Birthday Haul pt. 2

I got some more goodies with some of my birthday money,

and had to share them with you, of course :)

First, my little CVS haul:

Many of this is not brand new, but stuff i've been lemming for :P

ANDDDDD my prestige/indie cosmetic haul:

Can you guess which Carousel Gloss this is?

^^ AHHHHH SO STOKED!

& some awesome free samples :)

I CANNOT wait to swatch the Vice2 palette.

Stay tuned for that in the very near future!

Everyday Makeup Routine

Despite some of the bright and crazy looks I do here,

I rarely do them in real life :P

Though i've pretty much always stuck with neutrals for my everyday eye look,

I change the combo often.

I've gone over that some before,

but I want to take it a step further & show you all the products I use for a basic,

fresh, day look!

Here's my current routine:

1. Apply eyeshadow primer on a fresh face.

I use either Too Faced's Shadow Insurance or this one by UD.

2. Apply eyeshadow (all from UD's Vice Palette) with brushes. 

I've listed the order in which I use each brush:

Brush 1 applies 'Anonymous' (third from left on bottom) on brow bone.

Brush 2, 3, & 4 apply 'Nevermind' (first one on left of bottom row) to crease, blending as I go.

Brush 5 applies 'Echo Beach' (to the left of 'Nevermind') to lid.

3. Apply eyeliner to waterline.

Unless I'm doing a look for the blog or a fancier look,

I don't apply eyeliner anywhere other than my waterline.

Just because of the larger almond shape of my eyes,

I feel it looks best fresh above the lashes!

4. Apply mascara/curl lashes with curler.

This is my current go-to mascara :)

5. Apply foundation with brush.

I've posted about UD's foundation & their Optical Blurring Brush before.

Both are fantastic!

I wait to apply foundation until this point so that I may more easily sweep up any fall out from eyeshadow or mascara :)

6. Apply blush.

This baby has been used a ton, thus the faded label.

This is Tarte's Cheek Stain.

It's the ONLY blush I use because it applies easily and stays on throughout my day :)

Though pricey at prestige cosmetic stores,

you can find it the exact same and MUCH cheaper on Amazon and/or Ebay!

I finish off with a setting spray.

This is the routine i've used for my everyday look for at least a month or two (maybe longer) now. It takes me less than 15 minutes and is a great daytime neutral.

The shadows are just barely noticeable, and the mascara/blush give me a young, fresh feeling.

What do you guys think of my routine?

What's yours?? 

Let me know!

UD Pore Perfecting Primer *review* & Xmas pics

Helloooooo!

Hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas!

I'll post a few pics from our xmas at the end of this post ;)

Today I have a review of Urban Decay's Pore Perfecting Complexion Primer.

*0.94 fl oz

Some if it's claims:

- Helps conceal/minimize pores and fine lines

- Paraben-free formula

- Matte- finish

- Great for oily skin

- Makes skin look airbrushed

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I apply this before using my foundation. I have much larger pores on my nose than on the rest of my face, and i also have laugh lines, so I was keen to try a sample of this awhile back to see what it could do. 

Pros:

- As it claims, it dries matte so there's no oily or greasy residue! :)

- Is a shade that blends right in easily with my skin tone

- Greatly decreased the appearance of my pores and laugh lines

- Has great staying power

Cons:

- Has a hefty price tag on UD's website and at beauty stores- $30

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Verdict:

This is an AWESOME product. I initially tried a little sample of this a few months ago,

and i had such great success with it that I wanted a full size, which I received for Christmas :D

Just a teeeeeeny bit of this stuff easily helps conceal my pores and laugh lines, and after applying my foundation, i DO feel my skin looks almost airbrushed. It lasts for hours and never gets oily. For people with oily skin, I definitely recommend this product. I tend to only have oily skin in the T-zone, but this product is really great. Though a full size IS a quite expensive, it will last for a lonnnnnng time & is totally worth the price! :)

RATING (out of 10): 9

Have any of you tried this?

What are your thoughts?

NOW, here's a few pictures from our Christmas :)

I don't often share much on here about my family or life other than beauty,

but here's a snapshot.

^ before Christmas Eve service

e.l.f. Maleficiant palette review!

Good morning :) 

I'm finally getting around to my review of one of the popular e.l.f Disney Villians palettes!

Sorry for the delay. I've been trying to get in some good Fall and Halloween posts before the season passes me by!

Ok, so to begin this review, if you have no idea what this palette is,

see my post on its basics and swatches here.

I'll continue this post with the understanding that my readers are aware of what it offers!

First, i'll show you the two looks I created.

I created them based on the directions suggested in the palette.

Here's the suggested day time look:

Now for the suggested nighttime look:

I did both of these looks awhile ago, and am not pleased with either of them, but particularly the second look. Why? See below.

Pros

- pretty assortment of shadows

- comes with eye primer

- awesomely colored lip/cheek pencils

- suggestions on how/where to apply makeup for the everyday person

- cheap! Just $10 at my local drugstore

Cons

- horrible shadow pigmentation

- extremely hard to blend

- fake lashes super hard to use for someone who doesn't usually use them

- doesn't come with mascara

VERDICT:

Though priced affordably, the old saying "you get what you pay for" totally applies to this palette. I love the idea of creating palettes based on the Disney Villians, but the quality of these shadows just isn't great. There are a few glimmers of hope (like with the primer, pencils, and some of the shadows) but all in all- it's a flop, in my opinion. Especially for those of you who don't have much practice with blending, this sucker will prove to be challenging.

NOW, that being said- if you don't plan on blending and just want to do something simple by wearing 1 or 2 shadows at a time- i think this palette could work for you. It DOES come with a good primer and some great lip/cheek pencils, so at least that can buffer the low quality shadows. For only being $10, I didn't expect prestige cosmetic quality, but I was still disappointed with the results. Honestly, I will probably never use anything from this palette again :/ I'm temped to buy the other two palettes just to see if they're the same way. I'll keep you posted!

Do any of you have these palettes?

What are your thoughts?

Did you guys find this review helpful??

Let me know, please!

Live Loud!- Day 3 & Lime Crime! (long post)

hey guys!

First order of business- hello, welcome, & thanks to my new followers!! I really enjoy this whole blogging thing, but it's not much use if i'm just blogging to myself :p So I really appreciate all my limited list of followers! :)

Next up,

some super fun makeup mail came in today! I blogged the other day about Lime Crime's little promo where you could get 15% off all their eye products. So this is what I got!

YUSSSSSSS.

Not only is their packaging super cute, but their products are fantastic. I've already got one Magic Dust eye shadow (blogged about forever ago here) but i've had my eyes on these little beauties for awhile. 

L to R: 'Circus Girl' & 'Siren' used over Too Faced's primer

 'Circus Girl' is a bright, sunshine yellow & 'Siren' is a rusty red. On the website it's depicted as being much brighter than it really is, which was somewhat disappointing simply because I was reallllly looking forward toward to such a BRIGHT red, but I still like it okay. It's more of a dried blood color, haha O_o

They both have a fantastic shimmer to them, and they're both shades (particularly the red) that i've had a hard time finding anywhere else. Urban Decay used to carry a great red, but since it was discontinued i've been on the hunt for one that's close to it.

(also, wtf at UD's recent list of shadows being discontinued- most were some of my favorites ever :/)

The great & unique thing about LC's Magic Dust shadows is that they're technically not only meant for your eyes- you can also use them on lips or cheeks! I will say that, since they're loose shadows, they're best used with a primer. Lime Crime has their 'Eyeshadow Helper', but they work fine with other brands (at least to my knowledge so far).

FINALLY, onto the polish.

I wish I'd gotten the chance to use this particular polish yesterday for Earth day, but I just didn't get the chance.

Without further ado (after all my rambling)-

'In the Lime Light'!

Ok, so as you can already see it went on a litttttle gloopy. It was a bit sheer so I used 3 coats to build up opacity, but they just didn't mesh well with my peel-y nails. Though after reading several other reviews on it, most people had the same issues :/

ANYWAY,

'In the Lime Light' is really a gorgeous neon that's on the cool side of a bright green. It also has a lovely, subtle blue shimmer to it which I love. When I saw this on the same row as half the other brights I tried, I knew I had to have it.

Unfortunately (and yet again) my pictures really don't do it justice. It's like my camera freaked out at the neon-ness and couldn't capture it- even in the daylight. humph :/ 

This, of course, dried matte like the others so I used a coat of SV on top... though I have to say, I hadn't had it on for 12 hours before it already was chipping/peeling away like crazy :(

Most unfortunate. It's a fantastic shade, but it's consistency was crap.

Do any of you have this polish? Or any Lime Crime?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading!!! :)