Sparkle is my Crack!

Sun n' Clouds!

2010-04-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

I just got the new Simple Pleasures Spring collection from Stardust and I've been in love. My favorites of the collection are Sun n' Clouds, Crystal Nude and Sparklefiend (what a cute name!). Simple Pleasures is a must have!

I'm working until midnight tonight, so I wanted something simple, but fancy enough to go out after.

What I used:
-Stardust Simple Pleasures Sun n' Clouds- Soft gray base with an intense golden frost
-Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero- black
-Random matte black shadow
-Stardust Simple Pleasures In Love Blush- Muted cool toned rose. Soft matte finish
-Stardust luminizer in Dewy- Natural glow
-Revlon matte lipstick in Pink Pout

Hehe I have my flying pig pajamas on!

I used Elf Primer all over lid, then gently patted on Sun n' Clouds. The golden sheen is much more vibrant in person! Then I lined with Zero and patted on a matte black over top.

I really like "In Love" blush. This is pretty much my natural skintone in the picture above...basically like a neutral white. In Love gives such a nice flush, not too much. I added Dewy just above my non-existent cheekbones to add a bit of shine!

Here's a totally odd blurry pic that shows Sun n' Clouds true color. A gentle grey that flashes gold (and do I detect a tiny hint of green?).

What are your plans for the weekend?? Anything fun? Have you tried the Spring Stardust collection?

I'm baaa-aaack!!!

2010-04-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Didja miss me? No? Well, screw you then ;o)

I've been up to a bunch of different things, work at the bookstore is going great, but I'm averaging 5-6 days a week and its certainly taking its toll! School is fine, just boring and almost over for the semester (yay! 2 weeks off haha!). I've also been reading like crazy...I think its working at the bookstore, it just makes me want to read everything I can get my paws on! Add me if you are on Goodreads (or sign up if you love reading!).

I also learned to crochet for the sole purpose of amigurumi. I luff it! So far I've made a few bits and pieces, check them out here if you're interested! The Michaelangelo ninja turtle was for my hubby's 28th birthday!

Makeup-wise, I've got a ton of fun stuff from my almost sister-in-law! Benefit, Cargo, Aromaleigh...so many goodies to review! I've been pretty lazy lately...wearing a lot of neutrals, heavy black liner and lots of spring-y pinks.

I've also been nail polish crazy! I wish I was better at taking nail pictures...I've done some pretty sweet Konads :) I'm loving the new Essence line at Ulta so much! Gotta love $1 nail polish!

Well I just wanted to post a hello to you all! Let me know how you're doing...I'm so behind on blog reading! (I seriously need to delete some...I have almost 600 posts to read a day!)

And because every post needs a picture, here's Jigglypuff! I made him with this awesomesauce pattern!

*hugs from a very bad bloggette*

Break Time!

2010-03-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully some of you noticed that I haven't been around much lately. This is due to a few different things, including work, school and friends. I'm also attempting to get my camera in order (this thing is a piece of crap!) and it's just been crazy around here. I have tons of things to post, but I'm actually going to be taking a small break (maybe a couple weeks?) before I do so.

To all my followers, old and new, I definitely appreciate you and your concern! I'll still be reading blogs and hopefully commenting as I get a chance. I'm also going to be doing a big, fun giveaway with 3-4 prize sets when I get back, so don't abandon me!!!

Holy Crap!

2010-03-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to say that I got my Archetype order. That I placed on the 13th. And everything was there. Plus four extra samples.

I wish this company was like this all the time! The colors are so beautiful, it really pisses me off!

But I've gotta go to work now! Busy as a bumble bee around here...hopefully things will die down soon so I can begin posting again!

More Facettes de la Femme...Magical Superwoman!

2010-03-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

I'm still in love with the Facettes collection! I'm attempting to swatch it, but new camera won't cooperate and it seems one color is already sold out. Seriously, you *must* pick these up before they are gone!

I wanted to do something different and decided to go all out on the blues. I rarely wear blue shadow because I don't think it looks good with the red hair and freckles...it just goes really 1980's on me. Or I feel like a hooker...perhaps a hooker from the 80s? Yeah. That sounds right. This actually turned out better than I thought (mainly because Stardust makes such awesomely wearable colors). The pics were taken in a hurry and therefore suck. Please imagine the awesomeness, okay?

What I used:

-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Magical Muse- blue toned purple with low shimmer

-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Superwoman- super hero blue with immortal red glitters
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Pulse- sheer pearl white with shy pink shimmer
-Collection 2000 Glam Metallics coloured liquid liner in Punk- silvery blue

-Avon Colortrends liquid liner in Sparkling Black

-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks blush in Femmefatale- clear vivid watermelon shade

-Stardust Winter LE cheek shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen
-NYX round lipstick in Harmonica- baby pink frost

I used Pulse in the inner corners and browbone (gorgeous color, has the cutest pink sparkles in it!), then Magical Muse in the middle (which you totally can't see in the pictures, but is beautiful) and Superwoman on the outer 1/3rd of lid (this color ROCKS so hard!). Then I took Punk and lined the bottom lid, extending it out really far, then used a generic black liner on top again extending it out far and added a smidge of Magical Muse in the middle of the lines.

Meep! Close up! For some reason, blues make my eyes look green and, uh, not blue like they normally do!

So tonight was a super fun night! A couple of friends and Rob and I made burritos, watched "Are you afraid of the dark" (anyone remember that show???), played video games and read hilarious erotic poetry! It was seriously the funniest shit I've ever read. The best line from the whole book was: "Your pink cowboy hat is my vagina"....Ahaha whaaaaaat???

How's your Friday going??

I Touch Roses Review & Swatches

2010-03-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll start from the beginning...

Ordering is a bit difficult. I admit that I used the actual retail website instead of Etsy because you can't pick your own sample colors on Etsy. (Plus I don't actually like ordering samples off of Etsy cause its a pain in the butt to pick colors out...I gotta keep switching back and forth and everything and I'm just soooo lazy!)

The website isn't that great. I'm not really a website snob or anything, I just don't care for black backgrounds, they hurt my poor lil eyes! There is a very small color chart and a long list of colors underneath to choose from. The colors don't correspond (some don't have pictures, some pictures have no listing). To pick my colors, I basically scrolled through and read the descriptions. I was confused as to which ones were being offered.

Shipping: I ordered on February 8th (a Monday) and received my order February 18th (following Thursday). I couldn't find a shipping time stated anywhere. I got that automatic Paypal "your order has shipped" thing on the 12th, but it never updated. On the 18th, I contacted Ahna asking if she knew what was happening with my order. She replied with a simple "contact the post office". I was a little miffed about this since normally a company will work with the p/o themselves or just resend your order. Thankfully, I got it that afternoon. I thought 10 days was a bit long to wait without any communication. I ordered 3 other things (one from Canada!) on the same day and got all before this one.

The shadows come in really small baggies with the names handwritten on them but you get a nice amount. See above for a comparison of a "normal" size baggie vs. these. The formulas are different and unique, some were pearls (very shimmery and shiny, almost like a foil), some seemed like mattes with glitter and others were dry.

Click to make bigger! Swatched on top of Detrivore primer.

-Siren Spell shadow- Sea green with magenta shimmer (No picture for this one on site...I think this is where its bad to NOT have a swatch. To me, I thought it was like sea FOAM green. It's more of a slightly blue mid-tone green). It is by far the most interesting shadow, but I see that it was created from a customer contest.
-Mercy shadow- Bright cranberry with gold shimmer (There is a picture for this one! The color is actually pretty close, but sadly the gold shimmer doesn't show up that well)
-Love Sick shadow- Dark dusty rose with golden shimmer (Definitely not close at all to the picture. It's much, much darker than I thought! Again, the gold shimmer does not show through)
-Saint shadow- Light lavender with pearl and crystal shimmer (Again, not close to the picture. The swatch makes it look very blue-purple, but its really not. I do really like this one though, just not what I was expecting!)
-Chase Me shadow- Pale pink with golden shimmer (No picture here. The gold shimmer shows up though! Very pretty color, but sheer)
-Angel shadow- Light taupe with crystal Sparkle (No picture here either. BUT, this color is amazing. I want a full size of it!! Very shiny and pretty and the perfect pin-up girl color!)
-Serene shadow- Light peachy taupe extra pearl (No picture. Another win though! So pretty!)

Onto the blushes! There aren't any descriptions, but since the samples are dirt cheap, I ordered 3. They came in the very small baggies again, which is fine for shadows but not so easy for blushes. The formula is very dry and two of the three blushes (Rose Dust & Doll Face) went on very streaky).

-Gothic blush- sort of a greyed out lavender with strange "dirty" undertone.
-Rose Dust blush- sheer dusty orange based pink
-Doll Face blush- pale pink lavender!

Lip colors, then? This part of the site is better. All colors have both a picture and a description. I noticed differences in the texture of each color I tried.

-Risque Lip Euphoria- dark grape purple. (Goes on fairly opaque. Has a pretty thick and waxy texture. Smells like that fake grape candy.)
-Marry Me Lip Euphoria- semi sheer pink with pink shimmer (Very, very wet and sheer. Because of this, it sinks right into the lip lines.)
-Hint Lip Euphoria- semi sheer hint of color (Looks nothing like the swatch. Goes on basically clear with a greasy sort of texture.)
-Princess Lip Euphoria- semi sheer pinkish color (Again, different from swatch. Gives off a small bit of dusty pink color, no coral to be seen. Thick and waxy.)

So is I Touch Roses Sparkle-Approved? Not quite yet! Once the website is updated with more accurate swatches I might add it in. I know that photographing mmu is a really difficult and time consuming process, but its important for the customer. Also, a different type of sample baggy and labels would also be better. I detest getting samples with the color name written on in permanent marker...for one, it rubs off and second, I think it looks a bit trashy next to the rest of my nicely labeled samples (my dislike of this has gotten me into trouble before with a company, but I stand by it...printed labels look more professional!). And something should also be done with the shipping. I don't mind waiting if a company states how long it is going to take, but normally when one orders from a company that doesn't state this, it comes quickly.

----EDIT----

Well, this isn't exactly an edit, but just some notes after reading other reviews. First, Heather's experience was pretty different from mine. My samples did not come in a purple organza bag, rather in a plain white envelope and there was no note. Also, they were all mixed together, my lip samples were not seperated. The strangest thing though is that we both recieved our orders on the same day, yet she got a note saying that "Hint" and "Princess" were too similar and she sent Heather a different lippie instead. But I got the two colors...Weird, right?

Shattered also had a different experience from BOTH of us. Her samples arrived wrapped in tissue paper with a logo sticker and she got a business card with a discount code (which I did not get!). She also noticed that a lot of her colors had black iron oxide (a mineral that makes blendability shitty) in them. I think because I only ordered light, fluffy bunny colors, mine did not.

So, the weirdness of each one of us getting our orders differently is just one more confusing thing for me...On the color side, I liked enough of the shadows to get more samples but on the business side, things need to be figured out a bit more before I'll order again.

Sorry for the longness of this! If you made it down this far, thanks for reading XD What are your thoughts?

Sugar Sprinkled Candy Look

2010-03-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

*waves*

Hey everyone! I had this totally awesome idea in my head of a bright pink eye topped with loads of shimmering glitter and some bitch-liner (thats LK-speak for inky cat eyes with smudgy lower lashline). It didn't turn out quite how I wanted...and the whole loads of glitter thing probably wasn't a great idea. But, hey, I tried!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks in Raspberryberet- incredible reddish violet raspberry with shiny shimmer
-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks in Lookinforakiss- intense fuschia pink with contrasting blue/green shimmy (I can't see the shimmer in this, only white or silver)
-Sassy Minerals Gaining Ground- Pale rosy beige with flashes of green and pink shimmer
-UD 24/7 liner in Zero-black
-Avon Colortrends liquid liner in Sparkling Black
-2True Cheek & Lip tint in Blush Pink
-Mememe Beat the Blues highlight in Moonbeam (supposed Benefit dupe)
-Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in Fire Alarm- sheer nude

With no flash, the colors look a bit muted, but trust me, this shit is BRIGHT. (Plus...I wish I had eyelids that you could see. It's so frustrating! Haha I feel like "Mean Girls"...my cuticles suck!)

I used lookinforakiss in the inner 2/3rds of lid up into crease and then raspberryberet in outer 1/3rd and in crease. I lined with black liquid liner on top and smudged a pencil on the bottom. Highlight is Gaining Ground.

And cause I know you all want to see the MEGA FLASH picture (wait, you dont? oh well...)

HOLY SHIT! That's some bright pink, right?

So by now, I'm all sure you are aware that the Rocks line is being reformulated and all stock is being sold for 35% off. My take on this is that I'm actually really glad they are being reformulated. Honestly, I'm much too lazy to have to foil all of my colors to get the "true" brightness. Also, my lids have been stained bright pink or orange way too many times. Even with a primer, I don't get it! I'm sure I'll be wearing pink eyeshadow for a week after this one XD

If you want to see some swatches of my Rocks collection, click here.

So what do you think about the new reformulation and all the changes happening at Aromaleigh (sadly, there will be no more lippies!)? Do you wear bright pink on eyes or lips? (For some reason, I'll rock ANY color on my eyes, but I always like nude lips!)

Emotional Angel

2010-03-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

I'm in the phase of my illness where I'm getting better and finally coughing up all those little mucinex guys (you totally know what I'm talking about right?). Today's my first day out of pajamas in like 4 days haha!

Can I just say that Stardust never ceases to amaze me?? I'm such a color snob, most collections I'm like "bah, seen it before...PASS!" but geez, Facettes de la Femme is full of gorgeousness! I like every single color. That totally never happens!

What I used:

-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Emotion- hot coral pink infused with silver sparks of shimmer

-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Angel Inside- delicate taupe satin with a subtle shifting silver or green pearl
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme Pleather- soft black-grey satin with holographic glitter
-Sephora jumbo eyeshadow pencil in pink

-Stardust Facettes de la Femme finisher in Illumine- slight metallic finish

-Hard Candy Mouthing Off lipgloss in Exotic- sheer candy apple red with gold shimmer

I was totally not excited when I saw Pleather, but its such a fabulous liner! Charcoal grey with no blue tones (amazing!) and sparks of delicious holographic goodness!! A must have for any addict XD Also, sorry about the hair...I'm letting it air dry so its part wet and all crazy.

I used Emotion on the outer 1/2 of lid and dragged it down onto the bottom lashline. Then I took Angel Inside and blended it on the inner 1/2 of lid, mixing it with Emotion to get a bit pink in the middle. Next I took the Sephora pencil and lined the bottom lid (this makes colors look wetlined when they aren't...my super lazy trick!) and patted Pleather on top. I wasn't feeling like blush today so I just blended a bit of Illumine near the outer hollows of my eyes.

Ridiculous "myspace" sort of picture here (I had to crop out the boobs haha) but it shows the color of the gloss really nicely! The Hard Candy Mouthing Off lipgloss is really nice...not sticky, lasts long (for a gloss) and doesn't have a disgusting taste or scent.

Have you tried the HC glosses yet? I think the hype died down, but I haven't seen very many reviews for em! Do you normally shy away from red shadow (well I know Emotion is supposed to be pink, but it leans red on me!) or do you like to wear it?

The Total Package!

2010-03-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

So I wake up yesterday horribly, grossly sick. My body aches, my nose is stuffy, my throat hurts, I'm coughing up green crap and my ears feel like they're bleeding. But, I still gotta work! (Today too...and its even worse!).

This is what I wore! Please excuse the sullen attitude and completely swollen face!

What I used:
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme in Unforgettable- pale putty with faceted shimmer
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme in The Total Package- aqua with gentle glitter
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme in Temptress- naughty blackened purple with bewitching pink sparkles
-Wet n Wild black cream liner
-Physician's Formula blush in Rosy Glow
-Stardust Mattifying Primer
-Stardust Facettes de la Femme finisher in Ether- soft blue
-Rimmel Airy Fairy lipstick

Oh my god, you can really see how swollen I am, right? Eeek! It hurts :( I really want to call off today (because really, who wants to buy coffee or food from a girl who is so stuffed up she can't talk or hear??). I used Unforgettable on the lid and inner vee, The Total Package in crease and outer vee, and Temptress on top of black liner (it has pink sparks! PINK!).

Okay so this is the flash on my new camera. HOLY SHIT. I was not aware that I was a ghost. Or that I have satanic blue eyes. And no nose XD

If anyone has tips on how to fix the uber-bright flash, it would be greatly appreciated. I seriously tried taking pictures of Facettes de la Femme swatches last night for 2 hours and it just wouldn't work.

By the way, has anyone tried the Facettes collection yet? It's so beautiful and even prettier in person! There's a huge collection of non-boring neutrals interspersed with bright, fun colors and dark sultry ones. A+++ from me! I'm in love with it all!

Panda-Konad-a + Monday Poll!

2010-03-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

What a redonk title! I couldn't help myself XD

I'm totally behind on comments, blogging, reading and all that jazz. Life's been crazy busy lately with school and work plus the fact that I didn't have a camera just made for some crappy posts. Anyways, I got my new Kodak Easy Share today in the mail! The flash is SO FUCKING BRIGHT though. I have to keep messing around until I can get a nice balance. If anyone has tips, please share!

Okay, onto Mr. Panda! After about 2 weeks of Konad-ing, I'm finally really confident at it. Seriously, I can't believe how hard it was when I started! I now have plates S10 (the animal one), M3 (the totally basic stars, bows, hearts & flowers), M71 (bows, lace and fishnets), M14 (the silly USA one...I wanted it for the cupcake, diamond & lollipop!), & M77 (flowers, feathers, bows and necklaces). I think I've got a nice rounded-out collection, but I'm dying for some leopard print!

Most of my pictures come out completely white from the damn flash, so these were the only ones I could save. Not the best, but I couldn't wait to show you guys!

This is 2 coats of Color Club Worth the Risque with a swipe of Wet n' Wild Black (whatever its actually called haha!) and plate S10 with Konad Special White polish.

I totally gave in and bought 2 special polishes...White & Violet Pearl. I just couldn't get the WnW white to go on opaque when I stamped with it and the purple looks amazing on both light and dark colors!

So what do you think? I'm so lucky I can get away with this at work XD I'm such a panda lover!

And now the Monday Poll! Feel free to do it in the comments or link me...I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff :o)

1. Mood: Great! Had a really fun weekend (which consisted of staying up all night with a friend, painting nails, watching Practical Magic, going to Dennys at 5am for pancakes and going to work at 9am the next morning!), plus I did the panda above. How can you not be in a great mood when you've got pandas smiling at you?!!

2. Where’s your home town? Good ol' Cleveland, Ohio!

3. Are you a gadget girl? Uh, not really. I have a 3 year old iPod that I forget to bring with me anywhere and a generic cell phone.

4. Do you have any children? Not yet! Hopefully one day :)

5. Eyes/lips/cheeks: Not a thing...already washed off! But I did wear Hi Fi Champage Toast with some black liner and Allure by Jen Innocence blush earlier.

6. Have you ever made a mix TAPE for someone? Nope! CD, yes, Tape, no.

7. What’s your default hurry-up dinner dish? Burritos! Just heat up beans for 1 minute, slap on some cheese and taco sauce and eat!

8. Glossy red lips: yay or nay? Yay for others, nay for me. I'm way too self concious in red lips!

9. Outfit: Dark blue jeans and a black sweater.

10. Weekly goals: Homework, work, blog. Repeat.

I'm Alive!! NYX Champagne & Caviar Swatches

2010-02-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Being a camera-less beauty blogger sucks. Of course, I end up getting mass amounts of cute makeup and nail stuff just after my camera breaks. I ordered one last week, but Amazon's "super saver shipping" BLOWS and the new ones not coming until March 2nd, grr!!

That said, this was an okay week to be without a camera. Busy bee! I've been working a lot and schools totally kicking my butt. Then I slept until 6pm yesterday (my husband kept calling and thought I was Lisa-napped...his words!).

So I'm looking through my loads of pictures on my computer and keep finding things I've never posted! Up today is the NYX 10 Color Shadow Runway Collection in Champagne & Caviar.

Each one is on top of ELF Studio Primer
1. warm golden frost
2. semi-matte cool taupe
3. matte warm clay
4. cool golden frost
5. medium golden brown
6. matte white
7. cool brown frost
8. matte deep brown
9. light pink with silver shimmer
10. matte black

Overall, I really like these shadows. #1, 2, 4, 7 & 8 are my favorites and its a great palette for when you just need to get your makeup done really fast! The staying power is pretty good, nothing special, but it will last on top of a primer for an 8 hour day.

I bought mine from a blog sale but you can buy it from Nonpareil Boutique for $8.00+shipping or Cherry Culture for $8.00+shipping (although CC always sells out fast when they have sales, so be quick!).

Here's a quick look I did with these shadows for an interview way back in December!

What I used:
-NYX Champagne & Caviar in #1, 2 & 8
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Underground- metallic taupe
-Wet n Wild Cream liner in black
-ELF Studio blush in Candid Coral
-NYX round lipstick in Circe

Super crappy closed-eye shot! Yay! Anyways...I used the warm golden frost all over eye from lid to browbone, the cool taupe in crease and the dark brown over Underground on bottom lid.

Have you tried out the coveted Champagne & Caviar palette yet? What are your thoughts on NYX palettes? (I think the trios are pure crap...I prefer the singles, but this palette rocked my socks!)

Monday Poll!

2010-02-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here's this week's Monday Poll from Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog!

Aw chubbeh bunneh!

1. Mood: A little bummed. Just really tired from work and drama and crap. Not quite sure why people walk all over me all the time :(

2. A beauty product you couldn’t live without? Mascara. White lashes are NOT cute! (At least on me!)

3. Socks with high heels — yay or nay? Yay! Well, yay because I do it all the time. My feets hurt!

4. Today’s morning beverage? Root beer XD

5. Eyes/lips/cheeks: Evil Shades Sweet Alice & Fyrinnae Wicked/ Fyrinnae Ice Cream Party/ Elf studio blush in Tickled Pink

6. What makeup do you have in your purse right now? Just tons of random lipsticks!

7. The highlight of your weekend? The freaking amazing peanut butter cookies my friend Ash made. Yum!!!

8. When was the last time you went window shopping for makeup? Uh, well I pretty much do this every single day...does online window shopping count? I did go to Ulta earlier today, but I forgot my damn wallet!

9. Outfit: Black yoga pants from Kohls, black tank from Kohls & black & white zebra print sweater from Walmart

10. Weekly goals: Clean up my makeup area, make sure my makeup worksheet (on Excel...I'm so lame) is current, finish reading Night World 3, Konad something awesome, see about getting a new tattoo (yep, I'm taking the plunge into getting Gus & Piggles tattooed on me!), reply to all my comments!

Feel free to do this in the comments or link up your blog!

Five Favorites...The Nail Polish Edition!

2010-02-20T03:10:00.000-08:00

Since I'm still "new" to the shiny world of polishing my nails, my collection is small enough that I can pick five favorites! I don't know how I used to go without...I always feel just a little bit prettier with nice shiny (or matte or sparkley) nails!

OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue- inky dark navy blue with blue shimmer (I wore this on my wedding day as something blue...and its the ONLY polish I've ever used up!)

China Glaze Agent Lavender- pale slightly grey-ish lavender (Been loving this! Goes on so pretty and smooth!)

Color Club Vintage Couture- mod baby pink creme (Such a perfectly pretty color! And opaque in 2 coats! Woot!)

Sinful Colors Secret Admirer- black with silver sparkle (The only Sinful that is opaque in 2 coats...really punky and cute at the same time!)

Color Club Worth the Risque- utterly gorgeous silver holo! (My first holo! Goes on so smooth and I get so many compliments!)

Since those pictures up there are so completely inaccurate, here are some links to some of my favorite nail blogs getting their swatch on: Yoga-ta Get this Blue from All Lacquered Up, Agent Lavender from Scrangie, Vintage Couture from Scrangie, Secret Admirer from Magic Maid, Worth the Risque from Steph's Closet (with a nice holo comparison!).
What are your favorite polish colors? Any brands you like the most? (Except Nfu-Oh, I want it so bad but I can't afford it!)

Five Favorites...Highlight Shadows + BBLL!!

2010-02-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

Since I'm still waiting on a new camera, I thought it would be a great time to do another Five Faves!! This time I'm going with my favorite highlight shades. I think a good highlight can make or break a look! I'm not a huge fan of overly frosty or pearly shades, I prefer a more subdued look to leave the focus on the rest of the eye. I think its because I have so much space from crease to browbone? Not sure...I just know that I can't rock a shimmery browbone like other people can!

Allure by Jen Iced Peach- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer (My to-go-to favorite! This isn't as pink as it looks in the picture...for my skintone, it leaves a perfect amount of color and shimmer!)

Stardust Ivory- matte ivory (Another one that gets near-daily usage! A great matte shade!)

Sassy Minerals Gaining Ground- pale rosy beige with flashes of green and pink shimmer (I like to use this when I want to add some pop. It's slightly pinker than my flesh color and flashes different colors in different lights!)

Sassy Minerals Silk Sheets- silken golden cream with gold shimmer (Sadly, this does not get enough love! The perfect warm and shimmery highlight shade without being "too much"!)

Aromaleigh En Pointe Collection in Sylph- sparkling jewels in a white plush matte base (Just got this recently, but its working its way into my rotation! Lovely rainbow sparkles in a matte base!)

What are your favorite highlight shades? Do you wear lots of different ones or stick to the same one? I'm trying to branch out, but Ivory and Iced Peach seem to be used the most...

Now onto this week's Beauty Blog Link Love! Procrastinate away, my lovelies XD

Rae from theNotice shares her skincare secret to flawless, pore-free skin.
Phyrra gives you an exclusive interview with Fyrinnae Cosmetics in February's Indie Spotlight.

Betty's Dragon Fruit Eye Look is now up at Betty Girl Makeup. It's her first tutorial and she's wicked excited!

Arianne at Glitter Geek is absolutely smitten over her new drugstore superhero -- Aveeno Hand Cream.

Krasey Beauty takes New York Fashion Week by storm, and goes backstage with L.A.M.B, MAC, CND, and MoroccanOil.

Lisa Kate attempts her first Konadicure...please help her!

Jellyminx goes shopping again and again and again and again!!

Sarah at I Heart Cosmetics hunted high and low, and finally managed to purchase the Estee Lauder and Michael Kors Very Hollywood Collection.

Thought you found your HG red lipstick? So did Hell Candy Make Up until she discovered this oh so glamorous lippie!
There be lemmings-a-plenty when Lipglossiping shows off NARS Purple Rain this week!
Tarte ReCreate Anti-Aging Foundation just so happens to be the answer to Prime Beauty's prayers.
Melovemakeup shows how gorgeous the eyeshadow in the Trucco Angelface Palette is - duochrome heaven!
Say bye bye to dark circles and hello to bright eyes with Liparazzi!

Maggie gets electrified by L'Oreal HiP's Black Shock.
This week on Get Lippie, Louise goes a little bananas at the makers of "Chemical Free" products and hopes she'll be forgiven.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed gets super excited by Chanel's new Fast Track Orient Extreme mini collection!

Interested in joining Beauty Blog Link Love? Check out this information page and give us a shout!

Two snaps for Toxin!!

2010-02-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Snap cup, anyone? A delicious white chocolate cherry (fake) cookie for anyone who knows what I'm taking out!

I just wanted to give a BIG HUGE thank you to Toxin from Toxic Lipstick who designed my new web banner! I love it so much and I got to pick this cute new template so I could use it!

I promise I won't be changing it up any time soon, so I hope you like this one XD

LK Tries BE!

2010-02-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

First, let us all have a moment of silence for my 8 month old camera that busted yesterday. I already ordered a new one, but it will be a couple weeks before I can take pictures again....Look for lots of LK's five favorites and other non-picture-y items in the next few weeks!

Plus, I totally Konad-ed Mr. Panda! Hurray!!
Can you believe I've never tried Bare Escentuals before? Crazy, right? I'm such a huge mineral makeup junkie and I've never tried the biggie. I guess it's because I think its crazy expensive.

I was lucky enough to win a some awesome goodies from one of my favorite bloggettes, LiAnn from SparkleCrack Central! (We were destined to be friends, do you see her blog name?!) She was so kind and ended up sending me TONS of BE and TSS to try out!

So, okay, well I had high expectations from BE. I mean, that shit is EXPENSIVE and has a huge following, so I was pretty excited to try it out!

What I used:
-BE Devotion- dark purple rose
-BE Retro- black coffee
-TSS LE Overcoiffed- soft taupe pink pearl
-MeMeMe Beat the Blues highlighter
-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks! blush in Femme Fatale- clear vivid watermelon shade
-Hard Candy Painted Lady lipstick in Fire Alarm- soft nude

Please ignore the gross skin and un-done brows! Anyhoo, I used Devotion all over lid into crease, Retro as liner and Over Coiffed as highlight.

Oh baby, look at that shimmer! This is about 10 hours after I put it on! Some creasing with the shadow, but the liner toughed it out quite nicely!

Alright then, I guess I'm going to do a mini review of what I thought of the colors & formula. First off, BE shadows have the nice creamy consistancy of Exposed or Evil Shades. I really like that because I always feel they stay on better (for me!) than dryer colors. So +1 for them! I really liked the color and it went on very nicely. Great blending!

The liner shadow (which I guess is a whole big line...they have like 42 colors listed on their site) is what really blew me away. It went on really pigmented and DARK and I was able to get a nice line even though I used it dry!! And it lasted really well. My eyes tend to water a lot, especially the outer corner and you can see after 10 hours it was still there! Plus, the color that LiAnn sent, Retro, makes my eyes look crazy awesome. I have those weird color-shifty eyes...they change from blue to grey to green depending on my makeup.

Look for some more BE reviews in the next few weeks! I've also got a mascara and blush to try out!

Have you tried BE? Like or dislike? Worth the hype it gets?

The ‘latest thing’ that’s on the market, new ‘cult’ lip products & wacky eye colours!

2010-02-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ahem. Getting on my soapbox here.

Can everyone please take a moment to go read this?
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You back? Okay. So I just wanted to post my thoughts on this. Basically, this "professional" makeup artist (is there really such a thing? I'm a certified Aveda makeup artist, but that doesn't really mean anything, does it?) thinks that the opinions of bloggers don't count because they have only tried a product on "one face". Since she uses the products on "many faces", her opinion counts. Also, she admits she has no journalism background yet she writes in a journalistic way. But did anyone READ what she wrote? You can feel the anger coming through the screen!!! A real journalist writes straight up facts in an interesting manner, not about what she read about a dirty Benefit counter on a blog and complain. Ugh.

But the most frustrating thing to me was this: " I struggled to find blogs about core products that brands offer. Very few talk about foundations and powders and base makeup, and even less talk about staple eye products, like neutral eye colours and shades.

What they all talk about is the ‘latest thing’ that’s on the market, new ‘cult’ lip products or wacky eye colours."

Are you KIDDING ME?? That paragraph right there frustrates me to no end. First off, base makeup is reviewed on a lot of blogs, but the thing is that most people find one foundation or powder that works for them and they stick with it. I've been using Everyday Minerals base for almost 2 years now. It would be pointless for me to review it more than once!

The whole point behind a beauty blog is to write about your OWN experiences and, unlike a magazine, we write every single day! Of COURSE we are taking about the new thing on the market...because we can! Wouldn't it be boring to read blogs that posted only once a month on foundation? Ugh!

Also, this: "So is blogging the new media? Well it would appear that we’re going that way, but perhaps its time to take more seriously, the blogger who has a professional background to what she’s saying, rather than the one that talks the most and the loudest, often with not a lot of content."

Bloggers are everyday women. We are the ones who take the bus to work and sweat and chase after kids and guinea pigs with our makeup on. We don't have perfect skin or perfect application skills. We're still learning. BUT we're the ones that need a voice! When I see bloggers with similar skin type or coloring as me, I always want to snatch up the products that work for them and shun those that don't. Or if a blogger looks completely different, I can still be inspired by their talent and read their reviews. A professional background as a journalist or makeup artist means nothing to me. Some of the best makeup I see is by girls just having fun, not the ones doing it for money.

Basically, I know that Sparkle is a lot different from a normal beauty blog. I'm not pretty, I don't have a lot of money and I don't use the popular makeup brands. Yet I love what I do. I love writing, I love everyone who comments and reads and if I can help other people make a good choice, its all the better! So that's why I'll continue to write and read blogs by all the awesome "loud" girls out there.

En Pointe Greens

2010-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is from some time ago, I think I wore it to work one day? Anyways, it's nothing spectacular, although I really like Arabesque...

What I used:
-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Arabesque- refined bluish green with highlight shimmers of green and gold (not seeing the blue in this...and the sample baggy has a hole so its sleeping inside another smaller baggy!)
-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Waltz- soft pale green plush matte base with a mysterious blue green highlight
-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Myrtha- rich deep blue green with earthy base and blue-green highlight shimmer (no blue in this one either...and totally confusing since the sample baggy is all brown!)
-Stila Smudge Pot in Grey
-ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral
-Stardust Winter LE Face/Cheek shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen
-Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita Nourishing Color Creme in Sweet Tart- Warm mauve pearl

Look at that lil' grump! I'm absolutely in love with the Stila Smudge Pot in Gray...it lasts so long and makes my eye color look icy and awesome!

Waltz on inner corners and browbone. Arabesque on lid. Myrtha in crease.

Well thats about it! Not too much to say about this one. I was "meh" on it....I really like the smudge pot, but I thought the colors would look more blue against it.

Have you tried En Pointe yet? Would you like swatches? Do you ever wear grey liner and what do you pair it with??

Monday Poll!

2010-02-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

I always love polls and things. I'm one of those super dorks that love making lists! This is from Karen's Makeup and Beauty Blog!

1. Mood: Pretty good! A little cranky from the large amount of homework and subsequent headache, but otherwise peachy!

2. How do you feel about drugstore makeup? On the fence! I really like blushes, mascaras and lippies but I am anti-drugstore eye shadow. I just don't get the amount of pigment or lasting power that I do from mineral makeup.

3. Camo print: yay or nay? *shudder* Nay. So much nay.

4. What’s one makeup challenge you’d like to master? Contouring. I want to look like I have cheekbones!!

5. Eyes/lips/cheeks: Hi Fi Raindrops on Roses, Miracle Mile & Crippled Plaything; chapstick; Physician's Formula Mineral Wear blush in Rosy Glow

6. Do you have any scars? Yep, a lot.

7. Sweet or savory foods? Um...changes a lot but savory right now! I'm all chocolate-d out from Valentines day!

8. Do you have any hidden talents? Well, I can do a mean wet set and do taxes at the same time. Seriously, I've done that. Also, I can move just the top joints of my fingers...and I can pick up things with my feet.

9. Outfit: Black faux-cashmere short sleeved sweater with giant sequined bow from H&M, black sweater with awesome zipper pockets from Kohls & gray jeans from Target

10. Weekly goals: Finish ALL my schoolwork and not procrastinate, finish reading Night World 2 & 3, clean my makeup brushes, Konad Mr. Panda, do a massive amount of laundry, keep up on comments!

That's all! Let me know if you do the Monday Poll on your blog or waste some time and do it in the comments XD

Rimmel London The MAX Volume Flash Mascara Review

2010-02-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

Just to recap, I look for 3 things in my mascara: inky dark pigment, ability to hold a curl and volume.

...Long story short- this fails at all three.

Supposedly this is Rimmel's newest and bestest mascara. I've previously used and liked Rimmel mascaras before and I was excited to try this out. (I'll admit, its pink cuteness also helped!)

What it says it does: "Take your eyes to the max with the supersized, perfect-fit brush that works in perfect synergy with the exclusive quick setting Lash Expand formula. The cushion-like collagen effectively binds to each individual lash, while the keratin works to smooth the surface of the lashes, leaving them stronger, sleeker and shinier. Capture that edgy London look than with big, bold attention-grabbing lashes."

What it really does: First off, I hate the brush. I couldn't take a good picture, but its really odd and instead of having bristles all the way around, it has them in 4 strips. So there's a lot of space with no bristle. It's also tapered at the top, which doesn't make sense to me. Your eye is curved in, and having a mascara brush that is also curved in (as in, the opposite direction) means that you won't get any mascara on the inner or outer lashes. I even made a crappy Paint picture to show you! (It's really hard to use Paint on a laptop...)

From the info above, it seems like this is sort of a tubing mascara...that it "binds to every lash" but I am not getting that vibe at all! It near-instantly deflates my curl and weighs the lashes down BAD. They do look pretty shiny though! It also leaves your lashes instantly spiky and hard, which normally doesn't bother me (I like the spider lashes look!) but it borders on uncomfortable.

Volume wise, I don't get much. It sort of spikes my lashes without giving anything to them but color.

Onto some pictures, then yes?

Ugh....probably the ONLY time you'll ever see me without mascara. There's still a little vegetable dye on them, so the ends are more brown than blonde.

Okay, the second picture is only one coat. It actually isn't too bad, but due to the faulty brush, I always end up getting it everywhere. It's really hard to get an even coat as well. You can see that there's not much volume or length there. While you can actually SEE my lashes, its nothing special.

This is to show the contrast. On top is one coat of Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara in Glam Black. ONE COAT. Not only does it accentuate the curl, but it also adds a shit ton more volume than Rimmel. Plus, see how its actually BLACK? Not sort of dull brownish-black?

The last pic is two coats of Rimmel. It's still wet in the picture, but you can tell that the curl is starting to drop out already. And, this is in Extreme Black, but I still think it looks sort of brown.

How does it wear? Poorly. This is the mascara that flakes into your eyes and falls down your face. I rarely, if ever, have issues with mascara smudging during the day, but the little flakies fell all over my cheeks and got into the corner of my eye and left a huge mess.

Should you buy it? I'd say no. For the $7.29 price tag, you can get yourself a WAY better drugstore mascara like Colossal or Eyelights.

Have you tried this out yet? What's your favorite drug store mascara? (Mama needs a new one stat!)

My first Konadicures!

2010-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

I was totally not going to post these, since, well...they suck. But I'd like to see my own progress and I can tell I've gotten better just in the couple days I've been playing with them!

I bought the plates M3, M71 & S10 from WowSoCool.com on Monday night. They were all out of M3 so it's shipping this week I hope! I was a little bummed since I bought it because it looked pretty easy and I really wanted to start with it.

Oh, and thanks to Jessica from Polished Lyrics, I bought the double sided stamper, which has helped me out SOOO much! I have really teeny tiny nails and I definitely need the small sized stamper.

The panda from S10 was the whole reason I bought the plate! It's so cute and I really, really wanted it. Unfortunately, Mr. Panda is very elusive and I don't think I'm up to the level where I can stamp it (yet)! Damn!!!

This was my first one! It's Color Club Front Row Diva (an awesome pearly light grey) stamped with Color Club Catwalk Queen (a dark vampy burgandy). I used the bow from S10.

Yeah...neither my photo skills, cuticles or placement are very good.

This ones a bit hard to see! I used Color Club Fashion Addict (an awesome lavender holo) stamped with Color Club Catwalk Queen again. Catwalk Queen was the easiest polish for me to stamp for some reason...I used the french nail tip with tiny bows from M71 and the bunneh from S10.

More bad photos but this Konadicure is a little better!

I had a lot of trouble picking up the stamps at first. After reading through TONS of blogs, I finally buffed the stamper down and it totally helped! Also, I was trying to use a credit card instead of the metal scraper (apparently it can scratch the plate, but it's only superficial...it doesn't mess with the image) and I found after a lot of mistakes that the metal one worked much better for me!

Okay so does anyone have any Konad tips for me? Like maybe how I can stamp that damn panda? I always seem to only pick up about 90% of the image. The top of his head between the ears never shows up! Waaa!

On other news, I totally changed my template! I wanted something more, uh, basic? How do you girlies like this?

Smoky Eye Tutorial Series #2: "Undone" Pink & Black

2010-02-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

The snows coming down HARD, which means I have to wear my ass-kicking boots to work. Which, of course means I need some ass-kicking makeup to go with it right??

What I used:

-Hi Fi Pins & Needles- bright, pearly pink (very camera shy...much brighter in person!)

-Hi Fi Dirty Word Witchcraft- sheer black with color shifting iridescence
-Allure by Jen Iced Peach- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer
-Stila Smudge Pot in black

-Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer

-Stila Covertible Color in Lillium- warm sheer rosy pink

-Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in Fire Alarm- soft nude

Step 1: Prime eyes with normal primer...no "sticky base" needed here! I used UDPP (which I'm still allergic to...I thought maybe that would go away?)

Step 2: Use a nice big flat eyeshadow brush (I used one from Fyrinnae, but I think its close to Eco Tools) and gently pat a bright, vibrant, pearly (not glitter...its too much) pink onto lid. Go slightly above the crease and extend a bit past the end of eye. Let the color fall naturally onto the inner vee...don't want too much pink there! Repeat step if you want a brighter pink!

Step 3: Take a flufftastic crease brush (Eco Tools) and gently pat an oval shape on the outside corner of your eye. Then using the same brush, blend a sheer glitter black towards the inner part of your eye. I find concentrating the color on the end makes it look a lot better! Blend your little heart out. After all that blending, the black looks a little blah. Don't worry, we'll fix that soon!

Step 4: Use an eyeliner or lipliner blush with a black gel liner and create a thick cat eye shape. Now, everyone's eyes are different, so create whatever shape makes your eyes look best. I like a thick, upturned cateye to widen and elongate my small eyes!

Step 5: Grab that sheer black again and a small detail shadow brush. Lightly pat the color over the liner and smudge the lines. Since you are using a sheer black instead of a pigmented one, you get this cool rock bitch look. Also pat more color on top of the crease if desired!

Step 6: Curl those lashes, put on mascara, use a rosy (not pink) blush and a nude lip! All done!

Hope that was helpful! I love this sort of smoky eye for either day or night...the bright color on the lid (you can use apple green, bright yellow, really any color looks good like this!) makes it so its not too Hot Topic XD

I also did a super quick manicure! I used 2 coats of Wet N Wild Wild Shine in Ice Blue Pearl and Sally Girl Sparkle Effects in Blue Lagoon loose glitter gradiated from bottom to top. It looks WAY cooler in person, but a fun and quick mani for $2!

Well, I'm off to work during a bad snowstorm which means there won't be any customers AND I have to attempt to drive in a foot of snow at midnight! Wish me luck XD

A treat, a rant, and a question!

2010-02-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

I just got my tax return back, which means I *finally* get to treat myself to a little bit of goodies. I haven't really been able to buy anything fun in the past six months (seriously, my husband finally got pissed and bought me a bra cause I was wearing one with broken underwire!). I gave myself a $100 limit, which I think is a nice fair number! It doesn't really seem like a lot, but it's very exciting for me!!

So, the first thing I wanted to get was some nail polish. I've been coveting Color Club's Catwalk Queen collection for what seems like forever, so I picked that up for a cool $13.50 including a free cuticle softener, which I desperately need! Thats only Check out some swatches from Scrangie here. The collection has everything I love...a deep, dark purple, a badass holo, mod, pale pink, sheer pale grey and some fun iridescents. I'm a big fan of layering my polishes, so I'm super excited to get these!

I also got Color Club Worth the Risque ($2.25) from the Femme Fatale collection (anyone ever notice that there are like 100 nail and makeup collections named Femme Fatale??), which you can see swatches of here at Steph's Closet! And because I'm a TOTAL lemming, I also got China Glaze Peachy Keen from Up & Away for $2.50 (actually excites me a lot because I have like 3 failed frankens trying to make this color!). Oh and must not forget China Glaze Agent Lavender from Operation Color for $2.50 as well!

All in all, those ten polishes (including the freebie cuticle softener) cost me $20.75, or about $2.08 a piece. Then, we add on the monstrous shipping...$8.97!!! Holy crap! I know they are heavy and all, but if these don't arrive in a golden box, I'm gonna be pissed. I almost didn't order. I seriously left the shopping cart up for 3 days! I ended up giving in though, since I can't find Color Club around here and my Cosmo Prof doesn't have Up and Away yet and I desperately need Peachy Keen. In the end, each polish with shipping ends up costing about $2.97, which still isn't bad. Yet I still feel the need to bitch.

My next treat for myself was a sample set of the Facettes de la Femme collection from Stardust Cosmetics! The colors in this collection are pretty, unique AND wearable...a nice combo, right? Plus, I love the whole idea behind the collection: Women are like gems; sparkling, complex, precious and strong. This collection has been inspired by the unique faceted beauty that is woman. And I'm also trying some of the mattifying primer and veil so maybe my skin will start to behave! In the end, I got 27 samples for $18.50 including the $2.00 shipping! I'm really happy that Stardust has sample shipping now, since I know the large charge can cause people to hesitate (see above, haha!)

Stardust Tomboy, Pure Femme and Pleather!

Last, I placed a small order with I Touch Roses. I've followed her goods on Etsy since she started and at first, I thought "bah, another repack, never mind". Then, once her website opened, I saw that there are tons of complex shades and I decided to give it a try! Let's see if I Touch Roses can hold up to my (admittedly high) standards! I bought 7 shadow samples, 4 lip samples and 3 blush samples for $8.70, including a fair $2.30 shipping.

Okay so I ended up spending only $56.92. Sooo I finally decided that I really want to try Konad. My question is...where is the best place to get a starter kit in the US? Fast and cheap shipping? Whats the best "starter" plate? I have very small nail beds so I'm a bit nervous about using full nail plates!!

I'm late, I'm late! BBLL!

2010-02-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

Will be posting up lots of fun things this week, but for now here's this week's Beauty Blog Link Love!

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Rae falls in love with an amazingly pigmented violet eyeshadow -- for under $5! -- and tries it on as a blush.

Jeweled Thumb gives you the deets regarding a brand new line that may be popping up at your CVS by the ever famous Salma Hayek!
Feast your eyes on this two-parter from Lipglossiping and see what happened when IMATS rolled into London Town last weekend.

In her constant search for a flawless complexion, Beautyjunkielondon reviews the latest foundation launch from Maybelline.

Check out "The EOTD Series: Color of the week" at xLovelyMakeupx.

Vex in the City shares her experience of the 2010 London IMATS.

Sophie from Melovemakeup talks about her collection of Sleek Palettes.

Maggie gets her rave on with these Rimmel blushes!
Krasey Beauty whips out Essie's matte topcoat and lets the nail polish fun begin.
Hell Candy Make Up attended the London IMATS show last weekend. Check out the various MUAs looks from the show.

A purple smoky eye with a pop tutorial from Lisa Kate at Sparkle is my Crack!

This week GlossQueen tells us how she loves her By Candlelight MSF.

Come discover 32 different nail colors in 32 days with Audrey.

This week at Get Lippie, Louise tries out a Kevyn Aucoin-influenced makeover.

Lisamarie at Beauty Crazed tests out eyerollers to see if they live up to the hype!

Got Dibs? Purple Matte and Glitter Liner!

2010-02-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

I don't really have much to say today. It's midnight and I worked all night and my feet are KILLING me, but I still wanted to do a post XD

I've been pretty uninspired when it comes to "everyday" makeup lately. I just can't/don't have the energy to think of fun color combos, so I've just been grabbing my NYX Champagne & Caviar pallette (which reminds me, I totally have swatches for you girlies!). I broke out of my taupe rut today and wore some bright ass purple, hurray!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Got Dibs- warm toned people
-Aromaleigh Pure Eyes Frost in Longing- pale cool mauve/pink toned grey/silver frost
-Aromaleigh Bete Noire in Colette- Smoked indigo violet with blue sparkle highlight
-Stila Smudge Pot in Black
-Allure by Jen blush in Innocence- glowing pink
-Stardust Cosmetics Winter LE cheek/face shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen

Please excuse the silly face haha! I used Longing all over lid, Got Dibs on crease and Colette over the Stila Smudgie Pot.

See how bright??

And a bonus pic of my curled hair! It's finally starting to grow out and curling it with a flat iron takes all of 15 minutes (versus the hour+ it took when it was long!). I still have so much breakage around my bangs though. Seems like no matter what I do, my hair is just super delicate there!

I hope you all have a great weekend!! I have another (slightly more boring) look to post, working Saturday and Sunday and yet another paper to write (how the French effected settlement in the early 1700's anyone?) so my weekends both full and boring. Rob IS taking me out to Outback tomorrow to get a Bloomin' Onion though and I'm beyond excited!! We are having a small date night for the first time in, well, years, so I'm really looking forward to it! Plus, YUM!!!

(I'm gonna eat you!!!)

Five Favorites...Nude and Pink Lips!

2010-02-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

I almost always wear pink lipstick...Not sure why, its just how I role! Here are my favorite nude (well, really pink once you put it on lips) and pink lip colors!

Fyrinnae lip lustre in Romantique- semi-sheer soft warm pink with gold shimmer

Fyrinnae lip lustre in Very Berry Happy- semi-sheer "milky" pink shimmer

Fyrinnae lip lustre in Mega-Hold- sheer light rosy beige with a satiny finish. No golden tones like it looks in the photo.

Covergirl TruShine lipstick in Powderpink Shine- frosty baby pink

Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita Nourishing Color Creme in Creampuff- Pale champagne pearl

Have you tried any of these? What are your favorite nude or pink lip colors?

PS...Comments and a new smoky eye tut will be up tomorrow!!!

Captivate by Carrie Jones Inspired Look

2010-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm reading Captivate by Carrie Jones and it's so good! This is the sequel to Need and much better than the first. It's very similar to Melissa Marr or Holly Black in plot, but the writing style is much more simplistic. It's a fast, fun read for anyone who likes urban fantasy, especially pixies and weres!

There's this thing in the books where the king pixie leaves behind gold glitter where he walks. I sort of went off of that to create this look!

What I used:

-The She Space LE in Cocktails and Carols- Sheer shimmering cinammon with a splash of twinkling violet

-Stardust Winter LE in Cashmere Mittens- Luxe ivory heated with copper pearl
-TKB Crucible Gold- gold

-Sephora Jumbo Eye Pencil in 507Y- baby pink

-Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter in Midnight Cowboy- beige glitter

-Hard Candy Lash Tinsel in Disco Ball- silver glitter

-NYX Jumbo lip pencil in Frosted Beige- golden beige

This was the best shot I could get of the lash tinsel! It looks sort of uneven, but its just the flash!

For this look, I took Crucible Gold all over lid and slightly into crease. Then to brighten eyes, I used the pink Sephora pencil and layered Cashmere Mittens on top. Next I took Midnight Cowboy and lined my top lids and a design on my right eye. Last I used Cocktails and Carols on the inner 1/3rd of top lid and on brows to make them glisten!

Have you read anything by Carrie Jones?

Oh and I also have a favor to ask of you girls! Can you please take this survey for my sis-in-law? She's working on a study to help psychologists understand more about how working adult's health behavior impact their experiences in the workplace. It takes about 5 minutes and is totally and completely anonymous! Thanks so much!

Five Favorites...Green Shadow!

2010-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's time to bring back LK's Five Favorites!! I really liked doing this series and wanted to start it up again! This time its my 5 favorite green shadows! (Click on links to see swatches or looks!)

Stadust Cosmetics Tender- Light muted green with copper pearl
Hi Fi Cosmetics Boom Shaka Laka- dark forest green with fine gold shimmer
Aromaleigh Bete Noire in Amarante- rich, verdant warm green with olive smokiness and vivid blue shimmer
Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita in Verdant Wisp- complex, shimmering jade green with lush lilac sparkles
The She Space Gemini in A Tale of Twins- smoky iridescent green with layers of gold, lime, aqua and violet iridescent shimmer

I haven't been wearing greens for the past few months, but I need to start buying them again! Do you have any favorite greens for me to try out? Have you tried any of these?

Sparkle has a new, very un-Sparkle obsession: Stila!

2010-01-30T02:43:00.000-08:00

Oh Stila, where have you been all my life?
You make me look fresh and beautiful all day long. Even when I'm sprayed in burnt milk and smell like coffee grounds.

Thanks to the awesomely generous, sweet, and delightful Jeweled Thumb, I got to try lots of Stila goodies...and I've worn nothing else all week!

I never thought I could find true love in a mid to high end makeup line. I hate Too Faced, I'm over MAC, I'm "meh" on Urban Decay. Benefit, Bourjois and Smashbox have done nothing for me. So, I gave up on traditional makeup for the most part. I hated wasting all that freaking money on makeup that either didn't work or died a quick death ($22 Smashbox gel liner that dried out in 2 weeks even though I kept the lid on nice and tight, I'm looking at you!).

I'm not going to review all my new Stila goodies, since I'm totally late to the game and most are reviewed extensively in the blogosphere. I just couldn't keep my excitement to myself though!!

My favorite products are the Lillium convertible color (I get the BEST flush from it!) and the gray Smudge Pot. Gray eyeliner!! It's possibly the best invention ever. My eyes look all crazy ice gray (instead of blue or green as they sometimes do). The plumping gloss actually plumps (and is not Sticky McStickersons!). The shadow goes on smooth and lasts forever. The brushes....OMFG (the F is for 'fucking' teehee)! Even the little brush that came with the liner is the shit!

Hmm it's 5:30am and I haven't been to sleep and I'm all hopped up on caffeine from work. Lots of spelling errors and cuss words cause thats how I roll when I haven't been to bed in 24 hours! Hope this doesn't scare you away, I just had to get my love out XD (And I totally stole both of these pictures too mwahaha!)

Okay so what are some of YOUR Stila faves? Have you tried?

Smoky Eye Tutorial Series #1: Purple with a POP!

2010-01-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to do a series featuring different kinds of smoky eyes. They are undoubtedly the most popular type of nighttime makeup and also really fun to do!

The first look is one of my favorite types of smoky eyes- purple with a pop of bright turquoise in the inner corner.

What I used:
-Fyrinnae Iris- Medium-light purple with a frosty green shimmer (This is one of my favorite Fyrinnae colors and I think it might be discontinued arg!! The green shows up SO well!)
-Fyrinnae Javan Rhino- Vibrant turquoise with a lavender-pink highlight
-Fyrinnae Changeling- Deep, dark purple with shimmer and gold sparkle. Not lip-safe.
-Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake- Pale beige-champagne colour with orange shimmer
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black
-Fyrinnae Glow blush in Charm
-Revlon matte lipstick in Pink Pout
-Fyrinnae lip lustre in Very Berry Happy- a semi-sheer "milky" pink shimmer

Okay then, that totally looks like a ton of product, but really this look is fairly simple!

1. Use a nice sticky primer, like Detrivore
2. Pat on a medium toned lavender color like Iris on the lid and about a quarter inch above the crease
3. Take a small eyeshadow (or even concealer) brush and pat a dark shimmery purple (Changeling) in the outer 1/3rd of crease
4. Use a black liner (Zero) on the bottom lashline, stopping just where the white of your eye ends and on the top lid up to where the iris of your eye starts
5. Take the same dark purple as before (Changeling) and gently pat it on top of the black liner, smudging it downwards a bit to get that smoky effect
6. Use another itty bitty brush (I use a lip one!), gently tap on a bright turquoise or teal (Javan Rhino) into the inner vee. If you have watery eyes like me, make sure to go around the actual eye so you won't get any pigment in there!
7. Last, take a fun duochrome highlight color (Finnegan's Wake), a big fluffy brush, and blend the crease and browbone! Since there is such heavy liner going on here, you don't want too much shadow in the crease.

Try not to look like such a sad panda XD

I really like this look. I think it makes my eyes look bigger and whiter and I always get compliments when I wear it!

What do you think? Any kinds of smoky eyes you'd like to see next? Any fun plans for the weekend? (I have the DUMBEST project to do for Adolescent Psych...I have to write a pen pal letter, then pretend I'm someone else and write one back, then analyze it! Arg!!! I'm 21, not 11!!)

300th Post: Things I Never Did Before Beauty Blogging

2010-01-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Holy 300 posts!! Who ever thought I could spend this much time talking about makeup?! Blogging has become my favorite passion...I love it and love all of you for reading my silly babbles!

Lately, I've been noticing how much my makeup routine has changed since I started blogging. It used to be pretty quick...one shadow, black liner and mascara. No face makeup, no lips. Weird, right? I thought it would be fun to list what's changed!

1. Using more than one shadow color. I seem to use 3 at a minimum and normally more now!

2. Using an eyelash curler. Oh how did I ever live without it before??

3. Filling in my brows. Even though they are only lightly filled in, I feel naked without it! I used to HATE the way my brows looked darker, but now I love it!

4. Wearing blush. Blush is my newest addiction. I love trying new colors to match my eye makeup!

5. Wearing lipstick. I never really wore anything on my lips before. Too much time I guess? My lippie collection has grown hugely since I started blogging!

6. Using a primer. Yeah...never really did before. I wonder how my shadows even stayed on!

7. Got sucked in to buying things I didn't really want/need. This ones pretty huge. When I started blogging I was spending time at Makeup Alley, which everyone knows creates these lemmings for things you wouldn't normally want! I bought MAC! I want Bobbi Brown! I'm way better at this now, although I think its mainly because I'm so broke XD

8. Wore nail polish. I don't ever really post about nail polish but I read the blogs. I'm addicted to them. I change my polish every couple days! Lately the only beauty related products I've been buying are polishes! (Note: Wet n Wild = good, NYC = bad)

9. Researched makeup and ingredients online. I spend way too much time reading blogs and stalking companies I want to try! Plus, how would I ever had found out that carmine was bug goo??

10. Take pictures of myself. Before blogging, I was never a "cam whore". I hated taking pictures. Now I do it almost every day. Wow, have things changed!

Before! This was Christmas Eve 2008! I couldn't really find any "makeup" pictures, but here's me and my dad's awesome bearded dog, Scruffy! See the lack of lipstick, eyebrows, blush?? Weird!

And here's me from Christmas Eve 2009! Fake lashes, lipgloss, blush, like 5 different kinds of eyeshadow! Also switched out my nose piercing for a lip ring!

Has anything changed for you since beauty blogging? Has your routine changed at all in the past year?

Metallic Overload! Aromaleigh & TKB Swatches!

2010-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday! Here are some swatches of almost the entire Aromaleigh Elemental Lustre line and the TKB Metallic Collection.

All are swatched on top of ELF Studio Primer! These colors are very shiny and many are multifaceted. Please click to enlarge! First up are the Elemental Lustres...(colors missing are Flash, Mutiny, Crucible, Blaze, Awe, Fraud, Ego and Seethe.)

Fume- You wanted a true silver, with no gray and no black? This is truly your silvery silver
Psyche- Lustrous shimmery silver taupe. Non-stop wear-all neutral! (I honestly think that Fume & Psyche are close enough that you don't really need both. The differences are really, really subtle!)
Astonish- Amazing mirrored shadow... is it golden silver or silvery gold?
Startle- Silvery tone with gold highlight. Gorgeous!
Blast- Greenish shadow with blue and gold sparks throughout. Complex!
Alloy- Pale olive with silvery sparkle highlight. Exquisite!

Entangle- A perfectly smooth silvery cinnamon pearlescent cocoa shade with a hint of pink
Spark- Sweetly shimmering honeyed mocha.
Wonder- Intensely rich silver-based heathered ruby. So equisite! (Misspelling is not mine XD Has a definite smoky base)
Ardent- Golden mocha shade with gold shimmer
Gleam- Pure amazing gold. Like no gold you've ever seen from Aromaleigh...
Pyro- Smooth and shimmering cardamom/cinnamom shade

Torrid- Flashy garnet burgundy brown with gold sparks
Torment- Deep, vivid burgundy with smoke undertones. This color in person can only be described as wicked (Smoky base)
Abyss- Deep bluish teal with green and blue sparks (Golden base)
Underworld- Deep purplish indigo with specks of blue and deep burgundy. Complex and moody. (Light smoky base)
Swank- A mysterious lustrous pool of navy blue complexity with shimmers of deep pewter, cobalt and burgundy.
Infidel- Medium blue with sparks of blue and silver.

I'm a big fan of the Elemental Lustres! They are really lush and shiny and apply very smoothly. My favorites are Fume, Entangle, Wonder, Torment and Underworld!

TKB Metallic Collection
"Our Forged and Crucible Colors are pure metallic pigments (no mica, no titanium dioxide, no iron oxides or dyes). They are made from bronze and copper.

As such, they shimmer with a uniquely super-saturated and metallic chroma. They offer awesome coverage and adhesion, as well."
(I've worn these by themselves and can vouch for the pigmentation and adhesion! These work very well as shadows on their own!)
Forged Gold- A metallic pigment with a super-satured golden hue. (Much lighter and brown/beige-er than Crucible Gold)

Crucible Gold- A metallic pigment with a super-satured golden hue.

Crucible Khaki- A metallic pigment with a super-satured gold hue with olive green undertones
Crucible Red- A metallic pigment with a super-satured red hue

If you look on Etsy, you will will find a lot of companies are starting to sell these metallic pigments on their own. Do yourself a favor and pick up a sample kit at TKB for $5.40 (and get a teaspoon each!).

Have you tried either of these collections yet? Do you like metallic shadow? Any tips on wearing it?

PS...totally behind on comments! I'm working all weekend and have a paper to write (already!) so I won't be able to get to them as quickly as I want!

Beauty Blog Link Love!

2010-01-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Check out these awesome posts from the last few weeks XD

theNotice has a three-part video series on how to contour your cheeks -- check out the first tutorial here!

MAC Mineralized SatinFinish gives off a beautiful finished look according to Eve's review at xLovelymakeupx.

Marina from MakeUp4All reviews and swatches on the cheeks Illamasqua's Cream Blusher in Rude and Illamasqua's Lipstick in Over.

Lipglossiping asks if the modern age has spawned demon digital artists.

This week, Louise wonders if the nude lip is all it's cracked up to be

Krasey Beauty takes you back to school with Skincare 101

Head over to Beautifully Glossy to check out L'oreal's Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer.

It's Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, so check out some makeup looks inspired by some of the costumes!

Jellyminx swatches her cream eyeshadows!

Lisamarie at Beauty Crazed visits the Benefit Brow Bar for the 15 minutes that changed her life.

Sarah over at I Heart Cosmetics has found a really cool new invention for your makeup brushes!

Liparazzi has found the perfect concealer to brighten up her life, put a boi-ing in her step and Benefit her on her wedding day.

Jo over at Music & Make Up is having a one year anniversary giveaway.

Lisa Kate from Sparkle is my Crack! shows you how to look like a Cheer Bear!

The Makeup Snob shares her opinions on a couple NYX lip and eye palettes.

That's all for this week! Stay beautiful :)

xoxo

Hard Candy Curl Up & Dye + Lash Tinsel Mascara Reviews

2010-01-21T21:19:00.000-08:00

XD That's a long title.

Let's start this post off with my mascara needs. I have white lashes. They aren't "blonde" at all, just plain white. And they are stick straight. I don't need much length, but I like a lot of volume. So, I ask a lot from my mascara. I need lots of pigment, the ability to hold a curl and some volume would be nice as well.

The first mascara I tried from Hard Candy was the Curl Up and Dye formula in Late Night, (which I think is the same as "Nite" on the Walmart site...the names are all messed up there!)

One thing I noticed about this mascara is that the packaging (while cute) is a bit disfunctional for me. The part that you can hold is very short, and the wand very long. The actual brush itself is pretty long as well. I had a difficult time getting precise application. Must note that it has the normal bristles and not those funny plastic ones!

This shows the Curl Up & Dye wand vs. Rimmel London The Max Volume Flash wand (to be reviewed soon!). See the loooongness?

Onto the formula! This is where it gets fuzzy for me. The color went on really nicely. Dark enough so that you could see it but not looking like black. It DID curl my lashes nicely and the curl lasted all day (I didn't use a lash curler). No flakies or weirdness throughout the day. My issues are that it doesn't do much else except curl. Which, yeah, its not supposed to, but I need a lot from my mascara so it just doesn't cut it. Only need curl and color? Then Curl Up and Dye is for you!

Next up is Hard Candy Lash Tinsel Mascara in Disco Ball. To tell you the truth, I had no hope for this. I was like "meh, this won't work"....But then it did. And I danced around like a fool from excitement.

The packaging is much more like normal here. Nice wide base to grip and all that. The brush is very basic, but it works wonderfully. It's just full enough to grab your lashes and disperse the glitterbomb!

Here is it next to same mascara as before. See, this ones even a bit smaller!

The formula is what amazed me with this! I thought that there was no way in hell it would work. Then, in an attempt to spruce up my plain makeup for dinner out with my hubs, I put ONE coat on top of my 8-hour-old plain black mascara. And I was AMAZED. All caps, baby! My lashes were so sparkly and pretty and best of all, it didn't even hurt my sensitive eyes! Even Rob said my lashes looked pretty (and since when do husbands even look at your eyelashes?!)!! Okay, the one low point is that it does make you lashes sort of hard and brittle. I generally don't care about that at all, but I thought I should note it in case you wanted glittery natural feeling lashes.

Here's a swatch of Late Night/Nite and Disco Ball. Late Night is a deep blue-green and Disco Ball is silver glitter in a clear base.

I can't wait to pick up more Lash Tinsel! I'll probably pass on Curl Up & Dye formula, but its only because I have weird see-through ghost lashes. Both are available at Walmart for $6!

Have you tried either of these Hard Candy mascaras or any others? Thoughts? Do you wear glitter or colored mascara often? (I must admit, I'm a die-hard fan of inky black mascara!)

Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Looks

2010-01-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

While I love Limited Edition collections and look forward to them, I think permanent collections are a WAY more important part of a company! One of my favorites from Aromaleigh is Satin Petals Frost, which includes 6 pale highlight shades and 10 mid to deep shades in purple, taupe and green. I never really see anyone use these, mainly because they aren't like the Rocks collection...they aren't bright or in your face, but more of a quiet pretty. I've been using them a lot lately since I've been on all these damn interviews and things!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Hydrandgea- A pale pearlized wash of lilac and violet subtlety
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Foxglove- A pale, silvery pearl taupe. not cool, but warm... great neutral!-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Balsam- A cool muted brown with grey tones.
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Stash- dark green/gold
-ELF Studio blush in Blushing Rose
-NYX jumbo lip pencil in Frosted Beige

Very simple look, this one! I used a wash of Foxglove over my lid and crease, then pressed a bit of Balsam in the crease to get a teeny bit of definition. I brushed Hydrangea in the browbone and inner corner. Stash is used on the bottom waterline.

Balsam looks a bit bruise-y on me, but I like it anyways!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Sweet Pea- A delicate pale green with lustrous satiny highlights
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Coriander- A cool muted green with a satin white highlight
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Campanula- A subtly warm brown with coppery and silvery highlights.
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Underground- metallic taupe
-ELF Studio blush in Blushing Rose
-Stardust Winter LE cheek/face shimmer in Winter's Kiss
-NYX round lipstick in Rea

Okay first let me tell you that my camera is making this weird shadow on my face in these pics! So it looks like I have ashes on my face XD

See it??? Weird!Anyways for this look, I first used Coriander all over lid. Then I took Underground and lined my bottom lashline and took it up into the crease. I wanted the crease to be fairly defined so it seemed like a good idea. I buffed it out then pressed on Campanula in the crease and lower lashline. Last I used Sweet Pea as a highlight.

So, there are some Satin Petals Frost looks! Lemme know if you'd like swatches, I'd be happy to do them! This is a great collection for daily, wear to work makeup.

Have you tried Satin Petals Frost? What's your favorite everyday eye makeup?

Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in Hot Shot Review

2010-01-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog! (Wait...does four days count as a long time? Cause it certainly felt like it!) I missed you all XD

Anyways, I was extremely lucky to win a Hard Candy giftset from the Muse over the Holidays! I've been DYING to check the new HC products out, but even as cheap as they are, I couldn't afford it. I seriously squealed and jumped up and down when I found out I won! I'll be reviewing these goodies as I use em.

First up is the Painted Lady Lipstick in Hot Shot. It retails for a cool $6 (with $1 shipping from Walmart.com, which is pretty cool if you don't feel like going inside a Walmart to buy em!).

The packaging, as you can see is beyond adorable. I'm a sucker for cute packaging! My only complaint is that the lid doesn't stay as secure as I would like. It easily slides off, so this isn't one to throw willy nilly into your purse!

The formula is the best part! It glides on smooth and semi-sheer with one swipe. Two makes it completely opaque. It seriously feels like chapstick on your lips...very moisturizing and soft! It actually lasts fairly long for such a moisturizing formula. I never really go much longer than a couple hours before either taking off my lipstick to eat and drink or retouching. It also faded really nicely. (Don't you hate those lipsticks that fade all weird, like just around your mouth or in patches??)

Hot Shot, in my opinion, is a strawberry red. Definitely not a color I would pick for myself (this is probably the first time you've seen me with red lips!) but surprisingly flattering...totally brightens up my pale face! A sheer application makes Hot Shot a pinky red, but it becomes more orange based as you layer.

This picture is WAY weird (wonky eyes!) but shows the color really accurately. This is two layers of Hot Shot. See how shiny and delicious it is??

Overall, I give Hard Candy Painted Lady lipstick two thumbs up! I'll totally be picking up some more of these when I have the money. I can't wait to buy some more neutral LK-ish colors, since the formula is so great!

Have you tried Painted Lady Lipstick yet? What do you think of this color? Any other goodies from Hard Candy that you think I should try?

Blue Leopard Print Eyes!

2010-01-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

I love the part in Billy Madison where he's in first grade (I think? It's been awhile!) and draws a blue duck because he's "never seen a blue duck before and wanted to see a blue duck". (I still love Billy Madison, by the way...so many good quotes in there!). So, I liked my leopard print eyes from last week, but I wanted to see it blue. Because animals are better blue, as Billy taught me long ago.

Must get this shirt one day!

What I used:

-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks! in PlanetEarth- subtly shimmering intense primary blue with pink sparkles
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost in Bluebell- pastel blue satin pearl
-Wet n Wild Cream Liner in Black
-Exposed Organics Nectar mixing medium
-Stardust Winter LE cheek/face shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen
-Covergirl TruShine lipstick in Powderpink Shine- frosty baby pink

I basically did the same thing as with the last leopard print eye. I used a wash of Bluebell all over. Then I using Nectar to foil PlanetEarth under my lid. Then I took the Wet n Wild liner and a small lip brush to do the leopard print.

This picture sort of sucks, but it shows the blue sheen in Winter's Kiss!

So, from far away, it kind of just looks like polka dots. But thats still fun, right?? XD

Sorry for the uninspired crap-tastic post today! My classes started and I've been gearing up for work, so there hasn't been much time for makeup! Coming up soon is a review and swatches of NYX Runway Eyes pallette in Champagne & Caviar, some ELF studio blushes review and swatches, some looks featuring Aromaleigh's Satin Petals Frost Collection (an unsung hero!) and mineral makeup dupes for Urban Decay's new Alice in Wonderland pallette (cause I can't afford it and I want it!!).

Have a great weekend girlies!! My "new momma" (aka mother-in-law) is turing 60!!! I can't believe it, she looks so young and cute (she's 4'11", which means she's always adorable). So we're doing a fun surprise party for her tomorrow and I can't wait!
Oh and do you have any look requests? More neutrals, more "fun" looks? Any companies you think I should try? Lemme know!!

A little summer in January!

2010-01-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

After my semi-disasterous first attempt at entering Jellyminx Thinks's contest, I decided to try again. The husband is out tonight at a meeting so I felt like playing with makeup. It's the third look I've done today (and turned out the best...hamburger makeup sounded great in my head...but thats another post!). The rules of the contest are to do a look based on your birthmonth. Mine's June, which I already said is boring. Roses and pearls are pretty but boring when it comes to makeup! I finally decided to create a look about the best part of June...sun, clouds and lush grass!!

What I used:
-Hi Fi Cosmetics Crippled Plaything- cool, medium green with icy shimmer
-Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost in Dandelion- a soft, yet vibrant pale yellow, with subtle gleams of gold
-Aromaleigh Elemental Lustre in Fume- true silver
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Big Tickle- quintessential cyan teal blue
-Collection 2000 Glam Metallics Coloured Liquid Eyeliner in Punk- silvery blue
-Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner in Pizzazz- medium green glitter
-Wet n Wild Creme Liner in Black
-Sleek Pout Polish in Electro Peach- bright orange
-Hi Fi Cosmetics Concentrated Gel Blush in Amore- bright coral with golden flecks

I used the WnW black liner on top and bottom. Then I took Pizzazz and layered it over the liner and onto the mascara for the grass! I also used Crippled Plaything for "lighter grass". For the "sky" I used Big Tickle. For the cloud I used Fume and Punk. And Dandelion completed the sunlight!

Big Tickle is sooo bright and vibrant, yet pastel! (And I look possessed, but whatevs!)

Electro Peach is a fun and fabulous "summery" lipcolor, that along with Amore completely polished off the look!

And in no flash!

And Gus just HAD to get in on the cam whore action as well! He loves the summer because his mommy sometimes takes him in the car!! (And he sometimes gets to share my ice cream as well...I'm a bad fur mama! But he eats it soooo cute!)

Well I hoped you enjoyed my silliness for today!

I need recs, please!

2010-01-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Now that I'll soon be working again, its almost time to shop! Since Sparkle has the BEST readers (for reals, you guys rock my socks) I thought I should ask you for help with some of the items I've been wanting. Feel free to recommend as little or as much as you want!

Nails (I'd like something easily accessible...probably OPI or China Glaze as I get them for a super good discount!)
-A pale opaque pink that only needs two coats (similar to Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Passion Flower, but not that formula)
-A dark cool toned purple or blurple
-Medium creamy (not frosty or metallic) grey
-A pale blue

Second Chance Companies
-Meow Cosmetics (I was unimpressed with the normal collection shadows I bought last year, but would love to try more!)
-Morgana Minerals (Was unhappy with my first purchase, but willing to give another chance!)

Lipcolors
-a pale "creamsicle" orange
-a soft lilac or lavender

Thanks to everyone in advance! I can't wait to see what you recommend!

Ew My Hair is SICK! Here's a $3 Remedy!

2010-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of products that can cause buildup in your hair and make it an awful, greasy, piecey mess. Shampoos and conditioners (especially anything by Pantene!!!!) can coat the strands making it virtually impossible for you to get "clean" hair. Styling products, mainly heat protectants and gels, can also do this.

And don't forget your demi or semi permanent dyes like Manic Panic or Special Effects. The way that those work is to COAT your hairshaft...it never actually penetrates like real dyes do. (Also this means that keeping your dye on for 8 hours isn't gonna do a damn thing. The chemicals only work for 20-40 minutes TOPS and stop.)

Okay so I'm totally and completely guilty of all of those things. I use a fairly heavy creamy shampoo and conditioner, a heat protectant, a leave in conditioner and have dyed my hair with a semi-perm color. The result? My hair stays clean for like, a day. And it's AWFUL to wash your hair everyday. It leads to breakage and damage to the cuticle (which is sort of like each strand's protective coat).

I finally decided that enough is enough and started to research ways to clarify my hair my hair without using harsh chemicals. I'm regrowing my hair and finally all the bleached parts are cut off so I'm trying to be very careful with it.

I asked around to a few stylist friends and one recommended using Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Shampoo. (I went to an Aveda school and worked at a salon that used Bedhead so I had no prior PM experience). Someone gave me one to use, but you can find the travel size many places online for cheap. Here it's only $3.60!

Using a clarifying shampoo is best when your hair is not freshly dyed or bleached. It can ruin the new color and burn the shit outta your scalp if you have any open wounds from bleaching or whatever. Be very careful!

Step One: Wash your hair like normal with the tree tea shampoo. Wet hair, lather up, rinse.

Step Two: After rinsing, take a pretty large glob of shampoo and gently scrub it into your scalp. Be careful not to scratch yourself! Then rub it into the strands, taking care to coat each one. You don't exactly need to "lather" (as in have a head full of bubbles), just make sure to have shampoo all over. Pile hair gently on top of head.

Step Three: Take a small towel (hand towel size or a bit larger) and run it under really super hot water. Squeeze it out so the towel is warm and damp, but not dripping. Place on hair.

Step Four: Get outta the shower and wait awhile. I'd say 20-30 minutes is the best. The shampoo will tingle for a bit, but eventually that goes away.

Step Five- When you done waiting, get back in there! Make sure you rinse SUPER thoroughly. Your hair will feel 10000 times better and be very squeaky clean. Use a light conditioner so you don't ruin all that hard work you just did. End off with a blast of cold water (this closes the cuticle, letting your hair shine and make it so any products you use after don't damage your hair). Also its best to let it air dry if you can!

After I did this, my hair looked about two whole levels lighter. That's because all the gross product and shit coating my hair was finally gone!! Without using a stripping shampoo or anything harsh! You can also try using Tea Tree Oil mixed with shampoo, but I really recommend just buying a trial size of Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shampoo.

I know I don't generally post about hair here, but I was shocked that this worked so well and how much my hair improved after. Obviously, I have no affiliation with Paul Mitchell or anything. Sorry about the super long post as well!

Hope this helps! Let me know if you try it! What do you normally do for product buildup??

SQUEEEEEE!!!!

2010-01-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

Okay I know I'm boring you all with my job search posts but I just want to say that I finally got one!!!! I'll be a barista at a bookstore cafe! While I won't be making as much money as the other job offered to me, I'll still be able to live off of it... plus I'll be happy and surrounded by books!!! XD

And because ALL posts need pictures, here are some buns I've randomly collected from the interwebs in the past couple years...

Bun Kisses!

Bun Pssssh!

Bun Mouf!

Buns Love Cookies Like LK Loves Cookies!

Dress Up Bun!

(Can you tell I really want a bunny? Husband says no.)

Aromaleigh Swank Dolphin + Minky Monky!

2010-01-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

I have a bit of a "thing" for dolphins. I like them. I like their smiles. I like their silly foreheads. And how sometimes they wear hats. There used to be a Seaworld by me, but sadly it went away and now I can't pet dolphins anymore :( Anyways, this means that when I saw the color Dolphin from the Aromaleigh Carolina Summer Matte collection, I. Had. To. Have. It. And then I got it and forgot about it (cause I'm awesome like that). I finally saw it today when I was going through my sample book and I got caught up in the excitement all over again.

Squee! They are so happy! Found here!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Carolina Summer Matte in Dolphin- muted blue grey matte
-Aromaleigh Satin Petal Frost in Bluebell- pastel blue satin pearl
-Aromaleigh Elemental Lustre in Swank- mysterious lustrous pool of navy blue complexity with shimmers of deep pewter, cobalt and burgandy
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Electric- bright aquamarine
-ELF Studio blush in Tickled Pink- cool toned pink with slight shimmer
-Stardust face/cheek shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen
-Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Whee!!- semi-sheer shimmery light lavender with red/pink highlights

I used Dolphin all over lid and inner vee. Electric on bottom water line. Swank in crease and pulled underneath eye as liner. Bluebell as highlight.

Okay so onto Minky Monky! I live in a town where it's incredibly hard to buy body jewelry. You can either go to Hot Topic and buy totally expensive crap that will break or to a tattoo shop where you will pay 400% above what they did. Either way, its hard to get quality body jewelry for a good price. I've been shopping at Minky Monky for about 4 or 5 years now. Not only are their prices amazing, the customer service is great and everything comes really fast. They sell even hard to find jewelry like bio-flex monroes! I just got some retainers and cute matching AB jewelry! (My lip ring was chipping my teeth...and I don't have dental insurance so, uh, had to get rid of that!)

Where do you go for body jewelry, if you have it? I used to have a lot more piercings but they were so much money to upkeep since I lose the jewels so often!

Fyrinnae Helena & Demetrius Look

2010-01-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

Ah, do you ever have those days when you just can't decide what makeup to wear? Like, anything? I couldn't pick a color or anything that I wanted to do. I literally sat in my makeup chair for twenty minutes while my hair dried thinking. I ended up with this. Not that much fun or pretty or anything. I normally "plan" my makeup before I start putting it on, but not with this so it's a bit odd. I really like the colors though!

What I used:
-Fyrinnae Helena & Demetrius- Blue-toned lavender with cheery gold shimmer

-Hi Fi Cosmetics Nebulas of Eternity- light neon pink with flecks of fuschia and glitter

-Stardust Winter LE in Artic Whisper- palest icy pink with delicate twinkles

-Wet n Wild cream liner in Black
-Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel liner in Hustle- purple-y silver-y taupe-y sparkle!

-Revlon matte lipstick in Pink Pout
-Fyrinnae Glow Blush in Charm- Bright, feminine pink with a slight lavender hue and touch of shimmer

I look all Bitchy McBitchersons! (And I'm wearing my blue zebra print sweater...loves!)

I used Helena & Demetrius all over lid and inner vee. Nebulas of Eternity in crease and Arctic Whisper as highlight. I lined my eyes with Wet n Wild, then dotted on some Hustle to look like rhinestones in the inner edge of eye and outer corner of liner.

School started today as well. I'm only taking 3 classes, which is nice after so many last semester. I'm finally getting into classes that sort of have to do with my major, which is also nice! I'm doing 2 different psych classes this time...Adolescent & Child Development. Should be fun!

So, I was wondering...what do you do when you don't have a makeup "plan"? Do you wing it? Do you look somewhere for inspiration?

Rawr! Leopard Print Eye!

2010-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

I never really watch Youtube videos (I have a short attention span!), but I really like Michelle Phan! She's really funny along with being awesome at makeup! I thought it would fun to recreate her Sexy Leopard Print Eyes.

I used Urban Decay's Book of Shadows Volume 1, which I was sooo excited about and rarely use. I mistakenly used Midnight Cowboy, thinking "maybe this time it won't rain glitter on my face". It did. I don't understand why its always touted as their "best selling color". It's one of the worst shadows I've ever used. Does anyone else have this problem with it??

What I used:

-Urban Decay Baked- rich bronze

-Urban Decay Smog- deep coppery bronze

-Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy- pink champagne w/ lots of silver glitter – our best-seller! (lies!)

-Wet n Wild Creme Liner in Black

I sort of followed the tut. I used Midnight Cowboy all over lid to browbone (mistake), then brushed a small amount of Smog to combat the stained pink of my lids (more on that later). Then I took Baked with a small brush and patted it underneath my lid. For the spots, I used a lip brush and black cream liner. It looked way better in person, but was fun. From far away though, it just looks like random spots on my lid...This actually took less time than my normal makeup!

I think next time I'll do it closer to my browbone. I have an unhealthy obsession with leopard print. I've even got the Snuggie!

About the stained pink lids...that's from yesterday. This is the second time I've used a red color from the Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte collection and gotten stained lids! I used a primer so I'm not sure why. My skin is way white though, and sucks up color. Has anyone else had this problem?

Do you girls have any makeup that you were so excited to get and never use? Do you like Midnight Cowboy? (I can't be the only hater...I just don't get the hype!) Do you have any favorite Youtube-rs?

Beauty Blog Link Love

2010-01-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

Here's this week's Beauty Blog Link Love. Go procrastinate and check out these great posts!

-theNotice is hosting a New Year's giveaway with lots of discontinued or hard-to-find items, and everyone has three chances to win!
-Priminition, an expose on primers - over at Jeweled Thumb
-A go-to neutral purple-beige look from Maggie at The Polka-Dotted Apple!
-Krasey Beauty warms it up for winter with a golden makeup look using Chanel's Spring 2010 collection
-This week at I Heart Cosmetics Sarah has been loving Mac's warm and cozy collection
-Vex in the City explains why Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream is all she needs to beat her winter blues
-Amy over at Yoetke Beauty Blog is taking L'Oreal's 4-Week Lashboost Challenge!
-Arianne can't stop raving about her holy grail foundation (OMG!) on Glitter Geek
-Lisa Kate has some Sparkle Approved Mineral Makeup Companies to share with you!
-LiAnn asks what beauty products you tried that made you say "meh"
-Retrodiva wants to know what your signature fragrance is!
-Jellyminx Thinks swatches Sleek Eyeshadow palettes
-Hot Beauty Health share some sexy haircolor ideas to start the new year off fresh!
-Over at Lipglossiping this week, Charlotte contemplates life with triangle hair.
-This week at Get Lippie, Louise tries out a Scarlet Johanssen-style makeover.

Thats it for this week! Have fun reading!

Cheer Bear using Aromaleigh Hi Fi Mattes!

2010-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

When one googles "Cheer Bear", some surprising images come up...

Well there's this one, which the guy apparently made himself (and I think is a bit awesome)...

And this one, which is OUT OF STOCK (who bought up all of these?)...

And this. Which creeps me out. A lot. Something about those eyes and smashed nose...I don't think I could sleep well knowing this guy was watching me. I feel like he's hungry...for my blood. (And only $21.99+18.99 S&H!)

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Kookie- girly cool pink
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Real Gone- bright lemony yellow
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Cat's Pajamas- matte coral with warm orange tones
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Cranked- slightly muted coral red with slightest lustre
-Aromaleigh Les Papillons in Air & Light- A silvery white with highlights and sparks of every shade of the rainbow
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero
-Wet N Wild Creme liner in black
-Hi Fi Cosmetics Concentrated Gel Blush in Amore- bright coral with golden flecks
-Revlon lipstick in Silver City Pink

I'm worried about Creepy McCheerBear coming to get me, can you tell? XD

So I thought this would turn out more pink, but Kookie was going white on me and I had to improvise! Therefore, it's still kind of Cheer Bear-esque. I used Kookie in the inner vee, then Real Gone, Cat's Pajamas and finally Cranked, which I blended into the crease. I also used Air & Light to blend the crease a bit and highlight the browbone. I'm not sure why I paired the warm shimmery blush with cool toned lips...Next time I'd wear a different lipstick!

Who's YOUR favorite Care Bear? Do you remember them? I used to have all the VHSs!

Two Looks Using Urban Decay Crash Liner

2010-01-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Crash is a formally exclusive 24/7 liner shade to the Stereophonic 24/7 set. It's now available in full size as one of Urban Decay's four new liner shades for Spring! It's a "deep plum w/ teeny silver glitter". Check out swatches from the set here.

I been giving major love to the rest of the Stereophonic set, especially Underground (which I think is totally underrated and gorgeous). I decided to test out Crash today since I really haven't tried it out yet!

What I used:
-The She Space Side Stepped- woodsy plum berry
-The She Space Crushed Metal- smoky grey shimmer with layers of pink and copper
-The She Space Leo Collection in Sunflowers & Sugar- a tiny bit buttery gold infused with serious blue, lavender and pink iridescent shimmer
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Crash- deep plum w/ teeny silver glitter
-Urban Decay Afterglow blush in Quickie- bright pink with shimmer
-Revlon matte lipstick in Pink Pout

Side Stepped on lid. A teensy bit of Crushed Metal in the crease. Sunflowers & Sugar as highlight.

Crash borders on being black. It's really dark. I used a purple based color to bring out the purple tones in it. You can even see the itty bitty glitter bits!

What I used:
-Hi Fi Holiday 09 Adeste Fideles- super-shimmery gold with a cool green interference
-Hi Fi Holiday 09 Let It Snow- super sparkly white
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Crash- deep plum w/ teeny silver glitter
-Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Talc-Free Mineral Blush in Rosy Glow
-Gosh Velvet Touch lipstick in Darling- nude

Here I used Adeste Fideles from lashline to crease, which by the way, if you don't have, you need. It's so pretty and unusual. Then I used Let it Snow as a highlight and also patted a bit on top of Darling to make it up not so corpse-y!

So I like Crash. I don't think its a "must-have" and that there are better 24/7 liners to get first. It doesn't go on as smooth as a solid color, like Zero (black) or Electric (blue). I've noticed the ones with glitter are a bit bumpy and weird and I need to go over em twice to get an even color.

Have you tried Crash or any of the new Spring colors yet? What's your favorite 24/7 color? (Mines Underground or Zero, but black is so boring!)

A Piece of Me In...January 2010 + Happy 101 Tag!

2010-01-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

This month, I like...breaded green beans (yummmm), watching Buffy obsessively with my husband, going on interviews, purple shadow (makes my eyes look all green!), painting my nails with mega glitter!

This month, I do not like...my eyes, as in I need new glasses since they have gotten worse, but I can't afford em! So I've been dealing with mega migraines lately!

This month, I want you to know...if I get the higher paying job, I'm TOTALLY doing a giveaway to thank you all! Otherwise, I'll still be broke XD

This month, I've planned...to get more organized with my time. School, work, blogging, reading. All things must be done in moderation and just not what I want to do!

This month, I want to say to someone special...Lurve you!

Also, I'm not sure if you know this but I SUCK at doing tags! I'm trying to be more organized (see? see?) and instead of just saving the picture (which guarantees I won't remember who gave it to me!) I'm saving the link so I will be able to do them now! Anyhoo, Lizzard from Product Junkie (who's my bitch, I love her! Go follow!) tagged me for the Happy 101 tag! Rules are pretty simple, this has been floating around the blog world for a little while now....Just put down 10 things that make you happy and tag ten blogs!

1. The three hot men I live with...Rob, Piggles & Gus!
2. Reading lots of good series lately (I'm a bit obsessed with the Hollows by Kim Harrison right now!)
3. Ranch dressing (I eat it with everything...is that bad?)
4. My brother's dog Fiona. She has one eye and is 3 pounds, which therefore means she is just as cute as a guinea pig!
5. Flowered sequins (I've been putting them on everything!)
6. The smell of cookies baking!
7. Dyeing my hair
8. Blogging about nothing XD
9. Going through the Cute Overload archives
10. Throwing snowballs at my husband when he's not looking XD

And, as for the blogs I tag (being lazy and hopefully fair by picking the first 10 people who commented on my last post, but they are all meh girls so they deserve it!):
1. Janet from My Naked Face
2. Amy Naree
3. LiAnn from SparkleCrack Central
4. Aubrey from BreakDancingMoogle (Are you the same person as Painted Moogle? Have been wondering!!)
5. Bicky from Tastes like Glitterr
6. Krista from Krista's Fascinations
7. Heather from Eyeconic
8. Michelle from Ramblings of Purple M
9. Rae from theNotice
10. Evil Angel from Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss

Lemme know if you did and/or do this tag! Everyone makes me smile though (blogging is my happy time!) so feel free to do it if you weren't on the list!!

Painted Roses, Flying Scotsmen & Fancy Lads, Oh my!

2010-01-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

First, I wanna say Happy Freakin' Birthday to my girl Bicky!!! Have fun and don't go too wild, k? <3

cutie pic found here!

I was at first attempting to do a look for a contest based around your birthmonth. June is actaully a fairly boring month and our stone is pearl (which is lovely, but not too colorful) and our flower is the rose. Anyways, this didn't turn out good enough to enter since I was in a bit of a hurry and I needed to run errands.

Poor roses. I never like them cause it just means my husband did something REALLY wrong ;) (But isn't this pic gorgeous? I love orange roses!!)

What I used:

-Fyrinnae Pub Collection in The Flying Scotsman- deep coppery-peachy-dusty-rose
-Fyrinnae Pub Collection in Fancy Lads- Vivid warm pink with a green sparkle highlight
-Fyrinnae Mad Tea Party Collection in Painted Roses- Sparkly, glimmering deep coral...leans towards orange, but the pink hue shows up better when the light hits it.
-Fyrinnae Anaconda- matte, deep dark green (no lip)
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black
-ELF Studio Blush in Blushing Rose- orangey burnt rose
-MeMeMe Beat the Blues highlighter in Moonbeam
-Fyrinnae lip lustre in Lickable- soft, shimmery beige peach, semi sheer

The Flying Scotsman patted in rose petal shape on upper lid. Painted Roses patted in inner corner. Fancy Lads patted in middle of lid and around edges of "petal". Zero liner on bottom outer corner. Anaconda patted on over liner and into "thorn" shape on outer corner.

Ugh, for some reason I can never get the colors to photograph accurately when I use Fyrinnae! I think its cause they are so pretty XD

Well I hope you enjoyed this look! I've got my final interview at the medical bill collectors tomorrow and an interview at a bookstore cafe on Friday. I'm a bit torn, as I'd much rather work at the cafe, but its less money. So now I'm in the position where, do I take the fun job and keep struggling or the not-so-fun job and perhaps put off school even longer? Le sigh. Stress!

Bella il Fiore "Bella's Powder Room" Makeup Boudoir Review & Swatches

2010-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Holy long title!

I was lucky enough to win the Bella il Fiore palette from one of my favorite bloggettes, the Recessionista from Nouveau Cheap! The contest was sponsored by Beauty Ticket, where you can find Bella's Powder Room Makeup Boudoir (from now on known as BPR) for a sweet $16.99.

First, this came direct from Beauty Ticket, where I've been wanting to order from for awhile. If you didn't know, BT is THE place to get discounted high end cosmetics like Smashbox, Too Faced, YSL, Bourjois (which I can't find anywhere near me anymore!), and lots others. The box came FAST and was packed tight with adorable pink stuffing to make sure the palette didn't bounce around too much. I was happily surprised at how nice it was packed in!

The BPR itself is about 5x4x4 inches. Not exactly something to throw in your purse on a daily occasion, but perfect for traveling. It has a nice sized mirror on the top and it actually stays open (which is a huge plus for me *cough* UD BoS *cough*. It has three layers: lips, blush, then shadow. The "drawers" for the blushes and shadows come out.

On the top are the lipglosses. Now, you probably know I'm generally not a fan of lipgloss and these are no exception. It's nothing personal against Bella, it's seriously me. The glosses are sheer for the most part and a bit on the sticky side.

Comes with (left column to right column):

-Sheer baby pink

-Sheer raspberry purple pink

-Sheer red pink

-Rose with gold shimmer

-Bronze with red shimmer

-Sheer burgandy purple with purple shimmer

The second layer contains 2 "drawers" of blush. Seriously, I would pay $17 for these alone. They are gorgeous! I piled em on for the swatches, but they go on beautifully! Soft and pigmented, with the perfect amount of sheen and some kickass colors.

Comes with (left column to right column):

-semi-matte dark rose blush with very very slight gold shimmer

-coral with silver shimmer

-pinky peach with gold shimmer

-light bronzer with heavy gold shimmer

The last drawer has the nine shadows, double ended lip brush and shadow brush. The shadows are relatively sheer and you really need a nice sticky base for them. I used ELF eye primer for the swatches.

Comes with (top row to bottom row above, left column to right column below):

-soft cool pink with silver shimmer

-warm ivory with silver shimmer

-grey with green iridescence and gold shimmer

-deep purple burgandy with red shimmer

-black with silver glitter

-pale lavender with silver shimmer

-warm bronze with silver glitter

-matte ivory

-deep brown with gold & silver shimmer

As long as the shadows are used with a primer (can't stress that enough), these are pretty badass. I especially like the grey/green, burgandy and browns! You can also change these up by wearing them sheer, over a colored base (like NYX pencils or Indelible Cream Shadow) or on top of a black gel liner.

Overall, I totally love BPM!! I would pay it for the blushes alone, but the shadows are great as well. While I don't exactly like the glosses, that's more of my own personal preference than anything. If you are looking for some new cute blushes, or a nice travel palette, you should try out Bella's Powder Room!

Have you tried out this goodie yet? Or anything from Bella il Fiore? I have to say, I'm pretty impressed and totally want to try more!

Disclaimer: While I recieved this for free, it was sent to me as a gift and I am not affiliated with Beauty Ticket or Bella il Fiore.

Detrivore Greens, Grays & Blacks Review & Swatchies!

2010-01-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

With all the pretty new collections coming out from some of my favorite companies, I have been putting off reviewing a lot of new brands. While I've already posted about my love of Detrivore primer, I haven't really tried out the shadows yet. I purchased the set of the first 50 shadows and a free primer (with free shipping) from Etsy a few months ago. I'll be doing the swatches and reviewing over the next week or so, since there are so many colors!

These swatches are done using ELF studio primer. If you click on the to enlarge, you can see where the primer is (usually the "shiny" strip!), and what the color looks like without primer on the sides. The color descriptions leave something to be desired, but I added more if needed.

Lets start out with the Black, White & Greys, shall we?

White Chapel- white glitter

Shroud- very sparkly silver glitter (very sheer)

Switchblade- sparkly grey, not silver

Cremains- dark silver glitter

Smog- pale blue gray mixture (definitely not pale!)

Beetle- black glitter
I really, really like these shades. I definitely don't have enough shades of grey in my kit and I love how pretty these are, especially Smog. It takes on a decidedly blue tone with a plush base and low shimmer. Great color for redheads or green/blue eyes!

Dr. West- bright yellow green, very shimmery and sparkly

Gangrene- soft pastel green, shimmery (slightly chalky)

Ectoplasma- bright green (lighter then TKB Apple Pop)

Mildew- teal
Abnormal- dark yellowish green shadow (has a distinct grey/black base...not much yellow in here)

Fungus- olive green (grey/grey base)
Amazon- bright deep emerald green (black base)

Putrid- dark green (black base, slightly brighter shimmer than Amazon)

I don't exactly think that one needs Abnormal, Fungus, Amazon & Putrid. The colors are really similar. Without a primer, the green iridescence doesn't show up and they are sort of dull grey shades. Amazon does have a distinct black base and I think it mades a great liner. Mildew is by far my favorite of the green shades. It looks good whether or not there is a primer underneath.

The texture of the shadows is very dry...think The She Space or Aromaleigh. I had to be very careful with the darker shades, since they did tend to stain on me. This may be because of my super pale skin, but I thought it was good to note. A good, sticky primer is a MUST with these.

While Detrivore has a LOT of colors to choose from, they are a bit basic. They aren't super layered but sometimes one wants a more simple look. You get a TON of product in the samples and its definitely a good idea to sample a bunch of colors! I've noticed that the newer colors are a bit more complex and I can't wait to try those as well!

My order arrived very quickly, which doesn't surprise me as Detrivore is located only 2 hours away! It was packaged very nicely and securely in a bubble mailer.

Overall, I think Detrivore is a company to watch. They are definitely on my Sparkle Approved List and I can't wait to see what new colors they come up with! Detrivore (supposedly, I haven't tracked this) comes out with new colors every Friday.

Watch out for more swatches over the next few days!

Have you tried Detrivore? Any favorites?

Whee! Best name for a color, ever!

2010-01-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well first, I wanted to get your opinion on the new layout! What do you think? Hate it, love it, don't care? I also added a Feedburner subscription thingy (for you Robyn tee hee!).

The beauty blog world seems to be in a Fyrinnae uproar right now! Everyone and their grandma is wearing Fyrinnae (or should be). I felt like being a sheep today so I dug out my Fyrinnae from the depths of the traincase! I wasn't too happy with the way the look came out...but it was still fun and I used my new Whee! lip lustre so I decided to post away!

-Fyrinnae Rapunzel Had Extensions- Stunning golden pink-peach

-Fyrinnae Daemon's Tail- rich combination of purple and gold

-Fyrinnae Anemone- light sky blue with gold shimmer, but does appear to be a shimmery gold/green in the light

-Fyrinnae Glow blush in Charm- Bright, feminine pink with a slight lavender hue and touch of shimmer

-Fyrinnae lip lustre in Whee!- semi-sheer shimmery light lavender with red/pink highlights

-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black

Rapunzel Had Extensions all over lid and on top of Anemone in crease. Zero in outer vee of lashline with Daemon's Tale layered on top.

How do you like Whee!? I think its an awesome name, but I'm not so sure about how I feel about it on me. The pic above is no flashies, so it shows the actual color the best. I like it, but I think I should lighten my natural lip color a bit first!

This god-awful close up shows the color of Daemon's Tale the best. It is one of my absolute fave Fyrinnae colors! I chose it by whim and it totally rocks. Just enough red and purple to make my eyes look all crazy green! It goes really well with Rapunzel Had Extensions and Anemone, but not necessarily together. Bah.

So have you tried out Fyrinnae yet? What's your favorite color? Any fun plans this weekend (none for me...snowed in!)

Under Construction!

2010-01-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

Please red panda bear with me while Sparkle is under construction! Gonna look a bit wonky during the day! Thanks!

An Intro to Beauty Blog Link Love!

2010-01-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

I've been blogging for about 6 months now and it's been a really fun, colorful, glitter-ful journey. I've met so many amazing people through here! Blogging has become part of my everyday life...all the behind the scenes things like trying out new products, working on layout, swatches, pictures, deciding what companies to buy from, etc! I'm still fairly new to the scene though and I've been toying with the idea of joining a link community. Personally, I know that I'm always looking for new blogs that update frequently. When Rae from theNotice (one of my fave blogs ever) decided she wanted to make a contract free, and of course fun, link community, I hopped right on it! I'm touched to be a part of a place with such amazing, inspiring bloggettes!

So, without further ado, here is Rae's intro to BBLL!

"Beauty Blog Link Love (or BBLL for short) is officially on-air today with this Link Love post. We're a new community of -- obviously -- beauty bloggers, and we're committed to bringing you the best and brightest stars of the beauty blog world twice each month! Don't worry; this won't affect the posts on any of the blogs that you're reading, but what it will do is form a casual, contract-free environment for bloggers to share posts that they're proud of, which means that you'll get easy access to the best reading material possible.

Today we'd just like to introduce all of our lovely members so far, so stick with us! If you're interested in joining BBLL as well, you can find out more here. Now, onto the bloggers:
Adina, the voice behind KraseyBeauty, a blog for all things beautiful in New York City,
Amy, the beauty addict product junkie who posts a collection of swatches and reviews on Yoetke Beauty Blog,
Arianne, who loves all things beautiful (from makeup to geekery that may sometimes involve kitties) is the gorgeous gal-with-brains behind Glitter Geek,
BeautyjunkieLondon, who is, well, a London-based beauty obsessive who has found an outlet for all things wonderfully girly and shallow,
Caz, a UK beauty blogger and newly found Lush addict at thisiscaz,
Eve, who writes xLovelyMakeupx and loves anything fashion and makeup,
The Jeweled Thumb, of the eponymous blog,
Kelly, the Jellyminx Thinks blogger,
LiAnn, of Sparklecrack Central, who is hooked on makeup though she didn't wear it regularly until she was nearly 40,
Lipglossiping, a girl with too many lipsticks (and a blog about them,)
Lisa Kate of Sparkle is my Crack! who happens to be obsessed with glitter, guinea pigs and winking cupcake tattoos!
Louise, the blogger behind Get Lippie,
Maggie, who writes The Polka-Dotted Apple,
Sara, a Bay Area beauty blogger who documents her cosmetic obsession at The Makeup Snob.com,
Sarah, the shopaholic behind the reviews, hauls and hair drama at I Heart Cosmetics,
Stephanie, the makeup artist from LA blogging about makeup and fashion at Aquahearts Makeup Obsession,
Vex, with Vex in the City,
And, finally, the editor of BBLL (Rae,) who also writes theNotice: a beauty blog, which she fills with reviews, swatches, FOTDS, and a side of snark.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading, and we at BBLL hope that you can find some new favourite blogs out of this Link Love post. We'll see you in two weeks with links to specific posts that we think you'll love -- until then, stay beautiful! xoxo"

So basically I'll be posting BBLL every other Friday. I'm really excited and think this will be fun! Now go check out those other blogs, but make sure to come back to snort some sparkles with me, okay?

An Interview, A Rant and A "Huh?"

2009-12-31T13:30:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll go in order. So I had an interview earlier today that went REALLY well! The HR person & manager that I interviewed with both said I was hired but I still need to meet with the owner (who goes to my hubby's bank and loves him...hence, why I got the interview)! I would be starting on Jan 11th! Woot! I really hope I get this so I don't have to temp. Our temp agencies around here SUCK and will send you to the ghetto and make you clean nasty things. No thanks. Just looking at dirty dishes makes me want to vomit, let alone toilets!

Onto the rant then! Here we go....Barnes & Noble? Go F yourselves. You tricked me into thinking I would be getting the book I was *dying* for today. And now I won't get it until next week. Why would you do that to me? I am nothing but nice to you. And, according to UPS, you are in Middleburg Heights (which is literally 5 minutes away from my house) and you got there on MONDAY. So why the FUCK are you sitting in your little cardboard box and not in my greedy paws until next monday??? What are you so busy doing? Can't I just go to the UPS warehouse and pick you up??? (I should have ordered from Amazon.) Never again, Barnes & Noble. Your "super fast" shipping is oh-so-slow. When I think "super fast" I think a few days. Maybe a week. Not 2 1/2 weeks!!

Rant done. Sorry about that. Had to get it off my chest. Onto the "huh?". My Target discontinued all their ELF products. The only thing they had left was those liquid eyeshadows on clearance (and I didn't buy them). It made me scratch my head. I don't understand why ELF was only there a couple months. Rumor was that the Studio line was coming out in March....I guess not at my Target!

What I used:
-Stardust Winter LE in Caroller's Breath- velvety frozen taupe

-Stardust Loose Mineral Pigment in Silky- medium matte taupe

-Stardust Winter LE in Arctic Whisper- palest icy pink with delicate twinkles

-The She Space Share Your Secret- sheer rose tree bark brown

-Wet n Wild Creme Liner in Black
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Underground- metallic taupe
-The She Space blush in Memory Loss- soft mauve berry glow

-Stardust Luminizer in Goddess- delicate pink glow
-NYX round lipstick in Circe- nude warm brown
-Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Very Berry Happy- a semi-sheer "milky" pink shimmer

(Whew! Why is it I always use 100 products on neutral looks???)

Haha do you like my face hole? I took out my piercings for the interview but I think they are sort of obvious! Also, have I mentioned how much I love Stardust Caroller's Breath? I've worn it about 4 times which is really unusual for me!

I used Caroller's Breath on the lid up to crease, then a pinch of Silky in the outer edge of crease. Arctic Whisper as highlight. Wet n Wild creme liner on top lashline with Share Your Secret layered on top. Underground on bottom lashline.

Oh yeah, I forgot its New Years Eve!! I wish all of you a happy new year and please, don't get too drunk XD We're doing it low key tonight...deliciously weird appetizers (fried green beans, mini tacos & jalapeno cheddar stuffed pretzels, yum!), Buffy (almost done with Season 2!), and chillin with our pig babies!

Do you have any plans tonight? Does your Target still have ELF? Do you hate Barnes & Noble for me (cause you should...they tricked me and I hate them now)? x.x

Hi Fi New Years 2010 Collection Swatchies!

2009-12-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday! I'm feeling MUCH better today! Thank you for all your suggestions! (And coming back to read my blog even though I talked about puke x.x)

You can check out Hi Fi's new collection here. Just search for "new year" and all the new colors will pop up!

Old Fashioned Facism- sheer golden nude

Fear the Nobodies- metallic olive shade with a bronzey undertone, lots of shimmer

Pins & Needles- bright, pearly pink

Miracle Mile- shimmering rose with pale, multi dimensional sparkle

Pointless Intervention- bronzey orange-coral with TONS of golden shimmer!

Eat Me, Drink Me- cool lavender with a golden interference and tons of shimmer

Crippled Plaything- cool, medium green with icy shimmer

Things that Cannot Speak- deep magenta hue with lots of fuschia and indigo glitters

Don't Forget the Violence- shimmering bright blue with lots of turquoise sparkle

Dirty Word Witchcraft- sheer black with color shifting iridescence

Aren't these colors absolutely amazing?? I'm so excited that Hi Fi is coming out with more and more collections and new items. Veronica (and her little helper, Julia!) has a great eye for color!

My favorites are Fear the Nobodies, Pins & Needles, Things That Cannot Speak and Dirty Word Witchcraft! What are yours??

Pins & Needles is an Apt Name!

2009-12-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

Seriously. I've been playing phone tag for the past two days with an HR rep from a company that wants to hire me!! Arg!! My phone sucks and barely works in our semi-underground apartment so she will leave me a message and by the time I get it, she's not at her desk!

Oh, this is TMI but I've also been battling some sort of stomach flu. I'm not sure whats going on but an ENTIRE piece of shredded cheese came out of nose...Too much info? Well, it sucked. Hurt really bad. Why don't I chew? And for some reason, I pretty much only puke out of my nose and not my mouth. What's up with that? My body sucks at life for real!

I actually had a great day today, besides being crazy about trying to get ahold of this lady (the cheese thing happened yesterday). My sister-in-law and I went out to lunch at Chipotle, which is normally delicious but NOT good for delicate tummies. (Although, I think I've lost about 5 pounds in the past 3 days so thats fun!). We both got Old Navy giftcards from her papa for Xmas so we went there. The place looked like it was robbed! There was literally just sweaters all over the floor and barely anything on the shelves. Neither one of us ended up with anything, it was so odd! Then we went to the Dollar Tree, where I bought some LA Colors Art Deco nail art polishes! I'm pretty excited to try them, but I can't do a damn thing with my left hand so I'm sure it won't turn out that great XD

What I used:
-Hi Fi New Years 2010 Collection in Pins & Needles- bright, pearly pink
-Hi Fi New Years 2010 Collection in Eat Me, Drink Me- cool lavender with a golden interference and tons of shimmer
-Hi Fi New Years 2010 Collection in Things That Cannot Speak- deep magenta hue with lots of fuschia and indigo glitters (Veronica's daughter Julia created this, how awesome is that??)
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black
-Allure by Jen Iced Peach
-Fyrinnae Glow blush in Charm
-MeMeMe Beat the Blues highlighter
-NYX lipstick in Opal- pearlescent pink purple

Ugh, unfortunately the INSANE prettiness of Pins & Needles was hiding from my camera today! In real life, its a beautiful Barbie pink with pink shimmer. It rocks. You need it. I want to wear it every single day. I totally felt like a princess! Eat Me, Drink Me is another great color, but unfortunately my uber-paleness sort of washes out the lavender in it and turns it into silver. Check out Veronica's swatch to see it on dark skin, where it looks much more purple. Things That Cannot Speak is possibly my favorite purple shadow. It's rich and shimmering and dark enough to line, but not too dark that its black. I love it!

Aw, what a sad panda I am! I wore Pins & Needles in the crease and outer 1/3rd of lid with Eat Me, Drink Me in the inner vee and inner 2/3rd of lid. I used Zero to line and topped it off with Things That Cannot Speak.

Well I better go get do my wifely duties...dinner must be made (tater tots & grilled cheese...my culinary skills are uh below average), laundry must be done, and I should probably clean the guinea pig cage as well.

Have you tried anything from Hi Fi's new collection? (Get on it, for real, its so glam!) Would you like swatchies? Also, do the swatches help? Cause if you don't like them, I won't continue doing them (it's a huge time slut).

Okay, enough procrastinating. Must grill some cheese!

More Holiday Looks w/ Hi Fi, Stardust & Aromaleigh LEs!

2009-12-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a fun holiday! Mine went as well as can be expected. A lot has changed in my family this year, and not everyone is dealing with it in a mature manner, so uh, it was uncomfortable. Especially for the husband x.x

This first look I wore for Christmas morning at husbands family and Christmas night at my mom's family. I wanted to use red and gold to match my new lip lustre (love you Katie!! Mwah!!!)! The pictures BLOW because I was in a moving car at the time...in half direct sunlight haha!

What I used (Look #1 Feliz Navidad!):
-Aromaleigh Hot in the City in Concrete Jungle- warmed taupe with the most amazing bright sparks of aqua

-Hi Fi Winter 09 collection in Feliz Navidad- deep red with gold and crimson sparkles

-Stardust Crystals & Velvet collection in Polar Rose- high shimmer muted rose

-Allure by Jen Iced Peach- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Underground- metallic taupe

-Revlon Lush lashes
-Exposed Organics Nectar mising medium
-Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in Midnight Cowboy- beige glitter
-Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Hearts & Stars- sheer light peach "nude" with a copper pink/red highlight

-Too Faced brightening blush in Papa Don't Peach- soft peach

I used Concrete Jungle all over lid, then wet on the bottom lashline over Underground. Next I patted Feliz Navidad in my crease and outer upper lid. Then I took Polar Rose (which is a bit darker and more blue based rather than orange based) and patted that on top of FN on the outer edges. Iced Peach to highlight and blend. Midnight Cowboy on top of lashes (glitter lashes yay!!) and lined underneath falsies on bottom lid in 3 lines sort of like another falsie? (That made no sense, sorry!).

I created the look around Ice Cream Party! I wanted a sort of bitchy punk look to go with the luster!

What I used (Look #2 En Pointe Purples)
-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Dulcinea- rich warm purple plush matte base with green iridescent highlight

-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Odile- lush mauve sheen with iridescent shine of green and blue and earthy undertones

-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Sylph- sparkling jewels in a white plush matte base

-Allure by Jen Iced Peach- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer

-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black
-Fyrinnae glow blush in Charm- Bright, feminine pink with a slight lavender hue and touch of shimmer

-Stardust cheek/face shimmer Winter LE in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen

-Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Ice Cream Party- soft deep mauve shade with a slight satin finish, not shimmer

For this look, I took Odile and patted it into the outer vee and crease. I also used it on top of Zero on my lower lash line, which brought out the purple a lot more (you can see it best in the top picture). It greyed out a bit when used dry. Not in a bad way, just looks more purpley (purply?) on top of the black. Then I took Dulcinea on the rest of the lid and inner vee and blended it on top of Odile. I also used a pinch of Slyph in the inner vee and Iced Peach to highlight.

Look at me! Pouty McPoutersons here XD

I hope you enjoyed these holiday looks! I'm going to be a swatching machine this week, including all the Fyrinnae lip lustres I own and the *NEW* Hi Fi collection! It's OMGorgeous! (Yup, I think I made up a new term here). Thanks for listening to my babblings!

How was everyone's holidays, by the way? Get anything good??

Happy Holidays!! (Oh, and check out my falsies:o)

2009-12-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone! (And Happy Other Assorted Holidays, also!) I hope everyone has a great time with their loved ones today. This is what I wore on Xmas Eve (divorced parents + marriage = lots of different places and parties to go to). It looks like I used a buttload of makeup, but honestly it wasn't that much! I wanted to focus on some mega lashes and liner, so I left the rest of my makeup glowy and simple (but not that simple...)

What I used:

-Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita in Verdant Wisp- complex, shimmering jade green with lush lilac sparkles

-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Waltz- soft pale green plush matte base with a mysterious blue green highlight
-Stardust Crystals and Velvet Winter LE in Caroller's Breath- velvety frozen taupe
-Stardust Ivory- matte ivory

-Aromaleigh En Pointe in Sylph- sparkling jewels in a white plush matte base

-Wet N Wild Creme Liner in Black

-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero- black

-Revlon Lush false lashes

-Allure by Jen blush in Innocence- glowing pink

-Stardust Cheek/Face shimmer Winter LE in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen

-Covergirl TruShine lipcolor in Powderpink Kiss

Wet n Wild liner on upper lid and Zero on lower lid. Verdant Wisp blended over liners. Waltz used as a wash from lashline to browbone. Caroller's Breath in crease. Sylph in inner vee. Ivory on browbone. Lush lashes used on corner of top lid and corner of bottom lid.

You can't really see Verdant Wisp over the black liner, which was sort of what I was going for. I wanted something a bit softer, but not brown (I am so sick of brown liners right now!). VW does the job perfectly!

I received some really thoughtful presents this year too! Money is, ahem, a bit tight, so I wasn't expecting anything at all! My dad's family does a $10 gift exchange, which my dad apparently rigged so I would get Katie, my brother's fiance, she would get me, and my brother & husband would get eachother. (He didn't want us to have to buy gifts for his wife's family, since thats a bit of a strained relationship). Katie got me the three Fyrinnae lip lustres I had on my wishlist!!! It was soooo sweet and unexpected, I couldn't believe it! The colors are gorgeously fab, I can't wait to swatch them up for you guys! Rob also got me a few small gifts (which he wasn't supposed to, cause we don't exactly have the cash for it). He bought G-Force, which is the cutest movie EVER (it's like my dreams of dancing/talking guinea pigs came true!) and the 1st season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I was really into Buffy when it came out (in 1997, I was only 9!!) and its an embarrassing addiction. He was so sweet and grabbed it the other day when we were out buying gifts. I didn't think it was going to be as good as I remembered it being (I mean, I also liked NSync back then too...) but it is!! I can't wait to watch the next seasons!! I always hate reading about how people get these huge gifts and blah, blah, blah, but I wanted to share these with you. Rob & Katie put so much thought into their presents for me, I was totally shocked. I'm not a holiday person, normally. I usually get mega depressed from November to January. Just bad memories, I guess. Today (Xmas Eve, when I'm writing this, I guess technically Xmas cause its 2am!) was a good day though. I'm so happy I have these new editions to my family, my husband and my almost-sister-in-law. I am so grateful and lucky to have them!

So, on that note, I wish you all a GREAT holiday!! I hope everyone is lucky enough to have someone special in their lives that treats them well. And if you don't, it will happen one day . Believe me, I spent a lot of time alone and sad, I never thought I would have such great people in my life.

PS...Does anyone else have a Buffy obsession? Squee! I'm such a fangirl (again). Even my husband is into it now!

En Pointe Winter Ballerina Look + Badass Nails!

2009-12-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know why, but this look totally reminds me of little winter princess ballerinas! Stupidly, I never checked out Aromaleigh's En Pointe collection when it came out, since I was more into bright colors at the time. Weird how our tastes change, right? I'm loving soft, shimmery looks right now and En Pointe is totally up that alley! I got the full sample set (of the 14 colors that became permanent) during Aromaleigh's 12 days of Christmas, where each day one collection was 50% off. I couldn't resist getting them for $7! The colors are gorgeous and subtle, I think it may be my new favorite Aromaleigh collection.

What I used:
-Aromaleigh En Pointe collection in Tutu- soft pink violet plush matte base with golden copper highlight

-Aromaleigh En Pointe collection in Calliope- soft plush matte base beholds softly shimmering beige and lilac tones

-Aromaleigh En Pointe collection in Clara- warm purple with smokey base and sweet blue and pink iridescent highlight

-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero-black
-Allure by Jen blush in Innocence- glowing pink
-Stardust cheek/face shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen

-NYX round lipstick in Harmonica- frosted baby pink
-Aromaleigh aromatherapy lipbalm

Tutu on inner corners (this is a really pale color, and therefore doesn't show up well on my really pale skin, boo!). Calliope on lid and browbone. Clara in crease and over Zero on bottom lid.

Hurray for weird faces!! I wish the camera would pick up the shimmer from Winter's Kiss, its really lovely. Stardust is selling out of a lot of their Winter Crystals & Velvet collection, so I recommend picking some stuff up fast!! From what is still there, my favorites are Arctic Whisper, Cashmere Mittens, Caroller's Breath & Winter's Kiss. Seriously, buy Winter's Kiss even though it sounds weird! It will make you glow and be all beautiful!

I painted my nails with Wet n Wild Rock Solid polish in Sterling Silver last night and its sooo awesome. Unfortunately, it goes on really weird and is Chippy McChippersons. But the color is amazing. Has anyone seen the second (I think?) Xmen movie where there is a "girl" Wolverine, (Lady Deathstrike, thanks to Wikipedia) and she has crazy metal nails?! That is the exact color of this polish. Its like a gunmetal silver gray that I couldn't get a good picture of since it's metallic. (It looks darker in real life than in the pictures!) Anyhoo, its totally worth it for $2!

Rawr!

Oh and do you girlies want swatches of En Pointe? Lemme know!

High Voltage Secret Weapon + TSS Ten Wishes

2009-12-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! I had an interview with one of the companies I'd really like to work for this morning! I hope I did well and they call me back. They pay really well and I already know a lot about their company. I worked in investments and annuities for 3 years and while I enjoyed the work, the people I worked with were insane. I was the youngest by, oh about 30 years, and the awful old women I worked with tormented me! They were nuts, seriously, who brings up eating guinea pigs in normal, everyday conversation? Anyhoo, this company is one of the products we've sold and they are really awesome. So, keep your fingers crossed for me!! If I get this, I can afford to buy oodles of makeup (oh, and rent too!) :o)

I wanted to wear something fun to run errands in. I wanted to try out some more High Voltage, the newest company in my Sparkle Approved list :)

What I used:
-High Voltage Secret Weapon- Light muted golden brown (has purple and green undertones)

-High Voltage I'm a Wild Child- Pastel spring green with a pop

-Stardust Ivory- matte ivory
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Underground- metallic taupe
-Urban Decay Afterglow blush in Quickie- bright pink with shimmer

-NYX round lipstick in Thalia- plummy pink
-Fyrinnae lip lustre in Romantique- semi-sheer soft warm pink with gold shimmer

The colors seem a bit washed out, boo! Looks much prettier in real life! Secret Weapon on lid and crease and over Underground on bottom lid. I'm a Wild Child in inner vee. Ivory as highlight.

I'm not sure how many of you are already on The She Space's email list, but Heather sent out a holiday greeting on Sunday night and I thought it was really sweet, so I wanted to share with anyone who hasn't seen it yet! This is another reason why I love TSS...Heather is just the nicest owner. She really truly appreciates every order and is always on a sparkle high! Here is the list of her wishes for us for 2010!

My Top Ten Wishes for you throughout this coming new year and always....

I wish you a life lived in YOUR version of complete authenticity

I wish you the courage to take one step closer to pursuing a life-long dream of your own

I wish you more happiness than you ever thought you could experience

I wish you the ability to give and receive more blessings than you could ever count

I wish you good health....never-waivering, not-to-be-taken-for-granted, rosy-cheeked health

I wish you a life full of unconditional love, both given and received

I wish you the confidence to ALWAYS know and embrace your own beauty

I wish you abundance in every aspect of your life

I wish you the gift of uncontrollable laughter at least once a day

Most important, I wish you a life that is filled with nothing less than in-your-face, awe-inpsiring, BOLD, twinkling, outside-of-lines, COLOR, because your life was never meant to be experienced in mere black in white...you deserve more than that!!!!

I'll probably still be posting for the next few days, but I wish everyone a great holiday if I don't talk to you!!!

Gingerbread With Attitude Rawr + Hair Dye Smells Good!

2009-12-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't dyed my hair since before the big cut of horribleness and it was starting to get on my nerves. I always feel much more confident and pretty with dyed hair so I finally decided to take the plunge and spend the precious $5 to get some dye (which will last me 2 colors, or about 3 months). Since I still don't have a job, I didn't want to spend the money on a luxury, but it's only $5 so I caved. My natural hair color is getting really, really light so I decided to lighten my entire head. I used Logics 9CC with 20 vol (for my reference), a light strawberry blonde.

It looks better in real life, but this picture is close! Don't you just love my husbands Marvel Comics shirt? XD And how evil I look? Score!

What I used:
-The She Space Terror of Tinsel LE in Eggnog Hangover- subtle raisin pearl taupe with a hint of berry iridescent light

-The She Space Terror of Tinsel LE in Gingerbread with Attitude- fabulous iridescent rose shifter to pink and bronze iridescent

-Stardust loose mineral pigment in High Brow- matte deep brown
-Fyrinnae Inks eyeliner in Colourful Metaphor- Light green that changes to vibrant lime to a silver tinged with pink
-High Voltage Red Head Brow Powder
-Hi Fi Concentrated Gel Blush in Amore- bright coral with golden flecks

-Aromaleigh aromatherapy lipbalm

Damn I look pale. There was some weird lighting going on that day! Anyways I just used Gingerbread with Attitude all over lid to crease and Eggnog Hangover in inner vee and to blend out GWA. Then I took Colourful Metaphor on my waterline and High Brow dry as a liner on bottom and top lids. I also used lipbalm with a bit of Gingerbread with Attitude dusted on (it looked better in person, I swear!)

By now you all know that I have crazy allergies, right? I decided to try out the Inks liner as it is supposed to be used...for the waterline. Bad choice, LK, bad, bad choice. I ended up not being able to see for about 2 hours. TWO WHOLE HOURS. I like the Inks much better for normal liner, even though you aren't supposed to do that. Colourful Metaphor is about 8 months old, so maybe it's gone bad? Does anyone know how long those last?

Oh yeah! And High Brow = the best liner ever. Everyone go and buy it, I command it. It's soft yet dark, brown yet black and makes my eyes look crazy blue! I love it!

Anyhoo, everyone have a great weekend!

Terror of Tinsel Swatches! Hurray!

2009-12-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone! Get your weekend started right with some glitter porn...Yum! Order the collection here (all the way on the bottom, this is the first of the three Holiday 09 collections...I still need to get my paws on the other two!).

Candy Canes and Cavities- delicious iridescent taupe-pink with subtle crystal glitz

Eggnog Hangover- subtle raisin pearl taupe with a hint of berry iridescent light

Rudolph on a Rampage- subtle smoky rose berry with confetti sparkle

One Pilgrim Prancing- fiery iridescent plum copper with violet sparkle

Garland Gone Wrong- iridescent layers of aqua and lime come together in a pearl shimmer with iridescent twinkle

Savor the Psychosis- deepest blackened iridescent aqua with amazing lime and turquoise sparkle

The Terror of Tinsel- iridescent turquoise navy with amazing iridescent sparkle

Naughty Little Elves- sheer grape with hot pink and lavender iridescent twinkle (Came out sort of streaky, but I blame it on the brush!)

Stalking Santa- metallic iridescent magenta wine with violet and lavender diamonds

Cranberries on Ice- shimmering cranberry with flecks of crystal glass
Fa la la la Lunatic- raisin pearl with layers of gold and copper sparkle

Gingerbread with Attitude- fabulous iridescent rose shifter to pink and bronze iridescent

So Merry She's Scary- blackened rose petal shimmer with flecks of crystal sparkle

*Mrs. Claus is Cranky- blackened navy plum iridescent with incredible confetti sparkle

*Black Friday Freakout- incredible blackened plum iridescent with layers of twinkle plum, copper, and violet

*I've worn both of these two colors dry, but they came out all weird in the swatches! My brushes are in dire need of a bath, so I blame it on that. I decided to also swatch these on top of Detrivore Primer to show the true colors...Aren't they fab?

So what do you think? Anything worthy of a haul? My favorites are Mrs. Claus is Cranky, Black Friday Freakout, Gingerbread with Attitude (which I'm totally wearing right now!) & Eggnog Hangover. And not just cause I think the names are cute XD

Sparkle Approved Mineral Makeup Companies

2009-12-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to list my favorite companies! I will be adding a link to the sidebar and constantly updating this, so check it frequently! Hopefully this will help anyone who is new to the mmu world out. I'll link up any available reviews and swatches. Check out the sidebar to see any looks. This is alphabetical order, not the order of love (that would be like picking a favorite child and I just can't do that!). I'll be adding to this as I try out more companies. If you think a company should be added, let me know & I'll try them out! You can always reach me via email at lisakatec@gmail.com. Thanks!

**The criteria to be on this list is that they have (of course) a completely fabulous product, wonderful customer service, easy to navigate website, and a true love of color that shines through in their products. I'm not affiliated with any of these companies, these are just my favorites!

1. Allure by Jen on Etsy - With super dirt cheap samples and amazing products, what more could I ask for? My favorites are the Iced Peach shadow, Dusty Rose lippie and Vegan Hot Chocolate lip scrub! Click here for a review and swatches.

2. Aromaleigh - This is the big one! Aromaleigh is possibly the most famous of the indie mineral makeup companies. There are new collections constantly and a huge variety of colors and finishes. Click here for a review and swatches of the Opulent Lustre Collection and here for a review and swatches of the Sonic Rocks collection. My favorites are the Rocks for bright, bold colors and En Pointe for soft and pretty satins.

3. Detrivore on Etsy or Website - I haven't fully reviewed the shadows yet, but I'm obsessed with the primer. Check out my review for the primer here. They are coming out with some great new collections I can't wait to try! EDIT: Here's my review on the Black, Grey & Green shadows!

4. Evil Shades - Owned by one of my great new bloggette friends, this is one company I think is going to go really far! Check out my review and swatches of the first 15 shadows and a few lipglosses here and my review and swatches of the new Wonderland collection here. My favorites are Double Barrel and Panic shadows and Burlesque blush.

5. Exposed Organics - Gorgeous shadows, super nice customer service and a holy grail product? Those are the makings of an amazing company! Check out review and swatches here. My favorites are Black Pearl shadow and the HG Nectar Mixing Medium (which is great for sensitive eyes).

6. Fyrinnae - Fyrinnae is not a "mineral makeup" company, but I'm adding it here anyways since they are still one of my favorite indie makeup companies. Their shadows, glow blushes, liquid eyeliner Inks and lip lustres are all long time favorites of mine! I can't really pick favorites here cause there are probably too many to name, but I love Romantique lip lustre, Charm blush, Rapunzel Had Extensions shadow, Freya shadow and Colourful Metaphor Inks liner. Here are some swatches of purple Fyrinnae shadows.

7. Hi Fi Cosmetics on Etsy - A company with truly great customer service and some HG shadows! I can't say enough good things about them! Again, I have a lot of favorites so it's hard to pick. I really love Raid the King, In Bloom, Pixies, Crazy Little Thing and Champagne Toast shadows, along with New Age Glam Rock Eye Glitz! Check out reviews here, here and here and here for their new Holiday 09 collection. I'm working on swatches for all my colors so I'll add the link in when I finish it. EDIT: To see swatches & review of the new New Years Collection (inspired by Marilyn Manson...the names, not exactly the colors!), click here.

8. High Voltage on Etsy and website- Another newbie company that I adore! Check out my review and swatches here. My favorites (so far) are the Redhead Brow Powder, Secret Weapon, Hanky Panky, Bootleg, I'm a Wild Chick and Poisoned Apple shadows.

9. Mum Mum's Crafts on Etsy - I love the Velvet line so so so much! EDIT: The shop just reopened! Hurray! Lucy will be shipping 2 days a week when she's healing, so be sure to check the announcements for details. Plus, it's free shipping until Jan 15! Click here for a review and swatches!

10. Sassy Minerals - Love! I have a deep and serious girl crush on this company (can you do that? well, I did.). Click here for my final review, here for a preliminary review and here for the swatch-o-rama. My favorite shadows are Gaining Ground, Silk Sheets, Fashionista, Always a Bridesmaid and Apparition. I also love First Kiss blush!

11. Stardust Cosmetics - I was overly excited when they re-opened up shop! Stardust is by far one of the best companies I've tried. Literally each product shocks me with its awesomeness. They have a huge selection of colors for everyone and a great interactive forum! Again, its crazy hard to pick favorites, but I love the Dewy luminizer, Ivory, Lady of the Lake, Bootes, Sateen, and High Maintenance. Click here, here and here for swatches and here for a prelim review and here for a final review also with swatches.

12. The She Space - (TSS in labels) I absolutely and completely adore The She Space/All About Face. While I've never actually done a full review, I've been wearing these colors for close to 2 years now and have been loving each and every one! One of my favorite things is that Heather the owner is totally crazy about color and that really shows through her many limited edition collections! I can't possibly pick any favorites with this company since there are so many old LEs I adore, but do please check out Hope Quest, which has a special place in my heart! Unfortunately all of my links are to LE collections, so I'll update this once I do swatches of the permanents!

Any time I update this list, I'll link back to it. It will also be linked on the sidebar. Enjoy!

Dun, dun, dun! The Terror of Tinsel!

2009-12-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

I needed a break from making up my Sparkle Approved Company list (and cleaning) so I wanted to play with some makeup! I know my husband is gonna laugh when he's gets home cause I haven't gone anywhere and have a full face of makeup on XD

What I used:
-The She Space Terror of Tinsel LE in Terror of Tinsel- iridescent turquoise navy with amazing iridescent sparkle

-The She Space Terror of Tinsel LE in Stalking Santa- metallic iridescent magenta wine with violet and lavender diamonds

-The She Space Terror of Tinsel LE in Mrs. Claus is Cranky- blackened navy plum iridescent with incredible confetti sparkle (Yum!!!)

-Allure by Jen Iced Peach shadow- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer

-Detrivore primer
-Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks! blush in femmefatale- clear vivid watermelon shade

-Stardust Winter LE cheek and face shimmer in Winter's Kiss- palest rose with a cool blue sheen

-CoverGirl TruShine lipcolor in Powderpink Shine- sheer baby pink shimmer

No flash pic here...the colors look a bit faded for some reason! I used Detrivore primer on top and lower lid. Then I patted on Terror of Tinsel in the inner corners and Mrs. Claus is Cranky on the rest of lid and as liner underneath. Stalking Santa patted in crease. Iced Peach as highlight.

And because you can't really see the delicious shimmer without flash, here's some flash pics too!

Yikes. Brows. Must get done.

Do you ladies want me to swatch the Terror of Tinsel LE colors? I got the whole sample pack, but it's a lot of work if no one wants to see it! By the way, The She Space is having a HUGE sale right now. Heather is restocking all of her full size pigments from non-sifter jars (which I love, I always throw away the sifters anyways) into sifter jars. So that means all full size pigs are $2.50!!! Even limited editions, woot!

It's a Hi Fi Holiday!

2009-12-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

As you all know Hi Fi Cosmetics is one of my favorite companies. I was so excited to see the new holiday collection that I snapped up samples right away!

Let It Snow- super sparkly white (a total shimmerstorm...in a good way!)
Silver Bells- sparkliest most silvery silver (Has a gorgeous grey base and not too metallic...makes the perfect silver)

Champagne Toast- peachy gold with a hint of pink pearl (my absolute favorite of the collection!! I love the pink pearl!)
Adeste Fideles- super-shimmery gold with a cool green interference (you can't exactly see the green in the pictures, but its there! Totally cute!)
Hot Cocoa- rich milk chocolate with a pearl finish (looks EXACTLY like real hot cocoa...I wanted to drink it!)

Santa, Baby- icy blue with cool aqua shimmer (looks way more awesome in real life, k?)
Visions of Sugarplums- sugary sweet plummy shimmer (has a really neat silvery pink interference)
Grinch- vivid green with a nice sparkle (the exact color of the real Grinch, is surprisingly awesome on eyes)

Feliz Navidad- deep red with gold and crimson sparkles (so beautiful for a liner! Will look great with Hot Cocoa for a smoky eye or Champagne Toast for a more simple look)
Deck the Halls- bright evergreen with a super dose of bold green glitter (possibly my favorite green shadow EVER!)

For this look, I used Visions of Sugarplums on the lid, Hot Cocoa in the crease and as a liner dry with Let It Snow as a highlight. I also used Hi Fi gel blush in Amore (soon to be reviewed and swatched!), NYX round lipstick in Iced Lavender and Palladio mineral gloss in Pink Pearl.

Isn't Visions of Sugarplums awesome???

I didn't really get a good pic of this one. Stupid lack of sun! Deck the Halls matches my bow perfectly, so I had to show that off! I used Champagne Toast as a wash all over and wetlined Deck the Halls as a liner. I also used Hi Fi gel blush in Amore and Covergirl TruShine Lipcolor in Powderpink Shine.

Oh my gawd, I'm so pale in no flash!! This was the one little bit of sun we got all day!

So there you go! The new Hi Fi Holiday 09 collection can be found on their Etsy page. Have you tried any of these colors yet? What colors are you loving this holiday season?? I'm all about shimmer and dark greens, I think they make a perfect combo!

High Voltage Cosmetics Review, Swatches & Looks!

2009-12-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

It's 1:30am and I decided to start this review. So please forgive my rambling or craziness, k?

Alright let's start off with the website. You can order from Etsy or High Voltage's actual website. I shopped using their website. They have a great FAQ that should answer all of your questions, plus all of the ingredients listed! (Actually, that first question is me, haha, you girls know I don't want to get ripped off again!!). The site is pretty easy to navigate. They are constantly adding new products, so be sure to check back regularly. For example, since I ordered about 2 weeks ago they now have lip products and a shadow base, along with a whole bunch of new shadows! Plus, they have skin swatches on a lot of products, which rocks my socks!

The reason I wanted to order from them was the red head brow powder. It caught my eye because it's pretty difficult to find a brow powder for us redheads! I decided to order the 20 sample set lot for $14.50 and a ridiculously low priced shipping of like $0.25! I love when companies with sample baggies don't charge huge shipping prices *cough* Meow *cough. I ordered on a weekend and received my shadows really quickly, within the week.

I emailed customer service to ask a few questions. I got a response SUPER fast, which was totally awesome cause I emailed late one night! They were really sweet and helpful! I asked if they blended their own colors (which I was almost positive they did, since the colors are so original) and they were really kind about it. High Voltage DOES NOT repackage (yay!) and I loved how they answered my question! No suspicious defensiveness there. That's pretty important to me! They also helped me pick out some colors. All in all, I was surprised and excited to have such great service. I also asked if they wanted me to email them before I posted my review, since I've had some trouble with a company being very angry at my review in the past. They said "honesty is the best policy, if you are unhappy with something then you just are". Okay, how awesome is that?!

Onto the good part, swatches!! As always, click to see the colors better!

979- mocha with a hint of gold

What's Your Pleasure- Light orange tangerine
Pink Heels- Soft Tangerine Pink
Spit Fire- medium orange
Redhead Brow Powder
I'm Eighteen- dirty lavender satin
Do the Twist- lavender purple
Sunset Strip- powder blue with subtle purple undertones

Mini Skirt- Appears as a light brown,but has pink golden undertones
Alter Ego- fuschia metallic red
Adrenaline-Smoky Light Purple Mocha with a hint of gold
Plaid Skirt- light shimmery pastel green
I Love Rock n Roll- light pastel yellow
I'm a Wild Chick- Pastel spring green with a pop
Poisoned Apple- Green with flecks of Orange and gold
Ziggy Stardust- aqua blue green

Secret Weapon- Light muted golden brown
Hanky Panky- dirty golden brown
Brown Eyed Girl- Shimmery Brown bronze Deep rich and dark chocolate
Bootleg- complicated Maroonish blackened purple
* (free sample) Rainbow in the Dark- dark navy with multi colored sparkles

I was really, really impressed with the shadows. I honestly like every single one! They have a dry texture, like Stardust or She Space, and blend very well. There is little to no fallout with the sparkles or shimmer. Some of the shades are close to matte, sort of satin-y, but it's easy to tell which from the swatches on the site. These stay on really well even without a primer (I forgot, whoops!), mine lasted around 8 hours before I took it off. The colors go on really bright and clear and do not muddy at all on the skin.

I had a lot of favorites from these! The last five swatches are amazing...the top three neutrals are must haves for everyone. They are all taupe-y and fantastic! I also really liked I'm a Wild Chick, Poisoned Apple and Ziggy Stardust. They were the colors that I have never seen before by any other company and just popped out as being amazing! I definitely recommend picking up samples of those eight colors for sure.

The brow powder is really, really nice. First, I love the color but more importantly it goes on nice and soft and lasts FOREVER. No weird fading brows with High Voltage! It looks odd in the pictures below cause I used wayyy too much, but I've been using it lately (when I'm not too lazy) and loving it!

For the look on the left, I used Mini Skit in the inner vee, Brown Eyed Girl in the crease and Alter Ego as a liner dry. For the look on the right, I used Sunset Strip all over lid, Rainbows in the dark in crease and as liner and Pink Heels as highlight. I thought it was a really fun "whore blue" look ;) (There are like 2 people out there that know what I'm taking about!)

For this look, I used What's Your Pleasure on lid and inner vee, taking it high onto the browbone. Then I took Adrenaline and halo-ed it in the crease and as a liner. I also used Sephora Mono shadow in Chrome 08 as a highlight, Too Faced brightening blush in Papa Don't Peach and Fyrinnae lip lustre in Lickable. For some reason, What's Your Pleasure photographs more white than it actually is.

Overall, I'm in love! Another company that is totally and completely Sparkle Approved! (Seriously, I gotta make a list! Maybe next post?). Make sure to check out the High Voltage website and get your color on! I have a really good feeling about this company and I really think they could become a cult sensation!

Disclaimer: (Yes, I remembered!!) Everything reviewed in this post was purchased by me, except for the free sample that comes with every order (but that doesn't count, right?). I was not paid for this review nor do I have any affiliation with this company except thinking that they rock.

Aromaleigh Heels on Fire!

2009-12-14T23:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a look from last week using Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Mattes. I kept it simple, since I was short on time. Of course, that also meant the pictures came out horrible and the only ones that were in focus were totally ridiculous! Seriously, I have NO SHAME anymore. I used to be nervous about posting my picture on here, now I'm like "whatever, as long as the makeup looks good" XD

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Hi Fi Retro Matte in Heels on Fire- intense mauved pink
-Wet n Wild gel liner in Black
-NYX round lipstick in Harmonica- shimmery baby pink
-Sleek Glisten Me Liquid Illuminator in Empress

Whoa look at that poorly drawn liner! Ugh! I'm embarassed! All I did was pat on some Heels on Fire from lid to browbone, line it up with the WnW gel and use Empress in a C shape around my eye. Took all of 2 minutes tops. But, you can probably tell that x.x

Heels on Fire is quite possibly my new favorite of the collection. It's so gorgeous and simple for a wash of color. I'm really drawn to pinks right now!

Short post, sorry! I've got my High Voltage review almost ready and swatches of the new Holiday collection from Hi Fi coming up, along with a bunch of neutral trying-to-find-a-job looks! Hope everyone is doing great! Sorry for the crappy post, ugh!

TSS Scorpio Swatches & Look

2009-12-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Wow!! I was so thrilled to hear all of your kind words yesterday, it meant so much to me!!

I swatched these a few nights ago and finally got around to creating a look yesterday. The pictures aren't that great, since it's so dark, but they are good enough for me XD

The Scorpio collection is one of my favorite Astrology ones to date! I think its a really nice mix of fun warm and cool colors to make a huge variety of looks and is a great addition to my collection!

Some of the colors look similar in the baggie/jar but go on gorgeously different on skin. I find this to be the case with a lot of TSS colors.

Silent Stare- Iridescent rose rasberry with crystal twinkle (is lighter than it looks in most of the swatches...the color is closest to the 3rd column)
Crushed by Kisses- crushed pearl rose petals with a hint of violet twinkle
Frenzied Friendship- Shimmering rose zinfandel berry
Terror in the Streets- Deep plum burgandy shimmer with gold, pink and copper twinkle (looks a wee bit brown...all the twinkles are more visible in person!)
Bionic Mania- Iridescent rasberry plum
Loyal to a fault- Blackened raisin with pink and copper sparkle (So perfect for a holiday smoky eye!!)

Rolled in Opals-sparkling iridescent lilac blue with fabulous blue, purple and pink diamonds
Uncharted Emotions- Soft iridescent plum morphs to several different colors (Oh my! This color looks quite unremarkable on camera, but its sooo beautiful! It changes to a sort of green color, a brown and a purple!)
Entity Unleashed- shimmering iridescent rose raisin with layers of burgandy
Intuition Overload- Iridescent plum wine shimmer with a hint of pink twinkle
A Dragon's Woes- Deep twinkling grape with aqua and purple sparkle

Sting Like a Bee- Metallic grape fused with layers of violet shimmer (Oooh, do you see the shimmer?? Yum!)

What I used:

-TSS Scorpio in Uncharted Emotions & A Dragon's Woes

-TSS Birthday Glitz LE in Behavioral Glitz- taupe with glitz

-Allure by Jen Iced Peach- delightful mixture of peach, pink, and shimmer

-Wet n Wild gel liner in black

-Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy- beige glitter

-Allure by Jen blush in Innocence- glowing pink

-Revlon Matte lipstick in Pink Pout

(Sorry about the bad blending...it looked fine in the dark light, but bad in the pictures!) Behavioral Glitz in inner vee. Uncharted Emotions on lid and crease. A Dragon's Woes as liner on bottom and slightly into crease. Iced Peach to highlight. WnW gel liner on top lid. Midnight Cowboy glitter in outer vee.

My favorites are Uncharted Emotions, Terror in the Streets, A Dragon's Woes and Sting Like a Bee! What about you??

Woo hoo! We did it!

2009-12-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Just a short post! Today is our one year anniversary! I'm so grateful and lucky to have found the man of my dreams. While our first year of marriage has been a rough one, we've stuck by one another in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, definitely. A lot has changed in a year and its been crazy and fun at the same time.

And, for your viewing pleasure, here are some of my favorite wedding pictures! Oh yeah, we didn't have any money to pay for a photographer, so they are just from random peoples cameras.

Ahh, back to the beginning. Here I am sneaking a cigarette outside a fire exist. This is my favorite picture, its so candid and makes me laugh.

Here I am falling down the aisle...Damn, should have practiced that.

Me and my amazing husband!

Me with my brothers...who will probably oppose being on my blog (although one doesn't know about it). I just thinks its such a funny "us" picture!

I love this of me and my dad. We have the same squinty eye smile!

Cutting our super gorgeous, SPARKLE filled cake that my brother and his fiance got us!!

End of the night, can you tell we are exhausted??

So thats pretty much it. Many of the pictures are people flicking off the camera, with food in their mouths or of my brother stealing my food XD

Beauty from the Earth Review, Swatches & Look

2009-12-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

I've been lurking Beauty from the Earth for a pretty long time now. When I saw the drama surrounding them and how they dealt with it, I finally decided to give them a try. I thought it was very big of them to admit to repackaging, apologize and continue on. I think other companies should definitely take notes at how BftE dealt with the "scandal" and moved on. (PS...this is really long...whoops!)

I am a bit concerned with how they are catagorizing their repackaged micas though. They list them as "Primary Pigments" but it doesn't say anywhere on the actual website what that means. They are also selling them for $6.50, the same price as their normal shadows. They are working on their site at the moment though, so hopefully they will fix this up soon!

BFTE does not sell samples in a baggie, only in jars. They go for $2 each. During their Cyber Monday sale, I purchased 4 samples, their Color of the Week and a pair of Red Cherry lashes. Their shipping is a bit expensive (in my opinion, cause I'm cheap!) at $4. I'm not sure if it was only because of the sale or not, but I did get a free full size discontinued pigment from their Fall collection. Every week, starting on Mondays, they sell one pigment at the sample price of $2. It changes every week. I think this is pretty awesome. I also really like the jars used for full size pigments, they have a silver ring around the lid and include a sifter (which I threw out, cause mama hates her some sifters!)

I've heard shipping was super fast, so I expected to get my products quickly. It arrived about a week after, which is pretty good.

When I opened up all the jars, I noticed that my sample of $10 Pineapple was less filled than the other ones. Since I paid $2 for it (which I think is sort of expensive for a sample, again, cause I'm cheap and spoiled from other companies), I expected them all to have the same amount. Then, I tried the color and it went on very poorly (see below). Since I knew I would be reviewing these colors, I decided to email BFTE to ask if it was normal that the sample amounts were so different and if there was any way I got an unblended batch since the color went on so poorly. This is the email I received back:

The samples are sold by volume. We use a measured scoop for them. Some of the colors are lighter / less dense and do not pack as much into the scoop when as others. This causes there to be a difference in the amount from one sample to the next. I can look at the other jars of $10 Pineapple that we have in stock to compare if you would like to send a photo.

It is considered a more complex and can be harder to work with than some of our other colors. It needs to be gently applied in a patting motion. Even with that there will be some fly away of the glitters.
I would also we happy to send you an additional sample of it, in the new batch that was made this week.

While not exactly the friendly response I was thinking I would be getting after seeing other blogger's interactions with BFTE, it still did the job. I sent the picture below and told them it was unneccessary to send another. They did not email me back.

So what did all that mean? Basically, I had an issue and it was resolved. I tried to pat the color on a bit better, but it still didn't stick. A lot of other girls have had a better experience with $10 Pineapple, so it was probably just a bad batch.

Swatches, then? Yes, please! (Remember to click and make them bigger...must I remind you every time? I think so X.X)

Beautiful- gold with a slight pink duochrome. Since my skin is so pale, all I see is a pink duochrome. This color is very light and would work well as a highlight for a more 'pigmented' person!

$10 Pineapple- Low shimmer base of a cool yellow base, with gold, peach and pink micro glitter. I was so super excited about this color! I'm not sure if its just mine, but it seemed to not be blended enough. The base turned matte as I put it on...all the pretty sparkles were gone. You can see it both in the swatches and the FotD.

Whimsey- (no website description) golden orange-y bronze. I really liked this color! It went on super smooth and pigmented with no shimmer spray. Love!

Cheeky- (no website description) matte pink based purple. I was pretty impressed. Cheeky is blendable and smooth. No chalkiness here!

Black Cherry- smooth matte blackened deep red. Lots of trouble with this one. I just couldn't get it to go on nicely, it was so patchy I actually had to take it off (and I rarely do that, since I'm so lazy). I need to see if I can use it wet. When used as a liner dry, though it works well. A bit more orange-y than I would have liked, but thats just my opinion.

Unicorn- (no website description) grey with multicolored sparkles. This color is really gorgeous, but again I think it isn't blended well enough. There is a definite "spray" of shimmer.

Overall, I probably would order again. BUT I do think that the shipping and sample prices are a bit high and the consistancy and texture of the colors is very different. They are a bit 'hit or miss' for me. I think I need to try more before I can really give a better review.

Onto the look! There is nothing on my face or lips because I just whipped this on while my husband was making dinner the other day.

I used Whimsey on lid, which blended in very nicely and definitely my favorite color of the bunch. Then I took $10 Pineapple in the inner vee, which didn't work so well. Beautiful as a highlight, which I'm a bit in love with and Black Cherry as a liner, dry, on bottom lid. It went on much smoother as a liner than an overall lid color.

Yum, see the pretty bronze-y-ness of Whimsey? (Which, by the way, offends my English teacher thinking...Whimsy, not whimsey. But perhaps it is supposed to be misspelled? Whatevs, I still love it!)

Have you tried Beauty From The Earth? If not, will you? How do you like the colors? Do you think they dealt with the repackaging scandal well? What do you think about the Primary Pigments?

Disclaimer: (I seriously need to stop forgetting these!) I bought this with my own money, so suck it government.

Crystal's Winter Holiday Inspired Contest!

2009-12-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite bloggettes, Crystal from MakeupByCrystalS, is having a really awesome giveaway hosted by He Qi Designs! I love doing makeup contests and things and this turned out pretty fun, so I wanted to post it!

The rules are to create a makeup look inspired by the Winter Holidays. I celebrate Christmas, but I thought it would be fun to do a Hannukah/Winter Fairy type look. I love silver and blue together, I actually used those colors for my wedding as well! Warning...This is fairly pic heavy. It was hard to take a picture that showed all the different colors!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Elemental Lustre in Fume- true silver
-Aromaleigh Elemental Lustre in Infidel- medium blue with sparks of blue and silver
-The She Space Libra Collection in Harmony of Heart- intense iridescent copper and pink pearl with a subtle flash of lilac and blue

-High Voltage Cosmetics Rainbow in the Dark- deep dark navy blue with rainbow sparkles
-Fyrinnae Glow Blush in Charm- Bright, feminine pink with a slight lavender hue and touch of shimmer

-Collection 2000 Glam Metallics liquid liner in Punk- medium silvery blue
-Revlon Matte lipstick in Pink Pout
-Revlon Lush false lashes

No flashies here!

On the "extreme" eye, I used Fume in the inner vee and up into browbone and underneath as liner. Infidel on lid and outer vee and in middle of bottom lid. Rainbows in the Dark in the crease (just a tiny bit). Harmony of Heart halo-ed around the bottom side of eye and mixed into blush. Then I took a Revlon Lush lash on the outer bottom lashline and used Punk all over lashes to make a blue mascara.

On my other eye, I did a more subtle Holiday look using the same colors, but I moved the lashes to the top of the lid instead and didn't bring the colors up.

Sparkliessss!

Sorry about the crazy hair!! I fell asleep with it wet XD

Hope you enjoyed my crazy winter look! Do you think you would wear this outside your house? ;)

Aromaleigh Retro Hi Fi Matte Grape-tastic Look

2009-12-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

I love matte shadows. I think you all know that, right? I once called them the "rare white tigers" of my collection, haha! (Loser!) The thing is that a good matte loose shadow is really hard to find, especially in the bright, bold colors I enjoy so much. I've had a bit of a love affair in the past with Mum Mum's Crafts matte shadows and Aromaleigh's Carolina Summer Matte collection.

When Miss K came out the new Retro Hi Fi Matte Collection (which are on sale right now, yay!), I almost "squee-d" out loud (well, honestly, I probably did!). From bright cool based blues to rusty oranges, all of my favorite colors are now in matte form. I'll be swatching and reviewing completely on a later date (finals, finals, finals) but I couldn't help but try them out today!

They do look sort of blah and chalky in the baggies, but no worries. They look amazingly bright on skin!

What I used:
-Aromaleigh Retro Hi Fi Matte in In the Mix- smoked violet
-Aromaleigh Retro Hi Fi Matte in What's Shakin'?- cool toned purple
-Aromaleigh Retro Hi Fi Matte in Radioactive- vivid cool green
-Aromaleigh Les Papillons in Air & Light- A silvery white with highlights and sparks of every shade of the rainbow

-Stardust cheek/face shimmer in Winter's Kiss- Palest rose with a cool blue sheen

-NYX round lipstick in Lousiana- bright cool pink
-NYX round lipstick in Harmonica- shimmery baby pink

I couldn't wait to try In The Mix, I think its my favorite (so far)! Sorry for the sloppy mascara application...I've had a lot of caffiene today already. Please also excuse the dumb face. I don't know why I have no shame anymore!

I used Detrivore Primer as base (more on that later*). What's Shakin'? on lid, concentrated in the middle. In The Mix in crease and outer 1/3rd of lid (mixes really nicely with What's Shakin'?). Radioactive under lid. Air & Light in inner vee and browbone. Winter's Kiss on temples. Lousiana on lips with Harmonica layered over it.

*It turned out a weee bit patchy, but I think it was my shoddy primer application. I noticed on my other eye, where I took the time to make the primer all nice and even, I didn't get the patchiness. All the colors were really easy to blend, especially Radioactive.

I'm also trying out a new comment system, as seen on Rae's blog TheNotice (which I love, go check her out, k?). Let me know if you like it or not...I'm not sure I even installed it correctly! It will make it easier for me to reply to comments and such and seems like fun, so hopefully it works out!

Disclaimer: The very generous and lovely Miss K sent me the samples. So I didn't pay for them, but my reviews are honest, of course, because the only way to buy my love is through mexican food, and I didn't get any of that XD

Sparkle is my Crack!

Sun n' Clouds!

I'm baaa-aaack!!!

Break Time!

Holy Crap!

More Facettes de la Femme...Magical Superwoman!

I Touch Roses Review & Swatches

Sugar Sprinkled Candy Look

Emotional Angel

The Total Package!

Panda-Konad-a + Monday Poll!

I'm Alive!! NYX Champagne & Caviar Swatches

Monday Poll!

Five Favorites...The Nail Polish Edition!

Five Favorites...Highlight Shadows + BBLL!!

Two snaps for Toxin!!

LK Tries BE!

The ‘latest thing’ that’s on the market, new ‘cult’ lip products & wacky eye colours!

En Pointe Greens

Monday Poll!

Rimmel London The MAX Volume Flash Mascara Review

My first Konadicures!

Smoky Eye Tutorial Series #2: "Undone" Pink & Black

A treat, a rant, and a question!

I'm late, I'm late! BBLL!

Got Dibs? Purple Matte and Glitter Liner!

Five Favorites...Nude and Pink Lips!

Captivate by Carrie Jones Inspired Look

Five Favorites...Green Shadow!

Sparkle has a new, very un-Sparkle obsession: Stila!

Smoky Eye Tutorial Series #1: Purple with a POP!

300th Post: Things I Never Did Before Beauty Blogging

Metallic Overload! Aromaleigh & TKB Swatches!

Beauty Blog Link Love!

Hard Candy Curl Up & Dye + Lash Tinsel Mascara Reviews

Aromaleigh Satin Petals Frost Looks

Hard Candy Painted Lady Lipstick in Hot Shot Review

Blue Leopard Print Eyes!

A little summer in January!

I need recs, please!

Ew My Hair is SICK! Here's a $3 Remedy!

SQUEEEEEE!!!!

Aromaleigh Swank Dolphin + Minky Monky!

Fyrinnae Helena & Demetrius Look

Rawr! Leopard Print Eye!

Beauty Blog Link Love

Cheer Bear using Aromaleigh Hi Fi Mattes!

Two Looks Using Urban Decay Crash Liner

A Piece of Me In...January 2010 + Happy 101 Tag!

Painted Roses, Flying Scotsmen & Fancy Lads, Oh my!

Bella il Fiore "Bella's Powder Room" Makeup Boudoir Review & Swatches

Detrivore Greens, Grays & Blacks Review & Swatchies!

Whee! Best name for a color, ever!

Under Construction!

An Intro to Beauty Blog Link Love!

An Interview, A Rant and A "Huh?"

Hi Fi New Years 2010 Collection Swatchies!

Pins & Needles is an Apt Name!

More Holiday Looks w/ Hi Fi, Stardust & Aromaleigh LEs!

Happy Holidays!! (Oh, and check out my falsies:o)

En Pointe Winter Ballerina Look + Badass Nails!

High Voltage Secret Weapon + TSS Ten Wishes

Gingerbread With Attitude *Rawr* + Hair Dye Smells Good!

Terror of Tinsel Swatches! Hurray!

Sparkle Approved Mineral Makeup Companies

Dun, dun, dun! The Terror of Tinsel!

It's a Hi Fi Holiday!

High Voltage Cosmetics Review, Swatches & Looks!

Aromaleigh Heels on Fire!

TSS Scorpio Swatches & Look

Woo hoo! We did it!

Beauty from the Earth Review, Swatches & Look

Crystal's Winter Holiday Inspired Contest!

Aromaleigh Retro Hi Fi Matte Grape-tastic Look

Gingerbread With Attitude Rawr + Hair Dye Smells Good!