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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

One look worn two ways

I wanted to do something holiday-ish.  So I went for silver (with glitter, which you can totally not see at all!) with red lips.  And then me, being SUPER uncomfortable in red lips decided to change them to pink.  And I took pictures just to show what a big difference a lip color can make.

The eye makeup:

What I used:
TFSI (as always!)
NYX JEP (so I had something for my pigment to stick to)
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania "Silver" foiled on lid
NYX Ultra Pearl Mania "Silver" not foiled above crease and under eye
NYX "Black" shadow along lashline and in outer v
Balmbini Volume 2 "Promiscuous Pearl" as highlight
L'oreal HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner "Black Shock" (may I just say holy burning eyeballs!!  Don't put this on your waterline!)
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Some false lashes I had hanging out

 Now on to the full face pictures!


Now I realize that it looks like I changed more than just my lip color when I went from red to pink.  But all I did was add just a bit more blush (I looked too washed out without it).  The lighting outside changed in between the time I got done with the red and the time I got the pink on.

Red lip colors:
NYX Soft matte lip cream "Amsterdam"
NYX Electra
NYX Snow White
I used a bit of all of these because I couldn't get it to look right

Pink lip colors:
The light pink Lipthix from Calypso Minerals
MAC "Right Image" Cremesheen Glass

Face makeup:
Revlon Colorstay for Oily/Combination skin
(in the colors "Buff" and "Sand Beige" mixed together)
Maybelline Dark Circle treatment in Fair
Maybelling Super Stay concealer (the second lightest color)
Covergirl Professional loose powder in translucent fair
ELF studio blush/bronzer duo (LOVE this bad boy!)
Balmbini Volume 2 "Promiscuous Pearl" for a highlight
And with the pink lip I added some of Ulta's "Girlie" blush

Which look do you like better?  Which one would you wear?  I know for myself, I really tend to like the look of red lips, just not on me haha.  I don't know what it is but still, I feel like people are staring at me with the red lips.  I feel like the red lips are much more Christmas-y though.

Thank you all so much for checking this out!!  
And if you haven't yet, be sure to enter my Calypso Minerals giveaway!! 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Calypso Minerals Giveaway!!!

*Edit* I know these colors are beautiful but I just found out that Calypso Minerals has been taking people's money and not sending them the products they've ordered.  So please don't order from them!  I don't know about dupes for all of the colors but Glamour Doll Eyes has a color called "Mingles" which is a good dupe for "True Blue".  I'm so sorry!*

I just posted a review on these Calypso Minerals products that I bought recently.  And I figured I'd stop teasing you guys and just tell you that I'm going to be giving some away!!!  I mean, I was excited when I reached 300 followers and like two weeks later now I have 356!  I can't even believe it!  I just want to thank you all so much for reading my blog!

There are going to be two winners.  The first prize is a 10 color matte stacker:
Which is the same stacker that I have, I just added a matte black to the bottom because everyone needs a good matte black.

The second prize:
These colors are shimmery and one is obviously a loose glitter.  
The colors are Drama Sparkle, Lime Lite, Aquadelic, and Green Glitter.

So the giveaway starts as soon as I post this and will be ending on December 19th, 2011 at 10:00 pm (EST). You must be a follower of my blog to enter.

How to enter:
1. Leave me one comment below telling me who your celebrity makeup crush is and also your GFC name (so I know you're following me) and your e-mail address.  That will give you one entry.

2. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog (which you will have to post a link to in your comment, if you don't, I won't realize that you did it a it won't be counted).  This will give you two additional entries.

3.If someone enters and names you as a referral, you will receive another entry (for each referral).  So be sure to tell them to mention your GFC name if they come here because of you!!!

I am going to have this open internationally.  I have never shipped overseas but I'm willing to try it!

I will be using random.org to choose a winner.  I will enter your name as many times as entries you have (does that make sense???) in the order in which they are received.  If the same name comes up for both prizes, I will  go to the next name for the second prize.  Both prizes cannot go to the same person.  I'm hoping to announce the winners on December 20th.  I will then contact the winners and they'll have to reply to me within 48 hours or I will move on to the next name.  

I hope that all makes sense!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!!

Calypso Minerals review!

*Edit* I know these colors are beautiful but I just found out that Calypso Minerals has been taking people's money and not sending them the products they've ordered.  So please don't order from them!  I don't know about dupes for all of the colors but Glamour Doll Eyes has a color called "Mingles" which is a good dupe for "True Blue".  I'm so sorry!*

Just so ya know, this is going to be a LONG post!!

If you've been following me for a little bit, you've seen me use Calypso Minerals matte loose pigments.  I stumbled across these by accident.  I was looking around on etsy, which I think is a cool site because it gives people a chance to sell their homemade products (anything from makeup to soap to jewelry to paintings to hats, scarves, and all sorts of stuff) on that site.  I'd been browsing around for a while and almost all of the loose pigments (I call them pigments, I'm not sure if they're actually considered that but they are mineral makeup) that I came across are shimmery.  I like some shimmer but not a ton of shimmer.  So I searched for matte pigments and Calypso Minerals' store popped up.

I was very intrigued by the swatches I saw.  So I contacted Jennifer, the owner, and asked if they do custom stackers because, while I liked most of the colors in both of the premade stackers I saw, I wanted some different colors.  She said they did and so I told her what colors I wanted and she put those colors in a stacker for me, as well as ordering a few extra pigments.  I also asked for 2 of her "Lipthix" which are supposedlly similar to OCC liptars (which I have never tried) and I told her what lip colors I like wearing.

So I placed my order, and like an hour later I got a notice saying that my order had shipped along with a tracking number.  I checked the tracking number a few times over the next couple days and all it ever said was that the electronic shipping information was received.  It never said it shipped.  It never said where it was.  But I placed my order at like 11:00 at night on November 11 and my order came on the 17th.  There was also a holiday and a Sunday in between those dates when the mail doesn't come so I thought that was pretty good.

So I got my makeup and swatched it right away, which I've shown you before but I'll show you again (swatched over NYX JEP "milk").

Here's what I got

Now I really wanted to test these out before I attempted a review.  So I did.
Each of these (except the loose glitter) comes with a sifter and a piece of sticky plastic over the sifter so you don't lose any product during shipping.
They're each 5 grams of product and individually cost around $7.  A stacker generally has 11 or 13 colors and costs $75 in her Etsy store.  However, since following Calypso Minerals' Facebook page, I have seen her offer many deals such as buy one get one free.  And I have to say, I did get confused because I couldn't seem to find a concrete listing of colors they offer.  Their Calypso Cosmedics webstore has some different prices and different colors than they show on both their facebook page and in their etsy store.  So that was a negative for me.

I have been applying these with my Studio Tools smudge brush (which I got from Target) over NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk" to help them stick.  The colors are really really beautiful.  And for the most part, they've been pretty easy to work with.  Now, my favorite color would be "True Blue."  I mean, look at it.  But I noticed if I didn't pack it on, the color went more navy blue than the bright blue that you see in the container.  This is another color I completely believe is worth fighting for.  You really have to pack it on to get the same color on your lid that in the container.  Like really pack it on.  But I'm willing to do that.

I haven't had issues like that with the other colors.  Here are some looks I've done using these
"True Blue," "Sublime," "Lemon Sorbet"
"Drama"
I used "Matte Violet" and "Razzle Dazzle" and a little bit of the black for this
"True Blue", "Grape Pop", "Matte Violet"
Now here are some swatches of these colors vs other similar (or maybe not so much similar) colors
I was very impressed with this black.  It's really nice!

Gosh, it looks like someone here likes purples.  I think they're all great.  I love all of these colors (except the Inglot AMC's because they're just not favorites of mine).  The Calypso Minerals do not stain like Sugarpill and the MUFE shadows do.  That's because there are NO dyes added!  So they're perfect for anyone who has dye allergies!

Yeah, I really don't have any colors similar to the Calypso Minerals ones.  This was the best I could come up with.  Envy is the only color I have yet to use, which is weird because I LOVE olive greens.

Ahhh True Blue, what a beautiful color you are!  
Besides True Blue so badly wanting to be navy blue, I still love it.  Also, I'm not sure if the particle size is a little bigger on True Blue but I have to take the sifter off of the container when I use it because I can't really get any out.  And Drama worked very well for me the one time I used it!

Again, I really don't have any colors like these Calypso Minerals colors.  I just figured I'd show them next to other colors so you could see the differences.  Lemon Sorbet is so much more of a wearable yellow than Buttercupcake.  It's much more subtle.  And Torrid is a GORGEOUS color!  I love the warmness of it.  I've used it like 3 times just by itself in the outer corners of my eyes, just for something simple but pretty.  And that Inglot shadow is the color I fill my brows in with.

And now the Lipthix I received
I have yet to use the one on the right.  It's a bit grey for me.  I've held it up to my face and it doesn't really look like it'd be that flattering.  So I didn't want to use it if I might give it away, you know?

LOVE this color!!! HATE the packaging!  It makes such a mess.  Without me even having to touch it.  I'll use some, clean up the tube, set it down, and when I come back an hour later, it's sitting in a little puddle of color. Very messy.  Not something I can carry around with me because it'll get all over everything.

This is a very light, cool toned pink.  It reminds me very much of a lighter version of MAC's Pink Friday lipstick.  I like this but I cannot wear it by itself.  It looks very very unnatural.

Love these under glosses but definitely not alone.  And you need only the littlest bit!  They're $10.  But they will last you forever!  I think I read somewhere that she can match any color you want her to, she just needs a sample.  I think that would be worth doing.  I've actually been considering it.  I've used these under other colors I think every day since I got them.

Overall, I would definitely 100% recommend these!  I love them.  Loose pigments are a bit different to work with than pressed shadows but that doesn't bother me.  Again, the color selection is a bit confusing, as are the prices but Jennifer got back to me very quickly with answers to my questions.  I'm a big fan of supporting small businesses as opposed to huge ones.  That's why I'd been looking around etsy for stuff.  I'm so glad I did!!!  

But man, am I sick of typing haha.  I hope that helps someone if you've been looking at these. 

Disclosure notice: I did purchase all of these products with my husband's own money (haha, I'm a stay at home mom).  Jennifer sent some extra products because that's another promotion type thing she does.   

I'm doing a giveaway that's running until December 19th, 2011 at 10:00 pm (EST) so be sure to enter HERE!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Geisha Inspired Makeup!

One day while waiting for our children to get off their buses, my neighbor and I were talking a little bit and she said she'd seen this video showing modern Geisha makeup and she loved it.  Now Geisha makeup isn't something I'd ever considered doing.  It scares me a little haha.  But I watched the tutorial she sent me which you can watch here!  I thought it was neat and just was trying to figure out a time when I could wear it without feeling completely nutso haha.

So today is that day.  I was very influenced by that YouTube video but I also googled "Geisha makeup" and took bits of inspiration from pictures I saw there too.  So here's my look!


It's soooo different for me!!  Which is good.

I did use a foundation that it way too light for my skin (which you can really see in the last picture!) to lighten but not white out my face.  

Eyes:
TFSI
NYX JEP "milk"
Inglot 403 P (yellow gold) shadow
Sugarpill's Love+ (red) shadow on eyes, cheeks, forehead, and a little in eyebrows
NYX "white" shadow
Revlon Colorstay/ Wet 'n Wild black liquid liners mixed
a set of Halloween lashes for top and some random ones for the lower lashes

Lips:
NYX "Amsterdam" soft matte lip cream

This was fun to do.  I definitely like trying different things but my problem is wearing them out.  Who wants to do makeup and then just wash it off??  That's no fun. 

I hope you like this (especially you, Carrie!). Haha I feel like a crazy person with the bottom lashes since they're not actually near my natural lashes so it feels VERY strange!  I hope you all enjoy your Sunday!!!  

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Balmbini Volume 2 Swatches and Review (VERY pic heavy!!)!

I don't know if you guys remember that Gonzo look I did recently but that was for a contest on theBalm's facebook page.  They were giving away a Muppet palette and you were supposed to do a look based on a Muppet and give it a name.  Well, I didn't win but I was a runner up and they sent the runners up each a Balmbini Volume 2 palette.  I got mine yesterday and since it's super new I figured I'd swatch it for you so you can decide whether or not this is a palette you'd be interested in!

Packaging:


 The cover splits so you can access just the shadows or just the lip/cheek colors

 Shadow swatches (over NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk"):

Swatches of the Balmbini Volume 2 colors vs. the first possible dupe colors I have that I thought of
As you can see, the "Peanut" is way more yellow toned than Promiscuous Pearl, which is a BEAUTIFUL color!  I absolutely see myself using Promiscuous Pearl a lot.  It's beautiful and shimmery and the texture is unbelievable.

NYX "Black" seems to be just a bit more black than Jinxy Jasmine but I still think that Jinxy Jasmine is a great black, I honestly do.  Again, the texture is soo nice!  I'll definitely use it.

And as for Manic Mirabel vs. U.D.'s "Baked" and Open to Offers Olwen vs. U.D.'s "Flipside", they're basically the same exact colors.  Urban Decay's are much more metallic but other than that, they're the same. I do really like these colors.  The pigmentation is great, as is the texture.

And I don't have any colors that would be a good dupe for Lavish Latoya because, to be totally honest, I'm really not a fan of that color.  The only thing I can see myself using it for would be maybe a smokey eye with a grey color I have from Inglot.  But I just don't have a dupe for it because it's not a color I would purchase for myself.


 The bottom half:

Swatches:
Strawberry is a really nice color.  I tend to go for powder blushes instead of cream because they can make my face makeup go muddy kind of, it's not a good look.  But I figured out if I stipple it over my foundation with my fingers, it doesn't mess up my foundation.

Nude is a pretty color but it's kind of drying feeling on my lips.  And it's a bit darker than nudes I typically reach for.

The whole thing open:

 It's not a huge palette, this is how it compares to my hand

And it's quite thin:

So out of the 7 colors in this palette, I really like 4.  The cheek color is ok and I'm sure I'll randomly use it.  But I don't see myself using "Lavish Latoya" or "Nude" very often, if ever.  I believe this palette retails for $28 on theBalm's website.  Would I pay $28 for it??  Probably not.  I do think the texture and pigment of the shadows is great.  I'm not a fan of 4 out of 5 being shimmery because I really like matte finishes.  I'm VERY glad the black is matte.  But they're not lacking pigmentation wise at all.  I'd buy it for sure if it were like half price.  I do love the fact that I can come up with a complete eye look using just this palette.  I hate having to pull out extra shadows to finish an eye look.  This has my matte black in it that I always use and an amazing highlight and some really great colors.

Now, I noticed that the back of the palette had a face chart that shows you where to place which product.  So I thought, since I'm reviewing this product anyway, that I'd follow the face chart and see what it would look like.  So here's the face chart

And here is what I look like after following it

I added some of the Open to Offers Olwen under my eye for a pop of color

Can I tell you how much I HATE that they said to put that Lavish Latoya in the inner part of the lid???  It looks terrible.  This look would be like 100 times better if they hadn't said to put that there.  

Can you see what a great cheek highlight that Promiscuous Pearl makes??  It's beautiful!
To me, this look was very blah.  I have complete faith that I will come up with some amazing looks using this palette, just the face chart look is not one of them.  I do think a big part of not liking it is the fact that I really don't like my whole lid to be shimmery.

I  really hope this was helpful to someone out there!  Do you think you'll be purchasing the Balmbini Volume 2??  Do you already have it?  Do you like it??

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks so much for checking this out!!! 

Friday, November 25, 2011

A kind of angelic look for Thanksgiving

*Edit* I know these colors are beautiful but I just found out that Calypso Minerals has been taking people's money and not sending them the products they've ordered.  So please don't order from them!  I'm so sorry!*

I didn't know what to do with my makeup.  So I was looking around and saw this blue from the stacker I bought from Calypso Minerals that I hadn't used yet called "Drama."  So I decided to use that.  It's a really beautiful color, I just don't usually go for lighter blues.  But I am really liking the way this turned out.  It's not super dramatic but I think it still looks nice. It definitely looks like I was going for something angelic, which I wasn't, it's just how it worked out.  And I threw on some false lashes (for you, Kassie!).

Then we went out to brave the craziness of Black Friday and while I was looking for a video game for my daughter, a gay man came over to me and said, "Your makeup looks fabulous!"  Which of course made my night haha.  I don't know what it is but I stinkin love it when a gay man compliments my makeup.  I feel like I've done something incredibly right when they compliment me haha.  But enough of my rambling (which is something I've been awesome at lately!) here's the look!




What I used:
TFSI
NYX JEP in "milk" (all over lid and up under brow)
Calypso Minerals "Drama" matte loose pigment
MAC "Teal" pigment (in crease)
An opalescent loose pigment I have by Tony & Tina (discontinued) as highlight
NYX "Silver" candy glitter liner
Revlon Colorstay and Wet 'n Wild black liquid liners mixed
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
And I'm really not sure what lashes those are because I've had them for a while and have them all mixed up with other lashes.

Cheeks:
ELF blush/bronzer duo
Ulta "Girlie" blush
same opalescent loose pigment as on eyes for highlight

Lips:
Pink Lipthix from Calypso Minerals
MAC "Boy Bait" cremesheen glass

So that was the look I wore on Thanksgiving.  Black Friday shopping is not my thing though haha.  People get so crazy and obnoxious.  I'm always nervous I'll get trampled.  People seem to forget that getting a decent deal isn't worth people dying (which has happened!).  But that man taking time out of his night to compliment my makeup restored my faith in people a little bit.  

How about you?  Did you brave the crazies and go out for Black Friday??

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The royals: blue and purple!

*Edit* I know these colors are beautiful but I just found out that Calypso Minerals has been taking people's money and not sending them the products they've ordered.  So please don't order from them!  I don't know about dupes for all of the colors but Glamour Doll Eyes has a color called "Mingles" which is a good dupe for "True Blue".  I'm so sorry!*

I wanted to do something fun and colorful but wasn't sure what to do.  I really like the way matte shadows look when you put glitter on top of them so that's what I went for.  Unfortunately, I don't have anything that properly adheres loose glitter to my skin so it didn't stick that well and you really can't see it in pictures.  But whatev, here's what I did!



Holla!  I used false lashes!
What I used:
TFSI
NYX JEP "Milk"
Calypso Minerals (C.M.) "True Blue"
C.M. "Grape Pop"
C.M. "Matte Violet"
Kat Von D "Peanut" for highlight
C.M. Purple glitter
MAC "Blacktrack" fluidline
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Fright Night "Sorceress" lashes (from Halloween sales)

And now I can't remember what I have on my lips in this picture haha.  Sorry!  

I posted a cute picture of my Sullivan and me yesterday but then last night I walked into my living room and my daughter was cuddling with him and I got this picture of them.  It's a favorite!  They're so darn cute together!
Yes, he's a pitbull but he's AMAZING with my daughter.  He bounces on my husband and me but he doesn't bounce on her.  He'll nibble on my hands but he doesn't nibble her.  He's so gentle with her it's amazing because gentle isn't really in his vocabulary haha.  They're little buddies.  I may have to tell him "sit" like 3 times for him to listen to me, she has to tell him once.  I just think they're the cutest little duo.

But enough of that.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I hope that you all have a great day!  I hope you get to spend it with family (if that's something you enjoy doing haha) and just enjoy the day!!  I'm thankful for you guys!  So thankful!  Having this blog really pushes me to do my makeup more and to practice different things. I know my skills have grown since I started and I definitely have you guys to thank for that!!