FOTD July 31/11

Today's look is actually apparently very on trend for this season! My latest issue of Allure magazine says monochromatic looks are "in" and this look was basically all orange/coral/peach! I used oranges and rusts on the eyes, an orangey coral on the cheeks, and a peachy nude on the lips - it reads more pink in these pictures because the products I used were a bit sheer and my natural lip tone is pinky. Gotta get some Lip Erase!

The pictures aren't as clear as I'd like, it's fairly overcast today so even the light outdoors where I took the pictures isn't that great! But you get the idea! ;)

What's on the Wishlist? Vol. 4 + Acquisitions from past wishlists!

I thought I would start out this edition of What's on the Wishlist by recapping some of the wishlist items from past lists that I've since gotten! First, here are the past wishlists:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

So far, from those three lists, I've gotten the BareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Combination skin (as part of the Daily Duo with a cleanser, review here), MAC Eyeshadow in Print (swatch and haul here), and the Smith's Rosebud Salve (review here)! So not doing too bad so far!! So let's get a peek at some of the things that are currently hanging out on my wishlists!

Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond

This bronzy, beautiful highlighter breaks all the rules for me. You see, generally I'm more of a liquid/cream highlighter girl. But I kept reading about this apparent miracle highlighting powder on what seemed like every beauty blog on the universe. I finally swatched it in Sephora and had a lightbulb moment - I get it now!! It's very glowy and because it's made up of four different shades you can really customize the colour! It's like getting a few different highlighters in one pan, which helps justify the hefty pricetag of $45.

Urban Decay 15 Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

For lovers of Urban Decay's incredibly buttery soft, pigmented eyeshadows, this new palette is a dream come true! And new is the operative word here - unlike many other UD palettes which recycle the same shades over and over, all fifteen shades in this palette are BRAND new! It's got a great mix of neutrals and colours, so there's something for everyone and every mood!!

Sephora Collection Moonshadow Baked Palette in "In the Nude"

A gorgeous collection of ten baked, shimmery eyeshadows in nude colours. This is right up my alley! It's fairly new out, so I can't wait to see some swatches, or swatch them myself at Sephora, whichever comes first!

Review/Swatches: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

 (image from NYX's website)

If you haven't tried the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils, you're missing out! And if you've never heard of them, get out from under that rock!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils are awesome little cream shadows in chunky pencil form. Currently I own eight shades, seen here:

These are very pigmented and smooth shadows. They are prone to creasing when they're on their own, so I would recommend them as bases underneath powder shadows. They really grip powder shadows laid over top of them, intensify the colour a lot and make them last quite a bit longer. Milk is a good shade to use underneath almost anything. Cottage Cheese is great for a highlight shade. Iced Mocha looks wonderful under shimmery taupe shadows!

There's a great range of colours, from neutrals to brights to darks. The price is right too, I've gotten all of mine from Cherry Culture where they're only $4.50 but almost always on sale for $2.99 or even less. These are highly recommended! My rating for them would be 4/5 only because they can't really be worn alone, but I don't mind that myself since I always top cream shadows with powder anyways!

Review: Icing by Claire's Makeup Brushes

I was browsing at Icing the other day during a long lunch break at work, and decided to take a peek at some of the makeup and nail polish. Nothing was really catching my eye, but I noticed they had a selection of makeup brushes, some of which had black handles, and some which had bamboo handles. So here's what I hauled!

A Kabuki Brush, and an Eyeshadow Crease Brush.

The Kabuki is incredibly soft and thick! I took a few tugs on the bristles to see if they felt loose or like they would come out all over my face during use or when I washed it, and nothing budged, so this seems like a very sturdy brush. It picks up a LOT of pigment, so what I like to do is lightly tap it in the blush, tap it off, lay the colour down on my cheeks, and then wipe the brush off on a tissue and use the clean brush to blend out the blush! I like how soft and densely packed the brush is, it makes blending out the blush much easier.

Closer shot of the bristles.

(sorry this shot is a little overexposed! I really wanted to get the shot while the light was good and my camera battery was on its last legs!) This is the Eyeshadow Crease Brush, a fluffy topped eyeshadow brush. I have been looking for something like this, and since the deal at Icing was buy one, get one 50% off, this was meant to be! This is also a really soft brush, and the perfect size and shape for blending out the shadow in your crease. This one will definitely be going into heavy rotation for me!

Closer shot of the bristles.

Overall I think these brushes were priced very well! The Kabuki was $7.25 (I believe it was $6.50USD) and the Eyeshadow Crease Brush was $5 ($4.50USD) but it was 50% off so only $2.50! So I got both brushes for less than $11 including tax!! Well worth it! Next time I need to replace a makeup brush or just try something new, I'll definitely be checking out Icing!

NOTD July 29/11

I got myself one of my wishlist nail polished, Revlon Top Speed in Jaded! It's a beautiful pastel seafoam green! The formula was slightly funny to work with, but it turned out fine in the end! This is two coats. :) I loved the colour so much I didn't want to put any nail art over it, although I may end up adding something later.

Review: Bare Escentuals BareMinerals Naturally Luminous Daily Duo for Combination Skin

The Bare Escentuals BareMinerals Naturally Luminous Daily Duo for Combination Skin (from now on known as NLDD) is a two pack of a smaller-than-normal but bigger-than-deluxe-sample moisturizer and cleanser. For around $23 you get a 60 ml (2 fl. oz.) cleanser and a 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) moisturizer. The full sized Purifying Facial Cleanser is 177 ml (6 oz) for about $20 and the full sized Purely Nourishing Moisturizer is 50 ml (1.7 fl oz) for about $28. So if you were getting the full sized ones you'd be getting 227 ml/7.7 fl. oz. of product for $48 ($0.21/ml or $6.23 per ounce) compared to 90 ml/3 fl. oz. of product with the Duo for $23 ($0.25/ml or $7.67 per ounce). But as you can obviously see, you get not a whole lot more moisturizer in the "full size" but you get three times as much cleanser!! Wish it was more comparable there!

In any case, let's get to the goods! The Purifying Facial Cleanser is a gel with a slightly milky quality to it, and it smells quite nice, like Earl Grey tea with bergamot and a bit of lavender. It's one of my favourite scented products I've ever owned actually, slightly sweet but soft, not too flowery or anything. It foams up fairly well but it doesn't foam up like POOF and then all slide off your hands, its gel-like texture tends to cling to your hands so there's actual product for you to use to wash your face! It leaves my face feeling lovely and soft, no dryness or anything to speak of!

But for me, the real star of the NLDD is the Purely Nourishing Moisturizer. The scent is identical to the cleanser, and it has a light texture that blends into the skin very easily and absorbs very quickly, leaving my skin feeling soft and hydrated without being slick or greasy in any way. I honestly feel that I can see a difference in my skin from the moment I put it on. There is no tint of any kind in it, but I immediately see the overall tone of my skin look more even when I use it. I have no idea how it works, all I know is that it most definitely does!! I love that I don't have to wait for it to absorb before putting on my makeup, it's instant!

For where I'm at right now, this is probably gotta be my HG moisturizer! I would definitely recommend trying it!

For the Purifying Facial Cleanser I give a 4/5, and for the Purely Nourishing Moisturizer I give a 5/5! Go check them out! Although I can't vouch for them myself, BareMinerals does also make this duo (and individual products) for dry skin. If you've tried those, or the Combination Skin products, let me know how you liked them in the comments!

Review: Smith's Rosebud Salve

It's been a little over two weeks since I got my mitts on Smith's Rosebud Salve, that cult favourite lip balm you may have heard of!

More than just a lip balm though, this is what Sephora has to say about it:

• "This cult-favorite, multi-purpose lip balm soothes dry lips, calms and heals irritation, and soothes the sting of minor burns. Try dabbing on dry elbows or knees to condition, and relieve dryness. Also an excellent remedy for the treatment of diaper rash. "

Ooooh! Multi-purpose! I can't attest as to it's effectiveness in these areas though, since I have no burns right now (although I could try it on my boyfriend, he's a welder and always gets little burns) and I don't tend to have very dry skin anywhere. But in any case, you came here for the lip review right?

As a lip balm, I would have to give Smith's Rosebud Salve a 4/5. Not the holy grail yet, but not bad at all. It's got a petrolatum base, so it's got quite a bit of slip to it, not at all waxy like Carmex or Burt's Bees. It does last a fairly long time on the lips though despite the slippery texture, which is nice. And, you guessed it, it smells like roses! To be honest at first I thought the scent was a bit much but you get used to it very quickly. But if you have a strong sense of smell and don't like the smell of roses, this might not be for you.

But alas, my lips are still not quite where I want them to be. I don't know if it's me, or the climate, or something else but my lips are always so dry no matter how much I moisturize them, to the point of peeling on a regular basis. It's part of the reason why I don't wear a lot of lip products - lipstick doesn't look too great on flaky lips!

So the search continues! What would you recommend for extremely dry lips?

OOTD July 26/11

Here's a first! And not really something I foresee doing a whole lot, it isn't really my thing! But I bought this dress yesterday at Forever 21 and I looove it so much, I had to take a picture! But wouldn't you know when I left for work this morning I get outside and it's cold and rainy. :( I sucked it up though and wore it to work anyways since I'm indoors all day so the weather doesn't matter much! It was too cute to change out of (not that I had time to anyways!).

The necklace is also from F21! It's a gold chain with a little loop and then three gold leaves dangling from it. The shrug is from Dynamite.

Just a heads up though - there may be another OOTD tomorrow because I also bought a really cute top from Stitches and I may want to show it off!

On a more philisophical note...

Taking ownership and control of your appearance while loving who you are on the inside. These things are not mutually exclusive.

I got to thinking about this today on the bus ride home. Why do people who put a lot of effort into their appearance do so? Why do some people not at all? Why do some people beat themselves up emotionally about the way they look to a point where it affects how they feel about themselves as a human being? Are people who put a lot of effort into their appearance shallow, or trying to hide themselves?

To address those who are unhappy with their appearance and because of that, don't put effort into it and feel badly about themselves for it - don't! Remember, you have the face God or your plastic surgeon gave you (hey, you never know!) but regardless, every day when you wake up and look in the mirror, that's what you're working with. Period. Wishing won't change it, and what you see in the mirror isn't reflecting the beauty inside of you. I find for myself that no matter what insecurities I might have about my appearance, putting effort into making myself look good reminds me that I'm worth it (to cop a cheesy line from L'Oreal!) and that I'm reflecting the beauty I know I have on the inside, to the outside. There is beauty in everyone, and finding it and expressing it can be a lot simpler than you think.

But this isn't to say that only those who put effort into a more natural look are happy with who they are. Put it this way - no one is born with the knowledge and skills to be a heart surgeon. You have to make a conscious decision to become one, and then apply yourself seriously to becoming one. Just because you weren't born knowing how to be a heart surgeon, does that mean you aren't meant to be one? Of course not! The same principle applies to your personal appearance! If you have dark hair and want to be blonde, do it! If you are pale and want to use self tanners until you're a bronze goddess, do it! If you want to wear a dark smokey eye look every damn day, do it! Just be sure that whatever you are doing to alter your appearance is to enhance the expression and celebration of who you are, not to create a mask or a disguise to hide the true you or pretend to be someone else because you're not happy in your heart.

The power of aesthetics is that you can look inside yourself at who you are and who you want to be, and display that outwardly for the world to see. Next time you look in the mirror, try not to think of who the world wants you to be, or who you wish you could be. Think about who you are, what you love about yourself and what you want to say without words. Then pick up that makeup brush, hair brush, bronzer or box of hair dye - and express it.

Upcoming Posts

Just a teaser post here! I'm away from home right now, but I thought I'd give a hint as to some of the posts I'm planning on doing in the near future! And these are only the planned ones, often an idea for a post will hit me out of nowhere!

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils Swatches and Review
• Smith's Rosebud Salve Review
• BareMinerals Naturally Luminous Daily Duo for Combination Skin Review
• Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation Swatches and Review
• more nail art NOTD posts! My next mani should be happening within the next few days!

Keep your eyes peeled for these posts, coming soon!

One Lovely Blog Award

I was lucky enough to receive my second award, from the lovely Sandra!! Thank you so much :). It's so exciting to be recognized!

One Lovely Blog Award

Rules:

• Link to the person you got it from
• Tell seven things about yourself
• Give the award to ten bloggers

Seven things about me:
1. I am aspirationally multilingual. (translation: I only speak one language now, but I'd like to speak more!)
2. I love music that makes me want to dance.
3. Although I haven't played a lot lately, I've been a huge fan of The Sims ever since the first version came out - although I've never been interested in TS3, just TS1 and then TS2!
4. I could live off of fruit of any sort (except cantaloupe and honeydew - yuck!)
5. Even though I am fairly short (just shy of 5'3") I always feel like I'm taller! Sometimes I just forget I'm short and I'm surprised when people remark on it!
6. Even though I'm 23, I still love Seventeen magazine and I'm considering getting a subscription to it again (the last time I had one I was much closer to being seventeen!)
7. My favourite place in the whole world is Disneyland!! I went twice as a child and I am dying to get back there again!! I'd love to take my boyfriend because he's never been!

Pay It Forward
1. rebecca likes nails
2. Scrangie
3. LC Makeup Blog
4. The Girly Enthusiast
5. Heather Does Makeup
6. Delyteful Speaks
7. emmabovarybeauty
8. Cheryl's Beauty Blog
9. don't call me jessie
10. Steal My Heart Lovee

NOTD July 21/11

Holy guacamole! I just browsed back and realized that in the past month alone, I've changed my nails a whopping eight times! And only one of those times was just straight polish, every other time was nail art! I hadn't realized it was that much, but to be fair I do type all day at work and then at home I type on the computer a lot too - not too easy on the nails! And changing it up is fun!

Here's the latest look! Leopard print!! Light chartreuse green background with muddy greige and black dots!

Review: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

The fabled Shu Uemura eyelash curler is up for review today! I recently purchased it on a whim at Sephora (haul post here) after thinking about purchasing it for years.

So here's the thing.... I'm not too crazy about this lash curler. But I don't think that it's a bad lash curler. I think I'm just spoiled because by total fluke I happen to already own the best freaking lash curler ever, and nothing - not even the Shu - can measure up to it for me. The curler I already own has no brand name on it, I received it in my kit when I attended makeup artistry school several years ago. It's got pink cushioning on the handles for a softer, easier grip, so in my mind I call it "Pinkie"! I pray I never lose it because I wouldn't know where to buy it. I'd probably have to resort to calling the school up to try and figure it out.

In any case, here's the lowdown on the Shu. I do think it's a good curler (just not the best) and if you aren't happy with the curler you have now, particularly if you're using cheaper ones from the drugstore like Revlon (which is what I used to use before Pinkie came into my life) then the Shu will be a huge improvement for you!

The main thing I've noticed that makes the Shu different from many other lash curlers is the shape of it.

Notice how the part where the pad sits is curved, and then of course the upper part is as well? Most other curlers are straight across. I can see how this can help because it is shaped to the curve of your eyelid, which helps you grab more of your eyelashes. Here's another angle (it looks crooked but it's not, it's just the angle I'm holding it at):

All in all my only issue is that I feel I have to apply too much pressure and hold it too long to get the curl I want. Still definitely better than drugstore, but not as good as Pinkie, which has a spring on it and takes only a couple quick squeezes as I walk up the lashes to get a strong curl. With the Shu I would usually have to hold at each spot on the lashes (I usually curl once at the base, and twice more up the lashes towards the ends) for about 5+ seconds each, and without any padding on the handles it can get uncomfortable on the fingers.

I'm not too confident with a number rating system yet, but if I had to give this lash curler one I would probably rate it a 4/5 - good, but not my holy grail - turns out I had that all along!

Here's a shot of Pinkie for those curious. :)

FOTD July 16/11

Main Colours Used

• shade 24 from the Sephora 5-in-1 palette on the lids (light shimmery lavender)
• MAC Print eyeshadow in the crease (medium satin grey)
• shade 38 from the Sephora 5-in-1 palette on the outer V (medium-dark shimmery grey with a veery slight pull towards taupe)
• Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black
• Covergirl LashBlast Mascara in Blackest Black (waterproof)
• e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss
• blush is a mix of the blushes from the Angelic Boudoir palette and the A nod to Mod palette, both from Sephora 5-in-1 palette (a peachy pink and cool fuchsia, respectively)

NOTD July 16/11

The weather has turned muggy, dreary and rainy here... I want my summer back!! I'm brightening up my life the best way I can right now, with a bright and fun nail look - paint splatter! This one was actually requested by my boyfriend when he was peeking over my shoulder at my nail inspiration folder!

Top 10 Award!!

Wheeeeeeee!!! Thanks to the lovely Esther I now have my first official blog award!!! A million thanks to you sweetheart, it really does mean a lot!

Of course, with something as awesome as this you really have to pay it forward! That's part of the fun! And even better, getting this award comes with an activity too... here's the rules!

• Link back to the person who tagged you.
• List your top ten favourite products.
• Nominate 10 other bloggers.

 Done and DONE!


Top 10 Products: (in no particular order....)


Urban Decay Naked Palette - For someone who loves neutral eyeshadows, this palette truly is the mack daddy. Everything you need from subtle to intense, and each and every one is pigmented, highly blendable and buttery smooth. I use this almost every day and I've had it for coming up to a year now.

Sephora 5-in-1 Color Play Palette (Limited Fashion Edition) - This palette is beloved because it gives me SO many options. There are 50 eyeshadows, 10 lipglosses and 5 blushes!! I don't use the lipglosses a lot - not because they're bad quality, in fact they're actually quite awesome! But I'm not a fan of lipglosses mixed in with powder products, or even in a palette in general... I prefer my lip products standalone. But I use the eyeshadows and the blushes ALL the time and I love having such an amazing selection of choices!! And let me tell you, there are more than a few awesome taupes in here!! <3 Review here.

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte
Despite what the name might say, this bronzer is not completely matte! It has a bit of shimmer which on the skin translates to a beautiful glow without being anything even approaching a glitterbomb. I use this stuff every single day because it's easy to build from extremely subtle to full on bronze goddess. And because the baked powder forms a dome shape, this pan will last me a looong time. I've had it for a year and it's only just now getting to be about level with the compact.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation in Soft Beige
I was in the market for a new foundation and everything I had heard about this stuff led me to believe it was exactly what I was looking for, and boy am I glad I picked it up!! It's got a great medium satin coverage, and it does do a great job of lasting. Love it!! Review here.

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Glow
This is pretty much the perfect cream blush!! The colour is a very pigmented natural but still bright medium pink, the texture is smooth and soft, and a little goes a loong way!! This has me jonesing for quite a few more of the NYX cream blushes!!

e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss
Even though I'm not a big lip product person (most days it's just lip balm, thanks!) this is probably my HG lip product. The perfect slightly warm pink with very subtle golden shimmer, it's a my lips but better shade. As a bonus, I LOVE the smell (kind of candy like but not too sweet) and the texture, which I heard somewhere as being almost like a gummy candy wrapping around your lips. It doesn't feel overly sticky nor too slick like it will just evaporate off your lips. Considering the fact these lip glosses are also only around $1, what's not to love?

MAC Eyeshadow in Woodwinked
This was baby's first MAC product!! That's right! And I can see why it's so popular, when I bought it I didn't know a lot about MAC and I had no idea Woodwinked was one of the most popular shades, I just gravitated to it on my own. This shade is amazing no matter what way you wear it, but one of the (many) reasons I love it is because of how pigmented and blendable it is, and how it's the perfect balance between light and dark to make it easy to just swipe on your lids and go on those rushed mornings. It's like eyeshadow for dummies or something!

Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black
When the $12 drugstore eyeliner blows the $23 Make Up For Ever eyeliner completely out of the water, you know you've found yourself a winner!! This liner is unbelievably pigmented and smooth!! A couple quick swipes of this with a bent liner brush is faster and easier than even using a pencil eyeliner, because you don't have to fuss around with the stuff. It's just that good! 

bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Combination Skin
I first tried this stuff as a deluxe sample from a Sephora.com order, and at the time was having some mysterious and uncharacteristic extreme dryness/roughness on my cheeks. I had tried a couple heavy moisturizers but nothing seemed to be helping at all. I used this literally once and felt a huge improvement within minutes. By the second time I used it, it was gone. Like magic. Even though this is *just* a moisturizer with no tint in it or anything, when I put this on my skin I notice an immediate difference in the look of my skin - it looks more smooth, the colour looks more even... it just glows!! I just bought myself a pack with a small duo of this moisturizer and the matching cleanser! Haul post here.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
I don't know what I even did before I tried this stuff. All the years, fussing over creased or faded eyeshadow, packing less pigmented eyeshadow on my lids in a vain attempt to get it to stick and to show up. Wasted time, because I could have been using this stuff. It grabs your eyeshadow and locks it into place all day long!! On the rare occasion where I fall asleep with my makeup on (bad Kayleigh!) I can often wake up the next morning with my eyeshadow looking no worse for wear, thanks to this magical potion.

My Nominations: (also in no particular order!)

1. Miss Natty's Beauty Diary
2. Makeup and Macaroons
3. very emily
4. nevertoomuchglitter
5. Will Work for Makeup
6. Let's MakeYuUp
7. Frippery Digits
8. Makeup and Beauty Blog
9. The Beauty Bite
10. Pink Sith

It was HARD picking only ten!! Considering I follow 36 and counting!!!

NOTD July 12/11

Sorry for the no updates lately! Work's been keeping me busy and wanting to do literally NOTHING on my down time!! But I have found some time to do my nails! Another one I got the idea for from a Tumblr blog (the manicure inspiration folder on my computer is growing at an alarming rate!) for some flowers on a black background!! I think I still need to get the hang of scaling patterns to the size of my nails... I didn't intend it to be this big or have the flowers overlap! But I still like how it turned out!

Minor facelift!

Hey everyone!! I was playing around a bit with my Blogger display settings, because I was feeling restricted by the width of my blog. I couldn't get images to be as big as I wanted without them running into the nav bar. Lucky for me though, Blogger lets you adjust the width very easily! So I've widened it up a teeny bit, slightly narrowed the nav bar to compensate, and gone through and increased the size of all the images on the blog for your viewing pleasure!

Enjoy! <3

Sephora Haul! Smith's Rosebud Salve, BareMinerals Naturally Luminous Daily Duo for Combination Skin, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler!

That has to be the longest blog title I've ever done! Whew!

I had a VERY successful payday visit to Sephora on Friday! Usually when I go in there, all memory of the things I've been meaning to buy for a long time just fly out of my head, and I'm overwhelmed by choice, and usually end up either leaving with nothing or with a complete impulse buy. So this time, I took pictures of my phone of my Sephora.com shopping list and had it with me in Sephora!!

The Smith's Rosebud Salve and the BareMinerals skincare were wishlist items, the Shu Uemura curler was a true impulse buy though! I didn't even realize you could buy it there because it's not on the website, but I guess that's because the site is U.S. and you can't get Shu in the U.S. anymore... for once there's something you can get in Canada but not in the States!!

Here's some more pics of my goodies!

Reviews of these to come!! :)

NOTD July 6/11

Triiiibaaall!!! I had been wanting to try this trend for a while, and I found this colour combo I really liked, so I went for it!! It's not perfect but it was actually easier than I expected it to be! I did redo part of it though - I did the thumb first and liked it on the first go, but the rest I wasn't happy with and re-did. Overall I really like the colours and the design! I'm excited to try out more tribal designs, especially when I get my hands on some proper striping polishes!

Another thing of note is that today is my anniversary with my boyfriend - four years! Can't believe how time flies!! :) Money is tight at the moment so we stayed in and relaxed, watched a movie - I got to come home from work with dinner already made which was also great!! <3 Hope you all are having a great week too!!

What's in the Bag?

I've seen these posts on lots of other blogs before, but I've never done one myself!! So here I am.... gonna spill the beans (or the glosses?) on what's in my makeup bag right now!

I know, I know... look what the cat dragged in right? This makeup bag has clearly seen better days and I've been on the lookout for a better one, but everytime I see a bunch of little makeup bags, they're either not quiiite what I'm looking for style or size wise, or they're pretty close to right but way overpriced! I'm not gonna pay more than about $10 for a little makeup bag tossed into my purse! Maaybe $15... but it would have to be really special. So until then, this will have to do!

And the contents!! On the left we see several nubby ends of eyeliners. I need to restock on basic eyeliner soooo badly it's not even funny!!

• Annabelle Smoothliner in Black
• Some random Covergirl brow pencil, which I can't see the name of anymore, and which is too light now that my hair is darker!
• A double ended Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner - this was the one from the Naked Palette, with Zero on one end and Whiskey on the other. There's still a bit of Whiskey left for the sharpening, Zero is down to the metal though!

Then there's some lip products!

• Basic Carmex in a tube!!
• MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Petting Pink
• elf Super Glossy Lip Shine in Tropical Breeze

Then mascaras!

• Covergirl LashBlast Waterproof in Very Black - old tube and new tube! Still got some left to use in the old tube! I'll use it for bottom lashes mostly, since it's a little less goopy than the new one.
• Covergirl LashBlast Length Waterproof in Very Black - I sometimes layer this over the original for LOTS of length, but it's almost time for this tube to go, it's getting pretty dry!

Then last but not least, some concealers!

• Benefit Erase Paste, awesome for concealing under the eyes because it brightens quite nicely!
• Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in DEA, great for concealing blemishes and redness! So creamy, I love this stuff!

Update To NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Swatch and Review!

You may remember my recent post about NYX Ultra Pearl Manias? No? Well check it out now!! I wasn't able to find one of the colours I have, but I found it tonight so I snapped some pics and added it to my review!

Go see!

<3

NOTD July 3/11 - Confetti! (plus bonus polish swatch)

Fun, bright, happy confetti nails!! I love these so much :)

Also, for the past few days my nails were painted solidly in that blue shade which is Sally Hansen's Blue Me Away!, here's a shot of that.

Such a gorgeous shade!

FOTD July 2/11

Ultra natural! I challenged myself to go very natural which isn't usual for me, but I really like how this turned out.

Skin:
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation
Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil
Revlon PhotoReady Translucent Finishing Powder
Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte
Wet n' Wild Color Icon Blush in Pearlescent Pink

Eyes:
Sephora 5 in 1 Palette: Shade 39 on the lid, 14 in the crease and smudged under lower lashes, 30 as highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner in Whiskey (with some brown shadow patted on top)
CoverGirl Lash Blast Waterproof

Review/Swatches: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania

I've had these little bullets of loveliness (odd phrasing?) for quite some time, but I've never mentioned them on my blog and they deserve some attention!

They are small little bullets of loose eyeshadow. All the shades have a very shimmery/pearly finish, and are very pigmented and blendable. As an added bonus, these have virtually NO fallout, which is always a concern with a loose shadow. Overall, if you are a fan of shimmery eyeshadows, these are something you need to check out!

The only real drawback with these can be the packaging. They are in small open mouth containers, which are too small to dip a brush into. I find the best method is to get a square of toilet paper and tap a small amount onto it and dab my brush onto that to pick up the colour. And I mean a small amount - a little of this stuff goes a long way! Like I said, pigmented!!

The shades I own, from left to right: Nude, Mocha, Black, Pearl, True Purple, Turquoise.

Update: I found Baby Pink! Here's a picture of it, I put it next to Pearl for shade comparison. Baby Pink is on the right, Pearl on the left.

Swatches! Top row left to right is Nude, Black, Turquoise. Bottom row left to right is Mocha, Pearl, and True Purple.

Update: Here is the swatch for Baby Pink! Also swatched next to Pearl for comparison. Baby Pink on the left, Pearl on the right.

Nude is a really lovely shimmery nude, definitely yellow toned. It's gorgeous used as a highlight on the inner corners and the inner part of the eyelid.

Black is a shimmery black, not one I've actually used a lot (I don't have a chance to wear a lot of dark smokey looks so I haven't been able to experiment with it as much) but it's definitely a gorgeous colour, applies very smooth. The thing that I think makes it stand out from other shimmery/glittery blacks is that the shimmer is very finely milled and smooth, no chunkiness in sight.

Turquoise is a lovely light turquoise, makes you think of the ocean! It's almost exactly between blue and green, but perhaps leans a teeny bit more towards blue.

Mocha is a gorgeous medium toned cool brown/taupe shade... it actually appears much cooler in real life than in this picture. I love this shade, it's probably my favourite of the ones I own. So nice just as a wash of colour all over the lid and that's about all you need!

Pearl is a light shimmery pale pink colour, but it has flashes of lavender and white as well.. just like a pearl!

True Purple Pearl is a slightly warm toned purple; there are definite pink undertones in this. Although I generally prefer much cooler, blue-based purples, this is a really pretty shade for sure.

Update: Baby Pink is a light, cool toned pink, but it's definitely darker and more of a "true" pink than Pearl, which has those purply qualities I was talking about.

I have more than a few Ultra Pearls on my wishlist right now, such as Silver, Yellow, Lime, Lilac and Sky Pink.

A tip for Canadians! I have seen NYX in store at some locations, like Save-On-Foods, but it's usually not that well priced, for example these would be around $5 or even $6. I recommend going to a store that stocks NYX in your area to check stuff out in person and swatch to find what you like. I did that and discovered that some stuff I thought I would like wasn't so great in person, and some stuff I had ignored looked awesome! Then go to Cherry Culture and do an online order! The prices are phenomenal, with Ultra Pearls being only $2-$3 each, the site often having great sales, and shipping to Canada being totally reasonable. I've done several LARGE orders from here such as all the shadows in this post, several of the Jumbo Eye Pencils and other things totally only $40 including shipping... so definitely don't miss out on those deals!

And last but most definitely not least...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!