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

butter LONDON Summer 2014 Lolly Brights-- WINK Mascara and Eye Pencil in Chav and Cheerio

*press sample

  Hello friends!!  Welcome to the third and final installment of Butter London week a la LLPT!  Today I have two of the Lolly Brights eye cosmetics, and I admit to having NO CLUE what to do with this stuff when I opened my package.  The aqua blue tube is a mascara, called Chav, and the pencil is an eyeliner called Cheerio (so cute, lol).

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!).

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 :)

A Story About Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Go Go Green (photo heavy)

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Liesl.

She didn't wear a lot of makeup, and when she did, she liked to keep it simple and natural.  One day, she came across something amazing, something that took her back to her days as a seventh grader, playing with a blue Debbie Gibson Electric Youth mascara her childhood best friend had sent her from across the country.  It was a display of Maybelline Great Lash Mascaras in limited edition colors such as Pop of Purple, Go Go Green, Totally Teal, and Blink of Blue.  Feeling adventurous and a little nostalgic, Liesl decided to try out the green.

A couple days later, Liesl found herself at home sick, so she did what most people in her situation would do, and tried to create some nice eyeshadow looks to go with her edgy new mascara.  She pulled out an arsenal of tools, including a purple WetnWild Idol Eyes crayon called Techno bought on a whim, and a lovely Stila shadow palette called In The Garden that absolutely refused to play nice with her skin tone, and went to work.

Not being terribly versed in the art of matching colors, Liesl soon realized that the mascara did not even remotely match any of the shadow colors she'd layed out, but she attempted some ill-fated looks, anyway.

Ill-fated, indeed.  Not only were the colors completely discordant with each other and largely unflattering, but the reflection of Liesl's hands and camera were visible right in the center of her eyeball!  

"WHAT am I going to do?!" thought Liesl.  "I just took almost 100 pictures of a whole bunch of completely unusable material."  Undaunted, she took off the mess with her trusty Pond's cold cream, did a load of dishes, and applied the Maybelline Great Lash mascara in Go Go Green again, this time, by itself.

She marveled that the formula, while not as lengthening or as volumizing as she preferred in a mascara, was very easy to control, gave a decent amount of coverage, and did not require additional cleanup around the upper lash line.  The mascara was nicely pigmented, too, and easily visible without getting nose to nose with a magnifying mirror.  She decided to take another small round of photos, satisfied and comfortable with the simplicity, because all she wanted to do in the first place was show some like-minded souls her fabulous new green mascara.

...and this time, without the camera in her eyeballs.

 The end.