Stardust swatches

My friend Emily cut my hair the other day. I love it, she always does my hair so cute. ^_^ Here's an eyehance (I was using the Maybelline Earthly Glow palette). I got some Stardust samples I ordered in the mail recently. Here are the swatches of the colors I chose from the new Spring 2010 Simple Pleasures collection. From left to right: Sun N Clouds, Morning Grass, Juicy Flower, Goddess Green, Bliss blush, In love blush I LOVE Sun N Clouds, and Goddess Green is a really interesting color too. The blushes are pretty, but not really the right colors for me (I also am not partial to matte blushes). I ordered some other samples too, and this order has pretty much confirmed I need every Stardust color! I am always so impressed, the colors are so much more beautiful IRL than the website pictures capture. From left to right: Serene, Lady of the Lake, Tranquil, Turquoise, Sweet Spot Serene is a gorgeous and unique color, I'm sad the pictures don't do it justice. Tranquil is also the BRIGHTEST damn blue, sadly it didn't show up too well. I can't wait to use it with a primer, because it will pop. From left to right: Extragalactic, Magic Moss, Tender, Sunstorm, Moondance Isn't Extragalactic awesome? I was really "meh" about Sunstorm and Moondance until I actually swatched them, but now I realize how beautiful they are. Also... why the hell didn't I order any taupes when there's a whole section of them? *sigh* I'll have to get some next time. I would like to get a few full sizes, and I'm totally fine with that since full sizes are only $4.50, and LE's are $5.25! Have you tried any of the new Stardust colors yet?

Meow Cosmetics revisited

I liked the look of Meow's Wild Child collection, so even though I wasn't really pleased with my last order, it was quite a few months ago and I decided Meow was worth another shot. I got some Wild Child samples, and some samples of their Taboo blush. I felt ripped off by the shipping price... $4.35 for 10 samples? That's almost half the cost of my order. I just paid less than $3 in shipping for a Hi Fi order with 3 full size shadows, 14 samples, and a big gel blush. So this seemed unreasonable to me. I did get it in the mail pretty quickly, with a "feliner" sample, and a bronzer sample. My swatches are with bare skin on the left, Concrete Minerals primer on the right. I don't normally do swatches with primer, but since these are all pretty glittery, they really needed that base. All the bare skin swatches I went over 3-4 times, and they still weren't totally opaque. Pixie Epoxy is a must for these shadows. From left to right: BFF, bt dubs, TTYL, sexy time, TMI, geek cred I like all these colors, they're bright and pretty. I also got the Wild Child blush in Hang Up after seeing it on some blogs... I thought it looked pretty close to bt dubs, so I swatched them next to each other. bt dubs is on the left, hang up is on the right. Although this picture leans way more gold than peach, you can still see how similar the colors are. I can't tell them apart. Here are the blushes in totally crappy lighting, the sun kept going away as soon as I got ready to take the picture. >:[ These are actually very vibrant and shimmery irl. Left to right: Exposure, Dirty Talk, Racy I love the blushes, I think they're gorgeous. So this pretty much makes Meow a mixed bag for me. If they put out another collection I like, I'll order samples, but I'm not satisfied enough to become a regular customer like I am with other companies. What are your thoughts on Meow?

Thoughts & blog love

I was going to do swatches of a lot of recent products today, but it's totally rainy and nasty, so that's out of the question. I thought I'd throw in all my random thoughts about some makeup things as of late. I got an email from Urban Decay about their new product, the Face Case. It's called the face case and is only $14, but in the email it says it's smaller than your cell phone. So, that picture has to be pretty close to actual size, right? That's tiny as hell. I'll have to wait and see it in person at Ulta when I move. I decided to have a look at Glittersniffer Cosmetics the other day just to see if anything had changed. I have never ordered because although the owner custom makes a lot of colors, some are just TKB on a base. I don't mind if a company does that, but unless they specifically state it on the product listing, I think it's kind of cheating. However, from looking around, it seems all the colors that were just TKB with a base are out of the shop. It's mostly newer colors, a lot of which are extremely gorgeous. I'll probably place an order soon now that it seems to be 100% uniquely created colors. Morgana Minerals has just released the Get Medieval Shadow Collection! I think I might have to get a sample set of the whole thing, I absolutely love the colors and I'm so excited to try them. Plus I can grab myself a tube of Coraline's Kiss lipstick while I'm at it ;] I thought I'd also include a list of blogs I've recently started following. I love finding cool new blogs to follow and I'm going to assume everyone else does too! DazzleGlam drift closely Fancy Geek Kiss Prints Miss Kinky Lipstick & Eyes One of Beauty's Daughters Rugby Beauty Sparklz & Shine spinster-in-training The Girl With Many Eyes Question: should I get a twitter? I'd use it for talking to you guys and MMU companies and stuff.

Drugstore disasters & something awesome

Today I thought I'd share with you some drugstore products I've gotten that are totally shitty, so you can avoid wasting your time with them! Offender #1: Almay clear complexion liquid makeup Supposedly it helps clear up the blemishes you're concealing. I call bullshit on that, but at least it's ok as a regular concealer, right? WRONG! It has the worst, messiest packaging know to man. I'll let the picture speak for themselves. Yeah, that's hair stuck in it. Extra gross. And this crap costs $12! I also just remembered the Almay eyeliner I got once, which was supposed to be hypoallergenic blahblah and great for contact users! I always get liner from my waterline in my contacts, so I got it. AND IT BURNED LIKE THE DICKENS :P I don't like Almay. Offender #2: Physician's Formula Circle Rx under eye concealer Oh the horror! It claims to reduce your under-eye circles in two weeks... lies. I've been using it for almost a month and I see no noticeable difference. As an under eye concealer, I actually like it, but once again, the packaging kills the product. Do you see that? It's a freaking bubble. This stuff bubbles and spills everywhere. It has a squeeze tube which I've never actually needed to squeeze, because everything comes gushing out by itself. Also, the top part of the packaging (not the lid) just pops off all the time. A waste of $8! Avoid! Offender #3: Revlon lip gloss in shade Coral Reef Photo from Mizz Worthy's Stuff Coral Reef is on the left. I bought it without even looking at the price tag, because I thought Mizz Worthy's lip swatch picture made it look so gorgeous. It was $9, which is a total ripoff to me, since most drugstore glosses (in my opinion) tend to be about the same. It wasn't sheer, and the color was gorgeous, but no matter what I did, I would end up with little bald patches on my lips. I couldn't get an even coating to save my life, and it made every little spot on my lips show up and look horrible (like you would need to use a lip scrub beforehand). I returned it. But for all these totally lame products, there has been one bright shiny star that I've been using every day. Enter the limited edition Maybelline palette in Earthly Glow! Yes, I happened to run into Walgreens right as all the new makeup displays were being set up, and I finally saw the Salsa Sun collection! I think this is AMAZING. Pigmentation is good, the shadows are so soft they're almost creamy, and you get 8 GORGEOUS earth tone shades for only $10. Sorry my carpet is so gross! These swatches make the red-brown and brown shade look the same, but they aren't. The first color is there, it just matches my skin tone so well it's hard to see. If you've been disappointed by lame drugstore colors, buy this. It's awesome. The trios from Salsa Sun are also really pretty, but I needed more than 3 colors obviously! For some drugstore sales, Physician's Formula is 40% off at CVS, and Rimmel & Wet'n Wild are BOGO free. Last time I was at Walgreens, Rimmel was half off as well.

Concrete Minerals review

A few weeks ago I placed an order from Concrete Minerals. I've been really lazy about getting a review done, but at least that's given me time to play with my products. I felt really confident ordering from their Etsy shop, because it just seemed to be NOT repackaged. I know you can't tell until you actually get your product, but the colors didn't seem familiar (Pops collection, anyone?), and they don't have a ton, which made me think that they spent time developing their own unique shades. None of the shades seem repackaged to me, you can feel safe knowing you're getting a unique product! I ordered 7 eyeshadow samples ($1 each), and a primer sample ($3). Their eyeshadow sample baggies are GIANT. I like that the big size makes it easier for me to not Hulk-rip every bag and ruin it, but it's also harder to get the brush to reach the pigment. I also like how it tells you the exact amount you're getting right on the baggies, along with an ingredients listing. Left to right, no primer: Hearts, Napalm, Juvenile, Bang-Up, Souljourner, Unity, and Seance. Some of these colors had shimmers that don't show up without a primer, such as Unity- there are gold sparkles you can't really see on bare skin. Juvenile is a really unique color. It can be either yellow or chartreuse, depending on the lighting. I really like Hearts and Napalm. I am SO IMPRESSED with the primer! I absolutely adore it. I don't have comparison this-many-hours pictures with it vs. UDPP, but for me, they perform exactly the same. My sample with .1 oz was only $3, UDPP is $17 for .34 oz. A full size of the Concrete Minerals primer is $9 for .35 oz. It is buttery soft, and has some shimmer to it. Here are some swatches using UDPP and Concrete Minerals primer. The purple shade is CM's Unity, the green is UD's Acid Rain. The left is dry, the middle is using UDPP, and the right is using the CM primer. If you don't have either, I'd save the money and buy the Concrete Minerals primer. Overall, I really like this company. One thing that does bother me is how some of the colors look different from their pictures on the website. But they have good prices, (a full size shadow is $6), unique colors, and an awesome primer, so I'll be placing an order again soon! Have you tried Concrete Minerals? What do you think of it so far?

Watermelon LOTD

My friend was watching me put on makeup and she said it looked like a watermelon, heehee. The Fancy Lad pink shade actually have beautiful green sparkles in it, but sadly they didn't really show up in the pictures. What I used: Concrete Minerals eye primer Pixie Epoxy The Fancy Lad, by Fyrinnae (inner lid) Electro, by Stardust (middle of lid) Return to Tiffany's, by Aromaleigh (outer lid) Banana Mochi, by Fyrinnae (crease) Sugar, by Hi Fi (highlight, heavily blended in) Covergirl eyeliner in brown black Urban Decay Lingerie lash primer Rimmel Lash Maxxx mascara Milani powder mosaic blush in Sweet Cheeks Physician's Formula Rx undereye concealer Revlon PhotoReady translucent finishing powder In case you haven't already seen it somewhere, Haute Look will be having Urban Decay on Tuesday. Last time I got 4 different things for only $20 plus s&h! I love Urban Decay so much, it is definitely my favorite high end brand. My boyfriend is letting me order what I want off the sale as my birthday present (18 on May 10th, yay!). I love him so much :) I hope everyonehad a lovely weekend! Oh yeah, and I just remembered this is my 100th post! How exciting. One last side note: does anyone know where I can find a [mostly] complete swatch collection of the Revlon Colorburst lipsticks?

Neutral with a kick

Hey ladies! Before I show my my look, I just wanted to say I have a lot of things planned for future posts, lots of reviews and things I'm really excited to show you. Also, I'm going to have a giveaway... sometime before I move in August. Once again my hours are getting docked at work, so I really won't have the extra cash right now, but I imagine that will change in a few weeks. I wanted to do a fairly neutral look for work, but I wanted a berry color mixed with it, so it's not too boring. I am really loving browns and taupes right now! What I used: Sugar, by Hi Fi (very blended into inner lid) Maybelline Silken Taupe (inner lid) Berry Exclusive, by Fusion of Color (outer lid) Willow, by Aromaleigh (crease) Tell Me Lies, by Hi Fi (highlight) Covergirl eyeliner in brown black Urban Decay Lingerie lash primer Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara Physician's Formula Rx undereye concealer Revlon PhotoReady translucent finishing powder Stila lipstick in Michaela (my YLBB shade) Added bonus... I caught my kitty in mid-lick :D

Drugstore Hunting

Remember how a while ago I said drugstore makeup has been really boring and disappoing to me lately? There's some things out now that I actually want! Unfortunately, I've been checking Walmart, Target, Meijer, Walgreens, and CVS for some of these items, but haven't found any of them so far! Here's what I'm lemming: The palettes from the Maybelline Salsa Sun collection (images from A Blonde Obsession) I've also been searching high and low for the Revlon Scents of Summer polishes, but I can't find them anywhere! The thought of a scented polish does not sound appealing to me, but I really would love the colors Beach and Ocean Breeze. Body and Soul has some swatches here. I think this elf blush/highlighter thingy in shade Gotta Glow (as seen on Unnecessary Drama) looks really nice. And you know it's cheap, since it's elf. I also saw a swatch of a taupe CoverGirl shadow, but now I cant find the blog or remember the shadow name! The "Taupes You Can't Have" posts by Pink Sith have made me love taupe shadows, so I'm on the lookout for cheap taupes I CAN have. I'm looking on the CG website right now, and I'm going to assume it's the one called Tapestry Taupe. Drugstores can't give me my brights, but maybe I can find some nice neutrals. Have you found any of these babies anywhere yet? I think Rite Aid is where everyone's getting them, but we don't have one here. Any drugstore items you're currently craving? And some exciting news, a Sephora is opening up where I live! It should be completed about 2 months before I move away, so hopefully I'll have enough time to stock up on everything before I leave ;]

Fusion of Color review

I'm sorry I'm behind with answering comments and reading everyone's blogs. We have some really difficult things going on in my family right now, and I've been working a lot, so it's just hard to find the time. The products reviewed were sent to me at no cost by Fusion of Color Cosmetics. So ya know ;] The website is pretty clean and professional looking. Sometimes it can be somewhat confusing, as there are categories within categories, and some links don't actually have any products in them. Everything has a star rating under it, and most things have about 3 stars, although I didn't see any actual written reviews of anything. The package was sent out very quickly. I got an email on the 7th saying it was shipped, and I got it on the 9th. It came nicely bubble wrapped up, with a business card, and my 6 eyeshadow samples in a bag. They were all in shrink wrapped jars, which I love. I always get nervous the jars will come open, so the shrink wrap was a nice touch. All the jars are very pretty, I love the little design on them! The back of the jars are great too, because they contain not just the shade name, but a complete ingredients list. Honestly I couldn't care less about ingredients (I know, I know), but I realize that's something a lot of people really want on their products. They also have the website address and the brick and mortar address on the label. I was sent 6 eyeshadow samples. Here are swatches. From left to right: Berry Exclusive, Sand, Berries Galore, Brocade, Lemon Drop, Blue Skies There aren't really the screaming bright colors I typically buy available, but I really love the ones I got. I wish you could see how unique Brocade is, it has a black-brown-olive base with green shimmer. It's so gorgeous and unique, I don't have anything like it at all. I like all the colors a lot, none are similar to anything I already own- I don't believe anything is repackaged. Pricing is fairly competitive, with half size shadows costing only $4.50, full sizes costing $8, and blush is $7. You can choose whether or not you want the sifter in your eyeshadow, which is nice. You can also buy the shadows in a half size, or a sample size for $1.50. So, my only real concern here is with the website, as it's kind of weird at some spots. As for the actual products, I love what I got, especially Brocade. I would order again. :)

Darn you enablers and your nail blogs!

To start things off, my mom dug around and found her lil Konad set she bought around 6 years ago after seeing me browse through some nail blogs. Here is her Easter Sunday Konadicure. Cute huh? I've been so obsessed with polish lately- it's what I look for now instead of makeup when I go out shopping. Don't worry, makeup will always be #1 in my heart! I have just exhausted pretty much every avenue in the way of drugstore makeup- I can never find anything I want anymore. I only buy boring makeup things from drugstores or Sally Beauty now, like concealer, or powder... bleh. It's online makeup shopping for me. But nail polish, I find a lot I like in stores! I want to place an order soon from Transdesign or Victoria Nail Supply. I thought it would be interesting to show you my nail polish collection before and after I started devouring nail blogs. BEFORE- my collection at the end of December NEW&USED: polishes I've bought since then, and tried UNUSED- polishes I have bought since then but have not yet tried Let me now show you just the before & after pics of my collection together! DECEMBER 2009 APRIL 2010 I never had any base or top coats before! I'd like to take a picture again in a few months to see how the collection has grown. If you want to know what a color is, just tell me where it is in the picture and I'll let you know (images are clickable for full size). I tried to at least keep the brand labels showing to make it easier. I have the next two days off from work, so I can paint my nails! Yay! I follow a lot of nail blogs, but these are the ones that most often cause my lemmings: Body and Soul GETCHA NAILS DID Let's Go Sparkling Lissa's Nails Little Music Boxes Polish Mayhem I follow a ton of other great polish/nail design blogs too, go to the right of my page and you can find many many more. Are you ready for this week? I'm not T_T