Friday, September 19, 2014

FOTD Weekly Roundup!

Honestly you guys, I was really hoping to wrap up my indies since I only have two more brands that I am wanting to blog about, but it has been overcast every single day this week. The forecast calls for rain tomorrow as well and then it might be sunny on Sunday, but I have plans that day (obviously, the one suitable day). I will be getting to those two final write ups, but it's just going to take a while or a sunny day to be able to do them! T

Now that that's out of the way, let's proceed to the FOTDs from this week!

September 15th




Face
  • Chanel Vitalumière Aqua in B10
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Light
  • Laura Mercier Baked Matte Powder in Highlight
  • Pumpkin & Poppy Oak Bark
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • Lorac BTS Primer
  • Lorac Pro Palette 2 - Buff, Lt. Brown, Cool Gray, Nectar, Snow, Beige
  • Physician's Formula Eye Booster Pen Liner
  • L'oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Anastasia Dip Brow in Taupe
  • Elf Clear Brow Gel
Lips
  • Model Co. Party Proof Lipstick in Dusk till Dawn

September 16th




Face
  • Chanel Vitalumière Aqua in B10
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Light
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused
  • Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow
  • Pumpkin & Poppy Oak Bark
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • Lorac BTS Primer
  • Lorac Pro Palette 2 - Buff and Lt. Brown
  • MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
  • L'oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Brown
  • Lit Cosmetics Glitter in Barbie Shops  and Seeing Stars (mixed together)
Lips
  • Revlon Balm Stain in Devotion w/ Nivea Lip Butter over the top

September 17th (aka the day I went overboard on Dip Brow)





Face
  • Chanel Vitalumière Aqua in B10
  • NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused
  • Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow
  • Pumpkin & Poppy Oak Bark
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • Lorac BTS Primer
  • Maybelline The Nudes Palette
  • L'oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Anastasia Dip Brow in Ebony
  • Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Brown
Lips
  • Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker in Nudist

September 18th



Face
  • Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10
  • NARS Radiant Creamy Conealer in Chantilly
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused
  • Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow
  • Pumpkin & Poppy Oak Bark
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
  • Shiro Chimera, Day of Reckoning, Rebellion, and The Fourth Be With You
  • Lorac Pro to Go Palette - Pearl for highlight, Café for blending
  • L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Physician's Formula Eye Booster Liquid Liner
  • Anstasia Dip Brow in Ebony
  • Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Brown
Lips
  • L'Oreal Le Matte in Matte-r of Fact


September 19th




Face
  • Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10
  • NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly
  • Illamasqua Hollow
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused
  • Pumpkin and Poppy Oak Bark Contouring Powder
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
  • Lorac Pro to Go Palette - Shell all over the lid as a base color, Cafe in the crease, Chai on the lid, Mink & Black on the outer corner/crease, Pearl on the brow bone and inner corner
  • Lit Cosmetics glitter in Rich & Famous
  • L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Anastasia Dip Brow in Taupe and Ebony
  • Maybelline Brow Drama gel in Dark Brown
Lips
  • Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 07

Friday, September 12, 2014

What I've Been Wearing on my Face Recently

Remember back in the day when I used to post a "face of the day (FOTD)" every Friday? Well, I've been doing some looks recently that I've shot and I thought, "HEY. I should put this stuff up on the blog". Rather than do it when I had actually done these looks, because let's face, that makes way too much sense, I decided to do it in one massive post. Get ready for a lot of the right side of my face.

September 4th, 2014




Face
  • Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet in B10
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Light (I'm almost done with this, can't wait to finish something)
  • NARS Loose Light Reflecting Powder
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Incandescent and Dim (for light light light contour)
  • NARS Blush in Final Cut
Eyes
  • Stila Stay All Day Brown Pen in Medium
  • ELF Clear Brow Gel
  • NARS Smudgeproof Primer
  • Milani Bella Eyes shadows in Bella Copper, Bella Rouge, and Bella Chiffon
  • Illamasqua Heroine
  • L'Oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Noir Longwear Eyeliner
Lips
  • Bite Beauty Matte Lip Crayon in Aubergine - which is darker IRL, I don't know it looks so vibrant in the photos
September 5th, 2014



Face
  • Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet in B10
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Light 
  • NARS Loose Light Reflecting Powder
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Incandescent, Radiant, and Dim (for light light light contour)
  • Milani Luminoso Baked Blush
Eyes
  • Stila Stay All Day Brown Pen in Medium
  • ELF Clear Brow Gel
  • Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
  • Lorac Pro Palette 2 - Buff, Nectar, Lt. Brown, Cool Gray, Rosé, and Snow
  • L'Oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
  • Physician's Formula Eye Booster Liquid Liner Pen
Lips
  • Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick in Centifolia (this was LE, sorry!)

September 11th, 2014



Face
  • Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet in B10 - trying to use this as much as possible, because it's gonna be a smidge too dark come winter
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circe Eraser in Light
  • NARS Pressed Light Reflecting Powder
  • Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • NARS Smudgeproof Shadow Base
  • Wet N Wild Shadow in Brulée
  • MAC eye shadow in Tempting
  • Physicians Formula Eye Booster Liquid Liner Pen
  • Lit Glitter in Rich & Famous
  • Stila Stay All Day Brown Pen in Medium
  • L'Oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
Lips
  • NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugen
  • L'Oréal Collection Privée in Julianne's Nude

September 12th, 2014




Face
  • Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet in B10 
  • Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circe Eraser in Light
  • NARS Pressed Light Reflecting Powder
  • Pumpkin & Poppy Oak Bark Contouring Powder
  • Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder in Highlight 01
  • Illamasqua Blush in Lover
Eyes
  • NARS Smudgeproof Shadow Base
  • Lorac Pro Palette 2 - Buff (I use this as a base shade to make blending easier), Nectar, Lt. Brown, Plum, Chrome, and Snow
  • ELF Clear Brow Gel
  • Stila Stay All Day Brown Pen in Medium
  • L'Oréal Voluminous Butterfly Effect Mascara
Lips
  • Lorac Alter Ego Lipstick in Goddess

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know down below!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

My Pretty Zombie : Swatches and Review



You guys, as soon as I wrote that the sun wasn't out, it came out and stayed out for an entire day! Of course, it's gone back into hiding today, but I got some swatch pictures done, finally. On the blog today I am going to be talking to you about My Pretty Zombie! My Pretty Zombie was started by the owner, Andrea, in 2008 as an Etsy shop where she sold her handpainted zombie Barbies. In 2010, she started selling cosmetics and in 2013, started her own website (which is linked above). I heard about her earlier this year when I started to explore indie cosmetics, but I didn't place an order until June.

I wish I had remembered to write down how fast the TAT was, but I didn't do that, but it definitely arrived within the stated TAT if not before. I only ordered samples, so I didn't get the typical wrapping that Andrea sends the orders in... which includes a plastic severed finger. I don't know about you guys, but I love horror and gore, so this is right up my alley. I actually received my order in a card and Andrea refunded me for the difference in shipping, which is insanely cool and nice of her.

Now that you have a little info on the company and shipping, let's dive into the swatches!

I ordered two sets of eyeshadow 3 sample packs. All swatches are done over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. The colors that I got were:


This applies very well and is opaque very quickly. It's described on the My Pretty Zombie site as "peachy pink with a golden green shift" and I would agree with that, but sadly the green shift didn't show up in my photos! In real life, there is definitely a green shift to this, but it is subtle and very pretty.


Oh dear god, the beauty that is Dissolution... I'm always drawn to blue shadows even though I think that they look absolutely horrible on me. Dissolution is described on the site as purple over a blue base (it's part of the Blue Period Collection, which you can find by going to "Sets and Samples") and that description is spot on. The base of the blue is super pigmented and actually stained under my fingernail when I did the swatch, but it doesn't stain my skin.


Maybe when I review indie shadows, the reviews are a bit boring because I generally only have awesome things to say about the colors and application, but Violet Bites falls into the awesome category. A dream to apply and not patchy at all; described on the site as a red based purple with a golden sheen... spot on.


TaraYvonne is another shadow that is insanely hard to photograph. It's a navy base with red glitter in it and it's just really hard to get the red glitter to show up. This applied very easily, but I will say that the glitter in it does make it a little bit... gritty feeling. It's really on;y noticeable if you stick your finger in the shadow and feel it that way and the feeling doesn't really translate to the eyes.


Rash.. oh Rash. My favorite colors to wear on my eyes are red based purples, reds, and burgundies and Rash falls right into that category. Andrea describes it as a "light pinkish burgundy with lots of shimmer" and again, her description is spot on. It is extremely shimmery and is so beautiful as an all over the lid color. This shade probably applied the best out of all the shadows and was insanely opaque and pigmented.


Again, the intense love affair with a color that I won't wear too often. Infirmity is easily the prettiest shade out of all the ones that I received; a teal blue base with an insane golden green shift/glitter to it. However, this is a shadow that has to be worked with and is not a "I only have 15 minutes to do my makeup" kind of shade. Blues can be notoriously finicky to work with and this is definitely a shadow that you have to press on slowly and carefully. However, look at it, it's worth it. Hell, this is probably one of the most gorgeous shades of eye shadow that I own. Absolutely stunning and worth the work to make it look its best.


And a GIF!



I also ordered her Drugs Like Me blush sample collection which includes 5 blushes (and I think that I got an extra one in my order, squeeeee), but I subbed out THC for Morphine. These were swatched heavily over bare skin.

And I can honestly write the same review for every single one of these blushes and I'm going to, rather than make you read the same review six times in a row. All of the blushes have amazing pigment to them, some more than others (which I'll notate below), but all great pigmentation. They all applied like a fucking dream on the skin and blend very nicely. Amazing quality on every single one of these.


The natural light photo makes this look about ten times more pink that it actually does, but that's the glory of lighting, right? PCP is peachy orange blush with golden glitter. I actually prefer orange-y blushes, so this is perfect for me.


MDMA is your quintessential peachy pink blush with golden glitter in it. Like an indie version of NARS Orgasm, but more pink and less peach.


Alright, so... I am fairly well versed in drug names because I really like watching drug documentaries. I have heard the term "benzo" about a million times, but never really gave any thought as to what they actually are, so I had to look it up. I'm now educated. Anyhow, Benzodiazephine looks really red in the package, but since my skin is fairly yellow, it shows up more orangey red on me. It has only the slightest shimmer to it and unless you were in the sun, it would likely look matte.


Morphine is actually the entire reason that I placed this order. I saw someone post about this color and I knew that I had to have it. Morphine is not a blush color for the faint of heart (haha, I wrote this and then looked up the description on her site and Andrea wrote the same thing; it's fate!); it's a grey base with what looks like lavender glitter in it. So gorgeous and so amazing. I actually kept this one a little bit more sheer, but with a heavier hand, you can make this really dark.


6 mam is a plummy base with some subtle lavender shimmer to it, but basically, a perfect color for autumn! 6 mam actually applied a bit more sheer than the other colors, but it still equally gorgeous.


And the other crown jewel from this blush sampler (and yes, I love this almost as much as Morphine). LSD is definitely the sheerest of all the blushes, but if you wanted, could still be built up to be fairly opaque. The base is a lovely grayish plum and it has an amazing reddish gold shift to it. I'm not sure if this can be used on the eyes, but it would also make a stunning eye shadow color.

And lets GIF up the blushes as well!


And there you have it! I am seriously impressed with the beauty of the colors and the ease of application with all of the products from My Pretty Zombie. Now, if you are interested in Andrea's products, please click the link the I have just above (it's not an affiliate link) or type the full name into your Google search. There is another company, that is not at all related to My Pretty Zombie called Pretty Zombie and they make lipsticks. These two companies are not at all affiliated, so please keep that in mind if you're looking Andrea's My Pretty Zombie cosmetics!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Dolly's Polish : Swatches


Long time, no talk, right? Well, my plan to finish up my indies "month", cough... three months, cough, isn't going so well since the sun will. not. shine. Every time I'm at work, the sun is out and plentiful and by the time I get home, it's hiding behind a massive layer of clouds. Fingers crossed the sun will come out in the next few days so that I can tell you about a few more brands and get the swatches up! Regardless, I did get some more indies...

If you follow me on Instagram (if you don't, click on the instagram button to your right), then you have seen the picture above. After responding to a Reddit post, I received a lovely little package from Ajevie containing several polishes for me to try out from Dolly's Polish. It looks like the site is up, but doesn't have these polishes available quite yet! They are all mini sized, which explains why they're so adorable, but is also perfect for someone like me who will never make it through an entire bottle of polish. I received four shades; Sugar Skull, Autumn 2014, Lake Monster Scales, and Gilded Plums. 

This isn't truly a review since I'm not too adept at writing nail polish reviews; I use my hands every day at work and my fingers get smashed by heavy objects on a weekly basis... therefore nothing can stay on my fingernails for too long. I will say this though, all of the polishes dried insanely quickly which is something that I appreciate immensely. All of the swatches were done without a base or top coat, so all you're seeing is polish. 



And of course, this wouldn't be a post about indies without a mention of the cute packaging in which Ajevie sent my things. She included a cute note on the back of the halloween card and a business card (not pictured)! Also, before we dive into "swatches", please excuse my horrible cuticles and subpar painting job. I am not a master at nail polish, simply someone who likes it and paints their nails from time to time.

2 coats - daylight

3 coats - daylight

I found this shade to be much more sheer than the rest, perhaps it is more of a jelly?

3 coats - Studio lighting

This was opaque after two coats, but I wanted more glitter chunks, so I added a third :D

3 coats - Studio Lighting

A true glitter topper!

All in all, I'm pretty surprised and happy with the quality of these polishes! I've never had an indie polish before, so I wasn't completely sure how they would be. Hopefully she'll have her new colors added to the site soon so that you can order if interested!

Questions, comments? Let me know down below!