Queen of Hearts

I had some requests a few posts back about doing a look with the Nicole Love your Life hearts polish. Here I did a sorta sloppy gradient nail with Kate PK-20 polish and then Love your Life as a top coat, making sure to get 2 hearts on each finger and 3 on the thumb. It gets quite hard to pick up more hearts with the brush but you could probably pick them out of the bottle with a toothpick/skewer of some sort...




In the meantime I've also acquired Nicole Have a Heart polish (a red heart version). Couldn't resist not taking this picture with Yasumi's necklace - goes with a Queen of Hearts theme




I also got an extra set of the red and pink heart polishes, and will be doing a separate giveaway featuring them :)


Anyway a few weeks ago I was inspired by the Esprique tutorials that Rouge Deluxe posted, so I used the same application technique with the Lorac Pink Python palette.




Used the medium browns on the lid, the lightest shade to highlight, and the blue colour on the outer 1/2 of the lower lashline.






Although the brown colours did not come out well, they definitely showed up in real life. The top lash liner should definitely have been more smoky and thicker, but I forgot as I did it from memory. Next time I would smudge the dark brown colour over the brown liner.

Mascara was the Lorac Visual Effects mascara that came with the kit. I like it so far, the brush is tricky but the formula really lengthens.





I used the pink blush from the palette on the cheeks, and MAC Viva Glam VI SE lipstick (another new purchase I haven't blogged about yet!) Face was most likely Skinfood Aloe BB cream, and Armani Hi-Precision Retouch concealer for undereyes. FYI, that concealer does crease a bit...I wonder if I will ever find one that doesn't crease! :(


Oh and here are some pics from when I took the boyfriend out for his bday dinner. We went to Rodney's Oyster House as he loves oysters. I got too carried away with eating though, so I only remembered to take pics of the oysters but nothing else. The food was good though, and I like how they let you do 1/2 orders or share entrees. We had the oyster slapjack soup, and seafood stew entree (which had more seafood than actual liquid stew), and of course the raw oysters:



The selection of sauces

Handmade haul

I finally got my computer back! I know this isn't enough to be a haul but hey the alliteration works, and I just couldn't think of a good title :P

So last week, I received two very anticipated packages I had ordered...one from Yasumi and another from Yumeko. The first to arrive was Yasumi's Alice in Wonderland themed necklace :)

All wrapped up - love the strawberry tape




The Follow the White Rabbit necklace




Unravelling the tale




The charms: the rabbit pendant, an ace of hearts , silver clock, and a red crystal heart




Full length - isn't it a work of art? I can't get over how unique it is! I love everything about it - the charms, the pendant, the heart shaped clasp, pearls, roses....:D




Was going to take an outfit pic but I really didn't have anything exciting to wear other than um...black? This is me thinking, "Wow, finally got a pic that doesn't show the dust on my mirror" :P



(why does my head look so huge here?)


If you haven't already checked out her jewelry site you should! She makes the most quirky pieces that make you fall in love with them :) Seriously though, if I had more $ I would buy everything...and pay someone to stalk her site for me, because her stuff goes fast!


The second item to arrive was Yumeko's brush roll (which by the way also sell out super quick!).




Why don't we have cute packing tape like that in Canada?


She also included a gorgeous eyeshadow palette and Japanese candy!




The brush roll was well packed and had a cute Thank you note:




With my most used brushes in it




Yep, I can't get over the cuteness of Rilakkuma and the fruit prints on the strap, its so cheery and summery!




All rolled up




She also does Hello Kitty and other cute patterns for brushrolls, laptop covers, and eco bags. Have a look here, her creations sell very fast! Seriously I had to email her within an hour or so of it being posted, or it would've been gone already.


Hmm...I guess thats it for today. I have lots more to blog about but haven't had the time to resize and crop pictures yet! I took a bunch of pictures of various looks from the past weekends so I have a good amount to update with soon :)

Another Spring FOTD + MAC Blossoming

Somehow I'm stranded without my computer today, so instead of posting what I had originally planned, I'll post about some stuff that has pics already uploaded on Photobucket :)

So....Shoppers Drug Mart had a sale on Gosh products a few weeks ago, so I picked up a few things as I had never tried them before but heard good things. 

I got two of their eyeshadow sticks in Love that Beige and Love that Cool Mint, a limited edition quad in Toucan , and the lipstick in Darling.

The eyeshadow sticks are quite good, they go on similarly to MAC's shadesticks and the colours are good dupes. Love that Beige is quite similar to Lemon Chiffon from Sugarsweet, while Love that Cool Mint would make a great base for Aquavert as they are very similar greens.

The lipstick in Darling has a smooth texture similar to MAC lustre formula which I like. The reason I got this shade was because it seems to be quite popular on Makeupalley as a nude, however I am not so sure it works for me. The formula goes on really well but the colour seems to clash with my skintone.

Swatches of Love that Beige and Love that Cool Mint on the left, and Darling lipstick on the right:

The eyeshadow quad I got is a limited edition for Spring '09, the colours are vibrant but tend to be on the matte / satin side:

Swatches of the Toucan quad (no base used):

Spring is almost over, but I did a Spring inspired FOTD again because I wanted to try out the MAC blushcreme I got a while back, and also to try the GOSH palette :) 

What I used:

Skinfood Aloe Sun BB cream

Cargo blu-ray concealer

MAC Blushcreme in Blossoming

Gosh waterproof eyeshadow stick in Love that Beige

Gosh quad in Toucan (yellow and green colours)

L'oreal HIP liner in brown

Too Faced Lash Injection Pinpoint mascara

Majolica Majorca Honey Pump gloss in OR122

I found that Love that Beige really brings out the colours of eyeshadows when it is used as a base. The colours may not have looked all that bright in these pics but believe me in real life they were quite vibrant!

Regarding the MAC blushcreme, I was not a fan of it. The colour of Blossoming is a natural looking coral-peach, however I couldn't get myself to like it because of the texture. It is a very creamy blush so it was hard for me to blend compared with the gel / mousse blushes that I am used to. I also thought this shade seemed to have too much of a coral tone to it, so it seemed to accentuate the redness on my sensitive skin. I do have this for sale on my sale blog if anyone is interested in trying it for themselves.

Thats it for today, I hope I'll get my computer back tomorrow as I have loads to catch up on!

MUA swaps + MAC Pleasantry comparison

Since March I've started swapping on MUA, quite fun but takes up a lot of time...and shipping via Canadapost isn't cheap! But its nice to pick up things to try while getting rid of products I don't use anymore.

My first swap there wasn't too exciting, just another Shiseido Hydro-powder to add to my existing collection: Colour - Spring Plum

A warm brownish plum with green iridescent sparkle which is more obvious in real life.

Other things I swapped for: MAC Aquavert eyeshadow (in Lure collection packaging), Tarte cheekstain in Tickled, and my favourite - MAC mineralized blush in Pleasantry.

Aquavert as most people know already, is a pretty light green perfect for spring, definitely a must-have. The Tarte cheekstain is something I've never tried before as they are quite overpriced in Canada ($28 in US, but $39 in Canada + 13% Ontario tax). Will be doing a FOTD with it in the future. Tickled is a basic reddish stain though, similar to what you'd get from Benetint or MAC's Just a Pinch.

Pleasantry blush is a cool toned pink with great payoff, the shimmer is finer than the recent Grand Duo releases, making it more wearable in my opinion. Comparison swatches of this will be at the bottom of this post.

I also did another swap for MAC Parfait Amour, Shimmermoss eyeshadows, Gracious Me shadestick and also backups of Apricot Pink and Softwash Grey pigments (not pictured)

The eyeshadows are pretty common products so I didn't bother swatching but if you don't own these colours already you should! Parfait Amour is the best purple from MAC in my opinion, its cool toned so anyone can wear it without fear of looking bruised. Shimmermoss is like the teal I've been looking for all my life! It has a veluxe pearl finish, so its way better in terms of colour intensity and shimmer (lol) compared with other MAC shades from the same family like Steamy and Aquadisiac.




And something else I've been lemming after a while - Stila Mandarin Mist. I know this was going for pretty cheap at Beautycrunch.com's sale but at least I didn't have to deal with any shipping/custom fees by swapping for it. Its a pleasant citrus scent, exactly my type of fragrance.




I also bought the Pandamonium quad off a reader who had an extra brand new one :) I actually bought this in March but just haven't had the heart to use it yet! Its just so pretty and rare I just kept it to look at so far, haha :D




Possible alternatives to MAC Pleasantry:

The MAC Pleasantry blush is quite sought after and I've seen people on forums wanting to know whether Love Rock duo is similar to Pleasantry, so here is a comparison.




Also threw in Bourjois's Rose D'or blush to compare:




I'd say that Love Rock has more purple tones compared with Pleasantry, which is more blue toned.

Silk Naturals' also makes a dupe of Pleasantry called Charming, which I bought a sample of back in December:



In the pan they look quite comparable, but because the Silk Naturals one is a powder, it tends to go on stronger. It is also slightly warmer toned than Pleasantry.

Left: Pleasantry, Right: Charming



Thats about it for tonight...I will try to write up more posts for the next few days hopefully if things don't get too busy. Please do take a moment to answer my poll on the top right corner, I would like to know if you prefer to have posts almost everyday or less frequently but with a lot more content. Thank you!

P.S. I am also planning to do a small summer giveaway soon, so stay tuned! :)

Back with some swatches and a Guerlain makeover

Sorry I have been absent again! Thank you for all the kind comments on my contest entry, I really appreciate it :)

Firstly, I received a question from Iraz asking whether MAC pans could fit into ELF palettes - Yes they can, and vice versa. Other brands that make the same size eyeshadow pans are Annabelle, and Milani.

Here are some swatches that I promised to post from my Sephora haul:

Lorac Pink Python palette





The blue shade is very similar to MAC Parrot, so I swatched it above for comparison. In the pan they look quite similar too.




Benefit Creaseless Cream shadows/liners

Clockwise from left: Birthday Suit, Skinny Jeans, Bunny Hop (received this in a swap)



I swatched them with the Shiseido Hydro Powders just for comparison's sake.

L-R: Glistening Sand (Shiseido), Birthday Suit, Skinny Jeans, Bunny Hop, Bare Pink (Shiseido).



Bunny Hop looks quite similar to Bare Pink actually, though Bare Pink is a little more muted.



I've only used Birthday Suit so far and just once, so I can't really review the product fully but so far it doesn't seem quite as creaseless as the name suggests. Pros - The formula feels super creamy and soft. It takes a while to dry down which could be good I guess if you plan to blend it with other colours. However as a base it takes a while to dry which I think makes it crease without any primer underneath. Will test with UDPP to see if that improves the problem.


I went to the mall to check out the Guerlain summer collection, and got a makeover as well.










The makeup artist used the following: (Summer LE items in bold)

Eyes:
-Guerlain lid primer (sucks, the colours creased within a few hours :P)
-Summer Splash palette (all 4 colours)
-Bleu Cerise mascara on top and bottom lashes

Face:
-Divinora face primer
-Aqua-something foundation (lol I can't remember the name but it was pretty good)
-Some blush I can't remember
-Nacre des Mers Meteorites (Pressed) on top

Lips:
-Kiss Kiss liplift to neutralize lipcolour (similar to MAC Lip Erase)
-Rose Sable stick gloss

I also got my hair cut - I guess you can't really see in the pictures as all the stylist did was take off some length (4-5 inches) and layered it a bit more. I was going to go short but she didn't think the look would suit my hair type (extremely flat) so I decided not to bother this time.

Here's what I got - the Lagon Bleu kohl and Le2 mascara in Bleu Cerise, both limited edition. I really wanted the summer palette, but they were already sold out of it in that location...



The blue kohl + my current Brun Dore kohl (permanent) which I still haven't really tested either...



Lagun Bleu kohl:




The Bleu Cerise mascara is pretty good! In fact, I wasn't even going to get the mascara but the makeup artist totally sold me on it when she used it, because it was the first coloured mascara that ever showed up on me. The two brushes are quite good at getting to every last there is, especially because of the small brush for the lower lashes. The formula also lengthens a lot, and provides some volume. This summer version is waterproof, but I haven't tested it yet on that aspect. The drawback though is a little bit of clumping after a few coats, and it takes some effort to remove due to its waterproof nature.

Main brush for top lashes


Mini brush for bottom lashes.



Swatches: Top to bottom: Bleu Cerise mascara, Lagun Bleu kohl, Brun Dore kohl



The kohl shows up as a baby blue but when I tried it today it looked a bit teal-ish on my skin - could be the yellow undertones + baby blue = teal?



Can't really see the kohl because it smudged off but you can see the mascara lengthens. The blue doesn't photograph well, but it definitely shows up better than many other coloured mascaras.

The eyeshadow palette looks very similar to the Lorac palette above actually, but the shades are sheerer and more subtle. Also the warm brown in the Lorac palette is replaced by a cool taupe-brown colour (see Temptalia's picture of the quad). I still want it though, so hopefully the SA can get a hold of one for me.

By the way, I've also updated my sale page with a few more items here.

P.S. Canadians, Shoppers Drug Mart has Essie on sale @ CDN$7.99 (usually $10+ I think), while GOSH products are 20% off, both offers until Friday