Face of the Day - Studio Crawl Day 2

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Revlon Photoready concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Wet n Wild blush - Heather Silk
Physicians Formula Happy Booster - Translucent
Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray
MAC lipstick - Moxie
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Sleek i-Divine Original palette
Physicians Formula eyeliner trio for blue eyes - black eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Recent Hauls (with swatches!) - NYX, Wet n Wild, Urban Decay, Coach

Cream eyeshadows in Purple and Pinky Beige, Matte lipstick in Hippie Chic

Coach Poppy rollerball, Shine Killer primer, stay matte but not flat powder

Urban Decay 24/7 concealer

Wet n Wild lipsticks

Venturing Into High-End Cosmetics

For several reasons - including wanting to limit the growth of my collection and simple curiosity - I've decided to start experimenting more with buying high-end beauty products. Because these products are more expensive, I put more time and effort into making sure they are a product I want and will actually use. If possible, I sample products for awhile before finally buying them. Since so much more planning will go into these purchases, I think I'll spend about the same -if not even less- than when I go to the drugstore and pick up a bunch of random products pretty frequently.

That said, today I went to get some samples from Sephora of products I've been wondering about, as well as see some colors in person. I got these samples to try: (if any of you have any tips on how to best use these, I'd love to hear!)

I also tried the MUFE lipstick #37 and I loved it - the color, texture, and staying power all seemed really good. It - as well as NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Carthage and MUFE Smokey Lash mascara - are on my list of products to probably purchase eventually. 

I also stopped in the MAC store on this mall visit. I decided it was finally time to get the eyeshadow in Lucky Green that I think I've been lusting after for at least a year by now, and there were a couple lipsticks I wanted to see in person. I ended up getting the eyeshadow and the lipstick in Rebel. I am really excited for both of these and am very pleased with my purchases. 

In case you're curious, I swatched the lipstick straight from the tube and the eyeshadow with just my finger without any primer. 

NYX Collection and Swatches

My NYX collection & swatches.

Eyeshadow swatches are done first alone and then over NYX white eyeshadow base.

Lip products are swatched alone.

I have already done a separate post swatching all my jumbo eye pencils, which can be found here: http://vibrantbrush.blogspot.com/2011/04/nyx-jumbo-eyeshadow-pencil-swatcheswit.html

Single Eyeshadows: Top row - Cherry, Yellow Funk.
Bottom row - Black, Lime Green.

Jumbo lip pencil in Soft Fuchsia, Megashine gloss in La-La.

Lipliner pencils in Hot Red, Rose, and Pinky

Lipsticks in Louisiana, Tea Rose, and Femme.

Eyeshadow base in White, Concealer in a Jar in Fair,
Automatic brow pencil in Dark Brown, Eyeliner pencil in Acid Green