Monday, December 21, 2009

Rant: snow, snow go away.

I dread the winters in Chicago.

Q: Why do I dislike the winter?
A: I don't like being cold (unless its summertime and I have the A/C blasting), I always slip on the ice and hurt myself (This happened twice already), I always get sick (I've been sick for a consecutive two months now), Waking up and its still dark outside, Brushing the ice and snow off my car that accumulated through the night, warming up my car for 10+ freezing cold minutes, driving under the speed limit so my car doesn't do a 360, Leaving work and its dark outside,

And I can't take product pictures!!!! As you may notice, I take all of my product pictures outside to get the most accurate colors, clarity, etc. Soo, I went in my backyard like usual and snapped some pictures of the NARS blushes in the previous post.. and I could no longer feel my hands. And since we don't have many hours of sunlight, it makes it twice as hard. *sigh*

This is what my backyard looks like. And no, I didn't make this picture black and white. That's how lifeless it is outside. lol


oh well.

George + Natty <3

NARS Lovejoy & Albatross Powder Blushes Review!

NARS Albatross and Lovejoy Blushes


Lovejoy is a beautiful, shimmering bronzed rose. When applied, it instantly adds definition and warmth to my face.

The pigmentation is amazing, and you only need a light touch of the brush for a natural flush of color. Because it's so pigmented, using a duo fiber brush works best and lightly dabbing the powder across the cheeks.

This shade particularly goes really well with my tan skin tone, and I highly recommend it for medium, olive and tan skin tones! This is now one of my favorite blushes!


Albatross is a sheer, light golden powder used for highlighting the cheeks/face.

I'm not going to lie - Albatross looks a bit intimidating in the pan. Nars is known for providing some really pigmented blushes, so I had always assumed Albatross was going to be a pigmented, frosty white (in which I could use any of my white loose pigments). But, don't let the looks of it fool you. If you look closely, you'll see that it has a golden-yellow pearl.

When applied to the face, it goes on as a sheer, golden yellow sheen. It gives a very nice glow to the cheeks without looking shimmery or frosty. It's great for highlighting the top of the cheekbones, and it looks great layered over blushes.

A little goes a long way - my favorite way to apply this powder is with a fan or duo fiber brush.

Kim Kardashian's makeup artist uses Albatross to give Kim a radiant glow. She's wearing it in the photo below, across her cheekbones and it looks like she may be wearing it heavily on her neck.

[photo was taken from Mario's blog]

Here are a couple pictures of myself I took in the car last night. I was wearing Lovejoy & Albatross. If you wanna know what was on my whole face, post a comment :)


Nars Blushes retail for $28 and can be purchased at Sephora.

What are some of your favorite NARS blushes? I want them all!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

All Cosmetics Wholesale Review!

http://www.allcosmeticswholesale.com
It's basically a site that sells High End Cosmetics, as well as some drugstore cosmetics at a fraction of the cost. There are brands such as MAC, YSL, Stila, Urban Decay, etc. I found a ton of great things.. but I only ordered a couple. I received my order about 5 days later. Everything was correct.. and I very happy with my purchase. I would recommend ordering from this site.

Onto what I purchased:


STILA Convertible Eye Color "Onyx" $7.99 Retail $22
LANCOME Le Stylo Waterproof retractable Long Lasting Eye Liner "Noir" $9.99 Retail $23.50
LANCOME Le Crayon Poudre Powder Pencil for the Brows "Taupe" $7.99 Retail $23.50

Stila Convertible Eye Color: One side is a retractable eye liner, the other side is smudge tool & you can unscrew it from the middle, and out will pop out a smudge applicator with a frosty white shadow. So this is a really a neat product thats very handy. You can line your eyes and apply a highlight in the corners. The pigmentation of the eye liner is really good. It's really creamy and extremely black.


Lancome Le Stylo: This is a black retractable waterproof eye liner. It isn't the most intense black.. but it's really good and lasts all day for me. It reminds me of the Revlon Colorstay Retractable Eye Liner. The opposite side has a smudge tool which is very useful. I always soften the lines so my eyes don't look so harsh.

Lancome Le Poudre: I've heard this product is amazing. I purchased a color that is way too light for me because they were sold out of the color I needed. The formula is very light and powdery, so I can tell its a really nice product and won't go on as harsh as a regular brow pencil. I'll be looking into purchasing the right shade. (I didn't swatch it because I have it up for swap)

CLARINS Self Tanning Face Cream $10.99 Retail $32


Clarins Facial Self Tanner: The reviews for this were really good, so I decided to give it a try. It's a light brown cream lotion that reminds me of my Banana Boat and Coppertone self tanners I used when I was in Middle and High School. It also has the strong self tanner smell that reminds me of Off Bug Spray. Because its a tinted lotion, you instantly have a little color to your face. I've been using it all week and I have mixed feelings about it. I really don't see any difference in this compared to putting Jergens on my face. It gives VERY subtle golden color by morning that almost all washes away once I washed my face. I prefer using my SUN labs self tanner on my face, which gives my face a deeper brown color. It's not a bad product, but its not the best. At this point, I don't think I'd repurchase. I would be on the lookout for another facial self tanner. Any suggestions?

Have you purchased anything from this site? Any products you think I should try? Let me know! :)

Revlon Lip Glosses

Revlon is probably one of the few drugstore brands of makeup I'd actually buy. So when my Local Drugstore (Jewel/Osco) had Revlon Mineral Lip glaze on sale for 50% off, I bought a back up (Unlimited Nectar) and two other shades. And, Walgreen's had all Revlon Beyond Natural Cream Lip gloss on Clearance for around $3 each, as well as Revlon Colorstay Lipstick in "Smooth Nude" (which happens to be another favorite of mine) Revlon Lip gloss in Life's a Peach was on sale for $4.99. So yay! Lots of goodies.

 From Left to Right: Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze "Neverending Nude 505", Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze "Everlasting Blush 515", Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze "Unlimited Nectar 520", Revlon Super Lusturous Lipgloss "Life's a Peach 110", Revlon Beyond Natural Cream Lipgloss "Peach 110" and Revlon Colorstay Lip Color "Smooth Nude 350".

"Neverending Nude" with MAC Stripdown Lip Liner

Revlon Mineral Lipglaze: I've said it before, I absolutely LOVE these. "Unlimited Nectar" is the shade I wear just about every day. I love it because it's not sticky on my lips, the color doesn't flake off and it doesn't make my lips peel. It's very moisturizing and it lasts for HOURS. It leaves yours lips with a slight shine without looking "flat" like many lasting lip colors do. Its definitely a lip gloss that is good for when you're somewhere where you can't keep pulling out your lip gloss to reapply. Neverending Nude is a creamy light mauve, Everlasting Blush is a frosted pink and unlimited nectar is a creamy beigey peach. I'm very happy with all three.

Revlon Super Lusturous Lipgloss: "Life's a Peach" is one of my favorite lip glosses. I love wearing it with any nude color to add shine and a hint of peach with a pink pearl. It really makes my lip color "POP". It is also non sticky and moisturizing on my lips.

Revlon Beyond Natural Cream Lipgloss: I love the color of "Peach" it is a very vibrant peach and really suits my skin tone. The formula is a little thick, and if you apply too much you will end up with gooey feeling lips. But with a thin coat, it makes your lips feel really smooth and no stickyness what so ever. I really like this and would repurchase if it was the clearance price. I probably wouldn't repurchase for the regular price.

Revlon Colorstay Lip Color: This is a back up. I mentioned this in previous posts, but I'll do a quick overview. This is one of my few favorite drugstore lipsticks. It's a nude coral/light pink/mauve with a pink pearl. It is similar to the much talked about "Nude Attitude" but it is a little more sheer. It goes on extremely smooth and glossy and will dry to a semi matte. I love how this looks when I apply a little concealer to my lips prior application.

If you like peachy pinks, I would recommend all of these!