Sugarpill Chromalust eyeshadow swatches

I finally got in my order from Sugarpill's Pink Friday sale. I only got two loose shadows because they were the last two things that I really wanted from Sugarpill until they release new products or colors.

Warpaint Beauty swatches

Warpaint Beauty is the relatively new cosmetics brand that they sell at Hot Topic. Hot Topic was having a Buy 1 Get 1 half off sale on everything in the store so I thought it would be a good time to try a few different products.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette Swatches

I ordered the Naked 2 palette last week and got it Monday. It comes with 5 new and exclusive shades and only have 1 repeat from the first Naked palette. Hopefully this one will be more readily available than the first one was.

The palette comes with a mini Lip Junkie gloss and a dual ended brush. Urban Decay also sent a mini 24/7 liner in El Dorado.

Lime Crime Carousel Gloss swatches

On Cyber Monday, Lime Crime released their Carousel Glosses as well as put all their other products on sale. Their site crashed due to the amount of traffic so it took me 7 hours after the release time of noon to place my order. It wasn't that big a deal, though, because Lime Crime is really good about having a lot of stock for their limited edition items. They also made sure that the sale lasted the full 24 hours after their site was back up.

I ordered all 5 of the Carousel Glosses and one of their regular lipsticks (Airborne Unicorn). I actually hadn't wanted all 5 glosses but the set was $65. The price for one gloss is $17, so the set saved $20. I'm so glad I decided on the set because the one that I didn't want (Cherry on Top) was the one that I think looks the best on me.

 Along with the card, they also included a sticker in the box. I don't know if they are going to add the sticker all the time now, but this is the first time I've received one with an order.

In my mail

I'm so excited that I couldn't wait to post a pic. It's too dark to start switching, but I still wanted to show them.

Physicians Formula Nude Eyes Shimmer Strips swatches

Physicians Formula released four new Shimmer Strips recently. This time they aren't for specific eye colors. Instead they are designed to give you a certain type of look - smokey, casual, fashionista and nude. I got the Nude Eyes one.
 

Jasmine La Belle Eyeshadow swatches

I was at Ulta, getting stuff for my points, and saw a table of 5 for $5 things. On the table were eyeshadows from Jasmine La Belle Cosmetics. I've never seen or heard about Jasmine La Belle cosmetics before so I decided to get the two that they had on the table. According to the price tag on the back, they are normally $4.99 so it was a pretty good deal.

Favorites and Dislikes of November

Favorites

The Color Workshop Eye Define eye pencil set swatches

I've spent a lot of time at Walgreens recently and I did get some of their cheap holiday sets. A lot of these brands are ones I've never tried, so I had no idea if they'd be any good at all. I got this 5 piece eyeliner set from The Color Workshop because it was $2.99 and it had some good colors. They are okay- the gold and blue are the most pigmented. The silver is by far the worst. And I seem to be having bad luck with purple lately and this purple is no exception... not very pigmented.

Wet n Wild Baked Eyeshadow wet swatches

I was asked to do wet swatches of the new Walgreens exclusive Wet n Wild Baked Eyeshadows. For my original dry swatches and the eyeliners, click here.

 Baking a Cake

Wet n Wild I ♥ Matte palette dupes

I was watching a video on youtube by barbiedlux and she showed a few dupes for the I ♥ Matte palette. It made me realize that there are quite a few dupes for the I ♥ Matte palette in other Wet n Wild palettes. The only ones I had trouble with were the blue and the purple (they weren't quite exact and weren't matte) so I definitely suggest checking out the video I was talking about because she has some for the blue and purple in other brands. For this, I'm just doing Wet n Wild products. I did comparisons in the pan as well as swatches.

Unless you really really want that blue or purple and want them matte, I wouldn't stress about finding this palette. All the other colors are available in other Wet n Wild palettes. I'd also say that if you really want the green in this palette, then get the Pride 6 pan palette because it's much more pigmented. 

Wet n Wild Baked Eyeshadow Color Icon kit swatches

The baked eyeshadow collections by Wet n Wild were less elusive than the I ♥ Matte palette was. I saw them in a few stores and managed to find all three in one store.

 Baking a Cake

Wet n Wild I ♥ Matte Palette Swatches

I went to 6 different Walgreens in search of the Wet n Wild I ♥ Matte palette, including one in a bad part of town and one in the small town about 15 minutes away. In the end, I was semi-successful in my search. I say semi because I managed to find one palette on the second store I went to, but one of the shadows was broken. I got it anyway because it wasn't too bad and I was afraid I might not find another one. I was right and not one of the four stores I went to after that had one.

I have a love/hate thing with Wet n Wild and their limited editions, especially ones that are exclusive to a particular store. Because not all stores decide to carry them, they can be the biggest pain to find. I wish they would at least sell them on their website, like Milani did with the paint palette that I couldn't find in stores.

e.l.f. holiday eyeshadow set swatches

I was at Target the other day and saw the endcap of e.l.f. holiday stuff. Most of them were eyeshadow sets and I found one that I wanted. The problem I have with most e.l.f. eyeshadow sets is that the quality is far lower than the individuals or quads. This set is actually four duos, so I thought it'd be better.

Overall, the shadows are pretty good, but are very soft so there is a lot of fallout on a few of them. The purple is pretty spotty and is by far the worst one.

MAC Dazzlesphere! swatches

I got two of the Dazzlesphere! ornaments this morning, along with one more thing from the Glitter and Ice collection.

 Pink Ornament

Sinful Colors Extra Shiny Lipgloss swatches

I've been on the hunt for Wet n Wild's Walgreens exclusives. I've yet to find them, but I did come across Sinful Colors lipgloss. They were $1.99 so I got all the ones they had on the display. What I like about them is that they are shiny but aren't sticky.

Pucker Up, Carnal, Fushia, Italian Ice, Virginia Beach, Blushing, Catch Me If You Can

Kat Von D True Romance palette Angeles swatches

I've never tried Kat Von D eyeshadows before, but I did like the Tattoo Liner. This palette is marked down, so it was a good opportunity to try it out.

Lime Crime Magic Dust swatches

Last month, Lime Crime had a 55% off one day sale on their magic dust eyeshadows. I had quite a few already but I got a few more.

Jordana Color Effects eyeshadow duo swatches

I won a Facebook contest with Jordana Cosmetics and they sent me a Color Effects eyeshadow duo. It's probably not a color I would have picked myself because I have a lot of similar colors already, but it was free so I can't complain. They are actually pretty good quality and are only $3.49 according to the website.

Glitter and Ice & Ice Parade swatches

I know this is about a week late, but truthfully I didn't really like these collections. I only got 3 things.

Glitter and Ice

Ice Parade

October favorites

I don't usually do a monthly favorites because I like to keep trying new things. This month, however, I didn't get a lot of new stuff and wore the same things almost every day.





tarte emphasEYES Amazonian clay eyeliner in black - this is the best liner I've ever used on the waterline. It stays all day with minimal wear.

Stila smudge pot in Kitten - this is a light shimmery color that is great when you don't want to do much. It doesn't need primer or tools.

MAC mineralize skinfinish natural in light - this makes my skin look a lot more even and clearer than it is.

Garnier skin renew anti- dark circle roller - this helps cover my dark circles so I don't have to use as much concealer.

Maybelline Define-a-Brow in medium brown - this is an easy way to fill in my brows without looking fake or harsh.

Stila glamoureyes mascara - this makes my lashes look longer and it keeps the curl.

Clinique bottom lash mascara - this has the tiniest brush so I don't get mascara all over my face.

Cutest Soap

I got the cutest soap at TJ Maxx. I got it a while ago but found it today.

Too Faced In Your Dreams palette swatches

The In Your Dreams palette is part of Too Faced's holiday collection. It's cheaper than the Sweet Dreams palette and it's also not exclusive to anywhere, so if you just didn't want to spend the money or don't have a Sephora around this is a great option. If you already have the Sweet Dreams palette, you might still want this because there are no duplicate eyeshadows or blushes. It also comes with three lip glosses. I personally don't like pan lip glosses so I probably won't use them, though.

October Birchbox

Urban Decay Electric 24/7 liner travel set swatches

One of Urban Decay's holiday releases is travel 24/7 liners. There are two different ones and I got the Electric one.Unlike the Mariposa palette, these are available at a lot of places. I got mine at Ulta.

Like any Urban Decay set or palette, this one has some repeats. Both Ransom and Perversion were in the 15th Anniversary liner set. Ransom is permanent, but Perversion is LE. The other three may have been released before, but I don't know. I found this set to be better in terms of repeats that the Naked set. It looks like the Naked set only has one (Demolition) that isn't permanent or in the 15th Anniversary set.

Drugstore and other stuff swatches

Over the last several weeks I've gone to various drugstores, Target and a few other places and picked up some things.

I

NYC IndividuaEyes palette.

This palette is from a LE collection called In The Spotlight. This one is for green eyes, and they had ones from brown and blue as well. I don't have green eyes, but I liked this one the best.

Nyx Haute Model palette swatches

I saw this palette from Nyx in a video on Youtube and really liked it. There were 3 others on the display I saw and this was my favorite out of those. Nyx's website has more, though. The best part is that they are only $11 for 10 eyeshadows.

MAC Fall Colour swatches

I picked up a few things from MAC's Fall Colour.

Loreal Project Runway swatches

I found the Loreal/Project Runway "Colors Take Flight" collection at Walgreens this week. I'm pretty sure that it's available at other places too, but I've only seen it so far at Walgreens. That's a good place to get it this week anyway because they were buy 1 get 1 half off.

Something to note is that they were on two separate displays. The Watchful Owl and Audacious Amazon products were on one and the Sultry Raven and Charming Cockatoo were on another. I went to two different stores before I realized this.

Watchful Owl's Gaze

Urban Decay Mariposa palette swatches

The Mariposa palette from Urban Decay is the Sephora exclusive holiday palette. It has 10 eyeshadows and comes with a mini eyeshadow brush. I'm glad it comes with the brush. I'm tired of getting zero liners and mini primer potions.

Too Faced Sweet Dreams palette swatches

The Too Faced Sweet Dreams palette is a Sephora exclusive from their holiday collection. It's got 15 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, a bronzer and a highlighter. It also comes with a regular shadow insurance.

September Birchbox

I meant to cancel my Birchbox subscription last month, but I forgot... so I got September's box today.

MAC Posh Paradise swatches

I got a few things from MAC's Posh Paradise collection. These are my first paint pots.

The Balm swatches

I've always wanted to try The Balm, but have never had the chance so when I heard The Balm was available at TJ Maxx I took a trip out there to get some. Out of the three TJ Maxx stores I went to, only one had a good amount of makeup. They all had a lot of the Time Balm skincare. I went a little crazy and got the stuff they had because they were all discounted by about half the regular price.

Tinted Moisturizer in light/medium

Sleek swatches

I've wanted to try Sleek for a while, but shipping from their website to the US is really expensive. Finally, I decided to check out ebay and found a seller that had tons of stuff with much cheaper shipping. I only got a few things to try.

Nyx Slide On eye pencil swatches

Ulta finally had the Nyx Slide On eye pencils. They have a huge variety of colors and seem pretty similar to the Urban Decay 24/7 liners but at half the cost. I got 3 because I wanted to try them.

Azure, Pink Suede, Golden Olive (top to bottom)

Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV swatches

I had not planned to get the new Book of Shadows from Urban Decay. It is big and bulky. But when I saw it sitting there at Ulta, I picked it up anyway. My favorites are Baked, Lost, Bender and Hijack.

 I got a sample of the Afterglow Cheek Tint, too.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Stencil Kit swatches

Surprisingly, I found these Wet n Wild Fantasy Maker stencil kits at Ulta. They've never had Wet n Wild before, but I saw these and an endcap of regular Wet n Wild products, so I guess they are carrying it now. Anyway, there were several of these- maybe four or five- but they were $5.99 each so I only got two.

They are a creamy base with a lot of glitter. Some were very chunky and others were smoother. I haven't tried them on my eyes yet to see if they crease. The liner is the same black Color Icon liner that is in every Wet n Wild kit that has a liner, so I didn't swatch it this time.

Lime Crime Lip Noir swatches

I ordered the three lipsticks in Lime Crime's new mini-collection, Lip Noir. While I was ordering, I also picked up the magic dust in Nymph. Shipping this time was really fast... I placed the order Wed night and got it Tues.

Out of the three, I think Chinchilla is the best. It went on really well. Styletto is the worst for me out of the three. I had such a hard time trying to make it look even and opaque- even my picture isn't that great.  So I definitely recommend Chinchilla if you want to get one, then Glamour 101 (it's pretty but not as unique) if you want more. Unless you're just dying for Styletto (once permanent, now LE), I might opt for a cheaper black.

 New shipping box since the last time I ordered.

Books of August 2011

I didn't get a lot of reading done this month. I was actually in the process of closing the used bookstore that I owned so I didn't have that much time. But it's over now, so I can get back into it in September.

Clean by Amy Reed - Sometimes I like to read books about the underbelly of teen life. This book followed five kids through a rehab program. My own teen years were far from this, so I have no idea if it is accurate... but I do think it's interesting. Personally, I preferred her other book, Beautiful, but this one was interesting as well. 3 out of 5

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard - Review Here 4 out of 5

Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard - The plot thickens in the second volume of The Lying Game. Emma is convinced she knows who killed Sutton and now she had to try to save herself. I thought this book was better than the first one. The mystery gets deeper and it ends on an interesting cliffhanger. If you liked the other one, this one will be no different. 4 out of 5

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach - I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. There were parts that I thought were really good, but it got strange in parts. I guess that's to be expected when you have a love story where the guy is from a different time. I kind of figured out how the love story would play out in the end, though. I also thought the end was strange and Caitlyn's reaction to the headmistresses manipulations was very lackluster. I think this book could be one people like or dislike. I did enjoy it overall. 3.5 out of 5

The Witches of Santa Anna 1-7 by Lauren Barnholdt - This was a bind up of 7 very short ebooks. It's a very common plot so far (the story isn't over and there are at least 13 books so far) with the new girl in school falling for the popular guy that is the object of the mean girl's obsession. In this case, the mean girl is a witch who wants to destroy the new girl. The story got interesting once you get past the need for some editing and the stilted beginning. 3.5 out of 5


I Was a Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block - This is one of my favorite books and I read it every so often when I want a urban fairy tale. 5 out of 5

MAC Mac Me Over swatches

I took a break from working on closing my business to get some stuff from the Mac Me Over collection. Considering how big it is, I actually didn't get that much.

The Lying Game episode 1

I finally got to watch episode 1 of The Lying Game. It started Monday, so I'm sure that's going to be its regular day for a while. I've already read the first two books in the series and I'm kind of interested in where the show goes because there are a lot of things that are different right now. I'm also curious about how it will compare to Ringer, the CW show with Sarah Michelle Gellar that has a very similar twin plot, but more adult.

I enjoyed the first episode. And, as a fan of General Hospital, I enjoy seeing the GH actors on other shows so I liked that Tyler Christopher was in it (and it looks like he's going to be in several episodes).

ABC Family currently has the first episode up so, if you're interested, go watch it.

Spoilers for the episode and book, too.

Smackers Get Glowin' swatches

I got one of the Smackers Get Glowin' sets mainly because I wanted to see what kind of quality they were. It's very obvious that these are for kids so I wouldn't really recommend them for teens or adults. For me, they would only really be usable as a browbone or inner corner highlight because they are so light. Still, they are cute for younger girls.

Pool Party Blues

Even More Nuance swatches part 2

I like the Nuance lipsticks. I got a few over the last couple weeks and, because of the Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale this week, I wanted to get the other ones. They go on better than a lot of lipsticks I have, though they can look a bit dry after a while without any sort of lip balm. The only problem I've had is that few of the ones I got are loose in the tube.

Anyway, I bought the ones I didn't have yet.

 Wine, My Favorite, Paprika, Dusty Rose, Plum Mauve

Even More Nuance swatches part 1

I couldn't help myself. Nuance stuff is Buy 1 Get 1 Free this week at CVS... so if you want some, now is the time to get it! Anyway, I got a lot of stuff yesterday- more than I want to put in one post- so I'm going to do it in two parts. This one will be eyes and the cheek trio.

 Cheek Trio in Apricot

Milani Haute Flash Lipgloss swatches

I got in my box that had the rest of the Haute Flash lipglosses. I had previously bought Flashy, but had liked it so much that I wanted the rest (there are only 4). I'm glad I did get the rest and it turns out that the one I was least interested in on the site is now my favorite of them. Though baby pink isn't really my favorite lip color, I love the sparkles in Star Flash. They are limited, so I don't know how long they'll be available.

Mini Urban Decay haul with swatches

I got a few random things from Urban Decay.