September Favorites

I was planning to do a Hits & Misses, but considering the fact that I haven't purchased any new items that I hate...there's no point in including the "misses", right? I decided to spare the details and mainly just provide pictures of the products along with some comments on a few of them.

Sooo for this month, my favorites are:

L'oreal Magic BB Cream

MAC's Soft Brown & Swiss Chocolate Single Eyeshadows
The FaceShop single eyeshadow in BR803

MAC's Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus

NYC Sunny Bronzer

Milani's Baked Blush in Luminoso
L'oreal's Limited Edition Project Runway Blush in Watchful Owl

Left: the FaceShop eyeshadow
Top: MAC's Swiss Chocolate
Bottom right: MAC's Soft Brown

Unfortunately, this blush has been discontinued so if you have any interest in buying it, you'd probably have to purchase it online somewhere :/

L'oreal's Limited Edition Project Runway Blush in Watchful Owl

Milani's Baked Blush in Luminoso

If you're no stranger to the beauty community or YouTube, you would know all about this bronzer. So, in short, it's $3, matte, a very flattering color on several complexions, and can be found in drugstores such as Rite Aide, Target, and CVS.

MAC's Mineralized Skin Finish in Medium Plus

Now, my K-Pop favorite for this month is:

EXO

I realize that this is obviously not a beauty related thing, but I figured that it couldn't hurt to add in a little something about myself. Plus, I mean...look at them, they're adorable.

NYX Eyeliners

Under a white light
Top: Studio Liner in Extreme Blue
Bottom: Crystal Liner in Crystal Silk

Natural light

Flash

Overall, I'm quite pleased with these eyeliners. The only problems I have with the studio liner is that it takes a bit of time for it to dry and the wand is a bit difficult for me to handle, but other than that I'm extremely satisfied with the pigmentation and the product itself. The crystal liner, I love! It definitely adds a little more 'omph' to your eye makeup and it's not too 'outrageous' for everyday wear. Overall, I like them and would consider repurchasing.

Stila: Stylish in Seoul Palette

As stated in my last post, I purchased one of the Stila palettes in Stylish in Seoul. Originally, I was interested in the Rockin' in Rio; however, the minute I swatched the shadows I was highly underwhelmed so I ended up skipping out on it. I actually tried swatching all the palettes and I have to admit that I was the most impressed with this one. I do believe that the London one may have been good as well from what I remember, but I already have a ton of shadows that were similar to I opted to skip out on that one as well. Now, without further ado...the swatches.

Under a white light
Top: the lip and cheek color, azalea
Bottom (from left to right): palace, dynasty, zen, midnight, and empire

Natural light

Natural light

Admittedly, I do have better shadows than these, however, I do like the palette especially for what I paid. In fact, I actually used it for the majority of August. My favorite shade is probably Zen. Lately, I've been really into the natural 'no makeup' type of look so that color was a perfect all over lid color for me.

I hardly used the lip and cheek color, it was drying on the lips and barely showed up on my cheeks. I had to really layer it on for it to start to make an appearance on my cheeks only to have it disappear in a matter of minutes.

I think that if you're into collecting these palettes by all means purchase it. If you're new to makeup, this could start off as a good palette. However, if you're looking into it expecting to have amazing quality...I would pass on it.

Ulta Haul

About 30 minutes ago, I decided to go pay Ulta a visit. Mainly because I really wanted to try Stila's new travel palettes.

I originally wanted the Rockin in Rio palette, but when I swatched the blue color it came out chalky and had barely any color payoff so that one was an immediate pass. Then, I saw it...the Stylish in Seoul palette. And before anyone says anything, yes, I am biased haha. My love for Korea definitely helped the impulsive buy. Also, to be perfectly honest, I really liked the colors in this particular palette. The shadows are right up my alley. It has a silver taupe, a muted brown, a matte purplish brown color, and pinky champagne colors. Along with a multipurpose lip and cheek color that does seem to look wearable. I do intend to do a full review of this palette with swatches in the near or not-so-near future.

I also picked up some NYX eyeliners: Liquid Crystal Liner in Crystal Silk and Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Blue. You can also expect reviews for these items as well.

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Yeah I know. It's been way too long, but I have very exciting news in that I FINALLY took the plunge and purchased a new camera! To be honest, I mainly bought it because I'll be attending the SBS K-Pop Super Concert this August with my little sister and I really want/need to remember the night haha. It's nothing fancy just your standard point and shoot, but hey at least it's something.

You should also know that I've purchased quite a few things since my hiatus. Btw I totally caved and didn't finish my Project 20 Pan. Shame on me. Soooo here are a few test shots for the camera AND to show everyone just how much I purchased on my...3/4 month break?

Happy Birthday To Me!

Since I expect no one here to know....YESTERDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY!! And what better way to celebrate than to splurge on some MAC collections that came out the day of my special day!?

I purchased blushes from the Tres Cheek collection as well as from the Reel Sexy collection.
I was able to get my hands on all the things I had my eyes on except for the Reel Sexy lipstick :( sad day, but it's okay I'm sure there are tons of lipsticks that are similar to it. Anyway, I'm very very excited about these blushes because lately I've just been developing a new found love for blushes.

So I purchased Modern Mandarin and Lovecloud from the Tres Cheek collection and Pink Cult from the Reel Sexy collection.

Modern Mandarin with flash

Without flash

Lovecloud with flash

Without flash

Pink Cult with flash

Without flash

Interesting thing because this was the first time I had decided to pre-order anything from MAC and I ended up getting the last one in stock for ALL of these blushes. I couldn't believe how much hype these babies have gotten and I'm so glad I was ahead of the game.

Initially, I wanted to skip out on Modern Mandarin and purchase Immortal Flower, but Immortal Flower had absolutely NO color pay off. I'm between an NC25-NC30 and it did not show up on my skin whatsoever. I haven't had the chance to try any of them on my cheeks, but swatched on my hand....that color did just not workout for me. I wasn't expecting to purchase Pink Cult either, but the sales associate asked me if I wanted to take a look at the Reel Sexy collection so I just thought, "what the heck I'll give it a look". Of course, I ended up making another purchase.

The Tres Cheek collection blushes are all satin finishes and Pink Cult is a matte finish. I would love to give you guys swatches, but as some of you may or may not know....I have a weird thing about not being able to touch new makeup products haha but Temptalia has excellent swatches posted up on her site so I'd first suggest checking her's out.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!! 

Sephora V.I.B. 15% Discount Haul

Greetings and salutations my beauty bloggers!

I have a haul for you all! :D
Before anyone says anything, yes, I am still working on my 20 pans. My only exception to this project was to buy things that were essential for my everyday wear. My foundation is running out quickly and Sephora emailed me yesterday about the 15% discount they were having all week for the V.I.B. members. So, of course, I jumped at the opportunity. Also, my 21st birthday is quickly approaching so I decided to pick up my birthday gift as well.

Note: I literally came home from my little shopping day about 3 hours ago and I just wanted to get a post up! Please excuse any grammatical errors, I'm just too excited.

Another note: half of the things I'm about to show you I didn't even pay for haha.

Here are the things I actually purchased:

My old eyelash curler was a total dud so I went to go get me a new one of those. I also purchased the bareMinerals 8-piece-starter kit. It comes fully equipped with a full-sized foundation (original or matte, I chose the matte) sample size primer, full flawless face brush, flawless application brush, maximum coverage concealer brush, warmth all-over face color, original mineral veil, and a getting started DVD all for the price of $63 ($61 if you choose the original foundation). 

Now all the freebies:

I decided to redeem my 500-pt. perk and get the absolutely fabu-'bliss' set. Then, for my birthday I got the fresh sugar kisses mini lip duo, which smell absolutely AMAZING btw. Everything else was in a little goodie bag that I got for being a V.I.B. member. It came with a Sephora full action extreme effect mascara, Givenchy mister light, Bumble bumble thickening shampoo and conditioner, sample-sized boscia B.B. cream, Especially Escada solid perfume, and lastly a mini MUFE smokey lash mascara.

Sooo many new little goodies to try! I'm soo excited. I was excited enough about my the fresh mini lip duo and my 500-pt perk, but when the cashier whipped out the goodie bag....that was just icing on the cake :)

I went on a shopping spree with my little sister last week and got sooo many clothes. Possible blogpost? We'll see. I'm also in the works of posting my hair update since I finally got it dyed. Until then, have a great week!

February Hits & Misses

My goodness, February is always such a short and sweet month. Didn't really get too many things this time around considering my "makeup strike" still being in affect. Before I get into anything, I want to apologize if this post is less than pleasing because I did write and put it together rather quickly. Now, let's just move on to the hits shall we?

Hits:


Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Peach Satin - I may be one of very few people to actually enjoy the dream bouncy blushes. I only have one, but upon first usage I truly enjoyed the effect it gave. It's not crazy pigmented that much is true, but it does leave a nice staining/natural effect on the cheeks, which is a look I personally like. I know that each color differs so many of my opinions will be based off of the one color I have. When I put this on my cheek, it actually looked like I was blushing, but not so much in a way that it made me look like pikachu. That would be kind of disgusting. The lasting power is quite long to be quite honest, but then again I did set it with a translucent powder. In case you were wondering I applied it this morning at 9:15ish...it is now 4:30PM and it's still very much intact.

Maybelline Define-a-Lash mascara [waterproof] - This isn't a new product to me. I've actually been using this since my junior year in high school when one of my classmates was totally raving about it in my math class, pulled it out of her backpack and everything. Funny thing is, I wasn't even remotely interested in makeup in high school, but felt the need to try it. I have yet to find a better mascara than this one. It holds my curl and lengthens like crazy. It is a bit difficult to get off, but I think it just requires a good makeup remover.

Which brings me to my next hit, Mitsuwa Face Cleanser/Makeup Remover. I apologize, I wish I could give a name, but it's written in Japanese and well...I'm not Japanese haha. Anyway, I have been on the hunt to find a new cleanser that can remove ALL of my makeup especially my mascara, this baby does the trick. It comes with a pump, which is very useful. It claims to brighten the face, but I haven't seen any effects of a brighter face. Also, there are 2 other versions of this, which are anti-wrinkling and moisturizing obviously I opted for the brightening. My only gripe is that it does run out rather quickly. I've had it for a couple weeks and I've pretty much used 1/3 of the product.

MAC Innocence Beware! & Viva Glam Nicki lipstick - please read review here

Tarte Limited Edition Quilted Makeup Bag - The love I have for this bag. It's purple, quilted, and just the right size. My family and I travel rather frequently and my makeup is always traveling with me. I have a caboodle case, but it is rather large to carry around. I wanted something a bit more compact and big enough to carry my essentials. My go to palette to bring on vacations is none other than the Naked palette. Imagine my excitement when I discovered this bag was the exact size of my palette with room to spare for many other things. I just love it!

Misses:


MAC Fleshpot lipstick - please read review here

MAC Limited Edition Lipstick Review

Here it is! My review for the 3 lipsticks I got a few weeks ago. For shade references, I'm currently in between NC25-NC30. Remember, these are my personal opinions and I don't claim to be a lipstick expert.

Swatches (left to right): Viva Glam Nicki, Innocence Beware!, and Fleshpot

With white light

With flash from cellphone haha

Haul: Limited Edition Items

Not too long ago, I decided to start a Project 20 Pan. My only exceptions to purchase new items were if they're limited edition or if I ran out of an everyday product (i.e. foundation, mascara, & eyeliner).

MAC: Around mid-February I had a Back-2-MAC and I used it for their Fleshpot lipstick, which is sold only at the Pro stores. I also purchased a few of their limited edition lipsticks. I bought Innocence Beware!, which is actually a re-promote. I regretted not purchasing it when it was released in the Venomous Villains collection so I had to jump at it when it came out again. I also purchased the Viva Glam Nicki a few days before it came out because the MAC Sales Associate that was helping me was wearing it that day and I knew I had to have it.

Left to right: Innocence Beware!, Fleshpot & the Nicki

ULTA: I got an email about this new Tarte Limited Edition makeup bag with 5 little goodies in it for $40. I needed a new makeup bag and I wanted to try some of Tarte's products. The makeup bag is absolutely gorgeous and it's great because my Naked palettes fit in it soooo it's PERFECT for travel. I'm so excited about it! It comes with a full-sized eyeliner and mascara. The blush, bronzer, and illuminating serum are all sample sized/minis.

Expect some reviews kiddies :)

Inspired: Korean Drama

Some of you may or may not, most likely may, know that I am absolutely obsessed with Korean dramas. Aside from the romantic almost fairy-tale like story lines, I love the looks used on the female actresses. For the majority of the time the looks are very flattering and natural looking, which is exactly why I love them so much. This particular look was inspired by the second season of the drama Dream High and it's of the character portrayed by Park Jiyeon otherwise known as Rian/Lian.

Before I move on, you can also check out another fellow blogger's version of this look UrHappyBunnie...she also loves Korean Dramas so why not just mosey on over to her page :)

Back to Rian haha her makeup, for me at least, is very appropriate for everyday wear. Though her eyeliner may seem a little intense, it really isn't. Also, notice that she doesn't wear any blush and her lips are very natural looking...they kind of looked stained I can't quite put my finger on it. Regardless, I really like her look and style in the drama even though I kind of hate her character :D

And here's my take on it....