Haul: Rite Aid

Hi everyone! I want to wish everyone an early Happy New Years and for those who are going out and partying please be safe.

So let me get to this Rite Aid haul. I frequent my local Rite Aid a lot and for those of you who don't know what Rite Aid is , its a drugstore chain like CVS/Walgreens. Last time I had mentioned in my Revlon Colorstay Eye Shadow review that I went to Rite Aid looking for the L'Oreal infallible eye shadows that had finally made its way to the US unfortunately during that trip it was not in store yet. Today I had to run some errands when I woke up and pick up a prescription there so I before I went to the pharmacy counter I went to look around the make-up aisle and what did I find.....

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows!!

The display was on the lower level of a shelf and I guess they either just put it out or no one really noticed it because all colors were available. 12 colors total and two of each are displayed with the infallible eyeliner next to it. So of course I had to buy some. I spend a while crouched down to figure out which ones I wanted since the color choice is quite limited. I believe all of these have a slight sheen or shimmer minus two shades that looked matte. But anyways I ended up picking more neutral colors not going for the blue/grey/plum shades. I ended up getting 4 of these and it cost me $7.15 each. Below are pictures and swatches. 

333 Golden Sage

999 Eternal Black

997 Eternal Sunshine

888 Iced Latte

333 Golden Sage

999 Eternal Black

997 Eternal Sunshine

888 Iced Latte

Iced Latte, Eternal Sunshine, Eternal Black, Golden Sage

I know everyone has been comparing these to Armani Eyes to Kill but since I don't own any I wouldn't be able to do a comparison. My first thoughts are that these are kind of a cross between your standard pressed shadow and a creamshadow. You'd either be able to apply with fingers or a brush and these are heavily pigmented and super smooth. So far I am really liking it. I might try to use one or two of these tonight for my NYE look. Golden Sage is a medium green that has a gold sheen to it. Eternal Black might actually end of being one of my favorites because in the pan you just think oh its black with silver glitter and it would most likely have a lot of fall out but once swatched I was really amazed because has this amazing depth to it and it just shines like graphite or black sand paper? Eternal Sunshine doesn't really have glitter in it but its a really pretty yellow gold. Ice Latte in the pan looks like a nice champaign color but it does come off a little more white based on my swatch, it'll be a good color for inner tear duct. I am really impressed with these and think $7.15 isn't a bad price at all. I might consider going to Nordstrom to pick up a Armani Eyes to Kill to do a comparison but not sure yet since those are a lot pricier. As for the getting the other colors, I'm not really sure about that yet either just because I want to get ones that I know I will se frequently and I feel like the 4 I got are good enough for now. 

I will do a full review on these four once I wear them and also post a look with it. 

So other than the L'Oreal shadows I also picked up two new nail polishes by Sinful Colors which I believe it just a drugstore brand? I said before I am not into bright color nail polish but for some reason I really wanted a hot pink and and orange polish. I was going to try to get some other Revlon glitter polishes but didn't see any I liked and I stumbled upon the Sinful Colors display . These were really inexpensive $1.99 each. I picked up Big Daddy which is a bright neon orange and Boom Boom which is a hot neon pink.

These polishes are opaque in two coats and I really like how they have that gel finish look? I'm not sure  if you guys know what I'm talking about but o wellz. I just did a test paint to show how it looks but I won't be keeping them on. I will probably do a review on these once I wear them for a while and see whether or not they chip really easily and stuff. 

Thanks for reading. Please subscribe.

Happy New Years!!!! I will post what I am wearing tonight (outfit,makeup,nails) in 2012 :D

-amy

What's On My Nails

So besides being a total make-up & skin care junkie I am also a big fan of nail polish. Most of the time I do my own and have gotten pretty good at it, to the point where my co-worker sometimes jokes that I should open up my own nail salon and she would invest in it lol.

Now I don't have a crazy nail polish collection like a lot of other beauty bloggers do just because even though I paint my nails I am not overly obsessed with the newest collections and do not feel the need to purchase really expensive nail polish. Most of the nail polishes I own are Essie, which I'm sure if you are the type of girl that likes to go to salons to get them done you are aware of the brand. And I have to say Essie is hands down my favorite polish. I know a lot of people complain the brush is too thin but I really like it like that. I have a few OPI/Sephora by OPI polishes and then random drug store ones in between. I would have to say I have around 20+ bottles of nail polishes currently. And even though I would love to try polishes by Butter London, Deborah Lippmann, Chanel, Dior etc. I really don't have the budget for that and even if I did I really can't justify spending so much on nail polish. I would spend that kind of money on make up but on nail polish, no. That's just my personal take on it and it's not a dig at anyone who does buy polishes that are higher end. Hey if you can can afford it, more power to you. Also I am fortunate enough to have local Asian beauty supply stores in my area and where Wal-Mart/CVS/Rite-Aid sell Essie for $8.00 the Asian beauty supply stores sell them for $4.50-$5.50 so I never pay full price for Essie polishes. 

My taste in nail polish is very simple. I like pale pinks, nudes, reds, dark colors and once in a while a random bright. I don't really venture into crazy colors like bright blues, greens, neons, hot pinks etc. I usually tend to either have a french manicure which I do myself or a dark maroon on my nails. In the summer I like to spice it up with a bright red or coral but thats about it. I mean do have a few other random colors that I bought in the heat of the moment but I don't reach for those often. 

So for my current nail look, I have really been into glitter polishes lately and no I don't own the Deborah Lippmann ones but I do have a few from Sephora by OPI which I got during the F&F sale and also one Revlon on that just came out. I think this combination I have on my nails is really festive for New Years and still wearable on a daily basis depending on how strict your office it. I can get away with it at mine. 

So I took these pictures at night with bad lighting in my room so please forgive me. What I have on my nails in 3 different polishes.  I started with my Essie Millionails  nail strengthener as a base (not pictures) and then I put on two coats of Essie Cabi-O-Lait which is the very light opaque milky pink. The picture below was taken without flash and I know you can't see the color quite clear but this is a really pretty milky pink that can be worn alone and I wouldn't suggest it for a french manicure because it has a bit too much white in it for a french. So after two coats of Cabi-O-Lait, I put on one coat of Revlon Sparkling which is part of the new polish collection that just came out from Revlon. This polish looks a lot like the Deborah Lippmann one which name I can remember but since I don't own any Deborah Lippmann polishes I can't compare. It's just a medium pink multi-glitter polish in a clear base. After a coat of that I then put on a coat of Sephora by OPI Flurry Up which is a silver multi-glitter polish that I got during the F&F sale.

 Essie: Cabi-O-Lai

Revlon: 261 Sparkling

 Sephora by OPI:  Flurry Up

 

And thats basically it for what I have on my nails. Hopefully this lasts until New Years eve since I have a really bad habit of picking at my polish but if anything I will probably just redo it before going out. I really like this combination just because its subtle with a bit of girly flare. 

Thanks for reading. Please subscribe. 

- amy

Merry Christmas! FOTD

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

I haven't really had the time to blog much these past two weeks because I've been busy on the weekends, so today I thought I would just give a quick update and include a FOTD (face of the day).


I went out this morning for dim sum and was wearing the below eye look. Sorry the lighting isn't all that great. These were taken on my macbook.

Anyways since lunch was pretty casual I really didn't want do to anything to bright or flashy but I wanted to do something festive for my eye look. On my face is just MUFE Duo Mat Powder in 202 and Benefit Hoola and this cranberryish Stila blush that I have in a 6 blush pallet from them. I tend to wear the same things on my face for the most part and like to experiment with my eye looks. This is one that I have been really liking for a while. I wore it to my company holiday party and just liked the overall look. It's sort of a cranberry smoky eye? 

First I started with Urban Decay Primer Potion and then I used a small sample of Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in RSVP which is this shimmery light pink all over the lid. Then I used this dark cranberry color from this Smashbox QVC pallet I got and used that in the outer crease and blended it in to get this look. Then I lined my eyes with my favorite liquid liner which is the L'Oreal Linear Intense Carbon Black liquid liner with the brush tip ( I will probably do a liner review in my next post). I put on some mascara and then out the door I went. 

I know this wasn't really informative as more other posts but I am suffering from a really strong case of food coma right now from lunch --"

Thanks for reading. Please subscribe. 

- amy 

Review : New Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow VS Old Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow

Now because I made so many beauty purchases over the last two months I have been trying really hard not to buy anymore products for the rest of the year, however I was on reading other blogs and heard that the L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows which are the closest dupes to the Armani Eyes to Kill have finally made it to the US since it was only available overseas or Canada before. I swung by my local CVS first to see if they might have it and they didn't so next I went to the Rite Aid close to my place. Rite Aid did not have the L'Oreal shadows but they did have the new Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow quads available. These are the ones that have Olivia Wilde in the marketing ad. I believe there are 6 new quads that have been launched. Now these are technically not new products like the lip butters since the Colorstay line had already eyeshadow quads prior to this. The old quads were marketed as 12 hour long lasting shadows and had a slim rectangular shape in which all the shadows of equal size. The newly released quads are marketed as 16 hour long lasting shadows and is packaged in a square pallet and the shadows are not in all equally sized pans. 

I personally really think the Revlon Colorstay line is probably the best drugstore line of makeup. From foundation to blush to eyeshadow it is really and impressive line and these I have a lot of these quads. From the old 12 hour line I have 5 different quads and though I don't reach for them that often I really do like them. The 4 shadows in each pallet compliment each other very well and the pigmentation is great and the shadows are smooth and buttery. I believe these range from around $7-8 and I am sure you can always find them for less because I know my Rite Aid always has like 40% off sales on Revlon stuff. Below are just images of the 5 pallets I have in old packaging. Out of the 5 my favorites are probably Sterling Rose and Nude Elements just because I can wear them easily on a day to day basis.

13 Lavender Meadow

14 Nude Elements

11 Sultry Smoke

18 Azure Mist

09 Sterling Rose

Now I was really only interested in this 1 pallet from the new line of Colorstay quads which was number 515 Adventurous. Though the packaging says 515 Adventurous, the slot on the marketing pop up stand said 515 Goddess so I'm not really sure what is going on with that but this quad is the one that is neutral but with this beautiful deep olive green color in it. I have to say thats probably what sold me on this quad was because of this olive color. There are a total of 6 different quads and this was is the only one I got just because I have enough eyeshadow already and I have never hit pan on anything so do I really need another eyeshadow quad? No, so I only got 1 instead of all 6. When I got home I was really excited because all the other Colorstay quads I previously bought were great but once I opened it up and started to swatch the shadows I have to say I was a little disappointed because some of the colors felt chalky and just not as smooth and buttery like my old quads.  The highlight color to me is very chalky and it takes up the biggest space on the pallet. The olive green and the reddish bronze color are not as bad as the highlight but still not as smooth as I would like. The only color that was pretty smooth was the matte dark brown, which was a surprise since matte shadows tend to be chalkier than others. Other than the pigmentation and texture of the shadows I don't really like how the pallet is laid out just because each shadow is a different size in this square pallet versus the old pallet where all the shadows are the same size. Like I said the highlight takes up the biggest space but its chalky and I probably won't use it as much as the other 3 colors. 

So when it comes down to which pallet I think is better the choice is obvious to me, the old 12 hour Colorstay pallets I feel are better in texture and pigmentation. Now since I only did buy 1 out of 6 quads in the new line it could easily just be this particular quad isn't all that great and the others are but I honestly don't think I am going to spend time or money to try the rest seeing as I already have lots of eyeshadows. So if your looking for affordable drug store eyeshadow pallets I recommend the Revlon Colorstay 12 Hour Shadows instead of this new 16 hour one.

Thanks for reading

-amy

Review : Revlon Lip Butter & Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow

So in my last post I mentioned that I had gotten a hold of some Revlon Lip Butters and that I also went to Sephora again to spend my $20 VIB gift card. What I ended up getting from Sephora wasn't really much of anything. Just two more MUFE Duo Mat powders one in 201 and the other in 202. I have written before that this is my HG powder foundation and for an oily girl like my this is really a great product. Other than that I had also picked up another Benefit Creaseless Creamshadow. I had gotten Skinny Jeans in my F&F haul and I went back and picked up Birthday Suit this time.

So here are my thoughts and some (drumroll.....) pictures of the lip butters and the shadows.

So I picked up three Revlon Lip Butters in:
065 Creamsicle
085 Sugar Plum 
030 Fig Jam
I have to say that I'm not really crazy about these. I mean the product is nice and color on some of them are really pretty but for a girl that doesn't really wear any lip products beyond chap stick on a day to day basis these are really just something fun to play with, but not really a necessity for me. I mean I actually have a lot of lipstick from drugstore to high end and I buy them because it looks so pretty and I think omg I am definitely going to find time to wear it and then end up not. I can see why these would appeal to a lot of people because its sheer and you can wear it without looking like too made up.  Of the three that I have I probably like Fig Jam the best just because its a really fall/winter color to wear. I did pick two dark colors Fig Jam and Sugar Plum specifically because I don't really have anything like it in my lipstick collection and Creamsicle just seems like a fun color. On my lips Creamsicle doesn't really do a lot but it does nude it out a bit and its wearable. Fig Jam and Sugar Plum are both well pigmented and look nice on the lip. Fig Jam is a more brown tone berry kind of cranberryish and Sugar Plum is more purple.  These don't really last that long and you will have to re-apply often. And for all you sensitive lip girls out there, these make my lips peel a bit so if you have that issue I suggest you stay away.

Creamsicle

Sugar Plum

Fig Jam

And now to the Benefit Creaseless Creamshadows. Let me say first that I have double eye-lids and quite a heavy fold and my lids get oily so I never thought creamshadows would work well on me. I tried some Revlon ones before and it just sucked, it creased within 30 min and just had no staying power on my lids so I was really hesitant to try these from Benefit but since getting hooked on their boxed powders I figured I should give their other products a try and for some reason I gravitated to the Creaseless Creamshadow. I never really read up on reviews on blogs or youtube about these and just decided to go for it when I was in store during the F&F sale. I guess I kind of wanted to really test it out and see if it really wasn't going to crease.  I was torn between Skinny Jeans and Birthday Suit and only wanted to purchase one before spending the money on more without knowing how well it would perform. So I got Skinny Jeans and fell absolutely in love with it and then this past week I picked up Birthday Suit. Now this creamshadow really does live up to its name Creaseless. I have worn it both with my UD primer potion and without and it doesn't budge. The pigmentation is amazing, super creamy and I love the two colors I got. Both are great for everyday wear. Now Skinny Jeans is a pewter color with gold/bronze shimmer and it is a bit on the darker side but if you blend it out you'll be able to wear it all over the lid. After I got it I wore it about a week straight. Birthday Suit I think a lot of people will like because even though it says on the Sephora site that it is a "brushed chrome" to me its a really nice shimmery taupe color that is a great neutral to wear all over the lid. I have been using it for the past two days and its just good for those who work in office environments that want something on their eyes but nothing crazy.  I don't think there are enough good things I can say about this product. As of now I'm not sure if there are any more colors that tickle my interest, maybe RSVP but for I am very very happy with just Skinny Jeans and Birthday Suit. These might actually be my favorite eye-make up purchases of the year. 

Birthday Suit

Skinny Jeans

Thanks for reading

-amy

quick update

So I didn't get time to post or finally try to upload pictures of the things I have been getting but I do have a minute for just a quick update.

I was able to get my hands on a couple of Revlon Lip Butters which I will be reviewing soon. I didn't get a lot only 3 colors because I am not really a lip product girl. I don't wear too much lipstick or gloss or anything. Mainly just lip balm/chap stick . So I will just give my thoughts on the three I picked up a bit later.

And since all my posts so far have really been Sephora hauls I am sure you guys can probably figure out I spend enough to be a VIB. So I received a gift card in the mail from Sephora for $20 off a purchase of $50. Obviously I couldn't pass that up so over this weekend I went to Sephora to pick up a few more things and also return that nails inc duo set I got.

that's about it for today.

thanks

-amy

Sephora Friends & Family Haul Pt 3-3.5

Ok so by the time I did this haul the Sephora Friends and Family had ended but it was time for the VIB 20% off sale. And remember how I said I would explain why its a 3.5 haul well here is why.

So I ended up returning the MUFE Mat Velvet to my local Sephora and I was going to see if I can purchase my DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser in store because it was on sale for $15 and the original price is $32, but unfortunately it was only an online deal so I couldn't purchase in store. So I ended up walking around Sephora just looking around to see if there was anything that would catch my eye before I make my return. I walked around for about 15 min and thought about getting another nail polish or another blush. I ended up walking around the Benefit stand and looking at their creaseless cream shadow. Now I had gotten a small R.S.V.P in one of those $10 sets that Benefit does and I thought it was really pretty however the pot is super small so you can barely get a finger in, you need to dip a brush in it to get product out. So I was looking at al the cream shadows they had and I was torn between Skinny Jeans and I believe it was Birthday Suit. I ended up getting Skinny Jeans because I thought it was soo pretty and that it would work well as an everyday color for me. It's a pewter color but it has bronze/gold shimmer to it and if you blend it out well at least on my skin it looks like a greyish taupe. So I ended up deciding to purchase that and while I was waiting to check out, you know how Sephora has all those small samples or little things in the cubes while you are on line, well I saw that Boscia had come out with Peppermint Blotting Papers and I just couldn't resist $5 each. I am a big mint fan and the Boscia blotting papers work really well so I ended up buying two.  So I consider this my .5 haul.

When I went home I put in another online purchase for my facewash and some other stuff...

-nails inc. The Wyndham Collection : I am still on the fence about this product. It comes with two nail polishes, The Wyndham and this dark teal color which I can't remember the name of. While the overall effect is really pretty, the top coat gives you this holographic shimmer effect off the teal polish so depending on the light the shimmer can reflect blue to green to almost yellow I can't justify spending $20 on this because the teal color polish while pretty was so thick and heavy. I do my nails very often and I am a huge fan of Essie polish and it wasn't until this year that I really ventured out into other brands such as OPI. This nails inc base polish was just to thick. It took forever to dry and it chipped really easily. I should've just tried to buy the top coat by itself.
-DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser: This is my go to acne cleanser. Now I use this after I remove my makeup with my Philosophy Purity Cleanser. This by itself will not take off makeup. But I really like how it has helped my acne prone skin. It contains Salicylic acid and is very gentle. I use it every night with my clarisonic mia. And it was such a good deal. Again it is normally $32 and it was on sale for $15 online plus an additional 20% off. Of course I ended up buying two bottles.
-Origins Brighter By Nature Skin Tone Correcting Serum : So I kind of got this on a whim. I knew I was running low on my Lancome Genefique and I really wanted to try a serum that would help fade acne scars and some sunspots around my eyes. I have used the Clinique even skin tone corrector but I felt like I didn't really see results with it so I wanted to try something new. I was debating between this and I believe the Jurlique white something serum. Now the Origins line is fairly new to Sephora but I have used their products before years ago when I was in high school and my sister who had also made a purchase from sephora was trying out the Brighter By Nature Moisturizer which she read help fade freckles. I already had bought my DDF moisturizer and really didn't need to buy another one esp one thats in a pot ( I don't like to dip my fingers in pots) I ended choosing the serum. I don't have much to say about it yet. I just started using it after finishing off the last bit of my genefique so I will probably have an update in about two weeks.

so this ends my sephora purchases. for not at least. If you are a VIB like me then you probably got notice of the $20 gift card which I will most likely be using this week to pickup some more stuff.

again thanks for reading.

-amy

Sephora Friends & Family Haul Pt. 2

So I had a pretty busy weekend and am now finally updating on part 2 of my Sephora F&F sale.

So about a week after my first order I of course couldn't pass up the opportunity to place another one. Here is what I got on my second order. (unfortunately I still don't have pictures. the lighting is just pretty bad in my room)

- MUFE Mat Velvet in No. 35 Vanilla : I really wanted to like this foundation. I feel in love with the Duo Matte powder so I figured why not try this liquid foundation instead. This just didn't work for me. I felt like the coverage wasn't enough and it didn't keep me as matte as the Duo Mat. So this is how I tested it. I previously mentioned that I am super oily and use Urban Decay De-Slick before and after foundation. Well since I wanted to see how well this Mat Velvet worked I did not use De-Slick. I just put this on over my moisturizer and set it with a loose powder (clinique in case anyone was wondering) and it just didn't keep me as matte as I would've hoped. Plus the coverage isn't great. I used 1 squirt that equals to about 1 pump if this came in a pump bottle and it just wasn't enough for to even out my skin. I shortly returned this.
-MUFE Duo Mat Powder Foundation in 202 :  Well I said this is like my HG powder foundation now so of course I had to buy a back-up since it doesn't really come with a whole lot of product and for 20% I really just had too.
-Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Katie:  I'm still on the fence about this blush. I know a lot of people who are fare skin like myself have raved about this on youtube and other blogs but I don't find myself reaching for it as much as I do the Illamasqua Lover blush that I got in my first haul. I mean its a pretty light pastel pink. I think if you are any darker than NC25 this might not work that well on you. I wear it mostly when I wear more cool toned make up. It's pretty, very pigmented, I would probably use it more in the spring.
-Urban Decay Primer Potion Tube :  Just got the original. I really think this is a great product and it prevents anything from creasing on me. It's a cult classic and I will probably pick up the Too Faced primer sooner or later to do a comparison on which one I feel works better.
-OPI for Sephora Nail Colour :  Now I got three nail polishes from OPI for Sephora. The colors are Be-Clause I said So which is a multi-size red glitter polish, Flurry Up Top Coat which is a multi-size silver glitter polish, and Don't be Eggnogious which is a multi-size bronze glitter polish. I got these because I had the gotten the gold on a while back and really loved it and I figured I would get some other colors for the fall season. I think these are really pretty and for the $9.50 it's not bad compared to the Deborah Lippmann glitter polishes. But be warned like with all glitter polishes these are a pain to take off! 

That's hit for part two of my Sephora Haul.

Thanks for reading.

- amy