Nails of the Day - 5.30.15

Starting the week off with a fresh mani. Less summery, more icy this time. I love adding glitter on top of nail polish instead of using glitter polish, since it comes off much easier when it's time to remove everything! I put on a thin layer of top coat, let it dry for about 30 seconds, and then dab on loose glitter using a makeup wedge. I seal everything up with a nice layer of top coat.

Products Used:

• OPI Nail Envy
• OPI Go On Green!
• Glitter Injections in Mystic Butterfly
• Seche Vite

Sugarpill Charmy vs. Hello Waffle Lumps - Comparison Post

Whenever I swatch indie products, I always end up reminded of another product in my collection. This time around, I was swatching a sparkly pink shade - Hello Waffle Lumps eyeshadow, and was reminded of Sugarpill Charmy Chromalust loose eyeshadow. I decided to make a post to see how they stack up side by side!

Sugarpill Charmy (left) and Hello Waffle Lumps (right)

Sugarpill Charmy is listed as "sweetest babydoll pinky peach with iridescent fuchsia reflects." It's a very soft, girly shade. Hello Waffle Lumps is a "peachy-pink shimmer with subtle purple sparks." Both eyeshadows have peach, both have pink, now let's swatch them out!

With no primer, Charmy leans more peach, with Lumps leaning more pink. Since there is no primer to keep the sparkles in check, both shadows have their sparklies going every which way. Lumps has more of an iridescence to it.

Here is the swatch over primer! (I used Too Face Shadow Insurance.) Sugarpill Charmy is much more peachy than Lumps, which is much more of a satiny ballet pink. The sparkles are now in check, and they blended nicely with the shadows to create lovely satin shadows instead of glitterbombs. Though the eyeshadows looked very similar in their containers, they are very different on the skin.

Sugarpill Charmy is $13 for 0.14 oz of eyeshadow. Hello Waffle Lumps is sadly discontinued, but was apart of the Adventure Duo offered earlier this year. 

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Moonlight - Review

When this shade of Caviar Stick came out, it was love at first sight. I waited a while to pick it up though, and I got it during the spring Sephora sale!

Moonlight is listed as a "metallic champagne beige." Metallic is definitely the word to describe the formula, it is very shiny, very reflective. However, the champagne beige portion of the shade is an understatement - when swatched, there's something deeper to the shade that is really quite appealing. For the uninitiated, Caviar Sticks are a cream eyeshadow product in a twist up pencil like packaging. They can be applied straight from the tube onto the lid, and then blended out with your finger or a brush. When I used this, I applied from the tube to a primed eyelid (NARS Smudgeproof primer) and blended out with a finger. I find that applying cream shadow sticks over a base powder shadow hinders blending ability. The Moonlight Caviar Stick applied evenly and blended easily. When blended, the shade just became a little less metallic, but still very sparkly!

Unfortunately, I noticed creasing after about four hours of wear, even with a primer. This has been a common occurrence with my Caviar Sticks. To be honest, I wouldn't have even purchased this one had there been a similar shade available in the By Terry Ombre Blackstar formula but alas - there was not! This will probably be my last Caviar Stick. The shade is gorgeous, but for $28 I don't like that there is creasing over a primer that I know works for me. 

Pros:

• Very pigmented
• Blends easily
• Easy application
• Twist up product

Cons:

• Creased after about 4 hours with primer.

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Moonlight - $28.00 for 0.05 oz

Review - 3/5

Nails of the Day - 5.28.15

It's been a while since I did a standalone Nails of the Day post, and I happened to like the mani I did last night!

This was a sponge ombre effect. I layered the champagne shade on first, added some pink to the tips, and then had both shades on a sponge to blend them together. This technique is super easy, yet comes out looking great.

Products used:

• OPI Nail Envy
• Kiko Nail Lacquer #303
• Zoya Kimber
• Seche Vite

Blooddrop Fineries Moonstone perfume oil - Review

I'm excited to be reviewing my first perfume from Blooddrop Fineries! I picked this up in my recent order from The Rhinestone Housewife. Moonstone is apart of a set of perfume oils that looked to encapsulate precious and semi-precious stones. I picked up Moonstone because the description seemed fitting for a summer scent.

Moonstone is described as "white tea, apple meat, moonflower, blue agave, wintergreen, jasmine, and white ginger." I love tea and apples, as well as jasmine, so this description really spoke to me. Opening the bottle, its a faint mint (I assume the wintergreen) that comes through. Wet on the skin, the scent is mint and faint jasmine. As the oil dries, the scent becomes more floral as the wintergreen takes a backseat to the moonflower and jasmine notes. After the oil had dried, the scent became more sweet - the agave coming into play. I can sense the ginger way back there, keeping everything from becoming to sweet and floral and giving the scent just the slightest bit of bite. The scent overall is very feminine, definitely something I can see myself wearing on a summer's night where I want to channel the moon goddess, or something. Or just smell like flowers in the cool night breeze.

The scent is not overpowering at all, and clings to the skin nicely, leaving the faintest whiff of flowers and light gingery tea in its wake. Unfortunately, it does not last too long on the skin, I got about three hours of definite detectability before resorting to sniffing my wrist like a madwoman.

Pros:

• The ginger note grounds the florals quite well.
• The opening mint is refreshing and not toothpaste wintergreen or bright green gum.

Cons:

• Does not last super long on the skin (about three hours.)
• The damn label won't fully stick to the bottle and it's driving me crazy!
• Where's my apple note?

Blooddrop Fineries Moonstone perfume oil - $15.00 for 5 mL

Review - 3/5

Perfume oils work differently for different people due to skin chemistry. This is my experience with this perfume oil, which may differ for you!

Lit Cosmetics Naturally Lit Trio

Last month when I went to IMATS NY, my first stop was the Lit Cosmetics booth. By now, if you've been reading my blog, you should know that I love to sparkle and that Lit is my favorite glitter brand. I picked up a ton of glitter at the show, including the show exclusive Naturally Lit trio - a set of three "nude" glitters that will compliment a range of skintones. All three of the glitters are size 2, meaning you can easily incorporate them into an everyday look for a hint of sparkle. The three glitters are all solid glitters, which means that they will reflect their solid color only - no holo or rainbows here. This helps keep with the idea of the "nude" glitter.

Unfortunately, the trio isn't available online for order yet. But I'm going to provide some swatches now so that when Lit does have these up for sale, you can decide which is the right one for you! (Which is all of them.)

Victoria, Victoria Beckham x Nails Inc. Bamboo White Collection nail polish - Review

A few weeks ago, Beauty.com was having their 20% off sale, so I picked up the Nails Inc. collaboration polish with Victoria Beckham. I hadn't even heard of it until I saw it on a couple of YouTube channels, but then I thought hey, you know what - 20% off, might as well.

When I opened my package, I was wondering what the hell the big white box was - I had ordered a nail polish and a cream eyeshadow stick, nothing huge! Then I noticed the lid.Very Posh Spice, indeed.

All of this packaging for one little nail polish! There are two in the collection, Bamboo White and Judo Red. I picked up Bamboo White, as I currently don't have anything like that in my collection, while I have a few orangey red shades. For $25, I don't need to be buying more than I need.

Here's the bottle! The large top pops off to reveal a smaller top you screw off that's attached the the brush. The bottle is pretty heavy and feels nice, the face is concave. I like the clear glass on the sides to see the shade. I really dig the brush, its more of a paddle shape than a straight cut, helping you to get an even coat on your nails more easily. 

The polish itself was a little difficult to work with, maybe it's because I'm not the best with creme polishes. It was a little streaky, and I needed 2-3 coats on some nails to get it to look solid, with a few gaps. The shade is gorgeous though, a very chic off white almost baby pink but not quite, but possibly kind of gray? A sort of je ne sais quoi nude nail polish, if you will.

I wore this for about four days without any major chips. I have a feeling it would have lasted longer, but I did do some cleaning and dish washing without gloves (I'm the worst...) so four days it pretty good to take a chemical beating like that.

The VVB x Nails Inc. collab is of course, limited edition. You can pick up each shade individually, or as as set, if you can still find those floating around. I have Judo Red in my cart right now, waffling on whether or not to snag it from Sephora. I also have that huge box sitting around, because I sort of dig it. Totally wasteful, but still kind of cool. 

Victoria, Victoria Beckham x Nails Inc. Bamboo White Collection nail polish (Limited Edition) - $25.00 for 0.47 oz

Review - 3.5/5

Here's a quick mani I did using Bamboo White. Excuse my trash cuticles. I'm happy to report that after about three weeks to a month of having a few nails break, I'm back to being able to do my nails again!

• OPI Nail Envy
• VVB x Nails Inc Bamboo White Collection
• Seche Vite

Lit Cosmetics glitter - Size 2 vs. Size 3

I love glitter. I love using it on my nails, on my eyes...I really dig it. Lit Cosmetics is probably my favorite glitter brand. When I first bought their glitter, I had no idea what I was doing. I was going for a specific type of look, and I got my glitter, and I was super pumped. But...it looked all wrong. The glitter just looked bad. I later found out that Lit sells different sizes of glitter. I had picked size 2, which is a pretty fine cut. Now that I know better, I prefer size 3. All of my glitter in my Lit collection is size 2 or 3, and I think it would be handy to show the difference. I happen to have two sizes of the same shade, Cher. (Cher was my first glitter, that I got in the wrong size, by the way. Now I have what I need!)

According to Lit Cosmetics, size 2 is a "small cut," and size 3 is a "medium cut." The above picture has the two sizes side by side, and you can sort of tell the difference in size from what's in the sifter. it offers four sizes in total, with size 1 being a "micro cut," (I can't imagine how teeny that is!) and size 4 being a "large cut." I also took a shot using the macro setting to hopefully capture some more detail on the glitter size.

With the macro shot, size 2 looks like some silvery, sparkly sand. Meanwhile, size 3 looks like actual piece of glitter! Size 2 is much much smaller (it's actually half the size of size 3!) What will really help show the difference between the sizes is a set of swatches.

Now you can definitely see the difference between the two! Size 2 looks like a very fine sparkle, while size 3 looks like some serious glitter. I find that size 2 is a little more tricky to work with sometimes, because the fine cut sometimes clumps up if you use too much adhesive, or if you don't work fast enough at spreading what you have on your brush. I prefer size 3 because the pieces of glitter are larger, and I feel it looks better for things such as glitter liner. Size 2 glitter looks great for more subtle looks, as the sparkle will gently catch the light, instead of shouting HEY LOOK AT THIS GLITTER! like size 3 would. 

It's important to notice what size the glitter you're buying is, especially if you have a certain look in mind! I'm happy that I know the difference now, and will usually pick something in size 3 if available (or something along those lines if I'm not buying from Lit.) 

ColourPop Lippie Stix in Topanga - Review

ColourPop recently released their summer collection entitled "ColourPop Takes It Off," meaning I recently placed a ColourPop order! They released several new lipsticks, including one called Topanga. I was never a Boy Meets World fan, but I'm assuming it's named for the Boy Meets World character.

Topanga is listed as a "mid-tone dusty coral." The coral is a pinky coral - my favorite! It is still bright, though the "dusty" quality of the shade is there with it not being blindingly bright. The listed finish is satin - though upon application it has a bit of a shiny finish, after blotting it becomes more of a satin finish. Application with smooth, with good pigmentation. There is a light vanilla scent to the lipstick, which fades after application.

I wore this shade with a lip primer, but with no lip liner. I experienced no bleeding or feathering throughout the day. I did notice the color gathering into lip lines throughout the day, and the color fading from the inside of my lips. I had to reapply after about four hours. My lips did get a little dried out as well. Usually ColourPop releases a matching lip liner for all of their lipsticks, but Topanga was not released with a match, which I am a bit sad about.

Packaging is the same as all ColourPop lipsticks - white plastic tube with matching color button on the bottom and the twisting mechanism. There is a label on the bottom with the shade and the finish. The holo print on the tube rubs off easily. The packaging is cheap and light, but not much is expected for this price point. I've banged these around in my purse a bunch and have yet to have one break on me. ColourPop is stated to be a cruelty free company, and this product is vegan.

Pros:

• Smooth application
• Nicely pigmented
• Vegan and cruelty free

Cons:

• Discernable scent (though it does fade)
• Color gathers into lip lines
• Fades
• Somewhat drying
• No matching liner :(

ColourPop Lippie Stix in Topanga - $5.00 for 0.0352 oz

Review - 3/5

Arcana Breakfast in Hollywood perfume oil - Review

Now that I've gotten sucked into the world of Arcana scents, I thought I would pick up a scent from their general catalog. I was placing an order from the Rhinestone Housewife anyway, so I perused through some GC scents and settled on Breakfast in Hollywood.

Breakfast in Hollywood is described as "juicy pink grapefruit shimmies up against a bevy of California citrus fruits, sparkling champagne and ripe strawberries." Opening the bottle, the first sniff is of syrupy fruit. Like canned fruit in syrup - very sweet, a little sticky. On the skin, the sickening sweetness spreads out and opens up, becoming an array of fruits - citrus and strawberry. As the oil dries down, it lifts and the fizzy champagne becomes evident, leaving you with the scent of a mimosa with a strawberry popped on the side of the glass. (You know, what you'd be drinking if you were a starlet with big sunglasses on Sunset Boulevard!)

The throw on this isn't huge, it tended to stick pretty close to my skin. Since it's a lighter, fruity scent, the wear time wasn't super long, about 3-4 hours, but I could still smell fruit on my skin if I sniffed my wrist (which I do at my desk all the time, like your typical office weird person who loves her perfume.) I'm happy with my choice in this scent, it's light and bubbly and great for warmer weather.

Pros:

• General catalog!
• Major notes are definitely detectable
• Didn't go sour on me!

Cons:

• Wear time is on the shorter side
• Sticks closer to the skin

Arcana Breakfast in Hollywood perfume oil - $17.00 for 5 mL (at the Rhinestone Housewife)

Review - 4.5/5

Perfume oils work differently for different people due to skin chemistry. This is my experience with this perfume oil, which may differ for you!

GREAT SUCCESS - How I Scored Three LE Arcana Scents

I've been writing about indie perfumes for a couple of months now. My first foray into Arcana scents was with a decant circle for the Meow Collection, and I lamented the fact that I hadn't picked up full sizes after the fact since I fell in love. Ever since then, I have just ordered full sizes, and usually it's been a good idea (except for that time it wasn't.) since I love the scent and then don't have another regret that I can think about while trying to fall asleep at night.

However, I managed to end up getting full sizes of all of those Arcana Meow collection scents I fell in love with. How I did it was somewhat embarrassing. I went and posted my review of the scents on the Indie Makeup and More subreddit, as one does. Then, I started perusing Sunday Swap threads and leaving requests for the scents in question, you know, in case someone wasn't digging theirs, I'd be happy to pick it up. But then I made my own request post in the permanent sale sub, a sign of true desperation. Other users started directing people to talk to me if they mentioned even possibly parting with Fluffing the Bunny or Two Finger Ballet, that's how desperate I looked. (I hadn't decided on Jabberwocking as a OH GOD I NEED DIS yet.) I wound up in a comment thread about something totally unrelated and managed to get a bottle of Fluffing the Bunny that way. One down, two to go.

A couple of weeks later, Julie, the lovely owner of Arcana, posted that Two Finger Ballet was back up on her eBay shop. I missed the listing by a few minutes and commented my disappointment. But then she commented back that she may have some more to re-list! I actually let her know that I would be refreshing her page in anticipation. This is a new low for me, guys. I don't need brand owners knowing how bad I need their stuff. It's like I got my first hit and I'm waiting on the corner for that vanilla ice cream creme brulee fix. But she kindly replied to my comment with the listing (that I was already on and checking out hahahaha told you I was refreshing!) and I had my bottle! Two down.

Jabberwocking was really easy, it was in stock on the Rhinestone Housewife. I got the last one. Suck it, nerds.

So managing to get a limited edition scent or thing in the indie world is pretty simple, I found. Stalk destashes, pray that brand owners have extra stock, and shop around. Hopefully you'll be able to find your white whale!

Fyrinnae Kitten vs. Colourpop Tootsi - Comparison Post

If you haven't noticed, I am all about the "butthole lip" trend, aka "griege" lip colors. Every company and their mother have jumped to create a griege lip shade, especially since Lime Crime decided to crash and burn hardcore with their credit card debacle earlier this year. On top of, you know, their general shady history. However, Lime Crime Cashmere is the end all be all of butthole lip, and I am on a quest to find an amazing dupe so I don't have to sell my soul or even worse, set aside my morals for a tube of most likely questionable butthole goodness.

Today I'm taking a look at one of my favorite indie companies, Fyrinnae, and their recent addition to their liquid matte line, Kitten. Next to it we are putting ColourPop Tootsi, which I have previously reviewed. (And since picked up the matching lip liner.) Fyrinnae Kitten has been selling like hot cakes since it went up on the site (and every time it is restocked!), and I managed to finally snag it a few weeks ago and I am SO HAPPY. Tootsi is a hot item as well, since it's basically butthole for $5 - can't say no to that!

Before we begin, when I compare two products like this, I am comparing for shade purposes only. Kitten is a liquid matte, with the formula being like an ink for your lips, you can see it in the swatch that it has sunk into my skin, almost. Tootsi is a regular lipstick with a "matte" finish. I say "matte" because ColourPop doesn't know what matte means and from my experience, when they say "matte lipstick" they mean demi-matte.

Kitten is definitely the more gray of the two, with a beautiful grayish lavender shade. Greige is supposed to be a mix of beige and grey, so I'd say Kitten doesn't really fall into that category due to the amount of purple that it's in the mix here. Tootsi has a hint of pink to it as well, but definitely more beige, and a lot less gray. In the quest for butthole, I'd say Tootsi is more the color of the classic butthole lip, and Kitten is more of a fabulous garden fairy lip color. Neither, though, are a true griege in my opinion.

I'm still on my quest for the great Cashmere griege dupe. But I'm glad I have both of these shades!

Kat von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in La Femme/L'Ecole des Femmes - Review

So I'm a pretty big fan of the Kat von D makeup line. Although the new(ish) Studded Kiss lipsticks are kind of hit and miss, the ones I've tried so far I've liked. I follow Kat von D and Kat von D beauty on instagram, and the other day she wore the gorgeous shade La Femme and I had to have it.

If you check the Sephora site now, the shade is listed as "La Femme." However, when the line dropped last year, the shade was "L'Ecole des Femmes," presumably named after the boutique shop of the same name. Now, I have no idea what happened, probably a legal thing, but the name is now "La Femme." The tube I received had the label with the old name, which I thought was a little neat. (Which tells you more about me than you need to know.)

La Femme is listed as a "bright matte coral pink." I like this shade of coral, I tend to gravitate more towards pinky corals than orange leaning corals. The application for this shade was a bit stiff - it didn't exactly drag on the lips, but it didn't glide along. Thankfully, it also didn't feel like it was about to break off in the tube like the Studded Kiss lipsticks are known to do. The formula is pigmented, and though the application is stiff, it was still fairly easy to work with. I wore this over my trusty lip primer, so that may have aided in my application. The finish was a nice matte - not the type of hyper matte that spells disaster to come later in the day in the form of parched lips, but a nice matte that actually looks good

I experienced little transfer, just your tripical kiss print on my coffee cup, nothing major. No bleeding or feathering, even with no lip liner - I guess the stiffness of the formula comes into play here. I personally did not find the lipstick drying, but please keep in mind I wore a primer. It is a matte formula, so it may be drying without a primer. Throughout the day, the color gathered into my lip lines and began to highlight flakes. I kept pressing and rubbing my lips together to redistribute the product which seemed to help, but overall a reapplication and blot fixed the problem. I needed to reapply after eating anyway.

The Studded Kiss lipsticks aren't the world's hardiest lipsticks. They can be finicky sometimes, but a lot of the shades are nice and I personally dig them. I'm happy I picked this up! I don't mind reapplying my lipstick during the day, which seems to be the cure for the problems this shade has.

Pros:

• Pigmented
• No bleeding/feathering
• Non-drying

Cons:

• Stiff application
• Highlights flakes
• Color gathers into lip lines

Kat von D Studded Kiss lipstick in La Femme/L'Ecole des Femmes - $21.00 for 0.10 oz

Review - 3/5

Kat von D Ink Liner in Baudelaire - Review

As the weather warms up, I like to switch out my usual black eyeliner for navy blue. I usually reach for a gel liner, but since Kat von D came out with a bunch of new colored liquid liners, I decided to grab one, since I'm a big fan of her Tattoo liquid liner pen in Trooper. I picked this up during the Sephora sale last month.

The first thing to note is that the Ink liners, unlike the Tattoo liners, have a felt tip instead of a brush tip. I'm not the biggest fan of felt tips, as I feel that they fuzz at the end and the tips become not as precise. Also, the Tattoo liner has a great brush tip since it's pointed, unlike a lot of other liquid liners with a flat tip. But I digress - the Ink liner has a great, firm felt tip. The tip does have a bit of give, which allows for varying pressure to release more of the liquid liner.

The liner fluid itself didn't bleed horribly - in the swatch, I used some varying pressure to show how you can have the liner be darker or lighter based off of the pressure of your hand. Harder pressure didn't cause the liquid to bleed, which is great! The shade itself is a rich navy blue. I had no problem creating a sharp wing with the felt tip. The liner itself, once dried, did not budge, and dried to a matte finish. I prefer a matte finish for my liquid liners. I know the Kat von D also has some metallic/shiny finish liners, so it's good to know there are both options available.

The pen packaging is nice, the tube is the same color as the liner. When you shake the pen, there's something inside to mix up the liner. The cap is also a pressure cap, which will help in the long run concerning bleeding, etc.

There are a bunch of new shades in the Ink Liners, I might pick up another shade or two, should the new shades not come out in the Tattoo Liner line as well.

Pros:

• Firm tip
• Matte finish
• Dries quickly, does not budge

Cons:

• No brush tip option available (though this is my preference!)

Kat von D Ink Liner in Baudelaire - $19.00 for 0.19 oz

Review - 5/5

Giorgio Armani Flash Lacquer in 503 - Review

I probably mentioned it before, but lately I have been all about lip gloss. I picked up this gloss in my Sephora spring sale haul. Armani is a relatively recent addition to the brands Sephora offers, so I decided to cash in and pick this up.

Shade 503 in the tube is a medium pink with silver shimmer. When applied, it is much more sheer - adding a slight wash of pink to the lips, and the shimmer adding a nice layer of iridescence that gives the lips some depth. The glitter in the gloss does not feel gritty - I could not feel it at all. The applicator is a doe foot - a longer, skinnier doe foot that is slightly angled. The gloss itself is not sticky, and my hair did not get stuck in it, which is a huge plus.

I was really hoping that this gloss would be more pigmented, but it seems to go for more of a shimmery finish than a pigmented look. The high gloss shine is there, and the gloss itself is comfortable, not super thin but not goopy. The feel on the lips is more balmy. As the gloss sinks in, the feel is definitely balmy. This does need to be reapplied throughout the day, as it is a gloss and will transfer and be absorbed.

The packaging is a heavy plastic tube, with the lid having the GA logo on it. When twisted down, the lid "clicks" into place, which I felt adds to the packaging. It is sleek and looks a little more luxe than your average lip gloss tube, which I would hope for at the high end price point. Although the pigmentation of the gloss was a bit of a letdown, I think I will try another shade or two from the Flash Lacquer line, as I've been impressed with Giorgio Armani products from what I've tried so far.

Pros:

• Non sticky
• Comfortable to wear, not super thick
• Glitter is not gritty

Cons: 

• Very sheer
• Needs to be reapplied

Giorgio Armani Flash Lacquer in 503 - $30.00 for 0.22 oz

Review - 3.5/5

Marc Jacobs: Blacquer and More 500 Point Perk

After the mad rush of the Extraordinary Rewards last week, a lot of people were left with a bad taste in their mouth concerning Sephora. But lo and behold, they went ahead and dropped a fancy new Marc Jacobs 500 point perk that I (and many others!) promptly snapped up. (I was also given 500 points for bitching and moaning via email...yay whining! I sort of hate myself.) The Marc Jacobs: Blacquer and More perk has four deluxe minis inside, including a mini lipstick in that new formula that I love! I've dissected my box and swatched the products below, and included some initial thoughts on what I've tried so far.

Drugstore Face Haul

I decided to pick up some drugstore face products while at Ulta the other day! I've heard a ton of great things about these products, so I wanted to check them out for myself.

Here's what I picked up:

• L'Oreal True Match foundation in N1
• L'Oreal Magic Lumi primer
• Maybelline Fit Me foundation in 110 Porcelain
• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 10 Light

I haven't gotten a chance to really test these out yet, but here are some swatches:

I'm excited to give these a shot! I've heard really great things about both foundations and the concealer, and the primer looks really interesting. I'm looking forward to see how it compares to mixing in Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl into my foundation.

Arcana Scent Review - Apples Crave Cake and Cat's Whiskers

I'm still relatively new to Arcana scents. My first encounter was with the Meow Collection, where I picked up some decants. (And then tracked down some full sizes hell to the yeah!) These samples were sent to me when I picked up a full size bottle of Two Finger Ballet, funnily enough. I believe these scents are both limited edition, yet they are both still readily available.

Cat's Whiskers - Only for true sybarites. Rich eggnog, dark rum, a suggestion of waffles, a hint of  smoky bacon, and 1 tiny drop of sparkling mint. The first sniff for me is baked goods - that must be the waffles. I can smell a hint of mint in the background. Applied the mint and egg nog come out stronger, and I get a smell of maple syrup - probably more waffles! This smells a little Christmassy to me, it must be the mint and egg nog coming together with a hint of syrup and cinnamon (is that the rum? Spiced rum, maybe?) The throw on this wasn't incredibly great, it held close to the skin. Sort of my own personal Christmas waffle cloud.

Apples Crave Cake - Fresh, crisp red apples blended with our yellow cake layering note. Upon opening the vial, the scent is apple cinnamon. The good kind, not the super harsh cheap wax candle kind of apple cinnamon that scalds the nostrils. When applied, the cake comes out, and it smells exactly like fresh apple cider donuts. Not the Dunkin' Donuts ones, either...the fresh ones baked at the apple orchard you pick up when you go pumpkin and apple picking. I had someone sniff me at work to confirm. I tweeted that I smelled like an apple cider donut. I LOVE this! The sillage was decent, not too much, but I felt like I left a trail of bakery goodness in my wake. The perfume lasted a good 7-8 hours on me, and I smelled the faint traces of cinnamon sugar on me as I headed to the gym after work.

You can pick these up from the Arcana ebay shop, the Rhinestone Housewife shop, or Pretty Indulgent.

Cinema Secrets Brush Cleaner!

So I wanted to pick up Cinema Secrets brush cleaner during the Sephora sale, but of course it was sold out. When I saw it came back in stock, I jumped on the chance to pick it up! I try my best to wash my brushes once a week, but some of my brushes get more nasty more quickly than others. I tried to remedy this by buying extras of my most used brushed (Zoeva Concealer Buffer, Hakuhodo J5523) but nothing beats a nice, clean brush. Cinema Secrets is supposedly one of the items that the big bad pros use between clients on their brushes to keep everything clean and sanitized, so why not keep a bottle on my vanity?

To test this stuff out, I decided to clean up one of my concealer brushes. These are easily the gunkiest of my brushes, since the concealer I use is a a thicker consistency (NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer.) The brush pictured has about four days of concealer yuckiness built up. The directions say to spray the brush while holding it 1-2 inches from the spray nozzle and rotate to be sure you get the whole brush. Wipe it off on a clean tissue, and then wait for the brush to dry.

My brush looks great! I don't think anything replaces a good deep cleaning, which I intend to keep doing, but I think this will be great for mid week de-gunking (look at that before shot...urgh.) 

Look how much concealer was in that brush!! I also cleaned up one of my fluffy blending brushes, the brush I use for swatching (oh god the amount of stuff in that brush...) and the base shadow brush I use daily - all looked great! When the brush is dry, it also smells like vanilla.

The spray bottle is 2 ounces, and is $8 at Sephora. You can also get bigger sizes of this, and there are instructions available for dunking and swishing your yucky brushes around, too!

Adventures in Depotting

When I went to IMATS, I picked up a black z-palette with the intent of depotting my Sugarpill quads. I finally got around to doing just that, and I decided to document my process! I've only ever depotted one other palette before (the super clunky Urban Decay Vice palette) so I thought it would be neat to see the process once it's all done. Please excuse the crappy carpet, we rent.

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Crème in So Sofia - Review

As soon as I applied my first Marc Jacobs lipstick, I knew I was going to be picking up another one. I was hooked! This is the shade I picked up in my Sephora sale haul a few weeks ago.

So Sofia is listed as an "electric watermelon." It is very, very bright! When blotted, it's a bit more toned down, but that brightness is still there - it's a perfect spring and summer shade. When applied, the formula goes on smoothly - the lipstick is super creamy. The shape of the lipstick itself is more chunky and rounded at the top, there's a "tip," but it isn't like a NARS Audacious or MAC lipstick tip, with a sharp edge. I had to go in with a lip brush for the more detailed parts of my mouth, but that's because I'm clumsy and still can't apply lipstick - you may have better luck. There's still a rounded tip, and it isn't flat by any means (unlike those new Bite Butter Cream lipsticks.) There was no noticeable scent when applying. One swipe was enough to get true to tube color, but the formula is buildable to get a brighter hue.

I wore this with no lip liner, but with a lip primer. I did not find the lipstick to be drying. and it was comfortable on the lips. There was no feathering or bleeding outside of the lip lines. I did notice some transfer onto my cup, but it was nothing crazy. Over time, I did see some gathering of color into my lip lines, and some highlighting of flakes on my lips. It didn't appear to be noticeable from a distance, however - I doubt anyone is as close as I am when I am inspecting my lipstick for a review, but it is something to note. I also noticed fading on the inside of my lips. The lipstick left a light stain.

The packaging, as I noticed in my last review, has that great magnetic closure - a little extra bang for your buck. It's still plastic, but it gives that little extra luxe feeling. Although this lipstick has a couple of drawbacks, I still really dig the formula. I'm not sure that the line has too many more shades that could fill gaps in my collection (since I'm not really a red lipstick kind of person and I have 30948358 mauvey pinks!) but if there are more additions, I will definitely check them out.

Pros:

• No scent!
• Very pigmented
• Smooth application
• No bleeding or feathering

Cons:

• Some transfer
• Color gathers into lip lines
• Some flake highlighting
• Inner lip fading does occur

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Crème in So Sofia - $30.00 for 0.12 oz

Review - 4/5

Bourjois Rouge Edition Aqua Laque in 01 Appêchissant - Review

I reviewed my other Aqua Laque shade last week, so I didn't want to wait too long before reviewing the other one I got in my recent Bourjois haul!

Shade 01 Appêchissant is somewhere between a coral and a nude pink. The applicator is a doe foot, which has a pretty small tip that is great for getting the cupid's bow of the lip with the product. The formula for this shade seems to be a bit thinner than the 04 shade that I reviewed previously. There is a distinct fruity scent that does fade after application. This shade has more of a balmy gloss finish than the super high gloss finish of the other shade I reviewed, but it still looks great. The gloss is pigmented, requiring only one layer of product to get color.

I wore this over a lip primer, and did not experience the product to be drying. Unfortunately, the glossy finish did transfer off onto cups, etc. and needs to be reapplied frequently to stay glossy. Since this shade is somewhat close to my natural lip shade, I couldn't honestly tell you if there was a stain left behind. After the gloss wears off, the product feels balmy on the lips, and is quite comfortable. I experienced no bleeding or feathering with this, and I did not pair it with a lip liner.

I actually liked the thicker formula that shade 04 seemed to have over the thinner formula of shade 01. Both were non sticky and both transfer, but I felt that since 04 was thicker, the gloss stuck around a bit longer than 01. I still really like the product, especially for the price (considering my ideal product is the YSL Glossy Stain and that costs some serious $$$!) These are really light shades, perfect for spring and summer.

Pros:

• Pigmented
• Easy to apply
• Does not feather or bleed
• Comfortable to wear
• Non sticky

Cons:

• Definitely scented
• Gloss wears off
• Needs to be reapplied frequently to keep glossy finish
• Thinner formula

Bourjois Rouge Edition Aqua Laque in 01 Appêchissant - £8.99 for 0.26 oz

Review - 3.5/5

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bauhau5 - Review

I picked up another of these liquid lipsticks during my sale haul, since I had been wanting it for a while. At first I had passed this shade over, but I saw someone else wear it on reddit and I was like dammit, now I need it.

Bauhau5 is a "deep raspberry." The color is a definite deep pink shade, almost leaning towards purple. The texture is a creamy liquid, not as creamy as a NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, but it isn't a thin liquid. The applicator is a doe foot. Application is smooth, and one layer of color is all you need for full coverage. The formula sets pretty quickly, and goes from liquid, to tacky, to set. If you make any mistakes, you'll need to work quickly to clean them up. There is a slight vanilla scent to the lipstick, but it fades after application.

I wore this lipstick with a primer, since this matte formula can be quite drying. However, it does not bleed or feather - it stays put once it is fully dry. There was very little transfer with this lipstick throughout the day, even with eating. As the day wore on, my lips did feel a little parched, but this is a very matte formula, so that is to be expected (and that's why I wear a primer!) The lipstick did wear off a little bit on the inside of my lips, but the lipstick also left an incredibly pigmented stain, so much so that my lips were a great pink color the next day!

I'm just going to have to resign myself to the fact that I'm going to end up owning all of these lipsticks, the formula is definitely my favorite liquid lipstick.

Pros:

• Smooth application
• Pigmented
• Doesn't budge
• Leaves a stain
• Sets quickly

Cons:

• Slight scent
• Quite drying
• ...leaves a stain!
• Sets quickly, can be an issue if you muck it up.
• I keep saying "bauhaufive"

Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bauhau5 - $21.00 for 0.22 oz

Review - 5/5

Lit Cosmetics Glitter Haul and Swatches

Anyone who talks to me about makeup knows that I love glitter. I add it to my eye makeup, I add it to my nails, I use it as liner - I'm all about adding a touch of sparkle. My favorite glitter is Lit Cosmetics glitter, and I love placing orders with them because they're fast and their customer service is tops. I recently placed an order and here's what I picked up!

Wet n Wild Silver Lake Collection Palettes

I will admit it - I'm a bit of a makeup snob. I usually wouldn't look twice at a Wet n Wild collection. But when I saw the Silver Lake collection for spring, the California Roll palette really caught my eye - I HAD to have it. Of course, I saw it like two months after it came out, and I ran around to a ton of drugstores trying to find it. I finally lucked out at a Rite Aid near me, and of course then I saw full displays at my local Wegmans. But I digress. I found the palettes for this collection to be super cute, so I picked up two!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Aqua Laque in 04 Viens Si Tu Roses - Review

Since I'm a big fan of the Bourjois Rouge Edition line, I had to jump at the chance to have a few of a new Aqua Laques sent to me in my recent Bourjois Haul that was facilitated by the lovely Pigmented Lips.

Viens Si Tu Roses is a raspberry red pink shade with a very glossy finish. The formula is a little thicker than a YSL Glossy Stain. The product comes with a doe foot applicator, and the gloss formula goes on smoothly. The gloss is quite pigmented and very, very shiny. There is a slight fruit scent that does fade after application. I wore this with my usual lip primer underneath, but with no lip liner. There was no bleeding or feathering. The formula felt light and mildly hydrating, not drying at all.

Since the formula is super glossy, it does transfer easily. The product left a stain on the lips, and the remaining product felt like a balm on the lips after the gloss transferred off. If you want the super glossy look all day, you will have to reapply more frequently. 

I liked this product a lot. It isn't on the YSL Glossy Stain's level by any means, but it's definitely a cheaper alternative for those looking for a similar product and not wanting to drop that sort of cash. Unfortunately, Bourjois is a little harder to come by if you're in the US (Walgreens is starting to carry it, though!) so you'll need a friend to send it to you if you want this specific product. (Or you know, order from Boots, etc.)

Pros:

• Pigmented
• Leaves a stain
• After gloss fades, has a balmy feel
• No bleeding/feathering

Cons:

• Gloss transfers
• Gloss fades fairly quickly

Bourjois Rouge Edition Aqua Laque in 04 Viens Si Tu Roses - £8.99 for 0.26 oz

Review - 4/5

Sephora "Extraordinary Rewards" Point Perk Release

Extraordinary Rewards Promo

If you're anything like me, you do quite a bit of shopping at Sephora, even though after every mishap (like sales where you feel you deserve more off, or bungled orders, etc) you swear you're going to shop there less. So since you shop there quite a bit, you probably have a few points saved up, since the regular point perks aren't really anything to write home about. About a week or two ago, Sephora sent out the above promo via email, letting everyone know that WORTHWHILE, AMAZING REWARDS ARE COMING! (Brace Yourselves!) The email said that another email would follow letting you know when the rewards would be available for Beauty Insiders to redeem, and they gave vague hints as to what would be available, such as sets from Kat von D and the pictured Urban Decay Naked Vault.

But...that email never came. (At least for me...the emails are technically still rolling out. As of this post, I haven't gotten mine.) The point perks silently went live on May 5th, at 4 AM EST/1 AM PST, and were snatched up within seconds. Canadian customers were barred from the majority of the perks. People waking up at a decent hour logged online to see forums already fuming at the fact that the perks were gone, and then they joined the masses in complaining that they didn't get a chance. I myself called the Rouge hotline and wrote a strongly worded email that I didn't even have a chance to try and redeem my points, because I was asleep like a normal human being.

Sephora, of course, handled this with their usual grace and aplomb no coordination or idea of what to do. Some people heard from Customer Service Representatives that there would be more perks on the way. Others heard that people "hacked" the site to get the rewards, and that their orders would be cancelled. Some people called to voice their complaints and were given points to smooth things over. (I was not offered points on either of my calls.) One of the Representatives I spoke with said they had "No idea what they were going to do about the situation," and that "Some people managed to get access when the perks went live early by mistake." Clearly, Sephora has made a mess of things, as usual, and is scrambling to make a recovery.

Once again, being a VIB Rouge has not paid off whatsoever, since I haven't even gotten the email that states the "extraordinary rewards" are available. As of right now, there is one reward currently left - a Josie Maran set with three products that do not have noted sizes (most likely deluxe minis) and an autographed cookbook by Josie's favorite chef. You can see why this is the last perk left - it's value is not worth the 1000 points it is listed for.

Right now, I am just waiting for Sephora to apologize for royally screwing up (again) and for possibly being offered some sort of token of their appreciation for being their customer through another one of their messes (yeah right.) But the drama sure is making the day go by quickly!

Bourjois Haul and Swatches!

When Boots has 3 for 2 deals and your friend in the UK offers to mule some things over for you, you jump at the opportunity! Here's my recent Bourjois haul:

I had been wanting to pick up the Healthy Mix Foundation for ages, so I made sure I got it! I got the lightest shade 51 Vanille Clair. I also got two of the new Aqua Laques, which are from the Rouge Edition line. I picked shades 01 and 04. 

The Aqua Laques are really interesting - they're not as pigmented as a Glossy Stain, but they are very glossy, which I like! The foundation looks neutral enough to be a match, I hope it works out. Be on the lookout for reviews soon!