Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Urban Decay Friends and Family Sale 2013!

Urban Decay Friends and Family Sale 2013

Urban Decay started their Friends and Family Sale today! Receive 20% Off your Order with code FFSPRING13. Now is a great time to stock up on some of your favorite products — all items are included; even sale items! Sale ends 2/17.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Weekly Poll Results - What is the Most Money You'd Pay for your Perfect Face Makeup?

What is the most money you would pay for your perfect face makeup? 

As a makeup fanatic, I invest a lot of my money to try as many brands and products as my wallet can withstand. But the reality is, I only have one face and as much as I'd like to get through products as fast as I can so I can go out and replace them with new and different products, sometimes products just don't get finished before they get tossed. So if you think about it, that $50 foundation ended up costing you more if you ended up tossing it with some product left. *Keep in mind, you should toss a foundation after a maximum of two years - some say less, but it sometimes depends on the foundation.

Although I always like to keep the overall value in mind (sometimes I justify an expensive blush or bronzer if it comes with a hefty amount of product), but when it comes to face makeup, no matter what brand you go to, you're most likely going to end up with that same 1 oz of product, so you kind of have to offset the value for the price.

Also, face makeup (or foundation) typically gets used up the fastest from any other item of makeup and has to be replaced often. I rarely ever use the same foundation for more than a couple of weeks at a time, but I remember back in '06-07 when MAC Studio Fix Fluid was my "ish", and I was buying a bottle every 4 weeks. If you're using an expensive foundation, that can get pretty expensive!

So my question for all of you is - What's the most money you'd spend for your perfect face makeup? Whether it be a liquid foundation, powder, tinted moisturizer, etc.

The Results are:

Whatever the price may be! - 9 votes ( 3%)
$100+ - 6 votes (2%)
$80 - $95 - 5 votes (2%)
$60 - $75 - 38 votes (15%)
$40 - $55 - 95 votes (39%)
$20 - $35 - 65 votes (26%)
$15 and under - 23 votes (9%)

This poll is based on 241 votes.

I'm actually in the majority vote, which is $40 - $55. I personally don't like going over the $60 mark. I'll buy a Chanel Foundation for $55 and Guerlain for $58, but I've never gone over that for face makeup. There are so many products I'd like to try (Chantecaille, Cle de Peau, Tom Ford, etc) but I just have it engraved in my head that anything more than that $58 I pay for Guerlain Parure Extreme is just too much, and I'll look elsewhere.

Have you already found your HG face makeup? If they raised the price by $20 would you still continue to purchase it, or would you look elsewhere? Do you find certain items of makeup more justifiable than others? Do you usually keep value in mind when purchasing expensive makeup, or do you solely look at the price tag?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

NYX Gala Round Lipstick Review, Photos and Swatches!

NYX Gala Round Lipstick

NYX Gala Round Lipstick 

NYX Gala Round Lipstick ($4) is described as a soft blue-toned pink with shimmer. It's a very light pink, and applies a bit lighter than it looks in the tube. It's slightly too light for me, but it'd work great for mixing, and when worn alone it'd look best on fair, light and light-medium skin tones.

Sometimes light colored lipsticks can emphasize cracks and dryness on the lips and Gala does just that. If I want to wear Gala, I have to make sure to apply a good lip balm and scrub my lips to remove any flakes. Even after I've exfoliated my lips really good, it still shows a little dryness.

I really like NYX Round Lipsticks — they are great for the price, but not every shade is created equal. Some are very pigmented and apply great, while some (like Gala) take several coats for opaque color and can apply uneven. The majority of the Round Lipsticks I've purchased have been pretty good.

It's still overall a very pretty light pink, and if you're a lover of soft baby pinks, you might really enjoy this lipstick. I'd personally skip because of the formula.

NYX Gala Round Lipstick

NYX Gala Lipstick Swatch
NYX Gala Lipstick on my lips.

Shoemint Abi Booties Review with Photos!

Shoemint Abi Boots

Shoemint Abi Boots 

Shoemint Abi Boots are my latest Shoemint purchase. Actually, I've been skipping every month since my first Shoemint purchase over a year ago because I just find $80 a bit high to spend every month on shoes that I don't really need regardless of the quality.

I was very impressed with the quality of my first pair of Shoemint Shoes (the Pauline booties). I've worn them countless times and they still look brand new. So, when Shoemint added a bunch of their current shoes and boots to the Sale section, I hopped on it.

Although I really love cute and trendy pieces, I like finding classic and practical items that I can toss on with anything and get loads of wear from. I thought these Abi Boots would be great and practical boots that I can wear every day and that'd match with just about anything. Even though they are just plain black, I like how they are composed of several panels of leather to give them a little extra style.

I have to say I'm not at all impressed with the quality. Although they aren't in any way bad, they are suppose to be comparable to high-end brands that are double the price ($160+). I've owned both cheap and expensive shoes, and usually when a shoe goes over the $100-$150 mark, you can definitely tell the difference in quality. These boots to me don't feel like they would cost any more than $40. The leather looks and feels plastic/synthetic-like and I wouldn't think they were real leather unless I looked on the inside label. They also smell like cheap plastic.

They ended up being $39.99 (with free shipping) regularly $79.95.

Shoemint Abi Booties

Shoemint Abi Booties