Makeup Withdrawal

KBShimmer Fall Release: Turbulence and You Autumn Know

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I know it's August but in the makeup and polish worlds, it is definitely time to look to the next seasonal collections. Falls happens to be my favorite season for polish, I love rich jewel tones and Halloween themed shades. Today I have two shades from the KBShimmer Fall Release to show you, I'm rather excited since I've been sitting on these since I met Christy at CosmoProf North America earlier this summer.

First we have Turbulence, which is a satin-matte cool blue grey creme filled with subtle flecks. They look to me like they are orange-pink and blue-purple in color. Shown below is three coats.

Of course, I had to also put some topcoat on it to show you. Nice smooth formula, no issues.

This is You Autumn Know, a white crelly with a wonderful mix of fall foliage colored glitter. There's orange, yellow and fuchsia metallic hexes as well as super thin bar glitter (but just a sprinkle). I love this shade, I can't wait to go on a drive to see the changing leaves.

Shown here is three coats. The glitter is quite abundant, but the formula was on the thicker side. I used about 15 drops of thinner to get it to a nice consistency for application.

Click here to check out the other shades that are being released as well as links to other blog posts with swatches and reviews. I'm quite excited for these fall colors; I'm blown away by You Go Ghoul, Teal Another Tail and goodness gracious, look at Excuse Me, I Blurped.

KBShimmer polishes as well as bath and body products can be purchased here. Be sure to follow the KBShimmer Bath and Body Facebook page as well as the Instagram account for the latest news and promotions.

Products featured were given to me as press samples. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

theBalm Instain Long Wearing Powder Stain Blush in Argyle

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Hello!

Recently the awesome folks at theBalm sent a package my way and the first product I actually had to try was the Instain Long Wearing Powder Stain Blush. I had actually never tried any products from theBalm but had always heard such good things about the brand and let me tell you, Argyle did not disappoint.

Right off the bat, I really liked the packaging. Though I prefer my blushes in hard cases because I'm unfortunately clumsy, you can't deny how cute the faux mini magazine cover case is.

Argyle is described on the website as "petal pink" which I find quite accurate. Depending on your lighting, it can look a little different. In bright daylight, it looks bubblegum pink (slightly blue) indoors it looks warmer to me. The finish is matte.

On the left, I swatched it heavily while on right I blended it out. As you can see, the amount you wear also changes how it looks, it really picks up the warmth from my skin once sheered out.

I opted to wear it as a light, sheer wash. An ultra natural, barely discernible touch of color to my cheeks since my face is prone to redness.

Now I haven't even discussed the best part about this blush. The formula is incredible, unlike any other blush I've ever had the pleasure of touching. It's a powder... but the most finely milled powder I've ever swiped across my fingers. If you closed your eyes, you would swear that it's a cream. It blends well and the pigmentation is commendable, as is the longevity. I find that the "stain" part of the name refers to just how well it wears, you won't be scrubbing with makeup remover in an attempt to remove clown stained cheeks at the end of the night. I wear it over primer and foundation and it does not permeate my makeup to actually color my skin.

theBalm Instain Blushes are $22 each. They can be purchased online at theBalm website. Now that I've tried one, I would love to get my hands on more - especially Houndstooth and Pinstripe.

Have you tried theBalm's Instain Blushes? Or any other favorite products from this brand?

Products featured were sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Tryst Lacquers Cheer-ocracy Collection

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Good evening!

Tonight I have swatches of an up coming collection by Tryst Lacquers. Tryst Lacquers is based in Canada, handmade in micro batches by Kimberly M. Every polish in the Cheer-ocracy Collection had me giggling (come on, if you grew up in the 90s you would have seen Bring it On at least once! Or in my case... again and again), the names were just too perfect.

"Boyfriend" Material. Two coats over LeChat Moon River. A clear topper with tiny metallic aqua and golden green hexes and micro glitter. Very pretty, it adds sparkle to any base shade.

Spanky Pants. Two coats, little extra dab on pinky. A grey jelly with squares of black, lime, hot pink and holographic silver as well as a sprinkling of micro glitter. Really nice coverage with this one and a fun color combination!

Spirit Fingers. Three coats. "These are not spirit fingers. THESE are spirit fingers!" A milky crelly with red hexes, blue squares, silver hexes and aqua bars.

B-E Aggressive! Three coats. Another milky crelly with squares in black, pink, blue with super fine sparkle. Applied wonderfully but the bottle requires a good roll because the glitters settle a bit.

Cheer-ocracy. Oh man, this is a fun one! A sheer pink topper with pink, yellow and opalescent hexes and smaller black hex and sparkle. This polish reminds me of dragonfruit. One coat over OPI Care to Danse?

Big Red. Three coats. My personal favorite of this collection. A bright red jelly loaded with red squares and silver holo squares. Super squishy and super sexy. Has a bit of a strong odor but applies nicely.

All six polishes applied quite well. I think that there are some really interesting and unique glitter combinations in this collection. My favorites were Big Red and Spanky Pants.

The Cheer-ocracy Collection will go on sale on Saturday, August 17th at 6PM CST so set your alarms! The shades shown are $9 each sold at the Tryst Lacquers online shop. For the latest updates, news and info on sales, be sure to follow the Tryst Lacquers Facebook page as well as the Instagram account!

Which shades appeal the most to you?

Products featured were sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca

Sunday, August 11, 2013

It's been a while since I reviewed a fragrance, so today's post is about the fresh green scent I've been wearing all summer. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca Eau de Toilette is like the most pleasant parts of my adolescent summers in a bottle.

It opens up with a bit of citrus and briefly strong but clean mint (mojito, anyone?). I grew up in a house where the previous owner had chosen to plant large spearmint bushes all around the house. I can close my eyes and practically taste fresh squeezed lemonade that I would make for myself on summer nights, with the windows open and the minty breeze wafting inwards.

The drydown of Herba Fresca is my favorite part. By the front door of our house we had lily of the valley growing and despite my parents' best efforts, clover had taken over the front lawn. Herba Fresca smells just like after a hot intense summer thunderstorm, when the raindrops start to evaporate off the delicate lily of the valley bells and the freshly cut grass is still slick with rain. A really nice, delicate green scent.

Even the packaging of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca reminds me of this home. The golden honeycomb lattice reminds me of the fat lazy bumblebees that flew drunkenly around the spearmint bushes, drunk with summer.

It's really too bad that this EdT does not last on me at all, with sadly very weak sillage. Within an hour, it has almost completely faded away and no one can ever seem to smell this on me at all. Not even if I hold my wrist up to their face for a sniff right after applying it. I can barely smell this on myself, it's like straining to hear a whisper. While I do really like it, I've gone through the 2.5 oz bottle in practically no time at all, having to apply it constantly like a body spray. A very expensive body spray, unfortunately at $63 a bottle. I definitely can't afford to keep going through this EdT, so I'm guessing I'll won't be repurchasing.

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

Laquerlicious Glitters

Saturday, August 10, 2013

I have four really gorgeous and unique Laquerlicious polishes to show you today! Three of them are glitter bombs and the fourth is a creme with glitter. These are absolutely incredible and two of them have instantly jumped onto my imaginary favorite glitter polish of all time list.

Poppy Fields Three coats. A light pinky nude creme base with teal, white, coral and red glitter (all satiny). Really interesting and unusual glitter combination- but it works! I wish the base was a tiny bit more translucent so that the glitters could really pop but I still really like it. Dried a little uneven so I used one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food before Seche Vite.

Barbie Girl. One coat over LeChat Lily Pad. A really festive and imaginative glitter mix in clear! There is multiple shades of light green, white, two pinks and white glitter that really come together and pop. There are SO many other shades of polish I need to wear this on. Blue. Orange. Purple. Everything.

Hologram Jam. One coat over black, then matte top coat. Ok, this one just has TOO many kinds of glitter and sparkle for me to name them all. It is really dense and so very sparkly. I put a matte coat on because it was so insanely glittery that my camera couldn't deal with it.

Princess Jemma Bleue. Ok, this is just... just too beautiful. It's a mix of white, teal, purple and magenta glitter in a clear base. Pictured here is just ONE coat over black. It's Laquerlicious shades like this that make me honestly want to weep with joy.

Bottom line is this- NOBODY makes a glitterbomb like Michelle does. She has this amazing ability to put together shades of glitter that I couldn't possibly dream up and yet when I see the bottle, I can't help thinking how utterly perfect all those colors go together. The glitters are also SO incredibly dense, I always just need one coat when wearing them as a topper- no fishing needed.

You can purchase Laquerlicious Lacquers here on Etsy. She's currently on vacation (sorry, is that cruel showing you such pretty polishes when you can't instantly order it? I apologize). Also follow Laquerlicious on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest updates, sneak peeks of new colors and sale codes!

Products featured were sent to me for review. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.