Favorites of 2012

I don't think I really have a lot of favorites for the whole year- mostly because I spent much of the year buying new things and switching things out. There were a few things, though, that I have loved for more than one month.

Lime Crime Velvetines swatches

I recently got Lime Crime's Velvetines, a liquid lipstick. I like these and I just could not get the pictures to look half as good as they looked in person, especially Red Velvet (It does require more than one application to get the best look with Red Velvet). The swatch on Lime Crime's site is an accurate representation of what it looks like. My pic of Suedeberry is pretty close to what it looks like.

They are incredibly long lasting. I've been wearing Red Velvet all morning while drinking soda and it's still there with minimal transfer to the can. Suedeberry was the first one I swatched and it did not wipe off with a napkin like a lipstick would. It tried both a makeup remover wipe (I used Simple wipes) on one lip and an eye makeup remover (I used Sonia Kashuk makeup remover) on the other. The eye makeup remover worked best and I had to scrub a little with the wipes.

There are a few downsides to the Velvetines, though. It sets fairly quickly, making it hard to fix any mistakes in application. I also found them to be pretty drying, though they did not make my lips look dry while wearing them. Once you start removing these, they get incredibly messy... I ended up with lipstick all over as I tried to wipe it off.

Overall, I like these. Despite what my poor picture shows, Red Velvet is so pretty. Suedeberry is also nice and would be good for every day.

Skylark Snowkissed Cashmere Eyeshadow Palette swatches

I recently got the Skylark by Elle and Blair Fowler Snowkissed Cashmere Eyeshadow Palette. It's available at Blush.com. My favorite from this palette is Ember.

Wet n Wild Drinking a Glass of Shine 8 pan palette

I'm disappointed in this palette. When I bought it, I didn't realize it was a new name on an old product- the I ♥ Matte palette that was released earlier in the year. I already have that one and did swatches for it, so I didn't open Drinking a Glass of Shine.

Trying Out Pintrest: Drying nails with PAM

So, I'm totally addicted to Pintrest. I spend more time that I should looking through all the projects, recipes, and DIY things... it makes me feel more crafty than I am. (My Pintrest if you are interested.)

I found a quick dry nail trick pin that said you could use PAM cooking spray to dry your nail polish instantly. I pinned it a while ago and kind of forgot about it because I haven't worn a lot of nail polish lately. But last night, probably around 9:30, I decided that I really wanted to paint my nails. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to try one of the quick dry options I had found.

Some new things

I got the last of the things that I bought this year. I've committed to not buying anything unnecessary for the next two months at least, so this is the last haul for a while.

 Gel Haute Polish kit from GHPGelNailPolish.com

I found a coupon from Lucky Magazine that made the kit $39.99 (there was $11 or so in shipping, though). It's an old one but it worked for me at the end of November, so it may still work. Originally, I bought this for a present but I found a drugstore one for that, so I decided to keep this one.

Lime Crime Velvetines in Red Velvet and Suedeberry

Skylark Snowkissed Cashmere Eye Shadow Palette

Wet n Wild Sparkle 'Til Morning 8-pan Palette Swatches

I've had the three limited edition Wet n Wild palettes from Walgreens sitting in a bag for the last month and I just found them over the weekend. Over the past month, I've still seen them here and there at various Walgreens so they might still be available.

I'm not a big fan of the left side of this palette. It's not nearly as pigmented as most of their eye shadows.

November Likes and Dislikes

I took a little break from the internet for the past month, but now I'm back with my favorite products of the last month and the ones that I didn't like. I've been cleaning out my stash and have been trying some of the products I've had hidden away.

Likes

Lime Crime Rhyme and Reason Uniliner swatches

I got in the Lime Crime uniliners from the flash sale last week. They are currently unavailable right now, but the website says they will be for sale again individually on November 23.

Rhyme and Reason are gold and silver glitter liquid eyeliners. Unlike the last unliners, they are not that unique and I wouldn't really consider them a must have if you already have gold and silver liquid liners. They are reasonably priced at $13.99 so, if you are looking for gold and silver, they may be an option. Personally, while I really like the other uniliners, I don't think these two are the best Lime Crime products.

Too Faced The Return of Sexy palette swatches

Urban Decay Vice Palette swatches

I had actually planned to skip The Vice Palette but it was included in Urban Decay's friends and family sale. I just couldn't resist getting it 20% off, so I ended up getting it.

My favorite colors in this palette are Blitz and Unhinged. I also really like Echo Beach. The ones I like the least are the chunky glitter ones (Provocateur and Jagged).

Lime Crime Flash Sale Monday Oct 22!

Lime Crime is having a 20 hour flash sale for their Rhyme and Reason uniliners. Starting at noon PST on October 22, a limited edition set will be available for $20. This set will be available for 20 hours. If you miss it, you'll have to buy them individually during the holidays.

Lime Crime Alchemy Collection swatches

Lime Crime released their Alchemy Collection this month and I just got it in. If you order the collection before the end of October, it's $49.99 which is basically getting one of the lipsticks free.

Loreal Project Runway The Mystic's Kiss lipstick swatch

The Mystic's Kiss was the only lipstick I got out of this collection. I wanted it because it was purple. I'm pretty disappointed in it, though. The color isn't the purple that it looks. It's more of a pinky purple and a lot less unusual.

Loreal Project Runway The Temptress' Gaze quad swatches

The Temptress' Gaze is probably my favorite overall quad, just for the colors. I like that it has a matte brown.

Loreal Project Runway The Muse's Gaze quad swatches

While I think that The Mystic's Gaze quad is the overall worst, The Muse's Gaze has the single worst eye shadow. The coral color was the eye shadow that had the worst pigment of all the other colors in all four quads. The other colors, however, are nice. I especially like the light blue.

Loreal Project Runway The Mystic's Gaze quad swatches

The Mystic's Gaze from the Colors Take Flight Collection has to be the overall worst of the four quad. Honestly, the darkest one is the only color that is really pigmented (and it's pretty with blue sparkles). All the others just aren't as good as they look in the pan.

Loreal Project Runway The Queen's Gaze quad swatches

The Queen's Gaze is one of the four quads available in the Project Runway Colors Take Flight collection. I hunted all over for these but ended up ordering them from Ulta.com. Of course, after I ordered them, all the Walgreens around here got them.

I thought this quad was nice. There wasn't a color that was poorly pigmented in it. If want a good smokey eye quad, this is a good one.

e.l.f. Disney Villains Cruella set swatches

This is the third of the Disney Villains set (See the Maleficent and Evil Queen set swatches).

I have to say that I'm disappointed in these sets. I didn't really think one stood out as great or that one was worse than the others... they were basically the same in quality. The eye shadows are actually better quality than a lot of the elf sets like the beauty books, but there are only 8. The liquid liner, especially the brush, is just not good in any set. The lip/cheek pencils are kind of worthless. If you just want to line your lips, they are fine. If you'd also want to fill in your lips before putting on lipstick, then these are really too dry for that. As far as the claim that they can be used as cheek color... well that just didn't happen. When I tried to blend it on my cheeks, it just rubbed away.

If these sets were $5, like similarly sized elf sets, then maybe it'd still be a good value. There are $9.99, though, which I guess is just because of the Disney name. So, unless you love Disney enough to buy all things Disney, then I don't think these are must haves. The eye shadows, while pretty good, are not unique.

e.l.f. Disney Villains Evil Queen set swatches

e.l.f. Disney Villains Malefincent set swatches

e.l.f. released 3 Disney Villains sets that are exclusive to Walgreens. They are $9.99 each, which is actually on the high side for e.l.f. products. Truthfully, unless you just love to have Disney stuff, I don't know if I'd really say these are a must have. The eye shadows are a better quality than a lot of e.l.f. sets, however I wasn't impressed with the lip liner/cheek color pencils or the liquid eyeliner. I just can't even imagine how the tiny pencil can be used effectively as a cheek color.

e.l.f. Zit Eraser Review

I bought a bunch of elf stuff a while ago. One of the things that I wanted to get was the Zit Eraser. It's only $3 and that's much cheaper than any of the ones that I've bought from the drugstore.

September Likes and Dislikes

I actually only have one like and one dislike for September.

Likes

e.l.f. Cover Everything Concealer

I was lazy one day and did not feel like finding my Benefit Boi-ing concealer, so I grabbed this one. It's got really good heavy coverage that's good for redness. While the color wasn't as good as the Benefit one, it was still good. There are only 4 color options, though. It's also $2.

Dislikes

Time Balm White Tea Cucumber Face Toner

I bought this at TJ Maxx a while ago. When I ran out of my Lush toner, I started using this one. It was the only new thing I added and, in fact, it was one of the only things I was putting on my face for about 2 months because I didn't wear much makeup this summer. I broke out pretty heavily. After I quit this toner for a week, my face started clearing up.

Skylark Ava and Sophia lipgloss duo swatches

Skylark is the new makeup line by Elle and Blair Fowler. It's sold exclusively through Blush.com and right now there is only one lipgloss duo. The glosses, Ava and Sophia, are based on the characters from their new book, Beneath the Glitter (which I reviewed on my book blog). Ava, the pink gloss, was more opaque than Sophia, the berry gloss.

Wet n Wild Fergie Ferg Fresh Eye Kit swatches

Wet n Wild Fergie Ferga-Vicious Eye Kit swatches

Wet n Wild Fergie Glamour-Eyes Eye Kit swatches

Urban Decay Skull Shadow Box swatches

Urban Decay has a bunch of stuff on sale and I bought the Skull Shadow Box for $12. It's still on sale, so you can still pick it up. It's a lot more compact than I thought it would be, which makes it good for travel or space constraints.

Ulta Haul

Ulta is doing their 21 days of beauty and today's sale was buy 1 get 1 free on Butter London. I really like Butter London but I cry just thinking about spending $14 on nail polish, especially since there are good options that are much cheaper.

Artful Dodger, Knackered, Hen Party, Trustafarian

Dot by Marc Jacobs

I only got 4 polishes, though I went with the intent to possibly get more. Instead I got Marc Jacobs Dot, which I love so much.

MAC Styleseeker eye shadow duo swatches

I got a couple eye shadow duos from the Styleseeker collection.

Maybelline Color Tattoo Jewel Tone swatches

There have been some new Maybelline Color Tattoo products recently. I found these jewel toned ones at Target. It's the only place I've seen them, so I don't know if they are available anywhere else.

There are four of them, but I only got three. The fourth one is bright blue and I don't really wear blue. It's really pretty, though, so if you like blue then I'd suggest checking it out.

Ready, Set, Green, Fuchsia Fever, Test my Teal

MAC By Request eye shadow swatches

I got two out of the three eye shadows that were available in the MAC By Request collection.

August Favorites

I didn't wear a whole lot of makeup this month and I didn't really buy anything until the end of the month, so I only have a few things that are favorites. I don't really have anything that I didn't like because I didn't really try new things.

A Little Haul

I haven't been buying much this past month, but I did get a few things.

MAC Jete and Guacamole

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Test My Teal, Ready Set Green,  and Fuchsia Fever

Urban Decay Smoked palette swatches

I was going to wait on the Smoked palette, but I saw the last one sitting on the self in Ulta and decided to get it.

The problem that I have with this palette is the same one that I have with all Urban Decay palettes- I have a lot of the shadows already. In this one, I only have 4 already so I got it because I love Barlust. I also wanted the instruction book. It's super detailed and I'm terrible at smokey eyes. I always look like someone hit me in the eye no matter what color it is. If you just want the book, it's for sale on the Urban Decay site for $9 by itself.

MAC Electric Cool eye shadow swatches

I got a few of the Electric Cool eye shadows last week. I ended up getting four, and only two were ones that I had wanted before going to the counter. While they were available to order online before they were released in stores, I'm glad I waited to look at them. There was another that I wanted, but for some reason the counter didn't get the coral color so I didn't get that one.

I love these. They do have a cool feel in the pan and they remind me some of the Loreal Infallible eye shadows, which I love. I hope they bring these back again with new colors.

July Likes and Dislikes

I didn't have a favorites post for June because I didn't really use anything different from the month before. I wasn't sure that I'd have one for July, either, but as I was looking at the products that I really liked using this past month, I realized I did have a good amount of products.

My Favorites

More NYC stuff from the recent collections

I bought some more things from the new NYC collections, Summer in the City and Color Rush.

 Pink Breeze, Bronzed Beauty, Peach Melba
Summer in the City collection 

Maybelline Eyestudio quad in Coral Oasis swatches

Black Radiance Eye Appeal shadow collection Downtown Browns swatches

I almost never go down the cosmetics aisle at the grocery store but I was using it as a shortcut to the registers and found this palette by Black Radiance. At first I thought it was Wet n Wild because the palette looked very similar to their 8 pan palettes. It was a little more than the Wet n Wild palettes at $6.99 and the quality is very similar.

e.l.f. Metal Madness nail polish swatch

I got this in the mystery bag. e.l.f. is pretty hit or miss for me but I have to say that I like the e.l.f. nail polish.

Lime Crime Sale!

Lime Crime's Magic Dusts are being discontinued and they are now 40% off with code MAGIC40.

I've swatched the ones that I have before, so I'll link them below.

Diva, Medusa, Cupcake Thief, Abracadabra
Nymph
Troubadour
Circus Girl, Siren
Lime Criminal, Mischief Managed

Wet n Wild Magnetic nail polish swatch

I bought one of the new Wet n Wild magnetic nail polishes. I find the magnetic polishes very frustrating because the ones I've tried (this and one other cheap drugstore brand) just have not worked. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, though I am following directions, or maybe it's because they are cheap, but I can't get them to work well.

JulieG nail polish swatches

I got some of the JulieG nail polishes from Rite Aid. They are put out by Jesse's Girl and they have plenty on their website if you don't have a Rite Aid near you.

My Private Palace, Kickin' It, Shimmer Island, Gelato in Venice, Metallic Heals

Butter London Commemorative Olympic Heavy Metal Collection swatches

I finally broke down and bought something from Butter London. It kind of hurts to spend that much on nail polish, but I look every time I'm in Ulta. I chose this set because it was $36, so the polishes were a little cheaper than normal ($14 each). I'm actually glad I did. While I was swatching these, I was also doing drugstore polishes and I could really tell the difference between these and drugstore ones. I'm in love with the silver polish.

More Wet n Wild Fergie nail polish swatches

Mermaid Curves, Flossy Flossy, Dutchess

Loreal Colour Caresse Blushing Sequin lipstick swatches

NYC Summer in the City swatches

I only got a few things from the NYC Summer in the City collection. The nail polishes in this collection are so pretty.