Just Another Cloudy Day.

It's been pretty cloudy the past few weeks that I haven't really been able to take decent blog photos, and then of course when I'm stuck indoors studying for exams, the sun decides to shine like it's already summer. Story of my life, right? ;)

Anyway, I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but I've accumulated quite the array of products in the past few weeks/months, and I'm slowly (major emphasis on the word "slowly", by the way) working on testing everything out thoroughly so that I can eventually review them. Until then, here's another FOTD :)

Face:

L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer 

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturizer in Bliss

Armani Master Corrector in #1

Dior Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer in 002

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-3

Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder

Dior Matte Bronzer in 002

MAC Blush in Well Dressed

Eyes:

UD e/s in Sin

UD e/s in Naked

UD e/s in Buck

UD 24/7 liner in Whiskey

MUFE Smoky Lash Mascara

Lips:

YSL l/s in #6 Rouge Bergamasque

It's kind of annoying that the lighting really washes me out and you can't really even make out my blush, because I definitely layered that sucker on! Anyway, I've been using the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer as a highlight the past few days, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I apply it to the tops of my cheekbones and to my brow bone before applying foundation or tinted moisturizer, and although I've never tried MAC Strobe Cream/Lotion, I imagine it working in a similar manner. It's definitely still visible through foundation, but it's not metallic or overly shimmery in the least, assuming you blend it into the skin well. 

I also finally took the plunge and purchased YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in #6 Rouge Bergamasque. My friend and the Queen of Nude Lipsticks herself, Jessica of Don't Call Me Jessie, dubbed it "the perfect nude", so it had to be good, right? After having used it a few times now, I can confirm that it really is pretty amazing. The formula is to die for - glides on to the lips, has decent staying power, is moisturizing, and doesn't settle into fine lines or accentuate dryness. As for the color, it's a nude that isn't too pink or too peach, and is dark enough that it doesn't give me the ever so dreaded corpse lips. Rejoice!

That's all for now and for those of you who are interested, I'm hoping a review of the Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturizer will be among one of the next posts to go up!

Hope you all have a great week :)

Lhasa, a Dirty Brush, and Ballerina Pink Lips.

I used NARS Lhasa eyeshadow from the spring 2012 collection for the first time today. I decided that I'm in love with it. Simple as that. It's a beautiful grey-taupe shade with a lavender undertone that is unlike any shadow I currently own. It has the perfect amount of shimmer without reading metallic. Here would be a good time to show a swatch, but I didn't photograph one because I am an awesome blogger like that. Ugh. I'm sorry! I will soon...

After applying Lhasa to my lid, I decided used Urban Decay Creep in the outer-v since I rarely touch either of the two shades to the right of Hustle in the original Naked palette...and by rarely, I mean roughly 3 times....ever :-/

I blended everything out with a dirty MAC 217 (when I say dirty, I mean not freshly washed, not actually dirty dirty) and loved the bit of mid-toned brown it managed to deposit into my crease unintentionally. Not sure what color that is exactly, though, since I use that brush for everything!

Face:

MUFE F&B Foundation in #20

Armani Master Corrector in #1

Dior Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer in 002

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-3

Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder

Dior Matte Bronzer in 002

Tarte Blush in Exposed

Eyes:

TFSI

NARS e/s in Lhasa

UD e/s in Creep

UD e/s in Virgin

Milani Liquif'Eye Pencil in Black

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Mauve

Prestige My Blackest Lashes Mascara

Lips:

17 l/s in Beehive

Bourjois l/g in 48 Rose Romantic

And while in my tanner days, a shade like 17 Beehive would've been a bit too pale and nude for my personal preference, it's become one of my favorites now that I'm pale and proud! Bourjois Rose Romantic added the perfect finishing touch to Beehive by imparting the perfect pearlescent pink sheen to my lips! Win!

Sunday Funday....on a Saturday.

Even though I often feel as though school takes over my life, I like to make an effort to reserve one day each weekend to have fun doing non-school related things. Some weeks this is easier to achieve than others, but I still try my best for the sake of my own sanity.

Since my friend and I decided tomorrow would be our study-all-day-long-until-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out day, that meant that today was our day to have fun!

Things I did today:

1. Shopped. I bought a few blouses and cardigans with cute prints on them, like bunnies and hearts (not on the same piece of course ;) LOVE!

2. Ate a lollipop.

3. Had delicious fish tacos.

4. Devoured some fresh raw oysters on half shells.

5. Drank a Starbucks coffee with a dash of non-fat milk, sweetened with toffee nut syrup. Yummmm.

I also used a few new products this morning, including theBalm Shady Lady Vol.I palette, Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder, and Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed. I definitely started my day off right because I have yet to be disappointed by any of these products!

Face:

MUFE F&B Foundation in #20

Dior Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer in 002

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-3

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Benefit Hoola

Tarte Exposed

Eyes:

UDPP in Greed

theBalm e/s Luscious Lani

theBalm e/s in Shameless Shana

theBalm e/s in Caught in the Act Courtney

theBalm e/s in Jealous Jordana (lower lashline)

Milani Liquif'Eye Pencil in Black

Prestige My Blackest Lashes Mascara

Lips:
Revlon l/s in Peach Parfait (definitely my favorite lip product of this week!)

And in case you're wondering, I'm also obsessed with my gold collar necklace! I also have it in silver, and I got both from Hautelook a little while ago :)

Did you do anything fun today?

Happy New Year and an Update.

Happy New Year, everyone! 

I hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve last night! I had to catch a flight back home last night since I was visiting my family in California for the holidays, and unfortunately, my 3 week break from school flew by way too fast :( I'm hoping to be able to find the time to blog once school starts back up again (I'll most likely be blogging less than I have been in December, but hopefully more than I had been in the months prior).

Anyway, since I'm a procrastinator, I hadn't packed up any of my things yet as of yesterday afternoon, and I found myself rushing to get ready, put makeup on, and get my stuff together so that I could make my flight. I wanted to do a fun look that was more NYE-worthy, but seeing as how I didn't really have any plans since I was getting in town so late and I was already rushing to get ready as it was, there wasn't really any point...so neutrals it was!

Face:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in #53

Dior Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer in 002

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-3

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder in Sand

Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious

Eyes:

Maybelline Color Tattoo e/s in Bad to the Bronze

theBalm e/s in Shameless Shana

theBalm e/s in Caught in the Act Courtney

Milani Liquif'Eye Pencil in Black

MAC Superslick Liquid Liner in On the Hunt

Prestige My Blackest Lashes Mascara

Lips:

NARS l/s in Dolce Vita

MAC l/g in Boy Bait

Update on the Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows:

I wore Pomegranate Punk the other day without primer in this FOTD, and it did not crease at all after 10 hours! There was very minimal fading, but it seemed to fade pretty evenly all over and since there wasn't any creasing, it wasn't noticeable at all. In comparison, I normally only get about 1-2 hours of wear with MAC Paint Pots before they crease on me.

After being extremely impressed with Pomegranate Punk's wear time, I had high hopes for Bad to the Bronze. However, when I wore it yesterday (also without primer), I experienced a lot of creasing. I'm not sure how many hours it took before the creasing began, because I only checked my makeup once that night and by then, it had been about 7 hours since I applied my makeup. Surprisingly, I felt that Bad to the Bronze performed almost exactly like a MAC Paint Pot does on me, while Pomegranate Punk outperformed Paint Pots by a long shot.

The only reason I wore either of these on their own without primer was simply to test the wear time, and based on my experiences, the lasting power differed greatly between these two particular shades, so I imagine it may differ among other shades in the range as well. Keep in mind, I have oily skin and normally always use eyeshadow primer. I definitely think that using a primer under these will help to avoid the minimal fading I experienced with Pomegranate Punk and the creasing and fading I experienced with Bad to the Bronze. All in all, I think these are definitely worth looking into, especially if you're a fan of cream eyeshadows like the MAC Paint Pots or Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows!

Happy 2012!!

A Cheeky Thursday and a FOTD.

I LOVE how colorful my blushes look in this first photo....just like candy :)

This first blush, Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious, has been a steady favorite of mine every since my cousin sent it to me from the UK a few months ago. Each of the four shades is completely functional on it's own, but the color that they create when swirled together is even more gorgeous! To me, this is a staple travel beauty product because it's equivalent to bring along 5 blushes :)

The next products are some of the cutest I've seen in a while. They're the new Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. They have a unique texture that can only be described as a very dense mousse...much, much denser than the Dream Mousse Blushes. As a result, it has a bit of bounce when you touch it. 

Left to right:

Fresh Pink 

Orchid Hush

Peach Satin

While these new blushes are fun, I'm reluctant to say they're worth the money. At just over $8 a piece at CVS (I would wait for coupons or sales if I were you), I had higher expectations. The pigmentation on Fresh Pink and Orchid Hush needs a bit of layering to be built up to something even slightly reminiscent of what you see in the pan, and the cream to powder finish is nothing revolutionary in my opinion. It's more of a barely-cream to powder finish, actually, as it's not nearly as wet or creamy to begin with as the traditional cream product.

And while they're not shimmery, there is a soft, pretty sheen once applied to the skin, seen more in the two lighter shades than in Peach Satin.

Left to right:

Collection 2000 Blushalicious swatched clockwise starting from top left (first 4 swatches)

Collection 2000 Blushalicious swirled together (5th swatch from left)

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Fresh Pink

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Orchid Hush

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Peach Satin

Today was one of those I-really-don't-feel-like-wearing-makeup-but-I-should-really-test-out-some-of-this-new-stuff-I-just-bought kind of day :) I wore two of the blush shades today (one as blush and the other as a highlight), and I applied them using my fingers. Unfortunately, I'm suffering from some annoying dry patches on my cheeks at the mo, so these did have a tendency to cling to them a bit and look a bit crap up-close, although I'm not sure you can really tell from these photos!

Face:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in #53

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer in SC-3

Dior Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer in 002

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder in Sand

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Fresh Pink

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Orchid Hush (as highlight)

Eyes:

Maybelline Color Tattoo e/s in Pomegranate Punk

Milani Liquif'Eye Pencil in Black

Prestige My Blackest Lashes Mascara

Lips:

MAC l/s in Rebel (patted on with finger)

Here's a closer look at Pomegranate Punk on my eyes:

I didn't use a primer because I really want to see whether or not it will crease or last when used on its own...I'll keep you guys posted! Contrary to what I initially thought based on my experience swatching it on my arm, it applied very smoothly and was not patchy at all - YAY! I applied it to my lid and blended it out using my finger, and while application was a breeze, it's important to blend quickly before the product sets and doesn't budge.

So far, I'm very impressed with the Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eyeshadows and a bit on the fence with the Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. I'll admit I've never been a huge fan of cream to powder formulas though. I prefer a creamy, dewy finish from cream products and if I want a powder finish, I'd just go for a powder product, to be honest! Oh well. I'm a little bothered by the price as well. Aren't drugstore products supposed to be the cheapy, affordable ones? $8.00+ for a less than stellar product is pushing it, in my opinion. 

Anyhoo, to finish off on a high note and going back to the beginning of the post, if you live in the UK or are planning a swappy-poo anytime in the near future, I highly recommend you check out that Collection 2000 blush. It's awesome. The end.

Random: What's everyone's plans for NYE?!