EOTD w/ MAC and Wet n Wild, NOTD Sally Hansen

Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

Eyeshadow: MAC Moleskin (lid), Wet n Wild I Heart Matte Palette (bone shade as highlight and brown shade in outer corner)

Eyeliner: Essence Gel Eyeliner London Baby (top), Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof Eye Pencil Flashy Taupe (waterline)

Mascara: Prestige Blackest Lashes

Eyebrow: MAC Dirty Blonde

Lip: Essence Stay With Me Lipgloss in 04 Trendsetter

So I LOVE these peel-and-stick nail polish strips.  I've tried the Kiss and Sally Hansen brands and I love them both.  However, I HATE the price!  They've gone up to about $10 and you're supposed to only get one wear out of a box.  That being said, I only buy these when they are dirt cheap.  I got these today at Five Below for $3 and they're not gross or beaten up like you see at some other super saver stores.  I bought the design Wishnets.  It's a pinky-red color with the obvious look of black fishnetting.

TIP: If you sport short nails like myself, you can get double or triple the usage out of one box by cutting the strips in half.  From there you can cut the cut the tab with which you are supposed to apply the strip.  Then carefully peel the front and back coatings (don't worry though about not having the tab, the strips don't stick to the fingers) and apply.  It may take a little extra time and your being crafty, but it's totally worth it.  I only ended up using 5 strips! There are 16 in a package. 

Face of the Day: Subtle

Foundation: Chanel Perfection Lumiere Beige 30
Concealer: MAC Studio Finish NC15
Powder: MAC MSF Light Plus
Bronzer: Urban Decay Gilded
Blush: FLIRT! (Discontinued Product, but something shimmery peachy pink will work)
Eyeshadow: Revlon Polished Bronze (lid), j.a.n.e. Browny Points (Outer corners), Essence 58 (Highlight)
Liner: Sephora Long-lasting Eyeliner Black
Mascara: Victoria's Secret Voluptuous Volume 093-blackest black
Lip: Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick Demure

Victoria's Secret The Heavenly Look and Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in 02 Hot Chocolate

Victoria's Secret The Heavenly Look is a set that includes an eye shadow trio, eye liner, bronzer, perfume, and mascara.  This is the warmer set with more neutral products.  It was 50% off which made it $15.  I had to get it!!  Check out your local Victoria's Secret before they are all gone.

In this post, I am just going to review the eye shadow trio along with Essences's Long Lasting Eyeliner in 02 Hot Chocolate.  I will review the rest of the set when I use it.

So as expected, I love this eyeshadow!  The trio is called Radiant and they don't sell it separately that I've noticed.  They are all very shimmery, but pigmented.  The first shadow is a champagne with a slight gold.  The middle shadow is a light peachy bronze and the last is medium brown with a gold shimmer.  I'm a huge fan of Victoria's Secret Makeup and I hope they keep coming out with lovely products.

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Swatched without primer:

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Essence's Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Hot Chocolate is super smooth upon application and pigmented.  It's not smooth and almost wet feeling like the UD 24/7 eyeliner pencils, but it still glides on pleasantly.  You do not need to layer it in order for it to show up.  It has strong lasting power because the swatch I did below is still faintly on my arm after 2 days, that's 2 showers.

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You can tell where I put each shadow from the trio.  Hot Chocolate is both lining my upper lid and waterline.

EOTD w/ New Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadow

The pictures I have are not the best, but I want to make sure that I keep blogging.  I'm going to talk about some of the products at the end, particularly the Color Tattoo eyeshadow.  Here is a very very simple look that I did in 5 minutes, no joke.

Primer: Claudia Stevens @ Sally Beauty

Lid: Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze

Highlight: Sally Girl Baked Eyeshadow #388122 (Gold)

Liner (Upper): Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Black

Waterline: Essence Long-Lasting Eye Pencil in 08 Touch of Glam

Mascara: Rimmel Extra WOW Lash in Extreme Black

So I really really like the Maybelline Color Tattoo shadow.  I saw them at Ulta a couple of days ago and had to try it because the product reminded me of MAC's paint pots.  I picked up the bronze, taupe, purple, and white shades.  To my disappointment, the purple shadow had a really strange texture that was gummy and could only be worn sheer.  I don't doubt that it could have been a great light wash of shimmery purple for the eye, but I love pigmented purples.  I am in love with the taupe shadow, it reminds me the most of the Paint Pots and it did not budge at all when I wore it.  I have yet to try the shimmery white.

The bronze is beautiful, shimmery, and sooo easy to put on with your finger or a brush.  I used my finger to apply it in the above photos.  It is very smooth and comes to a velvety finish.  I like that it's not a yellowy-orange bronze, but leans more toward the actual color of the alloy.  I wore it yesterday WITHOUT primer for 12 hrs and at the 10th hour was when I noticed minimal creasing and I do have oily lids.  Marketing the product as 24-hour wear does not hold true in my case, but someone with dry skin will surely have this on for a long time with nothing to worry about.  Most people know that products aren't going to last "16 hours" or "12 hours" to the minute.  That's just too wishful.  Overall, this is definitely worth the $6.99 price tag and the second one is half off right now at Ulta.

Essence Lash Mania Ultra Volume Mascara and Maybelline New York The Falsies Volum Express Review

So I'm going to review two mascaras that I like.

The first is Essence's ultra volume mascara in 01 Hypnotic Black.  I don't know if everyone has heard of Essence cosmetics, but you can find them at Ulta.  They are extremely inexpensive for great quality.  They remind me a little of wet N wild (I still don't know how to write it haha).  Anyway, this mascara is awesome, my lashes hold a curl with it and they have "ultra volume" no joke.  It's a thick mascara without feeling dry.  The tube is the same size as and looks like the DiorShow mascara except I think this is way better.  I have had it for a a couple months now and it still hasn't dried up nor has it become clumpy and unusable.  The picture below was taken today and shows that it's not a dry formula after a couple months.  I think it retails for lik $2.99 and is sooooooooooooooooo worth it.  I have to say this is one of the best mascaras I have ever used if not THE best.



Before

After

As you can see, Essence's ultra volume mascara does an amazing job on my natural and bare lashes.  I did not curl my eyelashes nor apply lash primer before the application of the mascara.   

Next is Maybelline's The Falsies.  I think a lot of us have tried The Falsies by now and there are a lot of mixed reviews.  I decided to go ahead and buy it to see how it worked with me.  The Falsies does curl my lashes and make them look longer, but this formula dries up really fast.  In the picture you can even see how dry it gets because there is a lack of complete smoothness to the lashes.  Also, I noticed that throughout the day that there will be little black flecks from this mascara on my face.  I also feel like my lashes are brittle.  I don't know if I'd ever really buy this mascara again now that I have found the one I just reviewed above, but I don't want to completely dis this product because it does give me a dramatic lash look.  The tube just doesn't have a long shelf life after you open it. 

Before

After

Once again, no curling or primer to my bare lashes before mascara application.