$10 NARS Deals at Sephora

Sometime last month (?), or maybe it was just a few weeks ago (time escapes me), I ordered a couple of NARS goodies after discovering they were only $10 on Sephora. I bought NARS' Duo Eyeshadows in Cheyenne and Wicked as well as their lipgloss in All Night Long. I believe that the duo eyeshadows are now sold out but the lip gloss is in stock. >(^o^)> I'm not sure what possessed me to make that emoticon.

 

Wicked, All Night Long, & Cheyenne 

Shown above is Wicked. This was really just an impulse buy because I can't pass up a good deal. Other than that, when will I ever wear lime green eyeshadow?

Cheyenne was more up my alley. It comes with a bronze-gold as well as a reddish copper.

 

 Wicked duo, Cheyenne duo (The copper color is not true to life, it appears more of a cool brown in photos, but true copper face to face... )

Cheyenne duo, Wicked duo

Like all other NARS eyeshadows I've tried, I'm again amazed by the amazing texture and pigmentation. They are always smooth and the colors are always vibrant and pigmented. I haven't actually used Wicked yet (bad I know, considering I received it so long ago), but I reckon the white will make a nice highlight, while the green will make a nice partner to keep the white company in it's lonely case. I did end up using Cheyenne, using the gold all over the lid and the red copper into the crease. Verdict? Amazing color payoff, horrible look on me. That's right. I don't even know why I attempted to use this duo, I KNOW that copper and reddish colors look HORRENDOUS on me. There's just something about coppers that make me look plain gross and a bit evil. I'm not joking. I just can't pull it off, I can't really explain it, but I just look BAD. B-A-D. Get the picture? So, two out of four colors isn't horrible is it...?

Moving on (since I'm getting oh-so-huffy)...

All Night Long was another impulse buy. I always wear nudes, but couldn't resist the cheap pricetag on this deep colored baby.

All Night Long  is a wonderfully smooth and pigmented berry color. It looks like a deeper plum in the tube but applies like a light berry when swatched. I haven't tried it on my lips because I'm still getting over my experience with Turkish Delight (YEESH Note: Splotchy color, horrendous taste, bad smell). BUT, sources have informed me of the majesty that is this lip gloss (translation: it's wonder in a tube).

Bottom line, I like the products (with the exception of the way copper looks on me), but truth be told, these have been sitting in the back of a drawer ever since this swatching session.

THREE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!

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.

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!

BareEscentuals Buxom Babes Flower Girls: Pout like you just don't care.

I'm taking this oppurtunity while my internet is slowly working to finally do a new blog post. The internet at my house hasn't been working for almost a week now! =( GRRRR.

Awhile back, I finally tried my first Buxom lipglosses. Talk about living under a rock right? I recieved the BareEscentuals Buxom Babes Flower Girls mini lipgloss kit in the mail, and instantly fell in love. It's on sale at Sephora right now for $18 but I was lucky enough to snag it directly from Bare Escentuals for $9. The only reason I bought it was because it was dirt cheap, I didn't care too much for the glosses themselves.

 Each gloss is 2 ml each.The colors are Rosie, Lily, Iris, and Poppy

Dare I say I fell madly in love? All of the colors are excellent. Yes, even that Iris, the blue one(that's actually my favorite believe it or not). The formula is simply awesome. I'm not too fond of the sickenly sweet smell, but the minty tingle cooling effect that it leaves on my lips is great. I find that it does plump my lips, not a whole lot, but enough so I can see the difference. Although they are moisturizing, I make sure to apply lip balm before hand.And, aren't the names adorable? Flower girls... you gettttt it??? ;)

I'm sure you did.

Rosie is a really pretty light pink shade. Lily is a lilac-y pink. Iris is a cool blue. No, it does not leave your lips blue, it actually lightened the tone of my original lip color to a lighter pink. And Poppy is a pinky-coral. All very sheer wearable colors. Another upside? No shimmer of any sort. Now THAT'S what I like to see in my glosses (or lack of I mean).

Even though they're not available on the BareEscentuals site anymore, and it looks like they JUST sold out on Sephora.

But remember! It's that time of year again! Sephora Friends & Family just started, giving you a good 20% off the entire site with the code FF2010.

This post reminds me of a song.

You make me wanna POUT! Throw my hands up and POUT!

AY AY AY AY!

A little bit softer now!

 A little bit louder now!

OK. I lied. That's not how the song REALLY goes ;).

Haul: More Rock & Republic Cosmetics

Since my last Rock & Republic haul, I've been acquiring some more products from the line here and there.

Contrived blushes in : Bedroom, Shameless, and Seduce

I got three more blushes, since they're probably the product I like the most. I now have 11 out of the 12 colors made. The last color I don't have is one I don't want because it's a safety orange color... erggg. Bedroom is a matte peach. This is the color I realllyyy wanted last time but accidentally didn't order. Shameless is a bronzey shimmery color, and Seduce is a plum/brown with shimmer. Shameless can be used as a slight bronzer. These blushes, like all the other ones, are hard for me to use because they're so pigmented and my heavy hand always forgets...

Pressed Powder in Satin 

 Swatches of their pressed powders aren't available, neither is any info on the shades. I really had to take a guess at which one would match me, which makes shopping online difficult. I went with "Satin" and it works! =). I used this to mattify my forehead, nose, and top of my cheeks. I also need a light hand with this because although it's pressed, the brush picks up a lot of powder.

Noir Eye Color Trio in Scene 2 

 I had heard some pretty good things about this eyeshadow palette so I gave it ago. First things first, the compact is SUPER heavy. Sturdy indeed. I would hate to travel with this weapon though. The colors are OK. I probably won't really use the purple. As you can see, the black pan came broken. I'm so sad =(! I wish they handled my packages properly. Even if I clean it up, whenever I open the compact, the powder sticks to the magnet at the top of the palette! Color-wise, The black is a very deep matte black. The purple has an almost blue sheen to it, and the cream/champagne color would make a great inner corner highlight. The overall color schemes of their two palettes are weird... and I'm really disappointed that I won't really want to use this palette since it's broken...

Lipglosses in Vacant, Drama Queen, and Runaway

When I got my first two lipglosses, I really didn't like them. However, I found different ways to use them, and they really started to grow on me. Vacant is a nude peach, Drama Queen is a sparkly pink, and Runaway is a nude with glitter. Again, all the colors are sheer. I like Vacant the most. It seems like my favorite formulation of their lipglosses are ones without any shimmer. Vacant is actually looks like my original lipcolor. I wear it ontop of my NYX lipstick in "Honey" (which creates a nude base). I'm basically left with a better, lighter version of my natural lip color =). HURRAY! This is beating my former favorite lipgloss from them, "Muse".

Tinted Primer in Sophia and Tinted Illuminizer in Roxanne

 First, WTH. Both of the pumps look like this when opened. Are they broken?! Where's the straw?! I'm not digging in their for a stupid straw. Anyways, I've been pumping away, and nothing comes out. FAIL.

EDIT: I finally got the illuminizer to pump after about 100 pumps. Still nothing on the primer. I think the pump operates on air suction through the continuous pumping when you first get it. I think the primer's not coming out because of its thick mousse formula. 

The colors are very yellow and too dark for me. However, they are very sheer so they should work. The primer is a weird mousse texture and completely throws me off. The illuminizer's texture is nice though. You can use it as a liquid bronzer, mix it with your lighter foundation to get a darker shade, or mix it with any foundation for a nice glow (which is what I did). I'm holding off on trying the primer these because it seems like an overall strange product...

I think I have enough Rock and Republic products for the rest of my life. I'm generally happy with their products. I really don't think you should try the primer, and the eyeshadow palette doesn't seem worth it to me. I'd rather try their single eyeshadows.

For those interested, R&R is having their friends and family sale. They're offering 30% off with the code FF30. Personally, I'd wait for another sample sale at Hautelook or something.

Asos Haul: Clothes, Bags, Shoes, Illamasqua. Hits and a few misses.

I've recently fallen in love with Asos.com. Their range of clothing reminds me alot of a mix between Urban Outfitters and Forever21. Also, this month there's free shipping on every order to the US, big plus! Mainly, I shop from their sale/clearance section because they've got some amazing stuff at great prices. I can't remember the exact prices, but nothing was over $20.

Snake skin print platform heels in a size 3UK. HIT. These make me super tall and look nice. However, they're scary to walk in and my boyfriend says they look like stripper heels. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

 Gladiator flat sandals in a size 3UK. MISS. I will definitely have to return these, they're SO big. 3UK is supposed to be 5US, but these sandals say otherwise.

 

 Gladiator-esque heels in size 3UK. MISS. While very cute indeed, these are also too big =(.

Heart quilt satchel. HIT. I actually wore this bag today. It's super cute and a nice change from the large totes I normally wear.

Hobo slouchy bag. MISS. "It looked better on the model".

Navy draped mini dress. HIT. EVERY time I take a photo of blue, it comes out purple, with EVERY camera I've ever had. In real life, this is a dark navy and drapes beautifully on.

White one shoulder lace top. MISS. Super cute, much too small....

I also had to stop by their Illamasqua cosmetics section. I ended up getting too glosses, one "Intense" and one "Sheer".

The darker color is their Intense gloss in Frenzy, and the pinky shade is their Sheer gloss in Electrify.

Electrify and Frenzy

First thing's first, I HATE the packaging. When I recieved it, my initial thought was "What is this tiny piece of plastic junk?". The tube is a squeezy plastic with a clear domed applicator. It's a "squeeze-type" lipgloss. The packaging itself is flimsy and seems cheap, which is NOT cool, considering their price tag. The good however, is that the formula/color is amazing. Out of the two, I like the sheer color Electrify better. It's a pretty baby pink with sheen. It certainly is sheer and looks great on top of nude lips. Frenzy is a deep vibrant raspberry and the fact that it's an "Intense" gloss means a lot. Do you guys see that crazy pigmentation? It also is long wearing on the lips because even after the gloss fades, the color stains. After I washed off that swatch, I had a pink stain on my arm. This could be good or bad. Anywho, aside from the packaging, I would say the glosses were a HIT, and I am now a fan.

I think that completes my haul for today, hopefully I'll get in another order before the month's over ;P. I just noticed how many black items I got, how depressing. Oh well, versatality is the key!

Have a good Saturday! I know I will ;)!

Rock and Republic Cosmetics Haul & Swatches [PIC Heavy]

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there was a Rock and Republic Beauty sale on Hautelook. My order finally came! Ordering from sample sale sites always take a little longer to receive your items, but they're always worth it! I ordered nine contrived blushes and two lipglosses. Sadly, I didn't realize that I accidentally ordered two of the same blushes and didn't order the one I really wanted =(. 

The outer cardboard packaging is really nice. You can tell this stuff is high quality just by it's shell! A lot of people complain that the packaging is excessive, but since I'm a sucka for packaging, I think it's gorgeousssss. The blushes come in their own individual "hat boxes". The blushes were all 20 dollars each (50% off from the original $40), and the lipglosses were $13, also 50% off from $26. It was a great deal, and I couldn't pass it up!

Look how nice the package is! It's made out of a heavy, sturdy metal, and the desgin is so elegant and screams "high-end". There's .32 oz of product, which is a HUGE blush size.

Top row: All Nighter, Call Me, Foreplay, Kinky

Bottom row: Lust, Spank, Tease, X-Rated

I know, I know. The names are so provocative. I think the names are cute ;). It makes them extra special. I'm really sad I missed out on the shade Bedroom. The one I ordered two of is Lust.

All Nighter

Call Me

Foreplay

Kinky

Lust

Spank

Tease

X-rated

 All Nighter, Call Me, Foreplay, Kinky

I really hoped that my camera would pick up the colors better, but please take my word for it, these blushes are SO pigmented.
All Nighter is a shimmery reddish coral (think Nar's Taos). Call Me, probably the most famous blush from R&R is a pinky-peach with gold shimmer, and is often compared to NAR's Orgasm. Foreplay is a peach, and it's matte. Kinky is a super bright, angel, cool pink, much like Desire from Nars. It's also a matte color and looks hot pink in the pan.

Lust, Spank, Tease, X-rated

Lust is a coppery peach with gold sparkles. Spank is a matte cool pink. Tease is a matte mauve-pink and looks slightly like a dusty plum/pink. It's comparable to NAR's Mata Hari. X-rated is a bright matte fuschia.

A lot of these colors may look super scary on the pan, but as you can see, they swatch quite nicely. You have to remember to use a light hand with these to get a nice light flush, and not heavy crayon marks. I use a highlighting duo-fibre brush. The first time I tried out Lust, I used a normal blush brush and dipped it in the pan like I would with any other blush. BIG mistake. I slapped it on my cheeks and I looked pure CRAZY. So PLEASE, go easy and light-handed with these. I'm very impressed with the quality of these blushes, and need I mention again how beautiful the packaging is? Definitely a blush I want to be seen with =),

On to the lipglosses...

Muse and Preppy Punk

Preppy Punk is a clear pink with iridescent sparkles. Muse is a peachy color. Sadly, both colors appear as a clear gloss on my lips. These aren't pigmented and only give my lips shine. I was really disappointed, because I was hoping that Muse would give my lips a peachy shade. After trying out both colors, I can safely say that you're better buying a regular, clear lipgloss. The formula is just ok, a bit sticky and normal wear time. I'm only continuing to use these because the packaging is kind of interested. I've heard them described as "test tubes", but honestly, the first thing I thought of were tampons.... But I can totally see the pure test tube resemblance.


Even though the sale is over on Hautelook, you can still get all of Rock and Republic's makeup for 50% off on their site HERE. All you have to do is enter the code ROCKCOSMETICS at checkout. They only have one blush shade left, but they have all shades of lipglosses, as well as a good variety of other products. I'm going to buy their pressed powder. ALSO, shipping is only 99 cents! Talk about a great deal.

EDIT: They just restocked on blushes!

Did you guys haul any R&R? Are you planning on it?