Thursday, February 21, 2013

Too Faced Air Buffed BB Cream

I recently purchase the new Too Faced Air Buffed BB Cream in the shade Vanilla Glow (the second lightest shade). The packaging is adorable with a brush on the top. The product is a cream, which I was not expecting with a name like "Air Buffed". You really have to work your brush in the product to pick any up. While the included brush is cute, I don't think it's the most practical as its quite tiny.

Coverage wise this is pretty good! I don't need or want full coverage and I feel like this a solid medium coverage. It can be finicky to apply and can be streaky. You just need to smooth your fingers over it after applying with a brush.

I do like this product and feel it gives nice coverage and feels good on the skin.







Monday, February 18, 2013

Recent Pickups

My weekend project was depoting all my MAC single shadows and putting them into palettes. Needless to say, I had a ton of pots to return for Back 2 MAC. (Just FYI: I did verify with MAC Customer Service via email that they will take pots with out pans back for the program).

Since I am making a trip to the Pro store this weekend, I only took in enough empties for two lipsticks I my Macy's MAC counter. They were out of half of the colors I was looking for, so I settled on Sweetie and Brave. Sweetie is a lustre finish in a bright, sparkly pink. Lustres do go on semi sheer, but can be built up. Brave is a pinky brown and a Satin finish. It does feel a tad drying on the lips.

I also picked up the MAC Archie's Girls quad in Caramel Sundae (from the Betty half of the collection). I did read some mixed reviews on this, but I love the colors and packaging so much.

At Ulta, I grabbed two Hempz lotions for my bag. One in Original and the other in Cucumber and Jasmine. I love this lotion! It's so moisturizing, smells great, and travels well.





Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette

Urban Decay released a face palette for Spring 2013 that goes in the 'Naked' line. It contains a bronzer, highlighter, and blush. It's housed in a sturdy, bronze plastic care that has a good sized mirror. I love that UD is making palettes that are great for travel and not so bulky!

The bronzer is great for fair skin since it is hard to go overboard with. It's matte and definitely needs to be built up on most skin tones.

The highlighter is pretty frosty, so a light hand is needed! This can emphasize pores, so that is something to be aware of.

The blush is crazy pigmented and honestly, a color I don't see myself wearing. I have a fair amount if redness to my cheeks and this color would really emphasize that.

Overall, this is a nice palette. Compact, sturdy, and the overall quality is nice.





Friday, February 8, 2013

MAC Prolongwear Paint Pot: Vintage Selection

I'm a big fan of MAC's Paint Pots. I love them as a wash on the lid or as a sticky base for other shadows, so I was super excited when I saw MAC was releasing a new Pro longwear version. When I was picking up my Archie's Girls goodies, I ha to take a peek at them.

Vintage Selection is a pretty beige with shimmer. It seemed like it would be a pretty, simple wash of color. Well...all I seem to get on my lid is shimmer. And fallout. And that's OVER a primer. I'll keep working with it, but I'm not impressed. Yet.





MAC Archie's Girls: Lipglass

Two of the lipglosses from the Archie's Girls collection came home with me. I picked up Summer Sweetheart from the Betty side and Mall Madness from Veronica's half.

Summer Sweetheart is a pretty peach. It really just lightens my natural lip color a bit and will be great for layering.

Mall Madness is a shimmery fuchsia. This is actually very wearable. It isn't totally opaque and leaves a nice pink color and sparkle! Love it!

MAC lipglass is thick and sticky, but this gives it better staying power than a typical gloss.





MAC Archie's Girls: Lipstick

I picked up two of the lipsticks from the Archie's Girls collection. I have Oh Oh Oh from the Betty half and Daddy's Little Girl from the Veronica half.

Oh Oh Oh is a lustre finish. It looks very brown in the bullet, but applies a pretty pink plum. Since its a lustre, it is semi sheer.

Daddy's Little Girl is a satin finish. It's a pretty blue based fuchsia. It is really opaque with one swipe of the bullet.

Overall, I'm happy with the colors I chose. I definitely see myself using Oh Oh Oh more often.







MAC Archie's Girls Blush: Cream Soda

Cream Soda is from the 'Betty' half of the collection. It's a satin finish peach. It's actually fairly pigmented and doesn't feel dry. I think it's a great Spring color! I'm happy with this purchase.







Thursday, February 7, 2013

MAC Archie's Girls Collection Haul

MAC Archie's Girls Collection was released on counters today and I picked up a few things. For now, I'm just putting up pictures of everything. I'll do individual posts over the next few days!





Monday, February 4, 2013

NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder-Pressed

NARS recently released a new setting powder. It's supposed to have light reflecting pigments and blur pores and fine lines.

This powder is amazing! And I generally don't get excited by setting powders. It gives a semi matte, yet glowy, finish to the skin. It seems to blur the visible pores on my nose. It just generally makes my skin look better.

This is available in both a pressed and loose form. I really am thinking about getting both! The pressed for my purse and the loose to keep at home. This is totally worth the $34!







Thursday, January 31, 2013

January Empties

While I haven't been doing well with my promise to limit cosmetic purchases, I have done a fairly decent job with using things up!

Most of what I went through were body care items. I also threw out some mascaras that were old, getting dry, or almost gone anyway. There are some skincare samples as well.

Not too shabby for one month!

Urban Decay Naked Skin BB Cream

Urban Decay recently released their version of a BB Cream and, sadly, for me it's a fail. It's supposed to blur pores and fine lines and even out skin tone.

I picked up a sample from Sephora when it was first released and let me tell you, i had high hopes! Well, it didn't really do any of that for me. The color didn't work for me at all (it was entirely too orange/dark). It didn't do anything to even tone, but I do have a fair amount of redness in my cheeks. I don't have super visible pores, except on my nose, and they remained just as visible. I tried this on its own and as a primer. It just didn't do much for me. Even under foundation my skin had an unnatural orange cast to it. This also had a really strong mint smell too it, which was weird.

If you have really good skin to begin with, this may work for you. I love Urban Decay, but not this product.



Monday, January 28, 2013

Maybelline Color Whisper: Pin Up Peach

The new Color Whisper lipsticks are a gel like, sheer lippie. I have only picked up one so far, but I really do like the formula so will probably get more!

I have the color Pin Up Peach. It's a pretty coral and will be lovely in Spring and Summer! It's very comfortable to wear, feels moisturizing, and can be built up. It is sheer at first swipe as the name suggests.

Overall, these are great! The color selection is decent. They feel nice on and don't dry my lips. These are a win!





Friday, January 25, 2013

Urban Decay Naked Basics: My Workhorse

I recently picked this little palette up and must say, it is awesome. I'm pretty sure you've seen swatches/reviews already, but here's my two cents. I reach for this nearly everyday; for a highlight, shadow to even out my lid color, or a crease/liner color. This little palette has it all!



Thursday, January 24, 2013

Blush Swatches

I am not a big blush collector. I have a lot of natural pigmentation in my cheeks, so I've always passed on blush for fear of emphasizing it. Lately though I have started to experiment with blush a bit more and have added a few to my collection.

NARS seems to be the standard for blushes in the mid range cosmetics. I only have two: Douceur and a mini Orgasm (part of an old Sephora 500 point perk). Douceur is a dusty pink/mauve. It looks really dark and brown in the swatches, but looks less dirty in real life. I'm fairly sure everyone knows why Orgasm looks like...but it's a shimmery peachy pink.

From Tarte, I have two of the Amazonian clay blushes. Both were part of various kits and I'm not sure they are available individually. Charisma is a peachy pink with shimmer. Adventurous is a muted berry with shimmer.

As far as MAC blushes go, I currently own one (although I do have 3 MSFs). It is Launch Away and was released last summer. It's a nice, light pink with a bit of peach and no shimmer/sheen.

Lastly, I have a bareMinerals blush from the Ready line in The Natural High. I reviewed this recently, but it's (again) a peachy pink with shimmer.

(Do we see a trend with my choices?!?)

I definitely need to branch out some with my color choices and also get more matte/satin finishes, but I'm still a blush newbie. Do you have a favorite blush or one you can't wait to buy?



















Sorry For The Lack Of Posts!

Sorry I haven't been around much lately! Life is a bit hectic at the moment, but should settle soon. I hope to start regular posts again next week!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

New: Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colors

Today I have swatches of two of the new Caviar Stick Eye Colors for Spring. I picked up Amethyst and Rose Gold. Amethyst is a beautiful purple taupe. Rose Gold is a pretty beige pink. Both are gorgeous, pigmented, and blendable.

Caviar Stick Eye Colors retail for $24. I picked mine up at Sephora.