NYX Simply Vamp Lipstick in Temptress

I am such a sucker for purple lipsticks so of course I had to pick up the purple from NYX's simply vamp collection.  I was a bit wary because of so many people complaining about its patchiness. However I was pleasantly surprised.

The first time I put it on it was a bit hard to work with.  Then later after I actually moisturized and exfoliated my lips it went on perfectly fine.  So if your lips are crap this will be very patchy, but if you try to take care of them you won't have an issue with this lipstick. As for the color, it is super pretty, it applies nicer than Revlon's Shameless but it does not last as long.  It was off after a meal but sometimes I think I'd prefer a lipstick that wears off quickly but looks nice while it lasts. On the skin it swatches as a very true dark purple but once put on my lips it took on a slightly more plum color.  This bummed me out a little but overall I'm a fan of this lipstick and will definitely be using it once the temperature drops.

Where to buy: Ulta, nyxcosmetics.com, drugstores

Price: $6.50

<3__)~

Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions Makeup

This past Friday I attended Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions in Philadelphia!  I had a great time even though I wish they would have played more songs from Gen I and II. Anyway I decided to wear my Pikachu Link Pokemon shirt to the event and used the Electric Palette to do a look to match!

To create this look I patted Thrash all over my lid, then I put Urban in my crease.  Next I lined my lower lashline with Freak and then patted a bit of Revolt on top of Thrash for extra sparkle.  I finished with a wing and mascara.  I really liked this look and absolutely love doing super colorful looks with this palette. <3

Here is the shirt in all its epic glory.  On my lips is an Ulta lip liner in Punch with Be a Bombshell lipstick crayon in Hot Damn over top.  

How To Quickly Fix A Broken Eye Shadow.

Whether you've crumbled a shadow during depotting or dropped your favorite palette on the floor, eye shadows break, its a sad fact of life. Well a few days ago I droppd my precious electric palette like an idiot and of course one of my favorite shadows cracked.  Why couldn't it have been Thrash....why Slowburn!? Anyway because the break wasn't too bad, the top layer just cracked off with some crumblies around the outside I knew the fix would be pretty easy. I used this as an opportunity to show you how I fix my broken shadows.

Step 1 

Break your eye shadow,  Not really but you it kind of needs to happen for this tutorial to be relevant. 

Step 2

 put a bit of 91% alcohol on the shadow, enough to get it wet but not too much so that its drowning.

Step 3

 Grab your favorite paper towel and quarter and push down on that sucker! I was afraid to push too hard because this palette is my baby but I was able to put a good amount of pressure on it.  

Step 4

 Keep doing this until no more pigment appears on the paper towel.  For me this happened on the 3rd press. If you put more alcohol on which you may need for a more serious break it will probably take more.

Step 5 

Let it dry and you're done! It may not look as pretty but no more crumblies are falling everywhere and at least for high quality shadows the pigment stays just as intense.  I have experienced that low quality shadows lose almost all ability to produce pigment.  No idea why but as long as the shadow isn't the lowest quality possible (like those super cheap Ulta shadows you get in those giant makeup boxes) you should be fine.

Hope this helps!

<3__)~

NCLA Los Angeles Accent Nail Wraps in House Of Hollywood Nº 1

Quite a few months ago I got these nail stickers in a beauty subscription box.  I don't remember which one it was from because we have since canceled them all except for Ipsy. If I had to guess I would say Birchbox.

Anyway I had never used nail stickers before and decided to document my first attempt for all of you.

The stickers I will be reviewing today are NCLA Los Angeles Accent Nail Wraps in purple, gold, and pink patterns.

It comes with twelve stickers.  I think there are 2 for each finger except for the ring finger, which gets four.  I think.  Its hard to tell the size difference of the middle ones.  Honestly I'm not thrilled with the look of these, they just aren't my style.  I don't wear gold anything so I probably won't wear these very often. My favorite is the mostly purple and pink pattern so I will be saving those for a special occasion.  The first thing my boyfriend said when I showed him my accent nail was "looks neat, but it's not really you."

Here are the instructions.  Simple enough and easy to follow.

Well right off the bat I mess up somehow.  The sticker would peel cleanly off the paper.  A thin layer of paper came with it.  Luckily there was a small air gap so I was able to carefully peel the detached nail sticker off the paper and get it on my nail. I hope the rest don't come off so difficultly. 

Here it is right after sticking it on.  Looks kind of hillarious :P

After some bending and filing this was the result.  I think it looks cute but for my first attempt I had two air bubbles and it was also unevenly placed on my nail.  Luckily its not noticeable from far away but the little imperfections kind of bother me.

Here is my nail up against the rest of the stickers showing the difference between on the paper and on the nail.

Overall I do like the concept and would definitely buy more stickers but in a style more close to my tastes. 

Where to buy: shopncla.com

Price: 26 wraps for $16

If you are using them for every single nail the price is pretty hefty.  $16 for two and a half manicures....However if you use them one or two nails at a time then I think the price is a bit more plausible.

<3__)~

Subtle Anime Makeup for Cosplaying

So this past Sunday was J1 Con in Philadelphia.  I decided to go since I had never been to an anime convention before and I had a Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service costume leftover from last Halloween.

I thought maybe some of you would like to see how I subtly made my eyes look slightly larger without going crazy overboard.

I started with a very neutral eye.  I used Strange from Naked 3 on the lid and Haywire from the NYX matte collection applied very lightly in my crease.  Then I took NYX Milk and thickly lined my lower lashline.  Next taking a black liquid liner I extended my upper lashline down further and drew a wing.  Then I lightly drew a fake lower lashline under the Milk to create the effect of a slightly larger anime eye. Pretty easy and fairly cute without being obnoxious.

Here are some pictures from the convention!

Here is a super cute selfie I took before heading to the convention.

My friend didn't have a  costume so he put together a last minute Jiji outfit.  The look on people's faces as they asked where my cat was and I pointed to him was priceless. :)

Here is just me being really awkward because I didn't know how to pose or what to do when others kept asking for pictures.

This guy was hilarious. Omg. He was Sylveon, heavyweight world champion and never broke from character.  So funny.

These two made some adorable soldiers from Attack on Titan

These three had an incredible Twilight Princess cosplay.  They ended up winning best in show and they definitely deserved it.  Just wow.

Overall I had fun and I think I would definitely go to another convention if I ever had the chance.

OPI Nordic Collection My Voice Is A Little Norse

Because of my heritage and taste in music I have a soft spot for Scandinavian culture.  Therefore when OPI released its Nordic collection I knew I had to grab at least one!

I chose My Voice is a Little Norse, one because its a hilarious name and two because its just looked so pretty in the bottle.

And it is just as pretty on the nails! I especially like that it can be used as an accent like I used it here or as an all over nail color if you build it up to 3 coats.  I will definitely get a lot of use out of this color!

Where to buy: Ulta, Savemart, OPI.com

Price: $9.50

Sparkly Purple Smokey Eye Tutorial

I've never done a tutorial before so since I knew I'd be doing this look twice, once for a trial run, and again for the concert, that it would be a good opportunity to attempt something like this.

1. I covered my entire lid with Urban from the Electric Palette

2. I put Blackheart from Naked 3 on my lid

3. I lined outer part of lower lashline with Starlooks gem eye pencil in Topaz

4. I drew a double wing with Jesse's Girl liquid liner in black

5. I made a small line under the bottom wing with a discontinued purple Urban Decay Heavy Metal liner

6. I highlighted under my brow and on the inner corner with Strange from Naked 3

7. I finished the look with Urban Decay's Perversion mascara

Hope this was decently easy to follow!

Sonata Arctica, Delain, and Xandria Concert!

Since I had such an amazing time I figured I might as well share my experience with you. 

Here we are looking perfect and ready to head out the door to catch a trolley to the concert!

Because we paid for VIP tickets we got a signed poster.

And I also brought in my own copy of Winterheart's Guild.  It was my first ever Sonata Arctica cd so it holds a special place in my heart.  I'm so excited that they all agreed to sign it :)

And we also got a picture with Tony Kakko!! GAH! So much happiness!! <3 He is holding up a peace sign but it didn't make it into the picture, haha!

Since we were VIPs we got first dibs on the venue so of course we got to stand really close to the front!

First up was Xandria.  A band that I had heard a few songs of before but I didn't know too much about them.  Let me tell you, I WAS BLOWN AWAY.  I freaking love this band and picked up the album at the show. So much talent!

Next up was Delain.  This is one of my boyfriend's favorites bands.  When Charlotte, the lead singer, signed an album for him his hands were shaking so bad

 from nervousness and it was adorable. :)

And finally the main event, Sonata Arctica.  They put on a great show and I loved every second of it.   Some people who were there to see Delain left two big spots open right up front so my friend and I snatched them up.  WE WERE FRONT ROW OMG. I ended up catching a drumstick as well!!! :D

After the show Delain and Xandria were hanging out by the merch stands signing anything and taking pictures. It was so awesome.  This is a very sweaty and tired me with Dianne from Xandria.

This album is amazing. Seriously.

My spoils from the night! My signed cd, a sweet Ecliptica t shirt, and the drumstick I caught!

Overall, such an amazing night, 10/10, would see all of them again.

Purple Smokey Eye with a Sparkly Double Wing

This was my trial makeup run for the Sonata Arctica concert. I rather love the look and am super excited with how it came out! I plan on doing a step by step tutorial for this look when I do it again for the concert.  Therefore I won't go into too much detail here as to how I achieved it.

First I covered my entire lid, crease, and lower lashline with Urban from the Electric Palette, next I put Blackheart from Naked 3 on just my lid. I then used a silver liner from Starlooks on half my lower lashline. Finally I did a double wing with my Jesse's Girl liquid liner and added a little sparkly accent underneath using Urban Decay's Heavy Metal liner. On my lips is Wolvesmouth by Kat Von D.

I love how I look with dark eye shadow...I really need to do it for every day and not just metal concerts....

<3__)~

MAC Matchmaster Foundation SPF 15 in 1.0 Review

So I started using liquid foundation in addition to my usual powder about a year and a half ago.  I started with Revlon Whipped foundation in Ivory 1 and while I definitely love it I really wanted to try a high end foundation once I finished it!  I decided on choosing a MAC foundation as I love their lipsticks.  I went in to the MAC store and got matched by a very nice lady.  I think she did a great job....I was pretty nervous after some horror stories I've read on r/makeupaddiction.  In store she threw a thick layer of powder on over top making me look horrid, but I bought the foundation anyway because I was able to get a good look at my face before she suffocated me in powder.

Overall, I really like how this foundation melts into my skin and matches perfectly.  

When I walked into the store I asked for a pale as possible medium coverage liquid foundation with SPF and a matte finish.  I got my wish with the MAC Matchmaster Foundation in 1.0

Its the lightest shade available in this line and it has a little twist closure that keeps it from pumping down while in a makeup bag, which is nice.

So here is me with no makeup on in all my red faced glory!

I usually squirt some foundation onto my finger and then dot it onto my face before rubbing it in evenly with my fingers

As long as I'm keeping up with my skincare routine it blends just find with my fingers but even so I usually go over my face with a stippling brush just to make sure everything is nice and blendy.

And here we go! I usually only do one small layer.  It is buildable but I follow liquid with a sweep of powder so I tend now to use too much liquid. I tried to do a close up shot so you could see that it doesn't even look like there is foundation on my face! It melts right in and feels like I'm wearing nothing. If I have any pimples and am too lazy to grab my concealer I just dab a bit of extra foundation on the spot and blend with my finger as I did with that nasty thing by my lip.

Here is a side by side before and after.  I love this foundation and unless I like the little sample of the lightest shade of Kat Von D's foundation better I could definitely see myself getting this again.

Where to buy: maccosmetics.com or a MAC store

Price: $35

<3__)~

White and Black Double Wing FOTD

I was bored one evening and decided to take some time and just mess around. I started with a pretty standard neutral eye and added a wing.  Then I reached for my Ulta liner in Halo (after some quick browsing it seems this doesn't exist anymore.  Any sparkly white liner will do however) that I haven't touched in an extremely long time and this just kind of happened. In addition to adding the wing I also brought the liner across my entire upper lash line right above the black liner and then around my inner corner.

I kind of really love it. It looks so interesting and at least in the mirror makes my eyes look huge! On my lips is NYX round lipstick in Castle again because my boyfriend told me he likes it on me so I've been wearing it quite often :P

This was so fun and easy to do, I definitely recommend giving it a try.  Its a neutral look that adds a bit more flair to your every day makeup.

<3__)~

Mini Shiro Haul! Red Wedding, Maiden Queen, and a Custom Gloss!

I haven't made a purchase from Shiro in a while and after seeing how Red Wedding looked on my friend I knew it was time.  I picked up Red Wedding as well as a full size of Maiden Queen.

This gloss. Is. Amazing. I mean, just look at the swatch, it even friggin looks like blood! It wears beautifully on the lips and stays for a decent amount of time.  Its such a beautifully flattering deep red.  It is also fairly easy to apply with the doe foot applicator.

I also picked up Maiden Queen because 1. I love Margaery and 2. I love teal. I wear this under my eyes all the time.  Like basically every day I wear some sort of blueish color you can bet I'm wearing this shadow.  Its so gorgeous. As you can maybe see from the swatch it doesn't get too much more intense over NYX Milk so I generally just wear it alone and it stays pretty well.  For anyone interested on my lips is NYX round lipstick in Castle.

And lastly, this is not my own purchase but one made by my friend who agreed to let me share her lips.  She loves the Red Viper and bought two of the LE eye shadows and this custom gloss as well.  Even though it is no longer available I thought this could be a good reference for anyone looking to get a golden colored custom gloss from Shiro.  Up close it doesn't look like it covers well but from far away it looks just fine.  I also saw her wear this over Kat Von D's Poe and oh my god the gold over the dark blue looked amazing!! If you like gold I would recommend checking out Shiro's custom glosses.

I <3 Shiro

<3__)~