xmas giftssssssss!

hi all! hope you had a good christmas! here are a few of the things i got.... ~Lin-chan ^.~

[swatch photos to come later.]

• thirtyone gifts: free to be soft wallet in sea plaid and mini utility bin in black cross pop. my mom's friend had a thirtyone gifts party thing (like a tupperware party) a couple months back and she showed me the catalog..and, well, these are what i picked out. =P
• why people live in new orleans...seems like a coffee table book. i'm not really sure how much reading this book'll get.......
• saints blanket & mug set -- our pick from dirty santa

 
onyx, azurite green, purple garnet, taupe, rose gold; turbulent polish (2nd nail from the left)

• wolf children dvd
• baby squeezeits -- can't have enough of these for tube lip glosses!
• benjabelle daisy brush tree in black
• 3DS points card to get phoenix wright: dual destinies
• the wet brush squirt
• real techniques kabuki brush
• formula x by sephora in turbulent
• tarte stop & stare eyeliner set (skinny smolderEyes: onyx, azurite green, purple garnet; smolderEyes: taupe, rose gold; lights camera flashes mascara)
• 21 drops quick fix gift set (headache, sleep, passion, & focus; from sephora)

• em cosmetics: 
1. holiday life: new year's countdown life palette moment (impressions/review)
2. winter life: ice bunny life palette moment (impressions/review)
3. ros gold waterliner
4. the great cover up in light neutral/cool
5. career life palette sampler -- girl in charge (impressions/review)

• 2x recollections 3-drawer organizer cube--from michaels. these are also known as 'melmers' in the beauty/nail communities as an alternative to the ikea helmer. (sorry for the weird angled photo..too short to take the picture while standing on the floor, so i stood on the bed and took the pic upside-down and rotated it...) (see them in action, here)
• cover for our kitchenaid stand mixer (from etsy: CoverMeCute)

queen vic, primrose hill picnic, fairy lights, teddy girl, fruit machine

• divergent series boxed set
• butter london the flash pack -- see a notd here

not pictured: hanging space bag for suits, silpat silicon baking mat, greenpan 8- &10in anodized set

yesterday's cvs haul! & impressions

another mini haul for you guys. this time, i was waiting on a prescription to be filled.... ~Lin-chan ^.~

 

blue beats (3rd from the left; swatched over hally hansen gunmetal--leftmost swatch), deep in violet (4th)

• covergirl 

1. bombshell volume mascara -- i really liked this on first try. the only complaint is that the 1-wand is so chubby. i'm not sure if i'd repurchase this (since i love a few others more) but this is a great one to try out.
2. trublend foundation in 425 -- this is the old packaging, so it's on clearance for 50% off, and as i said in my last post, the 410 i just got a little light on me or white cast-y...whatever... and i'm 825 in the 3-in-1 so it's supposedly the same shade.

• maybelline colorshow nail polishes in deep in violet & blue beats (better swatches/notd's to come later)
• lypsyl lip balm -- a ytmmbi (HollieEatsLipstick) ...because i horde lip balm..lol. more like i try all the things... and i actually really liked this lip balm, first try!
• wet n wild blue had me at hello 8-pan shadow palette -- also 50% off, they're discontinuing this one..boo. i actually had my eye on this palette for a while but it's blue and i'm not super adventurous with wearing non-neutral colors. buuuut. i'm still trying to figure out what i'm doing for J's wedding makeup look..so i decided to get this because my dress is a sky blue-ish color.

left side, right side -- swatched dry

tuesday's cvs haul & impressions

i had some extra bucks burning a hole in my pocket again, so i went over to cvs to see what was new and we've finally got the new covergirl stuff! yay! [haven't had time to do initial testing of everything sooner...lol.] ~Lin-chan ^.~

• covergirl

1. trumagic skin perfector mattifier -- i got this because i've been really wanting to try mally's poreless face defender forever and this is supposed to be a close dupe of it. this works fairly well, dabbing the puff into the silicon-y pan is kinda weird as far as bacteria and makeup transferring from your face to the puff...but it does do a pretty good job of mattifying the shine when dabbed on. so far so good!
2. trublend fixstick in light -- i'm all about trying different concealers and this one..i wanted. obviously i got it partially because it was in the display with the other new cg products but it's a pretty good concealer. it's medium-full coverage, lightweight and very creamy. blends awesomely and this shade is a good match for me.
3. trublend foundation in i2 -- this foundation, in some lights looks like a perfect match, but i get a white cast from flash photography, so idk. i got this shade because i thought this would match me better but i think i'll just mix it with my ud naked foundation (since it's a bit dark on me). i do like the consistency of this foundation, it's very thin and slightly watery but it gives good sheer-medium coverage and feels very lightweight.

• almay get up and grow mascara -- i'm not really going to say a whole lot about this mascara, it's one of my favorites and they were having bogo half off on covergirl & almay
• physician's formula healthy wear tinted moisturizer in light-natural -- i wasn't expecting this to smell like sunscreen..but it does. this is a ytmmbi that i've been wanting to try. this shade is perfect and i don't mind going out and about with just this on..aside from the smell...

fotd: A's wedding makeup look

hi guys! so i mentioned on here several times that i'm in two weddings, right? well here's my look for A's wedding last night! ~Lin-chan ^.~

dress is from david's bridal in plum.

 

products used:

• eyes
• benefit 
• lemon aid
• gimme brow in med/dark
• urban decay 
• original primer potion
• naked3 palette: burnout (inner corner), liar (lid), mugshot (crease), darkside (outer v, over pencil liners--lower), strange (highlight)
• liquid liner in smog (upper liner)
• pencil liner in underground (lower liner)
• nyx jumbo pencil in 
• strawberry milk (inner corner, under burnout)
• sparkle nude (lower lash line, under underground)
• chella brow highlight
• mascaras (in order of application...)
• elizabeth mott it's so big
• loreal telescopic shocking extensions (& lowers)
• covergirl clump crusher
• armani eyes to kill
• rimmel london eyeliner in nude (waterline)
• lips
• em michelle phan pillow plush lip balm in sorbet (applied before makeup)
• benefit posie tint
• bite lipstick in pepper (applied after posie tint dried)
• face
• too faced original primed & poreless
• covergirl 
• 3-in-1 foundation in 825
• trublend fixstick in light
• rimmel london stay matte powder in translucent
• theBalm 
• instain blush in houndstooth
• mary lou-manizer (highlight)
• benefit rockateur blush (lightly placed over houndstooth)
• too faced pink leopard bronzer
• makeup forever hd setting powder
• urban decay b6 & de slick sprays
• tools/brushes
• clinique lash curler
• elf studio powder brush (flat top), small tapered brush
• mua E3, F6
• real techniques: buffing brush, powder brush, lash-brow groomer
• sigma E30, E55, P80

tuesday's fotd

hi all! so i posted a fotd of myself to my instagram on tuesday but i felt like posting about it here too. so here you are. ~Lin-chan ^.~

products used:

• eyes
• urban decay 
• original primer potion
• naked3 palette:  burnout (inner corner), liar & trick (lid), mugshot (outer v), strange (highlight)
• pencil liner in underground (lower lash line)
• liquid liner in smog
• rimmel london pencil liner in nude (waterline)
• elizabeth mott it's so big mascara (2 coats upper)
• loreal telescopic shocking extensions (1 coat upper & lower)
• covergirl clump crusher (1 coat upper)
• benefit gimme brow in medium/deep
• lips
• bite beauty lipstick in pepper
• face
• maybelline fit me stick foundation
• revlon colorstay concealer
• benefit rockateur blush
• nyx hd setting powder
• urban decay b6 & de slick sprays

December 2013 ipsy bag!!!

  

hi guys! guess what came in today? my december IPSY BAG*! (theme: celebration). ~Lin-chan ^.~

ranking the past nine months, from today's standpoint:

1. april 2. november, december 3. september 4. october

5. august           6. june           7. may           8. july

here's my impressions

1. be a bombshell cosmetics the one stick in girl crush (7.3g--full size, ret. $16) -- this is so pretteh. omg. i haven't used it aside from swatching, but i likes it.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
• update: this is so buttery. i applied it with my fingers to my cheeks as a cream blush and it was major butter. built up, this shade is a really nice, natural pink on me. (granted, it is shimmery..) and sheered out, it's a very pretty highlight. on my lips, it came off as a pretty pinky-nude type shade. but it's not very long lasting or moisturizing and it clung to my dry spots. bleh. but that's ok, i think i'll primarily use this on my cheeks.
2. pop beauty bright up your life eyeshadow trio from the naturally bare palette (4.35g/3 pans--mini, ret. $24 for 10 shadows [$7.20]) -- i swatched these dry and i'm quite impressed. they're very smooth and more pigmented than i was expecting. you guys know i love my neutrals, and these shades are pretty. we'll see how i feel when i start using it.
• likelihood to repurchase: quite possibly
3. demeter snow perfume oil rollerball (.29oz--mini size, ret. $10) -- this smells like dirt, with a twist, to me. paul doesn't think so, but i think so. or realistically, anything earthy smells like dirt to me. this is supposed to have 'perfectly captured the scent of snow'...yeah, ok.
• likelihood to repurchase: not this one, but maybe other scents.
4. nyx extra creamy round lipstick in B52 (4g--full size, ret. $4) -- very creamy but i'm not sure about lasting power. feels moisturizing but thin. this shade is in my comfort zone; it's a dusty rose.
• likelihood to repurchase: probably
5. nicka k nail polish in NY139 ripe apple (.5oz--full size, ret. $4.99) -- this thing was opaque in one coat. holy crap. i'm not into red polish, but this is very impressive.
• likelihood to repurchase: probably for other colors, not this shade though.
• will pass off to mom, she loves reds.
6. black ipsy bag -- really cute quilt type pattern
7. card with company info/discount codes
1. beabombshellcosmetics.com: 40% off any purchase & free full-sized raspberry tart blush, code: IPSY40 (exp. 1/15/14)
2. popbeauty.com: 25% off any purchase, code: EyeLuvPOP (exp. 1/15/14)
3. nyxcosmetics.com: 35% off the slim lip pencil, code: IPSYSLIM (exp. 1/15/14)
4. demeterfragrance.com: 20% off any purchase, code: ipsy20dfl (exp. 1/13/14)
5. nicka.com: 30% off any purchase, code: IPSY (exp.1/10/14)
6. jessesgirlcosmetics.com: 20% off any purchase (free shipping on orders $20+), code: IPSYDEC2013 (exp. 1/15/14)
7. mirabellabeauty.com: 30% off any purchase, code: ipster (exp. 1/7/13..? that's what it says..)
8. englishlaundryfragrance.com: receive free women's handbag or men's duffle bag with $75+ purchase and free shipping, (no code, exp. 2/23/14)
9. starrily.com: 20% off any purchase, code: IPSY (exp. not listed)
10. jcatbeauty.com: 30% off any purchase, code: jcatlips (exp. 1/15/14)

approximate product value: ~$42.19

(3rd) ripe apple -- 1 coat!!! it's showing up pinkish here, but it's actually true-to-bottle. the bag photo above shows the color more accurately.

girl crush, B52, naturally bare trio--swatched dry

*Affiliate Link.

december hauls

 

hi guys! december hauls post time! part 1? i'll have an xmas gifts post again after xmas happens. hopefully i won't buy anything else for myself until next month. hahah. ~Lin-chan ^.~

• cvs: revlon lippy in elusive
• bbb: loreal nail polish in hidden gems (notd post)
• beauty bridge*: thebalm cabana boy & frat boy blushes, 3oz philosophy purity made simple
• a while back, rue la la* sent me a $20 credit and just when it was about to expire, beauty bridge was having a "groupon" on there for $30 for a $50 off code. so i only paid $10 for the code and ~$8 for shipping.
• luvocracy: thebalm down boy blush
• luvocracy gave me a $10 credit when i signed up, plus during cyber week, they were having free shipping and no taxes, so score $11 for this blush!
• sephora vib $20 off $50: urban decay revolution lipstick in fiend, bite beauty luminous creme lipstick in pepper, and soap and glory flake away body polish mini

mini-spree after taking back-to-back finals: (walmart, ulta)

• ponds cold cream cleanser -- ytmmbi, a few people online have mentioned it and i was curious.
• 2x elf studio powder brushes, because i really liked my other one and for $3, yes.
• urban decay 24/7 liquid liner in smog -- to use with my naked3 palette
• nyx -- was bogo free at ulta
• jumbo eye pencil in sparkle nude -- it looks like a pretty rosegold-ish color
• hd setting powder -- it's a dupe for mufe's, so why not try it?
• sally hanson nail polish in rasin the bar & pure ice nail polish in spitfire -- i bought some more clear plastic ornaments, planning on using these in them!
• 7 ulta points: 1oz macadamia natural oil (4pts) & loreal one sweep eyeshadow (3pts) in natural for brown eyes -- both are my favorites!

 
left: smog, sparkle nude, elusive, fiend, pepper
right: i'm wearing pepper & naked3 shadows (fotd post)



cabanaboy, downboy, fratboy

whiskey & zero (1), pistol & perversion (2), venus & crave (B), darkside & blackheart (3)

today's haul:

• bbw: cranberry pear bellini & leaves candles--on sale for $8!, forever red vanilla rum perfume mini
• ulta: eco tools airbrush concealer brush (also called deluxe concealer brush); urban decay naked2, basics, & 3 pencils
• i didn't get the naked1 pencil because i already have zero & whiskey. and i was iffy about the 2 pencil, i have two full sized perversion pencils waiting for me to open already, but pistol is my favorite shade from the 2... so yeah.... and i had a 20% off coupon, which helped!
• lush: wiccy magic muscles. so i broke my no-buy. i did pretty good: a year without buying lush. i actually went in to buy a couple things as gifts, and i decided to get a replacement since teh paul's been needing back rubs a lot lately. he's been trying to build muscle and i think he's been straining himself a bit.

*Affiliate Links

naked palette shadow comparisons

hi guys! so now that i've got some free time, i've decided to do some swatch comparisons of the shadows that look fairly similar to one another across the four naked palettes. enjoy! ~Lin-chan ^.~

key: 1 -- naked1, 2 -- naked2, B -- naked basics, 3 -- naked3
all shadows were swatched dry, with no primer.

repeat shades across the palettes: foxy (2 & B), half baked (1 & 2)

creep (1), blackout (2), crave (B), blackheart (3)

naked (1), naked2 (B), faint (B), buck (1)

virgin (1), venus (B), bootycall (2), strange (3)

sidecar (1), ydk (2), mugshot (3), factory (3)

sorry, i started losing sunlight right about here...

toasted (1), ydk (2), liar (3) ... tease (2), nooner (3)

chopper (2), trick (3) ... busted (2), hustle (1), mugshot (3)

urban decay naked 3 palette (pic heavy)

 

i couldn't help it..and caved. thankfully, i had some opinion outpost* points that i was able to redeem and use toward it. so after tax, i paid $40 instead of $54. sadly, i thought that they'd ship immediately and it would arrive at my in-laws while we were there for thanksgiving, but they didn't. (they went on sale the thursday before thanksgiving and it didn't ship out until monday!) so i snuck a drive home yesterday to get my hands onto it. >.< ~Lin-chan ^.~

the naked3 palette comes packaged with a fairly generous sampler of four of their primer potions (original, sin, eden, and anti-aging) as well as a dual ended shadow/blending brush. the naked3 is packaged similar to the naked2 in shape, but the exterior case is a gorgeous rose-gold color, with ripples (kind of...i think it's weird...) on both the front and back. 

[the naked1 originally came with a dual ended eyeliner pencil (zero & whiskey), but now it comes with an eye brush and a mini of their original primer potion in the vintage bottle---for, at the time $50 (now $52). the naked2 comes with a dual ended shadow/crease brush and a mini of their lip junkie lipgloss in naked--also previously $50 (now $52). and the naked basics palette $27 comes with 6 shadows and no extras.]

update: click here for shadow comparisons post

 vs. 

 

left: naked1, 3, & 2 flat-side brushes; right: naked2 (round) & 3 (flat) blender-side brushes

upon opening the palette, i was, to some degree, disappointed that a few of the pans were loose--maybe the result of rapid mass production? so i pulled out the hot glue gun and glued them back in with no problems.

onto the swatches!!!

naked1 shades: virgin, sin, naked, sidecar, buck, half baked, smog, dark horse, toasted, hustle, creep, gunmetal

naked3 shades: strange, dust, burnout, limit, buzz, trick, nooner, liar, factory, mugshot, darkside, blackheart

naked2 shades: foxy, half baked, bootycall, chopper, tease, snakebite, suspect, pistol, verve, ydk, busted, blackout

swatches: 1, 3, 2 all over ud original primer potion -- photos taken outside in the 38° cold!

i think my favorites or most used will be: burnout, liar, trick, factory, mugshot

foxy and walk of shame are extremely close to my skintone; i promise i swatched them!!

*Affiliate Link.