There's no place like home - Ruby Pumps NOTD

The holiday season is finally in the air, so I decided to show my season spirit by using one of my favourite polishes, China Glaze's Ruby Pumps.



It's such a pretty red colour indulged with red glitter, the name is really fitting because it definitely reminds me of The Wizard of Oz's Dorthy's red shoes. But, because it has glitter, it is a bit of a pain to remove.

Attempt At Cutting The Crease FOTD

Here's a look I did a couple of weeks ago, I tried the whole 'cutting the crease' thing but it didn't turn out as crisp as I would like it to. I don't know how you guys get such a clean and neat line. Share your secrets girls!

Used:

Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer (primer all over lids)
Annabelle Gleam e/s (all over lid)
Urban Decay Ransom e/s (in outer third & crease)
MUFE # 92 e/s (to define crease/outer V)
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara

Wet n' Wild Definer e/l in Glow (on waterline)

NYX Powder Blush in Mauve

NYX Round Lipstick in Pumpkin Pie

I haven't used the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer in a long time, so I used it again in this look. I don't like it at all, these pictures were taken just minutes after make-up application and my eyeshadow was already creasing. I put it up on my swap list.

Anyways, I realized that this blog is mostly FOTD's, so tell me what you guys like to see!

Till later. (:

Free Beauty Rush Lipgloss w/ Bra Fitting @ VS!

70-80% of all women wear the wrong bra size. Now's the time to get a professional fitting!

I saw this over at the Makeup Geek Forum and thought I'd pass it along for you guys to check out! (:

Click the picture above to print out your coupon and bring it in. Hopefully this is useful to someone.

Gaga Vision

So in time for Halloween, I decided to post this look up I did this Thursday. I came home from school that day and I really wanted to do something creative with my make-up for Halloween for school, and I recently watched Xsparkage's Lady Gaga tutorial so I decided to try that. I did a purple smokey eye instead of the pink/black eye that LG rocked cause I didn't think I could pull that off. Anyways, I was just messing around and it was a bit rushed because I wanted to do it while it was still light outside and still be able to take clear pictures, oh the joys of shorter days in the fall/winter..

You can click on the pictures to make the larger. I'm going to start saving my pictures larger so you can get a clearer/detailed view of the makeup.

Used:
Eyes:

UDPP (primer on eyes)
MAC Soft Ochre p/p (base on eyes)
Annabelle's Kohl Eyeliner in Fiesta (as a base to make eyeshadow stand out more)
Urban Decay Ransom e/s (all over the lid)
Urban Decay Zero (in the outer corner and crease)
Make Up Forever No. 92 e/s (purple in the outer corner and crease)
MAC Blacktrack fluidline (as liner, and for the lightning bolt)
MAC Engraved e/l
L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara
Annabelle Ebony e/s (used to fill in brows)
Maybelline Great Lash Clear (for brows)

Face:
NYX Powder Blush in Muave
MAC Blacktrack fluidline (for the lightning bolt)
Grey e/s from Coastal Scents 88 Ultrashimmer palette (to highlight inside the lightning bolt to make it look more dimensional)

Lips:
Rimmel 1000 Kisses 049 Natural l/l
Rimmel Fairy Airy l/s

I messed up a bit on the lightning bolt, but I was too lazy to fix it.

I didn't even end up doing anything for Halloween at school on Friday. I really thought I would be the only loser dressed up, but surprisingly a lot of people did. Plus, I didn't want to put so much effort into doing my make-up and then have to take it off for work later in the day. Oh well, there's always next year right?

What did you guys do this Halloween?

Ef oh tee dee & What's in my makeup bag?

I apologizeeeeeeee for the lack of posts. I've been in a rut lately with my make-up. I haven't been wearing much at all. It went from:

eyeshadow + liner & mascara
↓

MAC blacktrack liner & mascara

↓

black eyeliner pencil smudged/winged out with an angled liner brush & mascara

↓

just mascara!

I haven't really played around with make-up much either because I've been wearing my glasses daily. I haven't ordered my contacts yet, and I can't do my make-up with glasses cause I'm blind as a bat.

But anyways, enough babbling. He's a look that I did the other day. Probably one of my more 'classic-I-can't-think-of-anything-better' looks. I believe I posted this look before, but here it is again:

Used:
UDPP (as a primer all over the lid)
MAC Woodwinked e/s (all over the lid and a little into the crease)
MAC Mulch e/s (outer corner and into the crease)
MAC Espresso e/s (lightly in the crease)
MAC Blacktrack f/l
L'Oreal Voluminious mascara
Bonnie Bell Eye Definer e/l in glow (on water)
Annabelle Ebony e/s (to fill in brows)
Maybelline Great Lash mascara in clear (on brows)

NYX Powder Blush in Muave

The other day I was browsing in Old Navy and picked out this cute make-up bag set for $10 CDN. The larger bag is pretty big and can hold quite a lot of stuff. It's canvas on the outside, and the inside is plastic lined, it's pretty sturdy and it hold it's shape well. I'm always on the lookout for cute make-up bags, even though I really have no need for them.

I don't really touch up my make-up during the day, I just do it once in the morning and that's it. I don't have the patience to lug everything I used that day with me everywhere. I just keep my make-up bag in my school bag, but I hardly use anything in it except for chapstick/lip gloss. But here is what I do carry in it:


1. Contact lens solution.
2. Vaseline.
3. Girl stuff.
4. Quo glass nail file.
5. Mirror.
6. The Body Shop Body Butter in strawberry.
7. Sephora mini lip gloss in Precious Pink.
8. Blistex Lip Medex (must have, especially in the winter).
9. C.O Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint in Pink Mint (loveeee this stuff, it makes your breath smell good too!).
10. Eye drops.
11. Clips, bobbie pins, hair tye.
12. Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleaning Hand Gel in wild honeysuckle.

Do you guys carry a make-up bag with you? What do you have in it?

Adios! (:

Can't Think Of A Clever Title..

I just wanted to do a quick post before I head off to work. I've been loaded with school and work lately, and on top of that I'm not doing as well as I want to in school, so I definitely need to step up!

I recently went to a University Fair, which is basically all the universities in Ontario get together in a convention hall and students can visit all the universities in one convenient place and learn more about their programs and what not.

And can I say, school is expensive. Most of the schools that I was interested in were located far away, meaning I'd have to live on residence, which depending on the school and the type of dorm you want, can run up to $5,000-$8,000 a year. Add on top of that a meal plan plus tuition and all that good stuff, I'm looking at up to $10,000 a school year. So I'm in a rut because I'm basically going to paying for the majority of school myself.

Ughh, right now I'm just trying to focus on getting my marks up and savinggggg significantly. But, you know how that is.. haha.

Anyways, I haven't been wearing much make-up lately, just cause I'm too lazy to wake up early and try to put together a look. But here's something I was playing around with the other night:

Used:

UDPP (as a primer)
Annabelle Gleam e/s (in tearduct)
Faces # 5 e/s (all over the lid)
Urban Decay's Zero e/s (in the outer third/crease)
Annabelle Ebony e/s (matte black in the outer V)
MAC Blacktrack fluidline (liner)
L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara
MAC Engraved e/l (water line)

I actually liked how this turned out, but the Faces eyeshadow that I used kept fading, I'm not sure if it was cause of the shadow or cause of the base I used. Has anyone ever tried Faces cosmetics? There's a little stand in my mall but I always walk past it, nothing really seems interesting to me. I just found this random grey eyeshadow that my mom had.

Since I'm suppose to be 'saving.' I decided to pick up one quick thing from MAC. A while ago, I remember reading on Lipstick Rules about the idea of getting one make-up related item from each paycheck, and I thought, that sounds pretty reasonable! So I picked up Naughty Noir Eye Bag. I figured, I need a new blacktrack fluidline, so why not try this out?

Included:
Blacktrack fluidline (full size)
Shimmertime pigment (full size)
Zoom Lash mascara (trial size)
209SE brush
Small makeup bag

I actually really like this collection, there's a lot of variety, so there's a lot to choose from. From lip palettes, to eye palettes, brush sets, etc.. The eye palettes do look smaller than ones from previous holiday collections though. I haven't gotten any good swatches of Shimmertime pigment, but it's a cool frosty pink. Not really sure what I would pair it with, but we'll see. I tried using it as a cheek highlighter yesterday, but I think I used too much.

Till later guys. My sister still has the camera, but I'm going to demand it for next week, since she broke mine. -.-

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - 88 Palettes

Left to right: 88 ultra shimmer palette, 88 original matte/satin palette

It was about a year ago when the Coastal Scents 88 Palettes were discovered, and ever since then they've been hyped up as a must have for your collection. With 88 colours, can you really go wrong? So back in March, my sister and I decided to order the palette online from Coastal Scents, the 88 original matte/satin palette for myself, and the 88 ultra shimmer palette for my sister based on raving reviews online.

After having the palettes for a good couple of months, here's what I really think about them..

The Good:
- 88 colours! You can't really go wrong.

- Most of the colours are pretty pigmented.

- Can be an asset to someone just starting out in make-up (or maybe not.. but more on this later!).

- The palettes are pretty small, so they can be good for travel, just be careful with them.


The Bad:
- You definitely need a good base. I honestly don't think you can go without one with these shadows. So for someone just starting out, a good eye primer like UDPP or TFSI or a MAC paint pot is definitely something you need to invest in.

- I ordered my palettes off of Coastal Scents, and it took 2 weeks to get to me, and on top of that I payed around $20 for shipping and then another $12 when I went to pick it up from the post office. That was more than the cost of one palette itsself. A lot of places on ebay sell these palettes which are really the same thing and there's probably a lower shipping cost.

- AND, on top of that, when my sister recieved the 88 ultra shimmer palette, the little pans of eyeshadow kept falling out. It was no biggie because my sister just used regular white glue to glue them back in, but I contacted Coastal Scents and let them know, and they shipped out another palette to us for free - but, the 2nd palette had the same problem.

- The pans of eyeshadow are pretty small, about the size of a dime.

- Most of the shadows in the 88 original matte/satin palette are chalky.

- The hinges on my palette attaching the cover and the shadow part isn't put well together, so now on both my palettes the top part detaches whenever I open them.

The Ugly:
- Honestly, I've had these 2 palettes for a couple of months now, and I hardly reach for them, it seems like I can't do a complete look using JUST the palette, and even then, most tutorials on YouTube or online are using just one or two eyeshadows from the palette and the rest of the look is made up from products from other brands.

- The 88 ultra shimmer palette is complete rubbish. You can't use the shadows dry, you have to foil them to get a good colour pay off.

- The 88 ultra shimmer palette shadows are very soft, so they crumble and make a mess easily.

- For both palettes you really need to PACK the colours on to get the colour in the pan, otherwise, when you apply them with a brush, the pay off is very sheer. Also, as soon as you blend the colours get washed out and disappear, so you have to keep going back and forth to build up the colour.

- Since you really have to pack the colours on, after doing one-two looks you already start seeing the pan on the bottom of the shadow. So if there's a favourite colour you use frequently, it won't last very long.


All in all, if someome asked for my opinon on purchasing these palettes, I would say skip out on these. The 88 original matte/satin palette is just medicore for those random shadows that you probably wouldn't use often. And the 88 ultra shimmer palette is useless, I honestly feel like you can find similar shadows or even better shadows at the dollar store.

Here are some swatches to give you an idea about the payoff with these palettes. All of the swatches are with no base.

This a blue from the 88 ultra shimmer palette. Most of the swatches you see online are swatches like this, and honestly, I don't trust swatches like these. Yeah they are pigmented when you swatch it with your finger because you have the smooth skin of your finger and the amount of pressure you use to pick up the shadow makes it look really pigmented.

This is the same blue as above from the 88 ultra shimmer palette. The swatch on the left is applied with a brush dry - and you can really see how sheer and barely there it is here. The swatch on the right is applied wet with water, and the payoff is a little better than the swatch on the right, but you'll definitely need to go over it repeatedly to get a really good payoff.

A black from the 88 ultra shimmer palette, you can also see on the left of my finger a missing pan.

Here's the same black eyeshadow from the 88 ultra shimmer palette swiped with my finger on the left, and swatched with a brush on the right. The black is one of the few pigmented shadows out of the bunch. You can kind of see the shadow fall out on the left swatch.

A finger swatch of a blue from the 88 original matte/satin palette.

The same blue as above from the 88 matte/satin platte swatches with a brush on the left and with my finger on the right. You can kind of see how both swatches are patchy and sheer. You definetly have to go over and over to get a good solid swatch. But here I just swatched it once.

Most of the reviews are online rave about both of these palettes, and I just wanted put in my two cents. These palettes just sit around in my collection and I thought maybe I should review them and shed some light on what I really think about them.

Till later guys! (: