FOTD: Sunday Nov 30

This is my first ever attempt at a cat eye, so I took pictures from different angles. Tips are appreciated! The shadow is by Princessa, you can get it at Cherry Culture. It's the 8 piece palette. It's not all that great, I really don't recommend it. But I thought I would try it today. A very good base is necessary. And I sprayed my brush with mixing medium while I was doing it. (I didn't want it to be too strong, or else I would've mixed the shadow and the mixing medium before putting it on my brush.)

PLEASE IGNORE MY EYEBROWS! I want a different shape so I'm growing them out. It's PAINFUL. That's why I did such a dramatic look! I wanted people to be distracted. "Hmm, you're eyebrows umm... -- ooh look at that shadow!)

The mascara I used is Max Factor's 2000 Calorie Mascara. GET IT! It's so awesome!!! Just look at those babies. This is two coats.





For the face products today I used that Lorac Blush in the Hit Pan tag. I also used a different foundation. I used Almay clear complexion powder makeup. It's supposed to be good for your skin. It has salicylic acid in it! And I have a huge zit on my chin! (Difficult to see in the photos... YAY!!!) I have to say I much prefer liquid or cream makeup. It gives a better coverage. Although this make up is good when I want my freckles to show through.

Look at my awesome earrings! Don't you love them.
I got them from Hot Topic a year or so ago.
"Take another little piece of my heart now, baby!"

Review: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania

Another Cherry Culture product! Gosh, I love that site... BTW Cherry Culture is having a Thanksgiving Day Sale right now! EVERYTHING is 20% off! As always free shipping with an order of $40 or more!

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania
Price: 5/5
The price is $2.00 at Cherry Culture (on sale for $1.25 right now!). Can't get cheaper than that!
Packaging: 2/5
The little jar is cute and easy to store, but gosh is it a pain. I'm thinking of repotting the shadows into 5 gram jars.
Application: 3/5
They're well pigmented, but the fall out! OMG!
Overall: 3.5/5
Would I repurchase: Probably, since they're so cheap.




So, I always thought of NYX Ultra Pearl Mania as kind of like pigments. I hadn't used them before, but they kind of seemed the same. Let me say no, dear reader. Nothing like it. That isn't to say that they're not good, but in case anyone else is thinking that, they're much different.

Okay, all of these are shimmery. Well, yeah. Look at the name: "Pearl." So, they are all pearly and shimmery. I have to admit, love the colors. They are all well pigmented and sooo pretty. My biggest beef with them is 1) the packaging and 2) the fall out. And, I know, you're going to experience fall out with loose shadows, but I feel like I get more with these shadows. As if they're not sticking so well? I don't know. That doesn't make sense because I didn't have problems with creasing when I put them on top of a good base.

It is useful to note that I usually wear my eyeshadow for about 6 hours. I put it on in the morning and when I get back to my room I usually take it off. Sometimes because I want to play with my makeup (yes, play). Sometimes because I feel like having a clean face. (Usually it's because I want to play, lol.) Or, I often touch it up when I get back to my room. Like today, I forgot to take a FOTD pic, so I went to class, got back, touched up my makeup took pix and then I took all my shadow off, did a new look and so I could review some L.A. Colors shadows. So, if you're wearing your shadow for longer, you might have more problems with creasing than I do.

I feel like I need to give these a second chance. One reason for getting so much fall out might be that I'm not able to get the proper amount on the brush because of the inconvenient packaging. I end up with too much on my brush, always. ... ... That's it! I'm going to repot these suckers.

Anyway, final note: they are worth the two bucks! Try them! I like the colors a lot, oh yeah. They're awesome. Plus, I love all NYX products!!!!

Look below: Walnut and Charcoal on the lid, Walnut on lower lash line, Pearl as a highlight.



Another neat use for these is to put them in a body spray! I got this idea from Leesha (xparkage) saying that she put MAC Vanilla pigment in her Fix+. I don't have Fix+, but I thought to try this out. Give a light shimmer but not too much at all. Very light, not extremely noticable.

I put it in this small travel size bottle of Dove Go Fresh that I got for free with my deoderant. Because I don't want to put it in a full size bottle and then realize, "oh, wait... this sucks!"

See the pretty shimmers!

Review: LA Colors Glittering Starlet Eyeshadow

If you've never shopped at Cherry Culture, I highly recommend it. I've made a few purchases from there in my time and I always make sure to purchase just at $40, because that's when you get free shipping!!! Also, there are often BOGO deals and sales on some great products. And it's not just some of the more inexpensive brands (like L.A. Colors, which I'm about to review) but also stuff like Eyeko and Sugar.

This review is on the Glittering Starlet Eyeshadow. I first looked at this product because they are an insider pick, reviewed by Vanessa at Nessasary Makeup. I purchased two of the palettes: Audrey and Ginger. All of the palettes are named after famous stars. (Elizabeth, Marilyn, etc). I picked these because I loved the colors! I'm a sucker for pinks and purples (Audrey) and I also love darker colors (Ginger).

Price: 5/5
The price is $3.99 at Cherry Culture (on sale for $3.50 right now!). So, you are getting 10 shadows for $4, basically. That's 40 cents per shadow!!!!
Packaging: 5/5
Comes with two double ended sponges and a small mirror. The top of the case is clear so you can see all the shadows. The back so cute with stars and glitter all over. :-)
Application: 3.5/5
See, the glitter drops it a bit, because glitter is hard to work with. And you have to use something to get the colors to really stand out. Not all of them are really well pigmented. But if you do use mixing medium or base, the look so fabulous.
Overall: 4/5
Would I repurchase: Oh yeah!

See the palettes and swatches of the colors (click for larger image):

L.A. Colors Glittering Starlet Eyeshadow in Audrey

Swatches of Audrey

Glittering Starlet Eyeshadow in Ginger

Swatches of Ginger

The eyeshadows are not swatched on top of a base, but I did dampen my brush when swatching. I have to say, that black is one of my favorites. Most of the colors are shimmery, but the black is matte with the glitter on top. I have done a smokey eye with the three colors on the bottom left of Ginger (the sliver, blue and black) and let me tell you, it turned out great!

One thing about these, the glitter is a bit chunky. It is by no means a finely milled shimmer shadow. But, the good thing is, it's not just a shadow with a glitter on top. You ever get that where the glitter is just sitting on top of the shadow? How much does that suck? But the glitter is worked into all the eyeshadow. I always use a base when applying my eyeshadow, so I can't tell you how well it stays without one, but with one, it stayed very well, not creasing at all.

Without a base or mixing medium, not all of the colors show up well. The well pigmented ones are (numbering the top row 1-5, bottom row 6-10): Audrey 3,4,5,6,7,8,10; Ginger all but 7. The others are good, but need to be built up a bit.

Below is a look I did using : Audrey3 in the inner 1/2 of my lid, Ginger5 in the outer half; Audrey2 as a highlight (I was feeling funky); Audrey4 to line my lower lashes. (NYX Sky Teal for mascara.) I did try to brush away most of the glitter because I was concerned about fallout during the day. My lower lash line (I don't know if you can tell) still has glitter on it, though. I like how that looks. However, another time I used this palette and did not brush the glitter away and I did not experience a lot of glitter fall out during the day. A little maybe, but I have a bad habit of rubbing my eye sometimes. This was easy to remove and surprisingly, I didn't have problems removing the glitter. Don't rub your eye back and forth, that's the problem. Soak a cotton ball in eye makeup remover and press it to your lid for a few seconds to let it soak in. Then, wipe away gently. Do it that way, and you won't have problems with getting glitter all over the place.

Note: my camera washes out the colors a bit. I'm going to have to find a setting that makes the colors show up better.

Note: I just checked Cherry Culture and there are FOUR new Glittering Starlet Palettes: Bette, bright bright bright; Jean, golds and browns; Ingrid, purely pink; and Claudette, an array of bold beauties. Bette is currently sold out. No surprise! I can't wait to try Bette and Claudette.
What about you? Interested in trying any?

Haul Pt2: Cherry Culture