J'adore Dior Sunset Cafe Quint?

I've been wanting a Dior quint for, well, forever. I've never been able to justify spending that much money on an eyeshadow quint, but I figured I should cut back on buying random junk and focus on key quality pieces. I went to Sephora about a month ago and decided on the Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in 440 Sunset Cafe($58). Let me insert a little disclaimer first, I stupidly didn't swatch a tester product before purchasing. I'm like that sometimes.

First and foremost, I love the packaging. It's very sleek and I like the blue CD print behind the silver Dior logo. The only problem is that my fingerprints do stick =(.

 

I picked Sunset Cafe because I felt like if I was going to shell out almost sixty dollars, I should get neutral colors I could incorporate into my everyday look. the colors look super pretty =).

The colors include: "peachy pink shimmer, opalescent pink, bronze shimmer, gold shimmer, and taupe sheen". The main reason I wanted this quint was the taupe color. I love me some taupes =D. I was kind of "eh" about the upper right color, which is the opalescent pink. It's too reminiscent of the color of Hourglass' primer, which I think is strange enough already. However, my boyfriend's sister told me that it makes a really pretty all over lid color. I'm thinking more along the lines of highlight....

And here's the main attraction, the swatches. Verdict? This palette was very disappointing =(. I noticed it was very sheer on my lids, but after [trying] to heavily swatch the colors, they appear sheer even on my arm! The colors provide a sheer wash of color on the lids, which is not what I was looking for. For the price, I had hoped that the colors would pack more pigment. This quint also has good reviews, and for the life of me, I can't fathom why. That aside, I will still use this when I want a minial makeup look. I've probably only used this twice since I bought it. Normally, I would choose to return a product like this, but I've been wanting this quad for so long, I can't let it go. I was considering trying another Dior quint (after swatching of course), but now I'm leaning more towards trying out a Chanel quad. The price point is pretty much the same.

I've heard a lot of people raving about this quint and other Dior ones. Do you have one? What do you think?

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse: My Journey Into Cream Foundations?

 I'm a big fan of trying out drugstore foundations. First, they're super afforadle, and second sometimes you'll run across some rare gems. I bought the Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse foundation when it first launched after seeing it in a magazine ad (typical consumer). It ranges from about $7 to $10. I heard some good reviews on Maybelline's Dream Smooth Matte, but matte looks aren't for me. But, as luck would have it, they came out with Dream Smooth Mousse, which is supposed to moisturize your skin at the same time. Being from the US, there aren't any testers, so I gave an educated guess on the shade and got the color Natural Beige which is in the Medium range. It has a warm undertone, even though my face is neutral, I find yellow undertones match the rest of my body better. Natural beige is the first box in the Medium row.

The top opens to reveal a compartment for a sponge. Excuse my used sponge. I also found out there's no way to actually clean these things. I used the sponge once and tried to clean it. Fail. How are you supposed to survive with a sponge you can only use once? Yes, I'm ignorant, I usually never have this problem because I use liquid, not cream, foundations. I've resulted to squeezing in a triangular sponge in there and throwing it away after one use. 

240 is actually a very good color match. For the product itself, it's a very smooth cream. I really like the texture because it glides on my skin easily. I would say the coverage is light/medium. I prefer heavier coverage than this offers so sometimes I build it up a little more. I've come to reserve this foundation for Sundays and lazy days. I do like the way it looks. The formula isn't drying, and there's no dry patching involved.

In my opinion this is definitely a good foundation. However, it would be better with better coverage, but for those who want light/medium coverage this would be perfect. The only reason coverage concerned me is that I have some freckles, and EVERY single one of them showed through. I'm not sure if this is something I personally would repurchase, mostly from the fact that I barely use it and probably won't even go through this one. Another downside is it only has .49 oz of product, whereas most liquid foundations contain a full oz. It's decent for me though, considering I'll wear it once every 3-4 weeks.

Have you tried Dream Smooth Mousse? Is it better with Dream Matte Powder on top? Let me know!

Illamasqua's Absorb: The Epitomy of Concealer Lips.

I heart nude lips. For some reason, colored lipsticks and lipglosses just don't look as good on me. I was really excited when my Illamasqua Intense lip gloss in Absorb arrived on my doorstep. I checked Sephora and it doesn't seem to be on there anymore. Before purchasing, I scoured google looking for reviews and swatches, so far so good. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Illamaqua's lipglosses due to the poor packaging, I like their quality. Their "Intense" lipglosses are opaque and very pigmented.

So how did it fare when I actually tested it out?

Sad to say, I don't like! Sure, it looks good in the photographs, nice and nude. In real life however, it seriously looks like I took a pot of concealer and massacred my lips with it. It also felt really thick and heavy. The pigment sunk into my fine lines. Overall, horrendous. I'm sure this might work on other gals, but with my medium skin, the lip gloss was just too much of a contrast! I guess its named absorb for a reason, it absorbs all the pigments on the lips! I'm really disappointed because I was looking for a lipstick like gloss so I could skip wearing lipstick altogether. I feel like I'll try this again sometime, maybe a little sheerer and applied with a brush, because using their dinky little plastic squeeze tube gives some uneven application.

Sorry I didn't take pictures of it alone or swatches! It was a bit impromptu...

I hope you ladies have a nice day while I'm wallowing in the stormy weather that's in town! =(

EDIT: I just noticed I have some unintentional ombre hair. Good to know my laziness is now a trend.

Products that Saved my Skin

I naturally have dry/normal skin. Trips and airplanes tend to make it worse for me. When I went to Hawaii at the end of September, I developed flaky dry skin. my dry skin tends to be fixed pretty easily, but Hawaii made it horrible. By the end of the trip, I didn't even want to wear foundation because of the dryness. The plane ride home was horrible. I felt disgusting and my skin was like the Sahara. When I got home, the patchiness didn't go away. After a few days of hating my skin, I decided to follow a regimen of products that miraculously turned my skin around. My skin is better off than it was before!

Following this routine diligently my skin was back to its polished self within a few days.

First of all, I had to slough away the dry skin layer. I had bought this Foaming Skin Polish by Yu-Be ($18) a while ago, but never really needed to use it. Apparently, Yu-Be sells the top selling skincare cream in Japan.

Sephora says that :

Yu-Be Foaming Skin Polish is an advanced purifying, exfoliating prep-step to boost the effectiveness of your skincare routine. Rice bran and walnut shell powder slough away debris and dead skin cells while glycerin and camphor soothe and moisturize. The results are silky-smooth and touchable.

I used this out of sheer desperation because I normally don't exfoliate my skin since I usually don't need to. This stuff is miracle in a bottle. After only the FIRST time I used it, my face was so smooth. I've read reviews on it and apparently it exfoliates so well it can reduce acne also. I also bought one for my boyfriend after using this myself, and I can not stress this enough: Read the instructions. Be careful not to apply directly to your face and scrub, the rice bran is very harsh. You have to put a small amount in your hand, and add a generous amount of water and rub your hands together to make a rich lather. I learned this the hard way. After getting it right however, the scrub was very smooth on my face. I use this about 3-4 times a week. 

After I exfoliate my face and before I go to bed, I use Peter Thomas Roth's Mega Rich Intensive Anti-Aging Cellular Creme ($110 for 3.2 oz, 1.7 oz for $85 on Sephora). I have the bigger size which is 3.2 ounces. And no, I did not pay $110 for this. Oprah had a deal awhile back cutting the cost to $25 so I bought one for me and my mom. When I first received it, I couldn't stand using it. It has a really strange scent, but after getting used to it, it doesn't bother me. This is a really deep moisturizer. A little goes a long way. It's a bit heavier than the moisturizers I usually use, but it's been great at tackling my dry skin. I wake up with soft smooth skin. 

Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion ($24) is hands-down my all-time favorite moisturizer. It's probably one of the most popular ones, there's a reason for that. I use it as my daily day-time moisturizer. I smooth it on all over my face before applying my foundation. It's scentless, light, and quenches your dry skin. I've been using this since about my sophomore year of high school and I haven't used any other day lotion since. Pure love. 

Note: This is not a product I use often. I don't actually ever have break outs, but ever once in awhile when I get stressed out I'll get a small spot. I used to use Clinique's emergency gel lotion, but I ran out and couldn't find any at the time. Imagine the shock I encountered when I couldn't find it at any of my local Nordies or Macy's. I was at Target one day and stumbled upon Soap & Glory's Dr.Spot. It was on clearance for about $8 or so. I figured I'd give it a try since I hadn't had an acne spot treatment available in awhile. Surprise, surprise, it worked! I dab it on when a spot appears (night and morning) and it's usually gone within two days. I can't vouch if it'll work for everyone, but it's worked for me and my very minor spots =). 


I'm very satisfied with my skin now, aside from freckles and slight discoloration (but THAT'S another story). 

What are YOUR holy grail/miracle skin products?

NOTD: For Audrey

 

Now that Winter's approaching, I felt that I should wear all my Spring/Summer colors (classic case of season denial). China Glaze's For Audrey is possibly the prettiest blue ever. Yes, it is Tiffany & Co's trademark blue. Everyone knows this color, an oldie but a goodie =). I always adore China Glaze's formulas because they're so smooth, and For Audrey only one quick coat to be opaque. I've seen it with more coats, and it looks a lot lovelier that way, but I don't have time for that! Since I'm impatient, I also used Seche Vite's dry fast top coat on top. I just started using this and it's amazing I tell you! No more waiting for polish to dry for 20 minutes, AND my nail polish has lasted five days with no chips so far! 

On another note:

I'm super sad that I missed the grand opening of H&M yesterday. My friend went and she said peacoats were only $10! MADNESS! I actually went down there about an hour after they opened, but the line was around the block =(. I did end up going to yesterday VIB event at Sephora though. Did any of you ladies go? I didn't really buy much, the things I wanted were either sold out or only online. So there's going to be more 20% off Sephora haulage for me this weekend =). My other Sephora F&F hauls DID come, so expect some reviews on those products soon!

What's on your nails today? How do you feel about For Audrey?

The Cutest Princess Ever

My boyfriend's niece turned 1 last month. His sister threw an outrageous party for a 1 year old. I'm talking catering, decorators, and party planners. There was a bouncy house, a face painter, a caricature artist, and a raffle for ipod shuffles. A bit extreme for a 1 year old, in my opinion. Anyways, I wanted to share these super cute photos I took of 1 year old Naomi! She's cute, but oh my, she is the brattiest baby ever =). I'm talking whiny and fussy. She just loves attention, it's not her fault she's spoiled!

Princess Naomi: 

She loves cake...

And photo ops!

Are you checking out those arm rolls?

This is what I mean by fussy baby. See how polite those other girls are? MMM-HMMM.

Anywho. These photos were WAY to cute for me to keep to myself =).

Time for bed, H&M is having their grand opening tomorrow, and I need to get up bright and early! 

October Favorites

I feel like I own a lot of interesting products, but my favorites are always so boring =). But hey, I'm being practical and truthful. I COULD fill my favorites with exciting sexy products, but I'd just be lying to myself =(. October was an eh month. I did mostly brown smokey eyes the entire month because the weather's really dragging me down. Plus, I like to oversleep, therefore, I'm always rushing around. Here are the products that I used the most this last month!

Rock and Republic Trickery Luminizer: I use this to darken my foundations that are too light for me. It also gives a really nice dewy sheen. I have to be careful when using it though, because too much makes me a tad orange. It's a wonderful sheer texture that gives a lovely glow.
MAC Moon River mineralize blush: This is a baby pink blush with two sides. I use the pure pink side on the apples of my cheeks and the multi-colored side as a cheekbone highlight on top of the blush. You can also swirl the colors together but I like them separately. It is quite shimmery as are most of MAC's mineralize products. I'm a huge fan nonetheless.
Eyeko 3-in-1 cream: I just noticed that all my favorites are glowy/dewy products. I can't help it! I'm going to go ahead and reassure you ladies that I do not use Moon River in conjunction with this Eyeko product. I recently blogged about this, and it's actually my most used highlighter now. If I don't feel like wearing Moon River, I'll wear this highlighting cream with another blush. What can I say, I'm addicted to having a nice sheen to my cheeks.

Vaseline: Good ol' trusty Vaseline. I have the most sensitive dry lips. Most lip products make my lips peel, but I love lipsticks! So what do I do? I'm always on the search for a lip miracle. Everytime I do, my lips eventually become immune to it. So, I've gotten desperate and bought a jar of Vaseline. My friend swears by it. I carry this around in my purse and it seems to be doing the trick. Need I say, it was a god-send the first few days. And now it's alright. Still a good favorite. (Plus, it removes my eye makeup in a cinch, talk about a multi-tasker).
MAC Dirty greasepaint stick: Love this thing to pieces. I always always always wear this with MAC's eyeshadow in Tempting ever since I saw Rachel(Raeview)'s tutorial on it. It's a simple look. Throw Dirty on the lids, smudge Tempting into the crease and blend, and BAM, you're good to go. (ER, after eyeliner and mascara of course). It's a look I like to do when I feel like doing a slightly more dramatic day look without whipping out the black lids (which I'm also known to do).
Maybelline Chai Latte quad: This is everyone's favorite. I've had it for about a year now, and was head over heels in love when I first got it. Lately, I've been using the two matte brown shades for my everyday neutral looks. I put the lighter brown all over the lid, or sometimes to blend into the crease. The deeper brown is reserved for my lower lashlines or outer v's. Overall, one of the best drugstore eyeshadows I have (not including my beloved NYX).

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned I'm constantly in a rush in the mornings. Here's the path of destruction I leave on my vanity. The products are always changing. 

ERRR. >///<

Have a good day! And remember! Today's the last day to enter my giveaway for Rock & Republic's blush in Shameless!

I'm a NARS Junkie

If you didn't already know, Sephora has this habit of making awesome boxed sets. I recently hauled this during the Friends and Family sale. No, this was not the only thing I bought from the sale. I have four more packages coming in. *BLUSH*. It's that time of year again. This NARS Junkie Beauty in a Box ($69) is exclusive to Sephora, and is a $121 value. After the 20% off, I got it for about $55, which is typically the price of the eyeshadow palette alone.

What's in the box:
-Nars Essential Eye Palette
-Lipgloss in Ophelia
-Mini multiple in Orgasm
-Mini bronzer in Laguna

 The main reason I wanted the set was for the eyeshadow palette. The colors included are: Unconditional love (cream shadow), Night Star, Galapagos, Nepal, Ondine, and Thunderball. Thunderball is a lot darker than pictured above. The complete palette is the size of a NARS bronzer.

Unconditional Love, Night Star, Galapagos, Nepal, Ondine, and Thunderball

Unconditional love is the cream shadow included. It's a "peach-beige shimmer", which is pretty spot on, but in my opinion is more beige than peach. The consistency is nice, but I really had to layer it on. Night Star is a "sheer peach with gold pearls". Translation: It's a light almost crappy sheer cream with chunky glitter. Yech. I don't like. I'll use it as a highlight but the glitter throws me off. Galapagos is a "rich bronze with gold flecks". This is one of the most pigmented colors in the set. This is where NARS quality really goes to work. I'm still not a fan of the glitter, but the color is so deep and rich, I can oversee its mild downfall. Nepal is a "rose with shimmer" and it an overall nice natural lid shade. Ondine is a "plum with gold shimmer". It's probably my favorite color out of the kit. It's a great crease color, and they dismissed the glitter for a nice shimmer. The last, darkest color, is Thunderball, which is a "midnight grey". It looks more like a blackened navy to me. As you can see, I swatched it really poorly, but it IS pigmented. Overall, even though there were a few disappointments, I can say I love this palette. I can easily, and probably will, incorporate this into my new everyday look.

The mini Laguna bronzer is by all means MINI in every sense. You can see it compared here to a full size as well as the size included in the blush/bronzer duo. I've already talked about how much I like NARS' Laguna. It's a pretty tan shade with a nice golden sheen.

I'm not a very big fan of NARS' lipglosses. I find them to be sticky, drying, and I SWEAR they accentuate every fine line I have on my lips. Even if my lips are moisturized, these glosses still make them look dry. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Ophelia. I expected a darker color, but fortunately, it's a medium strawberry pink. It is a sheer color, but looks nice on the lips. I'm forced to believe it's NARS' lighter colors that are more drying.

Here's NARS' cult favorite Orgasm blush in stick form. NARS' Multiples are called multiples because they can be used for multiple purposes. I don't see myself putting this anywhere but my cheeks though. From the get-go, I already think that Orgasm is overhyped. I own it, and I don't get what the big deal is. The multiple is super cute in its mini form and is nice to try. I would use it under Orgasm's powdered form, or to add a nice sheen. Other than that, it's passable.

Laguna, Ophelia, Orgasm Multiple

And, here's the samples I got. I love samples! (Er, even though I rarely ever use them).

Overall, I think this is a great set. It's a good value for the price and products included are super nice =).
I'll be posting more of my Sephora hauls as they come in. I feel like I've been waiting for years! Worst part is, now that the sale is over, I found more products I want. Luckily, the VIB in-store event is fast approaching!

How do you feel about these products? Have Orgasm? Love it? Hate it?

Off to go mooch around for the rest of my Sunday! And, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Giveaway: Rock and Republic Blush in Shameless [CLOSED]

Four posts in one day?
This is madness I tell you!
Pure madness!

No, I'm actually just trying to make up for lost time and catch up ;).

I've been trying to put up this giveaway for about a month now but never got around to it. As you guys know, I really love Rock & Republic's Contrived blushes. They're pigmented, gorgeous, and ultra luxe.Win one!

I own every blush except Immoral, which I politely declined.
I ended up buying two blushes in Shameless, one for myself, and one to give away to a reader (you lucky dog you).

 Shameless is a bronzey rose. Refer this THIS post for more info. 

Note: I swatched MY blush, yours will be brand new in its swanky box.

If you want to win, you know the drill.

Rules:
-Leave a comment below telling me if you love R&R blushes, or if you just wanna try them!
-One entry per person
-Must be a follower
-Leave an email address I can reach you at

That's it! Easy peasy!

Open internationally. Giveaway will run until Wednesday November 10, 2010 11:59 PM PST. Any entries submitted after will not count.

Good luck! =)

Bigger is Better: A Picture Story

Papa Bear, Momma Bear, Baby Bear, and the Thing that didn't get scared eating all their porridge.
Yes, I got the Urban Decay Primer Potion, Professional size.
I'm not sure if I even need this big honkin thing.
I heard that the tube breaks easily.
Here's wishing other wise. *Crosses fingers*

And that's my lazy post. 

NOTD: OPI Do You Lilac It? Why Yes, I Do.

Yes, this has been done before by many. Nothing to see here? I don't care! It took me ages to finally buy OPI's ever-so-popular Do You Lilac It, and I will flaunt it!

It came out a tad darker than I hav anticipated, but it hasn't failed me. I love lilac nail polishes =)! I picked this up along with two other polishes when Ulta was having their Buy 2 Get One Free Deal. I finally jumped on the bandwagon and I get the hype now.

Do you own it and adore it?

Get Your Glow On: Multi-Tasking with Eyeko

I've been wanting to try Eyeko's 3-in-1 cream ($14) for literally ages now. I never ordered it because the only place I saw it available was directly from Eyeko, which meant I needed to spend at least $55 to get free shipping. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it offered from Asos (of which offers free shipping to the U.S.). First of all, there's the novelty of the cute little pink jar that reminds me of my mom's old face creams. Then, there's the fact that I friggin love highlighters. Cream, liquid, powder, I'll try them all.

Eyeko claims that it's a moisturizer, highlighter and eye cream all in one.I highly doubt that. I have no idea how you could use this as a moisturizer.It's incredibly shimmery. Eye cream? Also too shimmery for that. I'm going to stick with it as a highlighter.

Look how pretty and fluffy it is =). It's a golden highlighter, but Eyeko also released a limited edition version of this that is silvery for cool toned gals (they also have a tan version).

It may look white-ish but once spread on my cheekbones, it leaves a lovely golden sheen.
I really like highlighters because I feel like they give more dimension to my face. It's all about moderation though, you do NOT want to slather this all over your face. This jar will last me forever and a day because you only need a small amount at once.

I think I'm pretty set on highlighters for now. At this point, the only way I'll get through them is if I was head to toe shimmery everyday. No, I'm not going to use an "Edward Cullen" reference, that's so played out. Oh no, did that count as one?