SmashBox Vignette

        
        When I first noticed this trio,, I was extremely happy. The color Amethyst is what drew me in. Its this really pretty light plum/purple color with a gorgeous gold shimmer. It also comes with Parfait ( Almost white/cream baby pink) and Aubergine ( Dark Plum). Nothing to extraordinary about those two colors to me. So back to Amethyst. I played around with this trio for a few days before doing this review, so that I could have my mind made up. At first I did a really bold cut crease look so that I could have a lot of amethyst blended out,, although when its blended it almost turns into a rustic color,, weird. so today I thought I would make it center focus and use it just on the lid for a light smokey look. And it turned purple. This shade is so unpredictable. When it is used lightly, its more rust, when used a lot, its purple and almost none of that golden shimmer. In either scenario it looks nothing like the swatch. And at $28 + tax,, its not incredibly cheap either, rather expensive considering its 2.76g. This trio was a huge letdown to me =( I included pics below of the trio, swatch, and what it comes off as on my lid (bright purple). none of the pics are edited, so you can see how different this color really is when used. =/

 

Almay Smart Shade #30 Coral

              So With Fall quickly approaching, I have been on the hunt for a more apricot/orange blush. I know those were quite popular this summer,, but I was very into my golden toned pinks. With that being said, I never realized how hard it is to come across a good Apricot colored blush. I wanted to play around with this color on the more inexpensive side before I took to dishing out almost $30 on a good one, which proved to be quite difficult. I found a couple at my local target, but wasn't very impressed. Maybelline fit me has one,, but it was too shimmery for me,, as were most of the others I found. But as I was about to give up, on the bottom shelf, tucked away, I came across an Almay blush. Now Almay is usually a brand I just look over, to me there isn't much that peaks my interest. But, when I looked at the colors, I was immediately impressed. There was hardly any shimmer, and the color is perfect. So I had to have it. I was super excited when I swatched it, as it is true to color and nicely pigmented; not to sheer. It retails for about $11 I believe. So one of the more expensive drugstore blushes, but it is worth every penny to me. By far the best Orange toned blush you can get at your local Target or Walmart, in my opinion!

 

 

 

Smashbox Heatwave Eyeshadow Palette

         Let me start by saying how excited I was to get this. To me, this is the perfect summer palette. The colors are just so beautiful and remind me of something I would see in a desert sunset!! They are super pigmented, but soft, if that makes sense. The ten colors are as follows,

1.Matte Peach
2.Golden Coppery Brown
3.Matte Light Brown
4.Golden Peach
5.Gold
6.Super Shimmery Highlighter Color
7.Shimmery Gray
8.Shimmery Blue Gray
9.Muted Purple
10.Smokey Brown

     You will have to forgive how I described some of the colors, they're not named, just numbered on the back of the palette.

      I have been playing around with this for the last week and have just fallen in love. I mean it is perfect for when you want to wear color but not go dramatic, but you deff could with this if you really wanted to. I mean I have been doing everything from soft and smoky to lots of color to wearing this with super bright lipsticks to nude colors. So safe to say it is really versatile.

     It retails for $48. I can already see into the future that I'm going to put a dent in these shadows. I would deff repurchase this. Probably my fave buy of the year!!! pics below guys =)

 

 

What My Blog Name Means

         There are two main loves in my life besides my family. My makeup, and my dog. I felt it only fitting to make the name a combination of both!! Her name is Mini. I have had her since she was 8 weeks old and she turns one next month!! She goes everywhere with me,,, and can hike like a boss!!! Most of you probably know she is a Boston Terrier. This breed of dog has a weakness in my heart. I couldn't imagine life without a Boston. But enough of my little rant, just thought Id share this little fun fact!

FOTD- Mary Kay Eyeshadows and Mineral Bronzing Powder

          So let me just start by saying what a huge letdown Mary Kay was for me. The products are so tiny, and they're not that cheap either. I ordered four eye shadows; Precious Pink, Gold Coast, Honey Spice, and Sienna, and The Mineral Bronzing Powder in Desert Sun. I also got the Timewise Luminous Wear foundation, but I am going to review that separately. These eye shadows cost about $7 a piece for .05 oz or 1.4g. They don't even come in any type of packaging, just a little tin in a plastic case. I might not even have been to upset about that had I known, but I didn't. I know a lot of people use the Z Palettes, but since I don't have one, I'm kind of upset. But moving on, I think the shadows are pretty enough, but maybe not worth seven dollars a piece to me. I mean I spent $28 on four!!!! When I look at it that way, there are so many other palettes or whatnots I would have rather spent the money on. The Quality is so so. There isn't a lot of fallout, if any, but it goes on a bit sheer, so deff need to layer it. Which is another downside since they are so small!

         I also got one of the Bronzing Powders in Desert Sun. I may be even more disappointed in this then the eye shadows. It comes in the Same type of packaging and you get .16 oz or 4.5g. This I believe was $12. The colors of it are horrible. I was expecting something softer, Instead I got a very coppery bronzer and a very shiny foil like highlighter. I probably wont be using this one. Maybe as an eye shadow?? hmm. Anyways, enough of my rant, here are pics and swatches. Thanks guys =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Essence #52 In The Nude

             This Lipstick was a total impulse buy. Ulta sends me coupons pretty regularly so I love an excuse to use them. I thought for only $3, I wont be to disappointed if this lipstick is a fail. Oh My God!!! I loved it!! So much in fact that I went and bought another just to keep in my car. The color is just perfect for me. It comes off kind of sheer, so deff have to do a little bit of layering. It is also pretty glossy, but not to much, just enough for my liking. And whereas some other lipsticks with similar creamy/glossy textures will settle into the fine lines on my lips and look horrific, this one glides pretty smoothly and has a nice even finish! The staying power is only about an hour and a half to two hours. So its probably not one I will be wearing if I cant touch it up often. That's the only downside. But this is a deff win in my book!! Sorry about the bad phone quality pics =/

Revlon Colorstay 16 hour Eye Shadow in Bombshell



             I'm Usually not the biggest Revlon fan. To me their products are just kind of blahh. Sorry guys. But I happened to come across this on clearance at Ulta for like two bucks and I couldn't resist. This pale yellow is so pretty, my mind starting going frantic with all the things I wanted to do with it! The White has just the slightest bit of shimmer to it, but it is probably one of the better cheap white eyeshadows I have come across. Wasn't to impressed with either gray shade. the lighter of the two has a tiny bit of glitter in it and the darker is pretty sheer. But since I have a million different shades of blacks and grays I wont complain. I think this particular quad is still available at most drugstores and Target, and sells for around $9? It is pretty true to color, but there was quite a bit of fallout. I am still overall pretty happy with this. This is the look I went for with this, pretty simple, but fun =)

For this look I used

-Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow in Bombshell
-Rimmel Scandaleyes in Witness White
-Loreal Wear Infinate Eyeshadow in Lush Raven
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara
-Ulta Automatic Eyeliner in Black

 

 

 

 

          

 

Nailed it or Failed it,Guerlain Coup De Foudre look dupe.

          So a few days ago I came across this gorgeous palette from Guerlain. It is their 2013 spring edition Coup De Foudre Palette. OMG, it is so gorgeous. How I did not know about this I'm not sure. I dont believe it is still available,but please correct me if I'm wrong. Moving on tho, this palette retails for $59!!!!!! Like really??? plus tax and shipping in my case if I ordered it so easily over $70, for 4 colors.......... Now dont get me wrong, I can spend some money on makeup, but I just could not justify spending that on four colors. I dont care what the packaging looks like. especially when I was pretty sure I had similar colors already. Not exact dupes, but close enough to my liking. Since I havent seen this palette in person I googled some swatches of it and I posted the link below to the original photo. The girls blog who did the swatches did a really prettylook with it btw.

http://www.solonelyingorgeous.com/2013/05/oh-thou-doth-teach-torches-to-burn.html

Now these are the colors I decided to use from my own collection.

 

 

Like I said, Not exact dupes but close enough for me. The coral I used obvioulsy has a gold shimmer to it instead of matte. I did swatches on kind of the thin side too, So its not really layered on like the first picture. the colors I used are as follows from left to right.

 

1. The Olive Green Color in Loreal HIP studio secrets 306 Gunmetal-$7?

2.Light Green color in Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette-$5

3.Coral Color in NYX Love in Florence, Eat, Love, and Be Fab-$5?

4.Mushroom by Urban Decay.-$18

- So my total = $35 before tax and no shipping,, plus you get a ton of other colors. thats a win for me!

 

This is the look I was going for with this palette. I found this picture on Pintrest, Unfortunately there wasnt a link attached to it, so if anyone knows the original site of this picture, please tell me so I can update this. Im not a fan of using other peoples pictures without proper citations.

 

 



So this is totally Gorgeous Right???? And below is my dupe look. So tell me. did I Nail it or fail if =p

Battle of the Quads!! ft. Charlotte Ronson, Rimmel london, and Maybelline.

            So with it getting steadily hotter and turning into Summer, I have been obsessed with golden toned eyeshadows. I have been buying almost all of them. It was today that I realized I had three that are almost identical. I wasn't sure if I should be happy, or feel dumb that I didn't notice it. So I decided to share them with you guys and let you decide!! They are as follows

1. -Rimmel London in Sun Safari
2.- Maybelline EyeStudio in Copper chic
3.-Charlotte Ronson in Nicole

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Even tho these shades are pretty much identical, I think the swatches can pretty much show the difference in the quality. Don't get me wrong, I have been using the Rimmel quad for the past week. I think it is gorgeous, however there is a bit of fallout and the taupe shade is quite sheer, which I think is great for day use bc I can use it to just blend down some of these more coppery tones. Maybelline is probably my favorite drugstore brand of eye makeup, tied with loreal!! the swatches come off really rich, the picture deff doesn't do them justice! As for the Charlotte Ronson quad, I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I had difficulty rubbing the brown shade off my arm and I didn't use a primer. So needless to say I have high hopes for that one! these are all pretty easy to come across. I bought the rimmel at CVS for $7, Maybelline is $7 at target or walmart and $10 at ulta, the Charlotte Ronson quad is on clearance for $15 at Sephora.com I really love all of these. I don't think anyone needs all three, but depending on where you are at, deff a summer must =)

 





Look of the day- Sephora + Pantone

Alright so it has been quite some time since I last posted. Slacking I know. But I am back on top of things now. took some personal time away from the computer = p. But anyways, moving on! Today I was feeling pretty creative. Ive seen a lot of different color combinations using this way of creating a smokey look and I figured I would give it a go today. let me know what you guys think =)


So I did this only using four things
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Rimmel Scandaleyes in Guilty Gray
-Sephora+Pantone Universe Metals Palette
-Maybelline ultra liner

So let me just say I am in Love with this palette from sephora. Ive had it for several months and it is probably my favorite palette I own. I will post a picture of it below. ( the picture is not mine,, random google image and I came across a site that has reviewed and swatched it so I will include that link so I dont have to repeat the process, its a really good review) I mean it is just beautiful. Its not available in store anymore,, but it can still be ordered from amazon for those who dont have it!!

Have a great day ladies =)

 

http://www.allurabeauty.com/2012/review-swatches-sephora-pantone-universe-precious-metals-shadow-palette/

30 Day makeup challenge day 11

 Do you like wearing Bronzer?

I never used to. In fact, until the past few months I dont even think I owned any. I like the fact that I have really fair skin, and bronzer always kind of looked ridiculous on me. Even now, I only use it to create a little bit of a glow. It is hard for me to get a bronzer that can go with my skin tone, and I dont know if this is something I do or if other people do it as well, but if I feel like I do need a bronzer, but dont want to look like a clown, I will just buy a powder foundation 2-3 shades darker then what I am and it has the same effect without looking orange on my skin. I dont know, maybe I'm weird lol. Have a good day guys =)

30 day makeup challenge day 10

Alright ladies,, the question for day 10 =)

What is your favorite makeup brush?

This one made me think a little bit. I'm not sure to answer this as a favorite brush brand type or favorite type of brush.........Hmmmmmm

I guess I'll just answer both =)

I would have to say my favorite brand is Real Techniques. I think these are extremely reasonably priced for the amzing quality that you get. I mean I can get around 4-5 brushes for around $20. I have payed more then that for a single eyeshadow brush. That gives them 5 stars with me =)

My favorite type of brush has to be an eyeshadow brush tho. and if I had to pick one, it would be something similar to the brush that comes in the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. It is a very simple brush and to me it was the selling point of the palette. I'm not one of those people that uses 10 different brushes to achieve a look. I feel like I can acomplish any look by using around 2 brushes and by putting the right amount of product in the right spot. The way I see it is, relating this to art, is that I can have the best and most expensive brushes out there, and that's not going to make me a master artist. A certain amount of skill is required as well. Don't get me wrong, the right tools will deff get you a long way. I just dont feel like anyone should have to spend $30 on a single brush designed to do one thing, So when you come across great brushes in palettes, take advantage of that!!!

Hope this gives some insight as to my faves. Have a good night guys!!

30 Day Makeup Challenge day 9

Alright so this one is pretty straight forward, it justs asks for a picture of my makeup collection. So here you go =)

 

All of my eyeshadow palettes 

 

Face/ lip products. (this is actually a little more extensive then it looks)

 

All of my eyeshadow singles.

 

 

 

If anyone has any questions about anything inparticular please feel free to ask =)