NOTD: Maleficent's Flames

Greetings from the Dark Side!

This week is Week 1 in my October Series Challenge and the inspiration is Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. I have been trying to think of what eye look I wanted to create, and I thought I should also do something with my nails that matched Maleficent. I wanted to try to do something different with my nails and I was inspired by Maleficent's green flames to create this sort of gradient nail look.

This was my first time ever tying out the gradient effect, and I messed up a lot! I am pretty terrible with nail art, so go easy on me! But I still really like the way it came out. It looks so appropriate for Halloween! I used Sinful Colors 'Irish Green' and and NYC black nail polish. I added two coats of my Out the Door top coat as well.

 I think if I do this again, I would add a dark purple with lines (the underside of the dragon's belly). I think I also need a green that is more yellow!

Haul: Revlon Pacific Coast Collection + Nail Polish

Hello ^_^

After completing the 15 weeks of the a low-buy, I am happy to report that I have actually been sticking to a low-buy. I have not purchased anything after buying the four L'oreal Infallible eyeshadows and a few new RBL polishes. I have been really stressed out these past few days though, so I gave myself a small break and went to Walgreens to do some hauling. I bought a few things from Revlon because there was a BOGO sale going on~ Woot! Sales are awesome :D

1. Revlon Gucci Wetsman Pacific Coast Collection Baby Sticks and Lip Butters
I love, love, love Revlon products, especially Lip Butters. I managed to score all three of the Baby Sticks ('Pink Passion', 'Sunset', and 'Tahitian') and two of the Lip Butters ('Juicy Papaya' and 'Wild Watermelon').

Weekly Haul: Pumpkin and Poppy, Sinful Colors, Real Techniques

Greetings from the Dark Side~

This week I bought a few things, but I tried very hard to stay within my No-Buy makeup budget. Firstly and most importantly, I bought the new Pumpkin & Poppy collection that was released not too long ago. I love P&P so I could not pass that up. I also went to ULTA yesterday and it was pretty exciting. I should mention that I NEVER go to ULTA because it is kind of far from where I live. I have been wanting to go really badly because I have been dying to get the Real Technique brushes (and I did pick some up!). Anyways, here are the things I ended up buying this week.

1. Pumpkin & Poppy Little Black Dress Collection ($48)
This is the most recent P&P collection inspired by Breakfast at Tiffany's. If you buy the entire collection, it will come in a blue box. The collection includes: two cream eyeshadows, one cream blush, one lip butter, one powder eyeshadow, and one black cream eyeliner. I will be doing separate review posts for each product because I am missing the lip butter at the moment. I will say though that the collection is really fantastic and I highly recommend it.

NOTD: Peaches and Cream...and Glitter!

Greetings from the Dark Side!

Here is my current manicure~ I have Sinful Colors 'Orange Cream' and Essie's 'A Cut Above' glitter polish. 'Orange Cream' looks more to me like a peachy color and it reminds me of peaches and cream. The color is so gorgeous for spring, which is just around the corner. And the pink glitter is so glamorous! It is a really pretty combo!

NOTD: Sparkly Angry Birds!

Hello~ Happy Sunday!

I presume you are all having a relaxing and awesome weekend! If you are, that is fantastic! Unfortunately my weekend has been crammed with crazy amounts of work and family events! It has been quite hectic.

Now I'm trying to settle down a bit, and I have some time to just relax. I did my nails yesterday and I wanted to share  them with you for two reason: a new nail polish and some new nail stickers!

Drugstore Haul + First Impressions: Revlon, Wet n Wild, Ardell, SOHO, Sinful Colors

Hey guys! Happy Friday :) Since I was so happy that this week was finally over, I went to a few drugstores and hauled a little. I went to Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS.

Firstly, this line of brushes called SOHO. I have never heard of them, but I picked one of the smudger brushes. I could not get a decent shot on this brush, and my camera has no battery now. But I do want to make a formal review of this.


SOHO Smudger Brush ($7.99)
So this is a very small Taklon Fiber brush. The bristles are really soft! The only complaint I have so far is that the handle is really cheaply made. It's plastic and I hate it!

Sinful Colors 'Cinderella' Nail Polish ($2.99)
I own one of these and I absolutely love it. A fellow blogger was really kind to get it for me since I couldn't find it. But, I saw two of them at Walgreens and I took both of them  >:D
I want one as a backup and the other I will probably give it away with a future giveaway or something. 

Wet n Wild 'Sweet As Candy' Trio
I love these trios! They are fantastic! Pigmented, soft, and blendable!

Wet n Wild Single Eyeshadow 'Glamrock' ($0.99)
This a new shade in the single shadow range. It looked pretty so I decided to try it out :) I probably have something similar to it, but whatever xD

Bad, bad swatch!

When I went to Rite Aid there was a 40% off Revlon products so I took advantage of this sale to get a new foundation. My BB creams are almost gone so I needed something else.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation '150 Buff' (~$8)
I love this foundation! It is a no-fail for me, so I thought it would be nice to have as a backup of sorts.

Revlon ColorStay Whipped Foundation (~$8)
This is the new foundation for the Revlon ColorStay line. I have heard a lot of great things about it, and since I could get a bit cheaper, I thought why not! I used it today, but I am not sure how I feel about it just yet. I'll keep using it and let you all know what I think of it.

Ardell Double Up #201 Lashes ($4.99)
These lashes caught my eye. They have two layers of lashes to create a very dense lash. They looked really awesome and they were $1.00 off!

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain 'Gothic' ($~5)
I have eyed this color for a long time, and since it was 40% off, it was the best time to get it. I really love the color! I hope it doesn't dry out though since it has a marker-like brush.

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain Balm 'Darling' (~$5)
These are the new lip products from Revlon, and they looked really interesting. I purchased this one, which is a purple-toned pink. There are a lot of colors to choose from though.  I haven't tried it yet, so there isn't much else I can say about it just yet.

A little unrelated...but I found these two new products in one of my drawers. I bought them not too long ago. I will also be giving these away in a future giveaway!

I love drugstore makeup ♥ It is so awesome! I think my favorite drugstore brands are Revlon, Wet n Wild, Sinful Colors, and Prestige. What are yours?

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!

March Favorites

Hi everyone! It's time for March favorites! I didn't have a whole lot of favorites this month because I tried out a lot of new makeup. But here are a few things I have used a lot this month!

1. Lime Crime ChinaDoll Palette - This has been such a multi-purpose palette. I have used the colors a lot since I bought the palette and I just have been enjoying using it. So glad I bought it!
2. Maybelline Illegal Length mascara - I purchased this a while ago and I have been using it every single day. I have been really liking it actually, especially for my lower lashes. So far so good :) Can't say it is HG material, but it is better than some of the mascaras I was using prior to buying this one.
3. Lioele Triple the Solution BB Cream - I was unsure if I liked this or the Skin79 Oriental BB Cream better. But after using both during this month, I think I finally decided that I like the Lioele one better. It has better coverage and it doesn't feel as dewy as the Skin79 one. I still like both, but I prefer to wear this one.
4. Sinful Colors Cinderella nail polish - A big thanks to Melissa from My Own Kind of Girly for picking this up for me. I was looking for Zeus, and she was so kind to offer to look for Zeus and Cinderella for me. Ever since I received it, I have been wearing Cinderella non-stop on both my fingernails and toenails. It is such a lovely color! Thanks again Melissa!

5. Neutrogena  Daily Scrub - I just started to use this at the beginning of the month when I had a pretty bad breakout, and this has been such a life saver! I have been using this everyday and it has done wonders for my skin. I haven't broken much at all since I started to use it. If I breakout it is really minor. It claims to help with acne (check!) but it also claims to help with acne scarring, with is my main skin concern at the moment. Fingers crossed!
6. Artistry Illuminating Essence - As I said above in #5, my main skin concern right now is acne scarring. This serum does not claim to help with acne scarring per se, but it is supposed to even out the skin tone and such. I started using this at the same time as #5 and I think it has been working a little. It mostly moisturizes and illuminates my skin, but hopefully little by little, it will help to reduce my terrible scarring. 


7. Victorian Disco Cosmetics eyeshadows - This should not come as a surprise. I have been using VDC eyeshadows a lot ever since I made my first purchase. I simply love everything about them!

Unrelated to makeup....

8. A Song of Ice and Fire - I am almost done reading the series, and I have highly enjoyed it, much more than The Hunger Games I have to say. So excited for Season 2 of the TV series on HBO!

9. Metallica - I am not sure why, but I have been terribly obsessed with Metallica this month. I have loved Metallica for a long time, but it is the only thing I have really listened to this entire month. My favorite songs right now are "Enter Sandman" and "Unforgiven III". ♥

10. Star Wars Shirts - I have totally been obsessed with buying Star Wars shirts this month. If I see one that I don't have I must have it! I bought 4 this month alone! >_<"

What is your top favorite thing of March?

Nail Polish Haul: Revlon, OPI, Julep, and Sinful Colors

Well hello there!
I am often reminded by my friends that I have a problem. I have a major obsession with nail polishes. I have way too many, but I just cannot resist a pretty little bottle of polish. I was doing pretty good in buying less polishes these past couple of months. I haven't purchased an OPI polish since the Pirates of the Caribbean collection back in late spring of last year! It has been a long time. I am a huge OPI fan, but none of the collections they released appealed to me. I have been really into Zoya these past months, so that also accounted for me not buying OPI. But I have been so tempted to buy some OPI polishes! So I gave in and went on a polish buying spree!
Lets go from least expensive to the most expensive~:

1. Sinful Colors Nail Art Polish in 'Time Off' ($1.79)
This is just a simply black nail art polish. I want to try some nail art and this was $1.79 at Rite Aid. Pretty good deal! I only just tried it very quickly and it seems to work well.

2. Revlon Polishes in 'Whimsical', 'Tangerine', and 'Fashionista' ($4.99 each, but BOGO 50% off)
I FINALLY was able to find Whimsical! I was so happy I snatched a second bottle to giveaway to you guys (more info on that later). I don't think I ever mentioned this, but in December I had purchased the DL 'Glitter in the Air' polish. I liked it, but it wasn't worth the $18 so I returned it. I am happy that Revlon made a dupe. I think this Revlon one is actually better than the DL one.

Sinful Colors 'Pink'

Helloo~

Sinful Colors 'Pink' is a new color that just came out recently. It is a matte, neon pink with red and orange undertones. In the bottle it looks like a standard highlighter pink, but once applied the orange tone really pops.

Price and Availability
$1.99 at drugstores. I purchased mine at Rite Aid. This will be in a limited edition display.

Formula
This is a matte, so it is best to apply a top coat for a shiny finish. I personally don't like matte polishes, but if you like them then you can leave it as is.
This was semi-sheer, and I needed 3 coats for full opacity. It wore very well though, and I have no chipping for the week that I wore it.
It was also slightly watery, but not too much.

Swatches

Verdict
The formula isn't the best, but the color is sooo cool. It changes tones depending on lighting, and it goes from a nean pink with orange undertones, to a more neon orange color. See also that by adding a top coat, it looks like a jelly~ Great bright color!

Rating: 7.5/10
Recommend? Maybe, if you like bright colors. If you don't, stay away from this! This is really bright!!

Sinful Colors 'Easy Going'

Yet another congratulations to Maryam Maquillage for winning the Sinful Colors giveaway!
Here is another quick NOTD using Sinful Colors 'Easy Going.' This is another polish from the Adventure Island collection. I was attracted to this color because it is such a pale pink, it is almost white. I don't have a pink this pale, so I was very intrigued.

Price and Availability
$1.99. This is a limited edition color, but I still see this color at Rite Aid, so if you are interested check your local drugstores.

'Easy Going'
Like I said above, this is a super light, white pink. Because it is so white, it makes my hand look a little tanner.

Formula
This has a very pigmented creme formula. One coat is almost enough, but it will be a little streaky so two coats would be best. More than two coats may be pushing it though. After I took these pictures, I added another coat and it looked really gross. 3 coats made it look like I had like 6 layers of polish on and it bubbled a little as well! Not pretty! I don't want my nails to look like they have some sort of disease! But anyhow, with this polish, less is more.

Swatches
*Excuse my very dry cuticles. I have been in dire need of a cuticle cream! If you guys have any recommendations, I would really appreciate it :)

 

 Verdict
I am pretty happy with this polish. It is SUPER hard to find a very pigmented light pink. That is why this is a definite keeper ♥ That being said though, it is not the most flattering color for my skin tone. Personally I think this will be a perfect base for nail art (specially for drawing floral patters!)

Thanks again for reading!

Notice I converted to DisQus? It will be easier to reply to your comments this way :D

Sinful Colors 'Star Fish'

Since I am giving away the Adventure Island collection by Sinful Colors, I wanted to at least swatch a couple of colors from the collection. The first color I have used is 'Star Fish.' This is supposed to be a dupe for OPI's 'Sparrow Me the Drama', which I do not own, so I can't say for sure if it is. But here is what 'Star Fish' looks like.

Star Fish: Is a dusty, dirty medium pink. The theme is similar to that of the OPI collection which was dirty pastel colors. I love the fact that this is not an obnoxious pepto pink. It is very wearable because of its dusty-colored nature.

Formula:
Went opaque in two coats. This polish is very opaque! I am very impressed. Once coat is a little streaky so 2 would be best. I had this one for a couple of days and I really love it!

Do you like the color? Any other colors similar to this? And if you own Sparrow Me the Drama, is it a dupe?

Haul: CVS

Well hello people ^_^
Today I passed by CVS and Walgreens to pick up a couple of things that I have been meaning to get for a while now.


First, this is what I got from CVS:

First, this is one of the Sally Hansen HD nail colors in the color Laser. It is a sparkly blue with purple micro shimmer.

 

Can you see the really pretty purple shimmer? 

The price on these are..I have no idea. It will vary from store to store, but I got lucky. The bottle didn't have a tag, and the cashier rung it up for $0.99! I believe it was around $5-$6. Yay for me!

Next up is Essie's Sexy Divide. This was from an old collection, but they had it at CVS. I have noticed that drugstores carry Essie now, it is a little odd. They even had OPI.  This was $8, as all Essie nail polishes are.

Sexy Divide is a dark purple with very subtle purple and blue shimmer. It was hard to capture the shimmer on my camera, but its there.

Then we have Rimmel's 60 Seconds polish. Not many strores carry this anymore, but this one looked so pretty. I could not resist myself. This in the color 615 "Night Before." It is a dark purple with a gold shimmery duochrome like appearance. I haven't tried these out, by the way. This was $2.99 I believe.

Can you see the gold undertone? It almost looks like the night sky~

The last polish I purchased is Sinful Color's Pearl Harbor. It was $1.99 and an amazing purchase, I think.

You will see why.

Look at the iridescent shimmer! It is gorgeous!

 It has blue, turquoise, and opal pink shimmers. It will look different depending on what color you top it over. Lighter polishes will accentuate the opal glitters, while a darker polish will accentuate the blue glitters.

 I swatched them on an index card, but its hard to see the colors.

 Click on the pictures to view them larger.

 These did not capture the pretty shimmers of the two purple polishes...

And lastly, I finally got my hands on the Milani HD concealer. This is supposed to be a dupe for the YSL touche eclat. I got mine in the shade 01. This was $4.99. 

I will do a review on the concealer and on the nail polishes once I get to use them.

If you guys have been eyeing  anything from here, I hope this helped to give you an idea of what they look like. 

Honestly, the thing I liked the most and surprised me the most was the Sinful Colors polish in Pearl Harbor. It was really cheap but it is really amazing. You guys should check it out. Most drugstores carry the Sinful Colors line. I've seen it at Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid. 

I will do a separate post on what I got at Walgreens, because if I put them together, this post will be too picture heavy. Anyways, thanks for reading. :)

Happy hauling~

~Yami <3