The ABCs

Ok! So I never update this thing! I'm usually on LUUUX so if you'd like to read my posts there, that's where you can find me. x.x Anyways, I actually am posting a tag that the lovely Huda just did. Check her out for the answers to her tag as well as her other posts. She is amazing :)

http://lebanesebeauty21.blogspot.com/

A. Age: 23

B. Bed Size: Twin. Super tiny...

C. Chore you hate: I only really wash the dishes, and I don't really hate it. It's just annoying. I actually hate doing my laundry. x.x

D. Day: Friday! Pretty obvious why

E. Essential start to your day: During the school year: coffee. During the rest of the year: food.

F. Favorite Colour: Purple. It's just a girlie color and there are so many shades to choose from.

G. Gold or Silver: For the longest time I actually only wore silver jewelry, and then very recently I started buying a lot of gold jewelry. My watch and the Figaro bracelet on my wrist that never comes off are silver toned though.

H. Height: 5'4". Not too short, but not too tall. I'm taller than my mom and younger sister, so that's good enough.

I. Instruments: Used to play the violin and piano, but don't ask me to play anything because I don't remember how to play.

J. Job Title: Unemployed! Just recently graduated college and am biding my time until grad school (hopefully)

K. Kids: None yet, but I want two or three.

L. Live: California!

M. Mom's Name:  Helen

N. Nicknames: Surprisingly I don't have one. My sister calls me "Sissy," and my boyfriend has the typical pet names for me, but I don't have a nickname derived from my given name. So lame...

O. Overnight hospital stays: Yes. Two? One I know for sure - I was 13 and had some major surgery and was in the hospital for a week.

P. Pet peeve:  Like Huda, I have too many to name! 1) Slow drivers in the fast lane 2) Pedestrians who jump out in front of my car 3) People who walk through doors and then stop moving 4) Leaving a bite/piece of something and putting it back on the table/in the fridge/freezer

Q. Quote from a movie: I can't think of anything right now x.x

R. Right or Left Handed: Right handed. I wish was ambidextrous. Seems like a cool trait to have.

S. Siblings: I'm the eldest of two. Got a younger sister who annoys me to death but I love her. >.<

T. Time you wake up: Depends on when class starts. After classes, I don't wake up until noon.

U. Underwear: Cotton hipsters from PINK by Victoria's Secret

V. Vegetables you dislike: Spinach, brussel sprouts, lots actually...

W. What makes you run late: Putting makeup on in the morning (ironic isn't it?)

X. X-Rays you've had: More than enough. >.<

Y. Yummy food I make: I really like baking! Soooo...black bottom cupcakes! Yum!

Z. Zoo: Umm...haven't been in a really long time. The last time was in Washington DC to see the new baby panda Tai Shan. :)

I tag all of you who read this! Leave a comment below so I can read your answers. :D

Wet n Wild Trio - "Walking on Eggshells"

Hi everyone! This is the trio in "Walking On Eggshells" and it's probably my favorite of the ones I've bought. These regularly retail for $2.99 which is a great deal, but they are frequently on sale at drugstores like Walgreens and Rite Aid for BOGO 50% off or even 50%! Getting this for $1.50 just sweetens the deal on an already awesome eyeshadow trio.

Like all of the recent Wet n Wild eyeshadows, these trios have pigmented and smooth shadows which are also soft and easily blended. They also last all day with no creasing if a primer is worn underneath. (I always wear a primer with my eyeshadows so I can't tell you if it fades or creases without one.)

 The lid shade is a light shimmery peachy-pink, the crease is a dark shimmery brown with gold tones, and the browbone shade is a shimmery cream shade. As you can tell from the swatches these are pretty pigmented, and the shades are great for an everyday neutral eye.

These palettes are great for travel and they come with two little brushes: a fluffy angled brush and a sponge tip applicator. Neither of these get any use, but it's something nice to have just in case.

My only complaint is that the shades are ALL shimmery. It would have been nice if the crease shade was at least a matte or satin finish.

This is a great trio to have if you're just starting out with makeup, or are looking for new shades to add to your collection. I'm sort of a neutral nut so I like to collect neutral palettes. At $2.99 these will definitely not break the bank, and you're able to get them on sale it's an even better deal!
If any of you are interested, the lid and crease shade from this trio are also featured in the new "Comfort Zone" 8 pan palette which was newly released by Wet n Wild and is slowly trickling their way into Walgreens and Walmart stores. The only shade that doesn't have an exact duplicate is the browbone shade, but even the brow shade in "Comfort Zone" is a close enough match that you may be able to justify having just one or the other and not both. The "Comfort Zone" palette retails for $4.99.

Hope you found this helpful!

All images and content are my own. Products bought with my own money.

Nail Look: Sonia Kashuk "Taunting Teal" & "Nubar 2010"

Hey everyone! I haven't done a nail look in a while, so I thought I would post this up. The lovely Mica G (from Luuux) posted a long time ago a look with a polish by Sally Hansen called "Hidden Treasure." Unfortunately that was limited edition and is unavailable now, but is sold very marked up on eBay. However, she came to the rescue and provided info on a dupe, Nubar's "Nubar 2010."

I ordered this from eBay for $7.70 with FREE shipping. I don't know the retail price for this nail polish but compared to $20 for "Hidden Treasure," it was definitely a good price.

A lot of looks I've seen with this polish or "Hidden Treasure" have been over a dark base, and I don't own many that I thought would look good with this polish.

The base polish I used was Sonia Kashuk's "Taunting Teal," which you can buy for $4.99 at Target. It is a beautiful dark and dusty peacock blue with a cream finish that would look good on its own. (I don't normally paint my nails when they are this short just because I don't think it looks good on me.)

I layered "Nubar 2010" on top of this and it looks beautiful! Some fingers I used two coats if there wasn't even glittery bits. It also dries very quickly which is a plus.

Capturing the beautiful of this polish was sort of hard because the shimmers change depending on how the light is hitting them, which is why there are so many pictures above. I just put in on my ring finger to see how it would turn out, but it was so pretty that I put it on all my nails.

The shade definitely reminds me of finding treasure at the bottom of the ocean, and the way the light changes because of the depth of the water. Definitely a nail polish worth adding to your collection!

Thanks for reading!

All images and content are mine.

Favorite Concealer: MAC Studio Finish with SPF 35

Hi everyone! I know I've been neglecting my blog and have really only been posting on Luuux since my readership there is really much larger than this blog. So these next upcoming posts will actually be a month or two old, since they have already been up on Luuux for a while.

Today I wanted to share with you my favorite concealer of all time! It's the MAC Studio Finish concealer with SPF 35, which comes in a myriad of shades and each pot is $16.50 for 7g of product.

What I love about MAC is that almost every foundation shade has a corresponding concealer shade. A lot of other brands, from drugstore to high end usually only have a couple concealer shades to cover all of their foundations shades and sometimes it's hard to get them to match, but with MAC, there is usually a concealer shade for all of the most common foundation shades so you won't have any color difference.

From the MAC website:
¤ "A lightweight, creamy, discreetly opaque concealer. Provides a smooth, long-wearing invisible coverage for all skin blemishes. Water-resistant, fragrance-free and non-acnegenic. This emollient-based, lightweight concealer is so concentrated that a tiny amount can provide opaque coverage of the skin's imperfections and discolourations. It effectively covers dark circles, blemishes, moles, tattoos and birthmarks. Enriched with antioxidants (derivatives of Vitamin A and Vitamin E), it also contains Silica to help adsorb the skin's oils. Concealer has an SPF of 35 and is available in a wide range of colours. It can be applied with a medium to firm fiber brush (try the 242 Brush), a latex sponge, or the fingertips."

I absolutely love this concealer, so much that I have it in three shades to cover up my imperfections throughout the year. The NC range is for those with yellow undertones and NC20 is the second lightest shade in the range.

It provides full coverage and goes on very smoothly with a concealer brush. This literally will cover up pretty much anything! I have lots of hyperpigmentation and redness from acne and this covers them up so I can face the day with confidence.

I cover up my blemishes with this and then set it with my MAC blot powder. If you set it with the powder it will definitely last all day, so no need for touch ups. The finish looks very natural but it can get a bit cakey if you try and pile it on.

Like most concealers, it doesn't look good over dry and/or flaky skin. It will just accentuate the dryness and make it more obvious you're wearing makeup. This really looks best over smooth surfaces, like older scars and hyperpigmentation, and not flaky scabs or anything like that.

This concealer is definitely great for those who need to cover up dark marks and imperfections, and it will last you forever. I've had these pots for a while and I'm not close to hitting pan or finishing them yet.

Hope you found this helpful!

All images and content are my own, except for the MAC description of the concealer.

New Makeup Storage/Organization

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share with you my new storage/organization scheme. Originally ALL of my makeup was stuffed into a 3-drawer organizer that was large enough to hold a regular sheet of paper.

This is a 6-drawer cart from Office Depot and it costs $24.99. It also comes with four wheels, but I haven't put those on yet. The dimensions of the cart are:
◊ Height: 26.44 inches
◊ Width: 12.06 inches
◊ Depth: 14.25 inches

So the drawers are a bit larger than my old organizer and there's twice as many drawers! The organizer is pretty sturdy but the drawers do not slide all the way out. About two inches stays inside the cart, so there is potential for products to go into the back and then be forgotten about...

The top of the cart is actually really sturdy, the top of my original organizer was very flimsy and buckled under my fragrances and hair products. This organizer actually has sections on the top that was probably meant to hold office supplies like paper clips and pens, but I use it to hold my witch hazel, rubbing alcohol, brush cleaners and there's even a spot that I use to put my cameras!

The first drawer is lip products, the front part is frequently used lip products and the basket in the back holds the less used products. (Since I've taken these pictures I've actually switched this drawer with the eyeshadow drawer since I apply my eye makeup first.)

The second drawer is my blushes and bronzers. I actually now have a place for my Hello Kitty blush palette, and all my Rock and Republic blushes are hiding underneath. There's a basket in the back for other blushes like my Wet n Wild ones.

The third drawer holds single eyeshadows and small palettes

The fourth drawer holds my large palettes, like my StarsMakeupHaven palettes, UD's Naked and Alice in Wonderland BoS

The fifth drawer holds just my face primers, blot powder and BB cream, as well as fragrance samples

The last drawer doesn't really have anything in them. I just put some of my nail polishes that were lying around in there.

Staples actually sells a 10-drawer version for $60, which maybe be really good for those of you who have larger collections!

Hope you found this helpful!

All images and content are my own.

CVS Clearance Haul aka Last Haul of 2010!

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a bunch of fun last night :) Myself, I didn't go partying or whatever but I did spend the day with my boyfriend, and he took me to CVS for their clearance sale!

If you haven't gotten yourself to CVS you need to ASAP to see if any of your favorite shades are being discontinued! I'm actually really surprised about some of the products they are ending, many of them to make way for new products and shades.

A couple of Maybelline ColorSensational lipsticks were 50% so they were $4.49 and I saved $4.50! The shades I got were:
◊ "Pink Please" (2): This is one of my favorite everyday lipsticks and I'm sad it's on clearance! It's supposedly a dupe for MAC's "Way to Love" so if you were hesitating to buy this, run out now!

 

◊ Park Ave Peach: A cream finish peach shade
◊ Pink Petal: It looks sort of like a pink version of "Warm Me Up" which is my other favorite everyday shade.

NOTE: Definitely check the smell of these lipsticks! I've been saying this in every review I've made of these lipsticks but sometimes even I forget. I didn't check yesterday and "Pink Petal" is one of those bad tubes. Unfortunately I didn't realize that until it went on my lips. The texture was very hard, it sort of burned on my lips and the smell was awful. My sister can't smell the Play-Doh I smell but she literally balked when she smelled this rotten tube. So don't forget to check the smell!

A bunch of the Revlon products were on sale so I picked up a few of those too:
◊ ColorBurst Lipstick in Lilac: I actually bought this a couple weeks ago from Target for about $5 and this shade and a couple others were on clearance for 75%! That brought the price down to $2.25! So this is a backup.

◊ ColorBurst Lipstick in "Coral:" I saw this shade in another Luuuxer's post and it looked really pretty. In person it's a very bold red-orange that I might have to tone down with some gloss.

◊ Super Lustrous Lipgloss in "Lilac Pastelle:" I had been wanting to pick this up for a while and was going to buy these at Target, but they were also on clearance for 75% off so it's good that I waited. I picked up two on the off chance I will like this and need a backup. The sale price of these was also $2.25!

◊ Super Lustrous Lipgloss in "Pink Afterglow:" Wasn't originally on my wishlist, but since it was on clearance I figured why not?

◊ Super Lustrous Lipgloss in "Nude Lustre": One of my favorite everyday glosses - it's a neutral rosy brown. This was also a backup.

In the end I was able to get all of these products for about $30 and saved about $60!

Thanks for reading, hope you found this helpful in deciding what to purchase! Happy New Year again!

All images and content are my own.

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year! 2010 seemed to go by really fast and it wasn't exactly the greatest year so I'm sort of happy it's over. For 2011 I hope to do well in all my endeavors and hopefully keep up with this blog better!

I wish you lots of love, happiness and success in this new year!