Crown Over Exposed Eyeshadow Palette (UD Naked 3 Copy Alert!!)

  I've had my eye out for the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette almost since its inception, like many of you, but unlike many of you, I haven't been able to pull the trigger on a $54 palette of shades I wasn't convinced would work on me.  In my eyeshadow world of taupe and... well, taupe, shades of pink, rose, and mauve feel a little extreme.  Still, I love my Naked 1 palette and something about those beautiful rosy hues kept calling my name...

Crown Over Exposed eyeshadow palette

NYX Cosmetics Fall Mini Haul and Review

  Hi everyone!!  There seems to be a lot of excitement over drugstore brand NYX, and I've been pleased with the small handful of products I've tried, so I decided to branch out and try a small handful more.

NYX XXL Mascara, Over The Taupe Taupe eyeshadow single, Butter Gloss Cherry Pie

Happy Caturday Poll and February Favorites

  Happy Caturday, all!!  I don't really tend to purchase a ton of makeup during any given month, and my polish buying has really tapered off, too, but I kind of went a little crazy during February (for me, anyway, lol).  So, I thought I'd tell you what I've really been enjoying this month (reviews imminent!).

NYX True Taupe Eyeshadow

Last time I showed an eyeshadow on here, I mentioned that Pink Sith keeps giving me shadow lemmings.  Well, she's gone and done it again, only this time I can't find the shadow she spoke of in any store.  The one I was initially after was NYX Dune.  I ended up finding the most awesome summer taupe in its place, though.  Here's NYX True Taupe.

 As you can see, True Taupe is a very subtle, very natural brownish-taupe, great for summer in that it adds the slightest hint of mattified shadowing.  Brown and brown leaning shadows tend to be difficult for me to wear if they've got too much red in them, but this has just the right amount of grey to balance it out and is great with my light olive complexion.  It's pigmented enough, but great for easy days when you just want a little definition.  It's perfect with sheer and nude lipsticks and glosses and ideal with a strong red lip, too.

True Taupe is easy to blend and has minimal fallout.  I've got no complaints about this eyeshadow.

So how does it compare to my holy grail of taupe eyeshadows (and eyeshadows in general), the lovely NARS Lhasa?

on the left-- NARS Lhasa; on the right-- NYX True Taupe

Well, the whole thing that drew me to the NYX in the first place was how much lighter it looked in comparison to Lhasa, and indeed, it is.  True Taupe is dark tan leaning and matte, while Lhasa's got a silvery lavender and very slightly metallic finish.  Lhasa has felt a little on the made up side for day to day wear in the summer heat, but True Taupe is beautifully light yet defining.

NYX single shadows are available at Ulta for $4.99 each.

Thanks for reading!  Have a lovely evening. ♥

NARS Euphrate Eyeshadow

I don't read many of the really big blogs but I do like Pink Sith for lots of reasons.  She introduced me to my holy grail eyeshadow of all time, NARS Lhasa, and now she's done it again here, with NARS' summer 2013 single shadow, the gorgeous Euphrate.

Euphrate is a shimmery, silvery mint shadow.  I'm not extremely well-versed in eyeshadows, so this light non-neutral was a little outside the box for me.  NARS's formula is so temptingly silky though, and the color so lovely, that I had to take a chance on this.

Euphrate has what I'm learning is typical NARS good quality formula with minimal fallout, even as I used it to line my lower lashline.

It's a light, subtle color and a nice introduction to non-neutrals without being too far outside those parameters.  Having said that, because Euphrate is shimmery it will be the highlight of any look you create.  I initially tried it with one of my red lippies I've been loving so and that was too much.  There's a video of that look that will never see the light of day... you're just going to have to trust me on this... bright red lips plus frosty mint shadow is no bueno.  This eye is best done with matte and sheer peaches everywhere else.

 Top to bottom: NARS Euphrate eyeshadow, Revlon Matte Powder Blush in Perfectly Peach, and Estee Lauder All Day Lipstick in Mocha Pink

Here's a shot of the colors in action.  A pal in one of my facebook groups described it as ethereal and I like that description.  I love how light and pretty these look together.  While Euphrate isn't as versatile as my beloved Lhasa, it's a beautiful and summery alternative and a good way for a novice to play with different colors and textures.

Euphrate retails for $24 and is available on the NARS website and at Sephora.

One more thing.  I have a new blogging partner in crime who hangs out while I paint my nails and while I type out my posts.  She doesn't have a name yet so if something comes to mind, feel free to make a suggestion, lol.  For the time being she's my new velociraptor.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend, free from the wrath of hungry dinosaurs ♥

St. Patty's Day Eotd!

Hello and Happy St. Patty's Day!  My bro and sis-in-law threw a pretty epic partay last night so this is yesterday's eotd as today my eyes are nekkid, and I'm slowly but surely recovering from the effects of Lots O'Wine, lol.

I've had the mani and the makeup planned for a few weeks, and, due to my Saturday afternoon commitment, I knew I wasn't going to have time to do makeup and nails between commitment and party.  So I sported a pretty garish look around town yesterday, lol, including in Ulta, where I was a tad self conscious...  Once I had the full outfit and look together it all looked fine, but green & gold eyes and bright coral lips paired with a turquoise fleece and old jeans is not a look that'll get you compliments, lol.  Anyhoo, here's what I used.

Stila Smudge Stick waterproof eyeliner in Starfish (part of the In the Garden palette), a dark, olive green liner with gold shimmer; L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Gold Imperial, a light, bright, super pigmented shimmery gold; Maybelline Great Lash mascara in Go Go Green, a dark kelly/grass green LE color from this summer.

Those Infallible colors are really dense and a little moist, and I learned from Deb at Beauty Ninja that these are best applied with your fingertips.  So that's what I did, and used a blending brush to try and soften the edges.  I lined my lower lash line with the gold all the way across, then used Stila Starfish to line the upper and lower outer halves.  I used three coats of Go Go Green to achieve a fullness I was happy with.

The cool thing about this mascara is that the color actually shows up on the lashes.  However, I really don't understand the appeal of Great Lash in general and why it ends up on so many best of lists year after year.  Neither the brush nor the formula does anything "great" for my lashes and I have yet to meet anyone who actually swears by it.  It neither lengthens nor volumizes.  Am I missing something, here?  I'm ready to be enlightened, because three coats starts to look spider-y.  Good thing it was semi-theatrical.

I'm certainly no masterful color mixer or blender, but it was a fun look to wear and I was fairly pleased at the result.

Here's my whole getup.  There was a prize at the party for the most festively dressed and I didn't win.  The lipstick is Maybelline Vivids in Shocking Coral, but more on that, later. :)

Sheesh, what a stupid pose.  It always translates better in my head than it does in real life, lol.

Alrighty.... Time to chill on the couch some more, because C and I haven't done quite enough of that today. ;)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you've had a fun and safe holiday weekend. §

Max Factor Fotd!

Good morning!  My UK hookup/awesome uncle got a free gift with purchase when he bought me my last batch of Max Factor nail polishes.  It's a holiday look set complete with a full size lipstick, eyeshadow, and nail polish (full size for Max Factor is mini for anyone else, but that's okay) and a mini mascara.  This is the look I've been sporting the past couple days.

Clockwise from center, Max Factor Glossfinity in Angel Nails, Earth Spirits shadow in Terra Firma, lipstick in Lilac Wine (isn't that the prettiest name?), and Masterpiece mascara in black.

Lilac Wine is a light, mauvey lilac with gold shimmer.  It's not a color I'd ever choose for myself but looked really promising, so I was really excited to try it on.  It ended up being a little on the frosty side, and while I love a good frost on my nails, that's where it should stay.  Still, it's a pretty enough color and had decent staying power.  Of course, I had to reapply after lunch, but I didn't find myself completely bare-lipped after I finished my afternoon tea.

  The wand for Masterpiece mascara is one of those rubbery things that seem to be all the rage, at least amongst drugstore cosmetics.  I'd never tried a wand like this, and it doesn't look terribly full to me, and since I'm all about volumizing, I didn't hold much hope for this.  I ended up loving it, though.  It separates and lengthens so beautifully, doesn't flake off, even with my oily skin, and isn't terribly uncomfortable at the end of a long day.

I didn't take a closeup of the shadow, so sorry....  Terra Firma is a red based brown matte shadow, plain and simple.  The suggestion on the little insert paper says to use your fingertips to really press this color in, which I assume is because it's not overly pigmented.  I used a brush on day two and found the payoff to be just as good with a prettier, softer effect.  They suggest you line your eyes with this, too, so that's what I did.

The jury's still out on this one.  It highlighted my eyes nicely enough, but the red based brown isn't the most flattering shade on me.  The formula's nice, though, with little fallout.

This is Angel Nails, a silvery gold foil with a hint of rose that didn't come out to play here but really surprised me when I moved into certain light yesterday.  It's not an original color, but it is pretty and works well with the rest of the look.  Glossfinity claims to last seven days, and so far we're on day two with no tipwear.  This is particularly impressive on my nails at this length, which generally do not like to hold color for over 24 hours.  Formula is typical max Factor thin with a great application.  I used three coats.

Aaand, here are some shots o' the full look :)

 The best self portraits are taken while making a face.  This is not saying much.

Day two.  See how much nicer the shadow looks when I've got a brush to apply with?

One with the nails. 

The whole idea is a soft focus, natural and understatedly festive look, which is definitely accomplished.  It's a pretty little set and while the lip and eye colors aren't my cup of tea, it was fun to fall for a new mascara and fun to try a polish beyond their Special Effects line.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day :)

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow-- Golden Emerald and Liquid Diamond

Hi kids!  I'm a little late to hop on the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows bandwagon.  Eyeshadows aren't my favorite beauty product in the world, and when given the choice to play up eyes or lips, I will always go lips.  When Deb at Beauty Ninja posted about these densely pigmented shadows, though, they kind of struck a chord.  Deb is a masterful shadow blender and I require a step by step outline of how to apply multiple colors; these, however, looked like they might be kind of fun and dramatic on their own.  Observe, and decide for yourselves.

I picked up Liquid Diamond (left) and Golden Emerald (right).

Liquid Diamond is beautiful.  Not only does it call to mind an amazing older Tori Amos song, it's glamorous, versatile, and easy to wear.

Liquid Diamond is a festive silvery lavender with some mellowing taupe to make it beautifully versatile.  Did I mention that?  I love versatile.  It's my favorite. :)

I love this one, and I love how it looks on its own.  It's light, so it's easier for someone not huge into dramatic eye looks to apply.  There's minimal fallout and it wears beautifully through a day of work as through a night of revelry (I've worn it on both occasions).  It looks as pretty with a neutral lip as with a red.

The second color I tried is Golden Emerald, a completely stunning hunter green and gold flecked shadow.  This one's a little trickier.

I tried Golden Emerald out by itself and wore this puppy on into work and felt a tad inappropriate (though I got quite a few compliments that day).

I honestly think this one would do better as a crease color.  Golden Emerald had a lot of fallout, which ended up being a pain because I couldn't just dust it off with a big fluffy brush.  It smeared and stained and caused a mess when I tried to clean it up.  Anyway, it's really gorgeous and kind of addicting to put on (I kept thinking it's like a glassfleck for eyes, lol) so I feel it's definitely worth getting out of my comfort zone and playing around with.

There's a gold one I think I might try, and I have a dark plum purple that needs some tinkering around with before I take that look out in public, lol.  What do you think?  Got any of these?  Love? Not so much? 

Thanks for reading. :)

NARS Lhasa Eyeshadow

Good morning, friends!!  Let me introduce you to my new favorite eyeshadow, NARS Lhasa, brand new from their fall collection.

Holy SMOKES, it is not easy taking pictures of your own eyes, especially when you've been so abundantly blessed with German bags/circles... but anyhoo.  Lhasa is a soft greyed out taupe shimmer with the subtlest hint of lavender.  It's said to be easily buildable and when it comes to makeup, I'm all about simplicity.  Until Lhasa, I'd yet to find a single color I was happy wearing all on its own.  But this is lovely and subtle in one layer.  It's great at staying in one place throughout the day, too, even without primer (which I never wear).

Lhasa is available for $24 at Sephora and on NARS' website.

Thanks for reading!! :)

Edit: Karen called to my attention the fact that Lhasa might have been around for a while, and she's right.  It was a Spring 2012 release, not fall.  Thanks, Karen :)