A touch of Pinup

Hello Lovelies!

 

Here's my makeup of the day.

NYX Cosmetics Studio Perfect Primer in Lavender
NYX Cosmetics Stay Matte but not Flat Foundation in Ivory
NYX Eye Shadow Base in White
Urban Decay Concealer Pencil in CIA
NYX Cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
Coastal Scents Mirage Palette
Coastal Scents Liquid Eyeliner in Jet
E.L.F Matte Lip Color in Rich Red
Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette
E.L.F Studio Blush in Mellow Mauve
E.L.F Makeup Mist and Set

Earrings and Headband are from Claire's

April Ipsy Bag Review

Hello Lovelies!

This month's Ipsy theme is called "Pretty in Pink", I am not sure exactly why they decided to go with pink this month I would have much preferred a more spring inspired theme. Overall the products were okay, but this month was not as impressive as other months have been, although we did receive a couple full size products. I would really like to see some new brands in the near future, possibly some fragrance, and more hair products.

I was really excited when Ipsy finally gave us a printed bag last month, but it looks like they are back to the boring old plain bags, at least for this month. I absolutely hate the concept of a white makeup bag, if I actually used this I would have to wash it so often because I would always be leaving little stains, it's inevitable. 

This peachy pink shade of polish is called Love at First Byte, and I wasn't impressed at all. I decided I wanted to create a look using this polish but as I applied it I realized it was very sheer, it took me FIVE coats to really achieve a color payoff. I did read many comments on the Ipsy website of people saying it quickly peeled, but mine has lasted a week so far with minimal chipping, below is the nail look I am wearing right now using the polish and Kiss nail stickers.

I absolutely adore Be a... Bombshell Cosmetics , but this blush in a shade called Sweet Cheeks is definitely too heavy and bright for my pale skin. I think it would look lovely on someone with darker skin though, and it does blend out quite well. 

Another product from Big Sexy Hair, although I do love the products they offer I wish we would get more hair products from various companies. I naturally have volume to my hair, but occasionally I need a little help creating a good pompadour "poof", especially when my hair is freshly washed and this volumizing powder is the best I have came across. I have tried the volumizing powder from Got2B, but that makes my hair feel sticky and hard to style, this powder from Big Sexy Hair is easy to style and works well.

In the past couple months I have been stocking up on mineral eye shadows, I especially love the shadows from an Etsy shop called RoseMarie Shadows, check out my review on them here. I love this shimmery pink shade by Mica Beauty called Earth. Some people may be thrown off by the fact that it's pink, but it is very subtle.




This month I chose to skip my Beauty Army, because they weren't offering anything new for me to choose, so hopefully I will have a Beauty Army Box to show you next month.

Spring Bling: Nail look using shades of blue, gold, and 3D accents!

Hello Lovelies!

Here is a little spring inspired nail look I created using Sinful Colors All About You (the gold shade) and Sweet Nothing (the blue shade),3d accents and stickers from Kiss, and some gems from a craft store. 

How to:

1. Apply two coats of All About You on nails, let fully dry.

2.Apply a small strip of Sweet Nothing on Middle Nail, fully dry.

3.Apply a thin coat of Top Coat, I use Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat.

4.Apply stickers and top the nails you apply them to with another thin coat of top coat.

5.Apply gems with nail glue included in the 3D Charms nail kit using tweezers. I applied them randomly at the base of my thumb nail, and in a patterned strip on top of the streak of Sweet Nothing.

6.Let the glue fully dry then apply a thin coat of top coat over the gems, make sure it's as smoothly applied as possible so you don't have lumps around the gems.

7. Let them fully dry and you have a fun look for spring.

Amazingly enough I was able to get a full week out of this look before gems began to fall off and the paint started to slightly chip.  

Ulta Haul

Hello Lovelies!

I recently decided to order a couple items from Ulta and just had to share. 

As you can see from this picture there are a couple products I featured in my NYX Cosmetics Haul even though I purchased them from +ULTA Beauty.

To keep my hair a lovely shade of red I have to typically get it touched up every 4-6 weeks depending on how many washes I do and what products I use, because I have to dye so often I try products such as these to help keep my hair healthy. I absolutely love the quality of  the products from Macadamia Hair, but the products are quite expensive so I have been searching for other products that work well to protect, strengthen, and mend my hair. I have used the Hydrating Macadamia Oil twice in the past week and my hair already feels softer, looks shinier, and appears less frizzy.  I also tested the Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil once this week and I am loving the results so far. 

I love to purchase little kits such as this one made by Smashbox that includes some of the best products they offer. I love purchasing these mini's not only because it's cheaper and I get to try products I wouldn't normally buy in deluxe size, but they also work great for makeup bags and travel. I absolutely love the lid primer, it matches perfectly to my skin tone and it helps prolong wear of shadows. I also love the lip enhancing gloss, I like to put just a little bit on top of my nude lipstick. The only product I am not completely in love with is the limitless eye liner, I am not a fan, it's not pigmented enough for me and it doesn't apply smoothly. 

I absolutely love a good pair of fake lashes and both of these pairs are fabulous, and the lash glue included worked quite well. 

SAMPLES!!  I have not tested any of these products before these samples, and my favorite sample of the three was the Smashbox BB Cream. I typically like bareMinerals products but this face wash, moisturizer duo made my skin super greasy and I didn't find the scent pleasant at all. The Loreal BB Cream works decently, but it's not my favorite. 

NYX Cosmetics Haul and Swatches

Hello Lovelies!

So, it's finally spring! Every spring/summer I feel inspired to use more color in my makeup on a daily basis and I ultimately end up purchasing some new items to add to my collection, this time around I purchased some items from Nyx Cosmetics and I also had a little online Ulta shopping spree. (That will be my next post.) So, here we go with the new items........

So I absolutely am in love with my selection of lip products I chose, +NYX Cosmetics offers a wonderful selection of shades and since I already have tons of reds I wanted to add some pinks to my collection. I also was in need of a lovely red lip liner, and a reddish gloss. So far my favorites are the Jumbo Lip Pencil, and the two lipsticks I chose, they are the perfect spring/summer shade. 

 The Nyx Butter Glosses are a wonderful non-sticky, pleasantly scented gloss that moisturizes. Nyx only offers a small selection of shades, but the shades they do offer are spectacular. I love Cherry Pie for summer time, and it works great for on-the-go makeup.

I absolutely love Nyx Jumbo Pencils and so far this color is my ultimate favorite, probably my favorite pink of all time, and it provides a wonderful bold lip. These pencils are highly pigmented, long-lasting, moisturizing and I want one in every shade. 

Shiva is a blue-toned fuchsia that has a hint of shimmer. Just like all of the other lip products it works wonders, and is a beautiful shade. 

I was definitely in need of a good red lip liner considering red lips are part of my signature look, and this one is my new favorite.

 This was kind of an impulse buy mostly because I was simply curious, this is the shade called Romantic Love and it provides an extremely subtle shade of reddish pink. I like to grab this gloss when I am in a hurry and I want to have a little color on my lips but don't have much time for application. (It's non-sticky, and surprisingly long lasting.)

 Lately I have been more interested in trying different fake lashes even though I honestly have a hell of a time applying them, but they definitely can completely change/boost your look. So far I have wore these once and  was complimented numerous times, and the lash glue worked quite well.

 I have purchased NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencil in the shade of milk numerous times. I love to use it as a highlighter underneath my brow, on my waterline, and it also works well as a base for shadows. The eye pencils are long-lasting, highly pigmented, and it has multiple uses.

 I am addicted to these kind of eye liners, I have tested numerous ones and this one is pretty kick ass if you are looking for very fine lines.

 I love these pearl shadows, this shade is called White Pearl. These are highly pigmented, cheap, and a little goes a long way.

 I have been looking for a good cheaper foundation in the right shade and I think I have found it, this offers wonderful coverage, but doesn't appear cakey at all. I love to top this with a little powder for the perfect matte appearance.

I have also been searching for a good cheap primer that works well for taking photographs and so far I am not sure this makes much of a difference compared to other primers, but it does work well to even skin tone.

 I love Nyx Cosmetics! 

RoseMarie Shadows Review, and Swatches.

Hello Lovelies!

I recently stumbled upon a lovely Etsy shop called RoseMarie Shadows  and instantly fell in love with the selection of mineral eye shadows offered and I just had to order me some.

Now, normally I am a little iffy about ordering anything from Etsy, I have heard a couple horror stories, but the woman behind this specific shop was wonderful and offered GREAT customer service to me and I hoping to get her a little more of a following with this post because it's definitely deserved.

The shadows came in this adorable little bag with information card attached.

One of the amazing things about this little shop is that they offer a selection of sample packages, each package contains a different amount of samples, but either way you get to choose which shades you would like to sample. I decided to go with the smallest sample package, simply because this was my first time ordering from RoseMarie Shadows and I already have quite the collection of makeup, but after testing the shadows I must say that I will definitely be ordering more in the future.

When I ordered the owner of the shop happened to be a little ill so she kindly sent me a message  thanking me for my order and informing me that she was sick and she didn't want to be near the makeup to prevent contamination, so she delayed the order a little bit and included a couple extra samples. I definitely appreciate her honesty, I would much rather her work on getting better then rushing an order with the chance of contamination. So, instead of receiving just five samples I ended up with eight, and I LOVE them. Every shade looks AMAZING, especially with an eye primer/base, and they blend wonderfully. 

The shades I personally chose were Oink, Snowflake, Vampire, Roo, and Onyx. 

Here's a little look I created using Oink and a bit of Snowflake.

A look I created using Vino on upper lid, snowflake as a highlight, and purple pirate under my lower lashes.