The Pink Train Case: Another Beauty Blog

I'm back.....for a LIMITED TIME only!!!!!!!!

2011-01-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

Yes! Hello everyone!!!!!

This post may come as a surprise, since it's been almost an exact year since I've closed up shop here at The Pink Train Case. But, I'm back with an opportunity for my past readers.

It's the turn of a new year, and with that, you kind of have to let go of some things. I've decided to take a good long, hard look at my makeup stash and it was time to part with some items. So within the next week or so, look out for a major:

BLOG SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not really done looking through my stuff yet, but I will be getting rid of Mark Flip For It palettes, some old Wet 'n' Wild palettes (Sand Castle, etc.), some fragrances, and I may throw up some miscellaneous items (not necessarily cosmetics).

Also, I am thinking of returning to the blogging world. I'm in the process of cooking up a new blog, and while it will contain beauty-related posts, it won't be a beauty-only blog. Funny enough the only thing holding me back....is picking a new name ;)

Stay tuned!!!!

Happy Trails...

2010-01-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, you might have guessed after almost 2 months of not updating, I've decided to somewhat extend my "hiatus" to a more permanent status. After some thoughtful consideration, I have decided to close the door (or, web browser) on The Pink Train Case.

I do this with love. The last time I posted, I said that I was taking a break because I didn't want to (excuse my french) half-ass the site while still being busy with real life stuff. I'm doing this closure for the same reason. I am once again dedicating two nights a week to class on a subject which I need a lot of concentration for (math, my weakness!!). Plus other real life stuff I don't need to get into/explain. Stuff that I'm sure you are all going through (work...sickness...etc.) right now.

I started this blog because I wanted to help others, no matter how large or small the question. I wanted to share my experiences, my trials and tribulations with beauty and beauty products. I never started this to gain readers or "popularity". To be honest, I never thought that anyone would read this thing.

It's a lot of fun to read beauty blogs, but they sure do take a lot of work!! I may pop up again in the future, when I can spend time making quality entries and reviews for you all to enjoy. I know for a fact that my absence won't have an effect on the blogging world, there are tons, tons, of other wonderful beauty blogs out there for you to enjoy (and I enjoy as well- just look over there to the right, just a smidge of my favorite blogs).

To close this out, thank you to all of the readers. I never expected to have an audience of any sort- and you made the almost two years of this blog a hell of a lot of fun. Thank you ♥

Stay beautiful.

-Tanya

ON HIATUS....But Not For Long!!

2009-11-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

Howdy, beauties.

I just wanted to take the time to give you all a little update. Rather than just abandon the blog and never bother to update, I rather let you know exactly what's going on. The holidays are here and that means life in general gets kind of crazy. Family, shopping for gifts, dinner, decorating, family, family, and more family! Oh, and baking! I do a lot of baking this time of year too! Believe me, that takes up a lot of time. It's also winding down at the end of this semester in my class, and that means crunch time!! I have a huge paper I really need to dedicate my time to, as well as prepping for final exams (as well as preparing for my next class in the beginning of the year).

I would hate to continue actively post knowing I'm not putting all my focus into it, know what I mean? I want to give you full posts with in-depth, full-detail information. And I don't feel right not giving you my full potential. Anyways, I hope you all understand. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop me an email (located at the right). I will still be checking my email, and if you decide to leave a question in a comment on a post, I'll answer there as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season!!!

♥
Tanya

A Tale of Two Tinted Moisturizers.

2009-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!!! I hope you beauties are doing great. I've been slow to post again, due to the last half of the semester and it's crunch time in my class. On top of that, the Holidays are upon us and I'm starting to get into the spirit already :) One local radio station has started to play Christmas music!!! I was surpsied at first, but I don't mind it now While I was running errands on Satuday, it was pretty cozy hearing those cherrful songs (While sipping a Starbucks, of course. Those red cups are so danged festive!!).

I just wanted to share that I'm working on a comparative review on two tinted moisturizers. One is the Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer from Hard Candy. As for the other one, I've FINALLY got my hands on the oh-so-elusive Radiant Tinted Moisturizer from Sonia Kashuk a couple of weekends ago (Seriously, in all of the Targets in my area, not one has had this on the shelves for the past year or so). I've been using the two products routinely and alternatively, and I'm working on a review that I hope you all will like!

Posts for the week will pick up after Wednesday (I have a test in my class)- stay beautiful!

A Fireside Chat With The Train Case.

2009-11-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

Maybe you've noticed that I might have not touched upon one subject here on the blog lately. And honestly, it's because I don't really find myself too concerned with it. What I'm talking about are the new FTC rules and regulations regarding bloggers product reviews. In a nutshell, what it all comes down is bloggers have to disclose if they are receiving free product and/or being paid to do reviews. Pssssh. Please. It makes me laugh thinking about it. I don't even dare to really delve into the meat and potatoes of it, but you can read around the blogosphere or directly at the FTC website for more information. Kind of unrelated but this is also why you don't see any ads on the site. I want to keep my blog clean and easy-loading for YOU and ads just tend to bog it down (just my personal opinion, don't shoot me).

Honestly, 99.9999999% of the items I feature on my blog are and have been purchased on my own. I can literally count on one hand (two, to be exact) how many times a company has contacted me and sent me free product to review. You just haven't seen them yet because 1) One of the products I haven't had a purpose to use and review yet and 2) I honestly just forget to use them. And really, I've been nothing but honest on my blog. I would never fluff up a review for the sake of giving it good press or for my own or anyone else's incentive. I tell you what I like about a product. I tell you what I don't like about a product. I also like to tell you who it's good for and who might stay away from it.

Anyways, I can't help but think that this is a pretty petty thing to enforce on bloggers and there are much bigger things/laws/rules/regulations that should be at the top of the FTC's list. Especially me, who am I for the FTC to keep tabs on?? I'm just a small potatoes blog (I mean, how are they going to regulate ALL blogs?). Anyways, from now own (apparently this takes into effect on December 1st, so I'm still good to give you this disclaimer) I'll put a little blurb at the end of each review, telling you if it was purchased on my own or sent to me by a company for review or whatever the situation calls for (FYI I am not going back to edit all of my past posts. That's just silly).

Anyways, in the end, I do want to help you, the beautiful readers, in any way possible. And if this is going to help you in some way, then I am more than happy to do it. I guess the possibility that I could get popped with a fine from the FTC gets me kind of worried, haha! I would rather use that money for other things!

Do you have any opinion on this? Does this concern you in any way? I would love to know how you feel about it.

Got To Be Seen In Green.

2009-11-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Green may not be my favorite color, but I'm absolutely loving the shade on my nails right now. Thankfully enough, it's a hot color right now as well, making it a pretty easy to find shade in stores.

I stopped by my local Sally's Beauty the other night to see what kind of new goodies were in. They had a lot of Holiday items out, including some of the new releases from Finger Paints and China Glaze. If you love green, hold on to your seats....

Finger Paints Evergreen Dream

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Nina Emerald City

Evergreen Dream and Emerald Sparkle are pretty similar, but totally different at the same time. Evergreen Dream is more "shimmery" than actual glitter, while Emerald Sparkle is all glitter, baby. I don't know which I like more, they're both gorgeous, but Emerald Sparkle just has this beautiful glow to it. Emerald City has some blue undertones in it, but it's still rather gorgeous.

Here are some other new greens I recently purchased...

LA Girl Flare in Jade

LA Girl Matte in Alpine Green

LA Girl is becoming a fast favorite of mine. They have tons (tons) of colors to choose from, and they're so cheap! The first, Jade, was found at Forever 21. It was difficult trying to capture the true color, but it's not as blue as shown. The matte range is pretty new from what I understand, and was found at a local accessory store at the mall.

Then, of course, brings me to my NOTD...

Hard Candy in Envy

1) Even in the sunlight I still can't capture the shimmer well. Photography fail!!! 2) I know, my nails look to' up. I've had this on for a week, so I guess it could look worse. Anyways, this was pretty much love at first sight. It's a deep blackened green that looks black in normal lighting- but catch it in the light and it really pops.

I also wanted to share some other little goodies I picked up from Sally's. These are some new Sall Girl nail polishes out for the holidays. I love these! They're only 99 cents, but if you sign up for their card, they're an even better 89 cents!

(None of these have proper names, from what I can see on the bottle) First, a really pretty light blue. This is another color I absolutely love. Reminds me of China Glaze' s For Tiffany, but I haven't compared yet.

Awesome deep purple with a beautiful shimmer. Again, difficult to catch the shimmer, but there are hints of blue.

Glittahhhhhh!!!!!! Tis the season for glitz and glimmer and this is it!!! Amazing chunky silver glitter in different sizes. There was also a gold available as well.

Ahh, the best for last. I was most excited for this one!!! This is a gorgous pink with Holo. Glitter. I'll let that sink in for a sec......

I guess you could say I'm in a big nail phase right now. I'm finding myself buying less makeup, but more nail polish :) Either way I'm having to make more room!!

NOTD - Debbilia # 77

2009-11-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Over the past weekend, I went on a small shopping excursion with my equally beauty-loving cousin, Alex. One thing that we love to do (other than eat sushi, eat ice cream, listen to Michael Jackson, eat, eat, AND EAT) is top at random 98 cent stores. You can actually find a lot of neat things in there, if you just look around. We both like to look for beauty items, my cousin loves to look for fake eyelashes and I just like to look for whatever I can get my hands on ;)

At the second store we stopped at, I noticed some rather large polish racks up by the register. I made a bee-line to the display and almost had to fan myself!!! Beautiful polishes, ahoy!!!!!

Debbilia #77

I wish I knew more about Debbilia polishes. Simple Google searches lead me nowhere (as far as a website with more colors or a place to order). This shade is #77, a beautiful dark olive and gold sparkle with a dark black base. Apologies to the lack of sun photos. Thanks to the time change, buy the time I get home the sun is down and, well, I have to settle for indoor photos. The formula was easy to work with and the color was opaque in two coats. This is one of those colors I'm guilty of just admiring in the sun while I drive, it's so hypnotizing!

#58, #80, #82

These are the other polishes I picked up. #58 is a light purple sparkle and #80 is a golden sparkle. These are both on the sheer side and would be beautiful for layering over darker polishes. #82 is a gorgeous blue/green with a similar dark base like the above #77. These little polishes cost me a mere 98 cents. Pretty groovy, huh?

I wish I could give you some more information about this mystery brand- have you ever come across a small brand that totally blew you away, only to find there's no information to be found?

Not So Spooky Halloween.

2009-11-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year was unlike Halloween's of the past. I love Halloween, don't get me wrong. But this year the spirit has been lacking. Usually my house is decked from front yard to backyard with some kind of spider, witch, or pumpkin. I may have to attribute that to being out of the state for half of the month. My job is usually bubbling with excitement gearing up for the big Halloween potluck. I especially look forward to those. We have tons of food, music, and costume contests (Not to brag, but, I've won for the past two years in a row!). This year, for reasons which I dare not go into, the potluck was canned :(

There was still a glimmer of Halloween spirit, though. We were "allowed" to dress up in costume if we wished. But the way it was worded and handled almost made me not want to dress up, know what I mean? I didn't want to NOT dress up, but I didn't want to dress in my big usual get-up I always show up in. I still wanted to make a statement without being so flashy.

So, I came up with this "non-costume" costume for work Friday:

Surprisingly, it was a hit. People didn't know who/what I was supposed to be. I didn't know who/what I was supposed to be! It was all how you interpreted it. I was a widow, a 50s housewife (a dark one, I suppose), a French lady, etc. Personally, I either went with a 50/60s housewife that just killed her husband (AKA Betty Draper gone apesh*t crazy) or Mrs. White from the movie Clue (which would have been extra perfect if I were carrying around a rope- but, could be considered a weapon at work!). I was surprised that NO ONE at work had seen this classic 80s gem- so I had to explain that one.

The dress I had hiding in the back of my closet. I probably only wore it out once. It was perfect. The gloves were purchased at a local costume/party store. The hat, my favorite piece, is vintage. I picked it up at an estate sale sometime last year for a couple of bucks. Necklace and shoes were more things just laying around.

For foundation, I used Revlon ColorStay Active in Buff, which is usually a perfect color match for me, but I applied more than usual, giving me a slightly paler look, and used a lot of powder also making me look extra pale. My eyes were a simple, smoky eye (I somewhat based the technique off a look from Kevin Aucoin's book Making Faces) . I used colors a few NYX trios (Black & gray from trio #1. Nude and dark brown from trio #3) and used Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero to line. On my cheeks, a mix of NYX Mauve and Spice blushes. On the lips I used NYX lip liner in Dark Purple and Night Out lipstick from Hard Candy (@ Wal Mart). I wanted to do something dark, but not red. This dark, vampy plum/burgundy was perfect. And, even though I specifically bought it for this look, it actually kind of grew on me!

On Saturday, I was so tired that I just stayed in. I had a costume made in case I went anywhere, so at least I have something for next year. To be in the spirit, I threw on this comfy black cotton/jersey dress, tights (again), and some cat ears. Meow! I passed out candy all night for the kids, I really do love doing that, I love to see the costumes! We had the usual pirates, zombies and witches. I did have one boy dressed as Michael Jackson (Glove and everything! I gave him extra candy) and a middle school girl dressed as Lady Gaga. It was a nice, relaxing evening watching movies and drinking hot chocolate!

Now it's your turn, tell me about your weekend!

Paint It Black.

2009-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

I look inside myself and see my heart is black

I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facin' up when your whole world is black

A small ode to a little nail polish.....

Yeah, I know it's Halloween-time. And usually the black nail polish comes out to those that don't normally wear it. But generally, it's become such a common color that it doesn't get the looks is used to (I remember my dad just couldn't wrap his head around black nail polish a few years ago when we saw it on someone a the mall. Now, he could care less).

Wet n Wild Black Creme

This little bottle of fantastic is under a buck, how great is that? In my opinion there really is no reason to go out and spend money on anything costing more than this. I generally like the formula of Wet n Wild polishes. One generous coat is really all you need. I've had this on for a week and have not experienced one chip or peel. With a top coat you have a deep, dark, sexy, glossy black. It can't get any better than that!

I've been feeling a little under the weather lately, I was even sent home from work (who wants a sick person at work?). Even though I was sneezing uncontrollably last night, I still managed to carve a pumpkin (and not carve a finger off). See if you can recognize it ;)

Yes....a Thriller Pumpkin!!!! I actually found a few (free) Michael Jackson/Thriller-Themed patterns, and this one was (what I thought to be) the easiest. The eyes were a little tricky, and thought it was going to break with every carve, but it came out! I'm very pleased- I hope others like it too!

Anyone else carving pumpkins? :)

Cargo's Eastern Eye Pencil Collection

2009-10-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hello, beauties!!!! I'm currently spending this beautiful Sunday afternoon stuck at the computer writing a small research paper, lucky me, right? This is going to be a quick post, as I wanted to get these up before the weekend was over.

When I mentioned in my last post that I had ordered Cargo's Easter Eye Pencil Collection from Sephora's Friends & Family sale- I had immediate requests to do a whole post on them. You asked for it- you got it!

Cargo's Easter Eye Pencil Collection is a set of 5 mini-sized eye liners, cased in a sturdy, magnetized hard plastic case. The case has little grooves in it and the pencils fit perfectly. For comparison of the size of the pencils, here is an Urban Decay 24/7 mini against the Cargo pencil.

The colors in the set are fantastic. They include a black, purple, gold, blue, and olive.

I tested the blue pencil on Friday- which was a bad day because my allergies were kickin' that day and my eyes were watering like crazy. But I have to say, despite the water works the color stayed pretty true and only had to touch up a couple of times.

Black, Purple, Gold, Blue, Olive.

The colors when applied are beautiful, they go on smooth and the color is very vibrant (I didn't expect the blue to be so vivid when applied to my lower lashline! I even had to try and tone it down a bit). The black pencil actually comes off more of a steely gray, which is fine because it's still a pretty color. My favorite pencils are the purple and olive. The finish I would say is more metallic than shimmery, and the only pencil to have actual glitter would be the gold pencil, but don't worry, it's small so it won't irritate.

I think this a great set from Cargo- are the colors terribly unique? No, but they are very pretty and wear great. Plus, for $18 you can't beat the price. A perfect gift for the Holidays!!

Sephora Friends & Family!!!!!!!

2009-10-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

(Note: I had this ready to go last night, but Blogger was acting finicky and wouldn't let me post it...)

'Tis the season for sales and deals!!!! Unless you've been living under a rock, you should be aware by now that Sephora is currently running their Friends & Family discount sale. This is a great opportunity to stock up on staples in your arsenal, or to get a head start on Holiday shopping for loved ones.

I took advantage of the sale and made a small, but satisfying order. Follow meeeee!!!.......

Cargo Eastern Eye Pencil Collection, Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer and Sephora by OPI polish in "Absinthe Makes The Heart".

Full Cover Concealer is my absolute holy grail of all holy grails. It's the best concealer I've ever tried- I've been a faithful user for almost 2 years now, and I probably won't ever need to switch to another product ever again. I know, I speak so highly of this product- it's brilliant, trust me on this one.

Cargo's Eastern Eye Pencil Collection is beautiful and an amazing deal. The set contains 5 eyeliners in black, blue, purple, olive, and gold. They are more of a travel or mini size pencil, but I think it's still a great deal for only $18. I will have swatches either tonight or tomorrow!!!

Green? Grey? Sparkles? Kind of hard to pin-point the actual shade of Absinthe Makes The Heart, one of the newest shades from Sephora by OPI, is in a class of it's own. It's really hard to capture the true shade with flash- it looks like charcoal here, but in real life it's a dark grey green with a complex blue and silver sparkle. A stunner- I don't own anything like it.

I might make another order for some gifts and fragrance, I might have to make sure my checkbook can handle it!

Are you planning to make an order from the Sephora Friends & Family sale? What are some things you've had your eye on?

Back In The Saddle Again.

2009-10-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone!!!! I'm back from my two-week adventure/vacation and I have a ton of things to update, I'm so excited to be back home!!!

First, some details/photos from my vacation (then the beauty stuff!). If I were to sum up my vacation in 5 words or less, it would be National Lampoon. Seriously, you remember the Vacation movies with Chevy Chase? Well, my family would rival the Griswolds. They can be kind of kooky at times, but I love 'em!! We spent a few days in Louisiana visiting my uncle first. They live about 45 minutes from New Orleans- so we were there quite a bit. I went to Bourbon Street at night with my cousins and....it was interesting ;) Quite different from the next day when I went with my whole family (including the kiddies). We ate. And ate. And ATE. The food is amazing, and the 5 pounds I came home with proves that ;)

Then we went back to Texas to San Antonio. The family reunion was amazing- probably close to 400 people showed up (and that wasn't everyone, either). There was more food, a lot of memories and pictures, and lots of dancing. We didn't wrap up until midnight! It was so much fun, they're hoping to have another (bigger!) one in a couple of years. We rented a house about 10 minutes from downtown, so again we spent a lot of the time seeing the sights. I had an amazing time!! Here are a few (of the almost 700 I took) pictures............

Here's a not-so-glam photo of yours truly as we came into Texas (you can see a big star on the ground behind me, this was taken at a rest stop/welcome center). Because even beauty bloggers look bad after 24 hours on the road. And maybe I wanted to show off my spiffy Glee shirt too :)

Some beautiful architecture in New Orleans.

Beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde.

Inside a voodoo shop on Bourbon Street.

This, my friends, is a pizza......at 42 inch pizza. Take a minute to let that sink in. 42. Inches. Taken at Big Lou's Pizza in San Antonio.

Inside the Hard Rock Cafe on the River Walk in San Antonio.

The River Walk. It was a cold and rainy day- so we didn't get to take a boat ride. Maybe next time!

Now.....for the beauty swag I came home with.........

First, the fabled Opulent Cloud from Sally Hansen. I needed to do my nails and didn't pack anything with me. So a quick trip to Rite Aid while I was in Louisiana lead me to this, after I had been searching all over for it at home!!!

Also at Rite Aid, a beautiful set of mini polishes from Borghese.

Then while I was at Texas, we made numerous stops to the HEB (I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS STORE), I came across the new L'Oreal mascara AKA the Medieval Torture Device.

At a Walgreens in San Antonio, I found a new Rimmel mascara. I don't know why I force myself to buy new Rimmel mascaras when non have ever really won me over...but I do it all for you guys! ;D

My only real splurge, and my first Guerlain item- Oriental Metal Khol Liner.

This is worth every penny, and as a taupe lover, you would expect that from me. I got this at Saks (my first time in one, too!) and the guy at the counter was a total sweetheart.

I also kind of went a little crazy and came home with a nice-sized Lush haul as well. The gal there was awesome and we had same tastes in a lot of products. I was there for a good 40 minutes trying not to purchase everything (I don't have a Lush in my area, the nearest stores are a good 3-4 hours away from me). I got Rock Star and Sea Vegtable soaps, Snow Fairy shower gel, some Tea Tree Tabs, and stocked up with a big bottle of Veganeese conditioner. No pictures, obviously, because everything is in my shower!!

I'm still unpacking and trying to get back to my time zone (that 2-hour difference really messed with me)- I hope to be back to normal within a week :)

ON VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

Hello, beauties!!!!! I'm just about out the door (literally) to hit the road to Louisiana and Texas!!!!! The family is starting to get here and soon the caravan will get rolling :) I won't have access to the internet while I'm gone, so I will (obviously) not be making any posts, answering any emails, or replying to comments. I should be back around October 17.

I'm very excited!!! I've never been to either Texas or Louisiana, and I'm especially looking forward to New Orleans and the River Walk. Of course, I might be squeezing in a small makeup haul or two ;) We shall see!!!!

Alright....looks like we're loading the last of the cars.....be back in two weeks!!!!!

For Your Consideration....Vote For The Pink Traincase!

2009-09-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

I found out (through accident, really) that this little blog, The Pink Train Case, is in the running to be a part of HLMN's Hot Beauty 100 Blogs!! It's such an honor to even be in the listing. The competition is pretty stuff, since about....oh, 99.9% of the blogs I love and read every day is also in the running.

Sure, it would be simple enough to vote for every blog.....but the catch is you only have one vote per email. Tough nut, ain't it? Anyways, this isn't a plea for votes, because I don't play that way (and this is the only post you will see about this)- but if you do feel so inclined to vote for me and the little ol' blog, click here to enter your email and then Pink Train Case in the next box. I, along with all the taupe eye shadows in the world, would truly appreciate it :)

Taupe Tuesday! - Sephora Marie N. 14

2009-09-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Helloooooooo, beauties!! It's back!! Taupe Tuesday!! Did you miss it? Yes, it missed you too.

Today's taupe is from an unlikely source, Sephora. I say unlikely because Sephora, for a while, wasn't known for the best house-brand of eye shadows. Well, I am very happy to report that has changed.

I was browsing my local Sephora one weekend to find a whole new set up of single eye shadows in an array of beautiful colors. I swatched a few and was really impressed. Unfortunately, the display was so new, they didn't have all the stock in, just the testers. So this puppy was ordered online, and I have to say it fits in well with the other little taupe children....

Marie N. 14

Why is this named "Marie"? I don't know, but it sure is beautiful. The texture is wonderful, smooth and similar to that of a frost finish from MAC. And, I know what (I think) you're thinking. It looks kind of like MAC's Satin Taupe. Well, I can tell you they're similar while not being at all alike at the same time. They actually have a similar texture and an even more similar finish. Color is slightly off- Satin Taupe actually looks like it has more golden undertones. Marie has more brown in it.

I know I say this often, but I am truly impressed with Sephora's new re-formulated shadows. I wore Marie all day (err....that sounds funny. Let's just call it N. 14 from now on...) today, it had great staying power. The color went on smoothly like butter. I would highly recommend, if you have the chance, to check out in person staggering 54 new shades from Sephora. Most of the shadows I tested were beautiful, some were an all-out glitterfest. Either way, for $12 a pop, it's a fairly cheap thrill. Two thumbs up!!

In some other non-taupe news, I will be taking a short break in a few days. And when I say "short break," I mean two weeks. And when I say "a few days," I mean this Friday. I will be traveling out of the state to Louisiana and Texas for two glorious, beautiful weeks! The occasion? A family reunion in San Antonio! I really excited, it's the first time going out that way and the first time I'm going to meet over 450 members of my (very) extended family :) I have an uncle in Louisiana, about 45 minutes from New Orleans, so we're going for a week before to visit and sight-see. I'll be back around October 17th- but I'll crank out a few more entries before I leave ;)

Hard Candy! Walmart! Pictures! Swatches!

2009-09-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

*runs in*runs out*flails*

I'm sure by now you've heard the news of Hard Candy resurrecting at Walmart. The word is that the brand would start showing up this week, however, my store wouldn't be carrying it until sometime next week (I just called and spoke to someone in Cosmetics, they were actually very helpful!!). I was out and about today and decided to peep inside another store in a near-by city. I certainly wasn't expecting for them to have it- but to my surprise, there was the brand new display of Hard Candy- like it hadn't even been touched yet. There were one or two products that had not come in yet (I overheard two girls that were stocking the shelves).

Without further ado.....here's my little (pic heavy!!!!) haul......

The loot: "Walk The Line" liquid eye liner, "In The Shadows" shadow trio, "Sheer Envy" tinted moisturizer, and 3 gorgeous nail polishes.

Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer in Fair

I was actually in the market for a new tinted moisturizer, as I will be going on vacation (details soon) and needed something quick and easy for the road. This TM looks rather good- there were 5 color shades to choose from and it has SPF 15 (that will serve me good while I'm driving!). I haven't tried it on yet, but just from testing it on my arm, the color match is good. Can't wait to try this out!

Walk The Line liquid eyeliner in Praline

I was so overwhelmed with the amount of liner- there were at least 8-10 different liquid liners, plus two (or maybe three?) types of other pencil liners. I'm a self-proclaimed liner hoor, but I don't have as much liquid liners as I pencil. I decided to try one of these and pick out the most neutral one.

I have to say- these little suckers are quite good. The following swatch was done a few hours ago and it hasn't budged. I've washed my hands 3 times since and the color is still solid. The brush is nice too, thin and easy to handle.

The shade, praline, is a gorgeous hybrid of brown, bronze and taupe. It dries fast to a metallic finish and, as previously stated, stays put. I'm currently trying to rub the swatch and it's not moving, still- not even a flake!

In The Shadows eye shadow trio in Flower Girl

Are you not surprised I picked the taupe trio? No, you shouldn't be by now. There was a nice selection of eye shadows in different forms- trios, quads, glitter shadow, shadow sticks and dome-style baked shadows.

Flower Girl is a trio of neutrals, a shimmery taupe, satin/matte chocolate brown, and a shimmery champagne. What is also pretty nifty is that it comes with a little black kohl eyeliner, that is attached to the top of the packaging by a little band. The quads come with a little tube of eye shadow primer.

The pigment is pretty decent and better than I expected- these were done dry with no primer. I know with a base the color will stand out a little more. But- on their own this is perfect for a low-key, natural look.

I have to say, I was so excited for the nail polishes. If I didn't think about it, I probably could have walked out buying each color. I left with three, but I'm definitely going back for more!

Hypnotic

Hypnotic is a pretty, sheer pink with a gold sheen to it. The pink gives it a safe, neutral feel, but the gold flash gives it a little punch.

Envy

Envy is breathtaking! A blackened green shimmer.

Mr. Wrong

Ladies, if you only get one polish, it has to be Mr. Wrong. This is a delicious blend of purple/lavender/gold/silver shimmer. It's gorgeous- I couldn't take enough photos to show you how gorgeous it really is.

Mr. Wrong, Hypnotic, Envy

Believe me, there are many, many, many more items in the line. This is a pretty impressive and major comeback for the brand. I admit, I was a late-admirer of the "former" line, so I can't say how this compares to it. Some items may be directed towards a younger age demographic (body glitter and shadow, "eye shadow tattoos", etc.), but I think "older" customers can find some definite winners. What's the best thing about this line is everything is under $10. What's not to love about that? I believe the line was supposed to start appearing in stores this past week- but some stores may have different dates, so call your local store(s).

EDIT:
I can't believe I forgot this picture!!! Each nail polish comes with a cute little ring, as you can see in the photos above. It's a definite reminder of the Hard Candy of yore. I believe the old rings were made of a "jelly" while the new ones are plastic. It's very cute- but, one size does not fit all....

;)

A New Season Brings New Sets from Mark!!

2009-09-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hello, Beauties!! Can you believe it's Fall already? I really wouldn't be able to notice- it's going to be 100 degrees today! Whew, I hope this is the last of the heat waves- I can't wait to break out my sweaters ;)

Today on this dreadful Hump Day (I am currently writing this at work- the office is so quiet, I can hear a pin drop!), I bring you two brand new items from Mark for the Fall and Holiday seasons. These were literally delivered yesterday- they're extra fresh!

First up, is a new Flip For It palette! It's a little different, but still fabulous.

Super Flip Color Kit

The packaging is the same size as your typical Flip For It. The color may look black in the above photo, but that's because it's actually a metallic/shiny bronze! Here's a better picture:

Hi There!

It's almost like a mirror, so all you people who are finicky about getting smudges on your mirrors/packaging - this may drive you a little nuts. You can already see the fingerprints on mine.

Now, when you open it up, instead of getting the standard 2 shadows and a blush- you get 9 eyeshadows!!! Here's a close-up:

1st Row: Iced, Gioa, Goldie
2nd Row: Dare, Electric, Frenzy
3rd Row: Nudie, Rockin', Lava

Iced, Gioa, Goldie, Dare, Electric, Frenzy, Nudie, Rockin', Lava

The shadows pretty much speak for themselves. There's a little bit of something for everyone. Iced is a shimmery bright white. Gioa is a permanent shade, a really pretty bronzy/brown with gold shimmer. Goldie is just what it sounds like, a pretty, pale shimmery gold. Dare is my favorite out of the bunch, a forest green with gold shimmer. Electric is a (mostly) matte navy blue with a tiny bit of shimmer. Frenzy is a pale, lavender with shimmer. Nudie is a very matte fleshy color- which is why it's kind of hard to see, blends pretty well with my own skin. Rockin' is similar to Gioa, only it's a darker brown with gold shimmer. Lava, though a little hard to see, is a matte black.

Flip it over to find 9 lip colors and glosses.....

1st Row: Kissy, Poutin', Hint
2nd Row: Delish, Crave, Glow
3rd Row: Racy, Pixie, Spiced

Kissy, Poutin', Hint, Delish, Crave, Glow, Racy, Pixie, Spiced

Sorry that the swatches on the farthest left a little hard to see....first is Kissy, a light berry gloss, no shimmer. Poutin' a pale pink gloss. Hint is a pretty neutral pink lip color (FYI. This contains both glosses and lip colors. Glosses are more sheer and the lip colors are a little more opaque and creamy). Delish is a bronzy gloss with gold shimmer. Crave is a stunning and surprisingly opaque brown/berry gloss (or lip color? I don't have this in front of me, I will confirm and edit later) with shimmer. This would be gorgeous on ladies with darker skin tones!!! Glow is a light, gold shimmer gloss. Racy, Pixie, and Spiced are all similar-but-not pinky-neutral colors. Again I don't have it in front of me so I'll update later ;)

Next up: a new set of Mini Juice Gems Lip Gloss. These are obviously Holiday themed. Juice Gems are some of my favorite glosses. They have great colors, last long, have a high shine and smell yummy :)

Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Nutcracker, Holly Berry

As I mentioned, these are mini tubes. A regular-sized tube lasts me forever! Here's a comparison to a regular tube:

FYI: The larger tube is Blackberry Juice Gem :)

Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Nutcracker, Holly Berry

Sugar Plum is a plummy-red gloss with no shimmer. Egg Nog is sheer light pink with shimmer. Nutcracker is a nude-colored gloss with very little color and no shimmer. Holly Berry is a (guess what?!) berry gloss with shimmer. Not only do I love the colors but I LOVE the scents! They each have a different scent- Nutcracker is my favorite, smells kind of coffee-ish.

I love both sets- I don't have the prices in front of me but I can tell you that they're a steal. 9 eye shadows and 9 glosses/colors in one palette? Seriously- it's a good deal. Though I miss having the blush in the palette, I still think it's great that you can use it for both neutral and colorful looks. The gloss set is darling- just the perfect size to stuff in a stocking for Christmas! I ordered these out of the previews through my super-duper Avon selling Aunt, so these should be available to purchase in the coming month or so ;)

Review - Cover Girl Lash Blast Length Mascara

2009-09-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, I love the smell of a new mascara in the morning!

This weekend I headed over to the grand opening of a new Walgreens in a nearby town. Pay no mind that I have one in my town and one in about every town around me, but what can I say, it's the Drug Store junky in me.

The store was crisp and brand new. I love crisp stores. The I made a bee-line to the cosmetics and the first thing that caught my eye was a display for the new Cover Girl mascara, Lash Blast Length. Following my blogging duties, I had to try it out.

The third mascara in the Lash Blast family (following the Original and Luxe), this one promises lengthier lash look. I have to say, Cover Girl takes the cake with packaging with tubes in colors you can't miss nor forget (Original Lash Blast- Bright orange. Luxe - Pink. Now, Yellow). The other noticeable difference from the other Blast mascaras, the wand:

I don't have a comparison to show you, but the wand is probably the biggest difference from the other mascaras. It's much longer, more slender, and the nubbies (Is that a word? It is now!) are longer. This is probably my favorite thing about the mascara. While I do love the original Last Blast, the wand took some time to get used to. This is much easier to swipe on the lashes without taking too much effort.

Now, some before and afters.....

Before: here is my unsuspecting naked eye.

After! FYI: Wearing Jesse's Girl eyeshadow in Wicked smudged over black liner, and two of the shadows from the Urban Decay Box of Shadows II and Styli-Style liner in Black Green on the bottom.

Another shot showing the "length" factor.

As for the results, I generally do like the look it gave. I did notice that my lashes looked longer. It didn't do much in terms of making my lashes looking any thicker or giving any volume, but that's not what the mascara is intended to do, so no points dinged there. I will have to try layering with another mascara and see how that turns out. The formula has a somewhat normal consistency, didn't feel too watery or too thick- it was pretty right on. I wore this out Saturday night and when I got home sometime after midnight- there were no smudges, which is pretty impressive for a mascara that isn't waterproof (however, if you look at Cover Girl's website, apparently there is a waterproof version, but since this is still pretty new I assume it hasn't hit stores just yet).

All in all, I think this is a really great mascara that pretty much does what it claims to do, and I believe this is another winner for Cover Girl. I paid around $7 for this, but as always prices vary from store to store and state to state- so look out for those sales!

Have you seen Lash Blast Length? Any questions you have that I can answer- leave a comment and let me know!

CVS Rocks My World

2009-09-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

I admit, I usually go into my local drugstores expecting nothing because it takes forever for my stores to get any new products. Sometimes I am taken by surprise. Today, especially, I was really surprised.

As everyone should know by now, Long's was acquired by drug store giant CVS. Slowly over the past few months, Long's made the transition over to CVS. I stopped by the store closest to my campus today before my class and was surprised to see that the signage has changed. I went inside to see the whole store totally revamped!!! I was like a kid in a candy store. They had a ton of new Halloween items out (lots of lashes lashes, some nail polishes), some ORLY polish displays, and just a bunch of brand new shiny things. What can I say, I'm easy to please.

I went around the cosmetic section to come across brand new displays from NYC, Rimmel, Prestige, and Styli-Style (Finally!!! They removed the old display a while ago. I got a back up of my everyday liner, Line & Seal 24 in Brown/Black)! The old displays were hurting to be made-over and re-stocked. Anyways, I was walking around the section with all the "new" stuff and to my surprise.....came across the new Milani Halloween polishes!!! AND the new glitter/bright polishes!!! For a moment, I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. I actually came across something that was really new.

The display looked like it had just been put out- it was totally full. I was thisclose to getting one of each color....but I restrained myself to 2....

Fairy Tale & Whimsical

Most likely I will use one of these polishes this week. These are really gorgeous- the glitter is different from other polishes I have. They're more than just black with blue or pink shimmer- but the glitter in these are more prominent. Another plus- the glitter does not flake or look chunky, but rather it looks like it's almost floating. It has a pretty good black base, the above swatches are a couple of coats. I'll have to try it over black. I may have to go back for the other 4 polishes in the collection....maybe....

This is actually my first experience with Milani polishes, and I'm truly impressed with these shades. They're seasonal/limited edition, of course. And seem to be limited to CVS stores at the moment. I paid $4.50 for these beauties, which seem like a fair price to me. If you love glitter and you love dark polish, I highly suggest you pick one up!

Hidden Gems - Icing Cosmetics

2009-09-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, beauties!!

This weekend I treated myself to some (cheap!) retail therapy. I met up with my cousin and we hunted some thrift stores for some cheap thrills. I didn't find much, just a video (yes, I still buy videos/VHS. I will never part with my VCR!!) and two cds . We also stopped at our favorite nail supply store for some dusty hunting (which I will post later this week) and finally found empty bottles for more frankening fun! Totally excited :D

Today's hidden gem is courtesy of Icing Cosmetics. Icing Cosmetics is sold at Icing stores, naturally. Icing stores are part of the Claire's company, as well as the now-disbanded Afterthoughts chain of stores (lots of memories of this store from my childhood!). For some reason, Icing stores are far and few between in my neck of the woods and was totally surprised to run into a store in a random mall.

The store was running a special, all cosmetics buy one get one 50% off, so naturally my cousin and I took advantage of the deal. My cousin picked up some eye shadow duos and singles, while I only left with one polish (I have to say the polish is amazing! They had some truly unique colors, but I was good and only bought one) and one single. The single, my friends, is today's hidden gem.

Unfotunately, the shadows do not have names. So let's call this "brown-green-olive-gold eye shadow of awesomeness", shall we?

You can see a hint of my nails here- Marine Blue from Icing!

My cousin and I literally gasped at the sight of this shadow. We took the last two on the shelf and hurrily went to the checkout.

This "brown-green-olive-gold eye shadow of awesomeness" is exactly that. AWESOME. I didn't know what to expect in terms of texture and pigment in the store, but once I cracked that baby open at home, I was in love. It has a wonderful, soft texture that is similar to maybe MAC's Velux Pearl, and has great pigment.

I know what you're thinking....the price of all this awesomeness? $3.50. Technically, the final price was only $1.75 since this was cheaper than the nail polish and got it for half off.

I have to say I don't have a shadow that's quite like it. I may have to do some more dupe-searching in my stash. But off the top of my head, this is one of a kind. This gem, my friends, is worth the hunt.

Barbie Loves Stila - Little Black Dress

2009-09-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard it time and time again, every woman needs a Little Black Dress in their wardrobe. I wouldn't say I'm a fashion hound by any means, but even I know how important a Little Black Dress is. I knew the power of the LBD since high school- when I "invested" in a black sheath dress from Gap. Boy, did that thing take me far! Dinners, band concerts- you name it- it was the most useful thing in my closet (well, that and my band uniform! *wink*). The LBD has been around for decades, but was really popularized in the early 60s with a little film called Breakfast at Tiffany's........

Heck, I still use that dress to this day. Mostly for costumes, though. It served me well during two different Halloweens where it was the base for my Cruella De Vil costume (last year) and a few years ago where it served as the main piece for the iconic movie character above (Haha, I was a short, chubbier version of Holly, but everyone knew who I was!).

Stila, with the help of Barbie, has recently released their own version of the Little Black Dress in Smudge Pot form. And, let me tell 'ya, it's gorgeous.

Sorry, Barbie looks kinda drugged out!

I picked this up today when I made a trip to Ulta to visit/bother my best friend Yvonne (Who told me when I left "You better blog about me!!!" AND her birthday is tomorrow- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ♥). I really couldn't leave the store without it.

Upon first glance at the product, you really don't think too much of it. Looks like your basic black. But when you get it under the right light, it really starts to sparkle, literally.

Little Black Dress is a gel eye liner with a black base and pink (let that sink in for a second.....PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!) shimmer/glitter. The following swatch was taken indoors under a desk lamp, so it almost looks kind of purple, even blue in some shots that I took.

This is actually the first Smudge Pot I've ever owned. I'm no stranger to the product, though. A couple of years ago I had my eyes done by one of the gals at Sephora (who actually used to work at the Stila counter, back in the days of yore when the line used to be at Macy's) and she used the black Smudge Pot for a retro-ish liner look- and that stuff didn't budge. This is no exception. I did a demo for my mom (I demo a lot for her!) after taking pictures of it and she was rather impressed. The swatch did not budge and I had very little glitter transfer (I don't expect to be rubbing my eyes when I wear this, so I know it won't be a problem.

Back to swatches......can I say how hard it was to take pictures of this sucker? As mentioned above, it was hard to get accurate color indoors, so I went outside. Yeah, didn't help too much either.....

The sun was setting and I still don't know my camera too well enough to fiddle with the settings, so the above photo looks a bit drab. But, the sparkles do look more pink than purple/blue like the first swatch photo.

See the sparkles? Are they calling to you? Are they saying "Buy Me"?

There are two other Smudge Pots in the collection, including Cobalt Clutch (a bright blue) and Purple Pumps (bright purple/violet). No doubt, both gorgeous, but not a necessity in my arsenal. If you aren't a fan of bright color, Little Black Dress is the color for you. It hsa a smooth application and was easy creating a nice crisp line (with the aid of the MAC 266 brush). If the pink shimmer scares you don't, the shimmer is not over the top, but rather gives your eye a little extra sparkle when you bat your lashes ;)

Little Black Dress Smudge Pot retails for $20, and can be found wherever Stila is sold; including Ulta, Sephora, and Stila.Com

Urban Decay Box Of Shadows 2.....ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

2009-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the cheesy 80s reference, but it was too hard to resist!!!

I admit, last week was a looooooong week. I was so glad for that clock to hit 5:00 Friday afternoon and greet the weekend. But- something was to meet me first when I got home. I was delighted to see a package from Urban Decay sitting on my door step, and that could only mean one thing.....

URBAN DECAY BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2!!!!!!

Okay...I might have slightly screamed when I opened it. Okay...I might have made my dogs look at me funny (You know, when they slightly turn their head and you know they're silently judging you?). But I didn't care!!! The first thing I did was grab my camera and started to snap pictures to share with you all :)

What you get are 16 shadows, two mini/travel size 24/7 eyeliners in Bourbon (dark brown) and Zero (black) and a mini bottle of Primer Potion. I didn't take pictures of those, since you all should know what those look like. I didn't take a picture of the top portion- it seems like the mirror on the top flap broke...I won't bug Urban Decay with it though, I probably won't use it much anyways. And I didn't take pictures of the little "look book" either, but I will, if you wish, scan the pages and post them later. The colors and pigment on all the shadows are excellent. There aren't many glitter-drenched shades like last year's set I didn't get the previous set because none of the colors reached out to me. This is totally different this year. Colors were reaching so far out to me their arms were falling off.....

Shall we press on with swatches?

Row 1:
Perversion (regular shadow in the permanent line). Gunmetal (regular shadow in the permanent line). Ecstasy (a new shadow added to the permanent line- a shimmery bright purple). AC/DC (beautiful shimmery blackened plum- I would say this is the eyeshadow version of the 24/7 eyeliner in Rockstar).

Row 2:
Nylon (taupey-beige with a little bit of glitter, not too chunky though). Sellout (regular shadow in the permanent line). Mushroom (TAUPE ALERT!!!! TAUPE ALERT!!!!! This is probably my favorite shade out of the whole palette, obviously, a gorgeous smokey brown taupe. I would kill to have this released as as single). Sphynx (pretty pink- kind of reminds me of MAC Swish, maybe just a little brighter).

Row 3:
All the shadows in this row are part of their core line, so nothing new here. Half Baked, Twice Baked, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, YDK (which I just bought as a single not too long ago).

Row 4:
Jinx (bright shimmery sky blue), Flipside (another new shadow recently added to the permanent line- a bright aqua/teal), Homegrown (pretty grassy green), Misdemeanor (LOVE this shade!! A shimmery peacock-ish color. Looks really blue here but there's a hint of green)

I also threw in my basket the Grindhouse Sharpener, just to bump me up to free shipping, but this is probably the best $8 on a sharpener I've ever spent!

All in all I am very very VERY pleased with this set. I wasn't too wow-ed with the previous Book of Shadows, but this one looks much more useable, for me anyways. There's a nice mix of neutral and fun shades, which makes it easy to stretch this palette for a multitude of uses. And not to mention you really get a good bang for your buck (I know, that sounded funny!). This set will cost you $48, and before you cringe at the price, this really amounts to only $3 a shadow...not factoring in the eyeliners and primer. It's a fantastic value and I would bet this to sell out fast once it hits Sephora! Get it while you can!

NOTD: Franken-Style!!!!!

2009-08-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is!! The debut of my first franken!!

And before I tell you what I named it......I know what you're going to think. It's totally cliche by now to name a polish related to "The Wizard Of Oz".....especially when it's a green or red polish. Now that I got that out of the way. Without further ado...

Surrender Dorothy

WHY this name?? Well. Again, I know it's becoming a cliche "theme" when it comes to polish colors, but for some reason this just fit. I instantly thought of the scene where Dorothy and the gang arrive at the Emerald City and get pampered, then the Wicked Witch comes into the sky on her broom, writes SURRENDER DOROTHY in the sky in black smoke, and scares the living sh*t out of everyone. It's such a great scene :) So obviously the green reminds me of the Emerald City, and the black reminds me of the Wicked Witch.

This was pretty easy to make. I just used Wet n Wild black polish, Wet n Wild clear polish, and some glitter that I bought at Micheal's Craft store:

It was under $4, and you get all this glitter!!! I didn't exactly measure how much I used, I didn't use the whole packet. There were also 2 (I think) other types of packs of glitter, this one is the most basic.

(yes, this was taken at work. yay swingline!!)

This was an easy-peasy 2 coats. One coat would have been okay, really. But 2 coats made the black and the glitter nice and even. I used 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat, and it's still kind of "bumpy" but not too bad. I also like it because it's not in-your-face sparkly. The sparkle is kind of muted, and I like that.

This was so fun, and so QUICK to make!!! It's definitely addicting to do and I'm already thinking of the things that I need to make some more dream colors....constructive criticism is welcome, let me know what you think!!

Manic Monday

2009-08-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Heeeeeeey everyone. You may have noticed (or, may not have. It's alright, my feelings won't get hurt) that I haven't posted in almost a week. Ya know. Things happen. Life happens. More importantly school happens. I'm taking an evening class two nights a week....thrilling. It's the second week and the work/reading is starting to already pick up. So, don't be surprised if I happen to disappear for a little bit once in a while. Just a word of caution.

Moving on! This is a weird post because it doesn't have any real rhyme or reason to it. I did a little shopping this weekend, and it was more clothes than make up, to tell you the truth. I haven't bought a lot of cosmetic items lately. I think I may have babbled about this topic in a past entry, but it's starting to get to that point where I really have to think things over before I buy, ya know? I do admit that I did break down for one item last week. If you have been reading around the beauty community, you would have known that the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. 2 dropped last Friday (two days after the photos leaked on a certain makeup board....oops!). I thought about it for....oh, two seconds? Then hit purchase ;) That was quite an investment, but all of the colors look beautiful, much better than the last Book in my opinion. I'm totally stoaked for it to arrive on my doorstep :D

I made a stop to a nearby town to pay a visit to the new Forever 21. I was never a fan of the store before, but since they have introduced a "plus size" (and I use that term loosely) line, I have since not been so harsh. I say "plus size" because honestly....this is pretty much normal sizing. And I'm not going to lie, I'm not miss Skinny Minnie or anything, so I never had any business stepping foot into a Forever 21 store before in the first place (except for maybe a headband or something). So I was pretty thrilled when I heard they were extending their sizes to all women of different sizes. So color me shocked when I go in an find that I have to buy a 2x in some things......um. What? And when I put it against my other clothing, it's pretty much the same size of my large sized shirts. Whatever. I'll stop there. I can bitch and complain about sizing for days. But I'm so hypocritical that I'll go in a drop a couple of twenty's easily.

Here's what I left with:

ADORABLE plaid shirt. Lots of plaid in that store. I guess it's in? It's cut a little low, and I'm pretty top heavy so I'll end up wearing a white cami or tank under.

I really don't know where I'll wear this dress. But it had to come home with me. I found that a lot of the dresses are a wee bit short that what I'm used to, but this was the perfect length on me. Maybe I can wear it to the supermarket? Too much?

Then I hopped over to Hot Topic. There are no words for this tee:

No words.
At all.

You know I love my MJ. When I saw this shirt I loved it so much I practically ran out of the store with it. They had a few other MJ shirts, but this one was clearly the best. Why? CARTOON ZOMBIES. They also had some MJ stickers which I bought as well (I'm heavily considering putting the "I heart MJ" sticker on my car).

Last, but not least, I made an ADD-fueled visit to Wal Mart with two of my cousins (seriously, I love them and all but I spend too much money when I'm with them! We would be walking the aisles and all of a sudden one of us would say something like "OMG I NEED THIS BLENDER.....HEY, BAND-AIDS!!!") and FINALLY found the new Wet n Wild products!!!!!

The new Craze nail polishes are all that they are hyped up to be. The only one I wanted was Morbid, a beautiful, dark, blueish-green. Then picked up the adjusting foundation. Let me tell you, it's magic. It must be made of unicorn tears and butterfies. I'll definitely be doing a full review of this, but when it says it adjusts to your skintone, it really does adjust to your skintone. The Ressesionista did a fabulous review on this, including a video of the magic in action.

One more thing before I wrap this up; I tried my hand at "frankening" my own nail polish. Frankening is basically mixing your own polish colors. One color that I haven't seen yet (or if there is, TELL ME!) is a black with green glitter. I've seen every other kind of color glitter in a black base, but not green. So, I made my own. I went to Michael's Craft store and picked up this nifty pack of glitters for $3. This particular glitter is a bit finer than regular craft glitter, so they're better for nail polish.

Here is the result!

Basically it's Wet n Wild black nail polish, Wet n Wild clear polish, and the glitter. I'm quite happy with the result. I don't have any pictures on my nails, so here it is on a swatch wheel (this is two coats):

LOVE IT. It looks kind of "chunky" because this is without a top coat. I'm sure it will smooth it out. I still need to come up with a name for it. How can a franken go without a name? Any suggestions?

One more word.......I want to wish a belated Happy Birthday to a sweet and wonderful gal, Aly from The Gloss Menagerie!!!! Hope you had a great day ♥

It's beginning to look a lot like.....Halloween?

2009-08-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I was out and about doing one of my "drugstore tours", I went to a nearby town with arguably better drugstores than my town- and went looking for any deals and steals. I stopped by Big Lots, where I left disappointed in terms of make up selection, but came out with some plastic bins to store my ever-growing nail polish stash. Longs (CVS) was a dried up desert, and Walgreens had no new product since the last time I visited.

Rite Aid was the last stop before heading home, and hoped, hoped, to find something good and worthwhile. The things I have been searching for non-stop have been the new Wet n Wild "Craze" nail polishes (google is your friend, you'll get blog reviews/swatches). Usually my area i s really good with getting new WnW products, but I can't seem to find these buggers anywhere!!!

However....
I did come across this:

REALLY????????????????????

HALLOWEEN ITEMS.

Seriously, folks. You can't set up/put out the regular season items YET you bust out the black lipstick?? I don't get it. This years selection is pretty much the same as last year. Two eye shadow duos (black/white & navy/blue), fake nails, fake tattoos (not pictured), lipstick (including the obligatory black), and nail polish. Nothing new and too terribly exciting, I'm afraid to report.

I guess the only "interesting" items were the false lashes. There are a couple I remember from last year, and some that look new.

Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween maybe a little more than the average person (I may or not be already getting my costume made) - but putting out these items this early is a bit extreme.

What do you think? Are Halloween items out on display in August too early? Think it's out at the right time? Or maybe you think it's not out early enough (I would love you if you think this, hehe)?

Taupe Tuesday! - Iman Pewter

2009-08-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hellllooooooo taupe lovers! Back again with another tantalizing taupe from Iman Cosmetics. Last time Iman made an appearance on the blog, it was with the loose powder pigment in Wicked. Today's feature is almost like Wicked's cousin in pressed form...

Iman Luxury Eyeshdaow in Pewter

Pewter is once again one of those colors that likes to play tricks on you. Looking at the pan, and even looking at the name, you think this is going to be a silver shade. Well, it kind of is. Then when you swatch it, it looks kind of brown. Well, it's kind of that too. Pewter is definitely a silver-based taupe. I think that's the wonderful part of taupe shadows and all the different shades and undertones it can take. What other kind of shadow can live multiple lives?

Compared to Wicked loose powder- it definitely has the same color, but Wicked has way more sparkle. If sparkle isn't your think or you're not comfortable with loose shadow, I would suggest picking up Pewter instead. The pigment is fantastic. The shadow itself is very smooth and buttery, very buttery. Until you have the chance to try it out for yourself, you're going to have to believe me. Even though it's a drugstore product, it beats the crap out of some of my MAC shadows- really.

And for some non-taupe fun, here's the only other Iman shadow I own, Safari:

Safari is a gorgeous gold with a hint of green, making it a bit on the warm side. I normally side with cool shadows but I don't care, it was too gorgeous not to own.

These run around $6-7, depending where you are at. They can be found at select Target, Walgreens, and Wal Mart stores, so make sure to check out the store finder on Iman's website to search your area (even then, you may want to call your stores- the two Targets I get this from in my area aren't even listed on the search).

Bowling Beauty

2009-08-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!! The time where is where beauty meets one of my favorite hobbies, bowling (I know, this sounds crazy). I am thrilled to share with you all this little tip I discovered (Actually, it was discovered by someone else...) Thursday night during my bowling league. I've mentioned a few times here on the blog that I am a pretty avid bowler. I've been bowling since I was 6 years old and take this game kind of (okay....really) seriously. Don't get me wrong, I have fun, but sometimes I can't shake off a spare that I miss or a...gutter *hangs head*.

Anyways, Thursday night I was at my league and my hand was in a terrible state for some reason. Bowlers have bad nights, sure, and usually some lane/ball adjustments fix that. But then, there are some things that you just can't fix instantly. For some reason my thumb, which is an essential, was really swollen. When I threw the ball, my thumb would get stuck and "pop" out when I released the ball- thus causing for a very nerve-wrecking "thump". If you are a bowler, you know what I mean.

I was in need of some (baby) powder to apply to my thumb, but my search came up negative. This was when my mother (who always tags along to talk to friends and still likes to act like a coach at times) said:

"Don't you have your compact with you?"
".....uh, yes?"
"Use that! Put some of your compact on your thumb!"

Seriously. What would the world do without moms? I gleefully dug out my Revlon Colorstay powder compact and liberally applied to my thumb. And guess what? It worked. It was my turn up and my stuck-thumb syndrome was cured!!! I do have to say though, if any of you actually use this trick, don't use so much ;) I went kind of heavy on the application and it was a little too slippery. I gently wiped some of it off and that fixed it. After that, I was throwing like a pro again (hehe, alright, maybe not a pro!)!!

This post probably had no relevance to most of you, but I was just so happy about this little tip I was too excited to share :)

Hidden Gems - LA Splash Eye Sparkle

2009-08-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

A nice little treat to get you through this last half of the week (this very....long...week. Is it like this for everyone else?).....

About a week ago, I ventured to one of the last remaining Kmarts in my area (seriously, who knew that store would still be holding on today?) and came across a new display from LA Splash Cosmetics. I am not a stranger to this brand, but was excited to see that they have revamped their image since I last had a visit with them. It seems like LA Splash is going through some sort of transitional phase. If you visit Cherry Culture, you'll still find their products listed, but it's just under the name "Splash" (Sans LA). If you google, you'll get two different website addresses, one website goes with what is listed on Cherry Culture under the name of just "Splash". Another website goes with it's new "revamped" look (and looks like it's currently under construction).

On this display was a small offering of eye sparkle (loose shadows) and liquid liners. There were about 10 or so to chose from, and only left with one:

Conch Coco

There were mostly bright shades, this was one of the only "neutral" shades in the display. Just looking at it in the store, it looked rather pretty. A nice dark shimmery brown.

Once I got it home, I was SUPER surprised.

Conch Coco is a definite gem. It's a beautiful dark brown with some major sparkle. There's a big difference from the eye sparkle I tried a long time ago. The old eye sparkle was very gritty, the base color was chalky and there was huge glitter. This is a HUGE improvement. The brown base color is really pigmented and the shimmer is really fine. When I was doing these swatches, I came to realize something. This definitely reminded me of something I already owned. I ran over to my stash and dug through my drawers. Then, I found it!!!

Left: Bare Escentuals Drama
Right: LA Splash Conch Coco

I am quite surprised....Bare Escentuals glimmer in Drama looks a lot like Conch Coco. The photo looks like they are exact dupes, and they are really close, but not dupes. Drama is a bit lighter and definitely more taupe, Conch Coco is darker in general. But, I do have to say that they share the same texture, pigment, and sparkle-factor. I paid about $4 for this and definitely worth it. I'm not sure where else this is poping up at, but keep an eye out for it at Kmart and online at it's new (hopefully) website.

Happy Happy Mail Day...

2009-08-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, everyone!!! After an interesting weekend and a long day at work, the mailman was extra nice to me today. I came home to two extra-sweet packages!

First, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my favorite-lip-balm-in-the-whole-world, Crazy Rumors, was having a half-off sale on their site. I received my order today and I couldn't be happier!

French Vanilla x 2, Mocha, Bubble Gum, Raspberry Sorbet, Pink Grapefruit Juice and HibisKiss Lip Tint in Coral.

I could have easily.....easily....purchased a lot more, but I paired it down to the absolute favorites and the ones I had to try right now. French Vanilla is an absolute staple for me, it smells like a hot cup of vanilla-drenched coffee. I put this on and my co-worker literally says "....*sniff sniff....Are you drinking Coffee?" it's so amazingly yummy, this is a warm winter night wrapped up in a blanket in a tube. Mocha smells just as good, a little nutty, a little chocolatey with a little hint of vanilla. Bubble Gum smells sweet...and really, what more can I say? It smells like a gumball right out of the candy machine!! But, this has a natural sweet scent, not a synthetic sweet. Raspberry Sorbet and Pink Grapefruit Juice are light, juicy scents that smell like you're opening a carton or drinking a glass of the real thing. I really don't know how they do it to get the scent so exact. The HibisKiss lip balm is really special. It has a light, citrus-like scent. I can't really say it smells like a Hibiscus, but it probably has hints of it.

But, what I really love is the color. There are 6 shades to chose from, it was so hard to pick one! Coral is a lovely red-ish tint with a pink sheen to it (it photographed warmer/darker). It's so pretty, I don't own anything like this:

Second...this other package I was not expecting! The Lovely Linda from My Pretty Pink Box notified me that I was a winner in one of her contests. I knew I was going to get something in the mail, but I didn't know when. What a surprise!!!!

Thank you, Linda!!! ♥

Now, I knew that I was going to be receving some goodies from Silk Naturals...but what I didn't expect was THIS:

Holy moly!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't take individual photos, but here's what the prize package contained: 9 eye shadows (Idolize, Slate, Beach Plum, Posh, Breathe, Purrr, Sandy, Basalt, Gasp), 4 blushes (Climax [I wonder what blush this is a dupe for?], Stardust, Vino & Tart [omg the brightest pink EVER!!!!!]), 1 large jar of Perfecting Powder, Sheer Bronzer in Beach Bunny...

*takes a deep breath*

And not pictured but also included:
4 oz bottle of Pre REfining Toner, 4 oz. bottle of Kiss Cleanser, 1 oz. bottle of Simply C Serum, Kisser Slicker gloss in Nectar AND....Black Label gloss in Devil's Food Cake (WOW, smells exactly like cake batter!!).

Again, a BIG BIG BIG thank you to Linda & Silk Naturals!!!!

New!! Mark Flip For It in Urban Neutrals

2009-08-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, what is it with neutrals this fall?? So hot!!

Sorry this post is so late, but I just received this about an hour ago and couldn't WAIT to share with you all!!

Mark has done it again with a gorgeous palette for the fall- packed with my favorite thing in the whole wide world (Puppies? Cute guys in glasses? Dark Chocolate?): neutrals.

I don't know what it is, but to me it seems like with every Flip For It palette Mark releases, it just keeps getting better and better...

First: the packaging. HELLO! Gorgeous. This is the firs time I've ever seen a Flip For It packaging with something other than a solid color. They did good this time around, the color scheme is beautiful and it reminds me of a sunset at the end of an Autumn day.

Now, the colors....

Top Left: Metro
Top Right: Skyline
Blush: Urban Glo

Swatches
Metro eyeshadow, Skyline eyeshadow, Urban Glo blush

I think this may be my favorite palette they have released so far, really. The first eyeshadow in Metro looks like your ordinary highlight shade, but it's more of a soft champagne with a hint of pink, very pretty. Skyline is *sigh* worthy. This is a matte neutral chocolate brown. The matte formula on this shade is buttery soft, very pigmented, and nothing like any of the other Mark mattes available. The blush in the group, Urban Glo, again has to be one of my favorite blushes from Mark. It photographed a little on the warm and a little too peachy, but in real life it's a little cooler and with hints of pink. In my opinion, all the colors work together very well.

Flip it over and on the other side you'll find the 4 lip colors....

Ambiance, Attitude
Siren, Moody

Swatches
Ambiance, Attitude, Siren, Moody

Again!!!! This palette is my favorite grouping of lip colors of all the Flip For It's I own. The top two colors are more of lipsticks, but a little on the sheer side, so I swatched more heavy to see the true color. The first shade, Ambiance, is a really pretty neutral pink. Attitude is a rosy brown, but still neutral and cool. The bottom two shades are lipglosses. Siren is my FAVORITE!!! It's a gorgeous wine/berry sheer tint lipgloss, this for me is what fall makeup is all about. Moody is a sheer, clear lipgloss with a golden sheen to it. I'm not one for glittery glosses, but it's not gritty at all and would leave a pretty effect over any lipstick.

Bottom line: this is a HIT. Mark is sure following the trend of releasing neutrals. All the shades are gorgeous and work beautifully together. I think this will be released at the end of the month, but don't quote me on that. The set retails for $20 and, as always, is a great deal.

Quiet...I've been....DUSTY HUNTING.

2009-08-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

I truly now know the thrill of it all......the thrill of finding polish as cheap as chips.

I was binging (not as catchy as googling, eh?) the other day for beauty/nail supply stores in my area. I came across one of the only stores with a review. The reviewer even refered to it as a DUSTY. Of course, I had to stop by.

Saturday morning I set out for my adventure. I was in for such a surprise! This little store is great, I was greeted with a friendly staffer with a cheery smile and a little bucket for my purchases. I took my mother along with me, as she enjoys a good deal as well (I learned from the best!), and we searched the racks of polishes, seeing what we could find.

We must have been there for 30 minutes at least. There were three displays of polish for $1.50....yeah, $1.50. There were displays for 75 cents and even 50 cents. I raked through each of the displays about 3 times....

30 minutes later, here's what I left with:

Jessica Emerald

I saw these Jessica nail polishes and at first didn't recognize the brand. When I got home and did some research and I'm assuming it's the same Jessica brand that I only know of. I'm also assuming that these are old bottles. Emerald is stunning, green and silver shimmer swirled together. Guh. I love green.

Jessica Rainforest

WOW. Can I say WOW again? This is BEAUTIFUL. Not even this picture can capture the true color. It's a flippin' gorgeous olive green with a subtle gold shimmer. The first thing that came to mind was "I need an eyeshadow this color...." I can't stop staring, it has such a pretty glow!

Jessica Tiger Eye

Yummy!! This reminds me so much of NYC's Molten Metal. A cool silver/gold with shimmer. Each of these Jessica polishes were 50 cents ;)

Next.....some Zoya's!

Zoya Poppy

This is my first affair with Zoya. This store had so much Zoya, I had to control myself. There were tons of shades, and even some in old bottles (same bottle, but a slightly different cap and a different font). Poppy is a pretty, cool coral orange. I've never tried coral/orange on my nails before, but it's a softer variation so I couldn't help but try it.

Zoya Melodie

I think this might have been the first polish I threw in my bucket. Melodie is a light pink with silver shimmer. The shimmer looks kinda scary since it's confined to one area in the bottle, but on it's even shimmer and it looks oh-so-pretty!! I've been wanting to find a pretty, light polish since I've decided to shun Essie's Jackie Oh My! for the rest of my life.

Zoya Max

This polish was so hard to capture on camera. It looks bright orange/red, but it's a pretty hot pink in person. Just by looking at the consistancy, I think this is a jelly finish. So pretty, I have to try this before summer is over!! Each Zoya only cost me $1.50.

And speaking of Essie......

Essie Grape Crush

I saw these on the rack and I was rather puzzled. They looked like cough syrup. I took the bottle to the sales assistant and asked what the story on these were. She said they were a tint, so they were more liquidy than a regular polish. Grape crush looks like a purpley-wineish tint. I decided, why the hell not, right? I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but the gist of it sounds nifty.

Essie Night Cap

Another cough-syrup "tint". This time, blue. These are in old bottles (with out the "Essie" on the bottle and no "e" on the top of the cap.....am I right about this?) and stink like high-hell (yay fumes!!!). But damed if I was going to just leave these on the shelf for 50 cents!!!

All in all- it was a successful haul. All my mother found was a heart-patterned nail file for $1. There were also a decent selection of old OPI and Orly, as well as random brands. I was surprised to see the new collections from China Glaze and the new matte shades from OPI (I was thisclose to getting one, but in person nothing wow-ed me).

To close this nail-licious post, here is my current NOTD:

Sephora by OPI in Ocean Love Potion

Excuse me? Who's nails are THOSE? I feel like I'm getting a little better with my application each time I change my polish. I love the formula of the Sephora/OPI polishes, I had no problems with application and the color went on opaque and even in 2 coats. And can we talk about that color? The perfect blend of green and blue, and not too dark and not too light. I also just switched up my base coat and top coat Orly Ridgefiller and Poshe), and I'm liking it much better than what I was using (Orly Bonder and Seche Vite) before.

Hope everyone has a great week!! Things are going to cool off in my part of California (I can't hang with this 110 nonsense)...finally dropping into the low 90s and 80s. Do you think I'm jumping the gun by busting out my peacoats and long-sleved sweaters?

Too Faced Natural Eye Palette.....Natural with a Kick!

2009-07-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

This little beauty made it's way to me in the mail today:

Too Faced Natural Eye Palette.

I'm sure many think natural and think drab....but NOT with this palette!!

This set comes with 9 (count 'em, 9!!!) shadows to create a bevy of natural/neutral looks.

As you can tell, the top 3 shadows are matte, while the rest are shimmer. I know they look extra shimmery here, but that's the flash. These are so buttery soft and pigmented. This is a GREAT value at only $34. That's only about $3.75 a shadow!! Yay! I can do math! ;D

I plan on using this over the weekend, so pictures to follow....

I also couldn't help picking up a couple of Sephora by OPI polishes:

Ocean Love Potion & Dark Room

I've been wishing for a color like Ocean Love Potion, a dark aqua/teal cream. Dark Room is a Sephora Beauty Insider "exclusive", meaning you need to be signed up in the program to purchase this. It's a hard color to describe, it's not black, but a dark dark green with a hint of blue? I can't wait to try them out!

One more note.....

My favorite lip balm company Crazy Rumors is currently having a 50% off SALE. Everything on the site is half off with the code SUMMER (pretty simple, huh?). Now it's your chance to pick up some high-quality, vegan, tasty vanilla coffee-flavored (my favorite!!!) lip balm :) Check them out!!

Taupe Tuesday! - Bed Head Taupe

2009-07-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

I am sooooooo excited for today's Taupe Tuesday...
I may have found it.....my HG taupe?
Maybe....just maybe...

I picked up today's star over this weekend with my cousin whom I mentioned in my previous entry. She took me to a store called Cosmoprof. I'm sure it's a pretty well-known store, unfortunately, you do need a license to purchase from them. Fortunately for me, I have a cousin that loves me ;)

We both picked up some hair stuff (I wanted to try out the Rockaholic Dry Shampoo from TIGI) and some nail stuff (I found China Glaze Recycle!!!!!!!!!!! The most perfect gray creme that I've been lusting after for so long!!! It was the last one on the shelf, too!). We were about to check out when I noticed the Bed Head cosmetics display by it's lonesome in the corner. Bed Head (also from TIGI) Cosmetics, surprisingly, has a pretty nice range of products. From lips, eyes, cheeks, foundations and brushes. There were about 10-15 single shadows and a few 4-pan palettes. The colors were very pretty but this was the obvious one that stood out:

Just simply....
Taupe.

Words....cannot describe how perfect this shadow is. It's really, in my own opinion, the most perfect taupe that I've come across. The formula is wonderful, smooth and silky, rivals the likes of MAC easily.

Now....can we talk about the color?

It's really the most perfect taupe I've come across. Not too silver, not too brown, not too plum:

I don't have anything that comes quite as close to this. I should have bought a dozen of these. I foresee myself going through this like water.

I tried to google the hell out of this to try and find a link somewhere that you could purchase this, however, I failed. I'm not so sure where you could get this online, and you might be able to find them at a salon (TIGI has a salon finder here). And if you have a friend with a cosmetology license- be extra nice to them and hit them up for favor. At a store like Cosmoprof you'll get well under retial (I paid $7). EDIT: I found an online retailer here, I don't know the validity of the site, but at least it's a start!

NOTD: Omega Labs Hot Green

2009-07-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

I swear, I am not turning this into a polish-exclusive blog ;) But you have to admit- polish is a hellofalot of fun ;D

I had a pretty, polish-filled weekend. I spent some time with my cousin (who happens to have her cosmetology license. I was her model when she took [& passed] her test!) on Saturday shopping, eating sushi, singing Michael Jackson in the car (that's pretty much the only thing we listened to ALL DAY), just being cousins ;)

She took me to this fabulous little place in a nearby town, what polish-lovers call a "dusty". Dusty shops are...well...just as they sound. So old and looked-over there's dust on the polishes :) This place is a small nail supply store. Usually nail supply stores are for folks that have licenses, but this was open to the public. One could use their license for extra perks like a heavy discount on polishes (like, $3 for the new China Glaze collection) and access to special equipment and machines. However, the polishes were free game and no license was needed to purchase :D

Omega Labs polish in Hot Green is one of 2 polishes that I left with (pardon the chips already, I did those on my own that no top coat would have prevented). I have a heavy obsession right now with green polish (Yeah, I know this is only my second one so far- but I have another on the way from Sephora!). The name is kind of deceiving. Hot Green? Yes, it's green- but no way "hot" in the sense that I think it would be. It's your basic green, not too dark and not too bright in a cream formula. I am so in love with this polish. This is two coats, I am still working on my polishing skillz, but you can see very easily where my first and second coats are. This is sure an eye-sore with the flash, but not noticeable in real life. I'm very pleased with the formula, the color is beautiful and even without the aid of a top coat, it dried rather quickly. This beautiful bottle only cost me $1.50!!!

I have to gush more about this little store, it was amazing. They had one aisle with three shelves just PACKED with polish (I tried to take a picture with my phone, but even for a small store it was busy and I couldn't get a good picture). There were mostly "small" (but wonderful) brands like Station, Omega (they have the most gorgeous glitter polishes!!), New York Summer, and Chelsea. Those were about $1.50-ish. There were two racks full of color-chanigng polishes (some from Toma and another brand I'm not familiar with). Then they also had racks of OPI, Color Club, Orly, and China Glaze. It was a mish-mash, colors both new and old....very old.

I came across some ancient China Glaze polishes, like...in the old OLD bottle. I didn't buy any, but I did some research and they were from a collection called Coral Reef. Does anyone know what year that came out? The polishes were really old and thick, nothing a little thinner can't fix. And there were a TON! I didn't take the time to really dig through the China Glaze and OPI racks, who knows what I would have found!!! I know that I'm definitely going to go back and do some more rummaging!!

A sucker for a fairy tale

2009-07-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned on here a few times before that I am still a sucker for anything fairy tale related. Anything. Especially anything Snow White related.

It was no surprise that I was instantly lemming polishes from the newest release from Orly, Once Upon A Time. I was on a mission to find the most popular color from the collection, Enchanted Forest, a deep dark green cream. I high-tailed it over to my local Sally's, not holding my breath either, since I've had past experiences where they are pathetically late getting the newest releases. But, behold!!! I was about 10 feet away from the door when I saw the little display on the shelf- success!!!!

Happily Ever After, Enchanted Forest, Poison Apple

I was also itching to purchase another shade from the collection, Mirror Mirror, which is (surprise!!!!) a light gray creme. Unfortunately, I asked the gal working there and she said that this was all they received in their shipment (they also had Prince Charming, which is a light brown-taupey (?) shade. Loved the name, hated the color). They might receive the other two shades in the collection at a later date. Either way, these polishes are simply stunning!!!! They also come with a cute little charm...what I'll do with them...I don't know, but they were definitely another selling point for me.

Happily Ever After
Stunning color. It's not really pink, not really purple, and has a super subtle shimmer. I don't do pinks on my tips (just for toes!), but I might make an exception for this one. Comes with a darling pink slipper charm :)

Enchanted Forest
Pretty much the winner of the collection. Green is looking to be the IT color this fall, and to me this looks like it's one of the best to be released. It's a dark (but not too dark!), lush green that's a straight up creme, no shimmer. Comes with a multi-colored butterfly charm.

Poison Apple
Okay okay OKAY. I admit, this was purchased purely for the name. Can you blame me? This bright red is a little different from any other reds that I have. It's got a lot of punch to it- it's not a plan, flat red...if that makes any sense. I might have to use this for my Halloween costume this year (Yes, I'm already working on it!!!)....and of course, comes with an ADORABLE apple charm!!

I'm a bit on a polish kick, if you haven't noticed. I guess I feel like I've "hit a wall" when it comes to other cosmetics. I go to the store...I wander around...I find something...I think: "Wait, do I already have something similar? Do I really need another neutral pink lipgloss?" It's a vicious cycle, really. I find that I'm getting very picky when it comes to buying stuff and I'm definitely over-analizying things. If I'm absolutely sure I don't have anything like it, I'll buy it. Ahhh, well. I'm sure we all get to a point like this right?

Right.

To end off this post, I have some wonderful news!!!

You remember my lovely pup, Cinnamon?

(I know, this is her best "What The Hell Are You Doing?" look)

She has a sister!!!!!!
Meet Chiquita:

She's the most darling thing ever. We kind of rescued her. The people we got her from were literally going to abandon her. They were going to be moving (they kind of had their own problems...it's a sad story to begin with) and were going to leave little Chiquita behind. And in my part of California, it gets hot. Very. Very. Hot. Our record high so far was 112 (maybe 114?). Well, my step-dad decided to bring her home, just to see how she fit in. She was mostly an outside dog, so she wasn't used to an AC-fuled home...at first...she became comfy very quickly!! She got along with my parents, she got along with me, and most of all- she got along with Cinnamon.

...Well, I can't say the same for Cinnamon just yet. Cinnamon is used to being the only child, so she kept her distance from Chiquita the first few days. After that, she got closer. She started to sniff her. They started eating from one others food bowl. I think after a few more weeks Cinnamon will let her guard down and start to really embrace her. They haven't fought, which is a good sign I think!! I can't believe that someone was going to just leave this little angel out in the heat alone. She's so sweet and mellow, and I've only heard her bark once!!! If I could, I would literally take in every stray/abandoned dog I see. We had been thinking about getting another dog for a while, and I think she is the absolute perfect addition to our family :)

Well......now that I've tired you out with that rambling, it's oficially Saturday!! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

NOTD - Jackie is a Siren

2009-07-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

Tai: What's a monet?
Cher: It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess.

See, everything in life can refer back to Clueless.

Yesterday was my "change my polish" day and decided to pull out one of my polishes I have yet to try out, Essie's Jackie Oh My.

I admit, I only purchased this for the name (I need to stop doing that!!!). I had high hopes for this natural-looking shimmery-soft white polish. I wanted something lighter, something different than the grays and dark shades I usually go for.

Aaaaaaaaand here's how it ended up :(

Gosh, my nails look so sad (I didn't make this a large picture for a reason)! This is 4 coats, people. 4. Coats. Application was a pain, it streaked so badly and color was uneven. It was late enough that I didn't have time to change it, so I just wore it for the day today- I just didn't like it at all. Bringing it back to the quote at the top of the post, it looked fine from afar, but up-close I just couldn't stand it.

The first thing I had to do after having dinner - CHANGE MY POLISH.

I decided to go back to what I love the most and know the best.

DARK POLISH:

Wet n Wild in Sexy Siren

Sexy Siren is a limited edition polish that was released sometime last year (I think, don't quote me on that though). It's a dark navy blue with a beautiful shimmer (not glitter!!!).

The Rock Solid formula from Wet n Wild has to be my favorite from the brand, it applies with no hassle, and even without a topcoat it dries pretty fast on its own. This is two coats, but the color is so opaque you could easily do one.

Yeah, I don't think I'm cut out for dainty sheer polish....

Taupe Tuesday! - CQ Silk Taupe & Taupe

2009-07-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's another 2-For-Taupe-Tuesday Special!!!!

As I previously gloated, CQ eyeshadows are some of the best deals you can get. These small compacts pack a big quality punch at under $2. Of course.....it's Tuesday, so I bring you TAUPES (Two, at that!).

Left: Silk Taupe
Right: Taupe

Left: Silk Taupe

Right: Taupe

This is true that Silk Taupe and Taupe are very similar to one another, but they have very slight differences. Silk Taupe has a bit more silver in it, while Taupe is a smidge darker and more brown. As I'll probably say time and again, these shadows are amazing for the price. They're very silky upon application, and will last all day with a good base. Did I mention they're under $2? ;)

Do you need them if you already have something similar? Well, you shold know my answer by now!

Hidden Gems - CQ Eyeshadow in Frosted Bronze

2009-07-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

There's just something about finding something obscure, something that you just can't wait to tell EVERYONE about- that makes me feel so giddy. Yes, giddy.

This is how I feel about a little brand called CQ. More specifically, this is how I feel about an eyeshadow from CQ, Frosted Bronze.

Woah.
Woah.
WOAH.

I picked this up today at Wal Mart. CQ is a brand that, according to their website, is only available at Wal Mart (and mainly nail products at Rite Aid). They have a pretty extensive product range including lip, eye, and nail products (I have yet to see any face products). Anyways, I was browsing through the display and this little beauty jumped out at me. In the store it looked like a beautiful blend of gold, brown, and olive.

I was pleasantly surprised when I finally cracked open the compact in the car (don't act like you've never done that before!!) and swatched....

Again...
Woah.
Woah.
WOAH.

I was absolutely blown away!! The texture of these shadows are out of this world, totally on par with something more high-end. Very silky, very pigmented, and when I tested it out on my eye, applied very easily. The swatch is the closest I was able to get to show it true to life- but the flash makes it pull a little more warmer than what it actually is. I don't know how to explain this one, it definitely has elements of brown, gold, and olive. It's a really unique color, I really don't have anything like it.

Oh...but wait....did I happen to mention the best part?

I only paid around $1.25.

Yes...you read that right.
$1.25 (actually, it might have been around $1.30-40, but I can't find my receipt)

I highly, highly suggest if you access to this brand- take a gander at it. I think you might be pleasantly surprised!

+++++++++++++++

Alright. I'm sure you've noticed that I've been a little MIA over the past few days. Well, there's a reason for that. And, you won't be surprised at all.

Basically, on Friday I was kidnapped by one of my best friends. Kidnapped to where?
An American Idol Concert.
See. Told you- no surprise!!!

The two of us and another friend traveled down to Southern California to Ontario (south of LA) to bake in the sun and have a grand time. Long story short: the concert was really amazing. We had front row seats and, really, it's the only way to experience a show ;) I was fortunate enough to meet all of the Idols once again this year- but it wasn't without some work......

The sun was high and hot and the temperature was easily over 100 degrees. We waited (along with a bunch of other fans) in the afternoon when the buses got to the venue. I don't even remember how long we waited, but it was long enough to get kind of light-headed and nicely burned on my neck and arms.

I got autographs from all the Idols (except for Scott and Lil), but only got photos with three:

With Matt!!! He was my favorite all year and I was so happy to meet him!! Super sweet guy- and, yes, cute to boot!!

With Micheal. Okay, he wasn't my favorite but I do have to give the guy credit for being super super nice to the fans. And the guy has a sense of humor. One of the gals that we met up with accidentally called him "Matt" (oops!!!). He teased her about it but laughed it off.

I took a picture with Megan after the show- but I look like a BEAST (it was probably close to Midnight and at that point my face was red, my makeup was half off my face, and my hair...well, we won't go there). So, that one will remain unseen ;)

Being in the front row, I took a TON of photos (Um...255?) of the show, but, here's one of my favorites of Adam and Allison singing a duet together:

Whew!! I think that's enough of playing catch-up. I hope everyone had a great weekend and has the start of a great week!!

NOTD : Retro Chic

2009-07-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try something different....

As I've said before, I am terribly obsessed with grey nail polish. I was about to re-paint them my current favorite, Pure Ice Kiss Me Here, but at the same time I wanted to try out another one of my new polishes from L.A. Girl. Who says I can't do both at once?

For a splash of color, I painted my index + ring fingers L.A Girl Vinyl Record. No surprise here why I bought this one (The name! The name!!!). This is from their current Disco Brites collection, where the polish is supposed to glow under blacklight/UV lighting. I'm not 12 anymore, so I don't own a blacklight. I'll just take their word for it. This is a wonderful shade, it's a shame I couldn't capture it's true color on camera. It shows up very blue in the photo, but it has much more green in it- more like a bright teal. The formula was a breeze to work with. It was totally opaque with one coat, but just out of habit, I did two. I picked mine up from Cherry Culture, but you can also order right from L.A. Girl's website.

The shades together remind me of something retro. When I was younger, I actually wanted to paint my room these exact colors. This is the palette I wanted to go off of:

Color by COLOURlovers
(I made this over at ColourLovers,
if you've never been to this site before, check it out- it's so much fun!!!)

I hope you all are having a fabulous week so far!! I had to make a trip to the eye doctor today to test out my peepers and get my eyes dilated (Not fun!!!). The good/bad news is, I need glasses. I pick them up on Friday. But never fear! For I have picked out some stellar looking glasses (Some cute, simple Coach frames)!! I don't know about you, but glasses are pretty sexy (Especially on guys, I have a thing for 'em). Any of you wonderful readers wear specs?

PTC TV - 80s Commercial Fun from L'Oreal

2009-07-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I know I said I wouldn't do anymore videos...and, I lied ;)

The other day I was watching a rather old VHS tape (You remember those, right? Those clunky rectangle things?) and came across this commercial for L'Oreal eyeshadow. It was amazing. I had seen this videotape countless times before (It contains a broadcast recording of the famous Motown 25 special where Michael Jackson debuted the Moonwalk....yes I'm mentioning him again. Sue me), but NEVER really caught this commercial before. I was stunned. The colors were so...well, you'll see. Then again, this was 1983 (I too am amazed that this video has lasted so long. It's one year older than I am!).....

Watch this amazing display of hot pink and bright blue:

Warnings: I know the quality isn't the best (Remember.....1983), and the sound is less than stellar, but I just wanted to share this glorious imagery.

In some actual news, I picked up these new Aveeno body washes. I have not seen these in stores yet, but somehow Costco had these (of course in a 3-pack!) for $10. I don't know if there are any more scents other than what is here, but this pack included two bottles of Fig + Shea Butter, and one bottle of Lavender, Chamomile, and Ylang Ylang.

Mario Badescu Sample-Fest!!!

2009-07-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

I am very pleased to be trying out a small bevy of samples from Mario Badescu!! The best part? Other than they're a pretty generous size? The magic word: Free!! I received them in the mail today and, as I am typing this, am already testing them out. I received these after filling out a little questionnaire sometime last month. Here's what I got:

-Botanical Facial Gel (cleanser)
-Special Cucumber Lotion (toner)
-Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream
-Oil-Free Moisturizer
-Drying Cream
-Strawberry Face Scrub

There were two more items recommended for me, but were not available for samples: the Drying Mask and the Drying Lotion. With the samples, also came a customized instruction guide on how to apply and when to apply the products. I thought that was really neat- always plus points when a product(s) is customized to your needs. I will test these out for as long as the samples will let me, and then report back with a mass review.

Don't fret, bloggerettes: you too can go to Mario Badescu's website, take the small survey and receive custom samples as well (small note: you may wait a week or two before you get the offer to recieve samples- hang tight! It will get there!!)! Have you tried Mario Badescu products? Anything you love? Don't care too much for? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Review - Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Treatment

2009-07-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend :)

First, I have to say that my hair is such a basket case! Right now my hair is just right at my shoulders, which is "long" for me. I usually keep my hair above my shoulders, but my hair is actually behaving and has stopped thinning (due to medication), so I'm seeing how long I can keep my hair (I'm actually on a bet with my dad. He bet me that I don't cut my hair until his birthday in October!).

The thing is I have a lot of hair- but it's just thin. The summer it's the worst- my hair is more oily at the roots and dry at the ends. I usually have a plethora of different hair products in my arsenal to get my hair just right. But usually, one product poops out on me and it's never enough.

I admit, I was a little weary to try this out at first. I mean, putting OIL on my thin, usually flat hair?? Doesn't make any sense......at first.

I first mentioned this product when I listed it as one of the products I received in My Pretty Pink Box. Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Treatment is really a wonder product that took me by complete surprise. I used it in two different ways and it totally blew my mind!!!!

First
The first day I used this product was actually on the 4th. I was getting ready for my family to invade my household (I love them, I swear!!) and added two small dollops of the treatment on my hair; smoothing it in starting at my ears and working down. Whatever I had left on my hands I ran it just over the top of my hair. I wrapped my head up in a towel and continued to get ready. When I was ready to dry my hair, I took my towel off and just started to run the dryer through my hair....

.....this is when I noticed it....my hair was soft, shiny, and CURLY. Now, another tidbit about my hair is that in it's natural state it's wavy/curly. I usually HATE it like that (I blow dry it straight everyday), but this was different. My curls were more uniform, and my hair was shiny and soft!!! That day I did something I never do- go out with my hair natural. I have to admit, it looked good. Surely a small part of hell froze over.

Second
Today I used the treatment during my normal blow-dry routine. I placed two small drops into my hair, just as I described previously, and added just a bit more to the top of my hair, and into my bangs. I hoped I wouldn't end up with a greasy mess, as I usually do when I place more product in that area. Then I added some volumizing mousse, and went to work. I was surprised at how smooth my hair was. And again, prior to what I thought about adding this oil-type product to my hair, it was surprisingly light. My hair stayed shiny and light and smooth all day. The ends of the back of my hair tend to get really dry by mid-day (Eww, recycled, cold office air), and today I did not have any case of that. As for my bangs, they also stayed nice and smooth, shiny and straight! I usually have to battle with my bangs to keep them straight in the summer, or else they curl up and get wavy in the heat (it's amazingly annoying). Today....straight and smooth.

All in all I am absolutely amazed at this product!!! This is all I needed to use on my hair:

Actually, it's a little more than what I originally wanted to show, but I use two drops approximately this size for my hair (maybe a little smaller). That's it!

I can't rave enough about this- I can't believe that it actually feels so light on my hair, not greasy at all. The smell is particularly alluring to me, funny enough. It has somewhat of an earthy smell, slightly nutty, maybe? I'm horrible at scents but I really like the way it smells. And feels. Have I mentioned how great it feels on my hair? :)

I'm not sure how much this costs in stores, since I received it from My Pretty Pink Box, but I did find it for purchase at this site for $19.99. It may be a little expensive for some, but it's totally worth it and this bottle, assuming you use as little as I do, will last you quite a while!

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-04T10:16:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to wish everyone out there a wonderful 4th of July!!! The weather is going to get pretty warm (okay- HOT) today (103!), so I hope the weather where you are at is more tolerable ;) Be safe with those sparklers and have fun!!

Live Demo! Prestige Total Intensity Liners

2009-07-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do something different today. I was thinking over the weekend about how you can blog and blog and blog and blog about a product- but you don't get the full gist of how something works...if you don't actually see it in action.

This is what came to mind when I was thinking about the Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliners. Now, I've spoken about these before and have claimed that these could probably stay on through a hurricane (well...maybe...). I can write and take pictures all I want- but you can't really see how well these hold up.

That's when I decided to make a video. *Gasp* Yes, a VIDEO!!!! Don't think I'm going to run off to YouTube and be one of those Makeup Guru's- because that's not my shtick (I prefer to stay behind the camera instead of in front!!). I admit that I had to record the following video about 4 times, but no matter how many times I did it, I just sound super silly :)

Anyways, here is the "Live Demo" in all my nerdy voice glory:

Sigh. I couldn't hang doing makeup videos. This took way too long to make and WAY too long to upload! Either way- I hope you enjoyed this one ;)

By Request - Iman Wicked EOTD

2009-06-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

After posting about the gorgeous silver/taupe mystery that is Iman's Wicked, I got quite a few requests to actually show the product on my eye. More than happy to oblige, I did this late last night (of course, I was up listening to Michael Jackson......it's all I can seem to do, okay?!?!?!?!) to share with you all:

What I did was pretty simple. First I used a tacky base like NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha all over the lid, just to the crease (usually I would use another base, Wet n Wild's Mega Eyes Cream Shadow, to prevent creasing. But since this was just for photographing purposes, I skipped that part). Then I lined my top lid with Sonia Kashuk's gel liner in black. I made a fairly thick line, then smudged the heck out of it, almost to halfway up the lid. It doesn't have to be pretty. I made sure that the line was really dark at the lash line, constantly re-applying a little more liner, then smudging it out again (It's a process but it's worth the work!). Then took the Imani Wicked powder and applied to my lid, then spread it out with a flat brush (MAC 242). I used a bit of Mark eyeshadow in Whisper to highlight, smudged some of the Sonia Kashuk liner on my lower lash line, then topped it off with Prestige's My Biggest Lashes Mascara.

I took a few pictures to show that it's not quite silver...and not quite taupe. It changes with what angle you look at it, and it's really gorgeous. I think the color stayed pretty true with this base, but I would be interested to see how it would look on a solid black base.

NOTD: Pure Ice Kiss Me Here

2009-06-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

I told you I have a thing for gray...

Well, color me surprised. I was strolling through a neighboring Wal Mart in another city one of these past weekends when I came across this new (well, new to me) polish from Pure Ice. As far as I know, Pure Ice is a brand that you can only find at Wal Mart. They have some great colors, mostly bold, bright, shimmery shades. So I was very surprised that they came out with a gray creame...of course, I'm pleased as punch that they did, but it's just not the type of shade that comes to mind when I think of the brand.

So far, out of all my gray polishes (okay, all three of them...), this one is by far my favorite. The polish from Hot Topic had a lot of blue undertones it, I liked it- but this is more of a pure gray. Application was a breeze. This is two coats, and you definitely need it. The brush wasn't a hassle to deal with, and dried smoothly and evenly. All in all, I'm very happy with my new acquired gray :)

In current events- this has been a very sad day in the entertainment world...

Unless you have been living in total solitude for the past 12 hours, you have probably heard the news that the world has lost two very talented, iconic people. Farrah Fawcett and the King Of Pop- Michael Jackson, both pased away today. It was already quite a shock hearing of Farrah's passing this morning (my dad called me up and said "My Girlfriend passed away..."). But no one was prepared to hear about Michael Jackson. My co-worker came to the front of the office and said to me and another co-worker "My daughter just called me...she said that Michael Jackson died. It's all over the news" I looked at my co-worker, both of our jaws were dropped, and went straight to Google; No, no way. It had to be a hoax.

Not even a minute later, I got a call from my Mom, who was nearly in tears. CNN had just confirmed of his death. She always tells me stories how her wall used to be covered with pictures of The Jackson 5 (she was in love with Jackie, she tells me, but always thought Michael was cute). To be honest, it still hasn't sank in yet. I don't care about his personal life, but I grew up listening to his music, and that's what I'm going to remember him for. I danced around to my mom's records of the Jackson 5 when I was a little girl. I will NEVER forget the first time I saw "Thriller" in it's full, 13-minute glory. I still burn up my iPod listening to his greatest hits. I read an article that someone said this is like hearing when Kennedy or John Lennon died- you'll always remember what you were doing/where you were when you heard the news.

I can't seem to find a embeddable (is that a word?) video, but here is the link to my absolute favorite song ♥ Rest in Peace both Farrah & Michael.....

Taupe?....Tuesday?....Iman "Wicked" Eye Defining Powder

2009-06-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

I know you're probably thinking what is up with the title of this entry? You know? All the question marks?

...because that's kind of how I feel when I look at this "Taupe? Tuesday?" entry. I was at Target this past weekend (Aren't I every weekend?) and came across this new product from Iman Cosmetics (Sidebar: Iman Cosmetics is the line from, you guessed it, model/one of the most beautiful women in the world/Mrs. David Bowie, Iman. I have a hard time finding this line, and there are only two Target's in my area [and when I say "area" I mean in a 30-mile radius around me] that carry the line, both in different cities. And while generally catered to beautiful women of color- even us fair-skinned gals can check out the shadows and lip products). The Luxury Eye Defining Powder is a loose, pigment-type product in a vial. Of course...the shade Wicked caught my eye:

My taupe-radar went crazy.
Well...at least, It looks taupe, right?

In the store- Wicked looks straight-up silvery taupe. I was so excited, I threw it in my car and left with that baby (it was the last one).

However....
When I got home and admired my new beauty find in a new lights...it looked...kinda of silver? Where was the gorgeous pure taupe I saw in the store?! I applied it to my eye and, well, the complextity of the shade just made me fall deeply in love with it:

Kinda taupe.
Kinda silver.
Kinda awesome.

Now, let's talk about the pigment. HELL-O!!! This stuff packs a pigment punch. It went on silky smooth and I had absolutely no fall out, which is surprising for a loose eye shdaow. And the applicator may look annoying, but it's really not. It applies just the right amount of shadow to the eye, and it really sticks to it, which probably prevents the fall out. When I wore this out Saturday night, I used this all over my lid (I just applied the shadow to my lid with the applicator, then spread & blended it out with a brush with no problems) with some smudgy black liner- sosososo hot (well, at least I thought so!)!! I had no transfer, no creasing (granted I did use a base), and the color stayed true all night.

There are three colors all together (also available is a sparkly black and a gorgeous bright gold) in the collection and will run you about $10 (I know, a bit on the pricey side, but worth every penny!). If you spot this gem- definitely consider picking one up.

My Pretty Pink Box...It's Just That Good.

2009-06-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I know you've heard about it.
And you've heard how great it is.
And, you know that these pink beauties go FAST.
I'm here to tell you that everything you've heard about My Pretty Pink Box is TRUE. It's an amazing pink gem filled with a scattering array of samples and goodies...for under $20.

I too was one of those gals who had heard so much about this adorable box of samples, and, I too was one of those gals who always MISSED the sales! When I say they go fast, they go FAST. For this current box, the sale started at 7AM (pacific time), fortunately for me, this is my time zone, so I was able to place an order just before going to work. By the time I got to work and checked the website again (before the workday began, of course!), they were sold out. That's about an hour, folks. Maybe it was before that, but you have to hurry if you want one of these boxes.

I was very pleased by the shipping. I probably would have received it faster if my card was updated on PayPal (the method of payment used for My Pretty Pink Box), so I had to do it the old-fashioned way and use my checking account (which takes longer to process). I received my box in a week, still, and was nearly giggling with delight! Look at all these lovely goodies!

I know what you're thinking....what's in the box!?!

Oh, I'll tell you what's in the box:

-4.2 oz bottle of Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Treatment
-4 oz jar of Ice Cream Party Body Cream from The Bath Project
-Full-Sized Pout -n- Polish teeth whitening/gloss combo product. So neat!!!
-Lip Gloss & Eyeshadow from Silk Naturals
-Full-Sized tube of Le Baby hair gel (not just for babies, for adults too)
-Shimmer Tube Gel Blush from Mark
-Whipped Body Butter in Pink Paradise from Eli Bath & Beauty
-PLUS: Coupons from Beautyticket.com & Mineral Hygienics

...whew...Now, try and tell me that isn't a great deal? The whole kit-n-caboodle plus shipping + taxes only came out to around $16. It's no wonder these sell out so fast!

I am so pleased with the samples from Silk Naturals. I think the eyshadow is a sample jar, but it's got a lot of pigment, I don't need a lot, I'm sure it will last me a while. I used it today and the color was so silky and smooth- definitely a brand I'll have to check more out from. The lip gloss is really pretty too, a rosy pink with a bit of a gold shimmer. I haven't tried it on my lips yet, but I love the color. Here are some swatches:

Left: Eyeshdaow in Lynx
Right: Lip Gloss in Spring Fling

All in all, I am very pleased with My Pretty Pink Box, I'm sad that I never tried them out sooner!! I like that it contained a mixture of products, not just all makeup, or all body products, etc., and the sizes were more than generous (well, you can't get any more generous than full-sized!!). It's a great way to branch out and try some new brands, all keeping it under $20 (usually, I've read the price can change from month to month but from what I've seen it's under $20). Every month the items in the box change, but the bargain and the fun stay the same! I highly recommend picking up a box (before they sell out, of course) next month. You can find all the information from My Pretty Pink Box's website, and while you're at it, check out Linda's (owner of My Pretty Pink Box) blog here :)

Taupe Tuesday! - Maybelline Beach Blush

2009-06-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hiiiiiii. I'm still here. And so is my computer. And so is that stinkin' virus :( I swear, a million scans and each of these so-called "good" programs all say that there's nothing wrong. However, the problem still persists. I'm still calling around to a few places in town to take my computer in to, trying to get different prices. So frustrating....I don't wish viruses on anyone.

Sigh....anyways, enough of that. I guess the only good thing is that I get to post a Taupe Tuesday! And, it's another beauty from Maybelline......

Maybelline Beach Blush

I found this at what seems to be my treasure cove of beauty gems, Wal Mart. There it was, stuck in the display of the Stylish Smokes, was this little single. It certainly doesn't look like it belongs to the permanent collection, and definitely not with the Smokes collection- I believe there was another "Beachy" collection out there not too long ago, for some reason I never saw too much from that collection.

Beach Blush is surprisingly, or, not so surprisingly, pretty smooth and soft. It's not very heavily pigmented, but a good base will fix that right up. It looks a touch warmer than most taupes, with just a little glint of gold. It's really pretty, and of course a great steal at a couple of bucks. If you can find it, I would definitely suggest snagging one up.

Sonia Kashuk Super Sheer Liquid Tint

2009-06-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! Quick little post tonight and why I might be "out of service" for just a bit...

But first, I want to share this nifty little product I picked up at Target over the weekend! As you know Sonia Kashuk has been releasing a bevy of new products for the summer. So far, I've been a fan of each one. This weekend I made an obligatory stop at Target and this pretty pink tube caught my eye:

Super Sheer Liquid Tint in Peony

The Super Sheet Liquid Tint is a creamy liquid blush. I know it says tint, but it's definitely more a liquid cream blush.

The formula has a nice consistency. Not too runny, not too thick. The color is beautiful, Peony is a nice pinky coral with a very very subtle golden shimmer. A gorgeous summer shade.

Above is a swatch, unblended. It looks rather bright and a little over the top, so I would say "less is more" is the mantra for this product.

Here is that same swatch blended out a little. You can see it's very workable, if you want it more bold or you want it sheered out for a more natural look.

I believe I paid about $8 for this, which isn't bad for the size and the fact that you don't need to use a lot. Also, along with Peony, there are two other shades available. Definitely check this out!!!

Okay, so I want to close this post by announcing that there might be a small drought of posts soon. I am saddened to say that after 10+ years of having a computer- I have NEVER had a virus on any PC. Well....I guess it had to happen sometime. Funny thing is I picked it up sometime on Saturday, and I wasn't even home for most of the day!! Such is life. What's happening is really bizarre. When I try to Google something, and I click on a link, it takes me to a totally different website, mostly another search site, taking me 3-4+ times to finally get to the page I want. I didn't think anything of it but then when I realized it was a problem, I searched and figured out it was a nasty virus :( Anyways, I've tried to remove it myself but even the "best" programs isn't getting rid of it. I might be taking it in to have it looked at on Monday, if I can get it in- so if it needs some work, I won't be posting for a bit.....but, I'll try to get one more out ;)

Review - Soap & Glory The Fab Pore

2009-06-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm am so excited to do this review (grab some coffee, it's a long one)!! This is the first product I've purchased and really tried out from the brand Soap & Glory, a super cute brand originally from the UK. But, lucky for us Americans, Target has spoiled us once more and has started to carry its products in stores (and online, too!!!).

Recently, a wave of newer products have hit the shelves, and I decided to try my hand (or, er, face) at this nifty little pot of skincare called The Fab Pore. Now, if you are not familiar with Soap & Glory at all- they are FABULOUS at play-on words. This is the company that came up with Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumper ;) So, "The Fab Pore" sounds mighty tame, but cute nonetheless. Oh, and if you are having trouble of where this products name got its inspiration from, let me help you:

...The Fab Four....heh...

Dig the kitsch packaging!!

I know what you're asking, what the hell does this do (other than look totally cute in the box)? Well, The Fab Pore is a lovely little mask/peel. It's supposed to suck up nasty things in your pores, and, eventually, make them less noticeable. It highlights ingredients like mushroom extract, salicylic acid (great for battling acne), kaolin clay (to sop up oil), and vitamins A & E. Put it all together and what do you get? The Fab Pore!

The tub weighs in at 1.7 oz. Seems small, but believe me, you don't need a lot. Putting it on my skin, it goes on pretty smooth, but not to overly thick. Again, you don't need a lot, a little spreads a long way. The box suggests you take a grape-sized amount for your face, but I think that may even be too much. I just dab my finger in the tub and use what I need (which might add up to the size of a grape). The scent is pleasant, not medicinal and not perfume-ish. It's just...fresh. Kind of minty too.

See those little green beads? I don't know what they are, exactly, but instructions say to rub the mask into the skin until the beads have disappeared. All you need to do is leave the mask on for 15 minutes. The box says you can also leave it on for 5 minutes, sort of like a "quickie" facial. The mask stays pretty "wet" when on the skin, as opposed to something like the Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask that dries and crumbles. I don't feel any effects when the mask is on, for instance the mask doesn't make my skin tingle or anything. It comes off pretty easily (I use warm water), and after a few minutes I apply my usual moisturizer.

It's only been a week since I've been using it, so I don't know I'm ready to give out fair results. Besides, with skin, you can't rush things. But what I can say is that my skin has been feeling very Ooh La La smooth! Texture has improved a bit, my skin looks a little brighter, and as far as pores go, I can see my cheeks look a bit smoother. My nose has seen little improvement, but, my pores there are rather beastly so I'm not going to ding points off for that or anything. I'll definitely have to give it some more time and report back.

So far, everything looks good! I love the packaging, the price is right ($12), it's readily available at Target, and I've seen some progress in a week. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to smooth out their pores. Definitely a go for gals with oily skin, and since the mask stays pretty moist, I think it could work for dry skin as well.

Oh, and have I mentioned the packaging? You have to love a company that has a good sense of humor:

Have you spotted Soap & Glory at your local Target? Have you tried something that you loved? Hated? Or, have your eye on something you want to try?

Some Things You Just Can't Get Rid Of...

2009-06-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

I admit, I'm kind of a pack rat. Cosmetics are no exception.

I was going through a box of old things. Most items were thrown away (way too old to keep!), some things were given away, and some things were to be sold at a yard sale. But, one thing I just couldn't get rid of...

Avon Eyeshadow Duo in Luxe Life

Wait....THIS is Avon??? When did this happen?? When did I buy this?? There was no way I was getting rid of this. From the packaging label, it says it's from 1999. I don't even know why I would buy something like this back then, I was barely a freshman in high school in 1999. Surprisingly, the shadows have held up quite nicely:

The gold shade is beautiful and sparkly, and the matte dark purple shade is so smooth and very very pigmented. So, to those who said that Avon shadows were never good? Look at these swatches and try to tell me that....

Tell me readers, is there something in your stash that you don't have the heart to let go of?

FOTD - Berry Nice

2009-06-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Another FOTD to share with you all today....I went to a 50th anniversary reception this afternoon for some long-time friends of the family and decided to keep it classic and simple with a little punch of color on the lips...

Face:
Boots Expert Shine Control Lotion (review on this soon!!!!!!)
Avon Magix Primer
Revlon Colorstay Active (buff)
MUFE Full Cover (#4 flesh)
Sally Hansen/Carmindy All Over Brightener (under eyes only)
Benefit Erase Paste (#1 - under eyes only)
Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (#1 light)

Eyes:
Wet n Wild Cream Shadow in Cafe Au Lait (as base)
Benefit Fawn Over Me (all over lid)
Mark Wink Wink (very slightly in crease)
Mark Whisper (highlight)
Sonia Kashuk Gel Liner in Black
Sonia Kashuk Eyue Definer in Plummy Bronze (lower lashline)
Wet n Wild brow pencil in Mink Brown
Maybelline Full 'n' Soft mascara

Lips:
L'Oreal Color Juice Stick in Berry Spritzer

Cheeks:
Mark Camero Glo

I decided to go simple on the eyes because #1- it was running late, #2, I was wearing a "bolder" lip (well, for me anyways), and I didn't want to "overdo" it. Anyways, I am very very VERY pleased with the Sonia Kashuk liner. It's very easy to work with, as you can see, I had very little trouble or mess getting the line I wanted. I don't like very harsh lines, so I always smudge my liner. I just very lightly smudged it here, just enough so that it still looks clean. And I know you can hardly see it (that's the intention), but I used the SK Plummy Bronze pencil just to give a teeny bit of color on my lower lashline, I hate going completely naked without lower liner.

I admit, I usually don't wander away from light pinks and such for my lip color, but I decided to throw on something a little more "bold" (For my standards anyway, haha. Seriously, the boldest color I wear is red and that's ONLY on Halloween!). I have a couple of other Color Juice Sticks and they are seriously amazing. This color is nothing short, it feels more like a lipgloss on my lips and leaves more of a beautiful berry tint, rather than a "lipstick-y" look. And the sparkle is so pretty! Not gritty at all. I had been on the hunt for a color exactly this after seeing a lipstick, same color/finish/tube design and everything, on a Japanese website. Of course it was a brand exclusive to those lands, and was so sure I wasn't going to find anything like it. That was of course, until, I picked this up during a sale and I'm convincing myself that it's the same exact shade (I'll try to dig up the photo of the mystery lipstick and compare it to this one, if anyone is interested).

I think I've rambled too much...and I think I'll have to wear these "bolder" colors more often, methinks...

NOTD: Hot Topic Unnamed Gray.

2009-06-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

I have this thing for gray nail polish.

To me, it's an unexpected color. Most people don't expect one to paint their nails gray. I totally dig it, it's just something different without it being a "HEY LOOK AT ME I'M WEARING NAIL POLISH!!!!!!!" shade.

I picked this up at the good ol' Hot Topic for a measly buck. Yes, a buck. For some reason this rang up at 98 cents, while the other shades on the display had tags on them for $2.99. Oh well, I didn't complain! I happily handed over my dollar and left with my little bag of gray goodness (and 2 cents back change).

I have to say this was a HUGE pain in the arse to apply. The formula is very very thick and heavy. The brush doesn't help much either, way too big and moppy. I, however, being the trooper that I am, applied this diligently and swiftly, just trying to get it over with. It was a messy scene (as you can tell from the picture), because the formula was so thick, it was pain to clean up too. I usually take a slanted art brush dipped in acetone to clean up the edges. But, with this polish, the color just spread everywhere on my skin (ps; I realize it's a very messy clean-up job! Again, it was terribly difficult to clean around the edges!).

However the bad points, I really like the shade. It's a dark gray with blue undertones that just seem to be appropriate with this unexpected string of June showers here in my area of California.........

Taupe Tuesday! - NYX Earthy

2009-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Don't think I forgot ;) Another installation of Taupe Tuesday!!

NYX Earthy

This is a recent addition to the collection, NYX Earthy is what I like to call a "dirty taupe." It has really nice pigmentation, and goes on smooth. The finish isn't shimmery, and it isn't matte, but more of a satin finish, quite nice for a crease shade or accent color, one of my new favorites!

NOTD: L.A. Girl Punk

2009-06-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

I think this may be my first NOTD? I wear polish pretty often, but always forget to take a photo of it before it's chipped and ready to come off. Well, I'm going to change that. I'm going to try to remember to feature my NOTD whenever I can :)

Here it is, my current NOTD: L.A. Girl in Punk

I picked this up during the last Cherry Culture sale, and, I admit, partially due to the names of this collection. Names such as Crowd Surfing, Electric Guitar, Backstage, Rockstar, Head Banging, and Live On Stage just SCREAMED to a music/concert junkie like me!! Every polish in this collection is choc-FULL of sparkle- so, if you aren't ready for your nails to bling, beware.

This is my first L.A. Girl polish, and I am quite impressed. At first, when I was applying the first coat, the color was kind of "thin" and sheer. The second coat was all I needed to create an opaque color.

What I think makes this shade so unique is that it changes colors. And not in a mood ring type of way, but depending on the angle you look at it, the color changes from blue to purple:

This was the best photo I could get to capture the blue/purple goodness, but I think it shows it off pretty true to life.

It's pretty fantastic! I also have another shade, Groupie (again, love the name!!), which is a dark sparkly purple. And I'm such a sucker for sparkly purples, this is probably my 4th one. I paid $4 for these on Cherry Culture, you can also find them directly on L.A. Girl's site here. Also, take a gander at those small accessories stores at the mall, I found one that carries the whole collection (As well as a lot of NYX stuff) for a little cheaper.

Of course, I can't end this post without a little music*, right? And how can I go without posting one of the first/original punk songs?

*you know this is all part of my plan to feature my favorite band in the whole wide world, the who ♥ , as much as i can on a beauty blog.

Benefit's Velvet Eyeshadow (+ other stuff).

2009-05-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

I've been a long (long long loooong) time Benefit fan, so I was thrilled when I saw the release of the new Velvet Eyeshadows. These are absolutely beautiful, so I treated myself to a couple of shades for my birthday.

Fawn Over Me
&
Where There's Smoke

Fawn Over Me.

Fawn Over Me is described on Benefit's site as a "cafe au lait" shade. I expected this to me much darker in person, but I'm still very pleased with the color. It's much more of a beige shade, perfect for a nice wash of light color on the lid.

Where There's Smoke

THIS is the money shade. Where There's Smoke is described as a "smokey pewter" and it's GORGEOUS. It's almost like the powder version of the Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner is Skinny Jeans, except Where There's Smoke has a bit more complexity to it.

Fawn Over Me, Where There's Smoke

The texture of these are so smooth and buttery. They have really nice pigmentation and blend and go on wonderful. I didn't experience any fallout working with these, and these last well all day long. These are only two of the 9 shades available, and they retail for $18 each. And may I add, it's definitely worth it.

Looking at the swatches I made on my arm, I thought that it reminded me of another shade, MAC's Sweet Sienna pigment.....

Left: Where There's Smoke
Right: Sweet Sienna pigment

I don't know. I see the similarities but at the same time they're nothing alike. Not sure. What do you think?

.................

As a briefly mentioned at the beginning of the entry, a few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday, I turned the "big" 25! I didn't make a big deal of it on here, all-in-all I didn't make a big deal of it. I had originally wanted to go out of town (a few places came to mind, Disneyland, Vegas, the coast), but time just didn't allow me to do that. Anyways, I just had a low-key at home. I celebrated with a HUGE potluck at work (my co-workers know how to throw a birthday potluck), tons of food, delicious home-made cake, and one of those Hallmark music cards that played "Brick House"!!! Later that night I had dinner at a wonderful mom-and-pop Italian restaurant at home. See, all I need are the simple things :)

Okay....I know I just said that I like the simple things...but for my birthday I did splurge a bit. I may have mentioned that I love all things Disney. Looooove. Love. Especially anything Snow White related. So, for my birthday decided to order the Snow White Poisoned Apple Necklace from Disney Couture:

I'm in looooooove!!! It's so much prettier in person than on the website. The price was right at $50, and plus the website where I ordered it from, Regencies.Com, was having a 10% sale at the time, so I saved a few bucks (ETA: the 10% sale is still going on, according to the site. Enter "spring" at checkout!). It's really great quality, and has a nice weight to it that I wasn't expecting. I wore it to work for the first time this week and everyone loved it, said it really went with my personality (since that faithful Halloween 3 years ago, I am still affectionately called "Snow White" by a few people). On top of being gorgeous, it's also a topic-starter.

Lastly, if you see some typos on the next few entries, that's because...well...I had a bit of an accident today. I accidentally smashed my finger in my car door *blushes*. Hey, we've all had one of those days, right? Of course it's my right hand (my bowling hand) and my 4th/ring finger (again, one of the bowling fingers!). I didn't break it, just pinched a boat-load of nerves therefore I'm in moderate pain right now. I also slapped on one of those finger guard/brace things, and it's kind of awkward! Haha, I can type, but a little slow and the guard is hitting keys I don't want it to! I'm sure I'm okay- just as long as I'm healed by bowling night (Thursday)!!

NEW Maybelline Stylish Smokes Quads - Pics + Swatches.

2009-05-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ready for this?

If you're a regular reader of The Pink Train Case, you know that I am a huge fan of the newly formulated Maybelline eyeshadow quads (examples here and here). On an emergency run to Wal Mart (that happens often- and I know, it's Wal Mart but it's the biggest store in my small town), I, as usual, made a run through the cosmetics and spotted a display for these new Maybelline quads for a collection called Stylish Smokes. I'm a total sucker for anything smokey, so I picked up the 4 new quads (in the display were4-5 re-packaged quads already in the permanent line).

Enough babble- time for pictures and swatches........

Top left: Natural Smokes
Top right: Emerald Smokes
Bottom left: Charcoal Smokes
Bottom right: Amethyst Smokes

Amethyst Smokes

Lid, Crease, Outer Corner, Brow Bone
The lid and crease shades are my absolute favorites. The lid is a pretty duo chrome bright purple that flashes blue- reminds me of a MAC shade? Anyone care to jar my memory? The outer corner shade is a really dark and pigmented sparkly black, the brow bone shade is a pretty pigmented frosty white. And, I wouldn't put that on my brow bone, yowzers!

Natural Smokes

Lid, Crease, Brow Bone, Outer Corner
Yes, this was the first quad I grabbed. I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the lid shade :( It looks positively beautiful in the pan, but not as pigmented when I swatched it. But, I'm so biased by the pretty sparkle I still say it's a pretty shade. The crease and outer corner shades are really nicely pigmented, these are my favorites. The brow bone/highlight shade is really subtle, the least shimmery of all the brow bone shades from the quads.

Charcoal Smokes

Lid, Crease, Outer Corner, Brow Bone
Looooooooove this quad!! The first two shades are beautiful and not as straight-forward grey as I thought they were going to be. The outer corner shade is the same sparkly black as in the Amethyst Smoke quad. The brow bone shade is a pretty silvery color.

Emerald Smokes

Lid, Crease, Outer Corner, Brow Bone
Okay, THIS is my favorite quad out of the whole collection!!!! If you're only going to buy one, buy this one. Each shade is absolutely beautiful and unique- I don't have any greens like these at all in my collection. The lid shade is an olivey-gold, not as pigmented as the rest but it's still a beautiful shade. The crease is a gorgeous, shimmery emerald- kind of reminds me of MAC Humid. The crease shade is an intense dark black-green, again, totally gorgeous. The brow bone shade looks white in the pan, but swatched is this shimmery yellow-gold. I tried to capture the different flashes as best as I could in the picture. Again, this is the quad to get, if you had to choose one.

Yet again, I am so impressed with these quads. There are a couple of bummers, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. I haven't seen these in drugstores yet, which is funny that I found them at Wal Mart, since they take forever to get the "new" items. I paid about $4.50 for each quad, but I'm sure when they do hit the drugstores, look out for those sales!!

Memoral Day Special From Cherry Culture.

2009-05-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

Y'all know I love Cherry Culture...
Y'all know I love it more when there's a sale!

Starting today, May 25 through Friday May 28, enjoy 20% off your order with code MD20.

Since I just placed an order and waiting on it to come in...I think I'll skip out this one...

A Taste Of Culture.

2009-05-25T01:36:00.000-07:00

The one thing I love about being part of the beauty blogging experience is, of course, reading other beauty blogs. That being said I am constantly fascinated with cosmetics and beauty from other countries. More specifically, Japan.

Japanese cosmetics, to me, just look so luxurious, even the so-called "drug store" brands look like they could be sold in Macy's. I haven't had much experience with Japanese brands (Fortunately, Bath & Body Works was, for a while, carrying Awake Cosmetics, and I have a few items from them). So, a couple of weeks ago when I ventured to LA to visit family, it didn't go without a trip to Northridge mall.

There, as I drove through the parking lot, I passed by a store that looked mighty interesting, Sugoi Life. Once I broke apart from the family (my mom and aunts were looking at shoes at Macy's- I love shoes but I can only take so much of them!) I walked back outside to investigate the store I spotted. Much to my surprise, Sugoi Life is a Japanese store!!!

I walked in with probably the biggest smile on my face. It's a nice-sized store with some fantastic items. Mostly toys and things, but they also had snacks, anime/manga, dvds, magazines, household items, a nice Hello Kitty display, and other fun nick-nacks. I was in heaven! I must have been there for about an hour just looking around. I was hoping to see more beauty items, but, they didn't have much. Some skincare and haircare, but as far as makeup- not much. But, don't think I left empty-handed!

Shiseido Water In Lip

Like I really need more lip balm...
I've been using Water In Lip all week and I generally give it a thumbs-up. It's not scented, has no color, no smell, and doesn't leave any sort of finish. Sounds boring, right?

No so! Though it doesn't have any bells or whistles, it does leve my lips wonderfully smooth and soft as it just sinks into my lips. It was about $7, rounded up. It doesn't replace my Crazy Rumors blam, but it was just a treat to buy and try out!!

I also picked up this...an eraser! I thought it was the cutest thing ever. They had a whole display of these erasers and had everything from food to animals (and...bowling pins. I picked up a little set of pins and a bowling ball for my step-dad!). Y, if you're reading this, I got one for you! :)

One of the things I am absolutely taken by are the magazines. These HUGE things put our American magazines to shame. They're heavy, they're colorful, they're awesome. There were only a few to select from, but one of the sales assistants directed me to this one, ViVi, telling me this was her favorite magazine.

The price for one of these babies is of course more than usual, I paid $13- but believe me, it's worth every penny! Here are a couple of scans I made to share:

This was the first thing I saw when I opened the magazine, a beautiful advert for Majolica Majorca.

Clear, step-by-step eye tutorials.

I can't get over the cuteness- awesome nail art tutorials!

Note: Those three scans took forever =p I just got a new scanner/printer/copier/fax combo and haven't quite figured out the settings. I think I got it down now...

Whew! Well, I have a ton of things, as usual, to review/photograph/swatch and share with you all. I'm waiting on a couple of orders, one from Cherry Culture and one from Sephora (should get them in, hopefully, on Tuesday). Picked up some more goodies from Target including a Sonia Kashuk cream blush, the other other skunk brush, and some awesome new skincare stuff from Boots!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day! - Remember, it's more than just a day off from work and sales, it's a day to remember those who risked and gave up their lives for our country in service. That being said, I love (and miss!) you Grandpa :)

Revlon Mineral Finishing Powder in Bright.

2009-05-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

No review....just some pretty pictures....

I admit, this was just too pretty to leave on the shelf at Rite Aid. Besides, it was on sale. Many have called Revlon's Mineral Finishing Powder as another drugstore answer to MAC's Mineralized Skinfinish Blushes. Now, I've never owned one from MAC but I do say this is a mighty nice product for Revlon.

To use this as a "finishing powder" is certainly your prerogative, but I certainly wouldn't do it. To have this labeled as a finishing powder (and when I say that, I mean as an all-over powder) is kind of misleading, as this does leave a shimmery finish.

It's beautiful, no doubt about that. Probably only the palest of the pale would actually get it to show some color, but for a "normally" fair/light gal like me, it's just a highlight with not a lot of color pay-off. To be honest, I don't know how often I'll use it...I have a small thing for highlighters...but I'll still hang on to it...

Taupe Tuesday! - Bare Escentuals Drama

2009-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

First, I have to get something off my chest.

I don't like Bare Escentuals.

...well, that may be a stretch, really. I don't hate all Bare Escentuals. Just the foundation. Anything that goes on the face, really. I do admit that I'm a big fan of the Buxom Lip Glosses and, now, the eyeshadow...

Today's Taupe Tuesday features a Bare Escentuals shadow, Drama, from their "glimmer" line. Glimmers are supposedly the most shimmery/glittery shadows from BE, and are best used "foiled" (IE: wet). I admit I own a few BE shadows already, and, honestly, I don't reach for them often. Maybe it's because of the different finishes, but the texture of this shadow is nothing like them. It's smooth, blends wonderfully, and leaves some awesome shimmer. Be aware though, you'll need a good, sticky base to get the best use out of this shade, if you don't use it wet (or, her, foiled).

Call it whatever you want, call it gorgeous, call it super-awesome-in-a-jar, but this is a beautiful, complex shade. It's brown. It's kinda purplely. It's kinda bronzey. It even kinda flahses blue. I don't care, I know I'm probably bending the rules when it comes to taupe but, to me, this had to be included in Taupe Tuesday.

To end this entry on a totally different note, did anyone catch the premier episode of Glee?? WOW!!! As a former (and still at heart) band geek- I was totally excited for this show as soon as I heard it. No, I was never in choir, but for me this is the closest thing I'm ever going to get to a show about marching band. Really. Anyways, I seriously couldn't keep the smile off my face during the whole hour- I fell in love with all the characters, sang along to all the songs, and have never been so attached to a show like this before- and it hasn't even started yet!! I don't know how I'm ever going to make it until the Fall for the season to start! Okay, enough with my fangirling......for now.....

New Sonia Kashuk Goodies!!!

2009-05-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well, color me surprised!!! I took a trip down to LA this weekend for a family affair, but of course, had to squeeze in a trip to the closest Target (and I did have to go for something, I forgot to pack my face wash!!).

Of course in my own typical fashion, I made a bee-line to the cosmetics. When I made my way to the Sonia Kashuk display, I was greeted with new products!!!

Some of the new goods:
Gel Liner, a loose mineral blush, and powder blush.

First, Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner in Ebony 03 ($8.99). I about lost my breath when I saw these!!! There were three shades available: Blue, Brown, and Black. I went with the safest choice and purchased Black.

The packaging is absolutely stunning!!! It comes housed in a silver cap with the logo on the top, and in beautiful frosty glass:

If you are familiar with Sonia Kashuk products, you might remember that her powder blushes used to come packaged in a square compact. It looks like those are a thing of the past now, and now come in a smaller round compact:

I picked up this up in the simply named Pink 14. I'm not too sure how many blushes there were before, but I'm pretty sure there are a few more to choose from and some new shades (almost picked up this pretty coral- darned).

I haven't tried it yet, obviously. But swatched on my hand it just looks like a natural pink with very little, yet natural, shimmer.

Next is Shimmering Loose Mineral Blush in Angelica 01 ($8.99).

The packaging is beautiful. It's a compact with a shiny metallic pink cover, when you open it up, there are these tiny sifters that release the blush, which is exactly what it looks like: a shimmery light pink. Haven't tried it on yet but the shimmer looks like it might be reserved for the nighttime. Oh, and if you're worrying about spillage, the compact is self-locking. Just one twist and the sifters lock shut, another twist and they open again.

There were also a couple of more purchases that I did not picture. I picked up a lip gloss (in Fairy. I don't think they're new, just repackaged), an eyeliner (in Plumed Bronze, not new) and another skunk brush :) Some other new products I debated on: new cream blushes (also in a new round compact), lip crayons (matte and glossy finish), and a "liquid tint" that might have been a liquid blush. Also, the header graphics on the display were changed, and pictured newly-packaged eyeshadow quads that I hope are released soon (the store did not have them)!!! It was all very exciting and I can't wait until these are widely released!

Review - Revlon Colorstay Mineral Mousse Foundation

2009-05-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

There's nothing more thrilling than trying out a new foundation...

...and having it work out for you!

Case in point: Revlon Colorstay Mineral Mousse Foundation. Can I say WOW? For me, this is fast becoming one of the best foundations I've used in a while. Of course, I say that all the time, but I really really really mean it this time. Wink ;)

Side-note: that marked up pink thing in the back?
That would be my very own pink train case...
and now you get an idea of where I got that crazy name for my blog!

The shade I use is the lightest shade available, Fair/Light. It is available in quite a few shades (6? 7? Anyone care to verify that?)

Don't let the swatch fool you. It's quite light. Blame it on my lack of finding good lighting.

The texture, as the name says, the formulation is light and definitely mousse-ey. In the spectrum of the Colorstay family: The Original Colorstay, Colorstay Active, and Mineral Mousse, this is the lightest in terms of feel and coverage.

I don't use the Original Colorstay very often (just for Halloween, really), but in comparison to Colorstay Active (which I use more), I couldn't say which one I like better. I love Active because it's so easy to slap on when I'm in a hurry. But I love the finish Mineral Mousse leaves.

Left: Mineral Mousse (Fair/Light)
Right: Colorstay Active (Buff)

Again, don't let the swatch fool you. There is a slight difference in the coloring, Buff is a bit pinker, but for some reason never shows up pink on my skin.

The one thing I love about this foundation is that it leaves a true matte finish. My other favorite matte-finish foundation, Vincent Longo Liquid Canvas Healthy Fluid (I know, quite a mouthful of a name), works quite well but can still manage to look a little dewy. I also found that this stuff settles very quickly. I found that out the hard way when I noticed one day that I had a small patch of not-very-well-blended foundation (hey, we've all had our days, right?) on my chin. I tried to blend it out with some powder- but I found that the smudge did not move. At all. When this stuff settles. It settles. So, it's best to work in small batches and small areas at a time on the face.

And while this is, of course, a matte-finish foundation, it could (and will) accentuate dry skin. For the most part, my skin is very oily- but I have a couple of dry patches (that small area of skin between my eyes, upper lip, chin). One day I forgot (eeep! I know!) to moisturize and those dry areas of skin were flake-city. Take note on that, please.

Here's a picture of me wearing it. Freshly applied. Note, this is after powder/blush/the whole 9 yards. I still needed to use my concealer (Make Up Forever Full Cover) to conceal those problem bits, but I still like that my skin shows through and it truly feels like I'm not wearing any foundation.

This was taken on a Saturday morning. I look loopy.

Pros:
-Feels light on the skin.
-Natural, Matte Finish.
-Evens skin tone.
-Good color match (for me, anyways).
-Available at Drugstores.
-Ideal for oily skin.

Cons:
-Price (It can vary between $12-14, depending where you go. I know it sounds heck of steep for a drugstore foundation, but I picked this up during a BOGO and grabbed a Colorstay pressed powder while I was at it- so look out for those sales for maximum savings!!!)
-Could be difficult to find a color match.
-DEFINITELY NOT FOR DRY SKIN!!! It's so important I needed to blold/cap that.
-Not for those that need heavy coverage.

This is a great summer-time foundation, if you don't want to abandon liquid foundation all together. The weather is definitely warming up here in Central California and so far it's standing up to the heat. We'll see how long this honeymoon lasts...

Your Call Is Imporatant To Us....

2009-05-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

......If you might have noticed, my posts, again, have been a bit on the sparse side. I know I really don't need to do a post like this, since it is my blog and all- but I figured I should give just a little explanation. You know, just to let you know I don't care or anything, because I do.

Anyways, it's just that (other) time of the year where things get a little crazy. Things at work are going crazy in preparation for our budget stuff (I don't have anything to do with it- but the panic seems to rub off on me, haha). It's just about 2 weeks away from finals week at school. And, I'm finishing up another class that is also really important (I know religion could be a touchy subject on a blog that has nothing to do with it- but I just made my Confirmation and I've been in classes since September, and we're winding down in the next week or so. It was a long road but I am grateful I went down it!) Plus- all the normal family hubub that just naturally happens :)

So, please stay tuned!! I'll post when I can get the chance and thank you again to all of you out there for reading!!

There's some method to my madness.

2009-05-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went on my normal drugstore run. Rite Aid. Walgreens. Big Lots (I know it's not particularly a drugstore- but they do carry plenty of drugstore items). Longs. The usual.

Over the past few entries I've mentioned that Longs Drugstores are being converted into CVS stores. For a while I was very excited to see that after a long period of whining and griping of the lack of CVS stores in my area. But, then I realized one day after going into a Longs store that I frequent across the street from my college, I noticed the huge volumes of yellow clerance tags. Awesome, right? Sure, I snagged up some great deals (like some HIP balms for dirt cheap) but I noticed something very integral to my daily routine was missing...

BERT'S BEES!!!!!!!!!!

More specifically, the Tomato Complexion Soap and the Tomato Toner. I've been using these products for a few years already. Sometimes I stray and try some new products, but I always come back home to these. The toner is especially my favorite. It's very gentle, doesn't dry my skin out, and gets every speck of dirt or makeup that may be left on my skin. Usually if I was running low on something, I would hop on over to one of the two Longs stores that I'm closest to and pick some up. But with the new CVS empire moving in, I noticed at my normal haunts that these items were nowhere to be seen, but other BB items still stocked the shelves.

It was clear.

I was on a mission.

No lie, I probably went to about half a dozen Longs stores in search of at least ONE bottle of toner or ONE box of soap to hold me over. No. Nothing. That was until Saturday when I went to the Longs store closest to the mall and made a bee line (no pun intended) to the Burt's Bees shelves. I swear I would have dropped to my knees and thanked the heavens!!! There were three of each product still on the shelf.

And I was just in time, too. There on each of the labels was a little tag saying DISC. Oh, that dreaded word: discontinued. One time I overheard an employee tell a lady (who was looking for something specific) that they were getting rid of a lot of things for this conversion. So, I did the only thing I could do and threw the three bottles and three boxes into my cart, and clean them out. Sure, it cost a pretty penny, and I had never spent that much at a drugstore before, but it was so well worth it.

After I finish up this stash, the only place I'll be able to purchase these (other than online) is at Whole Foods. I'm not looking forward to that, not that I don't like WF or anything- but it is kind of out of my way for me. And, chances are I'll probably end up buying more than Burt's Bees and leave with vegan chocolate chip cookies and delicious cheeses :)

Is there any one product that you would drive all over town for? What would you do (or have you done) if the store stopped carrying it?

Newsflash! The elusive skunk (brush) has come out of hiding!

2009-04-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

(Haha, sorry for my lame attempt at a funny title!)

Yesterday I stopped at Target and was shocked. I saw a very rare sight.

I had heard about this elusive creature.

I had seen pictures about this mythical beast.

There were a number of sightings...

Yet, it just wasn't indigenous to my area for some reason! I was sure that it was just a myth, a tall tale, whatever you want to call it. Either way, I never thought I would come across it......

The Sonia Kashuk Highlighting Brush

Okay....okay....it doesn't look like this.
But you would think with the limited availability of it, it should!

Here's the real thing ;)

I haven't tried it out yet, but, is it ever so soft!!! I don't have the MAC brush it's apparently compared to, but I do have the Posh skunk brush. It's about the same size (length-wise) but the Posh brush is definitely more denser. But, I'm still so excited that I was able to find this brush! I don't even know how long I've been reading about this brush, and for $10, it's a great value.

It was really meant to be...really. There was only ONE of these suckers in the display and there were no more to be found. Even more strange, there wasn't even a tag/sticker/spot for it- it was just hanging in a random brush spot. There was a TON of Sonia Kashuk products on sale as well- picked up a cream eyeshadow pencil/stick-thing in a gorgeous light silvery-taupe for $4!

Anyways. It's almost embarrassing how excited I was to find this brush! I snatched it up so fast and clutched it to my chest. I think my mom (who was with me) stepped back for a moment and denounced me as her daughter ;)

Enough of my shenanigans for one night...
...I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

I'm Feelin' Good - Sephora Haul.

2009-04-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhh!!! I feel so good to be back in the game!!! I'm finally getting back into the swing-of-things, I went back to work on Monday, went back to my class on Tuesday, and I have my voice back!! To celebrate, I did a little haulin' on Sephora (using the 15% off code, of course!).

First, I finally got my hands on Benefit's Coralista!

It's so gorgeous! More so when it's in your hands- I kept looking at this over and over at the Benefit counter and at Ulta, however it never seemed to make it's way home with me...

It leaves the most beautiful glow, I can't wait to try this one tomorrow!

I'm not a big fan of Bare Escentuals (okay, at all. I really don't care for them- with the exception of the Buxom glosses and a few shadows), but this was calling my name:

Glimmer in Drama.

It's a bad photo, but guess what? It's gorgeous taupey goodness!!!!!

How could I pass up this deal? I purchased Benefit's Girls Night In!!! (have to add in the !!!, since it's in the product title, haha). This is such a great deal, EVERYONE should take advantage!

It comes with Lady's Choice full-finish lipstick:

A "carmel pink" shade, it's a pretty pink neutral.

TWO!!!! Creaseless Cream shadow/liners in Birthday Suit and Skinny Jeans:

YUM. These things are gorgeous. And, as you can see from the finger imprint, I couldn't help but swatch before photos ;)

Not photographed seperately, but the set also comes with a brush (the Talent brush, it's perfect to use with the cream shadows) and a set of 3 magnets. I'm going to have the chicest fridge in town!!! And can you believe this set only cost $38??? I think my Sephora store had some sets still, but it's currently out of stock on the website. Hurry fast!! All Benefit fans need this!!

I also made a little dash-n-haul today at Longs (slowly being converted to CVS- the bags now say CVS on them). I only went in for a bottled water, but made a mad dash around the cosmetics. I came across another sight of yellow tags on the L'Oreal wall and saw even MORE clearance items than at the last store I was at!!! I picked up a couple of things:

Color Juice Stick in Island Punch and another HIP Jelly Balm in Succulent.

I snagged both for $2.25 each!!!! I'm in LOVE with Color Juice Sticks, like, really. I think this is my 5th one. They are absolutely amazing, methinks a review is up for those!!!

Well, that's all for tonight, folks. Any bloggerettes out there watching American Idol?? I can't believe I haven't talked about this season so far- remind me to do so ;) If you're watching along with me- what did you think of the dreaded Disco night? Without getting too into it, I really enjoyed Matt's performance of "She Works Hard For The Money" and Adam's take on "If I Can't Have You" - those two always impress me with their unique arrangements! I also have a weak spot for Matt- that boy is just too cute!! ;)

Mark/Avon Haul: Pics & Swatches.

2009-04-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I received some goodies, and they weren't from the Easter Bunny, but from my Aunt who always supplies me with awesome Avon & Mark stuff (so, it's like she was kind of an Easter Bunny? Haha).

First, a couple of new "hook ups." I ordered a new gloss called Lip Exotics and a highlighter called Get Bright. I don't believe these are out yet, but there are 5 new shades. This is going to be part of a new "Costa Rica" inspired collection (along with a new fragrance). This is in the shade Rush.

I've always been a fan of the hook up glosses, this is similar to the original Glow Baby, Glow lip gloss, maybe feels a little thicker. Oh, and these have a doe-foot applicator as well. The shade is a coralish-rose-red (yes, I'm making up my own colors) with a subtle shimmer. It's really pretty and will be perfect for the warmer weather.

Now, the Get Bright highlighter is pretty neat. When I think of highlighter I think of shimmer. Not the case here.

I ordered this in the lightest shade, Light. The formula is kind of thin, definitely more liquidy than a lotion-feel. When I swatched it (above) I thought, where's the shimmer?

It's there! It's subtle, but it's there :) This is kind of refreshing because some highlighters are just too much to use sometimes, and the shimmer (and sometimes glitter) can be too much for the daytime. I haven't used it all day yet, but I think this will work well for daytime/work. These are available now and retail for $6.

I also ordered some stuff from Avon. Looks like they repackaged their eyeshadows and might have reformulated as well. Anyways, I ordered this palette that looked like a bunch of great neutrals in Mocha Latte.

Yeow!!! I'm very pleased with this quad. The colors are smooth and silky and blend nicely. And, of course, they're neutrals, so what's not to love? I wore this on Tuesday when I went out for my post-surgery check-up (by the way, I'm fine! All the aches and pains I'm still experiencing are notmal. Annoying, but normal) and was so impressed. I took swatches, but I'll wait and post those for a full review.

Now, you know I'm absolutely in love with Avon's primer, Magix Face Perfector, so when I saw in my Aunt's books that they would be coming out with a TINTED version, I freaked out! So, this is the new Magix Tinted Face Perfector. It's a neat little product. Again, I'll save it for the full review but again I wore this out on Tuesday and I was in LOVE.

This is also available for purchase now and is currently being offered at an introductory price of $7.99.

Full reviews of each product will be up soon! :) Now I'm off to spend some quality time with a man named...HAMLET. I'm taking a Shakespeare class and since I've missed the past three classes, I need to get crackin' and finish reading the play. At least I have the help of Kenneth Branagh. We were watching his film version in class and was suggested to rent it while I was off. Bad thing, It was impossible to find!! Thank goodness I liked the film enough that I tracked it down at Barnes & Noble and decided to just buy it. It really is a gorgeous film, if it wasn't for that and the awesome cast I wouldn't have spent *gulp* $25 on it! Oh well, it's studying time!

Adding to the maddness: 15% off Sephora Code.

2009-04-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, hello. I'm sure this is old news already, but I'm sure that most of you are already aware of the 15% off code for Sephora that hit this morning Is this Sephora's idea of a Tax Day special? I thjink so!! If you haven't seen it, here it is (or if you have seen it, here it is again):

Also, I don't know if anyone else had noticed this. When you log in to your account on Sephora, check your main My Account page, check above the Beauty Insider (assuming your a member) header (right where it says how many points you have in your bank. Notice this? :

Fill out or update your Beauty Insider profile and you'll be rewarded with 50 points in May!!! I did it, I just hope I actually get those points ;)

Needless to say, I took advantade of the code. I ordered a few goodies that I've had my eye on and just totally lagged on purchasing. It's a good thing I waited, I saved almost $12!

Taupe Tuesdays! - Urban Decay Shakedown.

2009-04-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

Eeegads, sorry for another late-night Taupe Tuesday! My photo-editing program was going wonkers on me tonight, thus delaying this entry (and a couple of others).

Anyways, onto Taupe Tuesday..ish!

Today's shadow comes from Urban Decay (second time on TT, I believe). Shakedown is a part of the matte line of shadows. If you're looking for a mate taupe, this would be a winner in my book:

The texture of these are unbelievable. Matte shadows can be pretty tricky to work with in general. But these Urban Decay mattes are very silky, glide on smoothly and are easy to blend.

The shade itself, contrary to what is photographed above, is a neutral, brown taupe (unfortunately it photographed a little warmer than what it looks like in real life). I've used this on the lid for easy-going days, and most recently in the crease when I do a neutral eye for work (yes, even though that has been 3 weeks ago).

I highly recommend Urban Decay's matte shadows, this is only my first one but I plan on getting a few others in the future. They retail for $16 and can be found wherever Urban Decay is sold :)

Happy Easter!!!

2009-04-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to wish everyone out there in blog-land a wonderful Easter today, no matter how you spend it :) My family is invading my household- so that means lots of kids, lots of food, and of course lots of egg hunting! I don't know, we may even break out the karaoke machine or Guitar Hero! My family may be kind of nutty at times, but we sure know how to have a good time!

Have a great Easter, everyone!!

Cheer up, Kid!

2009-04-11T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm still alive...barely...I'm feeling much better but I can't seem to shake off this uncomfortable pain still in my throat, topped off by pain in my ears =/ I go back to my doctor next Tuesday for a check-up. So, I hope this is normal at least.

Enough of the Debbie Downer stuff. I do have some pleasant news, I did actually get out of the house for the first time this week! I ventured out with my mom to buy some Easter goodies for the kids in the family (candy, eggs, etc.) for our BBQ/Lunch on Sunday. I got tired quickly, but it was just nice to get some fresh air.

I treated myself to a small haul at Longs Drugs. I don't know if this is nation-wide, but apparently Longs is converting over to CVS. There are signs of the change for people who use the pharmacy, and there are hintings of CVS items, generic items like cotton balls and pads, things like that. It's funny, we don't even HAVE a CVS anywhere in my area, we're actually just getting our first one, opening soon in Fresno. So, to have all of the Longs turning into CVS is going to be kind of weird- I'm so used to Longs, it's really my drugstore of choice. Oh well, for so long I've complained that I've wanted a CVS in my area....and now we're gonna get them :)

Boy, I'm just going off the books, aren't I? I meant to say that I made a small haul, you know, to cheer me up a bit. First I noticed that there was a SLEW of L'Oreal on clearance for 75%. Yes, 75%. There was actually quite a bit. The Quick Stick foundation was about $3.25 (My mom ended up buying 3- since it's quite similar, almost dupeable, to Benefit's Play Stick foundation, which she uses currently, but is a whole lot cheaper). There was also some powders (only select shades), lip liners, eye liners, mascaras, nail polish, and HIP items for sale as well. I was going crazy!! It was clearance sensory overload!!

However, I remained cool.

From the HIP items (which was mostly lip items on sale), I came home with a couple of the Jelly Balms. These retail regularly around $8, but on sale were $2.25!

Delectable and Plush

The HIP Jelly Balms are the supposed dupes of MAC's Tendertones. While I've never owned a Tendertone and only seen them online (and maybe once in person), they do look pretty much alike. The jars are similar, the texture looks similar, and while I can't vouch for Tendertones, I can say that Jelly Balms are pretty nice.

I decided to try them out and cracked Plush open. I know I wasn't going anywhere, so I just wore it around the house. They went on very nicely, very smooth, and they weren't at all sticky. Plush looks pretty much invisible on my lips, but, I still enjoyed it for the formula and the glossy finish it leaves. More importantly, it moisturized my lips quite well and didn't have any wonky reactions.

As for the swatches, left is Plush and on the right is Delectable. Plush is a candy pink in the pot, and you can see a tint of pink on my arm, but as described above, looks invisible on my lips. Delectable, which looks like a bright red in the pot, actually left a nice pinky/redish tint on my lips! Go figure!

Next, I hit up the nail polishes. After the discount they came out to only $1.25! Not all of them were on sale, but a good 50% were. My mom ended up buying more than I did, but I finally walked away with a polish I've always had my eye on:

#580 Stoke Of Midnight

Excuse the above QND (quick 'n' dirty) swatch photo. Stroke of Midnight is a deep burgundy/red shade. I always thought it was a really dark purple, but was proven wrong when I finally purchased. I don't have any L'Oreal polishes, this will be my first one, so I'll have to see how these wear.

And, of course, I picked up another EcoTools set. This time I grabbed the 6-Piece set, which includes a blush brush, eye shader, eyeliner, lash/brow brush, and concealer brush (since we're on the topic, it bugs me how the brush holder is considered a "piece," it totally throws me off. So, yes the sixth piece is the actual brush roll).

You don't need to hear it again from me (or, for that matter, every other blogger who has these brushes), these are just good. The blush brush feels absolutely wonderful. And ever since I saw Nikki's post about the eyeliner brush, I was determined to buy it. It's very similar to MAC's 266 (which I have, and use a lot), so, really I just saved myself about $20 :)

All this for $11!! Seriously, if you haven't tried these out yet, you need to put this on your list for your next drugstore trip.

Half-Off Sale @ Crazy Rumors!!!!

2009-04-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

That's right!! You've seen me rave about these wonderful lip balms before, now try them out for yourself....for half-off!!!!!!!!!

Enter the code APRIL at checkout
and get HALF OFF your entire order!!!

Hurry, because this offer is only good until April 3rd (that's tomorrow!!) at midnight (EST)!!!!!! Go and check out Crazy Rumors now!!!!

Update!!

2009-04-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone!! This is going to be a quick update, since, um, I'm not "techinically" supposed to be up and around by myself ;)

As mentioned before, I had surgery on Monday to remove my tonsils. And, honestly, I'm kinda miserable. The surgery went A-OK and routine. It's so funny, really, the last thing I remember was being wheeled into the operating room and smelling...strawberries? Maybe it was the drugs taking over or maybe the juice they were pumping into me really did smell like strawberries? I don't know, but, before I knew it I was in recovery. Again, everything went fine, and I was out of the surgery center in a few hours and back at home.

The past few days have consisted of a lot of sleeping, a lot of medication, a lot of TV watching, a lot of iPod listening, and, more sleeping. I'm still swollen, I can't really talk to well, and I'm on a very bland liquidy/soft diet. Eugh. Needless to say I'm hurtin' for some pizza right now.

Anyways, I'm taking advantage of my mom running some errands right now and doing this post. I was supposed to be confined to the recliner to rest....but really, did she expect me to stay still for so long? Naaaaah! But really, I should get back to resting. And I apologize if somethings don't make sense because I am under the influence of liquid vidodin (that tastes like yummy green apple), so, sorry :D

I hope to be back in action in the next week or so. So, please stay tuned and I'll be back soon!! Thanks everyone for your support :)))

Sneak Peek: New Goodies from Mark!

2009-03-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

Who's ready for some new MARK stuff?!

(note: I don't know when these are coming out. These are only previews!)

Get In Line Waterproof Liquid Liner and
Lash Splash Waterproof Mascara ($5.50 each)
To be honest, I'm not a fan of Mark mascaras, but I love the liquid liner! It's got a nice, small brush that doesn't make a mess, and the formula is A+. I'm liking the look of Violetsplash....

Bronze Pro Bronzing Powder ($9) in Pro Glow and Pro Golden.
Never tried their current bronzing powder, but I've heard it's good. Now they have expanded with two new shades- and since I'm fair, I'm all over the Pro Glow powder!

Get A Tint Tinted Moisturizer ($8)
I don't know how this will compare (or replace?) the already existing C-Thru-U tint. They both have SPF 15, but maybe Get A Tint will be a more heavier coverage? I don't know, I look forward to testing it out, even though I'm a huge fan of C-Thru-U.

Make It Go Away - Makeup Remover Wipes ($8)
Cheat Sheet - Blotting Papers ($5)
Yay! I'm all about remover wipes when I travel, and since Summer is the time for traveling, these look very promising, as they can also be used to safely remove eye makeup. I'm even excited fo the blotting papers- and I don't even use them (I'm in the Starbuck's napkins camp when it comes to blotting)!!!

Chic Duet Gloss ($6)
This might be interesting, these new glosses have 2 tubes- one inner tube has a color gloss, while the outer tube has clear gloss. Gimmicky or useful? The colors look great for spring/summer, this is definitely one I'll be trying out.