Why Must You Take Them Away From ME?

WHY WHY WHY???

As you guys all know, I'm definitely a NOOB when it comes to make up so I have never had to deal with a situation like this before... but...

The drugstore is taking some of my most beloved products away and I'm like: "WHAT? WHY?? WWWHHHYYY???"

So before I get to that, I just want to do a post of other discontinued products that I dearly loved but was taken away from me before I could say goodbye.

1) Jane Blushing Cheeks Blushes



- My favorite of the three is the middle one which is Blushing Petal. I absolutely love the texture and pigmentation and I think it is so hard to find a matte, natural, everyday pink like this one in the drugstore. It blends easily and it just gives me the best look. As far as the other two, I love them both too and they are both oh so pigmented!! I like the packaging... okay so I pretty love them alright! So when Jane stopped showing up at my Walgreens, that was when I realized my favorite drugstore is gone!

2) Milani's Singles


- Okay Milani, when people are comparing your shadows to MAC, you probably shouldn't stop selling them at drugstores! I know you can still get these on Cherryculture.com but I don't like to online shop (due to shipping)... so that's that. I only have Java Bean and I really like it - so pigmented, easy to blend, gorgeous color. Serioulsy... bad move. Right now, I look at their other singles and I think... okay, that is way too glittery... why would I buy that?

3) L'Oreal's Juice Sticks


- Okay, the name "Juice Stick" isn't the best name... I'll leave you all to your imagination. BUT I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine in Chai Love You. It's probably one of my favorite item - it's like a hybrid of a lipstick and lipgloss. I absolutely LOVE it and I have a feeling it will be all gone soon. Pigmented, great smell, and moisturizing... And I hear that Personali-Tea is also a great one as well. What the heck! I also really like the packaging. The silver reflective part allows me to use it as a mirror to reapply my lip color.

Now... here are the two items that I'm most sad about.... and the reasons why I decided to make this post.

4) Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipsticks


- First of all, I wouldn't say that this lipstick comes in any amazing packaging - but I like that it's red - very signature looking. My favorite part about this little lovely thing is that, even it doesn't say so, this is what I would consider a TINTED LIP BALM to be. This lipstick has two active ingredients: one for chapped lips and the other for sunscreen on the lips. That is exactly what I want in ANY lip product: protection and moisture. The best part about it is that it is soooo pigmented - way more than any tinted lip balm can ever deliver. It has a cute watermelon scent and it comes in various color selections and finishes. I'm so shocked that Maybelline would discontinued such a great product like this one... Now I have two and that is why I didn't pick up anymore when they were on sale but if I'd known that these were gone completely, I'd stock up on them all (sometimes products go on sale but the don't get discontinued... well, with this one I should've known... I was in denial).

5) Maybelline's Dream Mousse Concealer



- This concealer is probably my current favorite concealer! The texture is just fantastic! What the HECK Maybelline?!? Probably the easiest to apply and strong pigmentation. I've written, read, and watched raved reviews for this item... I just feel sad for those that didn't get a chance to use this... that's all.

What discontinued items do you wish to come back? Let me know!

Sorry I've been away for a bit - I am trying to come back and reconnect with you all. The last two weeks have been hell and exams after exams. Wasn't the best day yesterday but I went out w/ my friends and we all had a blast - I feel a bit more relaxed now.

Thanks for reading!

Day & Nite Looks

So a couple of posts ago, I wanted to get rid of this item:

** Milani Glimmer Stripes in Honey Glimmer


I didn't end up giving it away so I decided to pull this out and use it myself. I came up with two looks: one for day time and one for going out! For both looks, I used a darker matte shade from my Maybelline quads. So here goes:

DAY LOOK





Lid: 4th shade down
Crease: Maybelline Chai Latte's darkest shade


NIGHT LOOK






Lids: 5th shade down
Crease: Maybelline Natural Smokes' darkest shade

Eyeliner: Jordana's Pen Liquid Liner for upper lash line, Physician's Formula gel liner in black for the bottom lash line (didn't BUDGE!)
Lips: Wet N Wild in Rosebud (I dunno why it looks so lavender)

So I found a new recipe for a long lasting night-out. I use that pen liner on my upper lash line and PF's gel liner on the bottom. Let me tell you, my lower lash line liner ALWAYS budged and I used Revlon's Colorstay pencils and topping it off with shadow too. But then I thought... gel liner never budges - especially PF ones (and Wet N Wild too) - and VOILA! Lasts all night of dancing! So if you guys are struggling with smudging lower liner... there's an idea!

And of course, I used the Milani highlighter portion for my cheekbones and brow bone highlight.

I'm quite enjoying it so far! What do you guys think?

I love items that can be used for different things - face and eyes.

Eyeshadow Collection - The Motherload

So about a year and a half ago, when I just got into make up, I only had a few shadows here and there. My love for eye shadows really increased when I finally purchased an eye primer - UDPP. The problem with me and eye shadows have always been the creasing so UDPP really helped my shadows stay all day and stop looking horrible.

But the biggest problem with me and shadows is still blending and working with the colors. That is still something I must keep practicing! However, you can't practice much if you don't have a lot of eye shadows to play with. This is pretty much my collection... I have quite a lot. I wouldn't say as much as some of you out there, but definitely more than my friends combine!! Luckily, I'm a cheapie and so these are all fairly inexpensive items.

Without further ado:



Notice how there is almost two of everything???

I think I will start with the left top corner...
ROW 1:
- I have 2 sample MAC pigments: Vanilla and another brown color... never knew the name.
- Victoria's Secret baked shadow in Expresso Lane
- Wet n Wild's Trio in Mojave Mauves
- Two Smashbox shadows: Photo shoot and Test Shoot
- Maybelline single in Beach Blush

ROW 2:
- Lancome quad that my mom gave me.
- 2 Cover Girl singles in Tapestry Taupe and Brown Smolder
- 1 Cover Girl quad in Tropical Fusion (my first palette EVER)
- Milani's single in Java Bean - if only I could find more of them in the store!
- MAC's single in Sketch.

ROW 3:
- Jane's single in Midnight
- 2 Maybelline quads in Neutral Smokes and Chai Latte
- 2 ELF quads in Drama and Butternut
- 2 Revlon quads in Nude Element and Coffee Bean

ROW 4:
- 4 NYX singles in Taupe, Champagne, Root Beer, and Iced Mocha (lots of drinks here... except for Taupe though)
- 2 L'Oreal HiP duos in Sculpted and Sassy

Then, I have the cream shadows and eye primers and what-nots!

From L-R
- MAC's paint pot in Rubenesque
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- ELF's Mineral Eye Primer and the $1 one
- 2 Revlon's Illuminance Cream Shadows in Pink Petals and Coastal Blues
- HiP's Cream Shadow Paint in Nervy

But if I had to recommend a few, I would definitely narrow down to these four:



1) Chai Latte is so easy to use. The texture is nice and smooth and you can wear this for an everyday look or a really nice glamorous look (because of that pretty metallic coppery shade). I'd say pick this up if you have been debating about it. It's totally worth it!

2) Coffee Bean is a perfect quad if you work in an office and you have to wear the most natural look ever. The colors are pretty and pigmented. You have a lot of good options with this quad. I definitely struggle between which one I like more - Chai Latte or Coffee Bean... but I think I'm going with Chai Latte... for now. Funny because I'm drinking more Chai Lattes lately than coffee too.

3) Wet and Wild Mojave Mauve is like my vacation trio. I take this with me on my vacation and I will NEVER EVER be disappointed with it. I always bring several eye shadows but this always work on me... it is so pigmented - easy to blend. And it isn't your typical boring neutrals. This has a gorgeous taupe, a nice maroon, and most of all, that lovely lightest shade... it's like a creamy lilac. I don't know, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I recommend this to everyone and their mothers.

4) Butternut from ELF is something I recommend to people who are just starting out. At $1, this quad will help you learn what your style is and you can practice and practice with it until you get better. I don't like the idea of going out and getting something expensive if you don't even know what you are doing. Besides that, I enjoy the colors! That dark brown and the lightest shade are my favorites. Together they can make some nice smokey eyes!


As for colors, I really enjoy these two quads. The CG's Tropic Fusion was my first shadow palette ever... which isn't a good thing for beginners... ha ha. But I love using the colors (mostly the blue and green) to line my eyes. It makes the look more interesting. And the HiP's duo in Sculpted has the prettiest pink color and pretty purple. It can change the typical look into something more fun and girly!

I hope you enjoy this post. Please let me know what your favorite/recommendation is! I am always up for trying something new.

Battle of the Duos

So I posted that I got the Milani Sunset Duos a while back and I thought of doing a review on the product. But since I'm inspired by the Olympics, I shall compare two products side by side...

Who will win GOLD???

Keep reading to find out ;P

So, this is the product I just mentioned:

Got it for 75% at CVS a month ago.

This is me, wearing the duo + some highlighter, also from Milani called Glimmer Stripes in Honey Glimmer.




What do I think? I think I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the bronzer. It is such a nice color when it comes to perking up your complexion a bit. Not too overwhelming and not shimmery either. I do notice a sort of light reflect but not so much that my face is shiny. No, this is a really great bronzer. The only complaint I have is the pigmentation, but it really isn't a complaint really. This bronzer is not the most pigmented (which is really beneficial for fair skin ladies) so I do have to build it up little by little. But since this is bronzer and no one wants to look like their just got hit in the face with faker tanner, less pigmentation is good and safe to use.

Now the blush is really pretty. However, I don't think it shows up on me as well as I hope. It is shimmery which I think looks nice in conjunction w/ the highlighter. BUT I really wish this blush goes on me a little better. Even so, I love this blush and I think when the eyes are really smoked out, it is nice to have a lighter shade of blush so the face doesn't look like a clown.

So, what I think of this duo??? I think it is fantastic! Definitely something I'd look into repurchasing.

----------------->>>

So, how does it compare to my ELF blush and bronzer duo??


I would say this is a really really close race!! And it is something that I'm, the judge and the consumer, is still debating about. Trust me, I've watched the replay vid over and over again just to make the call... but I can't do it.

I did a review on this before and I said this was the BEST buy of January! I say that this has the better blush! The blush in this is gorgeous on me and other people too. The only qualm is the bronzer being a bit darker than I would like but, again, really isn't a complaint because it looks fine on me.




** As you can see, Milani has the lighter bronzer and blush; and the blush is more shimmery and I would say more peachy.

** ELF on the other hand has the darker colors; the blush isn't as shimmery and it is more pinky but definitely has the peachy undertone.

----------------->>>

So there you have it. I guess to summarize it all, I would recommend BOTH :) But I think if you are fairer than me, I'd look into the Sunset duos first. The bronzers there are lighter and easier to work with. Of course, ELF is online and Milani can be found at drugstores... although Milani's been getting rarer and harder to find. Still, you can purchase this duo and other duos at Cherry Culture.

The rest of the look:





Thanks for reading!!

Oh and thanks so much for all the kind words!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!