Where the hell have you been?

Great question! For those of you who have been following me or have just started to follow this blog (there are quite a few who have subbed recently on Bloglovin), you may have been wondering if I was ever going to post again. Well, here I am. 

Things were getting hectic last year in December strictly due to the time of year, but then I also broke up with my boyfriend which was pretty gut wrenching, my job was slowly killing me, and then, surprisingly, my company decided to shut down my photo studio... leaving me jobless. It was a rough couple of months and blogging was the last thing on my mind. I simply took a break. I've been unemployed the last two or so months, which seems like a great time to blog, but I had just kind of lost interest. Now, ironically enough, I've just gotten a new job and it made me want to start blogging again! Because blogging when I had nothing to do would have just made way too much sense.

Anyhow, that's where I've been the last few months; just dealing with my own life and that sort of boring nonsense. Since I'm trying to get back into the blogosphere now, I feel like I should inform those of you who may not know, that Sephora is having their annual spring sale! Here are the details (because obviously, if I'm getting back into blogging, I should also be enabling, right?):

The sale started today (4/12) for VIB Rouge members, who receive 15% off any purchase in store and online, and will only be active for Rouge until 4/16/15. On that date, the sale becomes active for VIB members, who will also receive 15% off all purchases in store and online. On 4/17/15, the sale becomes active for all Beauty Insider members (membership is free, just sign up, dammit) and BI members will receive 10% off all purchases in store and online. The sale ends for VIB/VIB Rouge on 4/21/15 and for BI members on 4/20/15. Have I thoroughly confused you with all of these dates? Ok, well, let me list it out for you all nice like.

Our annual event is back in April! For a limited time we're celebrating our clients with a special, limited-time offer. See details and dates below. 
4/12/2015 - 4/21/2015: VIB Rouge 15% off

 4/16/2015 - 4/21/2015: VIB 15%  

4/17/2015 - 4/20/2015: BI 10%

You may think to yourself, "I wonder what Bisous Darling bought at the Sephora sale..." Well, let me tell you what I purchased this morning at the Beauty Before Brunch even for VIB Rouge members.




Shiseido Facial Cottons

These are a bit pricey, but my god, after I started using them, I could never go back to normal cotton rounds. These feel like pillows on your face and I can use ONE to remove an entire face of makeup.




Clinique Lash Power Mascara

I've honestly never used this mascara before, but I saw Sharon Farrell talk about it on her YouTube channel and I was instantly intrigued. I've really been loving mascaras with tiny brushes recently, so I picked this up to try out/add to my massive pile of mascaras that I need to use.




Sephora Honey Eye Mask

Ok, ok, this was an impulse purchase. I had my birthday celebration last night and I may have gotten home fairly close to 4 a.m. and then gotten up at 8:30 a.m. to go to the Sephora event. My eyes hurt, I needed something... so I bought these. They were $5! And they'll be fun.




Sephora Pearl Mask

I've been meaning to pick up a Sephora brand sheet mask to see how they fare against some of the my Korean sheet masks. I liked the sound of "perfecting and brightening", so I picked up this one. I'll definitely do a review on this to let you guys know what I think of it.




Hourglass Modernist Eyeshadow Palette in Infinity

Y'all. That picture above just doesn't do the product justice. I have heard a ton of mixed reviews on these palettes, but Infinity is amazing. It swatches amazingly, it doesn't seem to have a lot of fall out (or maybe it's just how I apply shadow?), and it's 4 matte shades and one beautiful shimmer. There will definitely be an entire post about this bad boy, don't you worry.

I also picked up my free birthday gift with the two NARS lip pencils and one NARS eye pencil. Are you guys picking anything up from the Sephora sale? Or want to get an opinion on something? Feel free to leave a comment below! I've missed my blog and am so happy to be back!!

Sephora Divergent Collector's Kit : Product Review, Impressions, and Swatches

Are you guys ready for the most crazy picture heavy post that I think I may have ever posted? Awesome, let's dive right in. I decided to jump on the Divergent Collector's Kit from Sephora since I'm VIB Rouge and it was originally only open to Rouge members (I think it's open to everyone now). The kit comes with 12 eye shadows, 3 transformer eye shadow shades, 4 lip glosses, 2 blushes, 1 highlighter, 1 bronzer, a dual ended brush, and several "get the look" cards (I forgot to shoot these, sorry). All in all, that's a pretty massive assortment of things and it all came in at a reasonably priced $59.50.

As a disclaimer, I've never read the Divergent series, so aside from what I've seen in the movie trailer, I don't know anything about anything when it comes to this series.

L to R; Natural Virtue, Fear Not, Temptation's Choice, Supreme Ritual

Let's start by talking about the lip glosses. I'm going to break each section down to "facts" and "opinions" sections so it's easier to follow.

Glosses - The Facts

Amount of Product: .13 fl oz.

Shades: 4 - Temptation's Choice, Fear Not, Supreme Ritual, and Natural Virtue

Shades and the product itself: All of the glosses are at least somewhat sheer, but Temptation's Choice and Supreme Ritual are much more sheer than their counter parts. Natural Virtue is almost milky and very nude, but on the lips, it doesn't show up as much, just giving a bit of a lighter tinge. Fear Not is also slightly milky, but much warmer than Natural Virtue and again, doesn't show up much on the lips. Temptation's Choice is the sheerest of all the colors and just leaves a golden sheen on the lips. Supreme Ritual, the darkest of the shades, actually doesn't show up very well on the skin since it's so sheer. 

All of the glosses are incredibly minty, so if that's something that you can't handle, then I would recommend staying away. I don't mean that it's a subtle mint; I mean that it's like a strong toothpaste scent. 

Does the packaging remind you of anything? Like... perhaps an Hourglass liquid lipstick or gloss? It should, because it's essentially the same packaging. I looked into it and Sephora used a a company called HCT and they do packaging for loads of cosmetics companies. I'd have to guess that Hourglass has no sort of restrictions or copyright on their packaging, so it's up for grabs. All of the glosses are doe foot applicators, but not much products comes out on the foot, so you have to put the applicator back in several times.

Wear Time: Nothing impressive, but then again it's a gloss, are you surprised?

Opinions: I think that these are the worst part of this kit. I think I understand that in Divergent, makeup isn't a big thing, so perhaps that was the idea behind three very sheer, very similarly colored glosses? These aren't horribly sticky, but they also just aren't very good. The mint smell is completely overwhelming and doesn't fade all that quickly. 

The Brush

I don't really need to do an entire section for the brush, so I'm just going to write a few sentences. I didn't use the brush and it's because it's synthetic. I think that synthetic is lovely for face products and that they are even useful for very pigmented powder blushes, but that's about it. This set didn't come with any cream or liquid products, so the brush is slightly useless in relation to the palette. Also, the face end seemed nice and soft, but the eye end seemed a bit scratchy.

L to R; Transform, Altruistic Almond, Golden Honesty, Intrepid Moss, Bold Espresso

Eye Shadows - The Facts

Amount of Product: .059 oz./each

Shades: 15 total; 5 in each palette, transformer shade is detachable

Shades and the product itself: I'll talk about each palette on its own and then give a general consensus at the bottom. This palette contains the shades Bold Espresso, Intrepid Moss, Golden Honesty, and Altruistic Almond with the transformer shade of Transform.

**All shadows swatched over NARS Smudgeproof Eye Shadow Primer**

The shadows are surprisingly creamy! This palette is incredibly neutral and Altruistic Almond almost blends into my skin completely (which means I could use it as a base shade and that's about it). Bold Espresso swatched not so well, but it was easier to apply to the eye with a brush. Intrepid Moss and Golden Honesty are the two shimmer/pearl colors and are both very pretty and easy to apply. They're both a bit sheer, with Golden Honesty being the more sheer of the two. Transform... is almost a waste of space to me. No, not almost, it is a waste of space. When you apply it dry, it can't stick to the other shadows and it's still almost as bad if you try to apply it wet. 

L to R; Diverge, Serene Vanilla, Erudite Sapphire, Abegnation Stone, and Dauntless Ink

Shades and the product itself: These shades are also all surprisingly creamy and apply very nicely to the skin. Serene Vanilla is another very light shade, that unfortunately, blends in with my skin fairly well. Not quite as well as Altruistic Almond, but it would definitely be another base shade. Erudite Sapphire was the hardest of all the shades to apply and was a bit sheer, but it was another one of the shimmer/pearl sahdes. Abegnation Stone is a gorgeous shimmery taupe and is almost the bread winner of this set of shadows. Dauntless Ink is your typical matte black; it isn't as pigmented as Lorac's matte black, but it does decently. However, the bread winner in this set is definitely Diverge! Look at that shade, it's gorgeous and it applied like a dream (unlike the other transformer shades). I wouldn't even want to use this over the other shadows, I would just use it on its own.

L to R; Choose, Humble Sheen, Peaceful Shimmer, Radiant Initiation, and Burnt Mahogany

Shades and the product itself: The five shades in this palette are Choose, Burnt Mahogany, Radiant Initiation, Peaceful Shimmer, and Humble Sheen. Again, the shadows are very creamy feeling and apply nicely in the swatches. This is the palette that I've used the most, so I can actually speak the most about it. Choose, again, is a throw away shade, it didn't work over the other shadows when dry or wet; waste of space. Humble Sheen showed up better on my lids, but is still an incredibly light shade and is shimmery. Peaceful Shimmer swatched beautifully, but I couldn't get it to show up on my lids very well. It definitely cannot be applied over Humble Sheen, it just falls off. Radiant Initiation is a fantastic crease color, definitely buildable and transitions nicely. Burnt Mahogany applied better to the eyes than it does in a swatch, but isn't a remarkable color on its own.

Opinions: Overall, the shadows swatched very nicely on my hand, but in practice, it was definitely hit or miss. Unfortunately, a lot of the shimmery shades are somewhat sheer, so they take quite a bit of product to build up. The mattes are all very nice shades, but aside from Radiant Initiation, none of them seem that unique to me (and I'm pretty sure Radiant Initiation could be duped). The only stand out shade when it comes to the shadows is Diverge. Everything else feels like it's almost there, but it failed to cross the threshold into awesome. 

I may feel this way because I own a lot of eye shadow and at this point in my life and collection, I feel that I need to be incredibly picky. If something isn't going to blow my socks off, then I'm just not really impressed at all. However, if you don't have a lot of shadows and are looking for something that would be a great transition into using shadow, then these might be perfect for you. No scary colors, lots of neutrals, and nothing so wildly pigmented that you'll mess up.

L to R; Obscure Coral, Misty Rose, Gleaming Pearl, Intelligent Bronze

Face Palette - The Facts

Amount of Product: .11 oz./each

Shades: 4 - Obscure Coral, Misty Rose, Gleaming Pearl, and Intelligent Bronze

Shades and the product itself: Again, very neutral, very safe shades to use on the face. Obscure Coral is a coral shade (it is not an Orgasm dupe) with gold shimmer, Misty Rose is a matte dusty rose, Gleaming Pearl is pretty much the exact same thing as NARS Albatross, and Intelligent Bronze is a light bronze.

Meh, these are not the most fantastic blushes and I think that Milani's Baked Blushes blow these out of the water. The winner out of this group is definitely Gleaming Pearl which is a definite color dupe for NARS Albatross, but the wear time is definitely not a dupe. I applied three of the four shades late in the afternoon on Sunday and they were off my face (which wasn't even oily) only a few hours later. Misty Rose feels a bit chalky, as does Intelligent Bronze. Also, the bronzer isn't going to show up well on anyone much darker than NC/NW 20 and it is a bit orangey. Obscure Coral isn't a unique shade since everyone and their mother produces a shade that is coral with golden shimmer.

Final Verdict: If you are new to makeup and want to get a lot of product for your buck, then this might be a great way to do it. Like I've mentioned in the post, a lot of the items tend to run a bit sheer or aren't super pigmented. However, if you are an experienced makeup user and have a somewhat larger collection, then there are better options than this. For me, I don't ever see me reaching for these items because none of them are unique and I have better quality shadows in similar colors (see: Naked palettes, Lorac Pro palette). The lip glosses, the blushes, and the brush are all useless to me since the quality just isn't there for those items. Sadly, although not completely unexpected, this item is going back to Sephora. For $60, I want quality and could get a much better palette with that money. 

Collective Haul : Sephora, Ulta, and High End

I got two posts and one video up this week, which didn't meet my goal of three posts and at least one video (unless you count this as a post, but I don't). I filmed a semi-large haul video of products that I've picked up recently that will be showing up on the blog in the next few months.

Two little nuggets of info to pass on to you guys. The first being that I surpassed a goal of mine for the blog, so I'm going to be doing a super sample giveaway very soon. The second is that I am going to be headed to LA in April for a vacation/makeup trip, so there will be a bajillion goodies after that!

Thanks for watching!

Sephora Perfection Mist Airbrush Foundation : Product Review

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that I made a "resolution" of sorts to post on the blog at least three times a week and upload one new video each week. So here is post one for this week, I have three days to post two more times, but I have a ton of material, so don't you worry. One thing that I am absolutely obsessed with when it comes to makeup is trying out foundation. I don't know when this happened because I used to be a "buy one foundation, use it up, buy another" kind of girl. But now, right now I have at least 10 foundations that are in my makeup rotation, all serving a different purpose. Will I ever find my holy grail foundation? Maybe, but if not, I won't sweat it because I love trying them out.

Todays foundation review is for the Sephora brand Perfection Mist Airbrush Foundation. I have long thought about purchasing the Dior Airflash, but at $62 for 2.3/oz, it scared me a bit (seriously, that's an entire season's worth of indoor soccer). Sephora's version is $26 and rings in at 2.5/oz which lets me try out this idea of airbrush foundation without the shocking price tag.

The Facts

Price: $26

Amount of Product: 2.5 fl oz.

Number of Shades: 5 - Which is an extremely limited shade range... I'm lucky that one of these matches my skin

Claim: "Seamlessly blur imperfections and control shine for up to 10 hours with this satin-finish foundation. The weightless, micro fine pigments of InstaBlend technology ensure color lays down seamlessly smooth so you can build to your desired coverage level—from light to full—for a flawless look every time. Mineral-rich red algae extract protects the skin from environmental stresses and helps smooth the skin for a soft-focus, airbrushed finish that lasts." 

Shade that I used: Fair (if you're used to Sephora's shade finding system, this falls under 4Y01)

Shades and the foundation itself: Like I mentioned above, there are only 5 shades in this line, which is maybe the most ridiculously limited shade range for a true foundation. I lucked out that the Fair shade is a yellow toned foundation since I have warm undertones. The next step up, Light, is straight up pink on my skin and it was almost comical when I tried to test it at the store. Medium is a yellow/warm toned product, while Tan and Dark are both pink/cool toned. The foundation itself is kind of a unique texture since it's getting blown out of a can with a propellant (aka this is an aerosol). Oddly enough, when I spray this on the back of my hand, it kind of bubbles. I think that has to do with the aerosol and pressure, but I could be wrong.

Coverage: The coverage on this foundation is completely buildable and could really be applied anywhere from light to full. When I've used multiple layers to achieve more opacity, it didn't get cakey or gross, which is awesome. However, if you use this as directed, it should turn out to be a medium coverage foundation. If you look in the pictures below, you can see that some of the blemishes on my cheeks are still partially visible. It truly does have a satin finish, which in my opinion, is one of the best finishes a foundation can have.

Application: The directions on the bottle state that you should shake for 5 seconds, hold the can 10" from your face and start to spray in circular directions. It also states to covers your hair and clothes and to close your eyes (and not to spray for longer than 10 seconds straight). The bottle also informs you that if this application method isn't your cup of tea, you can spray this directly on a brush and apply it that way. I, however, nixed both of those and apply it to the back of my hand and then buff it in with a brush. Does that negate the whole "airbrush" idea? You betcha, but the foundation still applies beautifully using this method, so I go with it.

Wear Time: Looking really good? I would say that the wear time is definitely around 10 hours or so. I've tested this with Laura Mercier Protect Primer underneath and it didn't wear as well. With moisturizer and without that primer, it wears much better on my skin. If I don't end up rubbing my face all over my dog, this method lasts a good 12 hours.

Does it deliver on its claim? For the first time in a long time, I am going to say that yes, it delivers on its claims. Can I speak that it helps protect my skin from environmental stresses...? Don't look at me, I have no clue and there is legitimately no way for me to test that. But the other claims? Yes, it definitely delivers on those. This is the happiest I've been with a foundation in a long time.

So, what's wrong with this foundation, because I'm pumping this up like it's too good to be true, right? Well, there are some downfalls here. The first and most obvious being that this is airbrush foundation, so it feels like I am going to blow through this fairly quickly. At this point, I've only been using it for about a week, but the can just feels so lightweight. Since it comes in a can, I can't tell how much I have left and I think that I will only know when it's out when the aerosol stops working. Will that be in two weeks or in two months? Only time will tell.

This isn't so much a con as it is a word of warning. The can says to shake for 5 seconds before use and they are very, very serious about this. If you don't shake it (I actually shake it for about 10 seconds just to be sure), it comes out in a weird separated mixture and it's really gross feeling.

And the last "con", that I have to mention is, again, not so much a con but my own stupidity working in your favor. As I said up above, I spray this to the back of my hand and then apply to my face. Well, the first time that I used this, I held the can about an inch from my skin and ended up burning the skin on my hand (there's a photo here if you're interested). Keep in mind that this is an aerosol and products that use propellant to come out of a can are very very cold. So yes, I essentially gave my self an unintentional ice burn. When they say hold the can 10" from your face, they are serious. When I spray it on my hand, I only hold it about 5-6" which doesn't burn me, but I would be extra cautious with your face.

Final Verdict: I will definitely use up this can and then buy another. I don't know if I will use it every single day or if I'll start using it more sparingly, but I am really into this foundation. Maybe we're just in the honeymoon phase or maybe this is the real deal. Whatever it is, if you can find a color match, I highly recommend picking this up!

(all photos copyright Allison Richardson Photography and not available for use without permission)

Best Bite : Product Review

I kind of waffled on writing this review, because surprise surprise, this was a limited edition item that I happened to pick up late in the game. It is not available online at this time, but the last time I was in my Sephora, there were a ton of these sets, so if you're interested, I would call and see if they have some (they are a Sephora exclusive).

With that little disclaimer mentioned, I also want to mention that I felt compelled to write this review because I like these pencils so much that I felt like it was good to review them. Also, even though this set is limited edition, Bite Beauty does sell these pencils individually (the set is $25) except for Cranberry, which is exclusive to this kit.

So what comes in this kit? It comes with 4 "matte" (more on this later) lip pencils which are housed in a cute little tin that has a mirror inside. I believe that these pencils are a bit smaller than the regular pencils since the suggested value on this kit is only a smidge more than two regular pencils. 

There is a fairly nice shade range in this kit with a nude shade, a dusty rose, and two brighter, more vibrant colors. If you've ever wondered if you could pull colors like these off, this would definitely be a good intro kit.

The reason I wrote the word matte in quotations up above is because these are marketed as matte, but they aren't true mattes; they do have a bit of a sheen to them and I would describe them more like creams. The colors are extremely pigmented and it only takes on swipe to get the color to show up beautifully on the lips. I've read that some people find these to be drying, but I don't really find that to be the case, at all. I think that these apply incredibly smoothly and stay nice and creamy for hours. Yes, after about 6 hours or so, my lips might be a bit dry, but my lips would be dry after 6 hours anyway if I hadn't applied a balm. 

I like Bite Beauty because of several reasons. First and foremost, every product of theirs that I have tried has been insanely pigmented and shows up the same color as it looks in the tube. They also say that each lipstick has as much reservatrol as 5 glasses of red wine, but that doesn't do much for me. However, they also create their lip sticks using food grade ingredients as mentioned by Sephora here "This product is free of synthetics, polybutenes, and petroleum byproducts and made exclusively with lip nurturing food-grade ingredients that are healthy enough to eat.". 

From left to right: Cranberry, Quince, Rhubarb, and Madeira.

(Ignore that smudge on the left side, this was the last one I applied and I smudge Quince!) Cranberry is a very lovely rich red shade that pulls a little bit cool, but isn't overly pink toned. I have warm undertones, so if a red has a lot of blue in it, it just looks fuchsia on me. Luckily, Cranberry is only a bit blue toned and stays fairly true to red on my skin.

(these next few pictures are out of focus because I'm incompetent...)

Quince is definitely a bold color, but it's very very pretty. Sephora's website describes this as a "rose berry", but I find it to be much bolder than that description. In the photos, it tends to look similar to Cranberry, but Quince is definitely much more pink in real life. I think I would describe this more a darkened magenta but don't let "darkened" fool you, it's a very standout color.

Rhubarb is your standard dusty rose color that for some people will be a MLBB shade. It's a touch too dark for MLBB for me, but it's still a beautiful neutral shade that could be worn with a myriad of looks and is also work appropriate.

Nude shades mostly make me look like a living corpse, but this is one that I feel like I can kind of pull off. It's a little bit more pink than most "nudes" which I guess makes sense since Sephora describes this one as "nude pink". I still practice caution with this since I'm mildly terrified of anything even close to this color, but maybe I'll have to venture into the world of lip gloss and the Kardashians and bust this one out from time to time.

I only have two complaints about these lip pencils and for some, these might be deal breakers. One being that since these shades are so creamy (except for Madeira, which is the most true matte shade in here), that they tend to transfer very easily. This could be remedied by applying, blotting, and then reapplying, but I am lazy, so I tend not to do that. The other complaint is that Cranberry and Quince appeared to feather around the lip line. I have scars and some fine lines around my lips and those two shades definitely try to creep into them. The solution to that is lipliner, which is easy, but I wanted to inform you lovely readers that they can feather!

My verdict on these? Pick these up if you can find them. Yes, the feathering can be a touch annoying, but it's nothing compared to the pigmentation and feeling of these lip products!

Tokidoki Cromatico Eye Shadow Set : Product Review

Before I start this review, I want to let you know, first and foremost, that this item is on sale at Sephora.com because it's going to be discontinued. It's $29 for all 6 shadows, so if you read this and think that you might want it, just buy it. You can always return it later, but buy it now. Ok, now that this information is out of the way, I can proceed. I saw that this set was on sale at Sephora and I own several Tokidoki palettes, so I decided to pick this set up. It does not disappoint, continue reading to find out why.

3 tips for Emerald Eyes : How-to

 

Chances are, you've heard that emerald green in Pantone's color of the year. However, I doubt that everyone who reads this blog knows that starting last year, Sephora releases a line of cosmetics that follows Pantone's color trends. Last year it was Tangerine Tango and this year it's Emerald Green. While tangerine was a fairly easy color to work into all facets of your makeup, green is much harder. You can obviously wear your makeup however you please, but it's not an every day occurrence to see someone with green lipstick or blush. Keep reading to see three ways to work this emerald liner into an everyday look.

Cara Delevingne Look : Tutorial

 

I feel like this has been a long time coming since I posted the reference picture on Facebook earlier this week. I had found a picture of Cara Delevingne back stage at a fashion show and I loved the makeup that they had done for her. I decided to recreate it with a slightly more wearable twist, so keep reading to find out how to do it!

Face of the Day : January 25

 

I've shown you all what I do for my everyday makeup, but what about the days that I break from the norm? Well, for those days, I have a post titled "Face of the Day" (FOTD) where I show you what the look is and what products I used to create the look.

For today, I decided to stay pretty natural, but change it from my regular "natural" look. I played around with my blush, added a lip color, and changed the eyes. Keep reading for swatches and the products used for this look.

Red Lips : Tutorial

The red lip. It's a classic look that is can be used for practically any occasion. For this tutorial, I'll show you two different methods to achieve a red lip. The first look is for a more traditional red lip while the second tutorial (which only requires three steps) is for a more modern red lip. Keep reading for more on how to achieve these two looks.