Sleek Pomegranate Blush

I recently had the opportunity to do a swap with BeautybyJJ in the U.K.  The last swap that we did, I had received some Sleek products and was really impressed.  So I requested some more.  Among the items she sent me was Sleek's Pomegranate blush.  It is a lovely raspberry color with a shimmer finish.  And by shimmer, I don't mean glittery.  It just gives off a nice sheen to where a separate highlighter is not needed.  The staying power is normal, lasting about 6 hours on my oily skin before starting to fade.  And it is highly pigmented so a lite hand is recommended.  As you know Sleek is very inexpensive with this blush costing $6.99.  I highly recommend their products!

Swap Haul #2 With BeautyByJJ

Products I Regret Purchasing

Manicure Mondays-Rimmel Midnight Blue

I featured this color in my top 10 colors for Fall video and I stand behind that assertion.  Rimmel's Midnight Blue is a beautiful inky navy blue with very subtle shimmer.  I've heard that it is an exact dupe for Essie Midnight Cami.  And let me just tell, the formula was awesome!  It was so smooth and pigmented that I almost only needed one coat.  It lasted for 7 days with CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  If you're looking for a navy blue polish, try this one!

CVS Beauty Clearance Happening Now!

Just wanted to let you guys know that CVS is having their beauty clearance right now.  There are lots of items marked 50% and 75% off!  Hurry while there is still some good stuff left.  Here is a picture of my haul:

I got 3 Rimmel mascaras, a Rimmel Moisture Renew lipgloss, 2 Revlon lipsticks, Ardell Brow Perfection Stencils, and an Ardell Brow Precision Shaper for under $15!  Run, don't walk, to your nearest CVS.

Manicure Mondays-Revlon Vixen

Revlon's Vixen is meant to be a dupe for Chanel's Vamp/Rouge Noir (you'll have to google the history behind that color).  It is meant to look like dried blood, a nice dark blackened vampy red.  It is actually more of a dark bordeaux than a red.  If you read my Ins & Outs post, you'll see that I've really been into bordeaux colors lately and Vixen is no exception.  The formula is a tad bit watery, though I only needed two coats for opacity.  I used my CND Stickey base coat and my Diamond Dry top coat.  It wore well, lasting 5 days before chipping.

Manicure Mondays-Revlon Starry Pink

I'm not really into glitter polish, but for some reason I was drawn to this color.  I liked the milkiness of the color.  Starry Pink has a milky pink base with large silver hexagonal and small glitter.  I needed three coats to achieve opacity.  It actually would have lasted longer on the nails but I took it off after three days.  I just wasn't feeling it.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat with Seche Vite to smooth out the glitter.  It was a b*tch to get off though.  How do you feel about glitter polish?

Beauty UK Earth Child Eyeshadow Palette #4

First, let me apologize for the small blogging break that I took, I had to take care of myself.  But I am back and feeling better!  Beauty UK is an affordable UK brand that I'd heard tons about on other blogs.  It is sold in their drug store for 3.99GBP.  I received this in my swap with BeautybyJJ.  And let me tell you, it's good!

Top row of colors

Bottom row of colors

It is a 10 color palette full of earth tones.  The colors have no names from what I can see.  The eyeshadows themselves are very soft and pigmented.  And they blend wonderfully.  It is a nice mix of mattes and shimmers.  My favorite combo to wear from this palette is the shimmery brown on the lid with the matte brown in the crease.

I love the size of the palette also.  It's great for traveling.  When the husband and I took a long weekend trip over Labor Day weekend, this was the only eyeshadow that I brought.  It allows for neutral looks as well as a smoky eye as it has blacks and greys too.

If you are in the UK, I highly recommend picking up this palette.  Beauty UK also ships to the US, if any of my US beauties are interested.

Manicure Mondays-Revlon Smoky Canvas

Released with their Fall 2011collection, Revlon's Smoky Canvas is a warm taupe grey.  This is a cream finish.  The formula was superb, this one could have been a one-coater but I opted for two.  This wore chip free for 6 days with my CND Stickey base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  I believe this is a limited edition color, so if you like this, pick it up quickly!

Fall Inspired Eye Tutorial

Products Used:

Wet N Wild Envy
MAC Amber Lights
MAC Glamour Check
MAC Goldmine
Wet N Wild Brulee'
L'Oreal Lineur Intense Carbon Black liquid eyeliner
Covergirl Volume Exact Mascara
MAC Sweet As Cocoa blush
MAC Lovin It lipstick

Nuance By Salma Hayek Eyeshadow Quad Is Very Interesting...

At CVS last week, I came across the new line produced by the beautiful actress Salma Hayek.  It's called Nuance and it is a line of cosmetics and skin care products.  The eyeshadow quad caught my attention for the obvious reason (I'm a sucker for packaging).  This is called the Beautiful Blends Neutral Eye Quad.

The packaging is like an egg shaped pod with the colors folding down like flower petals.  In the center is a sponge tip applicator.

The four colors are: Shimmering Bronze (a red-toned bronze), Champagne Gold (no color description needed), Frosted Blush (a pink-toned champagne), and Toasted Almond (a matte mid-tone brown).

Shimmering Bronze

Champagne Gold

Frosted Blush

Toasted Almond

The pigment is very tightly pressed, so the shadows are not soft.  The pigmentation is nice, though not as pigmented as the Wet N Wild shadows.  Over a primer, they held up very well throughout the day, not creasing at all.  I also found that they were easy to blend.

Toasted Almond, Frosted Blush, Champagne Gold, Shimmering Bronze

As far as the color selection, I wouldn't have necessarily chosen these four colors to go together.  But on their own, they are nice colors.  I also wish they would have included a darker matte brown instead of the Toasted Almond, which barely shows up on me.  But hey, it's not my makeup line, so I can't be choosy!

The price was $8.99 which is kind of high for a drugstore quad but like I said, I'm a sucker for packaging.  Nuance is sold exclusively at CVS.  Check it out the next time you're there!

Sleek Makeup Blush In Sahara

Some months back, I did a swap with one of my favorite UK beauty gurus on YouTube, Jennie of BeautybyJJ.  As part of the swap, Jennie sent me this blush from Sleek Makeup in Sahara.  Sleek Makeup is a drugstore brand in the UK.  It produces high quality products.  Sahara is a beautiful burnt orange.   It is similar to NARS Taj Mahal but lacks the beautiful gold pearl that makes Taj Mahal so special.  The pigmentation is nice, though it is not crazy pigmented.  You can really build up the color depending on how deep you want to wear it.  This was one of two blushes that I took on the cruise and it looks phenomenal on tan skin.

The best part of this blush is that it is only $6.50 for 8 grams of product!  Us Americans can purchase products from Sleek from their website www.sleekmakeup.com but be prepared to pay at least $10+ in shipping costs.  Jennie and I have another swap planned soon, so I will definitely be asking for more Sleek products.

Wet N Wild-Walking On Eggshells Eyeshadow Trio

I have another product from Wet N Wild to rave about.  I've actually had this trio for a while now and I completely forgot about until recently.  The trio consists of a champagne shade, a bronzy brown shade, and a cream shade.  All are frost finishes.  As an added bonus, they even label the shades to show you where you should apply them.  However, you can place them wherever you want.  I personally like the "crease" shade as an all over eyelid shade as well.

 

Eyelid, Crease, Browbone

They apply so smoothly and last all day, however, I always use a base under my shadows.  I cannot comment on how they wear without a base.   These shades are very pigmented!  They blend very nicely as well and I did not experience any fall out.  Overall all, if you are looking for a nice neutral trio, look no further.  For $2.99, it's definitely worth picking up!

My Makeup Brush Collection Overview

Another requested video from a friend.  This is for you R.B.  Hope this helps!

MAC Up The Amp Vs. Revlon Berry Haute

I've read that MAC's Up The Amp and Revlon's Berry Haute are dupes.  I have both, so I decided to do a comparison.  Both are very similar in texture and pigmentation.  They both are cream finishes with Up The Amp being an amplified cream finish.  They both feel very moisturizing on the lips and only require one pass on the lips to get a good color payoff.

MAC Up The Amp (top), Revlon Berry Haute (bottom)

Now onto the the color comparison.  Berry Haute has a touch more pink in it than Up The Amp, which has more purple in it than pink.  Up The Amp is also a hair darker than Berry Haute.  Bottom line is that they're are not exact dupes but they are pretty darn close.  Close enough so that you don't need to own both, especially since Revlon only costs $6 compared to MAC costing $14.50.

Wet N Wild Vanity Palette-Drugstore Gem

I'm sure by now, all of you have heard the buzz surrounding the Wet N Wild Color Icon palettes.  Well here is my two cents about it.  It is a great drugstore find!  This little baby set me back a mere $3.99 as I had a coupon for $1 off Wet N Wild products.

It is a great neutral palette chocked full of wearable colors.  The colors are very pigmented, soft,and blend beautifully.  Of the 6 colors included, 3 are matte and 3 are frost finishes.  I've heard that there are some MAC dupes in this palette.  The matte dark brown is supposed to be a dupe for Embark and the matte cream shade a dupe for Brule.  I don't own those shades to compare, so I will just have to take the blogosphere's word for it.

Left side colors

Right side colors

As far as their staying power, they did not fade at all during the day, but please note that I prime my lids with every eyeshadow that I use, regardless of the brand.  Overall this is a great buy that will only set you back a few bucks! 

Manicure Mondays-Sally Hansen Wet Cement

I am just returning from a short vacation, so I apologize for this post being late.  This week I have for you Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement.  I really liked the color and the formula wasn't half bad.  I only needed 2 coats for opacity.  I used CND Stickey Base coat and Diamond Dry top coat.  Unfortunately, this did not have extreme wear for me, lasting only 3 days before chipping.  But is was on $1.99 at the drugstore, so I am not really that upset.

Manicure Mondays-Sally Hansen Kook A Mango

I was so impressed with the formula of the last Sally Hansen polish that I used, that I purchased another color.  This one, not so much impressed.  It needed three coats for opacity.  For such of pigmented color, I was disappointed with that.  But never the less, it is a nice color.  Kook a Mango is a orange leaning coral that can sometimes look red in low lights.  It is bright!  I used CND Stickey base coat and Seche Vite top coat.  This polish is touted as a 5 in 1 where you don't have to use a base or a top coat.  I used a base coat to avoid staining and I used a top coat because it took forever to dry last time.  There was no nail staining, however, it did stain my cuticles.  NO BUENO!  It wore for 6 days chip free, although it says it can go 10 days chip free.  Not bad, nonetheless.

My Coral Lip Products

Manicure Mondays-Sally Hansen Thinking Of Blue

I have skillfully avoided purchasing any colors from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure line because frankly, they cost just as much as salon brands like OPI and Essie.  But, while waiting on a prescription to get filled at CVS, I noticed they were on sale for $5.99, so I picked up a few.  Thinking of Blue is a nautical blue cream.  I thought the color reminded me of the cruise ship we were on.  This line is marketed as having a base coat, nail strengthener, top coat, and nail color in one.  So I didn't apply any base or top coat as I normally would.  I can say the formula was nice and smooth and covered in 2 easy coats.  It appeared to dry fast, however, having painted my nails at 2 pm that day, I woke up to the dreaded sheet marks on my polish the next morning.  NOT COOL.  That really disappointed me.  It is also marketed as lasting 10 days chip free.  I won't be able to test it as I start a new job today and this has already been removed and replaced with a first day appropriate color (I want to feel the place out first before I subject them to some of my nail colors).  But I can say from Thursday to Sunday, it remained chip free.  What are your favorites from this line?