Cherry Culture Sale!

In my last post, I wrote about NYX and how the brand had great quality and was extremely affordable. Well I just wanted to let everyone know that Cherry Culture is currently have a major sale on their clearance items and that includes NYX! A lot of their great products are offered at low LOW prices so check it out and stock up on this great product!

Cherry Culture Sale!

Budget Cosmetics Review: NYX!

So YAY for my traditional finals procrastinating note :D I started writing this note during finals but I never got to finish it until now. So anyway! I know I often write about these expensive brand name cosmetics but seriously, there are also great affordable alternatives out there! Awhile ago I posted a review of the coastal scents and 120 palette and so I started looking into different budget cosmetics. A Friend then told me about a cheap but good cosmetic company called NYX and let me know that they were having a huge sale so I decided to get some stuff just to see what NYX is all about. NYX can usually be found at outlet fragrance stores, ULTA, the NYX website, and even that Japanese store at the UTC. So anyway, let's get to the review!

So this is everything I got during the sale. Everything was half off so :D. Even though it looks like a lot of stuff, I got everything for under $30 and there was free shipping too! I didn't get any of their traditional eyeshadows because I already had the palettes and I didn't need anymore eyeshadow. However, apparently their traditional eyeshadows are amazing and also they have a lot of MAC dupes!

LtoR: Geisha, Princess, Queen, Pearl, Nude, Mink, and Space over the Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil Milk.

These were the eyeshadows I got. Three are chrome eyeshadows and four are the loose pearl eyeshadows. They are basically lose pigments and have really nice color! I was really impressed by how pigmented they were, I think definitely comparable to the high end brands. Also, at $5 per Chrome eyeshadow and $2 per pearl eyeshadow, their price can't be beat! Especially since I was able to get them for $2.50 and $1 respectively! The Pigment jars are really annoying to use though so I transfered them to 5g jars that I bought.

LtoR: White, Hot Pink, Plush Red, Nude, deep Red, Snow White, Louisiana, Tea Rose, Indian Pink, and Milk

Another thing I got was Lip Liners and Lip Sticks. I never wore lip sticks before because I always thought that my lips were too big for lipstick. However, for $3.50 per lipstick, I decided that it didn't hurt to try! The white ones are white eyeliner and eyeshadow (for base.) The lip sticks are really really creamy and go on very well! Some of the colors I got didn't really suite my face but they are still really great!! I think these lipsticks are one of the best products from NYX. But make sure you get the round lipsticks! These are the best!

Here are some examples of how the shadows look on me:

Chrome Eyeshadows

Loose Pearl Pigments

Although the blue pigments looked great when I first put it on, after a bit of blending, it started to look pretty dull but then I thought maybe it was because of the base I was using (the Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk.) I first bought Milk because I heard that it was a great base for makeup. However, I noticed that it didn't show the brilliance of the makeup as well as a normal primer like the Urban Decay Primer Potion. So I decided to compare Milk and UDPP.

on the Left is Milk on the Right is UDPP

Not sure if you guys can tell but after blending, UDPP comes out the clear winner as a primer/ base. The pigment really shines and is much brighter with the Urban Decay Primer Potion, on Milk the pigment is duller. However, if you compare the price of Milk ($3.50) with UDPP ($17.00) then maybe you can't complain. Milk is still better than no Base, and it isn't horrible. I just think that it wasn't worth all the hype...

So today I was at the outlets and they had a choose any 5 NYX things for $10! So I got two eyeshadows, two more Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils, and some loose power. Only for $10 all together! Hurray for affordable QUALITY makeup!

If you guys are interested in NYX, go to their website and check them out!

MAC Halloween Look 2009

Hey everyone! I just attempted the Ace of Hearts Halloween look! I think I am actually going to do this for Halloween but since I didn't have some of the stuff int he instructions then I just substituted. I went to MAC today and was talking to the MUA about how I attempted the look and she said that white paint is prob better then white eyeshadow so she gave me a sample for free! Any CC is always appreciated!

Here is the original look from MAC: http://www.maccosmetics.com/looks/print/Halloween18.pdf

Hello!

This is my first post on this blog so I am not really sure how things work yet. I wanted to devote a blog just on my random ramblings about makeup while getting to know other people with a similar interest as me! You might notice that I already have post on the blog, but they are just post that I transferred from my facebook account... so this is my first brand spankin' new blogspot post! Hurrah! I hope you guys continue to read my blog :)

Thanks!

Coastal Scents 88 and Beauty Factory 120 palettes

Recently I have been watching those youtube makeup tutorials when i noticed that everyone was using these massive eyeshadow palettes, the 120 pro palettes from Beauty Factory and the Coastal scents 88 palettes. I remember seeing them on ebay for around $25 before but I thought they were just whatever crappy eyeshadows. After watching a lot of reviews, however, I was pretty amazed and wanted to try them myself! They were cheap, highly pigmented, and had sooo many colors to choose from, I thought this was too good to be true!

So I ordered the palettes from online to try them. I was too cheap to fork out the full cost for the 120 palette so I didn't buy it from the beauty factory website, instead I bought it off eBay. Even though it came from China, I received it in a week and there were no broken eyeshadows at all! I was super excited. Also, I got a free travel brush set with my order! Hurrah! The two 88 palettes I actually ordered from the original websites but the shipping was expensive ($13!) They came neatly packed and arrived in less than a week. I also got a free sample of eyeshadow with my order. Although, it was packed very well, I did get one broken eyeshadow in my order which made me sad... so I talked to coastal scents about it and they are sending me a whole new palette for free!

I was talking to Margaret about the palettes online and she was telling me that she heard the Coastal Scents palettes smell but seeing as I don't have a sense of smell (yes I I am just missing that sense!) I enlisted Genki's help to smell my palettes. The coastal scents palettes do smell slightly, but it could be the palette not the eyeshadows. Also, they don't really smell on the brush or on my skin so I don't see that being an issue.

Finally, I was worried that since these are some no name eyeshadow, they might irritate skin with strange chemicals. However, after wearing the eyeshadow for two days now, I haven't had a problem with irritation, even on my eye that has been dry recently. In general though, since these eyeshadows are extremely pigmented, it is good to always use a base (like primer, paint pots, shade sticks) to avoid staining.

If any of you guys are interested in buying these palettes yourself (I think it is a great deal and totally recommend them) I listed the websites and ebay sellers at the end so you guys can get it yourself. If you want to see it for yourself too, I am always happy to show off my stash :D Look into it though! It is such a steal!

The Haul! This is actually all the three palettes put together... adding up to 296 different eyeshadows! The two on the right are the Coastal scents 88 palettes. The Coastal Scents palettes have the same/ similar colors except one is more matte and the other is more shimmer. The right top is the ultra shimmer palette and the right bottom is the original (matte.) The one on the left is the 120 pro palette from beauty factory. All of these palettes were around $23 each. Compare that to $14 for a single M.A.C. eyeshadow or $16 for a single Urban Decay eyeshadow... these palettes are a steal!

This humongous palette is the pro 120 eyeshadow palette from beauty factory. there are two layers in the palette and there are 60 shadows on each layer. In the picture, I put the layers side by side so you can see all the colors. Each eyeshadow is bigger than a dime and the palette is filled with a variety of finishes including mattes, satins, and shimmers. I feel like the colors are stronger than those in the 88 palettes too. However, the palette has a lot of random colors that might not be used very often so the 88 palette trumps the 120 palette when it comes to usable colors.

This palette is the coastal scents original (matte) 88 palette. It isn't actually all matte, there are a few shimmer too, but the majority of the colors are matte. The shadows are a bit smaller than a dime but are super user friendly. I think it is actually nice to have both 88 palettes just because they are pretty cheap and you don't just want to wear shimmer only because that looks way too much. It is good to balance out ultra shimmers with mattes too.

This is the coastal scents ultra shimmer 88 palette. Like the more matte palette, the shadows are a bit smaller than a dime.This palette is much more popular than the matte one. Like the matte one, I feel like the colors are more user friendly than those of the 120 pro palette.

These eyeshadow are loaded with pigments! They are comparable... if not more pigmented than expensive brands like M.A.C. and urban decay. I swatched the colors (from most expensive to cheapest.) Although some of the colors are not exactly the same shade, I wanted you guys to be able to compare the color payoff. I was extremely impressed with the results! Even though these eyeshadows are extremely cheap, it were so bright!

I wanted to try out the eyeshadow so you guys could actually see how it is. On this eye, I did a mermaid look using only the 120 pro palette. As you can see, the colors are extremely brilliant and strong. They were very smooth, soft and extremely blend-able.

On this eye, I did a sex on the beach (the drink)/ sunset look. I only used the coastal scents palettes for this (both the shimmer and the more matte one.) The colors are really strong but they aren't as bright as the 120 pro palette; I had to use more eyeshadow to achieve the same effect. However, it is still comparable to many brand name eyeshadow.

http://stores.ebay.com/Chic-Gallery-eStore
http://www.coastalscents.com/cfwebstore/index.cfm
http://www.beauties-factory.com/unlimitshop/index.php?cPath=24