and come in a 3 gram jar. The color I received is Haystacks, and boy is it gorgeous!


The product is really soft and creamy, but not to where it feels thin or watery. It reminds me in appearance of the Big Bounce shadows from Mac, but this is much better in consistency. Haystacks is a bronzey brown with a slight copper sheen.



On the left it is swatched lightly and blended out, while the right it is more heavily done with less blending and more packing on. Either way results in a smooth and opaque finish, which is impressive for a cream shadow. I've come to expect some sheerness when you begin to blend a cream out, but this product doesn't suffer from that at all. This color would look amazing on blue eyes as a wash of color!

Onto the eyeshadows... this collection was inspired by and named after Santa's reindeer, which is totally adorable. I like the range of colors and also that they are all sparkly, which is very Christmas-ey.



Dasher is a shimmery white with pink sheen and light blue sparkles.

Blitzen is a pale peach with gold sparkles.

Donner is a pale golden taupe. It's a bit like Urban Decay Sin in some lights.



Rudolph is a plummy brown with gold sparks.

Prancer is a olivey brown with pink sparks (and maybe a little silver lurking in there?)

Comet is a plum brown with strong teal and gold duochrome. This shadow is AMAZING and my photos couldn't even begin to capture it.



Cupid is a mauve toned pink with pink sparkles. Really unique.

Dancer is a forest green with gold and pink sparkles. I love how jewel toned this is.

Vixen is a deep blue-violet with teal sparkles. Another gorgeous shade.

Now we have the new Pixie Sprinkles, which is a densely packed loose glitter.



White Christmas is a mixture of pale blue and holographic like sparkles like shimmering snow.

Jingle Bells is mostly gold glitter but I also see bits of red and green.

Reindeer Kiss is a cool-toned red glitter with gold and other multicoloured sparkle (it's really hard to tell as it flashes so many different colors at once).

The lighting in my house wasn't great when I did these so I apologize if any of them are too dark! My camera definitely couldn't handle the outrageous sparkliness of the Pixie Sprinkles, either.

Overall, really cute little collection. I love Comet, Vixen, Cupid and Dancer the most... what can I say? I love jewel tones!

I am going to order some of the lip products and the berry blush so I will post swatches of them when I've received them! Special note: Susan will be closing the shop around 12/4 to make sure that all orders are out before she goes on vacation, so keep that in mind if you'd like to order!

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.

Monday, November 28, 2011

FOTD: Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're down to under a month until Christmas! I still don't have any wrapping paper (but stockings are on their way from Target.com) and I need a wreath. Everyone in my condo complex has one hanging up and I feel left out.

I did this look and was really happy with how it came out. It's using the Darling Girl Christmas items (affectionately called Darling Deer Christmas) that I will be reviewing in a later post, probably tomorrow. So this is not only a look for you but a bit of a preview!

Don't forget to enter my e.l.f. giveaway here, it ends on December 3: http://cydonianmakeup.blogspot.com/2011/11/huge-elf-giveaway.html





FACE:
- Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC20
- Maybelline Super Stay Concealer in Cream
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- Darling Girl Glitter Glue
- Darling Girl eyeshadows in Dasher (inner corner), Comet (lid and inner lower lashline) and Vixen (outer crease and outer lower lashline)
- e.l.f. Shimmer Pencil in Grassy Green (upper lashline)
- Sephora Nano Liner in Azur Blue (lower waterline)
- Maybelline One by One Mascara (Black)

LIPS:
- Darling Girl Kiss You Off: Color Rich Balm in Poisoned Plum

Friday, November 25, 2011

Huge e.l.f. giveaway! *CLOSED*

*This giveaway is now CLOSED, thanks to all who entered!*

I've had this giveaway planned for months but haven't gotten around to posting it... so here we go! These are some of my favorite items from e.l.f.!

You have a chance to win the following:


- All Over Cover Sticks in Spotlight and Pink Lemonade
- Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn
- Glitter Gloss in Crystal Cranberry
- Blush in Mellow Mauve
- Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder
- Hypershine Lipgloss Set
- Stipple Brush
- Radiance Enhancer in Sunrise
- Pout Perfecter Lip Gloss
- Brightening Eyeshadow Quad in Luxe, Butternut, Ethereal and Day 2 Night
- Shimmer Pencils in Grassy Green, Precious Pink and Twinkle Teal
- Lipsticks in Sociable, Posh, Captivating and Gypsy

Rules for the giveaway:
* This is open worldwide.
* Giveaway starts on November 25, 2011 and ends on December 3, 2011.
* You must be a subscriber via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs.
* The winner will be posted on this blog on December 3 and will have 48 hours to email me at the email provided on that post.
* You must leave a comment on this post telling me what your top item on your Christmas list is (or whatever you want to say!)

Additional entries:
* You can follow me on Twitter @CydonianMU and tweet a link to this giveaway for 2 additional entries.
* You can blog about this giveaway for 3 additional entries (blogs made solely for giveaways will NOT be counted).
* You can 'like' my Turtle Beauty Page on Facebook for 2 additional entries: https://www.facebook.com/turtlebeauty

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

FOTD/OOTD/NOTD: Deja Vu

I haven't been doing much in the way of interesting makeup lately. Well, it's interesting to me, but not worth blogging about. Does anyone else have that weird tendency? As in, it comes out pretty but is it worth putting on the blog? Hmmm...

I pulled out my Sleek Circus palette thanks to looks from Azure and Phlox at Eye Graffiti and Robyn as well. They were using bits from the palette and coming up with fantastic looks. I opened the palette and was immediately drawn to green and purple for today. I went to edit the pics and realized that this FOTD is grotesquely similar to one I did in September (here). I actually prefer today's version, but hopefully you don't hate me too much for doing the same thing!






FACE:
- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
- Sleek Circus Palette: Matte white (inner corner), shimmery green (crease), matte lilac (lid), shimmering plum (outer crease)
- Wet n Wild Vanity Palette: pale gold (inner corner)
- Prestige Total Intensity eyeliner in Fierce Blue (lower waterline)
- Physician's Formula cream eyeliner set for blue eyes (black with blue sparks on the upper lashline)
- Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara (Black)

LIPS:
- Clinique Lipstick in Silvery Moon 

For my OOTD, it's the day before Thanksgiving here and I will likely be let out early, so I wore something casual to work (yes, it's Pikachu):


Blazer: Candie's brand, from Kohl's
T-Shirt: Kohl's
Dress Pants: New York & Company
Shoes: Rack Room? Not sure

Lastly, my nails, which I painted yesterday. Macro makes everything look terrible, but what can you do? The base polish is 'Jade' from Forever21 (I put that in quotes because there's a ton of their polishes named Jade) with China Glaze Snow Globe over top. I really love this combo but the F21 polish was taking FOREVER to dry, so much so that 4 hours after I painted it, I managed to smudge an entire nail off! (You can see where some of the tips smudged in the picture, boo.)


Monday, November 21, 2011

Things I Want, Volume 1,000.

I'm bored, so I'm putting up a list of things I want but won't/can't buy.


Neutral Deco Colourblock Dress, £42. Dorothy Perkins.


Buckled Low Wedge Boot, $30.80, shown in Taupe. GoJane.com.


Color Block Oxford Heels, $19.70, shown in Black. GoJane.com.


Madam Rage Lace Dress, £30, New Look.


Lepidoptera Dress, $79.95, Anthropologie.


Lilly Matte Sequin Blouse, £18, Boohoo. Not necessarily this top, but something like it. I love the bow around the top and the slight sheer factor.


Peplum Rosette Top, $22.80, Forever21. Same thing with this as the above top. I've been wanting a sheer-ish long sleeve top for ages but many of them are very oversized, which doesn't suit my shape. This is nice but the bust would be bad on me.


Wide Waistband Pencil Skirt, $34.99, The Limited. Been really into pencil skirts lately.


Merona Essential Cardigan, $22.99, Target. These are some of my favorite cardigans and I've got them in all different sleeve lengths. The only problem is that I wear an XS and they NEVER have my size in store. Ever.


Peter Pan Dress, £23, Primark. I want this so badly but A) they don't have an online store and B) I never know what size I am there; I can be 3 different ones.


Too Faced Sweet Dreams Collection, $52, Sephora.


Inglot 10 Pan Palette, $50, Inglot. I am still debating on colors for this as I wanted to go neutral but then started picking brights and now am up to 7 brights and 1 neutral. -_-


Make Up Store Lipstick in shade Magic, $35.00. Jerry showed me this and UNF. But god, so expensive!

I think that's it for now, and I've fulfilled my boredom.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

FOTD: Pulling Out The Dazzledusts

I can't even tell you the last time I used my Barry M Dazzledusts! I pulled 3 at random and came up with this look (which worked surprisingly well for how randomly I picked them!). I used Glitter Glue with these and found that I didn't have the fading issue that I was having with my Meow/Sugarpill shadows so I'm not really sure what the problem is. I probably should have used an inner corner highlight on this -- meh. I'll stop complaining now ;-)

The photos for this look a little weird and I'm not sure why. I just thought I'd mention that I never photoshop my pictures at all. The most I ever do is adjust the gamma/brightness slightly if it's too dark.






FACE:
- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Hard Candy blush in Living Doll

EYES:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- Darling Girl Glitter Glue
- Barry M Dazzledust #24 Old Gold
- Barry M Dazzledust #89 Oyster Grey
- Barry M Dazzledust #98 Petrol Black (over liner)
- Smashbox eyeliner in Graphite (lower waterline and lid)
- Maybelline One by One Mascara (Black)

LIPS:
- NYX Mega Shine gloss in Chestnut

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

FOTD: Winter is Apparently Hiding

Lady Winter seems to be feeling a bit shy this year as it's mid November and we are in near 80 degree temperatures! I'm not complaining but we keep switching between FREEZING cold (like yelling obscenities the second you go outside) to these lovely warm, humid days. I wish it would just make up its mind.

We had a particularly warm day yesterday so I felt like using some tropical, fun colors. I used my NYX shadows, which I haven't pulled out in forever.





FACE:
- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Hard Candy blush in Living Doll

EYES:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
-NYX eyeshadow in Kiwi
-NYX eyeshadow in Wildfire
- NYX eyeshadow in Red Bean Pie
- Jessie's Girl eye dust in Pixie Dust
- MUA Shimmer pencil in Green
- Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeliner in Green (over top)
- Smashbox eyeliner in Onyx

LIPS:
- Mac Lipglass in Perky

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Reader Input Time! Help Me Choose Between 2 Dresses

Here's the video:



I'd love to hear your opinion!

Makeup photos added 11/15:




I think the eyes were a bit of a 'use your stash' day. I used Accessorize's Merged Shadow in Caramel, Mac Patina, Ulta Eyeshadow in Flirty. I think I used Wet n Wild's Color Icon liner in olive on the upper lash line as well. I honestly couldn't tell you what the lips are -- it might be Maybelline's Pink Please with NYX Chestnut gloss over top.

Hope you enjoyed!

Monday, November 14, 2011

FOTD: Feeling Blue

In case you guys haven't noticed, I've not been posting much lately. I've been a little down and I also pulled my hamstring a few weeks ago, so I've had to go on anti-inflammatories that were making me like a zombie. I was doing makeup but felt like it was shite so I wasn't posting it. I did this look on Saturday before going out shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding, and then for some people to come over in the afternoon, followed by a birthday party in the evening. Yes, I am wearing a cat print dress.

This was my first day of trying out BB cream and I think I'm in love. I'll do a review soon. I'm also pretty sure I've done this same look before, minus the glitter on the lower tear duct that you can't even see. Le sigh.






FACE:
- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light
- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink

EYES:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
-Wet n Wild Blue Had Me at Hello Palette (eyelid and crease shades on the right side)
- Inglot Shine eyeshadow in #31
- Smashbox Limitless eyeliner in Graphite
- Wet n Wild Shimmer eyeliner in Blue
- Urban Decay glitter liner in Distortion
- Clinique Lash Building Mascara (black)

LIPS:
- Mac lipstick in Ever Hip
- Jordana LOL lipgloss in ASAP