What I Got For Christmas (Beauty-Related)

Hi, folks! I haven't posted since April because it has been a busy year. My husband and I are trying to adopt, so most of my emotion, time, and energy has been focused on that. But that is off-topic, so I thought I'd show what I got for Christmas that is beauty-related and in the coming year, I will try my best to post reviews and hauls to my blog because I know I rely so heavily on others' to decide on my purchases.

First, in my stocking, my husband gave me three nail polishes. I am a huge fan of the OPI designer series, and I have had my eye on these after seeing some swatches online. I haven't had a chance to wear them yet because my Christmas manicure is lasting so long! I did it on Saturday and have yet to see any tip wear or chipping. For those who are interested, I used Gelous as a base coat, 2 coats of OPI Smitten with Mittens (China Glaze Ruby Pumps is very similar), an accent nail of Sephora's OPI Only Gold for Me topcoat on each hand, another coat of Gelous on all my nails, and finally a coat of Seche Vite. I find that this gives me the strongest manicures yet the Seche Vite helps it to dry fairly quickly.

OPI DS Luxurious, OPI DS Bold, OPI DS Indulgence

From left to right, these are DS Luxurious (orange with gold), DS Bold (pinky red), and DS Indulgence (red with gold). They are really beautiful. The two on the ends are more foil-like and the one in the middle is glittery. I can't wait to play with them.

One of the palettes my husband gave me is Anastasia Want You to Want Me. It comes in a velvety box with a magnetic closure. Inside, there is a mini palette that is removable that houses nine nude and plummy eyeshadows. Also in the outer box are a mini clear brow gel, a liquid eye liner, and a mini eyeshadow brush. I haven't had time to play with this yet because I've been sick the last few days.

Anastasia Want You to Want Me

My husband also got me the Bare Minerals quad in The Happy Place.  The four shades are described as muted apricot, smoky taupe, rose gold, and eggplant. I'm extra excited to see how this plays with my greenish eyes. I have two eight pan BM palettes and the quality is excellent.

Bare Minerals The Happy Place

Finally, although I only have two eyes, my husband knows about my obsession with makeup and got me MORE eyeshadow. Makeup is the only thing that always fits and can change your look the most easily. So he got me...the LORAC pro palette! This little beauty has SIXTEEN eyeshadows in a variety of neutral-ish shades with half of them matte and half shimmer. I think this concept is great because so many other lines only make shimmer palettes, and a nice matte in the crease or on the browbone can really finish off a look. I was able to wear this once on Christmas in the evening, but again, I have been sick so I haven't gotten to experiment much. I did notice that although the shadows are very pigmented, they also tended to be very powdery. Meaning, if you didn't tap your brush off before applying to your lid, you would get fallout on the tops of your cheeks. I did get two compliments on my look, though, and I only saw my immediate family that night (who've all seen me in bajillions of neutrals before). Oh, and did I mention a mini primer is included? I use this stuff daily (it beats Urban Decay, Too Faced, and NARS for me) so I'm happy about that, too!

LORAC Pro Palette

As little extras and stocking stuffers, my uber sweet husband also included this limited edition two-pack of Maybelline Baby Lips in Coral Crush and Twinkle.

Maybelline Baby Lips Coral Crush and Twinkle

He's also Sephora-savvy enough to know to use a good code when ordering online so he gave me a bonus OPI bag filled with samples that he got.

OPI makeup bag with samples

Finally, he got me this perfume rollerball that I'd been wanting to take around with me. I've had bad luck with atomizers leaking so I wanted a rollerball. He got me Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty which I find so fresh and pretty...just like the name, I guess.

Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty perfume rollerball

At my mom's house that evening, I found my stocking there to be filled with all kinds of good (and bad for you!) things to eat. Along with that, she'd (or Santa) gotten this Tarte set for me from Ulta on Black Friday. It contains an Amazonian Clay blush in Flush, a cream shadow in Slate, and a stiff brush that you could use for the shadow or concealer, probably. I LOVE these blushes, so I was pretty excited about that. I wore the cream shadow with liner and mascara when going on a few errands yesterday and there was no creasing on my very oily lids, but this line of shadow DID crease on me during the summer. So we shall see.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush, Slate cream shadow, eyeshadow brush

And that's my crazy big Christmas beauty haul! I also *might* have used some Christmas money to order even more yesterday on boxing day. =X But I'm going on a low or no-buy in 2013 so I had to get all of my lemmings fulfilled now. I will work on posting reviews and looks in the future. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and will talk to you again soon!

Too Faced Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Eye Shadow Collection Palette

With the 15% discount Sephora recently offered, I snagged the brand spanking new Too Faced palette. In a pretty aqua box that looks like water, nine beautiful shadows ranging from matte to glitters come along with a sample of Too Faced Shadow Insurance and three instructional cards to achieve different looks. Unlike the other palettes Too Faced has put out, every single shade in this palette seemed wearable on my complexion, so I had to buy it. The shades are below with Too Faced's descriptions in blue followed by own thoughts in green.

Sugar Sand: Shimmery dusty rose Very frosty, icy pale pink.
Peach Fuzz: Shimmery golden peach Fine golden glitter, super pale peach.
Sunbeam: Pale gold shimmer Fine golden glitter, shadow itself is skin-colored on me.
Plumeria: Vivid pink Shimmery bright pink.
Coral Crush: Coral pink shimmer Fine golden glitter, coral shadow.
Mermaid: Muted teal Shimmery teal.
Cocoa Beach: Plum brown shimmer Fine golden glitter, rosy brown.
Chocolate Sun: Shimmery rich brown Fine golden glitter, dark brown.
Toasted Coconut: Matte caramel Matte tan brown.
Top row of palette, from left to right: Sugar Sand, Plumeria, Cocoa Beach

Middle row of palette, from left to right: Peach Fuzz, Coral Crush, Chocolate Sun

Bottom row of palette, from left to right: Sunbeam (only the glitter shows up on me), Mermaid, Toasted Coconut

I wore two looks so far and have been pleased with both. Here is the look achieved using the top row of the palette.

I wore Sugar Sand on the inner corner of lid and under brow bone. Plumeria is on the rest of the lid. And Cocoa Beach is in the crease.

Here is the look I wore using the bottom row of the palette.

I am wearing Mermaid on the lid and smudged under my eye on top of a liner. I have Toasted Coconut in the crease and blended out. And I used Sunbeam on top of my lid for a little added golden sparkle.

So far, I am really enjoying the palette, but fallout from the glitter is a problem, so I would recommend doing your eye makeup first so that you can clean your face off and apply foundation afterward. The palette is now available at Too Faced, Ulta, and Sephora.

FOTD LORAC Unzipped Palette

With Sephora's recent discount, one of the items that I hauled is the LORAC Unzipped palette. It features 10 warm shades of gold-toned to rosy-hued neutrals in a variety of finishes. I wore it yesterday for the first time and thought I'd show my look. The lighting wasn't great by the time I took a picture, so I'll try to post another look soon.

Face:
Too Faced BB cream in Vanilla Glow
Benefit Erase Paste in Fair under eyes
MAC Studio Finish in NC20 under eyes and on blemishes
Bare Minerals Summer Bisque to set under eye concealer
MAC MSFN in Light Medium on face
Benefit Hoola to contour
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Tipsy

Eyes:
Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
Unreal on inner 1/3 of eye and on browbone to highlight
Unbelievable on outer 2/3 of eye
Unbridled in crease and blended out
Undiscovered lightly on center of lid to blend
Bobbi Brown Black Ink gel liner on top lashline and waterline
Urban Decay Lucky 24/7 liner on bottom lashline
Revlon Grow Luscious black mascara
Anastasia brow wiz in medium ash on brows

Lips:
Make Up Forever La Boheme collection lipstick in Folk

Sephora VIB and BI sale

I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know about an upcoming sale. Starting on March 29th, all Sephora VIBs (those who've spent $350 in a calendar year) will be able to get 15% off purchases in store and online. On March 30th, the sale will open to BIs as well. You can become a BI (beauty insider) by signing up on Sephora.com at any time. The code for VIBs is CHICVIB and CHICBI for BIs online. In-store, you must present a card received in the mail so that the sales associates can scan a barcode. Additionally, VIBs can get a free umbrella on the 29th with purchase while supplies last. The sale ends on April 5th for BIs and April 6th for VIBs. So the only perks for being a VIB are the umbrella and having two extra days of sale. The 15% off remains the same for everyone.

Zoya Nailpolish

Zoya recently had a promo of buy 3 nail colors and get 3 for free. So I decided to indulge because I had heard lots of good things about the longevity of the wear as well as the wide array of colors. I chose mostly warm shades to complement my warm skintone and shades that I thought would be good for spring and summer (except 1 dark, vampy shade that I will save for fall and winter). I just received them this week so I cannot comment on the wear time yet, but I did a quick, sloppy swatch of all 6 shades this morning.

This shade is called Mieko. Zoya.com describes it as: "A rosy pink with a touch of orange and tons of bold metallic gold shimmer. More glamorous than the usual pink!" I find it very similar to China Glaze Strawberry Fields, which I also own.

This is called Rica. Zoya calls it "Warm light coral with pink and orange tones and heavy gold metallic sparkle. An alternative to flat corals for when you want to shine."
This is called Colbie. Zoya describes it as "Blackened warm red with copper-orange undertones with rich metallic shimmer. A vampy red with depth for a dramatic look." Again, only two quick, messy coats.
This is Tiffany. Zoya calls it " Pink, peach and light copper toned foil particles accented by flecks of gold foil. A soft and feminine way to wear the foil finish, especially flattering for warm skin tones."

This is called Gloria. Zoya calls it "Rose, mauve-pink and magenta foil particles with gold and subtle red metallic accents. A delicate winter rose look made unique with a flashy foil finish."

This is called Lisa. Zoya describes it as "An iridescent combination of deep raspberry pink, bright candy apple red and subtle gold tones in a dazzling sparkle finish. A bright, festive red that sparkles so much it's almost jewelry."

Overall, I think they're beautiful. The bottle colors are very pretty and I think these colors will look fantastic once I take the time to do a full manicure and do 2-3 coats depending on the shade. I hear they will wear amazingly well with a base coat and top coat. I typically use Orly Bonder and Seche Vite so I will update once I see how these work.

Face of the (St. Patrick's) Day

It's St. Patrick's Day which means that besides the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots in my crockpot and the Irish soda bread cooling on my stove, I decided to wear a green eye look today in celebration. As a child, I usually wore a green t-shirt or something more obvious, but as an adult, I'd rather sport something more subtle like green nail polish or green eyeshadow to ensure that I don't get pinched. :-p

Without further ado, here is my look of the day.

I'm trying my new Stila In the Garden palette (review coming soon) which features several fresh, lovely green shades. To balance out the eye, I used peachy pink colors on my cheeks and lips.

Skin:
Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer in Nude
Benefit Erase Paste in Fair under eyes
MAC Studio Finish in NC20 under eyes and on blemishes
Bare Minerals Summer Bisque to set under eye concealer
MUFE HD powder on face
Benefit Hoola to lightly contour
Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Glisten

Eyes:
NARS smudgefree shadow base
Stila Sage eyeshadow (from In the Garden) on lid
Stila Moss eyeshadow (from In the Garden) in crease
Stila Breeze eyeshadow (from In the Garden) on inner corner and under brow bone
Bobbi Brown Ivy Shimmer gel liner on top lashline
Bobbi Brown Black Ink gel liner on waterline
Stila Moray smudgestick under bottom lashline
Revlon Grow Luscious mascara in black
Anastasia brow wiz in medium ash on brows

Lips:
Bare Minerals lip gloss in Wild Honey

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!