NOTD: Mix and Match

Man, I really need to get going with this blog thing. Classes have been kicking my ass haha. ONE DAY.

To procrastinate on my art history paper last Monday, I did these nails! They're majorly inspired by some of my favorite nail artists, being El Salonsito, Disco-Nail, and AstroWifey. I don't often paint my nails, but I've been doing it more and more lately to help keep my nails from chipping all the time. I also only did one hand, since my left hand is...anti-dexterous? Is that even a thing?

I did the galaxy nail using lots and lots of layers of dabbing with a makeup sponge. For the middle, ring, and thumb I used an old super-thin watercolor paintbrush to outline the shapes and then filled them in, and  I used the "stem" of a q-tip that I cut in half for the dots on the ying-yang. For the pinky, I made messy dots with the brush of the nail polish, then added little dots and lines with the watercolor brush.

But this was a super fun mani! It wasn't as time consuming as I thought, but maybe in the future I'll do that "accent nail" thing. Who knows.

Product list:

• Chanel in Black Pearl, Graphite, Paradoxal, and Peridot
• Revlon in Minted
• Essie in Bobbing for Baubles
• Sephora by OPI in Metro-Chic, Nonfat Soy Half Caff, Social Climber
• American Apparel Nail Lacquer in Rose Bowl
• NailTek Ridge-Filling Base Coat in Foundation II
• Seche Vite Top Coat

FOTD: Ombre Lips

I have this little sample of lipstick from Sephora that I've had for years. I'm pretty sure it's Too Faced's "Runway Red", but I'm not totally sure. It's an amazing, cool-toned red, and it's just the right level of moisturizing without being slippery.

At first I just had the red, but then I saw Nylon Magazine's little editorial about ombre lips as well as this tumblr, and I was really inspired! I used MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth to shade the edges of the lips for the ombre effect, and blended with a lip pencil. I used my normal Chanel foundation, the Urban Decay Naked palette for the eyes, Benefit They're Real! mascara, and MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack for the liner.

Once I practice more, I will do a tutorial :)

Oopsie!

Wow, I really fell off the face of the earth, didn't I? I guess I just got overwhelmed with school. I had a couple reviews that I never finished for some reason, so I'll definitely get that going! Sorry about that!

Much loves,
Zoe

Product Launch: New Sigma Brush Sets!

I just noticed that Sigma is coming out with a bunch of new brush sets within next couple week or so! Putting on my makeup today I noticed that some of my MAC brushes probably need replacing (scratchy brushes are really not fun), so I might get one of these sets with the cases. Sigma brushes would be great for those who like MAC's quality, but aren't a fan of the prices; individual brushes tend to be $9-15 bucks ( as opposed to MAC's range of about $15-40). So check these out!

The Cities Collection

Launch Date: November 21, 2011

Contains E05 Eyeliner, E35 Tapered Blending, E45 Small Tapered Blending, E60 Large Shader, F05 Small Contour, F15 Duo Fibre, and F30 Large Powder

Make Me Up Collection – Travel Edition

Launch Date: November 28, 2011

Contains E30 Pencil, E40 Tapered Blending, E55 Eye Shading, E65 Small Angle, F30 Large Powder, F40 Large angled Contour, and F60 Foundation

The Bunny Collection

Launch Date: December 5, 2011

Contains Sigma's vegan (!) line of brushes

The Extravaganza Face Kit

Launch Date: December 12, 2011

Contained 4 gold-plated brushes & case

The Extravaganza Complete Kit

Launch Date: December 19, 2011

Contains 29 gold-plated brushes

Where did I go?

This past week or so, I had a lot of crazy things happen: a friend was in the hospital, a coworker's baby died, and 3 papers and a lab report due this weeks. Because of that, I've been somewhat absente. I'm actually at my parent's house now, looking like a schlub.

I will post something tonight though, so IT'S COMING. I also got Invisalign after having my braces taken off too early in High School, so my teeths hurt. 

LOTS OF COMPLAINING IN THIS POST.

Review & Swatches: MAC Powder Blush in Style

I never was one to wear blushes much, which is funny considering that I'm pretty pale. Whenever I put blush on, I always ended up looking completely clownish and then deciding that blush WASN'T FOR ME EVER. Just this past year, since I started really getting into makeup blogs, I picked up this blush that I've had for a while. Maybe I just didn't know how to put blush on properly before, but I find myself using this blush pretty much every day. 

This is a blush from MAC's permanent line, and comes in MAC's standard packaging. One problem I find with this packaging is that the clear portion with MAC written on top often pops out. It's not that important, but I find it to be somewhat annoying if the clear part rolls away under the table or something.

L to R: MAC blush in "Style", NARS blush in "Orgasm", NARS multiple in "Orgasm"

Other than that, the blush is a warm coral-peach with fine gold glitter. The blush is quite pigmented, but not too potent. The gold glitter reminds me a lot of NARS Orgasm, although this is more orange than the NARS blush is. Because of that, I find this to be a little more "every-day" than NARS orgasm, having just enough color to keep you from looking corpsy but not pink enough to make you look perpetually embarrassed. Also, since my skin is a little more olive-toned than pink, the peacher/orange tone of the MAC blush looks a little more flattering than the NARS blush does. The gold glitter adds just a little bit of highlighting and warmth on the cheeks, and the fact that it's finely milled keeps you from looking like Ke$ha.

Pros:

• Subtle blush, for those of us that like to stay minimal
• Better for yellower skintones but fairly universal
• Finely-milled glitter 
• Pigmented

Cons:

• May not look as flattering on pink skintones or mature women
• May not be pigmented/dark enough for darker skintones (I would use NARS Orgasm instead)

Review & Swatches: Wet n Wild Coloricon Palette in Comfort Zone

I figured that I should review this next, since I probably use this palette as much as I used the Urban Decay Naked Palette (reviewed here). A lot of bloggers have reviewed this palette with really great reviews, so I had to check it out. It absolutely lived up to its reputation, especially for someone that normally doesn't buy drugstore brands.

I really like that the designates colors for certain parts of the smoky eye; for those of you who have a harder time with using multiple colors, this helps push you in the right direction. Even still, each color stands out on its own, and I find myself using colors individually for other looks.

The first 4 colors are from the first column, and the last 4 are from the second column. Honestly, not a single color is a dud here. Each shadow could rival the quality and pigmentation of high-end brands like NARS or Hourglass. The first column has more versatile, "every day" colors due to their nude tone, but the second column is very wearable nonetheless. The colors swatch fairly close to how they appear in the pan, although the browbone color in the second column is lighter and less grey and the crease color a little less green. Out of all of the colors, my favorite has to be the duochromatic definer color in the second column. It's a more-pigmented version of MAC's eyeshadow "Club" for a fraction of the price (~$.62 per color vs $15? Yeah.) Moral of the story: this palette is freaking amazing. Buy it.

Pros:

• Super pigmented, buttery texture without fallout
• Very useable colors
• Stupid mad cheap ($4.99 at Walgreens)
• Wears well throughout the day, even without primer.

Cons:

• No matte colors? There really isn't anything to gripe about.

I took a picture of how I wore it the other day (using the second column and MAC Blacktrack Fluidline over Benefit's Stay Don't Stray Primer), what a coincidence!

Sorry for looking sleepy, I was trying to show how that defining color shifts colors without looking like a huge derp. Isn't it gorgeous?