Weekly Favorites #5

If you have not noticed, I've been pretty lazy as far as posting makeup tutorials and reviews on my blog. I have been really minimal with my everyday makeup, which explains why I haven't posted many reviews. I have been sticking to foundation, powder, mascara, and a bit of lipstick/gloss for the past weeks; nothing too exciting as far as makeup is concerned. This week I stuck to the same routine for the most part but I changed up a few of my products. For starters, I purchased a new CC cream, the IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream. I heard really great things about this CC cream on Youtube videos and I decided to pick it up at Ulta for a hefty $38. So far, I really like it but we will see if it lives up to its hype. While picking up this CC Cream, I saw the IT Cosmetics Tightline Mascara Primer. I remember hearing great things about this one too so I got it as well (damn Youtube making me want to buy stuff!). I've used it a few times this week and, holy cow this stuff is great! This is awesome for people who want a non-white mascara primer that makes the lashes look freaking amazing. I am really starting to like IT Cosmetics! These are my first two products from this brand and so far I have great impression!

Besides the two new makeup products, I started using two other products that were already in my collection: the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in 'Diffused Light' and the NYX Butter Gloss in 'Merengue'. I stopped using 'Diffused Light' for some time because I completely forgot about it, but I fell in love with it again this week. This is a great setting powder for yellow-toned skin as well as a beautiful subtle highlighter. This is really pricey, but the product is amazing and the packaging is superb. I also starting using one of my least used NYX Butter Glosses in 'Merengue' and I can't believe I haven't used it more. It is a cool pink with lavender undertones that looks really good on my skin tone. All NYX Butter Glosses are beautiful and I love them so much ♥ I used this shade in my latest tutorial.

My last favorite of the week is actually not a makeup product, it's a book! And not just any book, it is the newest addition to my Tolkien collection! This is the translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien and now published by his son Christopher. I really liked Beowulf back in high school and it is really great to read it again~ I am really excited to read this classic piece and have translations and comments from Tolkien. It's also so fascinating reading one of the things that basically inspired Tolkien to begin to create his own myths and stories, which basically lead to him creating what we know as Middle-Earth today!

Thanks for reading!

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First Impression: NARS Creamy Concealer

Weekly Favorites #2

Bath and Body Works Stress Relief Candle 

I looooove this candle so much! I bought one during the holidays when a 2 for $22 sale was going on. I passed by B&BW the other day, and I noticed they were having another 2 for $22 sale so I picked up two of these. I love anything that is minty, but this isn't too minty and rather has a very spa-like scent. It definitely helps me relax. It has come in really handy this past week because I am really stressed with school right now >_<"

Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation and Airbuki Brush

I have been using this foudnation and brush for about two weeks now. I did a First Impression post and I am still waiting to do a full review on it. I am loving it though! It looks so natural but it still gives great coverage!

NARS Creamy Concealer

I haven't mentioned this concealer before on my blog, and that is because I recently purchased it (I really need to write up a haul post!). I bought this because I heard really great things about it and I've been using it in place of my MAC Pro Longwear Concealer for the past dew days. I will have a First Impression post, but for now I can say that it is living up to the hype! 

Maybelline Baby Lips 'Grape Vine'

I don't love the Baby Lips that much, but I do really love this shade. I love the subtle dark purple color! And if you know me, you know I love purple lippies! The smell is wonderful too, like a grape popsicle!

NYX Butter Gloss 'Creme Brulee'

I mentioned this in my last week's favorites, but I needed to mention it again. I never thought I could love a nude gloss so much, but this one is AMAZING! I can't rave enough about it. The texture is awesome, the color suits every look, and it does not chap my lips. I can say with much confidence that this is pretty much the HG nude lip color I have been searching for. 

Juicy Couture 'Viva La Juicy' Perfume

This has been my favorite perfume for a very long time. I have tried other perfumes, but I never end up liking how they smell on me. Every time I wear this delicate floral scent I get so many compliments, and it has become like my signature scent. I think the reason I like it so much is because it has jasmine notes. I LOVE jasmine scents and this one applies too. I wish I could find another perfume that was a little more "mature" than this one because it is a bit "girly" and "young". If anyone has any good recommendations for me, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for reading! Join me next Sunday for another weekly favorites!

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Weekly Favorites #1

1. NYX Butter Glosses
My absolute favorite product of this week was the NYX Butter Glosses. These are pigmented, smooth, and not sticky. I haven't been excited by lip glosses in a looooong time, so I was pleasantly surprised by these ones. The one in the picture is 'Peaches and Creme' but I absolutely love all the shades I have. In fact, my favorite of the bunch is actually 'Creme Brulee', a nude shade. I picked up 'Creme Brulee' at the recommendation of one of my favorite Youtube vloggers Claire Marshall, aka HeyClaire. I also used one of these in my Hufflepuff look.

Disney Series: Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Bonjour my lovely readers!

I apologize for the extreme delay with this post. Some of you might know this, but for those of those who don't know, I will say it again: I am a college senior and I *hopefully* will be getting my Bachelor's degree in about three weeks. I am really busy trying to pass all my classes so I can graduate already! But, even if this post is late, I still wanted to post it this week :D I will have the Jasmine inspired look this week too so look out for that one!

I love Beauty and the Beast! I was looking forward to doing this because Belle is my best friend's favorite princess. No joking, she has a shrine of Belle collectibles xD This look was a bit difficult for me because I felt like yellow was the only color I could work with. But I ended up incorporating a bit of brown and gold into as well. I wanted to keep my lips very neutral so I choose to wear Chanel's Rouge Coco in 'Mademoiselle'. Kind of fitting, don't you think (since she is French)? Anyway, I hope you like the look!

Naked 3 Tutorial: Sparkly Goth

Hi Guys!

Here is another tutorial using the Naked3 Palette! Except I decided to do something darker!

Naked 3 Tutorial: Wearable Glitz

First Impression: Urban Decay Naked3 Palette

Greetings from the Dark Side :)

I am so excited to finally try out one of Urban Decay's Naked palettes! Yup, this is my very first Naked palette. Crazy, huh? I decided to go for the Naked3 because I think the pinky gold tones will compliment my skin  more. I also like that the darker colors are purple toned ♥ These shades are so up my alley! I only swatched and tried out the shadows today so I wanted to share my First Impression with all my lovely readers :D

The Hobbit Series: Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees

Hello everyone! I have another look using the Shiro Cosmetics There and Back Again collection inspired by The Hobbit! I've sort of been obsessed with green eyeshadow lately so I just had to use green tones for this look! I hope you like it :D 

"Fifteen birds in five fir-trees

their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!

But, funny little birds, they had no wings!

O what shall we do with the funny little things?
Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot;

fry them, boil them and eat them hot?" (The Hobbit).

Updated Review: MAC Eyeshadows

Greetings from the Dark Side!

Now that my eyeshadow collection has grown so much, I wanted to go back a bit and do an updated review on my MAC eyeshadows. I did a review about two years ago (which you can see HERE and HERE), but since then I have had a chance to try out so many other brands. First, let's take a look at my current MAC collection.

                                                                              Collection                                                                   

Permanent Eyeshadow Collection

You can see swatches of the neutral eyeshadows HERE and swatches of the colorful eyeshadows HERE.

Diablo II: Sorceress

Greetings friends! If you have followed my blog for a while, you might have seen some of my Diablo III inspired looks. This look is inspired by the Sorceress from Diablo II, a game which I did play myself a loooong time ago. For this look I wanted to play up on the greens and blues of her character, but do it in a more subtle way. The focus of this look is definitely the lower lash line, which is a bright blue  with a hint of purple inspired by the Sorceress staff and magic. I used a vampy purple on my lips because the Sorceress seems to have a dark lip color as well.  I used mostly all Victorian Disco Cosmetics for this look~

*This look was requested by someone a while back, but I cannot remember who it was! If you are the one who requested it, please let me know so that I can give you credit!

FOTD: My Updated Everyday Look

Hi hi Dark Siders! :)

I don't know if most of you do this, but when I travel anywhere, I try to keep my makeup travel bag as small as possible. I try to take only essential products to create easy and quick makeup looks. Because I was in Los Angeles for 5 days, I wanted a quick and simple look that would be effortless and pretty. I ended up pretty much using the same products every day on my trip, and I am still following that same routine even now. It has pretty much become my "everyday look".

 

FOTD: Utopia

Greetings from the Dark Side!

Today, I will be showing you what the Makeup Geek loose pigment in Utopia (from my latest haul) looks like. This is one of the first times I have used this pigment, and I am still trying to find the best way to use it. In the today's look, I used a flat brush to apply it, which honestly is probably not the best application method. It does look a little bumpy, so I still need to find a better way to apply it! Anyway, hope you like it!

First Impression: Anastasia HyperColor Brow & Hair Powders

Greetings from the Dark Side :)

As you may have noticed, I love bright hair colors! If I could I would want ALL of my hair to be a lavender color. But alas, my hair is very dark and I would inevitably ruin my hair with all the bleaching I would have to do to get my hair to be almost white.

I am not the only one who does not like to bleach my hair (even though I still do!), and so many others who seek to have bright hair colors use alternative methods of hair color. One of those methods is hair chalk. The brand Anastasia Beverly Hills has released something similar to hair chalk called HyperColor. They say that unlike hair chalk, HyperColor "is ultra-pigmented, safe for cosmetic use on brows and eyes, and won't dry your hair out". These are wipe-on hair colors that wash off safely and easily from the hair so it is ideal for people who don't want to commit to semi-permanent hair colors.

I wanted to test these out to see how they work. I have both my natural dark brown hair and bleached hair to work with, so I have the advantage to testing how these work on dark versus light colored hair. Let use see how they did!

FOTD: Minimalist Holiday Look (Ft. Armani Holiday Palette)

Hi hi!!

Holiday season is upon us! And everyone is scrambling to find outfits and makeup looks to wear for the holiday parties. I love to play around with gold, red, and wine colors, but not everyone likes to wear bold eyeshadows, even during the holidays. I created this very easy, neutral, minimal look perfect for many occasions. I wear this to work or work-related events, and so I wore it to my office holiday party just recently. It gave me a perfect opportunity to share the Armani Holiday 2012 Palette as well.

Products Used

-MAC 'Painterly' Paint Pot

-Armani Holiday 2012 Palette #1

-L'real Voluminous Eyeliner Pen

-Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara

-Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup #4

-MAC 'Eversun' Blush

For this look, I used the lighter of the two eyeshadows on the lid and the darker on the crease and lower lash line. I used the neutral-colored lip wax for a nude lip.

Brand Spotlight: Illamasqua

Hello and welcome once more to the Dark Side of Beauty.

After trying out certain brands for a long time, you begin to get a sense of the products from that brand that you like and the ones that you do not like. One of my favorite cosmetic brands of all time is Illamasqua, and I think I have a good sense about my favorite and least favorite products from their line. Illamasqua offers bold colors, innovative formulas, and marvelous promotion pictures. They are a United Kingdom based brand but it is available in the US through Sephora. Most of my Illasmasqua purchases have been through Sephora, but a few have been from Illasmaqua.com and ASOS.com.

BLUSH

The only face products I have from Illamasqua are blushes. I have yet to try their foundations or powders but I hope to in the future. I own three blush colors that are all n different formulas: a cream, a matte, and a shimmery blush. The colors are: Libido, Sin, and Morale.  The cream blush, Libido, is very easy to blend, but it stays but for a long while (it does have a dewy finish). Sin is a super pigmented grape color, and it works well for a very defined and sculpted cheek. Morale is not as pigmented, but it offers a lovely color payoff with a gorgeous sheen.

Hare are swatches of the three. There is a very pigmented swatch and then a slightly blended swatch next to it.

Verdict of Blushes: 

These three blushes serve to give me a general sense of the entire Illamasqua blush range. Firstly, they are very pigmented blushes. They are bold and definitely not for the faint of heart. You can make these colors very wearable, but keep in mind that you must use a light hand and always blend the blush to give it a softer look. The blushes are a stand out in the Illamasqua cosmetic range!

My favorite: Morale. It offers a lovely flush with a beautiful highlighting sheen. 

Least favorite: Libido. It is not the easiest color to wear, although it is beautiful.

Cream Pigments

One of Illamasqua's newest range, and quickly becoming one of my favorite products, is the Cream Pigments. These are a highly pigmented, matte, and multi-tasking colors that come in a creamy formula. I have four shades: Bedaub, Hollow, Androgen, and Depravity. Bedaub is a mint-green shade which I prefer for the eyes or for concealing redness. Hollow is a cool-toned brown that is perfect for contouring. Androgen is a pastel coral shade that looks lovely on the cheeks, lips, or eyes (also great for color correcting). Depravity is a vibrant grape that I love for the lips, eyes, or cheeks.

Verdict of Cream Pigment:

These are wonderful, wonderful products! They are multi-tasking and super pigmented. They are long lasting and stay put all day. There is a good range of shades and I hope this range will be expanded!

My favorite: Androgen. The most multi-tasking color and a very beautiful shade!

My least favorite: Bedaub. It is gorgeous, but it is the only one that creases on my eye lids.

Lipsticks 

The first Illamasqua product I ever tried was the lipstick in Underworld. Since then, I have tried three other shades. I think their lipsticks have great potential. But I should note that the lipsticks seem to be weakly attached to the tube because they break very easily :( There is a wide range, most colors are very pigmented, and they have very bold shades. I have: Obey, Liv, Underworld, and Kontrol. 

Obey is a matte true coral that is bold and very retro. Liv is a super pale and matte lavender toned pink.  Underworld is a iridescent purple-pink with a blue shift. Kontrol is a very pigmented cream purple-blueberry shade that glides on the lips very easily!

Verdict of Lipsticks:
Their lip products are VERY pigmented and there is a lot of colors (wearable and bold) to choose from. I dislike the fact that the lipstick break easily though, and that fact was stopped me from purchasing more lipsticks.
My favorite: Underworld. This color looks so beautiful on the lips! It is one of my favorite lip colors!
My least favorite: Liv. The color is lovely, but it is so pale and matte that it tends to look chalky and gross on the lips. I can wear it only with another lip gloss over it.

Eyeshadows

I don't own many of the Illamasqua eyeshadows. I have three of their Pure Pigmentes (Beguile, Alluvium and Ore) , one of their Liquid Metals (Resolute), an done liquid eyeliner (Glister). The Pure Pigments are awesome! They have a lot of shimmer and are for the most part very pigmented (for the exception of Beguile). The Liquid Metals have an oddly pleasant smell (like marshmallows!) and they have a high impact color. But there are a few downsides as well. The pigments can be very messy if you are not careful and you can spill and waste a lot of product. The Liquid Metal in Resolute is lovely, but it also creases like crazy! The Glister eyeliner is really pretty and quite a unique color, but I find it difficult to find a look where I can incorporate this lovely nude liner.

These swatches do no justice to the colors!

Verdict of Eyeshadows: 
Their products for eyes have some definite lovely gems, but there are also some duds. Make sure to checks out reviews and swatches before you purchase something!
My favorite: Ore Pure Pigment. Most amazing bronze-gold shade EVER. It shines and sparkles!
My least favorite: Resolute Liquid Metal. This creases so badly on my eyes. It is hard to even use it!

Nail Polishes

I've owned quite a few Illamasqua nail polishes over the past couple of years, but the only one I have actually kept is 'Poke'. The others ones I either sold or gave away because I did not really use them and my nail polish collection just keeps growing! I love the Illamasqua nail polishes, but most I had were very simple colors and I prefer very bold and shimmery colors. Poke is one of those shades that I find so appealing that I want it to be a part of my collection! It is a lovely iridescent purple with green, purple, blue, and pink shimmer. It is opaque it just one coat!

Verdict of Nail Polishes:

I think Illamasqua nail polishes are great. They are very pigmented and there is a great shade selection. However they are quite expensive!

Best and Worst

In my own opinion the best products that Illamasqua offers are their blushes and cream pigments. They are really amazing products that are totally worth the money. They are one of the favorite things in my makeup collection and I will definitely be thinking about purchasing more in the future.
The worst products that they offer are, solely based on my experience and on my opinions, and their lipsticks. They are beautiful, but they can be very frustrating too. They tend to break really easily and it really bugs me because they are not cheap. Illamasqua really needs to do something about it because I know a lot of other people have the same problem. Besides that, they can be a little drying on my lips.

Other

Just on a side note, I wanted to also mention that I hate that if you order from Illamasqua.com (there is a better range of products than what is offered at Sephora) and you don't live in the UK or Europe, they shipping in ridiculously expensive. I tend to want to buy anything because the shipping is like $20. Just a little heads up in case you wanted to order. You should probably wait for a free international shipping promotion!

I hope this is a little informative to those of you who are interested in Illamasqua. If you have a brand that you would like to me to overview, please let me know in the comments. Thank you all so much for reading :D