Guest Blog Post on The Makeup Rebel

Hey guys! I recently reviewed all four of Clinique's Cheek Pop blushes over at http://themakeuprebel.com/2014/04/21/guest-reviewer-and-friend-in-son/.   Check out my girl Raychl aka The Makeup Rebel, she's got great info on her page, including lots of posts on skin care, which we all know is the first step to great makeup application.  

Urban Decay F&F Haul

Here are the (only) two items I picked up during last week's Urban Decay  friends and family sale. I picked up the new revolution lipstick in 'shame' and the Vice 2 eyeshadow palette. The palette also comes with a dual sided eyeshadow brush.  It's an okay brush, but I personally don't think it's as nice as the brush in the Naked 2 palette.  I also got a free sample of the zero eyeliner pencil. It's black, but not as black as perversion, my favorite.  Check out the pics below!

Mini Ulta Haul

I stopped into Ulta last night because they are currently running their 21 days of beauty, and there are some great deals in there.  I went for the Too Faced Shadow Insurance (eyelid primer) which was half off, so $10 instead of $20 for a full sized bottle.  That was a good deal IMO.  While there I also picked up this Natural Rebel set by Too Faced, which is exclusive to Ulta.  The set comes with Too Faced's Natural at Night eyeshadow set (gorgeous browns), a full sized Eyeliner pencil in Espresso, and a quad of lip gloss and creams.  I think it's a great value, considering the palette alone retails for $36.   So it's like you got the pencil and lip quad free!  Oh, and it comes with a free gift, which makes it a better value! Deluxe sized samples of Too Faced's shadow insurance and lip injection plumper.  Awesome.I can't wait to do looks using this baby soon.  I promise!

My Fave Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick Colors

Here are the swatches of my favorite Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick colors.  I love them all, but if I had to narrow the 22 shades down, these would make the cut!!

Row 1: Left to Right: Shame, Venom, Jilted, F Bomb, Rapture

Row 2: Left to Right: Bang, Naked, Turn On, Manic, Lovelight

Not pictured: Anarchy.  Gorgeous bright pink, reminiscent of Candy Yum Yum (by MAC).

Review: Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation

Hey guys! I picked this foundation up a little while ago, while on my hunt for the perfect shade for my skin.  I read really good reviews online about this foundation, that it was radiant while not heavy or clogging.  The foundation is buildable and offers good coverage and is perfect for all day wear.  The first thing I noticed about the foundation is that it is scented.  I don't think the scent bothered me, but as soon as you pour some out you can smell the "perfumey" scent of the foundation.  The scent does wear off, but that was probably the most noticeable thing for me.  Normally scented face products bother me and I would immediately view the product as a poor performer, or likely to cause some sort of skin reaction.  Well, so far this foundation has not caused any skin outbreaks for me, so that's a good thing.  Also, depending on which liquid foundation you use you might find the Perfection Lumiere to be slightly more runny.  

I applied the foundation with my Tarte bamboo face brush, but I did feel like I used a bit too much product.  Like the sales associate at Nordstrom informed me, this foundation might be best used with a regular foundation brush (or your fingers if you'd like).  I think the color is a great match for my skin (I purchased it in 54 beige ambre) and it is by far one of the best matches I've seen in a while.  Keep in mind, however, my skin is still tan from this summer.  My skin tone may fade a bit as winter sets in.  I sincerely hope not, however, because this foundation comes with a price tag of $55.

I would give this product 4.5/5 stars. 

Check out this great image from karlasugar.net with swatches of the perfection lumiere line.

P.S. SPF factor in this foundation is 10.

Marc Jacobs Beauty--Swatched at Sephora

So during my Sephora trip I also swatched a few items from the new Marc Jacobs beauty line. I swatched a couple of the eyeshadow palettes (which were pretty impressive).  The palettes retail for $59, a bit steep.  Or a lot steep lol.  I swatched three of the glosses, which retail for $28.  They were okay, I wasn't overly impressed or anything, but lip gloss isn't my "thing" so maybe that's why.  They weren't magical or unlike anything I've ever had before. I think the standout item for me was Highliner Gel Crayon Eyeliner, which retails for $25.  There were six colors on display, Blackquer, Jazz(Berry), Ro(Cocoa), N(Ice), Intro(Vert), and Th(Ink).  These gel eye pencils are waterproof and color intense.  They really do not budge at all, and take some serious eye makeup remover and arm strength to completely remove.  I really really liked these.  Would I ever purchase them? Not sure, at least not right now.  I do love the Intro(Vert) color though! Check out the pics below.

NARS Fall Collection 2013

NARS Fall Collection 2013 is available now.  It's a nice collection, featuring warm pretty colors, but I'm not sure if it's cohesive (in my mind).  There are some standout items, but I'm not sure if the entire collection, for me personally, blends.  Or works together completely.  Sometimes collections seem random, or seem that not all the colors in a collection work well with each other.  And I kind of get that impression from this one.  Again, just my opinion.  Check out the details below.

This collection features:

• Pure Matte Lipstick-$26
• La Paz (Deep, orchid purple)
• Peloponnese (Ginger pink)
• Velvet Lip Pencil-$25
• Mysterious Red (Deep, crimson red)
• Paimpol (Pink Chiffon)
• Nail Polish (Opaque)-$19
• Fury (Regal Purple)
• Galathee' (Dove Grey)
• Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner-$24
• Las Rambas (Yellow Gold)
• Via De' Martelli (Chocolate)
• Eyeshadow-$24
• Bavaria (Shimmer-Deep sea blue)
• Yamal (Matte-Maple sugar)
• Namibia (Matte-Grey moon)
• Kamchatka (Matte-Navy smoke)

This collection is available now at Nars Cosmetics (online), and Nordstrom. These are some pics of the products from the website. Nothing fancy, just off my iPhone, sorry.

TARTE Friends and Family Sale!!!!!

So, the makeup gurus from above have personally blessed me with this Tarte Friends and Family Sale.  LOL. I'm being a bit dramatic.  But seriously, I was just browsing the net last night and stopped on Tarte's website and saw that they are currently having a Friends and Family Sale, 30% off your entire purchase (yes, even clearance)!!! YES, 30%!! That is a worthwhile sale, AND free shipping on purchases of $40 or more! So you'll really see your discount.  I don't know how long the sale has been going on, but it ends August 4th (Sunday).  I think it's a great deal, and with 30% off everything, I will try a couple of the Glamazon lipsticks.  You really can't beat that, it takes the price down from $26 (a bit steep for me) to $18ish dollars (not much more than a MAC lippie).   

I only own one Tarte blush, which I do like, and I've heard raving reviews of their BB cream (which unfortunately there isn't a shade for me in).  I'm not a Tarte expert or conneisuer but I do want those lipsticks, and will def be taking advantage of the sale.  

However, like I mention pretty frequently, I will not be making any new purchases, probably with the exception of RiRi's Fall Line for MAC, Antonio Lopez's Fall Line for MAC and perhaps something from Nars 2013 Fall Line.  But that's it...no more random spending here and there.  I've got bigger things to save for now!!

**The coupon code is TARTEFF for the 30% off.**

My Haul from MAC's So Supreme Collection

So I know I said I wasn't originally going to get anything from the So Supreme collection, but I lied.  Sorry.  I ONLY picked up three of the six lipsticks though.  These I picked out because the colors (prior to purchase) looked original, less dupable, and not quite like anything I have in my tiny lipstick collection.  The three I got are: Gotta Dash!, Candy Apple, and Pleasurefruit.  Check out the swatches below.  These lippies have a nice finish and are creamy and fully opaque upon swatching. Sheen supreme lipsticks combine the color quality of a lipstick with the sheen of a lipgloss.  These lippies were certainly very shiny/sheeny like a lipgloss, with good coverage.  The coverage is a bit slippery, so I'd recommend wearing with a liner of some sort.

My favorite out of the three I purchased is Candy Apple.  It reminds me of a lighter, shinier Heaux (from Rihanna's collection).  Gotta Dash! was a bit lighter than I expected, with not fully opaque coverage.  Pleasurefruit is a nice bright pink, but not "rare".  It reminds me of a darker Candy Yum Yum.  Or perhaps a Candy Yum Yum + Girl About Town concoction.

Yesterday's Haul-Rite Aid (Maybelline) and Ulta (NYX)

Yesterday, unintentionally, I picked out a few things while out and about.  I picked up two of NYX's butter glosses from Ulta that I did not have, as well as some mascara from Rite Aid. The mascara is Maybelline's Great Lash mascara, in the new limited edition colors.  There are six colors in total, I picked up four.  I was thinking about getting the other two, but they are similar to the ones I picked, so I'm not sure.  These retail for $5.39 at Rite Aid and were buy one get one 50% off.  The colors I picked out are: Teal Appeal, Wink of Pink, Vision in Violet, and I See Blue.  The two I left behind are: Very Berry and Go Go Green.  I will do swatches of them and post those up later.  Check out the haul pic below.

Hautelook Sales for the Week

HauteLook has a couple of sales this week that I'm totally going to be checking for! Today, at 8am Pacific time Urban Decay goes on sale.  Thursday, August 1st theBalm goes on sale.   NuMe hair tools also has a sale beginning tomorrow that I will take a peek at.  My problem with NuMe tools is that they are super overpriced only so that NuMe can "mark them down" or "have a coupon code" for certain people in the beauty profession.  I am generally not a fan of companies that constantly mark their items up JUST to make it seem like they're offering a good deal by having all of these "exclusive" coupons, discounts, or sales.  Seriously, if a curling iron is $262, and really worth $262, are you really going to offer it for $50 constantly??  Just make it the price it should be and skip the sales.  Regardless, if it's a quality product, your customers will know.  Random rant, sorry. 

But yes, def check out the HauteLook sales this week...you don't have to purchase anything.  I find that some companies come up on the HauteLook sale list regularly, every couple months or so.  Anywho, good luck shopping (or browsing like me)!

Too Faced Fall 2013 Collection

Hey Guys! So here's my first Fall 2013 post.  Too Faced will release, for their fall collection, a new eyeshadow palette, Pretty Rebel, Lip Injection Color Bombs, and Glitter Glaze.  I know for a fact that the eyeshadow palette is limited edition, but I'm not 100% certain whether the lip bombs and the glitter glaze are limited edition as well.  I will look into that and update.  These are available online now at Sephora. 

Pretty Rebel Eyeshadow Palette-Limited Edition-$46

Pretty Rebel is a ten shadow palette, and I won't get into details about it BECAUSE I ACTUALLY JUST GOT IT IN THE MAIL TODAY AND WILL DO AN ENTIRE REVIEW!  Lol...sorry for the caps!  

Lip Injection Color Bombs-$21

Too Faced's Lip Injection Color Bombs are lip pencils that claim to be super moisturizing plump lip tints.  They come in 6 shades: Never Enough Nude, Coral Pop, Plump It Up Pink, Eastwood Red, Bigger Berry and Candy Burst.  These have vitamins A, C, E and mango butter.  I'm sure these will live up to the promise of providing moisture. Pigment? I'd have to check them out first. 

Too Faced Glitter Glaze Transforming Shadow Topcoat-$21

Now these look super interesting to me! I haven't seen anything like it.  These shadow topcoats are available in 2 shades, Goldie Rocks and Silver Spark.  These can be worn alone for nice shimmer, or you can put them on top of your eyeshadow for a"metallic" look. I'm not normally a fan of super sparkle, but I might pick one of these up just to see how it transforms eyeshadow.

It also seems that they are promoting the Better Than S** Mascara with this collection too.

Time for Fall 2013 Makeup!!!!

I know it's July, almost August, but Fall 2013 collection information is being released left and right for all brands of makeup.  Some collections are even available for sale now, or will be available in August for sure.  I personally tend to love fall makeup, because it's warm and cozy and works for my skin.  I'm super excited, and will try and write a new post for a company's Fall 2013 makeup line.

Did I mention that my birthday is Friday? Woot Woot! The big 30 lol!!

Ben Nye Powders

I found these babies at a local costume and makeup store here in Cleveland! I'm so excited that I watched a few YouTube videos and heard a a couple bloggers say that instead of ordering online (and paying high shipping fees), you could call up a local costume store and they might have it in stock.  Low and behold it's true! Apparently Ben Nye is a theater makeup, and that's why it performs so well for people using it in the regular making world who love it for its super matte qualities and long lasting formula.  These cost me a dollar or two more than they would have online, but again no shipping and I got to get them from the store and see them prior to purchase.  I got the world famous banana powder and neutral set (which is completely colorless--as long as you use it in moderation, lol).  The nice lady at the store is going to order me the two colors I also wanted to try out, which I will have in a couple of weeks. Anywho, check out the pics below.  Can't wait to try these out soon (for a full review)!!

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW EXCITED I AM TO TRY THESE OUT???

Ipsy July Bag 2013

So I signed up for Ipsy last month, and I got my first bag this month.  The July 2013 bag was a cute vinyl hot pink plastic bag. This is my first bag, so I wasn't sure what to expect or whether or not I should be super stoked or super let down by this month's contents.  Either way, for $10, you really can't beat that.  Especially since each month your products come in a cute travel bag of some sort.  There were many options for this month's bag.  My goodies were: Coola Unscented Sunscreen (sample size), Big S**y Hair Weatherproof Hair Spray (sample size), BH Cosmetics California Collection eye palette (sample), POP Culture lip color pencil in Coral Crush, Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub (full size). 

For $10, it isn't a bad deal at all.  I've posted swatches below.  I love the lip color and the eye shadow colors.  I'm going to try the other products and review them in the near future! 

It comes mailed in this cute hot pink package.

Lip pencil in Coral Crush on top, followed by the BH eyeshadow palette.
Hollywood, San Francisco, Malibu

MAC Nudes & Metallics Collection...Available Online NOW

MAC's latest collection is the Nudes & Metallics Collection, which is a limited edition, online (or pro store) only collection.  So if you're interested in any of these babies, you've got to go online and order them.  Unfortunately, this is a collection I wished they had in stores, because it contains a lot of items that I personally don't enjoy buying without swatching, because I'm not sure how I'll like the product.  Specifically, nude and metallic lipstick. For nudes, because of my skin tone, I prefer to swatch, because there aren't many that look good on me.  For metallics, I never really like the finish/feel of them, so I usually pass.  But I wouldn't pass if the color of one was absolutely to die for. The collection is broken down into two parts: nudes and metallics.  Both collections have four lipsticks, four eyeshadows, and one blush.  Everything is limited edition. 

Nudes:

• Angel's Kiss (amplified lipstick)
• Wholesome (amplified lipstick)
• Nearly Nude (amplified lipstick)
• Restrained (amplified lipstick)
• Bare Minimum (satin eyeshadow)
• Glimpse of Flesh (satin eyeshadow)
• Body Conscious (satin eyeshadow)
• Exposed (satin eyeshadow)
• Barefaced (satin blush)

Metallics:

• Dominate (frost metallic lipstick)-deep purple
• Pre-Raphaelite (frost metallic lipstick)-berry
• Subverted (frost metallic lipstick)-brown
• Show-All (frost metallic lipstick)-red
• Love's Lure (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep red
• Brazenly (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep purple
• Crimson Tryst (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-berry red
• Deep Fixation (veluxe pearl eyeshadow)-deep brown
• Stylish Me (satin blush)-mauveish

Looking at the swatches, the eyeshadows look gorgeous and pigmented, which isn't exactly common for MAC eyeshadows (anymore).  I'm thinking of picking up some of the nude lipsticks and some of the metallic eyeshadows.  

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick

So, Urban Decay is releasing a fall line, and they've decided to re-release lipsticks again.  These lipsticks come in 22 shades and claim to be uber-pigmented.  If you know my love of Urban Decay products, I'm super excited for these.  I'm sure they will be pigmented and super gorg! Just like Urban Decay's eyeshadows and eyeliners. They will be available at Urban Decay (.com) and at Urban Decay retailers, but two shades, Protest and Strip will be exclusive to Urban Decay (.com).  These lipsticks will retail at $22, which for me is on the higher end of the lipstick spectrum, more than MAC but less than Nars.  I can't wait to go into a Sephora store to swatch them in person!  I really am going to hate myself, because after looking at all the swatches on Temptalia, I honestly liked them all generally, and there were like 15 that made me say "I've gotta get that one!" LOL!

Also, the lip liners have been "revamped and reformulated", and those are also being relaunched in the fall collection in sixteen shades.  I'm crying for my wallet already.  Seriously, Urban Decay, if you're interested in me giving a review on these products, email me!! LOLOL.  I. Want. It. All.

 Head over to Temptalia for more info, plus swatches!!

This pic below was posted on their Instagram page:

Maybelline Baby Lips--Electro Collection

I stopped in Ulta today and saw the newer Maybelline Baby Lips from the Electro Collection.  There are six in total, and I picked up four colors that I liked.  The colors I picked were: Strike a Rose, Pink Shock, Oh Orange, and Berry Bomb.  Two pinks, and orange and a purple.  They apply sheer, with light color, definitely something fun and cute for the summer.  These would look great over some of your lipsticks, or you can wear them along as well.  These babies are made with shea butter and vitamin E, and are "proven" to moisturize lips leaving them smoother and suppler (so says the packaging).  

FYI there are two more colors in the collection, I just did not pick them up.  They were available at Ulta, but I had previously seen swatches and the colors barely show up at all.  Plus, even if they did show up, the likelihood of me wearing yellow (Fierce N Tangy) or green (Minty Sheer) anything on my lips is slim to none. 

As a side note, if you are interested in picking these up, I'd recommend going to Wal-Mart or Target.  They retail for $2.99 as opposed to $3.99 at Ulta.  The only reason I picked them up at Ulta was because they were there, on an endcap I passed and I figured I might as well get them while I was out and I had a coupon. All of the Baby Lips are cheaper at Target or Wal-Mart. 

I find the Baby Lips to be "okay".  I know most of the beauty community would think otherwise, but again, this is just my opinion.  There are folks who have tons of them, and collect them.  I only own (besides the four neon ones) 3 in total.  I personally prefer my lip balms to be balms only, with no color.  I think when you add color it makes application trickier, and for me I usually apply a ton of lip balm so then I'm sitting there with super thick and uneven color.  My all time favorite lip balm will always be EOS lip balm.  It is moisturizing, not too heavy and not too light, and doesn't make you want to apply it every hour like other chapsticks.  

Check out the pics below!

How to Make Your Eyeshadow "POP"!

No matter what brand or quality eyeshadow you use, you always get ome that are either too sheer, don't wear long, or are just dull and blend into the other colors on your eye. Or you get the ones that are super pretty, but just don't show up well.  And we all know that caking on more eyeshadow just to get it to show only winds up making a mess...on your eye and your face. 

The best things that I've found if you have those shadows is to use an eyeshadow is to use an eyeshadow base (which is NOT the same as an eyelid primer) or to apply the shadow wet.  Actually, you can use a base or apply eyeshadow wet all the time if you choose...for me, some days I prefer the muted colors lol.  No need to always be bright.  Anywho, for an eyeshadow base you can actually use other eyeshadows, like pale colored cream shadows, but the most popular bases are eye shadow sticks (like NYX) or paint pots (like MAC).  These help your color stay longer and appear more vibrant.  Everyone has a preference, and you have to try them out to find which you like.  The only problem is that sometimes this causes an increased likelihood of eyeshadows creasing, but that can often be reversed by being sure to use an eyelid primer and even application of your eyeshadow base. 

For an example of how the shadows appear different and last longer, I've got some swatches below.  The colors and names of the eyeshadows aren't super important.  I just chose a few different colors as an example.  The colors I used came from Urban Decay (the limited edition 15th anniversary palette--the first four shades) and Wet N Wild's Color Icon Palette 333-I've Got Good Jeans (the last two blue shadows).

The last picture shows my arm after I rubbed it with a warm soapy towel.  As you can tell, the eyeshadows that were applied wet or with a base remained, but for the most part the shadows applied alone rubbed right off.  Notably, the shadows applied with the base lasted longer.  For my base I used NYX's eyeshadow base in White (it's available at Ulta for $6.99).  

I patted the base on my arm and then applied the eyeshadow on top.  For wet eyeshadow, I dipped my brush gently and lightly into water.  There are all types of techniques on wet application, and everyone has their own preference.  I know a lot of people like to spray the brush with water in a spray bottle.  

Check out the pics below! 

Utensils/Products: