May Hits and Misses 2012

Hello there my lovely Troopers!
It's officially the last day of May! I am grateful too, since I want school to be over already. But last day means that it is time for this month's favorites and hates. I didn't notice this until I wrote the post, but I have a lot of MAC favorites this month O_o" So weird.

HITS

TOOLS

These are the brushes I've been loving this month~

MAC 109: I've had this for ages and it has served many purposes: foundation, blush, highlight, powder.  But now, I mainly use it for contouring. It works really awesomely for that.
Tokidoki Blending Brush: This brush is terrible for precise blending of the crease. But, it is amazing for when you really want to blend something out. I love using it for when I do a neutral eyeshadow all over the lid and I want to blend it out really well.
MAC217: This is my favorite brush from MAC. I used to use it for my crease, but I started to use it for concealer recently. It works amazing! I can't believe I had never used it for concealer before!

 FACE

MAC 'Eversun' Blush: This is an oldie. This was one of my first blushes from MAC and although its not a color I love, it just works really well for me. Apparently I like it more than I think because I use it ALL the time. Its a satin beauty powder blush in a soft terracotta color that works well as a contour or bronzer for me. I go rather light with this shade though. I don't want to look like an Oompa Looma xD
MAC Studio Finish Concealer: I don't love this,  but it works alright. It's very long lasting. I really just want to use it up so I can find a better concealer. Any suggestions?  I need something for acne scarring. This just doesn't really do the job.

EYES

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner 'Perversion': You probably have seen this in most of my looks recently. I really love this liner. It is so dark and smooth. It's long lasting and it doesn't smudge much on my eyes. I don't love the price, but it is well worth it. No other pencil works as well as this one for me.
MAC E/S 'Woodwinked' and 'Nylon': This month, I have gone back to using some of my neglected MAC shadows. I particularly am loving Nylon as a inner corner highlight and Woodwinked all over the lid with some heavy black liner and mascara. I will probably do a quick tutorial for that soon :)

LIPS

Jack Black Lip Balm 'Natural Mint': I love JB lip balm! It is my HG lip balm, especially right now that my lips have been insanely dry and peeling. I in particular love the mint flavor one. It leaves my lips feeling really refreshed and tingly! I always carry this in my purse.
MAC Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick: This lipstick is seriously phenomenal. It is a gorgeous sheer cherry red with some coral undertones. I am so sad that this is no longer available :( MAC should bring it back!My tube is almost gone T_T

SWATCHES

MISSES

Here are two products I just...well...I just don't like them. 

 John Frieda 3-Day Straight Styling Spray
This is one of those spray you put in your hair before drying and straitening in order to keep your hair straight for up to 3 days. I have no idea if it actually works because it makes my hair feel so gross. Bleh! I can't even stand to have it in my hair for one day, imagine 3! Yep, not happening. I'll try it again, and we shall see what happens.For for now, I hate it.

Rite Aid Renewal Makeup Removing Wipes

So these are "gentle"? Yeah, I don't think so. These stung my eyes so badly, and I didn't even place the wipe super close to my eyes. How does that happen???? They are okay at removing makeup but not worth it if they sting my eyes so much. For now I am just using them to remove the makeup on my hands when I swatch makeup for my blog. Better than throwing them away at least xD

What are your Hits and Misses? Have you tried any of the products on this post?

Thank you for reading =3 See you next time!

A Song of Ice and Fire Series: House Lannister

Salutations Dark Siders!

Have you been as engaged in reading A Song of Ice and Fire/ watching Game of Thrones as I have been? The TV series is really fantastic! In fact I just finished watching episode 9 of season two! I was inspired by the latest episodes of the TV series to start with the Lannister look. I have a love/hate feeling towards them. My favorite character is Tyrion, who is a Lannister, but I don't really like Cersi or many of the other Lannisters. When I think of House Lannister I think of viciousness, gold, extravagance, and did I say gold? Of course, they are the richest House in Westeros, so gold always comes to mind. They are rather power hungry, and as fearsome as their sigil, the lion.

"The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are Hear Me Roar!" (excerpt from Martin's A Game of Thrones)

I used mainly red and gold since it is the colors of the House sigil. I also used black to "outline" the golden lion.

This is not my image.

Review: Victorian Disco Cosmetics House Points Collection

Hello minions of the Dark Side (yes, you are all my minions, bwahaha)!

I have another eyeshadow review~ This time it is a super geeky small collection based on Harry Potter! HP fans unite!!
Yes, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. When Death Hallows Pt. 2 came out, I did a HP makeup series, which was so much fun. And of course, when the last movie came out, I was a very sad panda because I would not get anymore midnight premiers for a Harry Potter movie. But my inner HP nerd came out once again when I received my order for this collection. I was so giddy!

Price and Availability

You can find these on the Victorian Disco Cosmetics page.
Entire Full Size Set = $15 (or $4.50 for individualscolors)
Entire Mini Size Set = $7.50 (or $2.00 for individual colors)

I purchased the full size set.

Packaging

The full sized jars come with the House Points sticker. The label is so cute!

LOL. It's Harry Potter and the VDC House Points eyeshadows ;D EPIC picture!

 

 Swatches

So obviously these are named after the founders of the four Houses. Instead using the last names and the actual names of the Houses, Ashely used the first names. It's a nice twist~

Review

So it is already established that I love Harry Potter, right? And you know how I am. Whenever you have something based on something else I love, I have a tendency to love it regardless of how it works. That being said though, these are awesome eyeshadows. They are all bright and have a great color payoff, even without a primer. They are all shimmery, and Salazar and Rowena are slightly sparkly. I do have a couple of problems with the shades though. Seeing that they are inspired by the Houses, I wish the colors were a little different. I have the biggest problem with Godric. It is a great shade mind you, and it is pigmented and smooth. But when I think of Gryffindor, I think of a brighter more saturated crimson. This color is a little too coppery and it doesn't quite remind me of Gryffindor. I actually like Godric much, much, muuuuch better once applied to the eyes though. It does look fantastic on the lid.

The remaining three shades, Rowena, Salazar and Helga are lovely! I really adore the colors. But again, I feel that they don't accurately portray the House colors. But I am just being a picky nerd.

Besides that like irk, these really do apply smoothly and beautifully. They are so shiny and sparkly. Salazar has the most sparkle, but it is also the sheerest of the bunch. It takes a little more effort to apply than the other shades. Helga applied the best. It is so opaque and the color is wonderful. It is a beautiful tarnished gold!

So yeah, Helga is my favorite of the four, which is odd because Hufflepuff is my least favorite House! Rowena too,  I love Ravenclaw!

Eyeshadows in Action!

This isn't really a look, I just quickly threw on the four colors so you can see how they look on the eyes~ These look very shiny and jewel-toned on the eyes. I actually like Godric much, much, muuuuch better once applied to the eyes.

Verdict

So I have some tiny nerd problems with the colors, but these just work so fantastically that I can't even be mad. Godric, although I am not a super huge fan of the color, looks really great on the eyes. As does Rowena and Helga. Salazar is beautiful, but it does take more work to get it to show up nicely on the eyes as it is the sheerest. Overall though, these are fantastic, and any Harry Potter could appreciate and love these.

Rating: 8.5/10

I will be posting a giveaway for 1 of the VDC House Points and 1 of the Galaxy collections either tonight or tomorrow morning :) I want you guys to have the chance to try these for yourselves!

Comparison Swatches: Sugarpill Heart Breaker Palette

 Greetings from the Dark Side!

When I reviewed the Sugarpill Heart Breaker Palette, Wendy asked me if I could compare one of the colors, 2am, with the purple from the NARS Eurydice Duo. I am more than happy to comply! But while I am at it, I tried to look for dupes of the Sugarpill colors from my makeup collection. Here are some comparison swatches~

*All swatches are on my bare skin and swtached with my fingers.

Just to recap, here are the four swatches of the Heart Breaker Palette:

Acidberry

Fyrinnae's 'Bitey Tyrannosaur' and Glamour Doll Cosmetics 'Oddity' are the closest colors I have. But you can see they are not exact dupes. Acidberry is brighter and more pigmented. Also both the other two colors are loose shadows.

Velocity

 Victorian Disco Cosmetics 'Lighsaber' and Glamour Doll Cosmetics 'Mingles'.

Lightsaber is almost an exact dupe. It was the color I was thinking would be very close to it. But it is also a loose shadow and it is nice to have one in pan form when I can be bothered to use loose eyeshadows. Mingles is matte and more blue.

 

2AM

 

I thought 2AM was the least unique color in the palette...but I guess I was really wrong! I have nothing close to it, as you can see. NARS Eurydice is waaay darker. The Fyrinnae colors are not close at all, although I thought they might be similar. 2am is a very grape-y purple with very subtle aqua shimmer. And it seems that out of the four colors in the palette it is the most unique in my collection!

Mochi

 And here is Mochi compared to Victorian Disco Cosmetics 'Mojo' and Fyrinnae 'Anemone'.

Anemone is actually kind of close, but it is much lighter. Mojo has a much darker base and has more of a green iridescence.

Mochi is a mint-toned aqua/sky blue.

Hope this helps some of you. None of my higher end/drugstore/MAC shadows were close to these so that is why I didn't include them. But if you have a lot of Indie makeup this might help!

Review: Sugarpill Heart Breaker Palette

Greetings Dark Siders!
I am extremely excited to share with you my first Sugarpill order ever! This very first epic haul was one of the most exciting purchases I have made in a long time. I have wanted to try Sugarpill for a very long time but I always stopped myself for some unknown reason. I keep scolding myself for not making an order sooner.

The latest craze amongst us bloggers has been the new Sugarpill palette, the Heart Breaker. When I first saw the promotional picture I knew I had to have it. So on Friday night, I stayed up waiting to make my order~ Shipping didn't take long since I live in Davis, California and I believe these were sent out from Oakland, California which is only about 1.5 hours away ♥  I want to share with you my thoughts and some swatchies of the new palette ^_^ I will review the other things I bought in a separate post!

Price and Availability

$34 on the Sugarpill website.

Packaging

The box it comes in is sooo cute!

Here is the actual palette. It has a blue heart and cross. The palette itself has a good amount of weight and it is very well made.

The colors! 

Swatches

Swatches on bare skin. Swatched twice with my fingers.

 

Review

Before I received my palette, I occupied myself by reading a lot of reviews on the palette. I saw some raves and some negative reviews as well. This is my first time trying Sugarpill so I had no previous experiences with their products to make any value judgements. My first impression came about when I was swatching the palette for the first time. To me, these are all very pigmented and they swatched very nicely. Acidberry and Mochi swatched the best for me. Velocity was a little patchy and it required one more pass than the rest of the shades just to even it out, but it is very pigmented. 2am is not patchy like Velocity, but it is a little more sheer than the rest. Once used on the eyes though, these all did amazingly. Mochi is by far my favorite! ♥

Acidberry took slightly more work to apply on the eyes than when swatched, but nothing that would deter me from using the color or loving the palette. Velocity is beautiful, but it does take more work to blend in than the rest of the other three shades. 2am looks so much better on the eyes than when swtached!! 

I personally love all the colors in the palette. Acidberry and Mochi are unique to my collection. I have something similar to Velocity but it is a loose powder and it is nice to have something in pan form. I have so many purples, but 2am is kind of refreshing. It is much more muted than my other shades and it has a beautiful, yet subtle aqua shimmer.

To sum up...

PROS:

-Lovely color selection

-All four colors have good pigmentation, although they vary slightly

-Amazing staying power (don't need a primer for all day wear) 

-NO fallout at all!

-For the most part, the shades are unique to my eyeshadow collection

-Shipping was very fast, everything was well packaged (plus free pigment sample and sticker!)

-Cute and durable packaging

CONS:

-Velocity is very pigmented, but it can a little patchy and hard to blend

-2am could be a little more pigmented

Palette in Action!

Here is a quick look where I used all four colors:

Acidberry-inner half of the lid and lower lash line

Mochi- outer half of lash line

Velocity-small amount blended into the crease

2am- on my eyebrows

and also Buttercupcake- on the inner corner

Verdict

I adore all the colors in the palette. The eyeshadows are not 100% perfect because they do have their small problems. But overall, these are really magnificent. I am super, super happy with the quality, price, shipping and everything. I am already in love with Acidberry and Mochi, especially together they look amazing! 

Rating: 9/10

Have you tried this palette? If not, have you lusted over it?

NOTD: A Cut On Those Bright Tights!

Greetings from the Dark Side!
Happy Friday! Please enjoy your weekend :)

Here is my NOTD. I used two of my Essie polishes: Bright Tights and A Cut Above.
Bright Tights is a super bright matte neon orange.
A Cut Above is a chunky, shiny, pink glitter.

A Cut Above is amazing! I used one thick coat!
Bright Tights is an awesome neon orange, but the formula sucks. I had to use 3 coats and it wasn't even fully opaque! D:<

Just wanted to share that quickly :D 

Review: KKCenterhk Elise 235 Lashes

Greetings from the Dark Side! ^_^

Today I have a review for the Elise #235 lashes which were provided by KKCenterhk.

Haul: Mascara, Forever 21, Victorian Disco Cosmetics

Hey guys! Are you all doing well? I am okay, still trying to hang on as the end of my courses are near. I still have about two-ish weeks before my finals and then I will be FREEEEE!
I did a small bit of hauling recently, but nothing super major. I have been doing good, I think. I haven't purchased much makeup recently. No MAC or Sephora! I should try to keep it up and do even better!

Victorian Disco Cosmetics House Points Collection and more...
I love VDC, and every time a sale comes along I have to pick something up. For one of the VDC sales, I bought the small House Points (Harry Potter) collection as well as some full sizes of colors I already owned. I also purchased the entire Sailor Scouts (Sailor Moon) collection, but I haven't received that one just yet.
ALSO, before I forget, I bought 1 House Points and 1 Galaxy collection to give away. So I will be doing that giveaway VERY soon~

Prestige Mascaras
Then, the other day I went to Rite Aid to look for a new mascara since I ran out. Although I love collecting makeup, I only ever have one or two mascaras. I hate having a bunch of mascaras because they go bad more quickly than any other type of makeup. My favorite drugstore mascara is Prestige's My Blackest Lashes so that was going to be my purchase. Lucky for me that Rite Aid was having a 50% off all their Prestige cosmetics! Prestige mascara are about $6-7, so I took the chance to get three of them.  The cost of the mascaras were: $3.25, $3.25, and $3.75. A pretty good deal I would say! Expect some reviews for the My Biggest Lashes and My Longest Lashes since I have not used those two mascaras before!

Forever 21 stuff!
Ah, I love F21 hair accessories and jewelry! It is so inexpensive~
I bought some teal flower hair pins~ They are satin flowers and they are really simple and cute. They cost $1.50.

I also purchased these really awesome earrings! They are small triangle studs and one side has a link and cuff attached to it. I got them in gold and silver. They were $2.80 each.

Something else I've hauled but I haven't received yet is something..well, awesome to say the least. SUGARPILL! Yes, finally. I have been wanting to try Sugarpill since I started blogging, but I've never actually made an order. Because of the new palette though, I decided to finally make my first order. I should be getting it soon. SO FREAKING EXITED!!! You don't even know. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I can't wait for Santa Claus (aka Mailman) to come with my pretty package!

I'd say I've been a good girl. But I am so tempted to buy the new Lime Crime liquid liners or maybe some Illamasqua stuff...but I don't need it! Must. Resist.
Anyone else buy the new Sugarpill palette? Or anything Sugarpill for that matter? I'd like to know what you think of their products :)

EOTD: Emerald Sands

Well hello there!

Have you noticed my recent obsession with greens lately? I feel like I have been gravitating towards "emerald" shades recently @_@. Maybe because green is amazing for brown eyes!
This is the makeup look I had on yesterday. I didn't have time to post it though so that is why it is a day late! I was inspired by Lime Crime's Facebook Makeup Mission Monday's. This week's mission is colored liner, in light of the upcoming LC liquid liners. I love colored liner, especially with a neutral eye.

Review: Chanel Ilusion D'ombre Eyeshadow 'Mirifique'

Greetings from the Dark Side ♥

This is a really late review of my one and only Chanel eyeshadow. I purchased this a while ago but for some reason I haven't posted a review @_@ Better late than never!

Price and Availability

$36 at Chanel counters or anywhere Chanel is sold. I purchased mine at Nordstrom.

Packaging

The eyeshadow comes packaged in a glass jar with a screw top lid. It also comes with a small angled brush. the brush is decent enough to use to apply this eyeshadow as an eyeliner. I personally love the packaging. The jar is wide enough that you can easily get product out with your finger. I just really love how it looks! :)

Review: KKCenterhk Awin DS03 Lashes

Greetings from the Dark Side! ;)

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend. I have been "busy" playing Diablo III and have yet again neglected everything else. Hopefully, you are all being more productive than me, since I am being as productive as a potato. But I'll take this opportunity to post some lash reviews! Here are the Awin DS03 lashes provided by KKCenterhk.

The Legend of Zelda Series: Link (#2)

Hi gorgeous readers!

I am back with a second attempt at a Link inspired look. If you see my first post (Link Look #1) you will notice that I was very displeased with the way it turned out. I seem to be having some difficulty with a Link look! Link is the main character, he is the Hero of Time and here I am having the most difficult time getting a look that is satisfyingly Link-like.

This second attempt...well...I like it, but I am still not content. It still lacks something that makes me go: "Ah, yes this reminds me of Link!". Regardless, I will show you the look, and for the time being I am going to move on until I feel more inspired to re-try making a third Link look!

Link Inspired Look

I sort of have two versions of this look. This one:

Victorian Disco FOTD: Arcane Magic

Here's a magical new look I did using the new Victorian Disco Azeroth Collection! I will have a review/swatches of the entire collection soon enough.

 Products Used

-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

-Victorian Disco 'Mage Quarter' (lid)

-Victorian Disco 'Shadowform' (crease)

-Victorian Disco 'The Spell Weaver' (lower lash line)

-Victorian Disco 'Frozen Throne' (inner corner)

-Urban Decay 24/7 liner 'Perversion'

-Maybelline Illegal Length mascara

Arcane Magic Look

I love the combination of these purples and blues!

NOTD: Boba Fett Nails!

I've been a terrible blogger! I try to post everyday but now I am playing Diablo 3...hehe. Here is a quick NOTD though~

As you all must know by now, I am a huge Star Wars nerd. What a better to show my love for Star Wars than by doing a Boba Fett inspired mani! Not only that, I also used all Sinful Colors nail polishes, which are very inexpensive and good quality.

Word of caution, I am terrible at nail art!! This is my first attempt and I know it is kind of messy. But it was fun and even though it looks kind of ugly, I still love the geekiness of it ^_^

Products Used

-Sinful Colors 'Exotic Green' (dark spring green)

-Sinful Colors 'Ruby Ruby' (a saturated classic red)

-Sinful Colors Nail Art 'Time off' (black cream nail art polish)

-Sinful Colors Nail Art 'Morning Breath' (sunny yellow nail art polish)

Boba Fett Mani!~

As you can see, my lines are very wobbly. I am have really shaky hands D:<

I ♥ Boba Fett! He is so cool~! 

What would you change about this mani to match the character better? 

Tips and comments would be appreciated :)

Thank you!

Tutorial: Psychedelic Dinosaur

Happy Mother's Day! A  big shout out to all the amazing mothers out there. I know I wouldn't be who I am without the love and support of my lovely mother ♥

Whenever I see purple and green together, I can't help but think of dinosaurs. Probably because Barney the dinosaur was green and purple...but I digress. I love purple and green together so I made a bright and dramatic look using green, purple, black, and white. If you want to achieve this look, follow my tutorial! Hope you like it~

Shiro Cosmetics EOTD: Rifted Gradient

Greetings from the Dark Side!

I am excited to show you guys something kind of different, not something I would usually do. Makeup is fun, and it is always interesting to try new methods of application. Scotch tape is one of those tools that can be so handy when being creative with makeup. I used tape to create this "rifted" eye look, meaning that there is a gap in the middle of the lid. I was inspired by futuristic/sci fi looks. Of course, this is not something typical or something that you might wear in your everyday life, but it is edgy and different. Let me know what you think~ :)

Products Used

-scotch tape 

-Shiro Cosmetics 'Eye Contact' (reddish pink)

-Shiro Cosmetics 'Vine Whip' (Green)

-Shiro Comsetics 'Oshus' (Blue)

-Shiro Cosmetics 'Shaymin' (coral)

-Maybelline Illegal Length mascara

-UD 24/7 pencil liner 'Perversion'

How To Achieve This Look

1. Take a piece of scotch tape and apply it from the outer corner of the eye all the way upwards towards the eyebrow. Make sure to remove some of the sticky-ness before applying it near your eye area.
2. Take a second piece of scotch tape and cut it in half vertically to get a thinner piece. This thinner piece will be applied on the center of the lid diagonally, this will make the gap in the center.
3. Once the tape is applied, now you can go ahead and apply eyeshadows.
4. Apply 'Eye Contact' on the lid and inner corner.
5. Then, take 'Vine Whip' and apply it on the crease and blend, blend, blend.
6. Once the green is blended, take 'Oshus' and apply it only in the outer V, and blend it very well.
7. After the colors are well blended, now you can removed the tape. Remove it carefully. You will notice that the tape has create sharp and clean edges.
8. I didn't know what to do for the lower lash line, so I applied 'Shaymin' a light coral on the entire lower lash line.
9. Apply mascara and black liner on the water line.

More Photos...

I think I want to experiment a little more with using tape in makeup looks! It is really fun! Definitely give it a try~

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