Running Into People You'd Rather Not & a FOTD

Saturday, June 30, 2012
You know what is worse than running into an ex boyfriend? Running into your ex boyfriend's parents. Especially if they are not what I would call... pleasant people. Ugh! Usually when I'm out and about and have the misfortune of running into people that I would happily go the rest of my life seeing, I look like crap. You know what I'm talking about- when you're wearing sweats, your hair is pulled back into a scraggly ponytail and there is some sort of vegetation from your last meal stuck between your teeth.
It's rather hard to hold your head up high and say "I'm doing quite well for myself, thank you very much!" when you look like that!



Somehow, I lucked out today. I didn't look half bad. Too bad that didn't stop them from making annoying , snide comments!

Brows: NARS Bali shadow
Face: MUFE HD + Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation mixed together, Rock & Republic Pressed Powder in Chiffon, MAC Crew Highlighter Powder, Guerlain Emilio Pucci edition Meteorites
Eyes: NARS All About Eve duo, NARS Kalahari Duo, Rock & Republic Fatalistic, Rock & Republic Lawsuit
Lips: OCC Liptar in Harlot mixed with Le Metier de Beaute Magic Luster Creme

What's the worst you've looked or best you've looked when you ran into someone like an ex boyfriend or previous boss or somebody like that?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy. 

China Glaze On Safari Collection: Some Swatches & Review

Friday, June 29, 2012

Howdy folks! I received some very exciting nail mail that I wanted to share with you, four polishes from the new China Glaze On Safari Collection. Can we just dive right in?


Man Hunt. A basic blue creme, opaque in two coats.


Prey Tell is a dark maroon. I liked this one a lot, it's not a very exciting or original color but it covered nicely in just two coats.


Adventure Red-y. A cool, blue based red. This polish was a ONE coater! I'm serious! A very well done basic red.

I Herd That. I wasn't very excited about this polish when I saw the pictures but now that I actually have it in my hands, I love it. I'm not crazy for glitter, but the way this polish sparkles like millions of facets on my fingers- well, it's gorgeous. It is a mixture of super fine orange, gold and holographic glitter. It reminds me of those holiday China Glaze polishes that were an exclusive at Ulta, only golden. Three coats here, topcoat hungry. The holographic glitter pops more in real life.

Overall, I think that the quality of these polishes are great. Very nice formula, I was very pleased with Adventure Red-y for being a one coater and was very pleasantly surprised with how great I Herd That looks. If you don't have either a basic blue or vampy maroon creme, Man Hunt and Prey Tell make great staple polishes.

How do you feel about these shades? Are you picking any of the four from above up or any from the rest of the collection? I myself must confess that I can't wait to get Desert Sun and I'm Not Lion, now that I've seen how beautiful I Herd That is!


Products featured were sent to me by either the manufacturer or a PR company for review. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

50 Words or Less Reviews, Vol II: Five Foundations, Fast.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I thought I'd give a quite rundown of some of the foundations that I've used in the past three years.  It gives me no joy what so ever to write reviews of foundations because frankly, they are not very exciting nor are they interesting to photograph. These foundations run the whole gamut as far as prices go, from the $59 Giorgio Armani to the $13 Graftobian foundation.

In no particular order of preference...


Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet+ Foundation ($36)
I bought the wrong shade, should have bought #35 instead of #30 (too beige) Medium coverage, fantastic for oily skin but alas, photographs absolutely horribly. With flash photography, I look like I have chalk rubbed all over my face.

Calvin Klein Infinite Hydration (Unsure of $, discontinued now I think)
Used this during the winter months, great for those dry cheeks that I get. However, very sheer (less coverage than a lot of tinted moisturizers) which is why you never saw any FOTDs with this on. Used #101 Soft Beige, pretty good match, loved the packaging.

Graftobian High Def Glamour (around $13)
This is a theatrical, professional product but I do love it a lot. Fantastically dense, it took me over a 100 uses to use up the amount you see. High coverage but alas, dreadfully oily. Not good for oily skin, at all. Photographs beautifully.

Mary Kay Medium Coverage Foundation ($15)
Wonderful foundation, at a great price. Photographs well, covers well, wears well. I would recommend this to others (though it broke me out, my skin is very picky though) because it is a well made but affordable foundation.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk ($59)
A truly wonderful foundation. My face looks and feels so great when I have this on, it is the perfect finish. Medium coverage, photographs really well. It blends so effortlessly, a wonderful consistency that practically melts into my skin in a gorgeous frosted glass bottle.

Currently, I'm wearing Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk mixed with Make Up For Ever HD (which I didn't review here, but is my staple go-to foundation). Reason being because my bottle of GA LS is too dark for me (the SA at Nordstrom at the Mall of America was not very good at her job and I didn't notice how bad of a shade match it was until I flew back to Philadelphia) and so I mix it with the MUFE HD which becomes a tad too light for me in the summer. The combination is fantastic! The only down side is the price- that ends up being over 100 dollars for two ounces of foundation. Isn't it crazy how all of the above foundations are the same in size (± .01oz, with the exception of the cream Graftobian in the tub, which is 0.5oz) but vary so much in price.

What foundations have you tried lately? Love it, hate it? Have you tried any that I reviewed?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure policy. 

LeChat Dare To Wear Polishes

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A few months ago, during my little adventure to a rather questionable nail supply store I picked up my first LeChat polishes.  They were so fantastic that I went back for more! Today I want to show you the swatches of the ones that I have (though a few I've already shown you in various nail art and nail spam posts).



First up, Mine is Mine. A pale cornflower shade, with large particle chunky white gold and silvery sparkle, as well a pinch of fine pink shimmer thrown in. I was so drawn to this shade, even though it is not my usual cup of tea. This is three coats.


Amethyst Ice is a pink version of Mine is Mine, maybe a little more faded and lilac than straight up soft pink. Also three coats.



Glammed Up is the most wonderfully sparkly copper polish you will ever have the fortune to behold. Looking closely, it looks like a mixture of fine orange and fine gold shimmer, almost foil like. It is SO SPARKLY. Honestly, topcoat diminishes how much light this color throws off. Three coats.




Ocean View. I showed you this one before in my blue spam post. It's wonderful- perfect in two coats, a dreamy deep sky blue creme.



Enchanted Forest. Something I had never seen before, a dark green jelly! It is perfection at three coats, very sleek and sexy (which is not something I usually say about greens).

All three of them had a great formula. Everything about them is great, honestly. I like the shape of the bottle and I like the rubbery type finish on the handles of the bottles, they're very easy to grip. Really, I wish I had more of these, the polishes were just so nice! The only downside is that LeChat Dare to Wear polishes are tough to find. You can buy them on Head2Toe.com, eBay or do what I did- contact LeChat to find your closest distribute.

What do you think of these shades? Do you own any LeChat polishes, have you heard of them?

Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy. 

Spoiled Cougar Attack

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Remember how I wasn't all that keen on those Spoiled by Wet'n'Wild polishes? Well, that didn't stop me from picking up a bottle of Cougar Attack, about three months back. 

I really like this polish a lot, though I'm not sure why. It's fine copper glitter in a transparent brown base. I've heard that it is a dupe for Deborah Lippman's Superstar. I don't really have anything else even remotely close to this polish, can't even think of any other shade in existence that has this sort of brown base. The only thing that I don't like about this polish is that I have a very hard time getting it to look smooth and glossy even with copious amounts of topcoat. It just doesn't like to photograph its shine very well. 

Even though I don't really do seasonal polishes, I think I'll really enjoy wearing this polish in the fall. 

Do you have any favorites from the Spoiled by Wet'n'Wild line? Which ones should I get next time?


Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy. 

Attempting Le Metier de Beauté's Couches de Couleur Technique

Saturday, June 23, 2012
Recently I was reading this really great post on Musing of Beauty that had linked a video that demonstrated a technique by Le Metier de Beauté coined as "Couches de Couler" (Layers of Color) and was very curious. The technique essentially requires that you layer four shades together, including a cool color right on top of a warm shade. 


I was a bit hesitant because I thought for sure that this meant some funky murky eye makeup, but I gave it a shot anyways.

I don't own any of LMdB's pricey shadows, so I used a bunch of LORAC shadows instead.

Did I think that this technique was gimmicky and that overall my eyelids were still sort of muddy looking? Yes. However, it was a very simple technique to master, and it didn't end up half bad. I mean, I have a hard time wearing cool colors, but this might be one way to do it for me. If I was in a hurry and uninspired, I would definitely do this again.

Brows: NARS Bali shadow
Eyes: LORAC Behind The Scenes Primer Potion, LORAC Garnet shadow, LORAC Multi Platinum Palette (the teal, navy and warm light bronze shades), Kiss Me Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara
Face: Mix of MUFE HD Foundation and Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, Rock & Republic Call Me blush, Guerlain Meteorites Pucci Edition
Lips: Stila Convertible Color in Peony

Have you tried out any makeup technique recently that you were quite skeptical about?

Saran Wrap Nails & Tales of A Broken Teapot

Thursday, June 21, 2012

My mom had this teapot. A few days ago, I took a snapshot of it because I thought that the glaze on it was really interesting, sort of marbled. I wanted to try to duplicate the look on my nails with Saran Wrap.

It was my first time using this Saran Wrap technique that I found at Nailed It. I used my COAT Lily Pad (that brand of polishes sold at Coastal Scents that I picked up during Black Friday sales for $2) and a white franken.

Notice how I said my mom HAD this teapot, past tense? The day after I took that picture above, I broke it by accident.

THIS IS WHY I CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

What have you broken lately? Come on, spill! It'll make me feel less clumsy.

Products mentioned were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy. 

All My Rock & Republic Shadows- Swatches

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I've been shopping my stash hard, trying to curb the urge to buy new makeup (I fear I might fail, the new L'oreal Infalliables look really amazing!) when I realized that though I've had my Rock & Republic shadows for quite a while and have shown you guys some swatches, I never put them all into one post.

Let's just dive in, shall we? I have 18 total. Karla Sugar has a complete swatch gallery, which was very helpful to me when I bought these babies, I had never seen them in person before.



Ambition, a very unique shadow. It is incredibly pigmented shimmer and flashes between ivory and pale yellow gold.
Jaded is exactly as the name implies, a highly shimmery jade green.
Brink is a cornflower blue shimmer mixed with fine pale yellow gold shimmer (like the kind in Ambition).
Paranoid is a matte almost neon looking magenta with very fine blue sparkle (pretty much invisible when applied, just barely catches the light).



Veil is a matte bone color, with a tinge of beige.
Ciggy is also pale, but with a tinge of ash and lilac.
Chain Link is this absolutely stunning soft dove grey shimmer.
Spy is a matte tan, with barely visible silver sparkle (like Paranoid).
Affair is a high shimmer light warm beige.


Fade is a pale satin lavender, with a hint of green shimmer.
Tempting is a desaturated purple-y grey shimmer.
Snakeskin is one of those colors that no description would ever do it justice. Satin medium brown yes, but with incredibly fine golden brown shimmer.
Lawsuit is a warm brown/green duochrome. It looks really green in the pan and really brown on my arm, but in person it is in between the two.
Fatalistic is the blackest BLACK matte black that I've had the pleasure of using thus far.



Envy is a rich, shimmery evergreen.
Chronic is an absurdly attractive olive shimmer.
Exile is a cross between bronze and butterscotch, high shimmer.
Fuel is a goldenrod yellow shimmer.

I find the quality of Rock & Republic shadows to be quite great. They're definitely some of the best shadows that I own. The mattes are finely milled, the shimmer finishes have great pay off and they make some really interesting colors that you just don't see everyday. I like that they're risky like that, a lot of high end makeup tend to stay with "safe" colors.


The sad part is that Rock and Republic went under. Well, sort of. The brand is now sold at Kohl's (as a more budget friendly brand than the previous luxe wear) and no longer has cosmetics. This was devastating to me because they were hands down, my favorite brand of makeup. I loved every thing I tried from R&R- their pressed powder, their blush, their lip gloss... everything. Also, look at that packaging! Each product is encased in sturdy, reflective case with a detailed emblem on the front. It's so very satisfying, visually. For the price point, I found R&R to surpass other high end cosmetics. This was truly a fantastic makeup line and I wish that it could have succeeded.


Rock & Republic eye shadows were originally $28 each. 


Did you ever get your hands on any Rock & Republic products before they disappeared for good? 


Products featured were purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Born Pretty Review: Stamping Supplies

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Good evening!

Recently I was sent a few items from Born Pretty Store to try out. I have purchased from them in the past, they carry SO many different kinds of nail art supplies! You really can't beat their prices, and the free shipping is fantastic. Today, I want to show you some of their stamping supplies. 

They sent me a stamper and scraper set with two metal plates. One has the infamous Hello Kitty design (click here for the link to the Hello Kitty plate set) while the other round disk has detailed embellishment designs. The stamper and scraper are your standard issue generic-non-Konad tools. Metal scrapers tend to scratch up your plates though, I would be very careful.
Meow! I did a cat lady manicure with the cat from M71. I just really love cats, ok?


I used: White franken, Konad Special Black polish, OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys, OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story

Here's another manicure I did using the round M76 plate. 

Here, I used Glitter Gal Brain Freeze as the base and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep to stamp.

I think that these plates are a great price, compared to other sets out there. The designs are etched deep enough and they transfer. I like being able to chose specifically which plate I want, instead of having to buy a set where I don't even like half the designs. Born Pretty also made a code just for my readers! Neato, right? 

Use JE5X31 for 5% off your order. 

I'm not compensated in any way if you use this code. I just figure, hey- a discount is a discount! If you save some dough, that makes me happy. 

Have you ordered anything from Born Pretty before? What did you get?

Products featured were sent to me for review. This post contains a code made for my readers, but I am not compensated if you use it to purchase products. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy. 

Candeo Colors Jellybean

Monday, June 18, 2012

I'm so excited to show you what nail polish got today in the mail! Usually when I receive nail mail, I play with it for a few days, trying it out in different ways before photographing it but not today. Today, I wanted to show you Candeo Colors Jellybean as soon as I could possibly slap it on my nails and take pictures.

When I first saw this nail polish on Kris' blog, My Lucid Bubble, I let out an audible gasp. I knew I just had to have a little bottle of this polish all for myself. It's even better than I thought it would be! A pale yellow base with round copper, blue and purple glitters along with micro copper, spring green, yellow and purple glitters.  I was so pleasantly pleased to find that it covered perfectly in two coats. I didn't have to fish around for glitters to dab onto my nail, it just applied perfectly. 


If you had described to me this combination of glitters, I would have probably laughed at you. I would have never in a million years visualized this combination of glitters to be polish to be so neat looking! I absolutely love it. Check out how it looks with a dessert themed stamp on Nail Polish Wars


I am so pleased with this polish, I can't wait to get my hands on more Candeo Colors. In a world where there are so many indie polish makers that you can throw a rock at the internet and find one, I think Melinda and her polishes stand out. I absolutely can't wait to get South St. (I miss Philly so much! There was an Indian restaurant on South St. that I used to frequent all the time.) and Divebomb makes me weak at the knees.

Full bottles are $8 each and mini bottles are $3.50. Candeo Colors can be found at their website, here.

What do you think of Jellybean and of Candeo Colors polishes?

Product featured was purchased for personal use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.