Sally Hansen "Noir Boudoir" & Prada "Candy"

I've been wanting to try french manicure nail stickers for awhile. The $12 price tag was a bit steep for me, but they were 50% off at Ulta so I finally bought them! Application was time consuming. These aren't like regular nail stickers. Before you apply the nail sticker, you have to apply tiny stickers to the tips. The tips are easily misshapen and you have to delicately place them on each nail. After applying everything, I put a coat of seche vite on top. I'm on day 3 with no chips but there's definitely tip wear.

They're cute, but not worth the application time. I've never had issues with nail stickers, but these were a nightmare.

Now, onto something positive.

I bought Prada's "Candy" perfume and I'm in love. It's reminiscent of Dolce & Gabbana's "Light Blue" with a musky, caramel/vanilla scent. The bottle is gorgeous.

I also recently bought Urbay Decay's "Smoked" palette and plan on doing a look with it soon. I want to use color again so now is the perfect time to experiment!

That's all for now. :-)

Hot Pink Retro

A quick post. I know it's been awhile!

 

Raccoon Eyes

I've been wanting to use NYX's "Black Bean" eye pencil for awhile. I decided to use it as a dark base and put a carbon black shadow on top. The black shadow is from my Sephora palette.





I didn't have a plan for this look other than seeing how the NYX pencil acted as a base. Unfortunately, despite using an eyelid primer it managed to crease. Depositing the matte black shadow on top took effort and I had to use a lot of it for even coverage. However, I do like the "wet" look the pencil gives and decided to try something else to intensify the effect - vaseline! I went a little crazy with the shape, color and texture but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Here's the look:







When I saw the photos, I immediately thought of a raccoon. Not always a good thing in reference to make-up, but when it comes to being creative and having fun, who cares?

Anyway, I think raccoons are pretty cute.

Miu Miu with Sephora

Lately I've been reading fashion blogs and finding inspiration in clothing design and color combinations. The make-up I did today is inspired by this photograph:



I adore the cream, black and green colors of the floral arrangement. The eyeshadows are from this Sephora palette:



And the look:







Hope you all enjoy!

On a side note, I'm really pleased with how my eyebrows have grown out. I was over plucking them and getting frustrated with the upkeep as a result. Not only are thicker eyebrows easier to maintain, they're the best way to naturally frame your face and give yourself a more youthful appearance. It's hard to resist excessive plucking when you shape and fill your brows every day, but I've learned to appreciate my naturally thick eyebrows and am quite fond of them now. Count your blessings and embrace what makes you unique!

Just Like Honey

I love yellow and orange eyeshadows. They aren't viewed as very wearable or user-friendly but I think they're complimentary to most eye colors.

The first look was inspired by a color combination I noticed on a friend's t-shirt. It was golden yellow with dusty rose, mauve-ish pink writing. I thought it would be fun to translate onto my eyes. I only wish the colors showed up better in the photos:







And now the orange look! After putting this together I realized it's fairly similar to the robin inspired look I did, only darker and more dramatic. The false lashes give a "double lash" effect and I love them. They're my new favorite pair of lashes next to Ardell's wispies.







Stay tuned for my next post! I went to MAC and Sephora today to pick up a couple of goodies. I'm going to attempt swatches and reviews, so we'll see how that turns out!

Spring Is In The Air

The other day I was on my balcony and noticed a robin in a tree close to me. When I saw its coat of feathers I knew I had to do a look inspired by the colors. I love the golden orange color they have on their chest. So pretty! Here are the colors I used:





MAC's "Plumage" (photo) is a deep, matte teal/blue color. It's one of the first "expensive" eyeshadows I bought years ago and I still love it. I knew it would be a perfect match for the golden toned colors I wanted to use for this look. I used the copper color all over my lid, plumage in the outer crease, and blended everything out with the lighter, shimmery golden yellow color.

And here it is:









I love these colors! Metallic tones are always gorgeous no matter what color your eyes are, and plumage is awesome for the same reason.

Also, I wanted to show everyone a new brush set I picked up at Target yesterday.



It's Sonia Kashuk's "Gold Mine" 7-piece brush set. Usually I steer clear of brush sets because they contain brushes I already have or simply would never use. This kit is the exception. All of these brushes are useful for general application, fine-tuned application, or blending.

From my experience, Sonia Kashuk brushes are good quality and engineered very thoughtfully. I've never had a bad experience. Of course, I'll let you guys know more about them as I use them.

That's all for now! Happy Spring!

It's Been Too Long

First of all, I wanted to say I am happy to see I have a few followers! ^_^ I appreciate the interest, guys! I'm going to try to update more often, even with "incomplete" looks. If there's ever a look you want me to do, advice, how-tos, anything, leave a comment and let me know. I am open to criticism, no matter how harsh. Honest!

Now, onto the post. I was shopping at Ulta a few weeks ago and noticed these crazy colorful NYX liners. I swatched them and knew I had to buy a couple. I decided on "Extreme Blue" and "Crystal Champagne".



The blue is a gorgeous royal blue color, unfortunately it looks a bit light because of flash. The crystal champagne liner is pretty and perfect for highlighting under the eye or adding a neutral glitter to finalize a look. I immediately thought of putting them on top of liquid liner and put the blue on as soon as I got home.



I've used both of them a few times now and I have been disappointed in their performance. Crystal champagne has a tendency to peel off, like you've applied a strip of glittery glue that breaks down over a few hours. It came off in one piece! I'm going to test them a bit more, but for now their staying power is not as good as I was hoping. Otherwise, they are a lot of fun to play with!

I also bought a few NYX pearl pigments. This is a quick look I did with "Lime Pearl". I definitely recommend picking these pigments up. They're cheap, easy to apply, and color payoff is excellent.



Now onto nailpolish! I've been loving nail colors lately and wanted to try crackle polishes. After some searching, I found OPI's "Black Shatter" at Ulta. I wanted to grab a glittery color to put underneath and decided to go with Orly's "It's Not Rocket Science". Here are the two colors:



And on my nails:



I know, messy application! But practice makes perfect, right? Overall, I have to say I'm not a fan of crackle polishes. They have a tendency to get clumpy after opening the bottle a few times. I may use Seche Restore to thin it out, but I haven't been able to verify if it's safe to use in crackle polish. Anybody know? I would love to use it more but now it's too difficult to apply.

Now yesterday's make-up! I wanted to try something neutral but with huge lashes and bold lips.



This is the same look with a lighter color concealer under my eyes and a nude lip:



I used my favorite false lashes, Ardell's "wispies" or "demi-wispies". They are perfect for everyday wear and really tie a look together.

Okay, that's all for now. Remember, any feedback is welcome! I would love to hear from some of my followers!