The End of a Year of Beauty...

The collection as of December 31, 2010

Final Goodies of 2010

I had to mall it on the 26th...

I realized that I did not have the MAC lipstick open in my last post, so here is the lovely Rebel...

My final spree of 2010 was the Aragonite glossimer which I absolutely love and the Gris Scintillant eyeliner. I love the glossimer for all it's sparkling flashing winks of color and I am thrilled beyond words that the eyeliner stays grey no turning blue on me ...They both look so lovely with the perlees quint.

I was lucky enough to see the pamphlet for the summer collection and it is total and complete love for me. I have lost all interest in any of the remaining pieces of Chanel spring and am wavering somewhat on Dior spring as well....

I had to get the I Get No Kick pencil from MAC since I thought it would be lovely with the Chanel face I am creating. I was sold on Feline when the SA said it is suppose to be a smudgy rocker look! Something New seems the perfect lipstick to start out 2011 wearing!

Lovely December Goodies

Yummy....

Where to start?

The Clarins lip glosses came from one of the many "flash" sale sites and I think I ended up paying $3ish for them. They are surprisingly awesome and the colors are lovely if not a bit sheer, they will be perfect this spring and summer...

The Beast Child had another soccer game over the bridge so of course I had to waste time at the outlet. The CCO had nothing that caught my eye but the Lancome outlet has the Coral Paradise palette that I have always regretted not buying and the amazingly lovely Freeze Frame cream highlighter. I bought both for $25.00 how awesome is that?

Bare Escentuals sent out these promotional codes and I received a code for a free Brush with Genius magnetic brush collection with a purchase...I got the Beast his Blemish Therapy and the Delish lip gloss (perfect to throw in my pocket) palette for me. The brushes are really awesome and the case expands to hold quite a bit of make-up. 

With the Sephora VIB $20.00gc  I bought the Laura does London buxom set (20.00 on sale=free,lol) and the Bright Now kit..I absolutely adore the Laura magenta buxom gloss and the pale pink London buxom lipstick, each worn alone or together. In fact this is the first time that I have ever truly considered buying a back-up! The Bright Now kit also came with the lovely brightening face primer, mascara and the Fast and Flawless face brush, which is perfect for applying highlighters. The Boost blush is a rosy apricot glowing pot of loveliness, the Eye Bright is a golden glow and the Energy Drink lip gloss is just the loveliest of lovely glowing golden pink glosses that I have seen in a long time...An absolute lovely kit for when you are feeling gray and gloomy.

My friend gave me her Sephora BI $15.00gc and I chose the Benefit Femme Metale kit which was marked down to $28.00...I really am going back and forth on this kit..

.First off, I love the packaging, it just looks really cool to me...

Second, I love all three pencils, they are so smooth and the colors are just lovely...

Third, I love the Taupe-aztic cream shadow but the other two not so much..

I do think the fact that it cost me $13.00 for the kit should make me be like "ummm yessss, keep it", I guess I am being an indecisive Libra,lol....

Finally, while the bulk of my Christmas bonus went to the Beast Child and I must say I truly outdid myself after two unemployed and pretty poor Christmases, I did have to get myself a little something...

What's better than a Chanel Christmas? I ordered the Ombres Perlees de Chanel palette and have worn it for the past two days. It is truly a lovely, lovely palette...I put aside enough for a lip color but will pick that out in person with R. I am leaning towards one of the glosses...

Well that's it, well, maybe one more little spree next week....

Slackety Slacker & Too Faced Too

Well how lovely that I fail the last weeks of keeping my shopping diary slash blog....

Next year I shall try harder!

Back in November I ordered this awesome Too Faced kit....

Love and adore everything about it from the pink printed box it came in, to the adorable packaging, to the most awesome products!!! The kit came with cutest little make-up bag, two eye duo's(Silk Teddy/ Erotica & Teddy Bear/Heaven), the Snow bunny bronzer, Free Love lipstick, mascara, TFSI, and the flatbuki brush.

I also bought the "small" Pink Leopard bronzer and the Mocha Mi Amore was a GWP.

I really love all these pieces, Too Faced always makes me happy....

Rock & Republic an Adventure in De-Potting

I have amassed a lovely little collection of R&R eyeshadows....

I love this picture, the way the sun is dancing off the mirrors...It makes me happy!

However it was a pain to store and choose the colors to use.I  knew if they were in a palette I would use the shadows so much more. 

So out came the handy soddering tool and voilà a palette of loveliness...

Only one color did not fit into the Z-Palette...

I popped the bottom disc off by using a butter knife and then melted and "punched" through the plastic and pushed out the pan with the soddering tool. The cases all snapped back together so if I want I can return them to their original packaging. A major bonus was the pans did not need magnets!

I love my awesome "new" R&R palette and find it so much easier to reach for the eyeshadows when "doing" my face...

Oops...October Lovelies

Slackety slacker. I have been slacking on my year of beauty....October brought some lovely lovelies to the collection....

Before I even begin I must say how much I love the black and gold Dior packaging for holiday and the too cute BE hatbox!

Every holiday season Bare Escentuals comes out with a TSV for QVC, this year's is The Perfect Gift and I am just in love with it....The Crème de la Crème shadow is a glowing color that has a greenish cast, it is just beautiful, the Magnifique shadow is a lovely plummy shadow that does not give me the bruised eye look at all. The Avant-Garden blush is pinkish apricot like color on me. The new lip product is called Pretty Amazing and the color is Rouge, it is a lipstick/lipgloss hybrid that is lovely to wear as well as a just a lovely compliment to the eyes and cheeks. The kit also comes with a mascara, an eyeliner in Black Coffee which is awesome and a tinted hydrating mineral veil. There will be 3 more seasonal color collections in this series. I always sign up for auto-delivery of the BE holiday collection and then always cancel, however if they all come with adorable hatboxes I may just stay in.

The Beast had a soccer game over the Skyway so of course I had to visit the CCO. The only thing that caught my eye was the Shell Pearl beauty powder from the Liberty collection, I really am happy I got it, it really is a lovely golden peach pink powder. 

I went to check My Highland Honey at Dillard's but when I saw they still had the Oh So Fair beauty powder I had to get it not so much for the powder but for the awesome compact!

I was so happy to see C. at the Dior counter too as I had been wanting a lipcolor to go with the lovely, lovely 5 Golds eye quint. I knew as soon as I saw the promo pictures that I would be in love with that quint! I had not been happy with any of the lipcolors I had tried with the 5 Golds and C. suggested Bronze Zerline. It looks amazing with the shadows! C. also said to apply a bit of the Amber Diamond highlight powder on top of the Bronze Zerline then top it all with a shimmering golden gloss to take the lips to a whole new level of awesome loveliness. She applied it all to me and it was (and is) lovely...

Finally the Pink/Gold Minaudiere from Dior, Sephora had it online for Friends and Family and with giftcard I had been saving from my birthday it was practically free! I love the colors, the protective flap over the glosses, and mostly just the way it looks....

All in all October brought some lovelies and heralded what I hope to be an awesomely lovely Holiday Season!

MAC & Chanel & Happy Birthday to Me from Me!

Every since my little Chanel makeover I have been obsessing over the Black Jade eyeliner as well as the Rose Dentelle lipstick, so what a perfect gift to me with love....

I figured I would also include my Venomous Villains spree as I used my Birthday money...What a wild ride the whole anticipation of this collection was...

I remember when the first hints came out and all the speculation started, I had a massive list, when the swatches first started to appear it dwindled down to just a couple things, when A. let me play and put my choices to the side it had grown again, But finally today when I went to pick it up, it was just these 4 things...

Violetta Lipstick, Briar Rose Powder, She Who Dares MES, and Bite of an Apple Blush.

All Just Lovely!

Why Hello There Chanel....

As I was taking a picture of my newest lovelies Katie was not amused....

I on the other hand am completely thrilled....

So, R. is the awesome Chanel dude at the Countryside Dillard's who has been trying to entice me back into the world of Chanel for sometime now. I have resisted until today when he showed me the Clair eyeliner pencil, this pencil has the most amazing eye brightening effect...It opened my eyes and took away any hint of allergy redness without that stark contrast that white and even some "flesh" colored pencils seem to have....Truly a must have! 

Of course R. then had to say let's just try this lipstick..It was Chintz and he layered the "matching" lipgloss over and it was love. Before I knew it I was in the chair and K.  the Chanel make-up artist began to do my eyes with the Winter Nights quad and just like that I was a goner and the birth of a new obsession began....She used a brightening base and a concealer that truly eliminated my dreadful dark circles, she also used a green eyeliner pencil that kept catching my eye in the mirror on the drive home...Finally she finished with Rose Dentelle lipstick which just brought my entire face to a new level, what a gorgeous lovely color...

I remember being into Chanel years ago and one thing I had was a quad that appeared to have  four pans of white but each pan was shot through with different shades iridescence, of course that is long gone....

I really can't begin to describe how awesome both R. and K. are, they truly are make-up junkies and don't turn up their noses up when you talk about other brands ... K. and I also bonded over the fact that we are mother's of dreadful beast children otherwise known as teenage boys...

I look forward to building my Chanel collection....

B.E. Good or B.E. Bad

I have such  love/hate feelings towards Bare Escentuals....On one hand I adore their foundation and I think their skincare is awesome....On the other hand their pots o' color multiple like rabbits and before you know it, you have an ombre collection of the same colors....

I sent C. a box of colors this week that I no longer wanted in preparation of the new colors I bought over the weekend when B.E. was on QVC.....

On the right is The Royal Treatment inspired by an opal ring that Leslie bought in New Orleans. I was prepared to return it because unfortunately, while the darker shade,Crown is a lovely pot of shimmering teal with shots of green,blue and gold it turned a sooty mess when blended. I have noticed that is a common occurrence when the shadows have a black base. However, I figured I would give it another try...I put King (golden color) all over the eye rather heavy, then layered Crown all over the lid and crease and created the most amazing look that is just lovely...Crown also retains it's color when foiled or used wet as a liner. The Beignet gloss is a peachy golden kiss...

Now on the left are the colors of the Ultimate Grand kit which has to be one of my top 10 purchases of 2010....The kit is based on matte and glimmer and includes a matte foundation and a "regular" foundation as well as two brushes which are not in the picture....On the top left is Secret Radiance a golden glowy face color and the right is Exhilarate, a raspberry matte blush that I just adore...The middle row are the matte shadows and the 3rd row are the glimmer shadows. The left is Willow a taupey golden silvery color. The matte and the glimmer are completly differrent while having the same feeling of color. On the right is Pashmina, a smoke color that has hints of slate and yet I see a hint of green as well. The matte is much darker than the glimmer in the pot yet like Willow they truly are two versions of the same color...The lighter gloss is Spritzer a pale dazzling tube of pink loveliness and Cranberry Sorbet is on the right, a glossy rose lollipop...

It really is just an amazingly lovely collection of color....

MAC-Venomous Villains & B2M

What a lovely day at the local MAC counter....complete with a lovely Princess....I went to pick up Fleur Power blush I had been obsessing over it since last weekend when I B2M'd for Lustering lipstick....

Both of these colors are lovely beyond words and play perfectly off of each other...They are a both a lovely pinky color with just a hint of coral with Lustering being a tad pinker....

Princess Amber was helping me and I asked her if they are doing any pre-orders for the Venomous Villains and she said "do you want to see the colors?' I was like "Ahhh yes,please" and she then proceeded to bring out a basket and set it down in front of me and told me to put to the side what I wanted, swoon.....

I first looked at and swatched what I knew was on my list of lust....

Oh So Fair so soft and lovely....

Bite of Apple which looked really muddy on me so I believe my Fleur Power will do the trick...

Briar Rose jumped on to my hand and into the pile....

She Who Dares was as awesome as I had hoped...

French Quarter is just a lovely color that has sparkles dancing throughout...

So not bad I only switched out a blush for a beauty powder until I decided to look at the lips...

Innocence Beware, awesome pinky nude....

Violetta = Love

Resort Life is just a lovely sparkling gloss of color and it looked lovely over Innocence Beware...

I played with the magic powder and while they were really pretty cool they weren't enough to join the pile... 

I was pretty amazed that the swatches made it all the way home to take this picture...

Unfortunately Resort Life did fade away...
I am so happy all my choices are in a bag waiting for me to come and pick them up on the 30th....

Deep Thoughts... An Excuse to Use This Picture

After dinking with my Excel spreadsheet earlier, I have come to the conclusion that I truly am satisfied with my current collection...While I do have a list of lust and must for the upcoming MAC Villains and Dior Holiday, on a whole I am quite pleased.....I think my New Years resolution to stick with a few brands that I love has helped, as well as purging the 105 items that I have either swapped or given away this year so far....I shall continue to ponder..

Nerd Patrol or Fun With Excel

So I went to add my newest purchases to my Excel spreadsheet and one thing led to another...

As of today my collection reads like this...

Type & Items

Cheek&Face / 31 (25 Blush - 6 Face)
Eyeliner / 9   
Eyeshadow / 98  (78 Singles- 20 Palettes)
Lipliner / 8   
Lipgloss / 22   
Lipstick / 24    

Brand & Type             

BE -  Cheek & Face(8) Eyeliner(2) Eye Single(35) Lipgloss(5)

Dior -  Cheek & Face(4) Eyeliner(1) Eye Single(4) Eye Palette(10)
Lipliner(3) Lipgloss(5) Lipstick(9)

Lancome - Cheek & Face(5) Eyeliner(3) Eye Single(19) Eye Palette(3)
Lipliner(5) Lipgloss(8) Lipstick(3)

MAC -  Cheek & Face(5) Eye Single(11) Eye Palette(4) Lipstick(11)

Rock & Republic -  Cheek & Face(8) Eyeliner(1) Eye Single(8)

Bobbi Brown  - Eye Single(1)

Chanel -  Lipgloss(2)

Gosh - Lipstick(1)

Guerlain - Eyeliner(1)

Kat Von D - Eye Palette(1)

Lipstick Queen - Lipgloss(1)

Sleek -  Eyeliner(1) Eye Palette(2)

Thierry Mugler -  Lipgloss(1)

T. LeClerc -  Cheek & Face(1)

This does not include - Foundations, Powders, Concealers, Primers, and Mascara's as well as a few items that are in the junked box awaiting their fate....

Here is a copy of my spreadsheet, but not my beautifully color coordinated and detailed one...    

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjnKu4TehQ_jdFA2SlhpZHR6OHg5OTktN2wtUkVvQXc&hl=en&authkey=CM63pe4J  

Not too Hot to Spree

There were a few sprees' here and there throughout the month....

There was a bit of B2M where I picked up Baby's on Fire lipstick which is a lovely red that just makes me happy when I put it on, some may not like the glitter but I think it is a gorgeous red that has a bit of pink and a bit of orange and whole lot of loveliness...I also added some new eye shadows as well as the two of the new palettes. I adore the new style of palettes, I think they are very sleek and modern. I added Expensive Pink, Humid, and Lucky Green which all happened to go amazingly well with Firecracker. For the other palette which began with Smoke & Diamonds, I added Cranberry, Greensmoke, and All that Glitters. Massive fun at the MAC counters and not a whole lot of money spent!

The Dior Misty Mauve palette finally arrived at the counter so that along with the new Technicolor Red lipstick completed my Dior fall collection.... I also picked up Fizzy Lemonade Dior Kiss, normally I am not too keen on layering but I really like that gloss over some of my lipsticks....I am now obsessing over the Dior holiday, swoon!

I finally broke down and bought Le Metier de Beaute - Magic Lustre Creme. I have been wanting it for ages and it does create the effect I wanted...Whether it be turning a powder into a cream or just a subtle highlight on my cheekbone or giving my eyes a glossy effect. It really is rather amazing...

Finally, PayPal money and the Rock & Republic site sale is causing me to add more lovely shadows to my collection...I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful Jaded (on the left) is...It is a glowing pot of aqua loveliness and Hangover is just an amazing drab yet golden khaki with the smallest flashes of green, truly lovely...

I think I'm good for awhile or at least until MAC's Venomous Villains comes out!

Rock & Republic - Rocks

I have been mad about Rock & Republic since they first rolled onto the cosmetic scene and I was bitterly disappointed when they left Nordstrom....Fortunately I can still get my fix at the R&R website and it does frequently pop up on various "sale sites"....The one thing the chick at Nordstom always suggested was the tinted primer and even though I thought it was pretty fantastic, I could never bring myself to buy it when there was all the glorious color to be had...The Rock & Republic site recently had a 50% off code and since they offer a combo set of the tinted primer and tinted illuminizer, I figured why not? I also picked up a blush I had been wanting and another eyeshadow....

The primer was all that I remembered it to be and the illuminizer is pretty fantastic as well. I think Bedroom now completes my collection of R&R blushes, there are a few I don't have but they really do not send me over the moon...I love the Snakeskin shadow it is a lovely lovely taupey greeney greyey color and I am so happy I finally bought it...There are a few more eyeshadows I would like but they are not invading my dreams...

My First Trip to the CCO....

I have heard about the fabled CCO but since I loathe outlet malls I had never been before....Til this past weekend, The Beast had a soccer game down south and since it was entirely too hot I ventured over to Ellenton and the CCO....It was rather lovely except for the waves of perfume that hit you when you enter...I tooled around the MAC displays and chose these....

I have never tried the pigments before so I thought this little set ( Haute High Jinks)  was a great way to start, I am not too sure what I think is cuter the little vials or the cube they came in....I also chose the infamous Smoke & Diamonds, it truly is a lovely color.

They ladies that worked there were perfectly lovely and I have found a place to hang when we travel over the Skyway for soccer...

More UK Goodies....

Thanks to the lovely members of MUA, I was turned on to some UK companies that ship to the USA without charging an outrageous fee...

 

From ASOS, I was finally able to try Steam Cream which is a lovely white cream that has a divine scent as well as being madly moisturizing. The fact that the product is packaged in the loveliest little tins only adds to my love. Also from ASOS a set from Jelly Pong Pong....That name alone makes me happy and the packaging is just as cute as can be. I admit the flower puff is rather useless but how cute is it? The Hawaiian Sun is a sheer golden bronzer that just brings my face to life. The Cherry Surprise is the lipgloss in the tube it is a lovely rosy color and very moisturizing, The Plush Pumps palette is meant to be a cream shadow and lipgloss, however pink on my eyes is a little to rabbit like so I layer both on my lips for a glowing baby pink lip. The double-ended wand contains Lemon Truffle one side meant for the cheeks and the other for the lips. But layering the gloss over the cheek tint creates the most amazing coral lip that I have been wearing non-stop.

From GlamR I received the new Sleek Circus palette, chock full of lovely vibrant colors that will give a neutral eye just the pop it needs. I adore the packaging it came in, it is so colorful and very circus like. I also received the Sleek Kajal Eyeliner in Nocturnal, which is awesome for lining the inside of my eyes as well as using it as a black base.

I am so pleased with all my purchases and look forward to trying more products from the UK...

Dior Redemption - Was it Just the Occasion?

Last Friday The Beast Child and I journeyed over to International in order to get his back to school shoes at Nordstrom. He gets more excited about the anniversary sale than I do about new color stories. Anyways after the skips were purchased we had to tool around the Dior counter (my reward) and happened upon two of the make-up artists that were at the Dillard's event last week...They were awesome and so much fun...Brittany (I think that was her name) spent so much time playing with colors with me and I am now in love with Night Dust...I have usually just passed right over it, but wow! It does create an amazing smoky eye....They said they too felt the whole "icky" vibe at the event and agreed that that Petal Shine was indeed a hideous choice on me...Anyways I bought the new Silver Screen duo and the Spectacular Mauve lipstick....

How awesome is it that M. the counter chick gave me the gwp too? I love the bag..... 

I think the duo will look just lovely with the Lancome cherry shadow....

We stopped by Dillard's to see T. at Lancome where we ohhed and ahhed over the pictures of the fall collection and then went over to the Guerlain counter to look at the fall palettes, they are beyond lovely. 

T. told The Beast he should buy me one for my birthday since he has a summer job...That would be so awesome as B(?). told The Beast the same thing about Dior, I really would fall over if he delivers!

A Fool for Lancome

I am such a fool for Lancome....Last weekend was a rainy mess so I decided to go up to Countryside since I had not seen my Lancome chicks for forever. The lovely M. showed me the book for fall and what awesomeness there was to behold...I have to have the rose blush for it's loveliness alone and the cherry shadow because it is just too cool. I can't wait for her to call when it all arrives, I'm not sure on what lip so that will wait til we can play. I then headed out into the mall to spend some money on the ungrateful Beast when my eye was caught by this...

 

I usually just say no to PWP's but seriously how lovely is this? The shimmering bag is too cute and you could really toss your wet bikini in the bag, it has a waterproof lining...And even though I don't like to layer lip products the Natural Beauty lipstick with Shimmer Juicy Tube looks just like the color of the bag. I love it all and M. was so great she was like just buy a pencil sharpener, so I didn't have to buy something I really did not need in order to buy something I really wanted. Cool!

Dior Event at International

There was a Dior event at International last night with Vincent a Dior Make-up Artist that J. had talked me into attending and in two words.........Dior Devastation!

Uggh, first I find out J. is gone and I am heartbroken, her replacement is one of those hard sell types that I am so not into...Then I had to go through the whole skincare spiel and try as they may I will never be convinced that all that layering of products is in any way going to improve or correct the invariable signs of aging...Then my face was coated with foundation and I was presented to V. for color...

He scolded me for not using Dior skincare and asked me how I liked the foundation, I was like "I don't like it, it looks like a mask and my skin feels like it is coated" and when he questioned my skincare routine I was like "I am of the kiss school of thought" and he was like ? and I was "keep it simple stupid". Oh indeed we bonded, especially when he told me that I was not a true Dior diva because there wasn't even a Dior perfume I like.....

He worked his magic and we chatted and he was continuously amazed what I knew  about the upcoming collections and launches while I am continuously amazed by people who work in the beauty field and act like they know nothing other than the particular line they are affiliated with...Anyways after using two different mascaras, multiple cheek products, I lost count of the shadows and liners and finally lipliner, two lipsticks and one lipgloss he presented me with the mirror and I was like "oh he** no" to myself of course.....

Yes, I know my eyes are blue and how much MA's love to use purple on blue eyes BUT Petal Shine is not a flattering look for me and yes, the lips looked great but I could get the same look with Lancome's Electric Pink. I just felt so generic and I did not feel the Dior magic at all...

Wow, I sound really bitter and hateful but I am really just disappointed. I feel like my face was done to reflect the local clientele and not so much the individual.

Fortunately Carey a local Dior make-up artist was on hand and with her knowing me so well she suggested all these products...

Love.Love.Love
I was telling her how much I love Golden Spotlight and she was like check this out and took Queen of the Green eye show shadow then layered the Gold Touch shadow over the top, it is amazing! She told me to line under my eye with the Golden Spotlight using it wet. I can't wait to try it, there was just no way I was doing anything but bronzer and gloss today, since I can still feel all that gunk from yesterday...She told me I had to have the Black Tie Plum gloss and told me to use a black eyeliner as a lipliner with it for extreme drama. I got Sari Pink just because it is such a lovely color... I told Carey how much I love that she gets me and that I will see her when fall comes to the counter....I have high hopes for all the mauvey loveliness...

The Year So Far........

Let's assess the year so far, shall we? The year started out in a bit of a funk but the landing of a job (yay!) has changed more than my financial situation and I am finally feeling like my old self! However I remain a complete and utter slacker with regards to my evening skincare routine...Anyways towards the end of last year I really got into swapping and some lovely additions landed in my stash and some losers went on to loving homes...

2010
Items Swapped or Given Away -61   (my swappers always benefit from my loser list)
Items Received in Swap- 22   (does not include skin & body care or nail polish)
Items Added to Stash by Other Means- 33  (includes items bought from gc's rec'd in swap)

My 2010 Favorites so Far.....

Face

I am really impressed by Coverfx primer, I use it on days that I don't use Genifique on those days I am really impressed by Lancome's La Base Pro BUT the new BE brightening primer is pretty awesome! I have yet to find an eye primer that sends me over the moon but BE's primetime eyes is on the launch pad. I remain in love with mineral foundations wether it be Bare Escentuals or Lancome. The best 4.99 (awesome sale at Soft Surroundings) I spent was for the T.LeClerc Terre de Sienne powder it is the most lovely bronzing powder. Undereye? The Thierry Mugler Bleu Glacis is the savior. BE's Mineral Veil is always in my bag if I get too glowy during the day...

Blush

Rock & Rerpublic, awesome pigmentation, awesome packaging, and just the loveliest colors ever...

Eye Shadow

Dior, there is magic in those blue compacts of color. I am not sure what it is but I am never displeased...

Liners - Eye & Lip

Lancome, the colors, the formula, the texture, what is there not to love?

Lip Sticks and Gloss

Dior. the range of colors is lovely beyond words.....

The Ultimate Summer Face, When it is Just too Hot

Eye - Lancome Erika F
Cheek - Lancome Shimmer Mandarin Sky
Lip - Dior Apricot Cloche or Lancome Chris & Tell

Arts & Crafts w/ Dior

The lovely J. gave me the Vintage Pink tester from the spring collection since it was sold out....How lovely of her it was the one thing that I longed for (besides a job) during the winter of my discontent.....

And of course I had to create a lovely new home for it outside it's tester packaging...

How cool is it that it barely looks touched?

                                              

 

 The top and the bottom.

I love my make-up "people"!!!

BE-Back Mountain....A Love Story

I first got into Bare Escentuals back in 1998/99 when  I saw it on QVC, at that time it was it just a kit with two foundations a brush and I think Warmth, I don't even think it was a full hour show. Anyways I really liked it and as time went by and more colors for the eyes and cheeks and lips were introduced I started to amass a nice little collection...There was a period of time that all I used was BE with the exception of mascara and lipstick/gloss but then I was over it and got rid of most of it except my most favorite colors...Last November I got sucked back in by the collaboration between BE and Honora pearls and although there are 4 kits in the series, so far I only have the first kit, I do have high hopes for the 4th kit...Last time BE was on QVC I got the ReThink kit which as I said I was very happily surprised by and I also broke down and got the San Francisco kit....

The SF kit is on the left and I could not love it anymore from the Golden Gate blush to the Cable Car and North Beach shadows to the Sourdough lipgloss it is simply a lovely lovely collection and the colors create a beautiful face. They are soft but still not horribly boringly neutral...I wish the gloss showed the pink iridescence that is shot thru it...On the right are Aztec Gold and Treasure Island that I received in a swap,they are from the Castaway collection....Treasure Island is an amazing green/bronze shade that I just love...I don't think I will ever completely quit BE and as long are there are colors that thrill me I will gladly continue my affair....

MAC & Disney & Pennies...Oh My!

Over the moon alert.....I am so excited for the Venomous Villains collection by MAC that is due in September (happy birthday to me from me) that I can barely contain myself... I am a fool for Disney, I would love to work for them and I would love to live in Celebration right outside the "world", it would be beyond awesome! I am constantly stalking Specktra for all the latest news and after the colors were spilled I quickly started my list....

Cruella
Lipstick: Innocence, Beware!
Lipglass: Wicked Ways
Shadow: De-vil
                                     Sweet Joy               

Evil Queen
Lipstick: Toxic Tale
Lipglass: Hot House
Shadow: Vainglorious

Beauty Powder: Oh so Fair 

 Blush: Bite of an Apple
Maleficent
Lipstick: Violetta
MES: She who Dares
Dr. Facilier

Greasepaint: Slick Back
                            French Quarter
Magically Cool Liquid Powder: Cajun

I'm so Vain Mirror- I mean really, how can you not?

I can't wait for the swatch previews to start rolling in and I am officially in saving pennies mode!

IGAJSIJHTS* Dior

*I got a job so I just had to spree...Dior

 My final spree was with the lovely J. at Dior where I bought....

Amber Diamond - Awesome Highlighter!

Golden Spotlight - A Sparkly Gold That Says Summer is Here!

Apricot Cloche - The Most Divine Pale Peachy Gloss!

Plus the added bonus of a GWP, my favorite thing? Why the pink rose of course!

The mini lipstick and mini quint as well as the samples and bag are lovely too BUT I love pink flowers...

I managed (with a little help from my friends) to accumulate enough receipts to send in for my Dior Diva VIP reward....I am on pins and needles to see what that package will hold....

Vultures 2, Lisa 0 - A Lovely Loss

As I was strolling thru Nordstrom last weekend I was accosted (dramatic) by the Angle rep who lured me in with Thierry Mugler make-up that they had gotten in for an event.... I cannot begin to sing the praises of the concealer, Bleu Gacis, it is a bizzare blue cream that feels spongy to the touch and cooling to the eye and is $45.00. I was like let me walk around and see how I like it...I went outside to investigate -awesome, were my hideous dark circles much much much less apparent? I went to ask  J. at Dior her opinion and she was like "wow!" and I was sold...So I returned to the vulture (she really is lovely) and said "ok, you were right" and I then browsed the display where I fell under the spell of the Plexi Gloss in coral effect...It is the loveliest coral holographic tube of loveliness but for $40.00, I was like no no no! So I only got the concealer. Til I got home and saw that some unexpected money hit my PayPal and before I knew it the order for the gloss had been placed....

I loved opening the package in the velvet pouch and I thought the thank you note was a lovely touch....

The picture does not even come close to showing the awesomeness that is the gloss, it is just lovely beyond words and I am thrilled with all the fragrance (all spray) samples...

In conclusion sometimes those vultures do know what they are talking about, love to you A. at Nordstrom, International!

IGAJSIJHTS* - Sephora

*I got a job so I just had to spree...

Sephora

I love shopping Sephora online, there are always codes for some lovely extras...

The Korres scrub smelled like a** so I returned it and got a small bottle of Josie Maran Argan oil, we shall see how that works as I am finding my beloved L'Occitane shea butter to be a bit heavy,,,

I am in love with the Too Faced 500 point BI perk the colors are really lovely...The little bag also holds my little BE foundation jar from the ReThink Beauty kit and I added a couple of small brushes and it is perfect to toss in my bag for "just in case".

I am also totally in love with the BE Wink & Kiss it was just a code, love the Buxom lipstick in Brooklyn - a lovely, rosey, nudey,tingly, lip....

An awesome spree!

More Fun With Swapping

I just adore swapping....

So some more losers left me and these lovelies came in their place...

I love Korres - Just Yummy!

Benefit Sassy Frass - Lovely for Fall & Winter!

Mac Uniformly Blue Greaspaint - Perfect Replacement for My Ghastly Lancome Gel Liner!

Dior Mystic Smokys - Hated it In Feb. but Played with it Again and Loved it, Especially Used Individually!

I Got a Job So I Just Had to Spree!

So after forever and a day I finally got a job and it is absolutely perfect....I am so glad that I trusted that when the time was right it would happen..Good things happen to those who wait....

I went to MAC at Nordstrom where got Firecracker and Brush (boring) Cleaner.Love, love, love Firecracker it really makes my eyes blue, blue, blue...

I also ordered the Bare Escentuals upcoming TSV on QVC....I absolutely love everything in this kit. At first I was like "oh, how boring" but it does create an amazing face. The eyeshadow Lucky is a lovely purplish taupe and the Ink liner looks fab with the shadow. The kit also comes with a new brightening face primer and eye primer. The eye primer has a subtle golden glow and paired with the shadow and liner my eyes looked lovely. The face primer doesn't shimmer but it does do something, I thought my face looked more alive and glowy, awesome! The Optimist blush creates a a rosy glow and the Jelly Roll lip gloss finishes the look off perfectly.....Usually the brushes that come in kits are like "whatever", there is one of those but the Tapered Crease Defining brush is just awesome beyond words it really is all you need to create an eye look. There is also a foundation and bag in the kit....It is an auto-delivery series so I am curious about the next 2 kits.

My last auto-delivery (the Pearl kits) has been a diappointment and I have skipped the last 2, I hope the last one delivers on the promise of the first kit, we will see....
Yay!!! I am so happy to be able to spree again......

B2M & Hype = Summer Savage

Saturday seemed like a good day to B2M and as usual I went in with one idea and came out in another direction...I wanted a hibiscus color lipstick -  not really red maybe a bit orange with some pink...I ended up with Speak Louder and I am in love, it makes my eyes really blue and with maybe just a hint o' cheek and loads of mascara  it will be awesome for the summer. So not bad and I was still on track...However my eye kept straying to Tanarama, I was intrigued by it's frosty gold loveliness, I smeared some over Up the Amp and was like oooh how lovely for fall. I tried it on and was like oh yes indeed just what I need for a beachy golden summer lip.

I was done and no pennies were going to change hands until the dreaded words "is there anything else?" and before I knew it I was like " I want to see that Dirty greaspaint that everyone is loosing their minds over". Awesome! I just smeared it under my eyes and they went from being a clear dark blue into a swamplike blue!!! I was totally in love and found my savage summer face, a bit of whitish gold eyeshadow the Dirty smeared all around the eye, a bronzey rosy cheek and the Tanarama....I thought it was just lovely...

I have no clue why my lips look pink, they are a pale gold in "real" life.

MAC Madness - Microwaves & Mixing

So Sunday was rather rainy and boring and with the lack o' funds prohibiting me from spreeing I decided to mess around....

As I continue my love affair with my lip brush I figured why not make some pots of lipstick? I dumped my Show Orchid, Warm Me Up, and See Sheer into little pots, microwaved them for about 45 seconds and now I have these lovely pots of lipstick. I then dumped the rest of my Pearl cream color base into a pot too.

Finally the mixing....So I was not feeling the love any longer for my Redhead MSF and while I thought my Dainty blush was lovely in the pot, on, not so much. I dumped both in a bowl mixed them around and now I have the most lovely golden peachy  pink highlighter/blush that I have seen in a long time!

The added bonus of B2M is rather lovely too...

A Box of Color and a Revelation

So another little lovely that the best swapper ever sent was this....

There are 4 Mac lipsticks in this little cube of loveliness and of course I am absolutely mad over the bright and yummy colors! But Brick O La on the lower left is simply one of the most beautiful colors I have ever tried, it is pure perfection. My eyes are bluer and my cheeks look rosy, just lovely....

I have always dismissed lip brushes as being unnecessary  until I needed one in order to use these colors, I picked this up at WalMart (shudder) and it is surprisingly nice and for $1.98 an incredible bargain. I am pretty amazed at how lovely lipstick looks applied with a brush there really is a difference between a brush and just slapping it on from the tube! While I do adore a smudgy messy eye, smeary lips are rather unattractive.

Little Love of Liberty....

Oh how I coveted this collection, from the initial news and a description of the colors to when the first official promo pictures appeared I was officially in "saving pennies" mode. When the early swatches appeared I was in full lust, luckily I arranged a swap with the divine JJ and saved the money for the rest....

Ah yeah not so much when I finally had it all.

The packaging is amazing and the case for the blush is lovely beyond words especially with the Dirty Plum glowing behind the bird. I returned the Petals and Peacocks and Bough Grey a few days after taking this picture, they just were not making me happy.

The Dirty Plum blush, Blooming Lovely lipstick and Birds & Berries eyeshadow were all sent by JJ in swap and while I like all the colors I really think I could have BoBo'ed the blush and shadow with items already in my collection. The Blooming Lovely was corpse like (not entirely a bad thing, especially when I topped it with Lancome Rose Jolie gloss) on me until I paired it with the Barry M lip pencil Jennifer brought back from England it sorta pinked it up.

I think I will tuck it all away until late August and start wearing it then, I want a darker look at the time of the year  but as it is summer here until mid November, it will be perfect for a fallish look... I just think a lot of the darker heavier colors of fall look wrong in this climate even as I wear darker clothing colors they are still summer weight.

Bottom line.....I basically fell in lust with packaging!

So Jennifer Went to England and all I Got Was....

How much better than a t-shirt is this? 

I have been obsessed with Gosh's Darling forever and a day and for once I have not been burned*! It is just the most awesome pale lip ever. I have also been a tad obsessed with the Sleek palettes and J. chose Storm, it is just as lovely in "real" life as all the swatches I have seen online. She also sent a Barry M Dazzle Dust in #91, what an awesome silvery black pot of loveliness and finally a Barry M lip liner in #13. Hmmm, I wonder if that might mute my lips?

The postcard of the Prince arrived in the mail to herald this awesome bounty of trinkets' arrival and Our Lady guarded it all while in transit!

Why can't the drugstores here have such awesomely lovely lovelies? 

* I must garner the courage to post my shattered dreams of MAC.....