Organization & Display: Jumbo Eye Pencils

Trying to strike the perfect balance between functionality and aesthetic in my makeup storage is a never-ending project for me. However, this little project I took on this week seemed to be another step in the right direction! I had picked up the glass at Bath & Body Works during their semi-annual sale. Although it's meant to hold their mini candles, I don't actually have any of those - I just thought it was attractive! I decided it would make a nice addition to my makeup storage. 

Since it's taller than the container I previously had my jumbo eye pencils in, it was harder to see the colored tip of each one. I thought turning them upside down would help - except all of the NYX pencils are completely white, unlike the other brands I have, which show the color of the pencil on the bottom. 

Instead of giving up, I put my nail polish collection to use - matching each pencil to a polish & painting the bottom section! I taped off the bottom section so they'd have a crisp line and did as many coats as needed to get to the right opacity. For three of the colors I mixed polishes together to achieve exactly the right shade and texture, but the rest I had polishes that were close enough.

I am thrilled with the way they look! It's much easier to see each pencil's shade, and I think having the colors displayed more obviously will make me more likely to reach for them - lately, my jumbo pencils have been somewhat ignored! 

If you have any questions about the process, the colors I used, or anything else - just ask!

Christmas Haul 2012

I got some fun new beauty items for Christmas this year! Two Sephora by OPI nail polishes in fabulous colors and some of the Sephora makeup brushes! I can't wait to use these polishes in a manicure - they're very similar to the colors on my bedroom walls, so I think I'll try to combine them somehow. The brushes are so nice as well. The powder brush is absolutely enormous but so soft and fun to use. The angled liner brush is fantastic, and I always need more of them. I haven't used the stippling brush yet, but it feels really nice! If anyone has any usage tips for that one, I'd love to hear them.

Did you get anything beauty related for gifts this year?

Swatches - Cargo Products!

Recently, I took notice of the Cargo brand at the Sephora in my local mall's JC Penney. A few products specifically caught my eye and seemed to be an excellent price for the amount and quality of the product. After discussing it on Facebook, it was brought to my attention that the brand is being phased out of the stores and as such is greatly discounted! I went back as soon as I could to get the products I wanted just in case they ran out quickly.

The products! (Without flash)

Blush in Key Largo. It's a similar shade - although not an exact dupe - to the Make Up For Ever eyeshadow/blush in  #99 which I think is gorgeous. I think I'll probably use this as blush and eyeshadow! I love this color.

Eyeshadow quad in Tahiti. I love these colors so much!! The shades are similar to a lot of colors I have since they're often favorites, but these seemed so wonderfully pigmented and they're all together in this nice palette. 

I can't wait to try these products out! Have you used them or anything else from the brand? I'd love to hear about it!

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. 

Face of the Day - December 12

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here yet, but the lens I use for taking these pictures no longer is able to auto focus, so I have to manually focus it. This isn't too much of an issue for products or most swatches, but it has made taking photos of my own makeup quite the challenge! I've worked it out to be decently in focus, but it's definitely less sharp than it used to be. Hopefully I'll get it worked out in the next month or so, but in the meantime, just know I'm trying!

(Just to be clear, the products in these pictures are not necessarily their relative size to each other...it's just how they fit together!)

Face:

L'Oreal True Match liquid 

Maybelline Superstay concealer

L'Oreal True Match powder

Physician's Formula Happy Booster blush - Rose (not pictured)

Eyes:

Palladio primer (not pictured)

Physician's Formula gel liner trio for green eyes - purple 

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box - Ransom

Wet n Wild Vanity Palette - top left shadow

Physician's Formula gel liner trio for hazel eyes - black

Sephora Flashy waterproof liner - Flashy Blue

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box - Peace

Maybelline The Colossal mascara

Lips:

Revlon Colorburst lipstick - Pink Sugar

Jordana Lip Shine - Pink Grapefruit

I also forgot to put my foundation brush in there! I used the Sonia Kashuk pointed foundation brush, though. I've done a blog post on it in the past - it's my favorite foundation brush I've tried so far.

Face of the Day - November 6

Face:
Milk of Magnesia (primer)
L'Oreal True Match compact foundation
Rimmel Match Perfection concealer
Revlon Colorstay pressed powder
Wet n Wild blush - Pearlescent pink

Eyes:
NYX HD primer
Sephora jumbo eye pencil - Green
Wet n Wild Vanity Palette - matte nude
Maybelline The Colossal mas

Lips:
Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick - Rosette

Sephora Haul and Swatches!

About a month ago, I won a contest on Erica's Facebook page with this look. (She also has a fantastic blog here.) As the prize, Erica mailed me a $100 Sephora gift card! I was so shocked to have won at all, and then there was such a fantastic prize. I've bought a few small items from Sephora in the past, but never anything over $10. I never thought I'd actually be buying full size items from there, despite how often I'd wander through and dream about what I would get if I could. After I made a list of some things I wanted to try, I went to one of the nearby Sephoras to get samples and otherwise try products out on myself. I also knew I was going to buy Stella McCartney's perfume in a rollerball since I've been wanting that fragrance for so long - I  would spray some on myself every time I went to a Sephora - but I didn't want to use up more than half of the gift card on an actual bottle. I've been using it most days since - I just love that scent!

Besides the perfume, I knew I would get the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box and the 24/7 travel set as soon as I saw them. I also was considering MUFE Mat Velvet + foundation (which I decided I liked but not enough to pay 3x as much as my current foundation), a MUFE Aqua Cream (maybe in the future - this is something I'd be more likely to use in the summer), MUFE Smokey Lash mascara (I will DEFINITELY buy this in the future! It's amazing! But I have quite a few mascaras open right now so I'm going to wait until I've used up a few of them), and NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Carthage (an amazing color and product...but $25 for one lip product was a bit much for me...especially since I have so many pink lip products)

My eyes after going to Sephora to try things out - MUFE Aqua Cream #13 all over my lids, UD 24/7 liner in Ransom , and MUFE Smokey Lash mascara. I didn't have my lashes curled at all beforehand and I was using the disposable mascara wands, and I was still really impressed with the way my lashes looked. Plus it didn't flake or transfer AT ALL and it wasn't even the waterproof formula!

After I'd narrowed down my choices, I found out that the Friends & Family sale was coming up, so I decided to wait for that to take advantage of the 20% off and maybe be able to get something else! I ended up getting two MUFE eyeshadows instead of just one. So here are the things I got in my order!

The samples that came with my order - I'm excited for the perfume samples, but none of the Clinique samples are the options for my skin type! They're meant for dry skin but mine is oily.

These Makeup Forever eyeshadows are SO bright and fun! It was really hard to get them to photograph correctly in pan - the swatches are a bit closer to how bright they are in real life. The purple is #92 and the pink is #75. I also love the packaging on these. I wish all shadows came magnetized in their containers!

I love colored eyeliner so when I saw this set I knew I had to have it. It's the  24/7 Travel Size set of 5 in Electric.

This is one thing I have been eyeing at Sephora for quite awhile. I love bright colors and wanted a palette that had a good variety of them and I've always heard such good things about Urban Decay eyeshadows. Plus since it has a few neutral shades, including the black, I think it would work well as a travel palette for me. It also came with a small Primer Potion.

If you have any thoughts or experiences with any of these products or the ones I didn't end up purchasing, please share them!