Tutorial: Easter Eye of the Day

After going back and forth trying to figure out what to do for eye make up, trial and error with another palette and ended up having to go over it with other colors due to lack of pigmentation... I conjured up this.

Originally, I wanted to do a video tutorial, but the tripod I purchased, well... it decided to die. It literally broke into two pieces. /sigh back to the drawing board.

Not sure if it'll matter, but I'm wearing Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation in the color Ivory. I'm savoring my Urban Decay sample for work week ;x

Happy Easter! Easter Day Manicure

Hope everyone (who celebrates) is having a wonderful Easter. 

I wanted to get this up before I forget! Yesterday (after several failed attempts) I did my Easter manicure.

No page break this go around! So apologies in advance for such a long post.

Polishes used, *almost* all.

Easter Manicure

Thumb. Used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Coral Reef as the base (2 coats). Then B-Right On!, Snow Me White and Lacey Lilac for the dots.

Index. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Lacey Lilac (2 coats) as the base. Corel Reef, Snow Me White and Breezy Blue for dots.

Middle. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in B-Right On! (3 coats) for the base. Lacey Lilac, Snow me White and Breezy Blue for dots.

Pinky. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Breezy Blue (3 coats) as the base. Coral Reef, Snow Me White and Lacey Lilac for dots.

Now for my ring finger. This one was FUN (I'm being sarcastic). I had to redo this 3 times. The first time I used a different yellow polish and it was just getting to be too many layers (I was up to 8 and could STILL see the tip of my nail!). So I took that off and used a different yellow, here I thought it was dry, nope, tape stuck to it and pulled the polish up. /sigh REDO! Finally got it dried enough so that the tape wouldn't pull it up.

Polishes used.

NYC In a New York Minute Quick Dry in Leington Yellow (3 coats) as the base. Sinful Colors in Snow Me White for the cracked egg shell (I used scotch tape which I cut upside down Vs into). Sally Hansen Insta-dri in Orange Impulse for the little chickie nose (used a very tiny dotting tool which came in my Fingr's kit). And Nicole by OPI in I'm a Pool For Love for the eyes (I didn't have a black! Wait I don't have a black? I don't have a black polish! :O!).

Finished Product!

Review: OPI A Woman's Prague-ative & Oy-Another Polish Joke!

Upon venturing to my local Harmon's, I discovered that, not only did they have one set of OPI's Euro Centrale collection, but had what looked to be six display sets all over the place.

After staring at the display (ok, I went around in circles because it's a free standing shelving unit that they have) for who knows how long, I decided on two. For as long as I can remember, I only have partial collections. I normally just select the ones I want the most. 

Anyway! The two that I ended up purchasing were A Woman's Prague-ative and OY-Another Polish Joke!.

Oy-Another Polish Joke!

Oy-Another Polish Joke! is a yellow tone gold (a color I don't have!) shimmer. It is insanely gorgeous in person. The formula on this was a bit on the sheer side, and it took 5 coats (yes 5) to get it fully opaque. BUT the interesting thing about this polish is how it dries down. It's almost like a semi-matte glitter. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I'm describing it here. It doesn't have a glossy finish, but sparkles.

A Woman's Prague-ative

A Woman's Prague-ative. This one is a coppery-bronze-red shimmer. Almost want to say it's a rust color. Either way you want to describe this one, it's gorgeous! The formula on this was more thicker than Oy-Another Polish Joke!, all I needed was 3 coats to make sure that this one was fully opaque.

And with these two, I just couldn't resist.

Price: $7.99; price varies depending on the location.

Availability: Harmon's Discount, Ulta.com, or anywhere that OPI is sold.

Press Release: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils

Taken directly from Urban Decay's press release. Photos courtesy of Urban Decay. I do not claim ownership of anything that is written below.

 

THE SKINNY:                                

Creamy, forever-lasting and waterproof, our 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are already the stuff of beauty legend. But what's the one thing that would make them even better? MORE SHADES. Urban Decay announces the relaunch of our award-winning 24/7 liner - now one of the WIDEST eye pencil assortments ever. Seriously, this is HUGE. We added 13 BRAND NEW shades and 14 previously exclusive shades to our already covetable lineup - for a total of 40 habit-forming colors in all. You've never seen such an insane range of shades. Crazy-vivid brights. Shimmering metallics. Wear-anywhere neutrals. Dark, smoky hues. Take your pick of every texture imaginable, from micro-sparkle to matte. If these pencils don't satiate your color lust. NOTHING will.

HYPE:

With this relaunch, Urban Decay is the definitive authority on eye pencils, with the BIGGEST selection of shades out there! From mattes and satins to shades with shimmer and sparkle, our huge range of fun colors includes something for everyone. From crazy, "out-there" colors that would make your grandma cringe to shades you can rock all day long (even if you don't work in an office where peacock blue eyeliner is perfectly acceptable), we've got something for everyone.

NICE PACKAGING:

Shade-match barrels make it easy to find the exact shade you're looking for (no matter how crammed your bag is).

BREAK IT DOWN:

Made with jojoba oil, vitamin E and cottonseek oil, our highly saturated formula glides on, stays creamy for blending and dries down to a waterproof finish that won't budge. What more could you ask for?

Courtesy of Urban Decay

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils (SRP $19) are available from Sephora, ULTA and select Macy's stores.

Or, online at Sephora.com, ulta.com, macys.com, beauty.com and urbandecay.com

 ----- end of press release.

Ok, who is excited for the relaunch? Better yet, what colors are you itching to get your hands on? For me, Freak has been calling to me ever since I saw it swatched on various blogs. It is GORGEOUS! Goldmine and Woodstock are also on my list.

Review: Own Lifting Eye Cream

Yes! The review is here. I'm finally venturing down the skin care road, not to worry, it isn't just because this is a sponsored post, this just happens to be the very first one that I'm taking the dive with. I guess one can say, I'm breaking the ice.

Now before I get carried away, lets get on with the review!

Series: Thursday Face of the Day

I'm back with another Face of the Day. I'm starting to get used to this, although it still feels strange... this was another Thursday where I was working the "graveyard shift", so on days like this I can spend more time on my make-up instead of rush, rush, rush, out the door!

Of course, while I'm trying to take pictures before I was to leave for work, my camera battery dies. Luckily, my cell phone has a front facing camera. Oh front facing camera, how I love you, you hide all the imperfections!

Review: Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara

I'm not sure if it's conventional or not to review giveaway prizes, I'm going with the flow here. I very much wanted to review several of the Mary Kay that I won from the Mary Kay Get The Look giveaway that Bailey from Making Up the Midwest hosted.

I already have a HG mascara, but I must say that this one gives my lovely N.Y.C. mascara a run for it's money. I've actually been using this one since I received it over my N.Y.C. (shock!).

Moving on to the review!

Want to Join in with the free Kindle Fire HD Giveaway? Here's how!

If you're looking to grow your blog or social media following, we have a great and FREE opportunity for you!  Free is good, right?  Well, Free is AMAZING!


Isabelle from Le Chateau des Fleurs recently released a new Android app called Smartphone DNA, and to promote it she is giving away a Kindle Fire HD-which she is sponsoring entirely.  The giveaway will be hosted by My So-Called Chaos, but what we need are other bloggers to share the giveaway on their blogs in order to spread the word! In return, you'll get two of your links in the Rafflecopter to get extra promotion for you in return for posting.  This is entirely free, there is NO buy in, we just need two posts from you.

1. Post this announcement on your blog (code will be given after you request to join) to ensure your readers/followers have the opportunity to be a part of this giveaway too! 
2. Post the actual giveaway (full Rafflecopter and all! People will be able to enter directly from your blog!) 

If you are interested in participating in this FREE promotional opportunity, please email Miss Angie and once accepted into the giveaway you will be given all the information you need for your posts.

Giveaway is set to run from 4/10/13 to 4/30/13.

All requests to join required by 4/5/13!

Tutorial: Gum Drops on Lilac Featuring Pixi and JulieG Frosted Gum Drops

Yes! My very first nail tutorial. Ok, well, still photo tutorial. This wasn't easy as my camera freaked out on me with it's settings, but I fiddled around with it to get my correct settings back.

A word of warning, YES! I know my nail is stained, I haven't had time to actually give my nails a good soaking. They've actually far worse than that.

So lets get started?

Press Release: Palladio Warms Up To Summer

After looking through my makeup collection, I've come to realize, I'm definitely in need of more pinks (not kidding here, I don't have that many pinks). I don't even have any creams in my stash :O! Well, unless you count nude eyeshadows.

Palladio: Get The Look! Military Chic

Shades of Green (I'm not sure if I should add a 50 in front of that or not) are one of my favorite variety of eyeshadows to play with (right next to purples), so I'm definitely going to give this a go.

How about you guys? Like the Military Chic look or do you prefer a different look?

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Hard Candy Crush on Lava vs. MAC Mean & Green

 

Welcome one and all to the lastest edition of To Dupe or Not To Dupe. Now, lets jump right into it!

 

I was (and still am) excited about this one. Now, let us take a trip down memory lane to when MAC released their Venomous Villians collection which was based off of Disney Villians. There were several sought after nail polishes from that collection, one being Mean & Green. 

Venomous Villians has long been discontinued, but there are dupes out there of these polishes, some perfect dupes (ie Orly Space Cadet, not sure if those are now discontinued though) and some not so perfect dupes.

Mean & Green is a teal based duochrome polish where to the naked eye gives off a shimmer of copper, purple and pink depending on how the light hits it. It is a gorgeous colors, and if you couldn't tell by my bottle, I used it quite a bit. With the flash on, it appears to have a blue hue to the pink of the duochrome. The formula for Mean & Green also is on the thin side, at least mine is.

So now the possible dupe?

Crush on Lava is from Hard Candy new polish line. It is another duochrome, but not as prominent as Mean & Green. The duochrome is mainly pink, red and copper. So where is the difference? There is no teal base with Crush on Lava. The base appears to be more of a bronze base. Formula on Crush on Lava is thin as well, right on par with Mean & Green.

To the naked eye (and polish challenged) one wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.

Would I call them Dupes? Not quite, they're similar and could pass, but up close Crush on Lava appears to be more warm, while Mean & Green seems to be on the cooler side. 

Price: Hard Candy is available at Walmart for $4.97 (mine however sells it for $5.00 so be sure to check the price), Mean & Green is discontinued.

Series: Saturday Face of the Day

Yes, I'm doing this again! Alchemy is being brave! Ha ha, ok no. I meant to do this Saturday night, but after getting off work, I was insanely busy doing another post. Then I actually forgot on Sunday that I had taken the pictures. Whoops! 

I tossed this back and forth today though while I was at work, simply because I still wasn't feeling that great on Saturday (I'm still not, but at least I stopped sneezing!). I just figured, you know what, despite the fact that I take selfies awkwardly, and am under the weather (hence why I look haggard), I'm going for it!

Onward with the show!

Review: Jesse's Girl JulieG Frosted Gum Drops Collection

 

You have no idea how excited I was when I received these last Saturday. I had caved and purchased the entire set when Jesse's Girl had the Frosted Gum Drops up for pre-order. These are actually my first texture polishes. Originally, I thought they were already in Rite Aid (whoops!) and went all the way up to where Walmart is (only Rite Aid around is near that store), much to my dismay, they hadn't been released yet!

I didn't get a chance at trying them out until late, late Saturday night (or was it Sunday Morning) because I was seeing just how long my St. Patrick's Day nails would last (A FULL WEEK!).

Without further ado!

Review: Femme Couture 8 in 1 Foundation

Last week I picked up the Femme Couture 8 in 1 Foundation in Fair. Today (Saturday) I ended up going to Sally Beauty Supply earlier because my original one, the pump broke on it! The clerk was massively nice and simply exchanged it for a new one, no questions asked. As mentioned in my Rimmel London Match Perfection Concealer review, I'm critical about two things, foundation and concealer.

So lets see how this one does.

Haul: Covergirl, Hard Candy and Fing'rs

Quick post, as I'm still rather ill (boo!). I'm wanting to review the foundation I got last week (which the pump just broke to!), but look like a hot mess! UGH! Besides that, I ended up going to Walmart (I don't often due to how far the nearest Walmart is) and Target. Seriously, Walmart has to stop trying to kill me with their nail polish shrine! Too many temptations.

What I ended up getting at Walmart...

Hard Candy Crushed Chromes in Crush on Lava $4.00 Uh, I think this may be a dupe for another polish I have that is discontinued, I'll do a post about it!

Fing'rs Edge Art Box $4.98 This come with three mini nail art tools, an angle brush, a pointed brush and a dotter as well as several stickers.

From Target...

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation $9.47 I purchased the LIGHTEST shade which is 805 Ivory. Funny enough 805 was constantly sold out.

Review: Rimmel London Match Perfection Concealer

 

Yes! Finally! I'm reviewing the Rimmel London Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting Concealer (whoa that's a mouth full!). I wanted to make sure that I had used it enough to really give a thorough opinion on it.. Two cosmetic categories that I normally am very critical on, the first being foundation and the second being concealer

So, lets get on with it!

Press Release: OPI Bond Girls Collection

 
OPI does it again, and is partnering with EON Productions for an all new Bond collection. This go around the focus is on 6 of the most iconic Bond Girls. The collection is set to be released May 2013.

Polish Galore!

OPI Joins Bond 007 to Release Six New Revolutionary Liquid Sand™ Nail Lacquers Inspired by 50 Years of James Bond

                OPI announces the launch of Bond Girls, a collection of six new Liquid Sand™ nail lacquers featuring a textured, matte finish infused with reflective sparkle fitting the allure surrounding the Bond Girls.  In hues of white, pink, blue, purple, gold and coral, Bond Girls offers a range of shimmering shades with the distinctive Liquid Sand finish.

 “OPI is extremely excited to partner again with EON Productions,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI co-founder & Artistic Director. “Following the success of the holiday promotion with the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, it’s been a thrill to create colors for the women who’ve captured Bond’s attention over the last five decades.

“The six shades are named after some of the most iconic – and my favorite – Bond girls, including: Solitaire, Pussy Galore, Tiffany Case, Vesper, Honey Ryder and Jinx,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “Worn without top coat, these Liquid Sand lacquers give nails a pebbled, matte finish worthy of the captivating ‘Bond Girls’ name.”

Bond Girls by OPI features six Liquid Sand nail lacquers:

 Solitaire

This diamond-sparkling white is totally engaging.

 Pussy Galore

This light feminine pink has the purrrfect amount of shimmer.

Tiffany Case

A classic light blue worth investigating.

Vesper

A mysterious and intriguing deep purple.

Honey Ryder

Take a ryde on the wild side in this shimmery gold.

Jinx

This mesmerizing matte coral has lucky sparkle.

OPI Liquid Sand lacquers should always be worn without top coat.

Bond Girls by OPI nail lacquers feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. These six new shades will be available beginning May 2013 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Chatters, JCP Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

Ok, who is excited? Better yet, which ones are you most excited for? I definitely can't wait to get my hands on Jinx and yes, Pussy Galore.