Urban Decay Pink Lipsticks

I was inspired last week by Temptalia's Spring Season to get some new spring pink lipsticks. After much thought, I decided on two from Urban Decay - Rush and Naked.

Naked is a pretty dusty rose pink with the slightest hint of gold shimmer.

Rush is ever so slightly darker, again with a hint of shimmer. It is ever so slightly warmer than Naked.

 

Urban Decay lipsticks apply gorgeously rich and creamy, and are a real pleasure to wear. They have a slightly sweet scent which I actually really like. They come in interesting packaging. The lid is clear plastic with purple and cream swirls, and the bottom of the lipstick has a dagger on it. The only drawback I found was that the Naked lid didn't stay tight on the tube, although the Rush one did. 

 

L-R Rush and Naked

Both of these were gorgeous on - a kind of my lips but better color. have quite pigmented dark pink lips, so when I applied these, there was absolutely no difference in the shades. Or at least, not enough of one to warrant having both colors, so I'm returning Rush. Having said, I would highly recommend at least one of these colors for perking you up on a cold winter's day to remind you that Spring really is around the corner.

Upcoming Giveaway!

Yay - look at my lovely followers!! It makes me so happy to see people coming and visiting my little blog, leaving comments, getting to know people and all that. And to celebrate, I'll be having a little giveaway when I hit the big 5-0. Right now I'm gathering up the goodies. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend and be sure to check back soon for your chance to win :)

Peaches and Cream and Nice Melons: A Fruity Round Up of Peach Shadows

I've been having a bit of resurgent love with Benefit, so when ULTA Beauty were having a 20% off sale a couple of weeks ago I was sure to snap some up. I'd seen a couple of rave reviews of
Velvet Eyeshadow in Nice Melons so I thought I'd give it a go.

Okay, I'll admit it, I bought it because of the name. There, I've said it, we can move on now.

My first impression was that I loved the packaging. Normally, I want to depot my eyeshadows and keep them in pans so I can see them all in one go. NARS are the only exception to this because I love that rubberized packaging. But these Benefit's are so cute, with those lovely white flowers on the case. Gorgeous!

The color is a gorgeous rich, well pigmented melon with gold shimmer. It looks like a nice dupe for MAC's Melon Pigment, but in pan form, which is no bad thing. It swatches so pretty, and is even a hint warmer than I thought it would be.

So far, so much love. And then I started to look at my collection. It looks like I might be a freak for this color....

Clockwise from left: MAC Gleam, Benefit Nice Melons, Elf Mineral Eye Shadow in Natural, Stila Smudge Pot in Kitten, MAC Arena

But they are all subtly different, I swear!!

 

From left: MAC Gleam, MAC Arena, Stila Kitten, ELF Natural, Benefit Nice Melons

MAC Gleam ($11) is a pretty peachy color. It doesn't have great color pay off and needs to be packed on. It has a lustre finish, but I haven't experience significant fall out. This is one of my favorite MAC colors

MAC Arena ($11) is a nice smooth peachy color. It runs a little darker than the rest of the colors here, and has a slight shimmery feel. I don't use this color enough. 

Stila Kitten Smudge Pot ($20) is a cult shade that people rave over. On me it comes out very shimmery and close to my natural lid shade. It is incredibly pretty on its own to brighten your eye. As this is a smudge pot, I haven't had great luck with mixing or layering other shades with it. I kind of want to love this shadow more than I actually do.

Elf Mineral Eye Shadow in Natural ($3). I reviewed this here as part of my recent Elf haul. This color is gorgeous! It's incredibly rich and smooth. I wear this to wake my eyes up on a lazy day. 

Benefit Velvet Eyeshadow in Nice Melons ($18) is a beautiful warm, rich, smooth peachy shade with a decent amount of shimmer. It's a keeper! 

Do you have an eyeshadow color that you just keep buying in the same color? One that keeps cropping up in your collection again and again?

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Some Random Witterings About Winter and Summer

A couple of real random thoughts going through my head at the moment. Whilst on vacation I basically completely ignored my skin. I think I washed my face twice, and didn’t even use moisturizer. The texture definitely became a little rougher (gosh, that sounds like sandpaper), but there were no visible signs of trouble. Since getting back I’ve gone back to my usual cleanser and moisturizer, but also added Origins Mimosa Moisterizer, which is supposed to literally roll back time as it stimulates collagen production. This morning I’ve woken up to a couple of red bumps. I haven’t decided yet if they are the result of the change in skin cream or a hangover from being so lazy the week before!

In a recent post I talked about whether you replace products which are only quite good when they are full, or whether you diligently use them up? I’m  a mix, but if a mascara doesn’t make the cut, I toss it immediately. I’ve been testing Maybelline’s Colossal for the last couple of weeks. At first I liked it a lot – it definitely gave my eyelashes good amounts of curl and volume. However, using a product during the working day is really my test of durability, and over the last two days this product has been one big fail. By 3pm I have little flakes and a dark smudge under my eyes. Not a good look. Onto my next one.

Right when I’m struggling to take in the amazingness of all the MAC Spring Color Forecast collection, when I read about one of the MAC Summer Collections, which is beach themed. Oooh, the packaging is so cute (I always feel bad depotting the special edition eyeshadows), and anything to do with beach is going to make me so so happy. Last summer I didn’t make it to the beach once due to crazy wedding activities, so this summer I’ve already got 10 days on Cape Cod with my family planned, and I’m working on booking a couple of other weekends away. This collection is just right for getting me in the mood for that. May cannot come quick enough!

Do you use things up or buy something better?

Beauty bloggers by definition love to experiment with new products, new looks, new brands. They pride themselves on also knowing the best eyeliner, the best shadow primer, the best mascara. So, what do you do about products that you try out, and you find out that they really aren’t the best at all? For example, right now I have two choices for a liquid liner if I am going for that look: MAC Penultimate is a pen liner, which I really love, and a black Stila smudge pot which is a gel liner. I also have MAC’s Rich Ground Fluidline liner which is a gel liner in brown. From using Rich Ground, and from all the reviews out there in the blogosphere (urgh, I hate that word), I know that I will love MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack far more than my current Stila smudge pot, which, frankly, I don’t love. I mean, it has reasonable staying power, is black enough (who knew black could have so much, or so little depth?), but doesn’t have the richness that I’m looking for, nor does go it on super smooth like the Fluidline.

I am sure that you have encountered many similar situations to this yourself. Do you go straight out and buy a new one? Do you wait until you’ve used the poorer quality item up? Right now, I’m trying to wait. I’m certainly still doing looks with the Stila product, and I hate waste. I’m terrible at actually finishing a product (um, I’ve hit pan on 1 shadow and 1 blush in my entire life), but I also cannot throw things out. I’m committing to working through to at least half way on the Stila before I can even consider buying the MAC product though. I’m really interested in hearing what other people’s approaches to this dilemma are, and if they change depending on the product.

Neutral Pink With Turquoise EOTD Using MAC Mystic Cool Palette

Another look from my MAC Holiday Palette series. I appreciate these are a little behind the times, but remember that I’m all about rediscovering hidden gems in my stash as well as splurging on the latest must haves (hello Spring Color Forecast!). Maybe I’ll help you take a look at your palettes or other forgotten colors as well.

This look was done using the Mystic Cool Palette. Out of all the palettes that were released as part of Holiday 2009, this is definitely the odd-ball and hardest to work with. Individually, the colors are beautiful, and reasonably good quality (what is it about palettes that they never seem to be the same standard as regular pans?), but they just don’t seem to gel together in an obvious way compared to the other palettes. I wore this look to dinner with a friend, and really enjoyed wearing it. I love a shock of turquoise wherever I can get it.

Base: Paint Pot in Bare Canvas followed by NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
Inner Lid: Pale Pink
Outer Lid: Frosty Pink
Crease: Brown
Brown Bone and Tear Duct: Shimmery gold highlight
Lower Lash Line: Turquoise shade

I wish I could advise on some good dupes for this set. The dark blue is probably MAC’s Contrast, and the turquoise looks like Urban Decay’s Flipside. The brown I am sure is easily dupable, I am just drawing a blank at the moment. However, the two pinks right now seem undupable to me, unless anyone else has any suggestions?

Apply Thyself: Or How I Discovered the Joy of Airbrushed Skin

A couple of weeks ago I did a major ELF haul and bought a number of items, including brushes. I noted at the time that I was pleased with the Studio Line of brushes, and thought that they were beyond excellent value at $3 a piece. I hadn't really had a chance to use the Powder Brush as much as I would have liked, and haven't gotten around to it until this week. Instead of taking home tried and true products, I actually took home a whole bunch of things I hadn't used or tried to test them all out, including this brush.



The brush has a large, flat top, and although it's not got skunk bristles, the shape reminded me of the MAC 187, which I haven't tried, so cannot compare to. Anyway, that got me thinking that this brush might work for liquid foundation. I tried it my MAC Studio Sculpt, which I quite like but find it can go on a little heavy or cakey. I used the brush damp, and put a teeny pea sized amount on my face, and used the brush in circular motions to buff out the color. Wow. I got this amazing, smooth, buffed, coverage, light but effective. Really, the best that I've had from this foundation. I was so amazed and impressed. The brush did give up a few bristles, but nothing serious so far. It does seem to "grab" foundation, so I do think that I am having to use more, and it's ending up on my brush instead of on my face, but it's worth it for the amazing finish. Plus, the finish lasts for a long time. Today, one of my co-workers today said I looked really pretty - I'm putting it down to the gorgeous finish this gives.

Two lessons learned here: experiment with your kit beyond what the label says (maybe not with things that say don't put near eyes!), and products can be rescued with good tools.

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