Showcase: Smashbox 'Style Files'

While browsing Sephora a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this boxed set by Smashbox. I'm personally a really big fan of sets like these, as they tend to sell them for a great price considering the actual retail value of the individual products. This set retails for $59 at Sephora.

 The set is separated into 3 'books' of product; Lip & Cheek Palette, Eye Liner Palette & Shadow Palette. While I like that everything is bundled together, it can seem rather bulky & could be inconvenient for artists who need quick access to their products.

The Lip & Cheek palette consists of 2 lipgloss tubes & 2 blushes. The first blush/gloss is a warm, light coral. The blush is more of a matte finish & the gloss is sheer. The second blush/gloss is a sparkly brown-based nude. Both the blush & gloss have a noticeable amount of shine & shimmer.

 Cheek #1, Cheek #2

 Lipgloss #1

Lipgloss #2

I personally didn't like either of the two glosses. I found the first to be too sheer while the second was too sparkly. I did like the first blush, but rarely wear coral tones in the first place.

The Eye Liner palette has 4 cream liners & two liner pencils. There is a warm, cream colour, a medium brown, silver & eggplant-ish purple as well as brown & black pencils.

I really liked the cream liners, but will probably use them for a base as opposed to lining. The pencil liners are nice, too, & all of the shades applied nice & creamy.

The last palette, Shadow Palette, consists of 8 eyeshadows. The range of colours is mostly neutrals with differentiating finishes. This part of the set is what convinced me to buy it.

I personally liked the majority of the shadows aside from the mattes. They were chalky & simply unblendable.  The shadow on the top left reminded me of a more purple version of MAC's Pink Pearl pigment. My favourite shade is the bottom left, it was SO soft!

Overall, I think this set is pretty nice considering that it's $59. That may sound like a steep amount of money to pay, but considering the quality of most of the products in the palette, I think it's pretty well worth it. I honestly would've liked to see some travel-sized brushes with it as well to make the set more complete.

As far as I can see, this isn't available online. I checked the Sephora & Smashbox websites and was unable to find it. I did purchase this sometime in late June, so I'm hoping it's still available for those who have been contemplating getting this!

MAC Semi-Precious Haul & CCO Haul!

It's that time of the month when MAC releases a new collection & I instantly hate it. I can honestly say, however, that Semi-Precious was a pretty nice collection. I felt the colour schematics were more fall-like, especially the range of lip products. The mineralized eyeshadows are one of my favourite MAC products, so I was pretty happy to see a collection devoted to those. And I'm sure most are super happy to see some new skinfinishes as well.

So I stopped into my local MAC counter & picked out a few things. I wanted to limit myself to just $100, but with the skinfinishes being $28 (AAAAGH!!!!) I quickly surpassed that. Does anyone remember when skinfinishes were $22?! Jeeeez, that $6 really adds up.

Anyway, here's my haul. I didn't get a chance for swatches but want to do a comparative post.

 Semi-Precious Pearl Mineralized Skinfinish

 Semi-Precious Rose Quartz Mineralized Skinfinish

 Clarity Mineralized Eyeshadow

 Dark Indulgence Mineralized Eyeshadow

My Magnificence Cremesheen Glass

I really want to try Clarity over a black base, it's super sparkly & rainbow-glittery. Dark Indulgence I'm sure I'll love once I put it to work....I love my greens! So far, the skinfinishes looked bad on me, hahah. It just gave me the look that I rarely wash my face...tooooo shimmery! The creemsheen glass is a nice, cool-toned nude, perfect for smokey eyes! I really wanna grab a few more mineralized eyeshadows once payday rolls around ;)

I also went to the Chicago Premium Outlets last week, primarily to check out the CCO. They had a pretty terrible selection & the general attitude of the employees just pisses me off. Everyone is treated & looked at like a criminal & it makes me super uncomfortable. I did grab a few things, but this is definitely my smallest haul from them :/

I really wanted to browse more, but like I said, they watch you like a hawk there! I try to go every 6 months, but I'm searching for the series of MAC Trip palettes & reallllyy wanna get my hands on those!

Would anyone like to request any comparisons for the Semi-Precious collection? I'll be posting that next week sometime!

Smokey Eyes & Dramatic Neutral Eyes!

2looks1post! I have been trying to post these looks for a week now, hahah. Something is up with my internet at home, so I am sitting in a comfy chair at the library instead ;D

I did some super smokey eyes for no particular reason last week & really liked the outcome. I used to be big on using a lot of black eyeshadow, but lately, I toned it down so it wasn't so dramatic. Well, last week, I upped the drama & using a black base AND black eyeshadow, put this look together. I really like it!

I don't remember everything, but I for sure used;

MAC Blackground paint pot

3 Inglot shadows (a matte black, a matte smokey grey & a medium-toned beige to highlight)
Ben Nye White eyeshadow under brows

MAC Utter Pervette lipstick

This next look is my general everyday look, if I even feel like putting makeup on, hahah. I used the Urban Decay Naked palette for everything :D

I checked out MAC's Semi-Precious collection today & will admit, I like it. The lipstcks & cremesheen glasses weren't really my type (except for one) but the skinfinishes & mineralized eyeshadows were pretty nice. I picked up Pearl & Rose Quartz MSF's, Clarity & Dark Indulgence MES's & Pure Magnificence cremesheen glass. $124 total...which seems so pathetic. Anyone else remember when skinfinishes were $22?! YIKES! But I will have pics & swatches of my haul once I get my internet situation sorted out :D

I've always got 2 giveaways coming up, so stay tuuuuuned!

MAC Bloggers' Obsessions

On the 21st, MAC launched an online only collection created by some of the top beauty bloggers. This collection consisted of 9 products; 4 eyeshadows & 5 lipglass' all of which were concocted by the bloggers themselves.

I survived the total clusterf*ck MAC caused by launching the collection, then pulling it down in random spurts. I only ordered two items, Jealousy Wakes eyeshadow & Evolution Revolution lipglass. While I think the idea behind this collection was pretty awesome, the other items didn't really appeal to me (especially dark-coloured lipglass)

The awesome UPS man brought me my goodies today & I put them to work instantly!

Evolution Revolution lipglass is a pretty, sheer peachy-pink with loads of sparkle. For my personal preferences, it seemed a bit to orange for me, even though it is quite sheer.

 

I really, personally, LOVE Jealousy Wakes. I think she hit the nail right on the head with this shadow. I can honestly say that in my entire collection I own NOTHING like it. Most of you probably know how much I love to rock the greens & teals and this shadow was perfect. I'm normally not a huge fan of Veluxe Pearl finishes, but this applied very nicely, super vibrant. My only compliant, was that I received my shadow with small bits missing (though I could find no residue within the container -?!) I emailed MAC, but haven't heard a response. This shadow sold out incredibly fast and so far, is the only product to sell out. It is incredibly beautiful & has the right touch of shimmer without being a glitterbomb. I hope MAC re-promotes this one!

I also did a quick FOTD using these items. 

Excuse the dumb/tired look on my face...been taking care of bb kittehz non-stop for a month ;D

NYX White eyeshadow base

MAC Jealousy Wakes eyeshadow on lid

MAC Aquavert eyeshadow on crease

MAC Waternymph eyeshadow on crease

MAC Brill eyeshadow to highlight

Ben Nye White eyeshadow

Demi-Pixies lashes

MAC Innocence, Beware lipstick

MAC Evolution Revolution lipglass

MAC Sakura blush

Sugarpill's Asylum back in stock!

Happy happy, joy joy! Hahah :) Sugarpill's Asylum Chroma Lust is back in stock! I have been drooling over this loose shadow since November & am sooo happy to have my hands on it!

As promised on my original Sugarpill review, here is a swatch of Asylum!

  Asylum; A medium, nearly blood red with a subtle sparkle that's just enough to make it slightly reflective.

On the lips, smoothed over a basic red lipstick. It was actually much deeper than it appears in the swatch here, so gorgeous!

Yes, I'm watching Harry Potter ;3

And a quick EOTD using Asylum & a random Inglot purple ;D

For me, this is a truly unique colour to my collection. Admittedly, I do not own a lot of red shades, but this is the most vibrant loose shade I own of it's kind. For the EOTD, I packed it over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy which made it look SO amazing & sparkly. So happy it's back in stock!

Inglot Matte Eyeshadow Swatches!

Eeeek! Sorry I haven't posted in two weeks! Life has been so hectic for me as of late; working tons & trying to figure out some future plans! But, I received my Inglot order today & really wanted to share it with you all!

If you may have heard recently, Inglot released their entire line of matte eyeshadows for the Freedom System. As soon as I read about it, I hopped on the website & ordered 15 shadows. I'm a really big fan of their mattes; they have a matte look but a creamy consistency. 

Not sure why the photos look so weird, but they're pretty large, so click 'em for better detail ;D

I'll post some new looks soon (yay, day off tomorrow!) and another contest within the next week or so!

Teal makeup to match my new teal 'do ;D

I finally did it. I've been wanting teal hair for SO long. & A few nights ago, I gathered up the courage & the bleach and went ahead and just did it. I really wanted the top half of my head to be teal, but, bleaching that red out was such a pain in the bum, so I did just a few middle layers.

Tonight, after working on a makeup project, I went ahead and did some makeup to match ;D I was pretty happy with the outcome of the look & the hair, so I thought I would post it here!

Also, this is my first ever FOTD without foundation. I've been using one of those fancy BB creams & it SAVED my skin! I just applied that & MAC Skinfinish Natural :D Yay, confidence!

For this look I used;

NYX White eyeshadow base

MAC Chartru paint

Beauty From The Earth Walking on Water pigment & Green Apple pigment, mixed & used wet

Sugarpill Junebug chroma lust

MAC Mont Black eyeshadow on crease

MAC All That Glitters eyeshadow to highlight

Ben Nye White eyeshadow under brows

Demi-Wispies & London lashes

NYX Rose lipliner

MAC Fun Fun lipstick

MAC Naked pigment