Thursday, July 31, 2014

Flormar Color Madness Fusion Baked Eye Shadow in Missed in Heaven


While in Turkey I made sure to pick up some European exclusive makeup items! First up for swatching is a new item! This is Flormar's fusion baked eye shadow in the shade Missed in Heaven from the 2014 Color Madness collection.


Once I saw that pink I knew I had to have it! My mom even bought one.


As you can see it is primarily a shimmery deep pink with black and light pink swirled within


Here is a swatch of the shadow after running my brush over the entire product.  As you can see over NYX Milk the color actually changes from a mid toned pink to a dark purple! Over Urban Decay's Primer Potion it remains the same color but just sticks a bit better.


On the left here is a swatch of just the light pink and also just the black.  I used all three of these possible colors to create an eye shadow look using this shadow!


On my lid is the main color, in my crease is just the black, and for the high light I used the light pink part. On my lips is BareMinerals in Get Ready.

Overall I really like this color.  It is versatile and with a single eye shadow I can create an entire eye look which makes it ideal for travel! 

Where to buy: www.Flormar.com
Price: 19,50 TL (about $9.75)

<3__)~


Tuesday, July 29, 2014

July 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag Review

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass Lip and Cheek Stain in Cherry


Even though this doesn't stay as long as I'd like it goes on a lot nicer than The Balm stain I have and for me that's pretty important.  It also smells delicious, just like cherries!! I am quite pleased with this product and I even unexpectedly like how it look on my cheeks.  While I do not think I would rebuy it because of the price I will definitely be using this often!

Where to buy: Elizabethmott.com
Price: $23


Model's Own Nail Polish in Red Sea


I was super excited about this nail polish but unfortunately it did not meet all my expectations.  The good: it is a very pretty orangish, reddish, pinkish color and the flecks of holographicness add an interesting texture.  Also even though it is a wash it can be built up to full opacity in about 3 coats. The bad: it doesn't last very long at all and chips within a day. The little holographic bits like to not lay flat and poke up slightly and catch on random things and get ripped off. I've found that I think I like this nail polish best used as a wash over another color.  This way the crappy staying power is balanced out with another nail polish with a good staying time.  

Where to buy: modelsownit.com
Price: $6.70


BareMinerals 5 in 1 BB Cream in Divine Wine


So this was a product I was a bit excited for until I realized what color it was.  I seriously wish I'd have gotten the more nude one instead of this dark brown.  Its so dark I just don't see myself ever wearing it. Here it is swatched full opacity and then again blended out.


I decided to give it a try anyway and threw on Revolt and Jilted from the Electric palette. The top eye is just the bb cream blended out.  I think it makes my eyes look muddy and tired..  I usually prefer grays and blacks over browns. The eye shadow applied over it well and didn't crease for the night that I wore it.  However once again it gives it an overall brown feel which just isn't my style.  Overall this is a really great product it just unfortunately is not in a shade that I can work with. I would love to own this in the pink shade if the price wasn't so high.  This will be going to one of my friends for sure.

Where to buy: bareescentuals.com, Ulta, Sephora
Price: $18 for .1fl oz ($5.40 for .03 fl oz)


Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Spot Treatment


I rather like this product.  The sample size is nice and small  so its great for travel and the doe foot applicator makes it easy to apply to specific spots.  The smell is pretty strong but as long as it works that doesn't bother me too much.  My favorite part? See that pimple on its way out? I just put the product on it a few seconds ago and the shininess is already gone! This means I can easily wear it under makeup. :)

Where to buy: clearcliniclabs.com
Price: $35 for 7.5 ml ($9.33 for 2 ml)

Pur-lisse Protect Moisturizer


I am super pleased with this product.  I've been using it every morning since Ive gotten it and my face has felt nice and moisturized. Plus I haven't had some sort of crazy bad reaction too it which is always nice.  I also love the high spf and the anti aging benefits.  The only thing I don't love about this product is that the flowery smell it has is perhaps a bit too strong. I could see myself buying this in the future.

Where to buy: shop.purlisse.com
Price: $50 for 1.7 oz ($16.17 for .5 oz)

Overall I'm happy with this bag.  It had some winners, some duds, and some just so-so's.  The total price of this bag was....whoa I'm adding in at $60! Usually they are about $40 but the $23 lip tint really pushed this one over the edge.
Also I redeemed my Ipsy points and will be getting a BareMinerals Lipstick in my next bag!! Yay!!
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Sunday, July 27, 2014

NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Auburn/Red


I recently started caring about my eyebrows and began filling them in using a brow pencil I got in an Ipsy bag by Chella. It worked great until it was almost gone and I also went and dyed my hair red. Therefore I set out to find a reddish brown eyebrow kit of some sort. Since NYX is one of my favorite brands it shouldn't be too surprising that I picked up.....


Yay! It comes with wax, a light brown, a reddish brown, and a mini brush and spoolie.  So cute! Now I am by no means a pro at doing eye brows.  My method might even be totally weird and wrong but its how I do it so I figured I'd share my process!


First I dip my finger in the wax and spread it over my brow to make all the hairs go in the correct direction.


Next I dip the mini brush in the light brown and kind of slowly create a defined squarish edge on my inner brow.  Luckily the mini brush is the same height as my preferred brow thickness so I just hold it vertical and fill in.


Next I dip it in the reddish brown and fill in my brows holding the mini brush horizontally  I try not to fill in too thick and I don't really do much defining here.  I just darken in the middle and let me natural brows create the edge.


Finally I take the mini spoolie and comb through my brows to blend out the powder!


And yay this is the finished product! This stuff holds up pretty well.  sometimes I will do my eye brows before bed and then wake up and go to work the next morning with perfect brows.

Overall I love this product and am really glad I picked it up!

Where to buy: Ulta, drugstore, nyxcosmetics.com
Price: $6.00

<3__)~

Monday, July 21, 2014

A Break from Makeup: Strawberry White Zinfandel Cupcakes

I found a recipe for strawberry champagne cupcakes online through a friend and decided that it was necessary to make them using White Zinfandel instead.  My friend and I recently took on the challenge! The following baking pictorial follows this recipe (mostly). 


So before we begin here is what the final product looked like! Yummy! :D


So we began by mixing the dry ingredients together.  We didn't have cake flour so we made our own by mixing normal unbleached flour and corn starch.  In a separate container we combined the wet ingredients including the Sutter Home White Zin and (almost) pureed strawberries.  We didn't have quite enough strawberries to meet the recipes requirements but the cupcakes still tasted of strawberry.


Then we were supposed to add red food coloring but of course we had none. Instead we thought it would be awesome to add blue instead in the hope that it would make purple.......it didn't. It looked like grey nastiness but luckily this didn't show through in the baked cupcakes, haha.


Putting the batter into the cupcake tins.  It was much thicker than we were used to working with.


While the cupcakes baked we simmered a cup of white zin down to two tablespoons in preparation to make the icing.

Once the butter cream icing was properly mixed we added the wine to the icing and it made a pretty light pink and AMAZINGLY delicious mixture.


Cupcakes are out of the oven and aren't grey! YAY!


Here is a final shot of our cupcakes after everything cooled and the icing was applied.  Would I do this again? Sort of.  The cake itself was decent but the icing is really where its at.  I want to put white zinfandel icing on every cupcake I ever make for the rest of forever. So. Good. I definitely recommend grabbing your favorite semi sweet wine and using it to make some awesome cupcakes!!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Swatches in Zurich, Antwerp, San Paulo, and Prague

I'm going to start by saying I FREAKING LOVE NYX SOFT MATTE LIP CREAMS. So anyway I've owned Antwerp and San Paulo for quite some time and recently picked up Zurich and Prague while NYX was 40% off at Ulta.  


I apologize for the weirdness of the swatches in this picture....uploading them to blogger seemed to up the contrast or something, they do not look like this in Photoshop....Anyway, why do I love NYX matte lip creams? Well its because they're matte first of all and I love me some matte! Also I feel like they last a decent time for their price.  I usually get 6 hours of wear if I do not eat or drink much and 4 hours if I do.



Before we begin I wanted to show off my super amazing Carl Sagan tank top <3

NYX soft matte lip cream zurich

First up is Zurich! I've been wearing this one to work fairly frequently since I bought it.  It is a very nice natural pinky nude that is thankfully flattering on me!

NYX soft matte lip cream antwerp

Next is Antwerp.  This is a light corally pink.  I tend to wear this when I wear dark blue because it just looks awesome.  Otherwise I tend to have a hard time pulling this color off.

NYX soft matte lip cream san paulo

San Paulo is a lip color I reach for a lot.  Its a deep reddish pink that goes with almost anything.  A super easy bold lip for any occasion!

NYX soft matte lip cream prague

Prague is a deep fuchsia and I have been wearing this every chance I get since picking it up. Its such a beautiful color and I think it works very well with my cool skin tone.

Which is your favorite matte lip cream?

Where to buy: Target, Ulta, Drugstores, nyxcosmetics.com
Price: $6

<3__)~




Thursday, July 17, 2014

Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat


After buying some Flormar matte nail polishes in Istanbul I knew I needed one of these matte top coats I've been hearing about. My friend said she had heard great things about Sally Hansen's so I picked it up at Target! 


Overall...I LOVE IT.  I think my nails are going to be matte for quite some time....


Sorry for the blurriness and unclean nails, but the focus here is the finish :P
I have on Zoya's Noot tipped with OPI's Respect the World.


I thought this was a cool way to show both hands at once. Left is with the matte top coat and right is just the nail polish.

Definitely worth the price!!

Where to buy: Target, Ulta, sallyhansen.com

Price: $5.99

<3__)~



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Cynthia Rowley Lip Stain in Tulip

I recently canceled my Birchbox subscription because for the last few months I haven't been getting anything really exciting.  There are only so many hair treatments, moisturizers, and exfoliators I can get until I become fed up. Before canceling however I made sure to use the points I had saved up!  I had exactly $20 worth so I browsed the store to find something to get for free because who doesn't love free??? Anyway, I decided on Cynthia Rowley's Lip Stain in Tulip.


Overall I like it.  I would never pay full price for it simply because the color is pretty average and the sheerness really isn't my thing but as a free gift its pretty awesome!  It wears for a while and leaves behind a nice pleasant stain.  It looks to be a super awesome purpley color in the tube but applies sheerly so it looks more like a natural fuchsia color.

Where to buy: Birchbox.com, cynthiarowley.com
Price: $20

<3__)~

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Ipsy Glam Room July 2014

Now that Glam Rooms are live and I should be getting my bag very very soon I thought I'd do a short post to go over the products I will be getting and to share my initial opinions.

1. BareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15

Well that's quite the mouthful...

Ipsy says: "Meet the next generation in eyeshadow: creamy, long-wearing color meets exceptional skincare benefits and broad spectrum SPF protection"

I wish I could be a bit more excited about this....but its only available in nudes....ugh.  I suppose this could potentially be a nice eye shadow base for days when I'm spending a lot of time in the sun but otherwise I'm not sure when I'd use this.

2. Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Clear Spot Treatment

Oooh I think this is my first acne treatment I've ever gotten through Ipsy!  
Ipsy says: "An on-the-go clear spot treatment specially formulated with menthol, glycolic and salicylic acids. Apply this potent spot treatment to quickly clear spots in record time. Thanks to its clear formulation, you can use Vanished during the day, under and over makeup. Its compact bottle makes it easy to take with you wherever you go."

I am pretty pumped for this.  I have two annoying pimples right now that are just refusing to go away.  Maybe this will be my salvation!

3. Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass

Another red tint...

Ipsy says: "All day color that will kick some SASS! That’s right, we said it. Tints & Sass is the only head turning lip and cheek stain that gives you fail proof color every time! The non-drying formula lasts all day, even after a power lunch and yoga session, and was created to accommodate every second of a gal's busy schedule. "

Well I wasn't too excited about this because I received a sample of The Balm's Stainiac a little while ago and wasn't too impressed with the uneven and difficult application.  The claim that it will last through lunch and yoga is impressive so who knows maybe I'll end up loving this!

4. Pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer spf 30

Not sure what's up  with the name of this product but yay spf!!

Ipsy says: "Stay protected with pure flower power. Pur~lisse's unique peptide complex, Lotus Lupine 5, and Hydra-Shield Complex, offers superior full-spectrum sun protection in a light weight nourishing moisturizer. Skin is pampered and protected against premature aging caused by the day's rays."

I have a ton of moisturizer samples but not any that are anti aging and contain spf! I'm pretty stoked about this especially for summer time.  I can't wait to put this on my face every morning!

5. Models Own Nail Polish in Red Sea

Yeah! I love me some nail polish!
Ipsy says: "The Models Own SPLASH collection dives straight into summer. Revitalize your entire polish collection; wear alone for a wash effect, or over your favorite color polish for a glistening top coat. Inspired by the sea and distant shores, this pretty collection will have you dreaming of summer haze and tropical sun. "

I haven't gotten a nail polish in an Ipsy bag in a little while so I'm quite pleased to see this here. I am so freaking glad its not a gross brownish nude or a yellow/orange color. I'm very excited to try this sparkly reddish pink!.

Overall I'm excited for this bag. It has the potential to be amazing and I can't wait to try all these things! Stay tuned for my full review with swatches of all these products!

Are you happy with your glam room this month? 
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Friday, July 11, 2014

Urban Decay Electric Palette Plays Well With Naked 3

I've been using my new electric palette like crazy but recently realized that I havn't touched my Naked 3 in quite some time.  In order to come to a conclusion I decided to use them both at once! The results were amazing! 


From the Electric palette I put Urban in my crease and Freak on my lower lash line.  From the Naked 3 palette I put Buzz on my lid, Darksider in the outer corner, and Strange in the inner corner. I think it created a very exciting but yet subdued look. On my lips is Speak your Mind by Bare Minerals.

I will definitely be using these two together more often in the future!

<3__)~