Things I'm Loving Right Now: Makeup - Drugstore

I'm not the type of girl who pretends that they don't use makeup.  I don't really go for the "natural" look unless I'm either a) in a hurry b) at work c) on an interview.  As a individual with a limited budget and a ridiculous craving for new makeup I tend to lean more toward the drugstore makeup to satiate my thirst.  Here are a few things I'm loving right now:

Lips

• Wet N Wild Lip Lacquer in Flirtatious and Risque
• Rimmel lipstick in Airy Fairy
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm in Natural Mint & Shea Butter (not really drugstore but still the best lip balm I've ever used)

Eyes

• Boots No7 Mineral Perfection Shadow Palette in the color Topaz
• Wet N Wild Trio in "Walking on Eggshells"

Face

• Rimmel blush in Santa Rose
• Victorai Secret Pro Airbrush Fx Face Primer

Image via Wikipedia

Success!

Image from CVS 

So after searching and hunting all my surrounding CVS stores I finally managed to locate one (on a recent trip out for work) that had the much talked about Essence of Beauty Crease Brush Duo set.  Needless to say I'm absolutely thrilled.  I've had several Essence of Beauty brushes before and I can honestly say they are absolutely terrific at a fraction of the price of the more expensive brushes (ahem...MAC...ahem). 

Mail Surprises

 The Search for the Perfect Purple...

There is nothing I like better than opening my mailbox and finding something other than a bill...

Today's shipment was from Glamour Doll Eyes.  While I don't have time to go into detail about the colors (Freud calls me to read...) here are the colors I got (all sample sizes in jars).  All descriptions are from the Glamour Dolls website

• Mood Swing: "This color is a greyish blue with some shimmer."
• Premonition: "This color is a gorgeous dark greyish lavender."
• Shaded Orchid: "...a dark purple color."
• Girlfriend Sweater: "...a gorgeous matte dark purple."

I also got two free samples of Masquerade ("a very unique blend of black and purple") and Backstabber ("unique bend of black and green").  The package was sent to me in a bubble package and also included some Glamour Doll Eye shadow cards and sticker.  I found shipping to be quite quick (about a week).  Shaded Orchid is described as an "unblended pigment" and I appreciated that this was very clear when I purchased the samples.  Both Premonition and Mood Swing were part of the 'Twi-Shadow' collection, as I can't resist something named for two of my favorite Twilight characters (Alice and Jasper respectfully). 

I also enjoyed the fact that I could purchase an unlimited amount of samples, which I like as I hate committing to a full size unless I can see the color in person.  An example of this is Masquerade whose picture on the website appears more pink to me, while in person it appears to look more like a dark purple. 

While I haven't swatched/used any of the products yet so I can't speak to pigmentation/wear/etc I feel confident that this is a good start to me finding the perfect purple shade. 

Urban Decay

Its been ages since I've written, but here goes nothing...

 
So I've been updating my makeup recently and have become completely smitten by the makeup line Urban Decay.  As I love to share things I'm absolutely crazy about, here are my favorite Urban Decay products:


Eye Shadow Primer Potion
This is by far my favorite eye shadow primer.  The colors look fantastic after applying, and they last all day.  While my only complaint about this product in the past has been the bottle (as has been the complaint of many a user), Urban Decay has recently remedied this by coming out with the Professional Size Primer Potion. 

Naked Palette
I was fortunate enough to pick up this palette at my local Ulta.  It's my first Urban Decay palette and possible one of the best palettes I've ever bought.  As a lover of neutral shadows it can be quite frustrating to find good quality, highly pigmented neutrals.  It can even be more frustrating to find these shades in work-appropriate matte colors.  In the past I've had to hunt for individual shadows, sometimes buying quads or whole palettes to get 1 or 2 shades I've liked.  Needless to say I'm in love with the Naked Palette.  The quality is great, the range is awesome, and it has a nice mix of matte and shimmery shadows.  I love that the palette is sleek, easily portable, and has a large amount of each shade.  If my raves aren't enough just type in "Naked Palette" in any search engine for any number of reviews, swatches, and tutorials that have stormed the Internet over the past month. 


All-Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
This was bought after reading multiple reviews during a particularly humid filled summer in Chicago.  Not only does this spray keep my makeup from melting off my face, but it also helps give it that "just applied" look. 

Urban Decay Naked Palette

All Things Beauty

So I recently went out and purchased myself a pair of lovely (and professional looking) pink nails. As a nail-bitter, my nails are often a sore subject of my appearance. In desperation I decided to go to my old stand-by...fake nails. After much Internet surfing I chose CiCi's Nails and am so glad I did. Not only do they have a wide selection of services, they also offer the much talked about No Chip Manicure, and UV gel nails. I cannot tell you how happy I am with my nails and the service was fabulous! After looking at my stubby nails the technician then literally "sculpted" me nails (less harsh than acrylics).

On another beauty note:
A friend recently asked me about applying makeup. Being no expert I kindly directed her to where I go all the time...youtube. I know I've already raved about Michelle Phan but here are a few more that I've bookmarked over the past few weeks:

• MakeupByTiffanyD: I love, love this girl's channel on youtube. Not only is she down to earth about makeup, she also provides great reviews of products


• emilynoel83 : emilynoel83 provides some great makeup tutorials using a wide variety of cosmetics, which I love. She has a bunch of great video tutorials concerning Wet N Wild's new revamped makeup collection


• lollipop26 : lollipop26 does a ton of great review videos, what I like is that she is refreshingly honest about all her reviews. A good resource for finding out about new products

And lastly in this post about all things beauty... Coach's Kristin collection. I will admit after the initial thrill of my first few Coach bags I was soon on to others lines, but I am absolutely loving everything in this collection and cannot wait till it hits the Coach Outlets!