Liana at Beauty Bag 411 is having a g giveaway to celebrate 100 followers of her blog and also because her birthday was yesterday.
The prizes are:
High Definition Makeup Brush Set
Milani's new HD Advanced Concealer
Loreal's Color Riche Lipstick in Fairest Nude
If you want a chance at winning go to her blog BeautyBag411 and become a subscriber and be sure to check out the rest of the contest rules!
Contest will be open until March 12th!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Make Up For Ever February Purchases
Matte shadows have made it up my list of makeup collection "need to have" items. I decided that I am going to invest and purchase Make Up For Ever matte shadows to build a serious collection of colors. So I made my list and jumped into the deep end in February.
I started with 5 colors and an empty 10-pan palette to fill. Make Up For Ever shadows are larger than MAC shadows. MUFE pans are 4.5 grams of product where MAC is a meager, 1.5 grams. I have a MUFE Backstage Pro Card so I get a 40% discount on my products which is great since the regular price for one Make Up For Ever shadow at Sephora is $19. I also saved myself a little extra just by buying the refill pans instead of single eyeshadows I would have to depot to put into my palette.
On to my color choices!
92 - Purple
72 - Turquoise
91- Apple Green
18 - Tangerine
99 - Scarlet
Including the palette and shipping I paid $59.50. Not bad considering that if I had bought these same five eyeshadows from Sephora I would have paid $97.50. Sephora would have given me free shipping over $50 and the palette would have been free so to get an apples to apples comparison is simple. Price per gram from MUFE - $2.64. Price per gram from Sephora - $4.33. Woo hoo! Thank you Back Stage Pass Discount!
Next up on my list to purchase are:
75 - Neon Pink
102 - Lemon
2 - Yellow
58 - Dark Raspberry
64 - Crimson
Sunday, February 28, 2010
MAC Purchases in February
I went ahead and splurged a little with the MAC Color Forecast Collection this month. I really love purple so I was attracted to the Spring Color 3 items but bought only one of them. The Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape is quite lovely. I was worried that with my pale skin color the darker shade of the blush may be too much and come off kind of cartoon like. However, I have found that if I load my brush with a side-to-side sweep across the pan, when I apply the blusher the darker color is on the bottom 1/3 of the brush only so in essence it is like contouring at the same time as applying the blush that is on the other 2/3 of the brush. This was a real surprise for me and I am very happy with this purchase. It was $25 and the pan is rather larger (9 grams) so I feel like I got a good deal for my money. The Blush Ombres are limited edition so better buy one before they disappear. 
I had been interested in the purple quad too but once I swatched the Color Stack 1 from the Spring Colour 1 Forecast Collection I forgot all about the quad. It is officially called Crushed Metal Pigment: Stacked 1. It is also limited edition. Four very soft and almost creamy feeling pigments in screw top stackable jars. There is a dark and light purple and a dark and light pink. The colors are: Dark Purple Frost, Light Lilac Frost, Mid-tone Rose Frost & Pale Pink Frost. The consistency of these pigments reminds me of the Volturi pigments I purchased back in November. Very soft and creamy so they have a supper smooth slip when applying them to the eye. The set was $32.50 and you only get a total of 12 grams of product (so figure 3 grams of each color) which would come out to $8.13 per color or $2.71 per gram so when you think about it you are getting a deal on pigments. The new MAC pigments are now 4.5 grams and they cost $19.50 each, which is $4.33 per gram. And as I mentioned earlier, this set is limited edition. 
While I was there I returned my Back-2-MAC items and picked up a mineralized eyeshadow in Pink Split. The MAC description of the color is "Pink with gold pearl mono/Dirty rose with bronze and pale blue veining (Frost)." It was regularly $19.50 so FREE was an awesome deal with my Back-2-MAC items. The same week as this collection coming out I also bought both of the new Viva Glam Lipsticks in Gaga and Cyndi ($14 each). I love both of them. They are very versatile colors that with the addition of a lip liner and gloss can be worn with just about everything. I will have to get some back ups of both colors. 
My last MAC purchase in February was a pigment. I love cornflower blue and MAC's pigment called Corn Flower is so perfectly named. It is a pearlized pastel blue with a red-violet flash. It has a nice slip and texture that is smooth. It was the new size pigment but the same old price of $19.50. All in all not too bad for a short month full of new MAC releases. Total spent $112.36.
I had been interested in the purple quad too but once I swatched the Color Stack 1 from the Spring Colour 1 Forecast Collection I forgot all about the quad. It is officially called Crushed Metal Pigment: Stacked 1. It is also limited edition. Four very soft and almost creamy feeling pigments in screw top stackable jars. There is a dark and light purple and a dark and light pink. The colors are: Dark Purple Frost, Light Lilac Frost, Mid-tone Rose Frost & Pale Pink Frost. The consistency of these pigments reminds me of the Volturi pigments I purchased back in November. Very soft and creamy so they have a supper smooth slip when applying them to the eye. The set was $32.50 and you only get a total of 12 grams of product (so figure 3 grams of each color) which would come out to $8.13 per color or $2.71 per gram so when you think about it you are getting a deal on pigments. The new MAC pigments are now 4.5 grams and they cost $19.50 each, which is $4.33 per gram. And as I mentioned earlier, this set is limited edition. 
While I was there I returned my Back-2-MAC items and picked up a mineralized eyeshadow in Pink Split. The MAC description of the color is "Pink with gold pearl mono/Dirty rose with bronze and pale blue veining (Frost)." It was regularly $19.50 so FREE was an awesome deal with my Back-2-MAC items. The same week as this collection coming out I also bought both of the new Viva Glam Lipsticks in Gaga and Cyndi ($14 each). I love both of them. They are very versatile colors that with the addition of a lip liner and gloss can be worn with just about everything. I will have to get some back ups of both colors. 
My last MAC purchase in February was a pigment. I love cornflower blue and MAC's pigment called Corn Flower is so perfectly named. It is a pearlized pastel blue with a red-violet flash. It has a nice slip and texture that is smooth. It was the new size pigment but the same old price of $19.50. All in all not too bad for a short month full of new MAC releases. Total spent $112.36.
Monday, February 8, 2010
MAC Packaging
So by now everyone should know that MAC has changed the packaging for their pigments. Yes, the size of the pigments is smaller (now 4.5grams compared to the old 7.5 grams) and the price has remained the same ($19 each). I am not thrilled with this and I am sure many others feel the same way. Also, it just kind of messes up the uniformity of your collection.
Other packaging changes you will see are the palettes. Both the 4 pan and the 15 pan palettes are changing to have magnetic closures with clear covers. Now this is a change I can embrace! The pan sizes are not changing (they are 1.5 grams) so you can still depot and swap colors around if you are a palette fan.
I am just getting around to putting my MAC shadows all in 15 pan palettes so I think for uniformity I will just go ahead and wait to use the new palettes. I was able to see the new 4 pan quad with the magnetic clear cover today at my local MAC store. It is available in the Spring Color Forecast Colletion #3 and #4.
REMINDER - 2 days until MAC Viva Glam Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper lippies are released! I can't wait! Release was originally scheduled for March 18th but has been moved up to Feb 10th!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Twilight New Moon Volturi Makeup Haul
I bought all of this make up a week before New Moon opened. It was my birthday present to myself. I returned the mascara and the lid primer (too greasy for me) but I kept all of the shadows. Now it was a bit pricey. Each shadow was $9. I have six pictured below but I actually bought 7!
They all came packed full to the top of the jar which made me happy. What surprised me was that they are pretty densely packed too. The shadows are buildable and oh so very pretty. I did not see too many of these colors used on the characters in the New Moon movie but it hardly matters because the colors are just gorgeous and very girly. These are my new go-to shadows for smokey eyes.
Almost the whole eyeshadow collection. I did not get a photo of "Dusk" but it is a deep metallic eggplant color that is amazing!
MASCARA - Sucked! I returned it. It smelled weird and actually made my lashes look shorter! I had no idea a mascara could do that until I met this one!
EYE LID PRIMER - If you don't have any primer it is ok to use with this product but it is a bit greasy. I like a primer to be more opaque than shiny and this one did not merit me keeping it. If I want this type primer I could just use my Urban Decay (which I also do not much care for). Plus they charged me $11. Too much for the lack of quality.
"Myth" is a warm metallic pewter. Like gun metal with high sheen.
. "Legend" is a glittering silver
"Frost" has snowy white shimmer.
. "Dawn" is a Sparkling champagne. It is almost a cross between a golden color and copper. Looks great for fall.
"Beloved" is an iridescent baby pink - Very cute and metalic!
"Lover" is a hot shimmering pink - This is my Favorite of the loose eye shadows!
They all came packed full to the top of the jar which made me happy. What surprised me was that they are pretty densely packed too. The shadows are buildable and oh so very pretty. I did not see too many of these colors used on the characters in the New Moon movie but it hardly matters because the colors are just gorgeous and very girly. These are my new go-to shadows for smokey eyes.
Almost the whole eyeshadow collection. I did not get a photo of "Dusk" but it is a deep metallic eggplant color that is amazing!
MASCARA - Sucked! I returned it. It smelled weird and actually made my lashes look shorter! I had no idea a mascara could do that until I met this one!
EYE LID PRIMER - If you don't have any primer it is ok to use with this product but it is a bit greasy. I like a primer to be more opaque than shiny and this one did not merit me keeping it. If I want this type primer I could just use my Urban Decay (which I also do not much care for). Plus they charged me $11. Too much for the lack of quality.
"Myth" is a warm metallic pewter. Like gun metal with high sheen.
. "Legend" is a glittering silver
"Frost" has snowy white shimmer.
. "Dawn" is a Sparkling champagne. It is almost a cross between a golden color and copper. Looks great for fall.
"Beloved" is an iridescent baby pink - Very cute and metalic!
"Lover" is a hot shimmering pink - This is my Favorite of the loose eye shadows!I bought mine at Ulta but they are avilable at Hot Topic I think (at least the perfumes were) and you can also buy online from twilightbeauty.com.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
FREE ZOYA Nail Polish!
This is straight from the Zoya Website! Enjoy!
ZOYA GREEN FRIDAY
"It's just our way of sending some green back to you!"
While other retailers taking all your green, let Zoya give you some FREE green!
Spend $20 or more and recieve 6 of our favorite greens for FREE*.
That's right, Zoya Tangy - Zoya Envy - Zoya Midori - Zoya Irene- Zoya Suvi - Zoya Veruschka all 6 for FREE on Zoya Green Friday Only with any purchase of $20 or more at www.zoya.com.
Code will activate on Thanksgiving (11/26/09) at 5 PM (EST). So you will have plenty of time to gobble your turkey and then gobble up our great greens too (who needs football anyway). Code will expire on Friday (11/27/09) at 5 PM (EST).
CODE: GREENFRIDAY
*Promo code valid online at http://www.zoya.com/ only. Offer valid in continental US only. Consumer orders only. Offer begins at 5 PM (EST) on 11/26/09 and expires at 5 PM (EST) on 11/27/09. Offer not valid in conjunction with other promotions, discounts or offers. One code per order. Allow 2 weeks for order processing.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
URBAN DECAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SALE!
It is time again for the Urban Decay Friends and Family Sale! Use Code "FNFW1" at checkout for 30% OFF! Hurry this sale is from Nov 9th to Nov 20th!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Artist Summit in Miami 2009
At the beginning of October I went to Miami to attend The Artist Summit. Unfortunately I was not able to attend both days of the program but next year you can be sure I will be at both. It was a long day because I drove from the West Coast of Florida to Miami and back home in one day but it was well worth the trip. The workshops that were offered were very helpful and I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone a bit when choosing classes to attend.
I have not been interested in the past in special effects makeup but after one class with Orlando Santiago that has all changed. He showed us how to age someone and Orlando also taught us how to create bruses using simple concealer/color corrector palettes and everyday items from our makeup kit. He showed us the first, second and third stages of a bruise (you can see above on the models chest) and also gave many examples of when you could be asked to apply the technique. For someone like myself who has not worked in television or film this helped me set some new goals for my work. I am now volunteering as an assistant to makeup artists at local theater groups so that I can learn and apply my knowledge on a regular basis. Practice, practice, practice is so important. I am lucky that I live in an area that has a huge theater presence (ballet, opera & theater) but luck aside it takes work to hone your artist skills. So thanks Orlando for helping me to become a better artist!
The other makeup artist I enjoyed watching work was Daven Mayeda. Daven showed up tips on finishing your work that really help complete a makeup look and make it more "polished" looking. For example, you can save a lot of time by contouring a face with foundation. Choose one shade lighter and one shade darker than you would normally use and then apply how you would normally contour the face. By the time you finish up with your makeup application and set the look with HD powder (Make Up For Ever was his choice) the face looks flawless. Another trick he used that I liked was adding "light" to areas. I believe he was using a Smashbox product to highlight the nose, forehead, chin, upper lip and cheekbone, but I use a highlighter from Boots No. 7 myself. Above is the finished face he did for my class.
The other thing I really liked at the Summit was ... of course the vendor area! I did some shopping.
As you may know I had Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette on my Christmas list. Well, I got to take it off the list 3 months early. I could not pass up the opportunity to buy one for $57! What a savings from the one I was going to buy from Sephora for $95. Same exact palette, just sold at the show for a discount for professionals. Thanks Make Up For Ever.
I also bought a Mehron palette. I purchased this one because the Mehron palette had a more metallic looking mix of colors so I figured with the combination of the Mehron, Kryolan and Make Up For Ever palettes I own I should be covered for a good while. I paid $31 to Makeup Mania for it. You can purchase from them online at www.makeupmania.com or just google search for Mehron. I believe Silly Farm sells the products too for a reasonable price.
I got a new lip palette from Frends Beauty Supply for a discount. It was $19. 
I also picked up some new brushes from Crown Brushes. I bought two sets but I only photographed one. I can't remeber what I spent but I think it was under $40. 
This was an awesome buy. I got to pick all of the colors in the palette above. This makeup is from Inglot. They are a brand from Poland who has just opened a flag ship store in NYC. I love these colors and they are incredible in color payoff. The size of the shadow pans is huge. They are all magnetic so they stay in the palette nice and the lid to the palette is also magnetic. I have done some looks with these shadows so I will put those looks up in a new post for you to look at. I don't know what the retail for them will be but I paid $38 for the whole palette. Not bad if you ask me. I want to buy more but I am having trouble finding where I can get more in the US right now.
I have not been interested in the past in special effects makeup but after one class with Orlando Santiago that has all changed. He showed us how to age someone and Orlando also taught us how to create bruses using simple concealer/color corrector palettes and everyday items from our makeup kit. He showed us the first, second and third stages of a bruise (you can see above on the models chest) and also gave many examples of when you could be asked to apply the technique. For someone like myself who has not worked in television or film this helped me set some new goals for my work. I am now volunteering as an assistant to makeup artists at local theater groups so that I can learn and apply my knowledge on a regular basis. Practice, practice, practice is so important. I am lucky that I live in an area that has a huge theater presence (ballet, opera & theater) but luck aside it takes work to hone your artist skills. So thanks Orlando for helping me to become a better artist!
The other makeup artist I enjoyed watching work was Daven Mayeda. Daven showed up tips on finishing your work that really help complete a makeup look and make it more "polished" looking. For example, you can save a lot of time by contouring a face with foundation. Choose one shade lighter and one shade darker than you would normally use and then apply how you would normally contour the face. By the time you finish up with your makeup application and set the look with HD powder (Make Up For Ever was his choice) the face looks flawless. Another trick he used that I liked was adding "light" to areas. I believe he was using a Smashbox product to highlight the nose, forehead, chin, upper lip and cheekbone, but I use a highlighter from Boots No. 7 myself. Above is the finished face he did for my class.
The other thing I really liked at the Summit was ... of course the vendor area! I did some shopping.
As you may know I had Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette on my Christmas list. Well, I got to take it off the list 3 months early. I could not pass up the opportunity to buy one for $57! What a savings from the one I was going to buy from Sephora for $95. Same exact palette, just sold at the show for a discount for professionals. Thanks Make Up For Ever.
I also bought a Mehron palette. I purchased this one because the Mehron palette had a more metallic looking mix of colors so I figured with the combination of the Mehron, Kryolan and Make Up For Ever palettes I own I should be covered for a good while. I paid $31 to Makeup Mania for it. You can purchase from them online at www.makeupmania.com or just google search for Mehron. I believe Silly Farm sells the products too for a reasonable price.
I got a new lip palette from Frends Beauty Supply for a discount. It was $19. 
I also picked up some new brushes from Crown Brushes. I bought two sets but I only photographed one. I can't remeber what I spent but I think it was under $40. 
This was an awesome buy. I got to pick all of the colors in the palette above. This makeup is from Inglot. They are a brand from Poland who has just opened a flag ship store in NYC. I love these colors and they are incredible in color payoff. The size of the shadow pans is huge. They are all magnetic so they stay in the palette nice and the lid to the palette is also magnetic. I have done some looks with these shadows so I will put those looks up in a new post for you to look at. I don't know what the retail for them will be but I paid $38 for the whole palette. Not bad if you ask me. I want to buy more but I am having trouble finding where I can get more in the US right now.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Modern Geisha
This was my final look for Halloween. It is a Modern Geisha inspired look. I needed a look that would not run because I live in Florida and it was in the 80's yesterday for Halloween and that was just too hot to wear a wig outside for me.
This look incorporates the lush botanicals of subtropical southwest Florida along with the geisha mask. It is softer than the traditional black and red colors because I substituted for pink. I love how it turned out. To add drama to my hair with out having to wear a wig I put on my top hat and even took a walking cane with me when I went out wearing this look.
Hope you enjoy!
I used:
FACE
Liquid Foundations from NYX in Pale and Ivory
Translucent Powder from NYC
Coastal Scents Silica Powder
EYES
Vanilla colored shadow from 120 Pro Palette
Light Yellow shadow from 120 Pro Palette
NYX Light Pink and Hot Pink Colored Eyeshadows
INGLOT bright yellow for center of lid
MAC Black Track Fluid Line
Ardell Lashes
FLOWERS
1 Stem of Orchids from Michaels Craft Store
Take them apart and apply with Duo Lash Glue
LIPS
Benefit Posey Tint
NYX Light Pink Shadow in center of lip
MAC clear gloss
Top Hat from Spirit
This look incorporates the lush botanicals of subtropical southwest Florida along with the geisha mask. It is softer than the traditional black and red colors because I substituted for pink. I love how it turned out. To add drama to my hair with out having to wear a wig I put on my top hat and even took a walking cane with me when I went out wearing this look.
Hope you enjoy!
I used:
FACE
Liquid Foundations from NYX in Pale and Ivory
Translucent Powder from NYC
Coastal Scents Silica Powder
EYES
Vanilla colored shadow from 120 Pro Palette
Light Yellow shadow from 120 Pro Palette
NYX Light Pink and Hot Pink Colored Eyeshadows
INGLOT bright yellow for center of lid
MAC Black Track Fluid Line
Ardell Lashes
FLOWERS
1 Stem of Orchids from Michaels Craft Store
Take them apart and apply with Duo Lash Glue
LIPS
Benefit Posey Tint
NYX Light Pink Shadow in center of lip
MAC clear gloss
Top Hat from Spirit
This is Halloween! Sally the Rag Doll
I love Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. This year I couldn't decide who to be for Halloween so I tried several looks. This one turned out a little bluer than Sally was in the movie but I loved it anyway. Here is the look. Hope you enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
