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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Sephora Color Play 5 in 1 Sneak Peak II

Still no time for swatches sadly, but here's a little more about the palette for you. I promise they will come tomorrow!

The back of the box demonstrating the swapping and portable palette abilities.

A size comparison with my 88 palette. About the same height 
(5 in 1 about a 1/4 inch taller) and 5 in 1 is about 1/2 wider.

Thickness comparison. 5 in 1 is about 2 88 palettes thick.

Back of the palette. 5 holes for pushing out the individual 
color palettes and one for the little travel palette itself.

Mini travel palette in action.

Eye shadow swatches tomorrow!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sephora Color Play 5 in 1 Sneak Peak

I don't really have time to really test out this palette yet but I couldn't resist opening it and taking a sneak peak, so here it is guys!

Drum roll...

In the box.

Opening the box...

Oh lala! So pretty, so intense and so vivid!

Drool.

Browns and creams look amazing. I can't wait to swatch!!

 Colorsssssssss!

Looking at it has got me so excited but I refuse to get my grubby hands all over it until I have time to sit down and appreciate it properly and savor the moment.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Sephora Haul

I was a bad, bad girl and I ordered a few thing from Sephora that I really shouldn't have. I need to be saving my money right now, but it was a very rough week and I had the 20% off VIB coupon code so I did it. I only ended up getting 2 items so 'haul' is pushing it, but here are my goodies. 


Sephora Color Play - 5 in 1 Palette
Urban Decay Complexion Primer Potion Pore Perfecting
Samples!


My items and free samples.

Samples

Sample fail. I got the card but no vial inside!


I always get fragrance samples so I wanted to try something 
new but I'm guessing this is going to be too dark. Oh well.

Reviews and swatches etc to come soon.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Swatches of the Week

A quick summary of our Pure Luxe Chocolate swatches of the week. The only chocolate Pure Luxe shades I'm missing are Chocolate and Godiva.


Click any shade to link to the individual swatch and mini review:
Pure Luxe Chocolate Oranges - Usable brown
Pure Luxe Chocolate Cherries - Staple reddish brown
Pure Luxe Chocolate Grapes - Nice violet color
Pure Luxe Chocolate Blueberries - Only real 'miss' of the bunch, washed out and colorless
Pure Luxe Chocomint - Really unique and interesting color

Swatch of the Day: Pure Luxe Chocomint


Brand: Pure Luxe

Shade: Chocomint

Cost: $1.00 for 1/8 teaspoon sample,$5.00 for 5g jar, $9.50 for 10g jar

Where to get: Here

Official Bulb: Medium brown with a mint green interference.

My thoughts: This is one of the most unique colors I've ever seen. It truly is both a light coppery brown AND a minty green at the same time. The pictures DO NOT capture this one very well at all. In the artificial light one you can see a hint of mint green, but in real light it is much more noticeable and shiny bright. It's like you are seeing 2 layers at once, as the mint green is not just a sparkle or glitter but almost looks like it is foiled on top of the brown. The name is a wonderful descriptor! I struggle to use it a little because it's just so unusual, but it's just so one of a kind!


Saturday, April 24, 2010

Swatch of the Day: Pure Luxe Chocolate Blueberries


Brand: Pure Luxe

Shade: Chocolate Bluberries

Cost: $1.00 for 1/8 teaspoon sample,$5.00 for 5g jar, $9.50 for 10g jar

Where to get: Here

Official Bulb: Muted brown base with blue interference.

My thoughts: Muted it right. Of the chocolates I own this is the dullest and least intense. The color is a bit drab and sort of a greyish washed out purple. It might be good for a conservative neutral but I find it boring.


Nails of the Day: Color Club Amp'D Up

Caution! HOOOOOOT nails coming up. Or at least insanely bright nails coming up. Introducing Color Club's Professional Nail Lacquer in Amp'd Up.


I stumbled across this while going through the dusty part of my collection the other day. I think I've had this polish about a year and aside from testing it out when I first got it this is the first time I've worn it. It's an amazing formula, goes on smooth and 2 coats gives full coverage and it's fairly fast drying (major plus for me!). Plus it's decently long lasting and doesn't show much nail wear. I'm just not sure what I was thinking getting BRIGHT orange. I was going through I neon phase I guess. Well, just in case I ever need a good neon orange nail polish for some occasion I got the perfect one on standby.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Swatch of the Day: Pure Luxe Chocolate Grapes


Brand: Pure Luxe

Shade: Chocolate Grapes

Cost: $1.00 for 1/8 teaspoon sample,$5.00 for 5g jar, $9.50 for 10g jar

Where to get: Here

Official Bulb: Medium brown base with violet/purple interference.

My thoughts: This shade seems the least 'chocolate' to me. The brown is pretty much gone and light lavender color is much more predominate. Sunlight or with flash capture the color well. If anything I would describe it as a light silvery violet color with a very light reddish amber undertone. Still a wonderful color, good for spring, but not your traditional lavender.


Sally Hasen Smile Brightening Lip Treatment Review

Found this baby in the Dollar Store and couldn't resist for only a buck! A quick Google Product search places it's price range online from anywhere between $1.49 to $7.99 on Amazon! It claims to make your teeth whiter by contrasting it with yellow pigments while hydrating an conditioning lips. It come in a couple shades at the Dollar Store and I had a tough time before settling on Gleaming, a bright pink with a a purplish iridescent shine in the tube.



My thoughts: 
First off the packaging it pretty clunky. It's sturdy, cute and modern with the square shape and the raised circles on 2 sides, but it's a little big and square products never slip easily into pockets or anything. Applicator is the typical doe foot.


 Color payoff it pretty good. It can be applied thinly for sheer shine, or layered a bit for more color without getting thick and gloppy. There's a nice shine and faint sparkle/shimmer to this particular color and it's a nice bright pink (which actually doesn't work so well for me, but still it nice). The texture is good, not thick, not sticky, but just right. 


 What I love the most it the smell/flavor. It's a vanilla mint and it's like an after coffee breath mint. Nice a refreshing without being over powering. I also feel a very, very faint minty tingle like you get with some lip plumpers. I like that feeling but know some don't. I don't notice any plumping but it is moisturizing. The staying power like many glosses isn't too great and it seems to disappear within an hour or two even without eating/drinking, but there's a lot of product in the tube so just reapply. 


 Overall, not bad for a Dollar Store find. Do my teeth look whiter? Not really. Is it really a 'treatment'? Not so much. Would I pay $7 for it? Nah... But was it worth getting for a buck? Sure. So go check your Dollar Trees ladies.



Packaging: 3 of 5 (Pretty but not bulky)
Smell: 5 of 5 (Fresh!)
Color: 3 of 5
Consistency: 4 of 5
Staying Power: 2.5 of 5
Buy again?: For a dollar yea, for 7 no.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Swatch of the Day: Pure Luxe Chocolate Cherries


Brand: Pure Luxe

Shade: Chocolate Cherries

Cost: $1.00 for 1/8 teaspoon sample,$5.00 for 5g jar, $9.50 for 10g jar

Where to get: Here

Official Bulb: Medium brown base with reddish/pink interference.

My thoughts: I love this shade. It's a slighter darker brown than the Chocolate Orange with a reddish overtone. The with flash picture is the most accurate. Slight shimmer and good for lid or crease. I find it a pretty unique twist on brown and would get it again.


Urban Decay Primer Potion Decanting

I know this has happened to a lot of people, but it finally happened to me about 3 months ago... My beloved Urban Decay Primer Potion ran dry, or at least it seemed. There was still penalty of product in there, just no matter how much I jiggled and angled the wand I couldn't scrape anymore of the primer off of the curved sides or reach the bottom. This has been an infamous complaint for the product from the very begining and newer models of the Primer Potions now of course have a curved doe head wand to scoop out the sides a little bit (at least in theory).

http://arkhipova.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/urban-decay-primer-potion-gets-a-new-wand.jpg


For those of you behind the trend curve like me, who are just now running into this problem with the older style I won't bother  doing a tutorial on how to decant or get the remaining product out for 2 reasons. First off there are already a ton of tutorials on it (just Google or YouTube it) and secondly, it's not really that hard, you just cut open the tube at the wide points and scoop out product into a new container. 


However, I did just want to show a few of my pics because I even thought I had seen and read about this from others I was BLOWN AWAY by just how much product I had left. I had done quiet a bit of jiggling and twisting for a few months so I figured I had actually gotten a fair amount off the side and just had the bottom left. Wrong!


Cutting my baby open. It was scary :(

Holy cow! Lots of product left!

Scooping it out and scraping into a new jar.

The end result.

For anyone wondering I used an old Dr. Hauschka Lip Blam Jar to put it in. (Was a gift, nice stuff but little pricey for my blood to rebuy!) It was a 4.2 g that I filled completely and I still had more product left over!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Swatch of the Day: Pure Luxe Chocolate Oranges


Brand: Pure Luxe

Shade: Chocolate Oranges

Cost: $1.00 for 1/8 teaspoon sample,$5.00 for 5g jar, $9.50 for 10g jar

Where to get: Here

Official Bulb: Medium brown base with subtle orange interference and orange/copper glimmers.

My thoughts: The site description is pretty dead on accurate here. I don't have much to add. This was my first color of the chocolates and it got me hooked and coming back for more. It's very easy and wearable and a good light brown color to have in your collection. Sometimes the orange almost looks coppery, but I love it. Pretty and subtle. The photo with flash is the most accurate in my opinion.


E.L.F Haul


Okay this is a way outdated post, as I received this haul over a month ago (I think I got the package on March 11). I had received an E.L.F. giftcard for X mas and had been holding out for a good coupon code to make a massive order. Eventually I found one that was 50% all Studio products plus free shipping (expired now, sorry) so I finally went for it and decided to get all the remaining Studio products and a few other that I've been wanting to get test out for awhile. With the code and gift card it ended up cost me less than $4. That's what I call a deal! I've been holding out on reviewing the products for awhile because I like to really give them some time to get used to them and see if they end up getting incorporated into my routine. After a month I think I have a pretty good handle on most of the products so I'll begin posting my thoughts on the various products in small batches over the next month or so

 My E.L.F. box arrives!

 From J.A. Cosmetics?... Hmmm.

 Invoice list. I wish they would organize it different and actually list product names!

Second page of invoice list
What's the point of doing this if you fail to fill out a packer name
Luckily I wasn't missing any items.

Typical E.L.F. packaging. Basically a wad of paper and that's it. 
No bubble wrap. No foam peanuts. No padding
But somehow I've never had anything broken in 3 orders from them.

Most items are grouped together in a large plastic bag.

 In the bottom of the box was my 11 piece brush set and brush cleaner and shampoo.
I find it surprising the liquids where not packaged in a separate bag in case of leakage.


 The total haul  (not pictured the 11-piece Studio Brush set)