Thursday 29 December 2011

Urban Decay Naked Palette


It was boxing day.
There was no sale.
I was probably the last human being on Earth who did not possess this divine creation.

But NO LONGER!
Is it not beautiful?
Yes. The Naked palette from Urban Decay.
This thing came out a loooong time ago, I know, but being forbidden to purchase any makeup, I could not get it until now. Sorry, mom.
Of course, now would be the time or Urban Decay to come out with the Naked 2 palette.
On the back of the box
I must admit that I do have many neutral shades in my collection. I got the Alice in Wonderland palette from Urban Decay when it came out, and Sin came with it, so I now have 2 of those.
Generally, though, I am very happy with the colour palette because there really is something for everyone. Should come in handy when doing other peoples' makeup!

12 beautiful shades
 And  now for some closeups...


Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar


Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse


Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal
 I shall swatch soon.
Here is what Urban Decay has to say about the palette:

Everybody wants to look good NAKED! Far from a group of boring beige shadows, Naked Palette's long, lean, seductive case is packed with TWELVE gorgeous neutrals, including FIVE NEW shades, and includes our pro-quality Good Karma Shadow Brush.

 

I know Virgin, Darkhorse, Buck and Naked are exclusive to the palette but I'm not sure about the other one. I got the one with the synthetic brush, not the duo Whiskey-Zero eyeliner. It also came with a mini-UDPP, which I LOVE! The mirror also makes it very convenient for travel.

Shadow Brush

Nice, soft bristles

Oooh, intimidating!


My only problem with this palette is the packaging... It is velvety and beautiful, but I can see it getting filthy quickly. At least it isn't terribly heavy like their Book of Shadows palettes.

 

Overall, I like it! I happily welcome this product to my kit. I can see it coming in handy in some great emergency. The shades are well pigmented, which is not unusual for Urban Decay, and I really like the wide range of neutrals in the palette.

This is available in Sephora locations and online for 48$. Being in Canada, I payed 58$ for it. :( I will cherish it!

Please send any requests to lizziehanley94@yahoo.ca

Monday 26 December 2011

Happy Holidays!

I hope you are all having a delightful winter holiday, whatever it is you are celebrating! I will resume posting shorty.
Which should be made much easier because my parents got me my very own, brand-new, hot pink LAPTOP!!!!!!!!
Oh, my God. I died.
Good luck, boxing day shoppers!!
xo

Monday 19 December 2011

Sephora Classic Mineral Powder Brush Review

Bonjour.
I went to Sephora the other day, even though I am not really allowed to because I always end up spending money there.
I was just browsing around, I swear.
A really nice guy named Daniel was working there, and he had on the most AWESOME holiday makeup I have ever seen!! His brows were covered with small paper snowflakes, his eyelids were covered in the prettiest sparkly white glitter (zero fallout), his cheeks were perfectly contoured and his lips were PURPLE!!! :D

Gorgeous. Honestly.

We talked about makeup for a while, which was awesome because he is so enthusiastic about it. I asked him a ton of questions about his makeup. He asked me about my eyeshadow, and said my blending was flawless! I told him about Sugarpill and where to get it :) I shall re-create the look I wore that day and link it HERE.

Anyways...
I enjoyed his service so much, I felt bad about leaving the store without buying anything.


Here it is!

 I had been looking around for a while for a nice buffing brush to apply liquid foundation. I tested another one at Sephora a few weeks ago (I think it was this one) but it was a bit out of my price range. So I tested the Mineral Powder brush and fell in love!

Close-up with plastic on
PROS:
  • The bristles are synthetic and a kind of dark brown/taupe with white at the ends. Purty!
  • Because they are so densely packed, I  noticed my foundation does not leak so deep into the brush, wasting product.
  • Synthetic hairs no not absorb (think microscopic) as much liquid as natural hair brushes.
  • The ferrule is shiny black, and the handle is matte black. I tried not to use lighting that was too bright when photographing it so you can see where the white bristles end and the white background begins.

Close-up without plastic on



  • This brush is suuuper soft and smooth, but still firm. I hate when brushed bend and fold all over the place when I apply my foundation. I am not particularly rough with brushes. 
  • It isn't too big so you can use it to get into little crevices of the face (like the nose), but still covers a pretty large surface at once. I like!
Next to a Sally Hansen polish to see its size
  • I find this easier to wash than natural brush hairs because the bristles are smoother, if that makes sense. I use olive oil and dish soap to wash my brushes. 
I don't really care that it is for mineral makeup. I like it for liquid foundation. As long as you do not over-blend, the foundation is ridiculously gorgeous on the skin!! Otherwise, the makeup gathers around the area you blended and the skin where you were rubbing so hard with the brush is now bare. I'm sure it works great with minerals too, but I haven't tried it. I know it works well for contouring the face too.
  • Multipurpose?
Also, I like this because it is black, shiny and sexy!!!

CON (singular): 
  • The handle is a bit fat, so it takes up a lot of room in my brush-holder. 
Which is really a plastic cup.


Here is what Sephora has to say about this brush: 

Classic Mineral Powder Brush: A brush designed for applying both loose and compact mineral powders.

You can get this at Sephora for 26$, depending on where you live. I payed 34$ plus tax. :(

Please send any requests to lizziehanley94@yahoo.ca

Sunday 18 December 2011

Sugarpill ChromaLusts

Hello hello!!
I have been lusting after Sugarpill's bright, fun colours since the company opened. On December 2nd, I finally placed my order for 3 pigments from Sugarpill after what seems like an eternity of anticipation. Being under-age, I bribed a friend to let me use his credit card to order the products online and payed him back. I decided to order now because of their Black Friday sale. I wonder if that's legal.
I am aware that I am possibly the last person on Earth to post about these.

So I waited and waited and waited and waited....

Yesterday, I was in a crappy mood. I felt very tired, did not feel like going to work, felt lonely and sluggish. I decided to take a walk to my mom's house for some air. I now have a bad cold, so I guess symptoms were just beginning.
When I got there, I had a funny feeling so I checked the mail. What, oh what did I find, you ask?!
This cute, little box of joy!!!!!



The owner of Sugarpill, Amy (Shrinkle), enclosed this colourfully signed receipt.

My parents will be happy to see that I cleverly photographed it so that you cannot see my address!

Upon opening this lovely surprise, I discovered adorable, pink wrapping paper and my three little bundles of colourful love in powder form (geez, you'd think I was a narc).

So adorable!

Fun wrapping of makeup

I ordered three ChromaLusts; Birthday Girl (pink), Tipsy (green), and Royal Sugar (blue). I feel like a Powerpuff Girl! Now here are way too many pictures I took out of excitement...

Sugarpill ChromaLust in "Birthday Girl"

Sugarpill ChromaLust in "Tipsy"
Sugarpill ChromaLust in "Royal Sugar"
Me playing with a different camera angle
Birthday Girl, Tipsy, Royal Sugar
This is the back of the cute little box

The only complaint I have so far is that the lids do not seem to be fully secure. There is a space between the lip of the jar and the lid, and I worry about spillage.If you look closely, you can see the gap.

 
Royal Sugar (each jar has the gap)

I was also sent some cute stickers and a sample of "Goldilux" Chormalust, which I have heard lots of great stuff about!

Stickers and "Goldilux"

Birthday Girl, Tipsy, Royal Sugar

Each colour on the Sugarpill website is described as follows...

Birthday Girl: Sweet princess pink with iridescent fuchsia sparkles.
I also see gold sparkle in here, and the pink is a kind of dusty rose colour.

Tipsy: High-shimmer true grass green.
This is less pale in real life than the photos on the website. It is very vibrant and a sort of sparkle-shimmery.

Royal Sugar: Striking bright blue with a heavenly burst of turquoise diamonds. The perfect hooker blue for a sweet girl like you.
This is also darker in real life, and the turquoise shimmer in it is gorgeous! It looks like it may need a sticky base for the sparkle to really show.

I will add swatches of each beautiful shade later.

<3
Now all that's left for me to do is cover my face in colour!

 Please send any requests to lizziehanley94@yahoo.ca

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Inventory

Hello there.
So as it's Christmas break, I plan on posting here a lot for the next 6 weeks or so. Being as enthusiastic about my new blog as I am, I want to set up so that things run smoothly in future posts.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be posting pictures of products I have, including swatches, with their names. When I refer to a product in my makeup looks, I will link it to that product post so you guys can see it. It should help you find similar products you have at home if you chose to take inspiration from my makeup. :)

I will separate each post by brand and eyes/face/lips to make them easier to search for. This will probably also help me organize my stuff way better.

My lovely sister with the awesome photography talent will be taking pictures for pretty much everything on this blog. All credit for photos will go to her. <3 Sammy!

Please send any requests to lizziehanley94@yahoo.ca

Tuesday 13 December 2011

The Impatient Blogger

Alright, so I've been itching to post something since I started this thing yesterday around this time.
Sadly, however, I am confronting a bit of a camera crisis... Namely, I do not have access to a decent one today.

Do not fret! I happen to have a few photos in my arsenal of makeup looks I have done on other people. This deep purple and black smoky eye is something that took months to convince my no-makeup-wearing, pale sister to let me do. I really liked how it turned out, given her constant twitching every time I went near her with a brush!

Stubborn as she is, she refused any face or lip makeup. She also wore sunglasses for the rest of the day in case anyone saw her. Note her sarcastic expression in the photos.
Indoors, with flash

Outdoors, no flash, cloudy sky
Outdoors, no flash, cloudy sky
I promise future posts will not all be purple, as the colour scheme of this blog may suggest :)
Enjoy!

Products used:

Face:
-Nothing. She's stubborn :)

Eyes:
-Two Faced Shadow Insurance
-Urban Decay "Flash" eyeshadow (inner eyelid)
-Urban Decay "Mushroom" eyeshadow (blended in crease)
-MAC "Carbon" eyeshadow (concentrated in deep crease and outer corners, lash line)
-Revlon Colorstay black eyeliner (FAIL in waterline)
-Maybelline Colossal Mascara
-Natural eyebrows

Lips:
SEE "FACE"

Please send any requests to lizziehanley94@yahoo.ca

Monday 12 December 2011

My First Post!!!

Greetings, fellow makeup junkies!

After a few years of stalking beauty gurus on their blogs and YouTube channels, I finally got off my butt and started my own blog. I hope it goes as well as I anticipate...

I have an entire region in my brain filled with ideas for this blog. I see this as an opportunity; a blank page in the world that I get to fill. All I have to do is put my ideas out there....
No pressure :)
 
I hope you enjoy my future posts! Hopefully I will be able to transition to video as well one day.

I will take requests for product reviews, makeup tutorials, etc.

S.W.A.K.
Lizzie ~xo~