NARS Luxembourg Satin Lip Pencil

One of the makeup items that I bought during my hiatus was the NARS Satin lip pencil in Luxembourg.  I have to admit, I bought the color solely based on the name.  Luxembourg is named after the Jardin du Luxembourg, an exquisite park I visited last summer while in Paris.  It turns out, I really love the color, go figure.

NARS describes it as a watermelon pink.  I'd say that is pretty accurate.  Besides the color, I LOVE the texture and creaminess of the pencil.  And it is incredibly pigmented.  I barely have to touch it to my lips to get color payoff.  Fair warning though, it stains your lips.  I once wore it two days in a row and after attempting to take it off, had stained lips for another 24 hours.  Another issue, it requires sharpening which wastes product.  For $25, I'd expect this pencil to twist up.

Here it is on my lips:

The next color I'm going to get is Yu, a really pretty bright fuchsia.

I'm Baaaaacccckkkk!

Well sort of...  First let me explain my year plus absence.  I was studying for the CPA exam (which I've since passed!!!).  That was like having a second full time job as I was studying 30-35 hours a week!  Also, I wasn't buying too much makeup. Sure I was buying here and there, but nothing like the past.  I even stopped following MAC releases!

Then suddenly as I was trying on a pair of shoes that I had purchased over the weekend, I got the urge to blog about them.  I'm hoping this reignites my love of blogging and becomes a regular thing.

So this weekend I purchased the Brian Atwood Cassiane gold fringe sandal.  It was love at first sight!  I can't wait to style them with a little black dress or some skinny jeans and blazer.

Brian Atwood Cassiane Sandal  (similar style here)

P.S. My pedicure color is China Glaze 'A Rose Among Thorns' ::swoon::

Manicure Mondays-Love & Beauty Nude

With all of the working I've been doing lately, I wanted a no fuss, low maintenance color.  And what's more low maintenance than a nude color.  Love & Beauty's Nude is a peachy nude.  In some lights, it looks more pastel on me than nude.  It has very subtle silver shimmer running through it.  The formula was a little hard to work with.  I used two coats for opacity, though I could have used three to even it out.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Out the Door top coat.  It's still on my nails after 3 days with only minor tip wear.

On a completely different note, I just finished the Hunger Games series and OMG!  Incredible!  I highly recommend these books!

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!

Manicure Mondays-Color Club Pretty In Platinum

Color Club's Pretty In Platinum is a greyed silver and has very fine shimmer particles.  After wearing the bright red last week, I wanted something a little less "in your face".  The formula was slightly thick, needing two coats to achieve opacity.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Out The Door top coat.  The color is still on my nails and it is day 4.  So far, no chips and minor tip wear.  These days, I barely have time to change my polish, so I appreciate a manicure that will last.

I'm Still Here...

I've been working like a crazy person lately as it is my busy season and I work 60+ hours a week.  Usually Sunday is my only day off.  I'm really trying to stay on top of blogging but when I get home, I'm simply tired.  Please bare with me with the sporadic posts. Only 4 more weeks until my busy season is over!

Manicure Mondays-Essie Lacquered Up

After wearing Essie's Shine Of The Times last week, I opted for a more classic manicure.  And nothing is more classic than red.  Essie's Lacquered Up is a tomato red cream polish.  It only needed two coats for opacity.  It wore well, lasting 5 days without chipping.  I used CND Stickey base coat and Out The Door top coat.  It was my first time using this top coat, and so far so good.