Monday, April 30, 2012

A Song of Ice and Fire Series

I ♥ the series A Song of Fire and Ice. I read the first book, A Game of Thrones, about two years ago, but I didn't have the money to buy the next books. When I did manage to buy the books, I started to read it again and I am still eager to keep reading. I simply love the characters. Tyrion is still one of my favorites though!
Because I am reading it and because I love the series, why not take the opportunity to make a series out of it? Right now, I am planning on doing looks based on the Houses, their sigils, and their Coat of Arms. This way I can enjoy the books and my makeup together! To kickoff the series, I made a look based on the title and the overall theme of the books (so far anyways!). Ice and fire; north and south; Starks and Lannisters.

 A Song of Ice and Fire Look


Review: Too Faced Exotic Color Intense Eyeshadow 'Poison Orchid'

Greetings lovelies~
I've been pretty busy with school/reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series that I have neglected reviewing products that I have wanted to review for a while. Finally, I bring you some reviews! Today's product review concerns the Too Faced eyeshadow in Poison Orchid. This is my firs Too Faced single eyeshadow which I lusted over for ages before I actually purchased it.

Price and Availability
$18. Available at Sephora, Ulta, or wherever Too Faced is sold.

Packaging 
The eyeshadow comes packaged in a small, sleek, flower-shaped container. It is cute and convenient for travel since it is so compact.




Swatch
*swatched dry on bare skin

The color is quite difficult to capture.

Here it is compared to MACs Young Punk eyeshadow. I thought they would be similar, but they are rather different.


Review

One of the main reasons why this shimmery violet shade caught my eye is because I thought it was similar to MACs Young Punk eyeshadow. Young Punk is one of my favorite eyeshadows ever, and I tend to gravitate towards things I like. But Poison Orchid is quite different. It has a slight dark base, but not as black as Young Punk. Instead of being very glittery, it is iridescent and sparkly. It is subtle in its own way, but still has some sparkle and shimmer.
With that being said, I find that I am a tad disappointed with this eyeshadow. The color is gorgeous, don't get me wrong. But I expected so much more. When I swatched the eyeshadow, a beautiful shimmery violet, almost a duo-chrome shade, appeared on my finger. But once it is applied on the lid, it is sheerer and more subtle than I expected. It takes some effort to get the color to show up well on my lid. It does have shimmer, and I find that I can get shimmer fallout when I use this. 
If you have the patience for it and you adore the color, then this might work for you. I personally will be keeping it because I can't be bothered to return it. Plus I found a way for it to work for me: Pixie Epoxy.
My one advantage is that I have Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy, which helps a lot to get this color to show up well on my eye lid. But, for $18, I would have wanted this to be pigmented on it's own. Plus, not everyone has Pixie Epoxy or something similar.
Rating: 7.5/10


Eye Looks

Here are two random looks in which I used Poison Orchid.

FT Posion Orchid, MAC Satin Taupe, MAC Rice Paper, and MAC Cranberry


Unbound Eden Cosmetics Nirnroot and FT Posion Orchid.


As always, thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please write them below. :)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Review + Comparison: Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Liner 'Perversion'

Well, hello there!
I thought I would finish off this week with a product review. If you've seen my latest eye looks, you might see that I have been using my Urban Decay Perversion liner quite often. I haven't had it for that long, a moth at most. Here are my thoughts on it so far...



Price and Availability
 $19.00.
Can be purchased at Sephora, Urban Decay online, Ulta, and anywhere UD is sold. 

Review

I have used Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liners before, and I think they are fantastic. I have used their normal black, Zero, before as well, and it was one of the best pencil liners I have used. The only thing that has held me back from purchasing these 24/7 pencil liners is the price. $19 for one pencil liner seems like a lot to me. But time and time again, I always give up and buy them anyways because I can never find a drugstore black liner that will stay on my waterline without smudging. Perversion is buttery smooth, and it glides on without any tug or pull. The best thing is that it actually stays put on my waterline/lower lash line without making me look like a raccoon an hour later. Although this stays put, it is actually really easy to smudge out if that is what you want. You have seen me use this smudged as a base for eyeshadows, and it works really great.
The main reason why I chose this over Zero is because Perversion isn't just black, it's BLACK. It is the darkest black liner I have ever come across. It is just perfect for dark smokey or gothic looks. 
The only gripe I have with this is the price. Yes, it could be more expensive, but I wish it was cheaper :(

Rating: 9.5/10 (-.5 for price)

Swatches + Comparison

Here is a swatch of Perversion next to the only other black pencil liner I have, Dolly Wink Pencil Liner in Black.

One swatch:
Look at how black Perversion is! The color is even, compared to how the Dolly Wink one is a little patchy.

Smudged with a small brush:
DW does not smudge well. Smudging diminishes most of the color, while Perversion smudges rather well and it still retains it's darkness.

Dolly Wink pencil liner is not much cheaper than UD liners, so I would definitely rather buy Perversion. I have heard Milani makes a great black liner, maybe I will try that one next. If you have any suggestions for a cheaper alternative to this liner, I would love to know! Thank you ♥


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Victorian Disco EOTD: Zidane and Garnet

If you haven't seen the review for the VDC Zidane x Garnet duo, please check it out HERE.

I was feeling rather bold when I wore this look. It was really easy to do but it looks edgy and cool. It isn't the most wearable look but it is something different that will look break you away form the norm.



Products Used

-Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper 
-Victorian Disco 'ZidanexGarnet' duo
-Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner 'Perversion'
-Dolly Wink liquid liner
-Maybelline Illegal Length mascara
-KKCernterhk ES A88 Lashes

Look 

Don't be intimidated by this look. It is really very easy. I started with the darker red, Garnet. With a small brush, I outlined the shape I wanted and filled it in. I left the lower part of the lid blank, so that I could afterwards apply Zidane, the light gold. On the lower lash line, I smudged the Perversion pencil liner.



What are your thoughts on this type of edgy look? Would you wear it?

Victorian Disco Review: Crystalline Affections 'Zidane x Garnet'



Crystalline Affections Collection 
 A collection inspired by Final Fantasy. Specifically, these are duos that represent some of the characters as a romantic couple. Super cute and unique!

Price and Availability 
You can find these at Victorian Disco Cosmetics.
Full Size Duo - $8
Mini Size Duo - $4    
Sample -$2

Packaging
The duo includes two colors in small jars. The full size jars have the stickers of the collection on the top. The design is really cute!


Characters
Both Zidane and Garnet are from Final Fantasy IX


Zidane


Princess Garnet

Swatches



Zidane - beige-toned, muted metallic gold with small bright gold flecks.
Garnet -coppery red with golden flecks and red glitter.

Review

Yet another lovely duo by Victorian Disco Cosmetics!! Garnet is definitely my favorite of the two. It is a gorgeous red with some copper undertones and a bit of red glitter. Zidane is pretty as well, but I feel that garnet is much more unique. The two look really great together though. Zidane is more muted because it has beige undertones and it is not as bright as Garnet, but is has a very nice addition of golden flecks that make the color more glamorous. Garnet really stands out, and I love how it looks on the eyes.
As far as pigmentation and texture, both shades are very buildable. Zidane is lighter, but it has great pigmentation and it applied smoothly. Garnet is not super pigmented on its own, but it is pigmented enough for it to show up nicely without any primer/base. I do recommend using a primer/base with Garnet to achieve high pigmentation as well as to keep from getting glitter fallout. Since it has fine glitter, it is best to have a base that the glitter could adhere to.
The duo is affordable, the two colors looks great together or alone. The only negatives would be that Garnet can have some glitter fallout and it would be nice if it was a tiny bit more pigmented.

Rating: 9.5/10

Look

Check this look out HERE


Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Legend of Zelda Series: Link

How can you have a Legend of Zelda series without Link, the hero of time?! Without the hero of awesomeness?! Well you cannot. It's simply not possible. So here is my very first Link look. First? Yes, first! I was already planning on doing more than one look for Link, but I ended up being rather displeased with this look. I am still posting it though. I feel that this looks too lemon-y, almost 7 Up inspired xD But oh well. I still like the look, just not so much for Link. I hope you like it regardless!

Link!~Inspiration picture~ (from Google search):

Link Inspired Look



*Again sorry for the messy brows @_@


Products Used

-Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner pencil 'Perversion'
-Victorian Disco 'Dowry'
-Victorian Disco  'Symmetrical Garden'
-Lime Crime ChinaDoll Palette (Jade-O-Lade and Goldfish)
-Wet n Wild 'Vanity' Palette (matte dark brown)
-Maybelline Illegal Length mascara
-KKCenterhk ES A598 Lashes

Tutorial

1. Take a pencil brush or a crease brush and apply Dowry (a dark matte forest green) on the outer V, crease, and half of the lower lash line. We want to have a very dark, forest-y color :)


2. To further play up with the greens, I applied a small amount of Jade-O-Lade from the Lime Crime ChinaDoll Palette and top it off with a little bit of Victorian Disco's Symmetrical Garden. The combination makes this a slightly lighter and shimmery green.  The shimmer adds a nice iridescent touch xD


3. This is where I feel that I messed up. I applied Goldfish from the ChinaDoll palette in the inner part of the lid, but I think this is far too yellow and gold. I wanted to use a color that would represent Link's blond hair. *sigh*




4. Besides green, Link wears a lot of brown accessories. I applied a matte dark brown on the lower lash line.



5. Apply liquid liner, mascara, and black liner on the waterline. 


 6. Now you could leave the look like this, but I was unhappy, and I applied a little more of Dowry on the on the crease and blended it a lot more. I was still unhappy...LOL.

Here is a full face shot. I went with a neutral lip color, Rimmels Airy Fairy Lipstick. I was just not feeling up to taking pictures this day. It was hot and I had been wearing the makeup for a few hours when I took this. I also realize that neutral colors don't look all that great on me xD


Thank you for reading ♥ Until next time!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Fyrinnae Tutorial: Parental Advisory

Salutations dear friends!

Today I have a very bright look using ALL of the five most recent colors from Fyrinnae. I was in a very bad mood today and I felt the need to mask my inner gloominess with a bright and colorful eye look. I named this look "Parental Advisory" because one of the eyeshadows is called that, but also because my parents quite disapproved of this colorful look xD They gave me the whole "you're not in high school anymore, so you should dress/put that type of makeup on anymore" speech. I love my parents very much, but I love having my own style and I could not care less what other people have to say about it.

*Totally excuse my eyebrows! I am letting them grow out so I can fix them.



Products Used

-ELF Eyeshadow Primer
-Fyrinnae 'Picture It: Sicily'
-Fyrinnae 'Bitey Tyrannosaur'
-Fyrinnae 'Beauty Blogger'
-Fyrinnae 'Pteranodon'
-Fyrinnae 'Parental Advisory'
-UD 24/7 pencil liner 'Perversion'
-Dolly Wink liquid liner
-Maybelline Illegal Length mascara
-KKCenterhk ES Lashes (can't remember which I used!)

Tutorial
 
1. On a primed lid and with a flat brush (MAC 239) apply Picture It: Sicily on the inner half of the lid.

2. With the same brush, or a different one, apply Bitey Tyrannosaur on the outer half of the lid. Make sure to blend the center for a smooth transition. I absolutely love these two colors together <3

3. With a fluffy brush (ELF Contour Brush), apply a sheer wash of Beauty Blogger on the crease.

4. Apply a black line ron the waterline, and with a small brush (ELF Angled Eyeliner brush) apply Pteranodon on the lower lash line. Try to make it as opaque as possible.

5. With the same small brush, apply Parental Advisory right below Pteranodon.

 6. Apply mascara, liquid liner, and falsies :)

 Finished Look



Products Used (Face & Lips)

-Skin79 Oriental BB Cream
-MAC 'Whisper of Gilt' highlighter
-Revlon 'Siren' lipstick (dab on the center of the lips)
 






I love wearing a lot of bright colors together! What about you?