Friday, December 31, 2010

NAIL TUTORIAL: Butterflies and water droplets

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Coastal Scents smokey palette and prism palette swatches and mini review!


The Smokey Palette:
This palette includes 36 shadows, each is a little smaller than a nickel. The colors range from light-dark, warm-cool, and matte-shimmer. The palette itself is grouped into six divisible color spectrums, and each spectrum has six complementary shades. Color payoff is good...on some shades, it could be better. Overall, it's worth the $22.95. The possibilities are endless with this one yall! Below are some swatches and some pictures of the palette! 
If you hurry you can get 30% off of the palette! They're black friday/cyber monday offers are going on through Nov. 29th !


 The Prism Palette:
This Palette is the newest 88 palette from coastal scents. The colors include warm neutral tones, beautiful blues, very rich greens, bright pinks, ravishing reds, and vibrant yellows. A majority of the shadows are matte. There are a few shades that have more of a satin finish. The shadows are very pigmented as well. My favorite thing about this palette is how great the colors work for blending! You really get the shades you need to create that smooth seamless effect! Compared to the 88 palette and the 88 shimmer palette, this one truly is different! I know there has been a lot of speculation about whether or not this palette really stands out and away from the rest, and I think it definitely does! The price is just $19.95! Below are pics of the palette and some swatches of some of the shadows.


Monday, November 22, 2010

Profusion holiday palette review & swatches
Let me start off by saying that the price of this palette really drew me in. I had seen it in a couple haul videos and blog posts and so I thought I'd try it! I have yet to see a review on this palette either so I knew it'd be a good one to feature in a blog! $2.99 for 25 shadows is a decent price and the quality of the shadows is nice. Very rich and smooth. They have a very silky or velvety texture to them. So let's get on to the color pay off and color variety! Here are the swatches:
top: NO flash
bottom: WITH flash
The color payoff is not bad at all considering this is a very inexpensive palette and easy to get a hold of! Now..time for the negative things. Take a look at the swatches below of all of the coppery colors and greens from the palette:
 Notice, the colors along side one another are extremely similar. The coppers from the palette are almost exactly alike when swatched and the greens are very close to one another. Looking at these swatches made me realize that really we aren't getting 25 eyeshadows. Essentially, when you subtract the colors that are basically doubles, we are getting about 15 unique shades within the palette. It is great that it is inexpensive, but I wouldn't jump at the chance to scoop up any other palettes from profusion like this one. I regret wasting the money, even if it was only $2.99. That 3 bucks could've been better spent on something else.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Formula 10.0.6 is an absolute treat for the face!

I really don't hear much about this brand, which after trying it, surprises me! I happened to catch a glimpse of it about two weeks ago on a run to the store for face wash. They were completely out of the loreal go 360 clean that I normally use  and so I though I'd try this brand. The packaging is what originally pulled me in. They have a few different products. I plan on trying more now that I've introduced myself to the brand. Their products include cleansers, moisturizers (including a tinted one), acne treatments, and face masks. They have a shine free moisturizer (which I tried out) and a shine free face mask as well. They even have a cleanser and toner in one in their line of products!
http://www.formula1006.com/index.php
^above is the link to their site....which you can order from if you live in the United States. If you are outside of the U.S. check their site for stores and locations these products are sold at!
The first product I tried was the Best face forward cleanser. Keep in mind this is not necessarily a sever acne fighting cleanser. Meaning that there is no salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide in it. It has many other acne fighting properties, however if your looking for something more potent this isn't the one for you. It does cleanse nicely which for me has helped minimize breakouts but if you suffer from severe acne issues, you may want to go for something with stronger acne fighting ingredients in it or try some of their acne treatments.

This cleanser really forms a nice lather and leaves your skin feeling super clean and ready to absorb a moisturizer! It's ingredients include passionfruit, green tea, and chamomile. Passionfruit has refreshing and calming properties and helps reduce oiliness. Green tea soothes skin and provides antibacterial and anti-inflamatory benefits. Finally, chamomile is a great ingredient for skin care products especially where inflammation may be present, such as in various skin problems, including acne, irritation and other forms of rashes and skin complaints, plus t it promotes granulation and cell regeneration.

 Deep down detox is just one of their face masks. Had they had the full line available when I went shopping I would have tried the shine free mask or the pores be pure mask. However, this one is great! It is a great refreshing face mask. After following the directions on the back my skin felt great! I got a nice cooling effect from it upon rinsing it off and my skin felt smooth almost instantly. I can't wait to try the other 2 types or face masks they have available!
 
The ingredients in this face mask include orange, bergamot, and sea salt. The orange uplifts and refreshes. It also rejuvenates and tones the skin leaving it clear, refreshed and hydrated. I liked that my skin felt smooth and hydrated without being oily. I have oily combo skin and so when I see hydration I usually run for fear I will end up more oily than before, but this mask work great! Bergamot is considered to be an antiseptic, and it regenerates and balances the skin. The sea salt serves as a gentle exfoliant and really thickens the mask and give it a nice texture for a great application.

Now we're at the final product I tried out, and my favorite of them all! The seriously shine free mattifying oil free moisturizer. I love this moisturizer. I have nothing negative to say it. It left my skin smooth and gave me a mattifying effect just like it said. I have very little issues with my oiliness throughout the day and my makeup went on flawlessly with a perfect finish. I really hope to try the no time to shine face mask soon. I'm sure the 2 work phenomenal together! I have seen very few review online for this, but on the ulta website I came across some people saying that it didn't work and that it smelled bad. There was no bad smell what so ever, it fact I really didn't notice any particular scent at all. I have to also disagree with it not working....It worked wonders for my oiliness! 

The ingredients in the moisturizer include aloe vera and bamboo extract. Aloe vera is very rich in minerals and nutrients, and is known for its hydrating, soothing, moisturizing and healing properties. The Bamboo used in Formula 10.0.6 products is called Greensil. Greensil is a natural absorbent and mattifying agent. It mattifies the skin's surface and leaves it with a soft and very smooth feel.

These are really great! I can't believe I hadn't tried these before! Their overnight success acne spot treatment, one smooth operator exfoliating scrub, pores be pure face mask, no time to shine face mask, and tinted moisturizer are next on my list of things to try!


Monday, November 15, 2010

Booty from me latest plunder! AARRGG!


I have recently become a bath junkie addict! I can't help myself! I mean you can walk in and pick from a variety of products and then you get to pick your fragrance and color you wish for the product to be! They have everything from salt scrub to laundry detergent and their fragrances include popular perfume dupes, earthy scents like dirt (which is actually a very interesting fragrance), fruity smells, florals, and even fresh baked goods! I also took advantage of grabbing some holiday items and some cupcake scented antibacs from bath and body works. Let me tell you...the red velvet hand sanitizer smells just like red velvet cake, which happens to be my favorite...it's also the cake my husband and I had on our wedding day =] YUM! Finally I grabbed up some NYX stuff and an L.A. colors foundation (completely out of curiosity)! =] You can look for these products in my future videos ;-}

Friday, November 12, 2010

AS REQUESTED>>>A REVIEW of Urban Decay's NAKED palette & swatches

Let me start by saying....LOVE IT! What's not to love? $44 for 12 eyeshadows 2 eyeliner pencils and a primer! The shadows are wonderful quality like other urban decay shadows. The colors are all neutral but can be used to put together a natural look or a bold look. The finishes include matte, shimmer, and even sparkly! The 24/7 liners are well.....24/7 liners...and if you have tried them before you know how great they are! Really creamy, easy to smudge, and long wearing even in the waterline. It's nice that you get both a brown (shade is called whiskey) and a black (shade is called zero) The primer potion you get with it is the smaller sized one that comes with most UD palettes. Another attractive element is that Urban Decay Products are cruelty free products so you can use this and rest assured that an animal was NOT used to test it! =] Appealing isn't it?

Urban decay and I have a very inconsistent relationship. Their items are always either hit or miss for me, never an in between or an ok sometimes. I love their mineral makeup, primers, single shadows, 24/7 liners, plumping lip gloss, big fatty mascara, and now their naked palette. I am not a fan of many of their palettes (I'll explain why later), their regular lipglosses, any of their bronzer or blush products, or their tinted moisturizers, or their brushes. For a while I have avoided buy any of their palettes. Here is why: A long time ago I purchased the book of shadows and really liked it so I bought the book of shadows volume II and liked them both. When I heard they were coming out with an alice in wonderland palette, I couldn't contain myself! I bought it the day it came out and when I got home and opened it my buzz was killed by the realization that the book of shadows vol II and the alice in wonderland palette were nearly identical. Several palettes they later released were also similar to the books of shadows or to each other. So you can imagine why I wasn't quite jumping for excitement when I heard they were going to be releasing another palette summer of 2010. I tried ignoring the hype, but eventually really researched it and realized I wanted it....desperately. Of course it was sold out...EVERYWHERE! So I waited patiently for ulta to email me when it came back in to stock and it finally did in october. It is so unique from Urban Decay's other palettes! So here's the close ups of the palette and the swatches::


WITH FLASH:
WITHOUT FLASH:
Swatched below from left to right:
toasted, hussle, creep, and gunmetal
Swatched below on the top from left to right:
Virgin, Sin, Naked, and Sidecar 

 Swatched below on the bottom from left to right:
Buck, Half Baked, Smog, & Dark Horse







Wednesday, October 27, 2010





FACE OF THE DAY:

 FACE:
Nivea moisturizing cream
smashbox photofinish primer
Rimmel Stay Matte foundation in shade 300 sand
Elf bronzing powder in matte bronze
Elf Studio blush in mellow mauve
The body shop blush on radiace (as a highlight)
Mac minerlize skinfinish natural in medium plus
Benefit powderflage 

EYES:
UDPP in sin
WetnWild color icon palette in vanity (lightest matte shade on lid, middle matte shade in outer corner and crease, and lightest shimmer shade as a highlight and in inner corner)
NYC brow/liner pencil in shade 922 brown on ipper lash line
UD 24/7 in flipside on lower lash lin and water line
CG waterproof lash blast volume mascara in black brown

LIPS:
EOS lip balmin summer fruit
NYX round lipstick in iris

OUTFIT OF THE DAY:
 Zara Sweater in robin's egg
Zara basic collection top
Forever 21 Bow necklace in whtie and gold
 Mossimo Dutti Leather belt in camel
Rue 21 jeans 
 BKE boots from buckle
etsy earrings
forever21 bangles from 2 different sets
Zales diamond twist ring