Laura Geller's Baked to Go Blush-n-Brighten in Sunswept

Last year Sephora had this great sampler called the "Sephora Favorites Glitz & Glam Shimmer and Shine Deluxe Sampler", and all of the products there were great. It had everything you needed to make your body glisten and shine, especially with a sample of Guerlain's face illuminator. I snatched that set up quickly after camping in front of the computer with the refresh button all worn out, beaming with undeserved pride. Goodness, buying makeup is a addictive and dangerous habit.

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but this was truly a good deal. While I still love those products, it seems that i have out grown of love with this blush. Laura Geller's Baked to Go Blush-n-Brighten in Sunswept came in a 1.8g container at $26.

With swirls of dark and light browns and a shiny raspberry and baby pink, it was smooth and one of my favorite blushes.
No glitter but it does shimmer quite a bit so take a light hand with this because it is also fairly pigmented.

Without Flash

There are many variations you can make with this blush but the three main colors were the two browns and one pink with no flash. On the bottom is how the three colors swirled together look like. However, when you apply this blush you get mainly a golden color rather than any of the pink. I had to find a rare small strip of untouched pink in order to swatch because while this blush may look mainly pink, you can't really get it to show up on your face.

With Flash

You get a bronzeish gold colored blush rather than any pink and right now, my tastes don't lean to those colors anymore. I think its time to retire this one to my eyeshadow rather than blush collection. I don't want to waste it and I've always heard that recycling is the gift that keeps on giving. Maybe this would look better on darker skinned ladies but now that I'm aiming for the pale trend this summer, yes I want to be pale in the summer, this is not for me.

Is it me or was this review boring as hell? Although I doubt hell could be boring but... I don't know.

Etude House Proof 10 Review

During the winter I've used liquid liners since I don't get really oily and its easier for me to use a liquid and slap on some eyeliner rather than go searching for a brush to put on a cream liner. I've been using the Etude House Proof 10 liquid liner since I've had great success with their Dr. Fixer for my mascara and was hoping to find a budge proof eyeliner. Ebay had this for about $12 and although I didn't realize this, but this is pretty expensive for a Korean drugstore eyeliner. I adore this brand for its childish and over the top girly packaging but realized that this is considered a teen oriented drugstore brand in Korea, and in America I would never spend this much money on a drugstore eyeliner. If I was in Korea, this wouldn't be a problem but factoring in the shipping costs and wait time, unless I know this is a product I can't live without (Dr. Fixer)I don't need it. Geez, talk about a epiphany.

Forward Ho!

It comes in a sleek black plastic container with a long handle. I know that Etude almost always had pink in their packaging and was surprised to find this totally devoid of flashy colors. The formula is a bit wet and dried quickly on my lids without a lot of fanning. The black color is fairly dark and it went on smoothly.

While the handle is long, the brush itself is a bit stubby and short. While the tip is flexible, the rest of the brush is firm and won't really budge during application. It was easy to use and because of the fine tip of the brush, I was able to get a good thin or thick line depending on how I lined my lids.

I put this on about 8 in the morning and in the picture, you will notice that my crease is heavy and my eyes fold exactly where the the crease is. This has caused me many a burden because my liner always ends up touching my lids and I end up getting black liner in my crease. Whether or not getting liner on my crease is the true test of a a liner's durability

I put on eyeshadow without primer and mascara and just curled my lashes so that I know that if I get raccoon eyes, the liner is the culprit. Remember I told you about the crease test, well this failed. At around 6pm, my crease had a big rainbow shaped line that was not attractive. It stayed on the lash line but smudged its way to the top.
Now as for the smudging on the bottom, nothing really happened although I did manage to see one or two flaking, this didn't move a lot considering I went to the gym and worked out a bit. Not bad after 10 hours.
Removal was easy with just some soap and gentle rubbing. I've also tried this with primer and if combined, it didn't have the creasing problem that I've mentioned before. It's a pretty good eyeliner if you're able to get it for a cheap price in Korea, but otherwise I won't get it again. Now that the weather is getting hotter, I have to start using my Wet n Wild cream liner again.

Opulent Alchemy

I love to buy perfumes but they can be a bit pricey even when buying them in roller ball form. I was scouring through Etsy when I saw this seller called Opulent Alchemy. The store sold perfumes that were dupes of the original perfumes sold in Sephora. Now, I was a bit skeptical but when I saw the selection of perfumes and price, I couldn't resist.

I got the 12 vials for about $12 and got to pick which scent I wanted from their list. I already had a couple that I was eying at Sephora and knew what they smelled like so I took the plunge. They came quickly and well packaged in what seemed like a crap load of tissue paper. Not a single one came damaged and I was pleasantly surprised. For the size reference I put it next to a Coke can.

It seems pretty small, but it would take me a while to use one and I also paid about $1 a vial including shipping so it was a great bargain. I ended up getting Juicy Couture, Dior and Bvlgari along with many others. The seller also sent me a free vial of perfume.
All of them fit on my hand and are each marked with their names so I never worry about which one is which. As for the smell, it smelled similar to the original perfume. It wasn't 100% but honestly I would give it a 95% for the smell. It's like finding an eyeshadow dupe that may be the same shade but not the same finish or not as soft.

Now don't do what I did and start sniffing all the vials at the same time like a drug dog and restrain yourself. I put on the DKNY apple on me in the afternoon and it lasted until I fell asleep so the staying power is pretty good for about seven hours.
Now the only bad part is the vials themselves. It gets a bit harder to open and sometimes ended up spilling a bit of it on my hands. I am always careful to slowly tug and rotate the top in order to get it out but my goodness that cap is on tight. Not sure how long one would last because I haven't finished one yet. I tend to use my perfumes very sparingly and with this amount, it can last forever.
I'm now keeping them stocked in a soju shotglass and I would purchase a rollerball from them next time instead.

Update on a Product

I recently got a hair cut and while some may not care, this means that I have to now have to ditch a certain product which I raved about. If you look back at my previous post on dying my hair, you may noticed that I had fairly long hair, which grew to the mid lower section of my back. I recently followed my sister for her hair cut and ended up cutting my own.

I don't know if you've noticed but when a girl has long hair, hairdressers are reluctant to cut it and usually recommend just a trim. I don't know if its because they are partial to it or if many girls have gotten in cut in the spur of the moment and have regretted and gotten angry at the hair dresser or something. When I told the lady I wanted this cut up to my mid chin, she was very hesitant to cut it but I sweet talked and we both compromised to a style that I love.

It looks like an A line cut that starts at the top part of my collarbone in the front and edges upwards to the nape of my neck with side bangs. It took a while for me to tie my hair into style that didn't have all my hair sticking out. The key point is to tie the ponytail really low at the base of your skull. It may look like a puffy puppy's tail but at least you won't have hair in your face.

I suck donkey's balls at taking pictures of my hair so this is the only one that looks nice. With this cut came a change in the hair care routine. Less shampoo, conditioner and no more Etude House Hair serum. I had briefly mentioned that this would't work on short hair and I was completely right. I took a shower, applied a minuscule amount to the back and tips of my hair as well as the tip of my bangs and when I awoke, my hair looked greasy. Not cool, so for now, I have stopped using this serum and will just stick to hair spritzing conditioner. I have a Skin Food one and a Keratin one that I'll try to do a review on.

Stila's Nicole

I'm home today after a killer headache that I couldn't shake off since yesterday night. Usually, I'll just sleep it off, but I woke up to a mild headache that only got worse when I started to move around. It was getting pretty bad and made me nauseous every time I moved. I managed to take two Tylenol and wait this one out. It has gotten better but as soon as the medicine wears off, I know I'll have to pop more pills like a junkie, so better to stay lazing around, hence the new blog post.

Awhile ago, my local Sephora had a Stila clearance sale and I managed to get away with two things that were luckily untouched and sitting at the bottom of the barrel. I think I got Stila's Nicole lipstick for about $6. I don't know if its still available but I hope I never run out of this stuff. Not a big Stila fan but I have a couple of things when they have a good sale. For instance does anyone remember the 2 for $10 illuminating powders that retails for around $32 each?

I've been embracing the peach and coral trend this season and I think that it makes my face look brighter. Seriously, incorporate some peaches and coral into your looks, it's surprising how nice it may look on you.The packaging is fairly plain, housed in a metal looking plastic tube without any indication of the beautiful color inside. If your a sucker for packaging, I can see why you may have passed up on this lipstick.

Looks boring but open it up to find a peachy pink that brightens up my face without any necessary makeup. There are a few things that may put you off. First off is the smell, it smells like old plastic and the scent doesn't truly go away. It fades but if you smack you lips together, you can still taste it after a while. The texture can be a bit dry so make sure you have some chapstick underneath, but once it settles, it looks great. It looks to be pretty matte with no shine, so if you like glossy lips, not for you. Despite the cons, this lipstick has become one of my go to ones for the summer with out any extra gloss on top.
It looks plain and I have many similar colors but nothing looks as nice as this does on my face. It's a close second to my all time favorite lipstick, Revlon's Sparking Cider. Sparkling Cider goes with any look and it makes by natural lip color look better.

Wow, this has been a unnaturally long post for me, pretty creepy. Anyhow, I've been ordering some samples of perfumes off of Etsy and its been lots of fun to try, so hopefully I can write something about that soon.

P.s. Just checked Stila and Sehora and they don't sell lipsticks anymore. I'll just have to use this sparingly or find a kick ass dupe.

Skin Food Black Sugar Mask

I love exfoliating my face and I don't have a Clarasonic but I do have those face scrubbers that I bought at Sephora for about $5. I only use it about twice a month because it tends to strip my face a bit, but I love that squeaky clean feeling. Instead I tend to use a mild scrub about once a week. After the disaster with the crunchy scrub, an hearing nothing but good things from the Skin Food brand, I was excited to try this. The Skin Food Black Sugar Mask cost about $10 and can be bought from ebay. It's sturdy and I leave this in my shower but water doesn't get in. It has a odd fake cola scent but I find it ok rather than annoying. After you wash it off, you can't even smell it. It has sugar granules which is supposed to exfoliate the face and it does an decent job. But the mask tends to harden and I have to make a point to dig in with my nails to get this stuff out of the tube. I have getting this under my nails because I have pretty long nails.

You can see the sugar, which melt on your face as your washing but I don't see an improvement on my skin. It doesn't really brighten up my skin after I exfoliate, so that means that it'snot really doing it's job.
I am not too fond of this scrub and probably will not be repurchasing. I find that there are probably other products at a drugstore price that could do abit better. For instance, the Mint Julep scrub is pretty good and probably half the price. I still like the brand, and I have their cheek and lip sliders, which I adore, but this one is not my thing. Sorry Skin Food.