…hahahahahaha so true! hair done, nails done, everything BIG!

Product Info: Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation +Ensulizole Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 20. It claims to be an “all-day flawless coverage with lasting power of primer, coverage of a concealer, and blendability of a foundation in one. Shine free.”

Verdict: I think the last time I used Cover Girl products was back in my high school era (circa 2002! eeekk) But this foundation lives up to it’s claim! It makes my morning routine soooo much easier since I don’t have to prime before. The shine free part is also true! I am an oil spill especially on the T zone and this will keep me nice and matte all day long. In fact,  I don’t even reapply my powder, just gently dab with an oil absorbing sheet if I’ve been outside. It is a  full coverage foundation, so make sure to apply it quickly and a little bit does go a long way. I use it in the color 840 Natural Beige.

Retail Price:$9-$12. I bought mine at Target for $9.58

Product Info: Hard Candy All Glossed Up Hydrating Lip Stain.

Verdict: I LOVE THIS LIP STAIN!!! It glides so nicely and it leaves your lips so shiny and sleek! But it’s a stain so hours later it will still look like you ate a Popsicle under the summer sun. I have three and am making it my mission to own all the colors. I have it in Cupcake, Mauveous, and Orange You Sweet. I love them all!

Retail Price: $5 and are sold exclusively at Wal-Mart

Product Info: Rimmel London Scandeleyes Water Proof Khol Kajal in the color 005 Nude. “Long lasting, waterproof eye liner”

Verdict: A lot of girls line their waterline with white to look awake but sometimes I find that it looks too harsh. I rather use this nudey color which gives the same “wide eyed” effect but it more wearable during the day (like at work or school). I tend to save the white for when I want to be a bit more dramatic with my makeup (i.e. Clubbing Nights!) This one glides wonderfully and it won’t smear…hooray!

Retail Price: $3-$5. I bought mine on sale for $3.44 at Target

Product Info: Maybelline New York The Colossal Volume Express Hydrofuse Cat Eyes Regard Feline Mascara in Glam Black. I threw the packaging away but the claim is that it you’ll have cat looking eyes after you wear it.

Verdict: I am not going to lie, I was not jumping up and down with joy the first time I used it since I thought the brush would be thicker for volume but it has grown on me. I am a fake-lash kinda girl but I always put mascara on first and this one tends to separate my lashes nicely and it is awesome-o with my bottom lashes as well. I am sold!

Price: $5-$7. I got mine for $5.99 at Wal-Mart

Until next time! Enjoy!

Maybelline posted this picture on their Instagram two days ago. Pure pigments… Say what?! Who is pumped about getting their hands on these. I have no idea when they will be out. Hopefully soon. If you don’t have the Color Tattoo cream shadows, get ya some girl. They’re the bomb dot com.

Airbrush Makeup – Froilan De Guzman Tomimbang
Hair Style – Khali Erik Delos Reyes
Photos – Rule of Thirds by Jr Salonga Photography
Location – Fernwood Gardens

I want to say the two weeks of April, Ulta was having their 40% sale and I went a bit crazy…I bought:

Physician Formula BB cream in Light/medium with SPF 30 & the concealer also in light/medium and SPF 30

NYX: HD Photogenic concealer in Glow or CW06

I’ve tried the Physician Formula and I have to say it’s pretty good.  I thought it may be too light for me but I think it was perfect.  I read in All You magazine and this BB Cream was suppose to be really good for oily skin.  I have Oily/ Combination skin.  I have to say the product is pretty lightweight so I didn’t really feel it on my face that much.  Also, I didn’t have to blot until later in the afternoon.  I have to say for oil/combination, this is a pretty good BB Cream.

I have not tried to concealers so I have no comments.

During Ulta 40% off, I also pick up these Color Lip Balm in:

Left to right: CLB04 Xie Xie, CLB11 Danke, CLB10 Tack, and CLB03 Thank you

It seemed like the name of these lip balms are named after ‘Thank you’ in different languages.  I have not tried them so I can’t really tell how good they are.

This these are a mixture of all places:

NYX Products: Love in Paris: Je Ne Sais; Love in Florence: Gelato for two: Love in Rio: Sway with Lola

All the colors are gorgeous that was the reason why I had to buy them.  I have not tried them but I’ve always love NYX’s products.  So I gotta love them.

ALMAY:  All these were bought with coupons.  LOL… Yes I’m a couponer… and I think I paid like $.99 for each of the eyeshadows:

Top Left to right: 413 and 411

I think my sister took the bottom two so I don’t know the name of them.

I’ve never tried ALMAY’s products so I can’t really give my opinion.

The Body Shop: Shimmer Cubes Palette 23.

I bought these two liner at a flee market for $1.00 each… I bought them in black and white.

Mascara:

Physician Formula Mascara: Organic wear: Fake Out: I’ve never tried it before so I hope it is good. Oh I bought this as part of Physician Formula sales at CVS: buy two or spend 15 and get $5.00 back.

Maybelline: the Rocket mascara.  I’ve always love Maybelline mascara so I hope this will be as good as their other mascara.

Physican Formula at CVS.  Bought it for like $6.00 in Sexy Booster: Sexy Glow Blush in Natural

Milani blush: bought it at Dollar Tree for of course $1.00 in : Pink Craze

Softlips Pearl tinted lip conditioner with sunscreen SPF 15 and Vanilla Flavor.  Got it at Target.

All the Nivea lip balm and lip butter for less than $1 each with couponing… I have used their products before and loved it so I will love these products.

Eye Pads masques from Dollar Tree.  I have not used them so I can’t tell how great they are until I used them.

Nail Polish from Target & Nicole by OPI from the Selena Gomaz Collection in Love Song.  The purple color is really pretty.  I’ve never tried Nicole so I’m looking forward to try it.

Cover Girl 3 pan palettes.  I bought them from Target using coupons of course:

From top left to right:

Golden Sunset: Golden bronze colors

Dance Party: Purplish colors

Cafe Au Lait: neutralish colors

Shimmering Sand: light brownish colors

Left to right:

Silver Lilac, Pink chiffon, Champagne

Snow Blossom, Brown Smolder, Tapestry taupe

Shimmer Onyx, Swiss Chocolate.

I have to admit, I ‘ve never Cover girls eyeshadows before so I’m excited to try them.  I know for a fact that their foundation breaks me out that is why I stay away from them.  However, I love their mascara a lot.  Again, I bought these eyeshadows on sale and with coupon so it was pretty good I guess…

All these makeups were bought with my own money and with coupons.  I think I overhaul them but for a makeup hoader like me it’s hard to resist cheap makeup..  LOL

So yeah… this is all my April Haul.

1. Along with many other people, i just can’t get my eyeliner even or straight. I wear glasses, so when doing my makeup for the majority of the process i have my glasses off. And that is a pain, the odd occasion i will get my eyeliner right (which is not very often) it is like a mini accomplishment. 

2. Eyebrows!  My eyebrows will never look the same. I always fill in my brows with a powder but no matter how many times i apply the powder or just sit at the mirror and practice filling in my eyebrows. It will just never work. 

3. Buying the wrong shade of foundation. I tend to buy foundations and they always seem to be the wrong shade. I blame the store lighting.

4. My nails.Now i don’t suck at painting my nails, I’m ok at that. But i suck at removing it. I will just let it be there on my nails all chipped and i tend to scratch it off. I’ll just be sitting there picking and scratching the nail policy that has already began to chip off.

5. Now this is something i just don’t understand about myself. I always choose colours i think go with the season, but it turns out they aren’t really that seasons colour. For example it’s the end of autumn about to enter winter here in australia. And at the moment i am wearing a blue nail polish with pastel coloured jumper. I suck at picking the colour to match the season. 

So those are the things i can think of that i know i suck at. There are probably more i just couldn’t think of. Thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed it. Comment the things you suck at and you never know we might have something in common. 

Did you like this post? Comment, if you did, comment if you didn’t. I am all for feedback, positive and negative. Any feedback is useful. 

Cya  

Photo shoot
Rent Frock Repeat
Makeup By: Tasia Richards

Photo shoot
Rent Frock Repeat
Makeup By: Tasia Richards

Photo shoot
Rent Frock Repeat
Makeup By: Tasia Richards

Photo shoot
Rent Frock Repeat
Makeup By: Tasia Richards

Here is a different spin on Louboutin nails.

I love this stuff! I got a sample to try and it works great as a leave in conditioner. It doesn’t leave my hair greasy afterwards and helps it to stay smooth all day. I have really fine hair so without a good conditioner, my hair get ratted up and will be hard to handle. Using this conditioner has helped!

I wasn’t going to get this particular duo, but it caught my eye. I was lemming for Charade for the longest time, but found that it didn’t swatch very well on my skintone and I feared it would look a little flat. So, I ended up choosing between this, Grand Palais, and Kuala Lumpur, which is somewhat similar but had two shimmery shades.

Robbie, the SA, said this was a better option and you know me, I am very easy to convince.

The two colors in this duo are a “silver taupe” and a “dusty rose.” The reason why I chose this over Kuala Lumpur, which I was instantly attracted to, is because of the finishes. The silver taupe shade has a slight sheen to it, nothing overly shimmery, and the dusty rose shade is a full-on matte. This is pretty much a full eye look right here, which is what duos are supposed to be for, right?

Here are two colors from the duo, as well as a swatch where I have them blended together. It creates a rather nice soft brown color with a little bit of sheen.

This is the look that I came up with using this duo. Isn’t it a perfect neutral eye, with just the right amount of rosy pop on the crease?

Non-brown colors aren’t typically used for a neutral eye, so that subtle rosiness works in such a pretty, lovely subtlety, in my opinion.

This is also very easy to wear with a number of different combinations. You can choose to stay neutral and rosy all throughout the face, or pick a feature to highlight, like putting on a strong blush color, or painting on a bold lip.

It won’t take away from the other colors or other features you want to highlight, and I don’t think that the combination is strong enough to kind of overshadow or compete with them, either. If anything, I think that this eye combination can actually accentuate most colors. In this look, for example, I’ve really noticed that Exposed, a fairly neutral blush I have a hard time wearing, pops out.

On my face: Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Youth-Boosting Cosmeceutical Powder (translucent, matte finish), NARS Eyeshadow Duo (Grand Palais), K-Palette Liquid Liner (Black), Eye of Horus Natural Mascara (Black), The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit (02), Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush (Exposed), Maybelline Color Whisper (Mocha Muse)

You can also create another look with this duo, using the silver taupe as a light wash of color all over the lid, with the dusty rose as a liner. You can also just do a pretty natural(ish) smokey eye by patting on the darker color on the lid (darkening near the lashline with a smudged out black shadow or liner, of course), then blending it outward/upward with the lighter color. I am in love with the gradient that these two shades make.

Though NARS (usually) makes awesome eyeshadows, they sort of do need a primer to help them stay on the lids for much longer than they would without some kind of base. Since my lids are pretty oily, the shadows crease and disappear after a few hours.

A tiny, tiny gripe I have with the NARS Philippine division (?), though, is that they don’t teach their sales reps how to pronounce the names right. I heard “Cha-rade” instead of “Sha-rade,” and “Grand Pala-is” instead of “Grand Pa-lay.” It’s nothing really major and it probably sounds jerky, but I think brand reps should at least know what the shades are called.

Anyway, I love Grand Palais, and I’m glad I picked it up! I currently have four NARS duos and a couple of other palettes, and they are usually a super hit or an underwhelming miss. Definitely read up on pigmentation and quality, or swatch them in store if you can, before buying anything.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

NARS is a cruelty-free company owned by Shiseido, which is a company that used to test on animals.

This could very well be the latter situation, except… these “Ambient Lighting Powders” by Hourglass Cosmetics are so worth the hype.

If these things were horrible products, I’d be kicking myself in the face for falling for something so pretentiously named. But, I needed to know if these “Ambient Lighting Powders” could actually artificially create a lighting effect on the face using powders. It sounds like sorcery to me and anything that brings me a step closer to being able to get Lumos! to work is worth a try.

First, I ordered Luminous Light to try out. Since I enlisted the help of Carefreeshopper, I needed to wait about a month to get my order.

I was really getting antsy and meant to get at least two anyway, so I asked Sarie to get me one more on her trip to the States, because that is super logical. I asked for Ethereal Light, because I figured it would be hard to go wrong with a translucent powder.

And then my experience with Luminous Light was so fricken good, I asked her to get me Mood Light, too.

At $45 a pop, this seems excessive, but holy cow. Words cannot describe how much I love these things. I’ve never really been a powder person, so I can’t really tell you why I was so into these, but I’ll try my best.

So, these Ambient Lighting Powders are supposed to mimic certain lighting effects on your face. They come in six “shades” or effects:

• Ethereal Light — transparent; mimics a moonlit glow
• Diffused Light — light warm creamy yellow; mimics a soft ray of morning light
• Dim Light — neutral peach beige; blurs imperfections & highlights a radiant complexion with a perfect combination of warm and cool tones
• Mood Light — soft sheer lavender pink; mimics the softest most forgiving light, reveals the brightest complexion
• Luminous Light — champagne pearl; creates a soft, incandescent candlelit glow
• Radiant Light — sun-kissed golden beige; overall complexion with believable, subtle warmth, and also extends a summer glow

Sounds like mumbo jumbo, right? I wasn’t really lured into it because of these descriptions. I think it was this story that did me in:

“I learned early on how different types of light can truly flatter the complexion. Growing up, my mother had pink light bulbs in all of the lamps throughout the house. She loved pink light because it was the softest and most flattering, and she always wanted to look good. I used this concept of lighting in Ambient Lighting Powder.” — Carisa Janes, Hourglass Founder

Still, I don’t regret being suckered into a product with a good story, because these things are freaking great.

Here are some heavy swatches. All the powders are quite fine, and I these are applied much heavier than you would apply them to your face:

Swatches, L-R: Ethereal Light, Luminous Light, Mood Light

When I first used Luminous Light, I was like “EH?” and was so heartbroken that I’d been suckered into some gimmick. I was on my way out of the house, but then I had to go back into my room to get something I forgot. I caught my reflection in the mirror, just with natural light and not the bulbs I usually have turned on when I put on my makeup, and wow! I felt like freaking Galadriel.

And that is when the love affair started. Here are some Instagram photos of me wearing Luminous Light, which is supposed to mimic “an incandescent, candlelit glow”:

I use this one all over my face, though it has a bit of a pearly sheen to it, so some people use it just as a highlight. I personally love the haloed effect it gives to my face, especially when I am not drowning in sweat.

Here’s one where I used Ethereal Light.

LOL it’s kind of a funny pose and facial expression, but I think you can see the difference, even with the filters. I find this to be a little pale on me, but I think I was a bit heavy-handed with it since this was the first time I used it.

It’s pretty much a straight-up matte powder, and I can see how it imitates the moonlight. You know how everything the moon touches lights up with a bluish, cool light? That’s how I find this powder. It’s not bad, but it’s not my favorite.

Also, it really proves to me how these powders serve different functions. Which makes me want all of them all the more!

And, finally, Mood Light in action:

I look super tan here, and I don’t know why. It’s weird that Mood Light is supposed to provide “the brightest complexion” but I look really tan here. I do kind of love the effect, though!

On super pale skin tones, Mood Light can actually work as a blush! For me, I use it all over the face (lol my answer to all the powders, apparently), though I want to try experimenting and using a couple of these at a time, concentrating certain “shades” on different smaller areas.

I think the shade that will get the least use from me might be Ethereal Light. While it does mimic a moonlit glow, it kind of makes me look washed out and might be a tad bit too cool for me. I think my favorite is Mood Light, though Luminous Light is an absolutely joy to use as well.

I initially thought these were just highlighters, but to my surprise, they helped keep my oil levels down! They’re not so effective as an oil control powder when the weather is excessively hot, however. The coverage is very, very minimal.

The packaging looks very luxe, with a sort of sleek shiny bronze finish and curved corners, but there is very little weight to them. By that, I mean, they look like Guerlain’s cousins, but there is very little heft to the compacts themselves. I don’t mind, but I was very surprised because I expected them to be heavier. They come with a mirror on the lid.

You can purchase a special brush made by Hourglass, but I just use my RealTechniques blush brush (from the travel set) or more frequently, my Hakuhodo H610. I get a bit of product on the brush, not fully extended, sweep across my cheekbones and other parts of my face, then blend out with the fully extended bristles.

I know these are sort of divisive products (though there are more people who love them), but I don’t know, man. These are such a dream to use for me, personally.

Here are some comprehensive video reviews, so you can see them in action. They’re also very helpful, if you’re thinking of maybe picking just one of these babies up.

By Dustin Hunter

By Josh Collier

In case anyone was wondering, these are “free of parabens, talc, fragrance, nano-particles and gluten.” Hourglass Cosmetics is also cruelty-free. If that weren’t enough, Google the founder, Carisa Janes, because she is super inspiring and super beautiful.

That’s all folks, thanks for reading! Do you have any of these up? What has been your experience with them?

You all know about i-Ella’s The List now, right? If not, you might want to get on it. It’s currently waitlist only, so spots go fast. There are three different bags. I am reviewing the Starter Bag at $70 (with shipping). There is also the Soho Bag ($129) and the St. Bart’s Bag ($389). The Soho and St. Bart’s prices do not reflect shipping (it’s usually about $10 or $11 – Starter Bag is $59 sans shipping costs). i-Ella sends out designer duds and makeup every month, even to the Starter folks (trust me). If you buy a Starter bag your bag value is usually over $100, Soho is over $300, and St. Bart’s is over $600 (!). My bag last month had a total of $127. Since I paid $70, that is a $57 return. Click HERE to subscribe to The List now.

Speaking of whether my bag is from April or not – that’s the one confusing thing about i-Ella. This was shipped to me so late after I ordered (early March!) that I really don’t know what the theme was for this one. April/May was supposed to be the Global Bag, and they just announced the Weekend in the Hamptons bag. Plus, they sent out an e-mail stating that they want to focus more on bag theme rather than bag month. Nice, but that doesn’t help bloggers and people that like monthly boxes and are on specific budgets. I am SO confused about this. I would say this is the Global Bag, but one of the pieces I got is from an American designer. There wasn’t anything particularly global about it. That said, I know you are dying to see what’s in my bag. To be honest, it’s not anything that I saw in any other Starter review! Score!! I got Look 159. Check it out:

I am absolutely horrendous at photographing clothing. So this picture does not do this $105 (!) dollar Michael Lauren Flynn Sweater justice at all. He is a favorite of such celebrities as Sarah Jessica Parker, Miley Cyrus, and Jessica Alba. I have worn this once so far, and I wore it with jeans (before we heated up here in good old V-A). Since I am plus-size (something i-Ella caters to, btw), I felt that this shirt didn’t go well with my jeans. I feel that perhaps it will look better when I pair it with shorts and more jewelry. That said, it is very comfy. The only downside? I have to worry about this expensive shirt snagging on my engagement ring or getting irreparably damaged. In that regard, it’s almost more comforting to buy cheap clothing from Target (like I usually do).

Gwyneth Paltrow loves this $12 Make-up Remover from S.W. Basics of Brooklyn. The most surprising thing about this beauty product? That little old Gwynnie uses something that is a measly $12 bucks. I was hesitant to try this because it didn’t seem all that easy. That is until I looked at the label and noticed that you only need cotton balls. In an e-mail, Ella (the founder of The List) told me that it can also be used as moisturizer, among other things. Cool, right?

Ella figured these Herban Essentials samples at $10. This company hails from Santa Barbara, Cali. These towelettes “pack a serious aromatic punch. Distilled with 100% pure, therapeutic grade, steam or cold pressed essential oils, Herban Essentials wipes come in a variety of scents.”

i-Ella The List April Grade: B
My Favorite Item From the Bag: The Michael Lauren shirt, clearly!

Final Answer: I had planned to buy four months worth of Soho bags from September to December. But I honestly can’t justify the cost. I mean, it would be $560 just for four months. Do you know what I could do with $560 dollars? Quite a lot. I really want durable items in my wardrobe, but I also don’t want to be afraid to wear them because something will happen to them (and, knowing me, it would). I have re-appropriated the funds I had designated for this, but I’m still on the fence about whether I want to buy another bag in the near future. Maybe with birthday money or for Christmas? That feels like the perfect time.

Would you spend money on The List? How many designer pieces are in your wardrobe?

I’m going to keep this short and simple, and to the point.
What I’m wearing.
-Torrid Top
-Torrid Black Leggings
-Red Tank from Walmart
-Leopard Wedges from Journey’s
-Sunglasses from The Third Planet

Hope everyone likes this outfit, I find it adorable. Have a good morning, afternoon, or evening. Where ever you may be! (:

All you have to do is take some household tape (not heavy duty tape) and apply it from your upper lash line to the end of your eyebrow. Then apply your eyeshadow as usual, and after you finish applying and blending your eyeshadow take the tape off. You should then have a perfect cut crease.

Thank you to the delightful Fashenty for nominating me for The One Lovely Blog Award. I was honestly starting to believe I had no audience. It’s so nice to be recognized! I come up with new ideas for posts all the time and now that I’m out from school I will post more regular. Please don’t hesitate to comment with questions or even suggestions! Once again thank you Fashenty and those who follow Streets of Chic! 

So, with that said let’s go over the rules…

•Thank the person (or lovely girls) who nominated you

•Add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post

•Share 7 things about you

•Pass the award to seven nominees

•Inform the nominees by posting on their blogs

7 Things About Me

I want to work as a stylist in film & television 

I am addicted to avocados 

If I wasn’t into fashion I would be a celebrity gossip journalist 

I love to paint

I’m a borderline fashion and paper hoarder 

I love to sing! Even though I’m not good. 

My drink is an Amaretto Sour 

I nominate!

http://fashenty.wordpress.com

http://novellevogue.com

http://thecollaboreight.com

http://vancouverinheels.com

http://musthaveboxes.com

http://plussizeprep.wordpress.com

http://mimosasatgucci.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do!