Christmas Gift

Hello hello!

For Christmas, my family and I did a secret santa draw. We have so many adults in our family that it was starting to get expensive. Well, this year, my lovely little sister Mary drew me and got me the Coastal Scents 88 Matte Color. OMG...I was so surprised. I was actually going to get it too but I chose the 88 Warm first.

Today, I decided to play around with some colors and was inspired by the vibrant colors. Since I usually always do a purple/pink/red/brown/black -ish look, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and decided to throw in some blues, yellows, and greens. To my surprise, it came out very very nicely. Take a look:

In this particular look, I used an eye pencil from NYX (in MILK) and used that as a base. Next I patted the bright green all over the bottom part of my lid. I then too a clean brush and blended the color into the MILK base to get rid of the harsh line. Next, I took a crease brush and dabbed it into the sparkling turquoise blue and created a light outer v and blended that three quarters of the way into my inner eye area. Next, blend, blend, blend...next, I took a fluffy blush and dabbed it into the yellow-mustardish color and filled in where my inner corners are and lightly under the brow. Next, I took L'Oreal's Extra Intense Liquid Eyeliner Pencil (my absolute fave by the way) and lined my water line both top and bottom. Next, I took a smaller crease brush and went back into the blue and lightly patted it onto my lash line. For the lips and cheeks, I chose to go with a natural peachy color to not take away from the dramatic eyes. Voila! All done...

Next up, I decided to go for more of a traditional, brown/black look. I have to say that knowing how to do one of these is essential to every girl. I want to compare it to a smoky eye, but I don't think it really was. Plus, I decided to do this one Malissa-style. Malissa is my little sister and she always applies her eyeshadow using her fingers. I did a look inspired by her a long time ago and it came out very nice. Although, I prefer using brushes, once in awhile, I will apply my makeup like she does. Today...this was one of them. I took the sprakling brown from ELF's Neutral Book of Shadows and patted that all over my eye and about 3/4 up towards the brow. Next, I took the color Creep from Urban Decay's Naked Palette and dabbed it on top of the brown. Next, (after cleaning my fingers) I lightly blended the lines to get rid of the harshness and then lined my water lines (top and bottom) with L'Oreal's Extra Intense Liquid Eyeliner Pencil. A coat of mascara and light bronzer on the cheeks pulls off the look in full.

Please excuse my eyebrows, they were overtweezed and I'm trying to grow them out so that I can go to the Brow Bar. My brows take FOREVER to grow back and it's very very difficult for me to just let them go but I am trying....any suggestions, let me know! :D

Have a great New Year's Day!!!!

Ulta Brand Eyeshadows

A couple of days ago, I was going through my mass collection of eyeshadows and came upon my Ulta ones that I purchased about a year ago. They normally go for about $4 each but I got a bunch when they were on sale for $1.50 each then. I used them a couple times but somehow got distracted from them and haven't used them in awhile. Well, my friends, to comply with my promise to my hubby to use more of the products I already have rather than buying new ones (Thanks Daniel), I did two different looks today using just my Ulta eye shadows. Behold! The art of my creations:

The first one was inspired by my Posh lipstick from ELF actually. Because I am of a different skin tone, I find it hard to pull of an excellent red lip. But this lipcolor took me by surprise and I LOOVEE this color. Because I wanted the attention on my lips, I went for more subtle eye look. I used "Milk Chocolate" which is a matte dark brown and "Chianti", a shimmery rosy red with purplish undertones from Ulta on my lids and just really blended them out. Because my eyes are smaller, I always go heavy on my eyeliner and went for a matte face with a light rosy dust over the apples of my cheeks. RAVISHING :D

My other look is more of a Golden Olive look. I remember getting the sparkling hunter green eyeshadow shade thinking I was going to heavily use it. I think I've used it twice before. It is a really pretty color and as you can see from the close up of my eye, how much it really pops. The color is called Shamrock and it is just absolutely incredible. The shade I used towards the outer corner of my eyes is called Suede and it's an excellent sparkly, very pretty brown. The shade I swept above those two is called Copper Bronze, and it's probably one of my very favorites. It's so pretty...it's a darker golden color with copper and bronze undertones and it came out very, very well. I don't know if you can see from my full face picture (last picture) but I am quite proud of this look and think it's very, very pretty and also, work appropriate for my place of employment (with military! eek!)

So, in conclusion, I don't think I'll be buying any more Ulta brand eyeshadows, but I am satisfied with my collection of Ulta eyeshadows already. Not too bad for $1.50 each. I just have to start using them more :D

Finally...My First Haul!!!

Hello everyone!

Hopefully everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Mine was awesome, got to see lots of family but was without internet access so that is why I have not been able to get online to do anything at all! But anyway, onto the haul:

So first of all, I hadn't been a big fan of lipstick at all because I never found a shade that looked right on me. And the thought of re-applying just drove me crazy. However, I have changed my mind. I decided to try the following lipsticks:

From left to right, we have Revlon's Colorburst Lipstick in Hazelnut, ELF lipstick in Posh, and ELF lipstick in Fantasy. I've really been into red lately and the ELF in Posh is absolutely amazing! It has a bit of sparkle to it, but not so much shine that it's blinding. The other two almost look like each other. I have darker lips so these are actually a great nude color on me. So far, I'm really liking these and do not mind reapplying it at all.

Next...L'Oreal's Infallible lipsticks. OMG!!! These babies are so worth the money. I guess for a drugstore brand, they are more on the expensive side, but this is really the only lipstick that has lasted 16 hours without re-applying. I bought them in several colors as you saw and they're just so great! I love wearing Beyonce's Red, it is so bright and cheery that I think it will look good on everyone! Next there's Ginger which is a great neutral sheen for me. I love the light sparkle that it has. Crimson is a darker red color that looks just as great. These really do stay long and I literally tried scrubbing my lips with a toothbrush to get it off and it was incredibly difficult, which to me is a good thing. I will definitely be adding more to my collection. (Sorry about the scratches and fingerprints in the mirror packaging).

Here, we have the ELF Plumping Lip Glaze. From top to bottom, they are: Champagne, Plum Pout, Ruby Kiss, and Mauve Berry. As you can see from the lettering, I've actually had Plum Pout and Mauve Berry for quite some time. I actually saw these for seventy five cents each at Burlington Coat Factory and decided to give them a try. I'm a little mixed on these. While I love the color, I'm not a big fan of the plumping part. I like using it has a lipgloss actually or a top coat. My favorite color from this bunch is the Mauve Berry. I really like how it gives me a nicer, pinker look to my lips. I really like that. I noticed that in the two that I purchased first, there wasn't that minty plumping formula they put in, yet in the newer batch that I ordered directly from ELF, it had more of that tingly feeling to it. I'm not sure if it's because the ones I bought from Burlington Coat Factory had been sitting out longer or what, but I actually like those two a little bit better. All in all, for $1 (or 75 cents) each, not bad. It gives a nice sheen to the lips.

Alright...ELF's Luscious Liquid Lipstick from top to bottom in Caramel Candy, Ruby Slipper, Brownie Points, and Maple Sugar.  Ehh...I don't think I will be purchasing anymore of these. I don't hate them, but compared to the others, they're just not that great. As you see, I have actually tried all of them. The intensity of the color is not super, yet it's not light enough to pull off as a gloss in my opinion either. Plus, the applicator tip is rather hard and is not very soft like it looks, therefore it doesn't go on quite as smoothly as I would prefer.

Next, something that I had been wanting to try for a long time: loose powder. These are just two that I picked up: Maybelline's Loose Powder and Mary Kay's Signature Loose Powder, both in Beige. I really like these, actually more of the Maybelline one more than the Mary Kay one. I love how it makes my face look so matte and because I tend to get a lot of shine towards the afternoon, I love how it absorbs all that oil. I'm usually not a big fan of Maybelline, but I think I might be trying out some more of their products. As for the Mary Kay one, I don't know if I will be purchasing it again. Just because I feel that it didn't hold it as well as Maybelline's did. It's a good product overall, but because it is Mary Kay, it's not as readily accessible if I were to misplace mine or run out.

Next, my NEW all time favorite eye products. The L'Oreal Extra Volume Mascara and Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil Eyeliner both in black. OMG...these are my two new favorite eye intensifiers. The mascara really lengthens my short lashes and the eyeliner is just so creamy and works perfectly. There's nothing I hate more than a dried out eyeliner or a mascara that is just too wet and sticky that it comes out in globs.

Finally, up are two of the Wet'N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palettes. The one on the left is Lust and the one on the right is Greed. First of all, I love these palettes. Especially coming from a brand that is more on the lower end in price. I think that this past year, Wet'N Wild has definitely made a comeback with these new shadows and their new products. The pigmentation on these colors are absolutely amazing. I don't know if you are able to tell, but all the colors on the left column of each palette are all matte colors and the ones on the right are shimmer colors. As a combo, they work really really well with each other. On the Lust palette, I'm really loving the purple shade (left column, middle shade)! I love how great it stands out with the other sparkly purple shade (second column, last one). The combo of the matte and shimmer colors just look excellent together. The lighter colors are excellent highlight shades as well. On the Greed palette, I LOVE the matte peach (left, middle) and the black matte colors. OMG. I just these two colors on my cousin and it looked GREAT on her! She loves the natural look and hates the process of doing makeup especially eyeshadow, with the blending, etc. It wowed her even more when I was done and when she found out they were Wet'N Wild, she was just ecstatic. These two are definitely worth trying. I absolutely love them and will definitely be using them a lot! Especially with the holidays coming up, I cannot wait to glam everything up!

Well everyone, this was a lengthy haul, but here are the things that I've racked up along the way. I haven't forgotten about the high end products and since I finally did get the Urban Decay Naked palette, I will be doing a review on that soon. I was planning to do it this weekend and try it out on different people with different skin types, but because of the Thanksgiving holiday and lack of internet, I was not able to do so. Instead, I will do what I can and will be working on that next. Love and kisses!!!