EOTD: August 3, 2014

Hello! Here we are at the midpoint of another week, and I thought I'd share with you an eye look I did this past weekend. It was for the most part improvised, as I only knew that I wanted to use one shadow in particular, but I was fairly content with the finished look. My eye makeup techniques are still lacking but there is (I think) subtle improvement each time I go about doing it. The bulk of my struggles exist in the fact that my eye's crease...well...cuts itself. 

That probably doesn't communicate much. Sorry. 

The eye shadow I knew I wanted to use was "Bewitched" from Prestige's Total Intensity line. This brand - this line from it, specifically - has been getting an influx of attention lately, and what convinced me to pick up "Bewitched" was its duochrome nature. I simply adore duochrome shadows. 

FOTD: April 26, 2014

Hi! When I went to IMATS two weeks ago, one of the products I was waiting for months to buy at the show's discounted price was Stila's In the Light palette. I was so excited to finally use it today, and I'm really happy with how everything turned out so I thought I'd share it with you here!

This isn't really a review post, though my opinions on the products I used will be peeking through here and there. I mainly wanted to show a look my mediocre makeup skills could come up with using this palette, and how it pairs with other products (both new and old). =)

MAC's Playland Lipsticks Sneak Peek: Quick Swatches, Comparisons, & First Thoughts

LEFT TO RIGHT: "Sweet Experience," "Toying Around," and "Happy-Go-Lucky"

PURCHASED

It's the weekend of the week of MAC's Playland online and in-store launch dates - which means I have (some) lipsticks in my possession to share with you (and WEAR!), yay!

I don't know what collection Playland is supposed to be, except one of many April collections, so I can't say much about that. But I will say that I've been anticipating the release of this collection since January for two reasons: (a) the lipsticks are in bright pink-related shades, and (b) they're in the amplified (creme?) finish, which is my absolute favorite MAC finish.

So when it launched on Nordstrom's website this past Monday, I ordered my first two picks: "Toying Around" and "Sweet Experience," which I received in the mail yesterday. Then on Wednesday I ordered "Red Balloon" off of Belk, which has yet to arrive (one of the reasons I consider this post a 'sneak peek'). And finally, last night, I went to my local MAC store and swatched the collection's other lipsticks in person, settling on "Happy-Go-Lucky." That essentially means I bought all four lipsticks in the amplified finish for this collection, as the other two are frosts.

This post is a 'sneak peek' because I do not yet have pictures of me wearing the lipsticks, or full reviews on them since I've owned them for less than a day. I also will not be writing those until next week, when all four lipsticks are in my possession and I can create a master post for the collection. In this post I will share semi-detailed comparisons to lipsticks that have been said to have comparable colors, and I will share my brief initial thoughts on some of the lipsticks that I have worn already.

UPDATE 04/22/14: I received "Red Balloon" today and have since worn it and "Happy-Go-Lucky" so this post will include updates here and there to add my opinions on them (and swatches in terms of "Red Balloon").

EOTD: March 29, 2014

White background!!! :(

Hi. :) I'm going to try to write some reviews today that I took pictures for this past Wednesday, but for now I thought I'd make a quick post about an eye look I did today. A basic eye look, no doubt, because I am by no means good at applying eye makeup. I'm still trying to understand how to properly work with my eye shape.

The palette I used today was the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette that my brother got me for Christmas last year, and I also broke in a new mascara. So this post is by no means a review, though I'll mention some initial thoughts here and there as I describe what I did.

Lips: Maybelline's Color Elixir by Color Sensational in "Radiant Bloom" (LE) (Spring 2014 Dare to Go Nude)

PURCHASED

Hi everyone! I wasn't sure what post I wanted to write today, but after some thought I decided to test out a new product I picked up this week. I don't like writing reviews on products I try for the first time the same day - mostly because I can't discuss how long they last or how well they perform. This time around, though, I realized a thorough review wasn't necessarily required. Or possible, really.

Maybelline's limited edition spring 2014 collection, Dare to Go Nude, is starting to pop up in the drugstores. What I mainly wanted from this collection was one of the Color Tattoo eye shadows, and I was thrilled to find all of the colors intact at my local Duane Reade. What I didn't expect to pick up, though, was one of their limited edition Color Elixirs in "Radiant Bloom."

Color Elixir by Color Sensational is a new-for-2014 addition to the permanent Maybelline line, and one that I didn't plan to try. I used to be all about lip gloss, but lipstick is my new thing. And I rarely, if ever, find myself purchasing a lip gloss, regardless of how new or exciting it will be. Why? Because I simply won't use it enough.

But when I saw "Radiant Bloom," the only thing that could happen to make me buy a lip gloss was exactly what happened: I saw a color so gorgeous and so up-my-alley that I decided I'd wear it just for that. I've been hearing good things about the Color Elixirs lately anyway, so it couldn't hurt to have one, right?

Right?

Lips: Yet Another Maybelline Color Whisper in "Sienna Sands" (Summer 2013 [LE?])

The product being reviewed in this post was purchased by me with my own money. The opinions stated further are my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the brand featured in this post. 

This post sucks for those of you that hate the Maybelline Color Whispers and are sick of everyone talking about them, haha. I do like the Color Whispers for days when I want to wear a lighter-feeling lip product, though I don't make it my goal to own every color, LE or not, from the line. In fact, I almost passed on all four potentially limited edition colors released in the Summer 2013 collection: "Nude Shimmer," though a pretty light pink in the tube, was sure to turn up clear on the lips (think "Twinkle" from the Maybelline LE Baby Lips), "Ravishing Pink," my initial choice, looked far too similar to the already-permanent "Lust for Blush" (and after a previous experience with LE Maybelline lip products, I passed), "I Crave Coral" just didn't interest me at all, and "Sienna Sands" was interesting but I wasn't sure if it was worth buying.

In the end, I did decide I wanted to own "Sienna Sands," the color this post is dedicated to. If you're interested in my thoughts on the Color Whispers in general, view my initial Color Whisper post here and, for more swatches of other colors, view this post.

Nails: Sinful Colors "Green Ocean"

The product being reviewed in this post was purchased by me with my own money. The opinions stated further are my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the brand featured in this post.

"Green Ocean" was my first polish from Sinful Colors, an affordable polish brand in the drugstores retailing for about $2, and I will say now that I bought it the second I spotted it because of how many people love it. Apparently this color comes every year in a small St. Patrick's day display, so while it isn't necessarily limited edition, it isn't readily available year-round like permanent shades.

Nails: Maybelline Color Show's "Lustrous Lime" (Color Goes Electric LE 2013)

The product being reviewed in this post was purchased by me with my own money. The opinions stated further are my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the brand featured in this post.

I've been getting into nail polish lately, and trying to add different finishes to my small collection, since I initially was drawn towards shimmery colors. While I've been successful with that, I was automatically won over at first sight by Maybelline Color Show's "Lustrous Lime."

A Quick Comparison: Maybelline Vivids "Fuchsia Flash" Vs. "Electric Fuchsia" (LE)

Hi everyone. :) Here's another quick, swatch-only kind of post - focusing on Maybelline LE spring Color Goes Electric products again, too. I feel odd posting this since I haven't written an actual review on the Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids yet, but in the end the purpose of this post is to provide a quick visual for those who are unsure whether or not a particular LE Vivid from the spring collection is worth purchasing. In this case, that LE Vivid is "Electric Fuchsia."

Maybelline Spring 2013 Color Goes Electric

Hey everyone :) I walked to my local Walgreens today (yay for 3 mile walk!) for the sole purpose of finding the new Maybelline 2013 collection, Color Goes Electric, and it was a success! I only had my phone on me, like an idiot, and couldn't take a picture of the display, but I'll give a brief description of what products it featured before I go into a quick look at the two products I picked up.

Lips: More Maybelline Color Whispers in "Lust for Blush" and "Pin Up Peach"

Hi all. :) I recently decided to pick up two more colors from the Maybelline Color Whisper line of lipsticks and I wanted to share pictures/swatches of them with you. The colors are "Lust for Blush" and "Pin Up Peach."

This post will only focus on the colors. To read a full review, including details on weight, price, packaging, scent, texture, and wear-time, check out my previous post on "Mad for Magenta."

Lips: Maybelline Baby Lips LE in "Yummy Plummy" and "Melon Mania"

One of my earliest reviews on this blog was my post on the Maybelline Baby Lips, where I wrote about and shared pictures of colors from the permanent line (excluding "Quenched") and two of three limited edition shades at the time (the third excluded being "Pink Wink"). Well, I finally came across the two newest limited edition shades - "Yummy Plummy" and "Melon Mania" - at my local Rite Aid. I picked both up for two reasons: (1) they were BOGO50%, and (2) I instantly fell in love with the radiant pink that peeked through the clear cap of "Melon Mania."

This review will focus on the colors and scents of these two products, as well as provide comparisons between these LE colors and permanent/other LE colors from my previous review that they remind me of. For details on the product overall (consistency, wear, etc.), please refer to the previous review here.

Lips: Maybelline's Color Whisper by Color Sensational in "Mad for Magenta"

*** Curious to see more shades? Check out my post on Color Whispers "Lust for Blush" and "Pin Up Peach" here! ***

Here is yet another new lip product I was excited for, especially since its design seems to imply a direct response to the ever-so-popular Revlon Lip Butters (I still have to review these, haha): Maybelline's Color Whispers by Color Sensational. I will be referring to them simply as Color Whispers for the rest of this review, since the full title is a mouthful.

I did buy one of these Color Whispers because of their resemblance to the Lip Butters. I was curious how they would compare, though I'll do a separate post directly comparing these balm-lipstick-gloss-master products once I'm done reviewing them all individually. For the Color Whispers, I will be reviewing the color "Mad for Magenta."

Eyes: Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara in "Blackest Black"

Hi everyone. This is the second of the two mascara reviews I spoke about before, and it's another Maybelline mascara: the Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara. I purchased the regular formula in the color "Blackest Black."

To be honest, I wasn't anticipating purchasing this mascara. There was a BOGO1/2 at my local Duane Reade and it turned out the LE colorful Great Lash mascaras were not included in the deal so, in my panic to find a replacement product quick, I plucked this off its nearby "new product" display. I care more about volume than length, as I might have stated in my previous review. But that doesn't mean I can't review this based on its claims as a lengthening mascara.

Its main claim is that it has a "fiber-fix" brush that, in combination with its formula, adds up to 4mm in length with fiber extensions. Hence the name Illegal Length.

I do know there was a previous Illegal Length mascara that got pretty decent ratings, but I want to clarify that this is a new release that has an emphasis on the 4mm claim. Now, onto my experience with this mascara.

Eyes: Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara in "Very Black"

Hi all :) I mentioned *alonglongtimeago* that I was planning on doing reviews on two Maybelline mascaras I have, and here is the first: Maybelline's Full 'N Soft Mascara. 

To start, this was my first mascara ever as of a few months ago when I actually started wearing mascara. I did some research and decided on this one because I was paranoid about mascara making my eyelashes so stiff that they would fall out during removal. I also didn't find the idea of 'spikes' for eyelashes very appealing, so when I read the claims on the Maybelline website, I was sold: "full, healthy-looking lashes" with a formula that (a) helps "soften and nourish lashes" with Vitamin E and (b) "prevents loss of lashes with Quick Dissolve System" (as quoted from here).

I purchased the regular formula (as in not waterproof).

Lips: Maybelline Baby Lips (Permanent & Limited Edition)

Hi everyone! Tinted, moisturizing lip products have become my absolute favorite lip products to use, and drugstore brands including CoverGirl, Maybelline, Revlon, and L'Oreal all have their own versions. I have to say, though, that my favorite has to be Baby Lips by Maybelline. I've been using them nonstop since I stumbled upon them back in July, and was excited to get a hold of one of the new limited edition dual packs. So today I am happy to be reviewing those from the permanent line that I picked up as well as the one limited edition pack that I managed to find this past weekend in Walgreens.