WH|BM Double Breasted Trench
Monday, September 28th, 2009I want, but I’m not willing to pay White House | Black Market $178.00 for it!!!! Gah! I’ll wait for the end of the season sale to see how low the price will go and hope to Moses that they will have it in a large just because I want to be able to wear a sweater under it without it being snug. Larges seem to go faster than mediums and then mediums go. Alas, smalls and x-larges remain. Enough rambling.
It’s a really cute jacket for the Fall for sure. I love how high the neck goes and how it has the buttons up there too. Chic.
Decided on the MAC 188 brush
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009I’m currently in the market for a good blush brush and I’ve looked into the Eco-Tools blush brush (if it’s anything like my powder brush then it will pick up too much product), the Revlon Blush brush (reviews are not so good on this), the MAC 116 (price is a little too much for me right now) brush and the MAC 187 brush (it’s too big and pricey). I remember people saying on the web that the MAC 187 brush is good for applying powders especially blushers and liquid foundations. I don’t wear liquid foundation (yet – I’m hoping my breakouts and scarring won’t last any longer) so I remembered that the MAC 188 (the smaller version of the 187) is available at my CCO. How nice.
What made me decide on the MAC 187 is that I read that it picks up a small amount of powder products which is nice because my NARS Taj Mahal is very pigmented so using a light brush is exactly what I need. I was using (and will continue to use) my Essence of Beauty Finishing brush (which is an odd brush to use blush for but I do not have a blush brush to use) to apply my NYX blush and it picks up a lot of product all at once and it’s the right amount for my cheek. When I go to use the same brush in my NARS blush the brush picks up too much or my NARS blush is very pigmented. I think it’s a pigmentation issue. The quality and pigmentation of my NARS blush is greater in that compared to my NYX blush, of course. I didn’t realize it because my only blush before my NARS was my NYX blush. No experience until now.
Anyway, what I had to do was go over my face with an MSF to cover up the over use of my NARS blush. It was too much product going my Finishing brush. I used my mineral face brush as well and I found myself in the same position. I’m hoping that the MAC 188 will pick up a small amount of product and will apply just right. I use a light hand in my NARS blush because I don’t want to waste it. I’m very careful with that blush as it cost me $25.00 for the one I have. Yikes!
Lastly, I was going to go ahead and splurge on the 131 brush, but I think it’s uncessary. I don’t really want to spend $40.00 on a brush I’m only going to use for blush. The 188 brush it is!
MAC Style Black Collection
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009I was really wanting that Black Knight lipstick, but after seeing Christine’s swatches on Temptalia I was like ummm no. It looks a mess even with a Style Black glimmerglass on top. The glimmerglasses are very sheer as well and to wear them alone your lips will literally look like they have dirt on them or look dirty. No thanks.
Side note…what MAC needs to come out with is an orange color blush, more paint pots and cream colour bases. Bleh.
I’m skipping out on the Style Black collection makeup wise, unfortunately, but I’m definitely going to try out the MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator and the Mask – I want them! If I like it I’ll go ahead and I buy backups of both. Price $19.50 each
China Glaze “Cruisin” Nail Polish Swatch
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009This is a nice Fall color for the nails. It just so happens that this nail polish matches with my new NARS blush called “Taj Mahal”. Freaky.
Got my Taj Mahal!!!!
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009I’ve already talked about this blush so much already so I’m just going to post pics and let it marinate. Woot!!!
NARS Taj Mahal Blush!!!!
Oh and NARS Taj Mahal is not being discontinued at all. I apologize for the misinformation. Sephora has decided to stop selling it in their stores. I’m not sure why. I ordered my blush from Beauty.com because NARcosmetics.com had it “not available” and although, I didn’t look on the site today some say it’s back in stock. And since this blush is not being discontinued, I decided to give the back up I ordered to my best friend. She loves it too and it is her first official blush ever. This is my first NARS blush ever. I think I’ll be ordering more blushes from NARS since they have more interesting colors than MAC (in my opinion).
Added Givenchy and NARS to my list…
Sunday, September 20th, 2009I want everything MAC so I don’t add MAC items to my wants list, but I do add non-MAC items to it. I call my makeup wants list “My Wantages”. I want and I want , but I can’t always have so I just add things that I really want at the time and hope to be able to purchase it one day. I also go back over my list from time to time and scratch things off because I’ve learned about something better.
OK so on to the two things I really want right now and have been thinking about for the past month already. I am late on this, but I am some what new to makeup so forgive me…I am really wanting a Givenchy Phenomen’eyes mascara badly. There is something about that wand that I love when I look at it. I saw Lauren Luke and Samantha from Pixiwoo (on YouTube) using this mascara in their tutorials so that’s how I learned about it. On pay day I’m going to fly over to Sephora and pick it up right away for sure. Price: $28.00
The other thing that I really want is the NARS Scorching Sun Eyeshadow Duo. I have really been loving oranges for the past month so I went looking for more orangey types of makeup and came across this duo. I did have a look see at Off the Page by MAC, but it is an OK orange color – but not as vibrant as any of the colors in Scorching Sun. I’m still going to pick that eyeshadow up still, but it’s nothing like Scorching Sun at all. The left side of the duo is a shimmery light orange color and the right side is shimmery orangey red color, but much more on the orange side A little too orangey of a duo, but that’s OK with me. I must have it and when I do get it I’ll sport it during the summertime. Price: $32.00
That’s all (for now) folks!
Was Only Supposed to Pick Up Brunette MSF but…
Friday, September 18th, 2009…I came back with a couple more things in addition to it! I’m not surprised. Ha!
I visited my CCO today because since my last haul I’ve been a little annoyed at myself for not purchasing a Mineralized Skinfinish in Brunette when I picked up Blond and Redhead. I was able to get it today and I must say that I love it. The women of color on Youtube who I watch that bought Brunette were right…it is definitely a great MSF for dark skin.
When I swatch it it doesn’t come out chalky like my MSF in Blonde. I sort of regret buying both Blonde and Redhead and I’m thinking about swapping it for something else on MUA or wherever. I have tried them both a few times trying to work with them, but they don’t do anything for me that my MSF in So Ceylon (which I love love love) cannot do so…I thin they have got to go, sadly.
Someone suggested that both MSFs in Blonde and Redhead works well as highlighters for dark skin. Well, I found that concealer under my eyes works well as a highlighter and that my neutral and ligt brown eyeshadows work well on my brow bone. I won’t say that I’m disappointed with Blonde and Redhead,b but they are just not for me. Brunette on the other hand works well as a overall face color, as a blusher and brow highlight. If I want to highlight parts of my face then that works too. It does not come out chalky when swatched or applied which is weird to me because none of them should come out chalky if they are all from the same collection. I’m not expert, but it’s what I expected. Price $19.75.
Also, I’ve been seeing that Mineralized Skinfish Natural/Shimmer at the CCO too on the last two visits and I’m still trying to make a decision as to purchase it or not or to just go to a MAC store and just get the Mineralized Skinfish Natural in Dark. Still thinking…I really need a natural.
Moving on, since my best friend and I are big fans of MAC pre-made quads, we had to get the Stowaways quad right away. That was something new that came to the CCO since the last time I was there (two weeks ago) – Yay! I noticed that Crest the Wave eyeshadow is in that quad and that is the same eyeshadow that came out in a recent collection that was released by called, “Makeup Art” (I didn’t get anything from this collection, but I will get Off the Page eyeshadow sooner or later because I’m really into the color orange right now). It is a very lovely quad so I am happy with my purchase with this one as well. Price $24.50.
Lastly, I came across a new addition to my CCO. I was able to pick up a Viva Glam VI lipglass. This was the one I really wanted two weeks ago, but they didn’t have it so I had gotten Viva Glam V lipglass which I really love too. So now, I have V and VI…I want the others and I will definitely look out for them. Price $10.00
Oh and before I end this I wanted to add that I picked up a few Breast Cancer Awareness cards and ribbons from my CCO. Estee Lauder donates to and supports the Breast Cancer Campaign and so do I. I will be sporting my ribbon everyday in the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The card is very informational. It tells you things like get screened for lumps, to check yourself regulary, eat healthy foods, exercise, watch your weight, don’t smoke and drink less…which I apply all of these plus more to my life each and every day. I registered to do participate in a walk coming up in mid-October 2009 in support of Breast Cancer Awareness…it will be my first walk for charity ever so I am very excited!!!!
And now…here are the pics of my haul! Again, excuse my camera as it is acting really funky today.
My First Ulta Haul
Friday, September 18th, 2009My best friend and I went on our first visit to Ulta today in Holmdel, NJ (great city by the way) and we thought the place was awesome. As we walked through the front door we noticed that the cosmetics aisles were located on the left and the fragrances were located on the right. We headed straight for the cosmetics aisles of course. My best friend said that Ulta reminds her of Sephora, but I don’t think so. Ulta is so much bigger and they carry a wide range of cosmetic lines from high to low and lots of fragrances, skincare and hair care products…A LOT!
We walked around every aisle that held high-end cosmetics and swatched products here and there. We then watched a MA make up a customer with Urban Decay cosmetics. The lady’s face came out really cute.
After our little tour of high-end cosmetics was over we went looking for NYX cosmetics. We both have been wanting that NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk and we were able to snag a couple. We’ve been wanting this pencil for a long time and could never find it at our fragrance outlet store or anywhere else for that matter – I cannot wait to try them. I also picked up a dark brown jumbo eye pencil as well and when I got it home, my 22 month old got a hold of it while I was taking haul pics and yeah, she made a little mess of it. I won’t be able to line my waterline with it now, but it’s OK. I need the practice filling in my waterline with a brush anyway. Price $3.99 each, but I got a buy one get 50% the second deal.
We were then off to look around at more low-end cosmetics and we I found Eco-Tools (which was on my list). I picked up an angled liner brush and a eye shader brush. Both brushes are synthetic though, but soft and I’ve heard great things about both brushes so I thought I’d give it a try before I go for the MAC equivalent brushes. I already have the Eco-Tools Powder brush (which is my favorite brush) so why not get more brushes in the same family?? Price $4.99 for each brush.
So, we were off again and I wanted to check out the nail polishes because I’ve been wanting to get my first bottle of China Glaze nail polish and the only color I found interesting within the inventory left was a burn orangey color called “Cruisin”. It’s a beautiful, sheeny undertone type of burn orange and I love it. *****TOTALLY OFF-TOPIC, BUT I MUST SHARE***I was like I had to get it because today I ordered NARS Blusher in Taj Mahal which is a burnt orange blush and though I have never seen it in real life before, I love it. I love NYX Cinnamon blush, which is an orange colored blush, but I heard that orange looks great on the cheeks of women of color so I decided to go ahead and order. I will go more into the story as to why I ordered NARS blusher in Taj Mahal + backup once I get it in the mail. I’m so excited.****OK NOW BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND**** Plus it’s almost Fall so this color fits the season so I’ll be sporting this polish on the 21st. Price $6.50.
I wanted to get China Glaze base and top coats, but there wasn’t any. 
I may have to just order them online.
After I picked up my nail polish, we decided to explore Ulta some more and my best friend eyes got caught upon the cosmetic bags shelf and made my way over to the skincare shelf where the sales where. I didn’t get much of a sale, but I picked up Cetaphil Facial Cleansar that came with a free squeeze tube of Cetaphil Lotion. I can’t wait to use it, starting tonight, as I need help with these breakouts I’ve been getting all summer. I just wish it would stop. Please excuse the flash off of the Cetaphil bottle in the picture, but it was wrapped in plastic so that’s why the flash bounced off so hard. Price $9.34
That’s it! I’m not sure what’s up with my camera today, but it’s actiing crazy. Here are pics from my first Ulta store haul:
