Sonia Kashuk Eye On Dazzling Color Palette

This palette is one of my favorite things I've gotten recently. The colors are gorgeous and really pigmented! They are kind of soft, though, which means if you don't tap off the brush, you'll get fallout on your face. It also makes the shadows get used quicker! I haven't had it that long, but you can see dents in many of the shadows. The color selection is amazing and the shadows are easy to work with. The only thing I think it's missing are blues! Usually I like palettes to have some matte shades, but it doesn't bother me in this one! 

As always, my swatches are done on my arm using sponge-tip applicators over a layer of NYX white eyeshadow base.

For larger photos of each row of shadows and swatches, keep reading!

Face of the Day - October 22

This was the first time I used the Sonia Kashuk Eye On Dazzling Color palette. So far, I'm loving it! Can't wait to try some of the other shades!

For product photos and a list of the things I used, keep reading!

Face of the Day

Since I'm opening the store where I work most days this week, it sometimes will lead to me not having a lot of time to get ready in the morning! When that happens, I usually end up doing a fairly simple and/or neutral eye look and focusing on the lips as the color of the look, since that doesn't take as much time and patience. This was the case today.

 For photos and a list of all the products and tools used, keep reading!

September Manicures

These are becoming my favorite posts to put together! It's fun to see all the colors I used throughout the month. I was definitely in fall mode this month! Although For Audrey is always a favorite & I suspect it'll make an appearance most months.

1. Butter London Aston
2. Essie Your Hut Or Mine
3. Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!, OPI Swimsuit...Nailed it!
4. Sonia Kashuk Two Cent
5. Butter London Wallis
6. China Glaze For Audrey
7. Zoya Shawn, China Glaze Zombie Zest
8. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White, Wet n Wild Through the Grapevine, Revlon Impulsive
9. Butter London The Old Bill
10. L'Oreal Spice Things Up
11. Zoya Caitlin
12. Wet n Wild Wet Cement, OPI The World Is Not Enough
13. China Glaze For Audrey, Milani HD, Milani Gems, Essie Set in Stones, China Glaze Fairy Dust (I did a more specific post on just this manicure here.)

September Empties!

I feel as though I made a lot of progress as far as using products up this past month! Most things I've been working on a long time or else they were sample sizes, but it still feels good to get rid of more stuff!

I've done a brief review of each product, but if you want to know anything more specific, just ask!

For closer photos and my thoughts on each of them, keep reading!

Favorite Fall Nail Polish!

If you thought I was excited about making the fall lipsticks post...that was nothing! This one I'm really excited about! Nail polish is my first love in the makeup & beauty world.

Quite a few of these shades I've either never worn or haven't worn much, since I got them in between this fall and last fall and they didn't seem appropriate in the summer! Others are favorites. A few were limited edition, so I apologize if you see one you love and then can't find it! But I wanted to show the ones that truly are my favorites.

I tried to keep it to the number of polishes that I could swatch around one nail wheel and I was successful - although I ultimately decided to show the polishes on my actual nails instead of on a wheel. To see the swatches and specific names, keep reading!

Current Favorite Products

For the first time ever I've decided to put together a favorites post! It's not really monthly favorites, since not all of this was acquired in the previous month. It does include things I've gotten over the summer - nothing that's been a favorite for a very long time or that I've previously repurchased. 

If you want to know anything about any of these products, just ask! Some of them I have already done blog posts about, and others I'm planning to do soon.

Nail polishes: OPI - Metallic 4 Life, Essie - Set in Stones, Lights, Milani - White on the Spot
Foundation: Neutrogena Shine Control foundation
Blushes: Jordana - Tawny Beige, Cargo - Key Largo
Powder Eyeshadows: L'Oreal Infallible - Endless Sea, Glistening Garnet, Golden Emerald, Cargo - Tahiti quad, Jordana - A Classic (this is the top left shade in the palette that says Covergirl)
Cream Eyeshadow - Milani Shadow Eyez - Champagne Toast
Perfume: Marc Jacobs - Oh Lola!
Lip products: Revlon Kissable Balm Stain - Smitten, MAC lipstick - Impassioned
Other products: Up & Up blotting sheets, Covergirl custom compacts (I found these at a dollar store, and each contained some pans of lipstick which I did not keep. I like these for storing singles as they have clear lids unlike the ELF palettes)
Brushes: Sonia Kashuk - Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush, Large Crease Brush

Nail Polish Collection & Swatches - Urban Outfitters, Sonia Kashuk, Wet n Wild

Face of the Day 12.2.11 - Trying something new

 

I started with a layer of NYX HD eye primer, then did a base with the purple eyeliner from the Physician's Formula trio for green eyes. I applied it with a brush from a Sephora set that I believe is meant to be a concealer brush. I blended the edges out with a stiffer brush from a Sonia Kashuk set.

I used the shadows from the Wet n Wild Lust palette. I used the middle shade on the left all over the lid with a large eyeshadow brush from the same Sephora set, then blended the bottom left shade into the crease with the large crease brush from Essence of Beauty. I used a combination of the two top shades to blend the crease into the browbone and in the inner corners with a fluffy blending brush from Sephora.

For liner, I used the black from the same trio the purple came from and the angled liner brush from Sephora on both the top and bottom lashlines.

I hadn't used it in awhile so I decided to try Revlon Lash Fantasy Total Definition mascara again.  Somehow I put the photos in backwards and didn't notice, so the one on the far right is bare lashes, the middle is just the primer, and the one on the left is with the mascara as well.

I used my L'Oreal True Match compact foundation, NYX concealer in a jar, and Revlon Colorstay pressed powder before I did the eye look. I applied the foundation with a round foam sponge, the concealer with a stiff blending brush from Sonia Kashuk, and the powder with the ELF Studio flat top brush.
After the eyes, I did the rest of my face products. I applied the Physician's Formula Happy Booster light bronzer with the ELF Studio powder brush, then used my Sonia Kashuk small duo fiber brush to apply Wet n Wild blush in Heather Silk.
Finally, I used Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick in Airy Fairy.

If you want to see the photos larger, you should be able to click on them and view them that way. This is the first time I've done a post like this with a look, so I'd really appreciate your thoughts on it! (Too much/too little information, if the photos are arranged well, if I should do more like this or keep doing them like before, etc)

Look of the Day: Fuchsia

Products Used:

Face:

Palladio Primer

L’Oreal True Match compact – C1

NYX Concealer in a jar – Fair

L’Oreal True Match powder – C1

ELF Studio blush – Pink Passion

Physician’s Formula Happy Booster powder – Translucent

Eyes:

Palladio primer

Beauty Rush chubby eye stick – Lilacquer

Almay Trio for Browns (middle color – lid, top color – brow & inner corner highlights)

L’Oreal HIP duo – Reckless (bright fuchsia)

Sonia Kashuk gel liner – black

L’Oreal Telescopic mascara – carbon black (top & bottom)

L’Oreal Voluminous mascara – carbon black (top only)

Lips:

Wet n Wild lipstick – 511B

Look of the Day: 4/16/11

Face Products:
Palladio Herbal Primer
Revlon Colorstay Foundation
NYX Concealer in a jar
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - Translucent
Milani Mai Tai Blush

Eye Products:
Palladio Herbal Eyeshadow Primer
NYX Jumbo Pencil - French Fries
Tarte Treasure Chest - Dark brown with glitter
L'Oreal HIP Duo - Sassy (the neutral not the teal)
Covergirl Trio - Shimmering Sands (lightest shade)
Sonia Kashuk - Black Gel Liner
L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara - Carbon Black

Lips:
Palladio Tinted Lip Balm - Rosey

The Sonia Kashuk gel liner and L'Oreal Telescopic mascara are two of my favorite eye products, and I really feel like they don't get the love they deserve! I've had both of them for a really long time and they are still going strong and they refuse to dry up and quit performing awesomely. Highly recommend both. :)

Sonia Kashuk Small Duo Fibre Multipurpose Brush

When I noticed Sonia Kashuk had duo fiber brushes, I had to get one! I’ve been curious about this type of brush for awhile but I never wanted to pay a lot and didn’t see any affordable options. I decided to go for the smaller size because it seemed more versatile, and it was $10.99 instead of $12.99.

Side by side size comparison with the ELF Studio Flat Top Powder Brush

Sonia Kashuk Foundation Brushes

Since I love my regular Sonia Kashuk foundation brush so much, I was excited to try this new foundation brush! I think it will make blending around the nose and under the eyes easier. It’s really densely packed, just like the regular foundation brush.

Pointed Foundation Brush

Side by side comparison of the pointed foundation brush I just got with the regular foundation brush I’ve had for several years. Apparently they’ve changed the shape and size of the brush handles. I’m not sure if it’s for the better yet. They seem kind of thick, but it might not be too bad.

The pointed foundation brush is AMAZING. I have never gotten my foundation to blend so well - I have tried my fingers, the foundation brush pictured above, a duo fiber brush, and a blending sponge. It fits around my nose and under my eyes perfectly and is really dense, but yet soft so it doesn't hurt or irritate the skin at all. I highly, highly recommend it!

Sonia Kashuk "Lend a Hand" Nail Trio

Even after telling myself "no more nail polish!", I could not resist this trio of polishes after I passed them in Target. First of all, it was $9.99 for 3 polishes, which is a good deal, PLUS 15% of the purchase price supporting breast cancer research. Secondly, these are some of the most beautiful and unique colors I've seen lately. So good for fall, too!

The packaging is so cute. I actually keep them in the box. (Though this is partly due to the fact that I have too many nail polished to fit in one bin)

Swatched with flash (above) and without flash (below)

The sparkly polish goes on so opaque! If you can get it on evenly enough, I think this could easily be worn as one coat. The other two are a bit thinner and require two, maybe three to get the most even layer. I put a matte topcoat on the darkest shade earlier this week and LOVED it. It looks almost black, but in light you can tell it's not. 

In general, love these colors, highly recommend the set. :)

Collective Haul: Summer

Here's some stuff I acquired over the summer. Most of it is from Ulta, but a few items I picked up at Target.

 

I was attracted to the Essence products at Ulta because they were so cheap. I liked the yellow and salmon-colored nail polishes since they were so unlike the other colors in my collection. The yellow (Sundancer) is more opaque than the salmon (What Do U Think?) but they both have decent color payoff. They chip very quickly, though. They were only $0.99, after all. I was attracted to the "Nail Stampy Set" because it looked like a cheap dupe for the Konad stamper. It was only $2.99 and seems to work pretty well. I don't love the images on the plate, but I could easily get some actual Konad plates to go with this set. The mini Orly nail polishes were right at the checkout, and I just couldn't resist. The dark navy blue (Witch's Blue) was also different from other colors I already had. 

I picked up the top two items in the photo at Target. Both were in those two-for-one packs. I've liked Maybelline's The Colossal Volum' Express for quite awhile, but the Almay was a new one for me. I'd never tried any of the products available for specific eye colors before (I have green eyes), and I figured I could use a neutral-but not black- shade of mascara. It's a nice reddish brown color. I like the mascara's formula pretty well, too. Everything else was picked up at Ulta: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Purple (love these. I have 10 colors), Essence eyeliner pen (felt-tipped kind...not very black and seems to dry up quickly, but only $1.99), Ulta eyeliner in Raisin (good color, not too long wearing), Ulta lipliner in Beet (love this color), NYX brow pencil/brush in Dark Brown (LOVE this. best eyebrow pencil I've tried). 

Last two items: this Ulta blending sponge looked almost identical to the Sonia Kashuk version (http://www.target.com/Sonia-Kashuk-237-Blending-Sponge/dp/B00149XKOY) but $5 cheaper. I really like the finish and coverage it offers, plus the shape makes it easy to get every little area of the face. The Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Creamliner (again, for green eyes) I got at Target. I LOVE THESE. The colors show up really well and last a very long time. This is also by far the creamiest cream liner I've used. The one for green eyes has a green, a purple, and black with fairly unnoticeable green glitter.

That's all for now. In general, pretty successful. The only items I didn't love were very cheap, so it's hard to complain.