NYC swatches

I went to a different Rite Aid than normal today and they had two LE displays for NYC. I picked up a few things, and am pretty sure I'm going to go back to get some more. I especially want to get backups of the LE blushable creme sticks. They seem like they could be used up quickly.

The eyeshadows took a few swipes to get a lot of color, but they are $2.99 so I think I can work with them. I might even get a few more.

Gold Radiance, Bronze Radiance, Midtown Mocha

 from NYC Summer 2011 collection Bronze Bliss

Buxom Stay-There eyeshadow palette swatches

The Buxom Stay-There palette is a LE exclusive at Sephora. Of the set, it seems like Mutt is the only one that's available on its own.

Crown Brushes

Haute Look had a sale a few weeks ago for Crown Brushes. I bought some the last time and I really liked them, so I wanted to get some more. I haven't used them yet, even though I've had them for several days. They actually smell pretty bad right now. The kabuki brush smells like acetone and the travel case smells like wood stain. It gives me an immediate headache, so I'm hoping they can air out.

Retractable Synthetic Kabuki Brush

Pink 7 Piece Travel Set

MAC Bloggers' Obsessions swatches

I got my order for some of the Bloggers' Obsessions collection in last night.

Urban Decay cream shadow swatches

In the most recent Urban Decay sale on Haute Look, they had the cream shadows. I've never tried them because I'm not the biggest fan of cream shadows... but I've heard good things so I picked up some on sale. I also use these Haute Look sales to get new eyeshadows.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King review

The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell
2.5 out of 5

The Nine Lives of Chloe King is actually a 3-part series- now available in a bind-up. I'm going to review each part individually as I read it to make it easier to keep the story straight, then give it an overall review when I'm done.

The Fallen
2 out of 5

Chloe King falls to her death the day before her 16th birthday, only to wake up a few minutes later. From there, her life turns upside down. Her best friends, Amy and Paul, start dating which makes her the third wheel in their relationship. She's overcome with desire for several guys that she previously would not have the nerve to talk to. She has cat-like abilities and claws that she never had before. And people are trying to kill her. There are two guys in her life, Alyec and Brian, but she doesn't know who to trust.

Not a lot happens in this book. It's not until the very end that she finds out who is her friend and who is her enemy. Mostly she whines the whole time. Chloe is a pretty awful character, as are her friends and mother. So far I'm not impressed with this book but the action is picking up so I'll read on to see where it goes.

Some spoilers are possible for the next two parts

Angel Burn review

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

3 out of 5

In the world of Angel Burn, angels are horrible creatures from another dimension that drain human energy to feed. Angel Burn, as the result is called, causes sickness, mental illness and even death in the humans, who don't realize that the angels are harmful. There are only a few that know about it and fight by killing the angels.

When Alex, an Angel Killer, gets a text about his next target, he doesn't know it's anything out of the ordinary. But then he gets there and finds Willow- not quite angel and not quite human. Apparently, she's the one and only half-angel and the angels see that she is a threat to them all. Alex is repulsed by Willow's angel side, but is determined to protect her seeing the angels see her as such a threat.

With the angels and their followers from The Church of Angels on their tail, Alex and Willow make the long trek across country. This is actually the majority of the book. They travel. They hide. They bond. They fall in love.

Spoilers ahead

Tokidoki Robbery Palette swatches

Wet n Wild Summer 2011 trio and bronzer swatches

I had pretty much given up on finding The Gilded Age trio or the Everything Under the Sun bronzer that were the summer 2011 collection. We have Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS- probably about six of each- and none of them ever get any of the Wet n Wild eyeshadow limited editions. The LE nail polish is all over, though.

I just happened to stop in CVS on the way to work and there they were. I think they are about a month late getting it and there was only one trio left so I grabbed it along with the bronzer.

Spoiled Review

Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
3 out of 5

I kind of like reading books about spoiled rich girls with problems. It seems like an alien world and I can't even be jealous about all the stuff because I can't really wrap my head around it. Spoiled is along the lines of Gossip Girl and A-List type books where teen girls have more money than God, often neglectful and indulgent parents, and some major upset in their perfect worlds.

Spoiled focuses on two girls who find out they are sisters. Brooke is the daughter of a famous movie star. Molly is the daughter of a seamstress in Indiana. Then Molly's mother dies and Molly finds out that Brooke's dad is her own, so Molly moves across the country to LA to live with her father and sister. Brooke feels displaced and acts accordingly.

Things I liked:

• Not as much brand name dropping as other books of this type. There was quite a bit of celeb name dropping, though.
• There were a lot of good secondary characters. While Brooke and Molly got annoying sometimes, the other characters made up for a lot of it.

Things I didn't like:

• What kind of mother not only doesn't tell her kid who her father is, but lies and says it's someone else who is dead, then springs it on her right before she dies?
• The lame ending that is obviously setting up a sequel.

Overall the book was okay. The plot is rather basic and not that original. The A-List: Hollywood Royalty had almost the same plot with the two girls finding out they are sisters. There were plenty of funny lines but it was pretty predictable. I may read the sequel when it comes out, but I may have forgotten about it by then.

Bare Minerals Naturally Luminous swatches

June Birchbox

I got my box in yesterday and here it is.

Stila Garden Bliss collection swatches

I usually skip over Stila, but I was killing time in Ulta the other day and saw the Garden Bliss collection was on display. I checked out the palette, which I like much better than the Stunning in Sayulita one. I've also heard a lot of people talk about the Lip Glaze but have never tried one. I think it's an old limited edition, but it was in the store and is available on Sephora's website.

Misc Drugstore swatches

Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick

 Coral Lustre

Revlon swatches

Revlon Colorstay eyeliner in Teal

Wet n Wild swatches

Wet n Wild Mega Liner in Turquoise

Sinful Colors nail polish

I almost never wear nail polish anymore. I used to love it when I was younger, but now I hate having to retouch my nail color constantly. Even more expensive brands chipped off after a day. I am, however, a sucker for displays in the drugstore.

I saw Sinful Colors at the makeup checkout counter at Walgreens one day when they were checking out back there. On a whim, I decided to get one because they were only $1.99. It turned out to be the best nail polish I'd ever had. I put it on at work so I didn't have a base or top coat on it... but it was still there with only a few minor chips until I took it off a week later. I tried it again, this time with two different colors. It lasted the same amount of time with only one chip until I took it off.

So, yeah. I love Sinful Colors nail polish. It has completely gotten me back into nail polishes. I pick up a new one pretty much every time I go to Walgreens now.

Books of May 2011

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - After 11 books, they are becoming repetitive. In this one, like the several before, two or more people want to kill Sookie for some reason or another. She knows it early on and kills out of necessity, either by fighting for her life or as a preemptive strike. There is an ever-growing collection of characters- far too many for my liking- and scenes with a bunch of minor ones are confusing because I don't remember who is who. But the writing is still just as good as it's always been so, while it's not the best, it's still enjoyable. 3.5 out of 5

The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons by Katie MacAlister - This is the 2nd Light Dragons books and the 9th in the total dragons series. Katie MacAlister's style is the same as always... the only problem is that all her main characters are so similar. It's not usually a problem in the Dark Ones books because they don't overlap much, but in this book Aisling, May and Ysolde are all in it through the whole book and they are all very much alike. So, if you like Katie MacAlister and don't mind that the characters are all very alike, you'd like this one. If the idea of the characters being the same is annoying, this one will definitely be annoying. 3.5 out of 5

Die for Me by Amy Plum -  Review here 4 out of 5 

Entangled by Cat Clarke - Review here  3.5 out of 5