Shatter on hot pink: Zoya Tobey and OPI Black Shatter

I'm probably the last person ever to post nail swatches of a shatter/crackle nail polish... and I must admit these photos have been sitting on my hard drive for a lot longer than I had intended. Anyway, I really really love the way this combo looks- surprisingly enough I've found the black shatter a difficult colour to pair other nail polishes with. My instinct says to pair it with a soft colour, but the black ends up overwhelming any nude/neutral base.

So... hot pink it was!

Zoya Tobey in natural light

Zoya Tobey with flash

OPI Shatter in natural light

OPI Shatter with flash

I'm interested to try other shatter colours, but am a bit wary. Any suggestions of shatter polishes that work with a softer base colour are welcome! I've also tried China Glaze crackle in purple, but to be honest, I'm very disappointed with it. It's pretty much... crap.

I also broke my nail polish no-buy. I am a weak, weak woman.

xox Chloe

p.s. don't forget to follow my blog(s) with Bloglovin, if you have it! I feel so very lonely being their only followers :P (I had to give them at least one follower! 1 looks a little bit less sad than 0, I think.)

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Meow Cosmetics order, p.1

The cat lover inside of me HAD TO TRY MEOW COSMETICS.  Maybe I'm obsessive, I don't really care, but as soon as I saw their cat-themed website my eyes rolled back into my head.  The names are seriously too cute.  Hugs & Kitties?  Kept Kitty?  And of course, my purchase came in cheetah print wrapping paper.  I'm in love.

For my first Meow Cosmetics order I purchased a bunch of samples, and with the two free samples they threw in, it came to a total of 15!  I was so excited to try these and swatch them.  I got mostly eyeshadow, but I also tried samples of their undereye concealer, finishing powders, and blush.  

This part of my order will feature most of the eyeshadows I got.  I'll do another post tomorrow showing the undereye concealer/powders/blush!  The post was getting kind of pic-heavy, so I decided to do it this way- I hope you all don't mind!

Egyptian Treasures eyeshadows: Obelisk, Nile, Ancient

Rainforest collection eyeshadows: Boa, Endangered, Piranha

ScandalEyes Jessica R., CatEyes Caffeine Buzz, IdealEyes Kept Kitty

Random pictures of pretty swatches!

So gorgeous together!  I'm totally loving these eyeshadows, they swatch beautifully and have great pigmentation.  I love the multicolored glitter they have, especially Kept Kitty (that insane gold!).  It's beautiful!  

As much as I love the colors and insane variety they have, I'm not sure I'd buy full sizes.  You can either buy a sample baggie ($1.00) or a 10g jar ($10.25).  I wish they had an in-between size!  

Right now they have an awesome Christmas in July going on- you can purchase from the LE holiday collections this weekend only, and get free shipping (I believe it's US no minimum, international $30+).  I'm tempted..

Stay tuned for part two! :)

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My MAC eyeshadows (swatches & review)

My MAC eyeshadows hold a special place in my heart. ;)  Mostly because they were the first eyeshadow I ever wore!  The first time I got my makeup done was at a MAC counter for my 13th birthday, and my mom bought me a few things the artist used- Naked Lunch & Trax eyeshadows, a lip glass that I forget the name of, and the 224 and 252 brushes.  Every time I use my MAC eyeshadows I remember this day and how enjoyable and exciting it was for me. :)
Anyway, I don't have many (six in total), but some I like much more than others.  I don't even use Green Smoke or Haunting on a regular basis.  I'll describe my thoughts on each color underneath the corresponding pictures.

Trax, Naked Lunch, and Club

Trax, Naked Lunch, and Club eyeshadow; swatched once without primer

I got all three of these eyeshadows last year for my 19th birthday.  I had to repurchase Naked Lunch & Trax, as they were my first favorites.  Club I really couldn't pass up because of the awesome duochrome finish. 

(All descriptions taken from the MAC website)

Trax- Velvet finish, 'Burgundy-plum with shimmer'

Naked Lunch- Frost finish, 'Minimal pink with shimmer'

Club- Satin finish, 'Red-brown with green pearl'

Trax goes great with Naked Lunch; it's a great purple if you're hesitant with color but don't want a basic neutral.  It's subdued enough so that it doesn't scream "PURPLE!".  The texture is a little hard so it takes a few swipes to get good pigmentation, but it's not bad.  

Naked Lunch is a gorgeous peachy neutral that brightens up my eyes instantly.  The texture is smooth and soft; color glides onto my brush in one swipe so it's easy to use.  

Club is an awesome shade.  It's neutral but with a twist!  The green duochrome gives it an edge, and I love using this for smokey eyes in the crease.  I pair this with ELF Studio eyeshadow in Pebble, which is a matte brownish grey, and the two finishes balance each other out nicely.  

Green Smoke, Haunting, Retrospeck

Green Smoke and Retrospeck I bought a few years ago for a high school dance, but Haunting I got in a giveaway last summer.  

Green Smoke- Lustre finish, 'Tarnished olive'

Haunting- Satin finish, bright aqua (LE Alexander McQueen collection)

Retrospeck- Lustre finish, 'Beached blonde'

Green smoke hardly gets any use from me these days!  You have to work at the pigmentation, and it applies kind of patchy.  I'd probably use it more if it weren't such a hassle to use.  It makes a good color for a smokey eye, though.

Haunting looks like a cool color in the pan, but it lacks so much pigmentation unfortunately.  I tried using it on my eyes a few times last summer and I just couldn't build up the color to look bright.  I need to try this again using a better base, because I don't want to give up just yet!

Retrospeck has to be another one of my favorites (I like it about as much as I like Club & Naked Lunch, maybe more!).  I find golds really hard to wear on my cooler skin tone, but this pale gold is lovely.  It's chock full of glitter, but fallout isn't bad and pigmentation is great.  You hardly have to dip your brush in it at all to get product out.  You can see from my usage how much I like this. :)

What are your favorite eyeshadows?  Any from MAC?  I'd love to know!

Thanks for reading!

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Tackling summer trends: favorite summer blushes!

Hey guys!  Today I'm continuing with my summer trends series with a post on my top blushes for the summertime.  Most of these follow the peachy-pink trend that seems to always be in style during the warmer months, but I also threw in two others that rank high on my list.
I used to feel really "meh" towards wearing blush.  I was shy towards using much color at all, fearing it would make me look too much like a clown; I'd end up using really sheer blushes that you could hardly even tell I was wearing.  Now, though, I've come to realize why blush is so important!  It's one of the easiest ways to perk up your face and make you look younger.  And, of course, you have to find the right way to apply it for your face shape along with getting the color you like best.  I used to think peachy pinks looked terrible on me, but I've found that ones with enough pink in them can be very flattering!  Since I think you can also wear other colors during the summer, I included a shimmery bronze and vivid lilac shade in this post as well- together, they all scream "summer" to me!  (PS- I have quite a bit of these because I rotate the blush I wear daily.  I'm sure a lot of you can relate :)

Clockwise from upper left: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blends blush in Fresh 20,  Hard Candy Fox in a Box blush in Spicy & Sweet, Darling Girl Cosmetics blush in Yes, Virginia!, DCG blush in Paradise Pink

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blends sheer highlighting blush in Fresh

This is a blush I use when I'm doing a brighter pink or purple eye look and I want a soft, cool wash of color on my cheeks.  It's soft yet bright, so it creates a nice balance for vivid eyes.  I actually didn't use this much until recently, when I started playing around a bit more with color.  It's very sheer so I don't recommend it if you prefer more pigmented blushes.

Hard Candy Fox in a Box blush in Spicy & Sweet

You can read my full review of this here.  I usually swirl together the pinker shades, avoiding the brown, but all the brown does really is mute the final color and make it more peach (as in it doesn't make the color muddy).  This can be pretty bold for me- and the color leans pretty deep- but in small amounts it's gorgeous.

Darling Girl Cosmetics blush in Yes, Virginia!

This isn't as WHOA PURPLE as it looks in the jar or in my swatches, first of all!  It's subdued and pretty on cheeks and I love the finish.  Like Paradise Pink, it's almost-matte with a tiny amount of sheen.  I love this for a cooler-toned blush, perfect with neutral or purple/pink/violet eyes.

Darling Girl Cosmetics blush in Paradise Pink

On my NC20ish skin, this gives a really natural and flattering look- like you're wearing blush, but it's not in your face.  It's more on the peachy side with less pink, but its finish (same as Yes, Virginia!) makes it natural.  I will probably buy this in a full size the next DGC order I make.  I love it!

Clockwise from upper left: ELF Studio Contouring Blush/Bronzer, ELF Studio Golden Bronzer, ELF Studio blush in Twinkle Pink

ELF Studio Contouring Blush/Bronzer, blush side

This has been a long-time favorite of mine, despite my "meh" feelings towards glittery blush.  The soft color makes it more tolerable, I think.  This is pretty orange for what I normally gravitate towards, but I actually love this a lot.  It's also perfect in combination with the contouring bronzer (who would have thought..).

ELF Studio Golden Bronzer

No I STILL haven't finished this yet!  I purchased this at the beginning of last summer, but having used it so many times I was pretty sure it would be gone by now (and since I hit pan on it several months ago).  When I'm in the mood for a shimmery bronzer, this is what I use.  It's light in color and the shimmer isn't chunky, so it gives my face a really nice "glow".  A little on the cheekbones, temples, and nose looks wonderful.

ELF Studio blush in Twinkle Pink

This is a new one, and it's not the best quality blush, but the color is really pretty.  I should note that if you have the Studio Contouring blush/bronzer, the blush color is pretty similar, just a little more orange-toned.  This one has more pink in it, but as you can see in my swatches below, they're very close in color AND finish (same type of gold glitter).  However, Twinkle Pink is much more powdery, more so than my other Studio blushes.  It's a gorgeous peachy pink for summer, though!

Swatches:

L-R with flash: DCG Yes, Virginia!, ELF Studio Contouring Blush/Bronzer (blush), ELF Studio Twinkle Pink, Hard Candy Spicy & Sweet, DCG Paradise Pink, Neutrogena Fresh, ELF Studio Golden Bronzer

Hopefully this shows the sparkle/glitter a little better!

Hope you guys enjoyed this!  My next post will be my June favorites (I don't have too many), and then I have a few photo tutorials in the works.  Thanks for reading, like always. :)

xox

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Bourjois Rose Lounge Nail Polish

Hi girls!

This is my nail of the day (or week!), Bourjois' Rose Lounge nail polish... all in celebration of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or Will and Kate haha) and their Royal Visit to Canada! I'll be going to the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, and hopefully I'll catch a glimpse of them! I am definitely a "Royal Watcher", but that sounds a bit creepy... so I'll say "Royal Enthusiast"!

(FYI, Kate wore this polish mixed with Essie's Allure on her wedding day!)

Natural light- 3 coats

Flash- 3 coats

Flash- 3 coats

This nail polish, or all sheer light pink polishes really, is a little bit difficult to apply at first. It definitely requires a little practice to make it look even! And if you're like me, and totally terrible at painting with your non-dominant hand, it takes a little more time as well :) But I think I've gotten the hang of this, thank goodness!

I purchased this at Shoppers, and shelled out $10 for it... I think my most expensive nail polish to date. This purchase marked the beginning of my summer nail polish no-buy, so I guess I'd better enjoy it, eh!?

xox Chloe

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Darling Girl Cosmetics order and swatches!

I've been eagerly awaiting my first order from Darling Girl Cosmetics for awhile now, and when I received it yesterday in the mail I couldn't wait to try everything out!  This was my first experience with an indie makeup company, and I am hooked to say the least.
I placed my order during Susan's first sale, which was over Memorial Day weekend and it was Buy 2 Get 1 free.  It was also my first time using Paypal, so I really didn't know what was going on, haha.  It turns out my order got lost (as I can imagine how crazy busy she was with all the orders), but Susan was more than courteous despite the mix up- she included a few extra samples and a Liquid Kisses lip gloss which was so sweet!  I wasn't expecting that as I didn't even really know how the whole ordering process worked through Paypal and Ecrater (the website her store is hosted through).  I also got my package two days after she emailed me about the mix up.  Consider me impressed!
Anyway, onto what I ordered :)

Look at how cute the packaging is!  She wrapped my petit eyeshadow/blushes in the green tissue paper, my blogger sample pack in a little box, and my free samples+Liquid Kiss in the zebra packet.  She also includes a card along with it.  So nice!

Samples (eyeshadows unless otherwise noted), Top L-R: Belle, Sugar Minuet, Cider, Scarecrow

Bottom L-R: Dulce de Leche, Candied Apple (Kiss Me tinted lip balm), My Little Pony, Masquerade

Petits, Top L-R: Hollywood, Cydonia, Snuggle

Bottom L-R: Paradise Pink blush & Yes, Virginia! blush

Fuchsia Flush Liquid Kisses lip gloss

Liquid Kisses gloss in Fuchsia Flush

Samples (all eyeshadows):

L-R: Belle, Sugar Minuet, Cider, My Little Pony, Scarecrow, Masquerade, Dulce de Leche

Petits (eyeshadow unless otherwise noted):

L-R: Cydonia, Hollywood, Snuggle, Yes, Virginia (blush), Paradise Pink (blush)

Kiss Me tinted lip balm in Candied Apple

The sample baggies come with 1/8 of a teaspoon ($.60 each), and the petit sizes are mini jars with 1/4 teaspoon ($2.00).  Full sizes come in jars with 3/4 teaspoon ($4.00), although I didn't purchase any this time- I will in the future! :)  I do think the pricing per quantity is very affordable, though.  I also like that everything comes in different sizes so if I'm not sure about something, I can get either a sample or a petit jar to try it out.  And the full sizes are still a great deal so I don't feel bad buying everything in that size!

This is my first time doing swatches for a mineral makeup company, so I'm pretty sure my swatching  didn't do the eyeshadows justice (they were all done using a damp brush).  Since I will be purchasing from DCG in the future, I plan on trying the Stay the Day eye primer to help make them more vibrant.  I got so many compliments today when wearing them (see the quick EOTD at the end of this post), and each eyeshadow has so much dimension that I couldn't capture in pictures.  I love how pretty and soft the colors are, though, and how great their lasting quality is.  My eyeshadow looked just as fabulous tonight as it did at 8am this morning when I applied it.  They all have beautiful shimmer.

I love the blushes I tried- Yes, Virginia! is a gorgeous violet pink, and Paradise Pink is a light peachy pink that I will be purchasing as a full size.  The two I got are not quite matte, but have a slight sheen that gives a nice finish- easy to wear and my personal favorite.  They also lasted me all day, which was a pleasant surprise!  I wore Yes, Virginia today with My Little Pony eyeshadow and the Fuchsia Flush gloss for a pretty, girly look.

For lip products, I got to try one of the Kiss Me tinted lip balms in Candied Apple, and the Fuchsia Flush Liquid Kisses gloss.  The tinted lip balm is just that- a slight tint, but glides on just like a moisturizing balm.  The Liquid Kisses gloss leaves a subtle amount of color that is nonsticky and smooth.  These don't last too long on me, but I love the shine they give off (check out my lip swatch!).

Quick EOTD using Snuggle, Cydonia, and Masquerade eyeshadows

Overall, I'm more than pleased with my order and think that Darling Girl Cosmetics is a great little company.  I can't wait to make another purchase in the future!

Until then, what are your favorites from DCG if you've tried them?  I'd love to know!  Or if you haven't yet, what are some of your favorite indie makeup brands?  I think I'm hooked. :)

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ELF part two: miscellaneous (eyes, face)

I love ordering from ELF.  Usually there are one or two things I'm not thrilled with, but for the most part I like everything and it's just exciting to see what's new.
ELF has a bunch of new products and colors lately!  I tried out one of the new Studio Radiance Enhancers in the shade Sunrise, the $1 Smudge brush, Studio blush in Twinkle Pink, and then two of the new-ish cream eyeshadows, Dawn and Bronzed.  I'm planning on another order as soon as ELF restocks some items, but I hope this post helps those of you who have been curious about a few of these! :)

ELF Studio Radiance Enhancer in Sunrise

I really don't need more highlighters, but I love click pen applicators (for some reason!) so I wanted to try this out.  Sunrise is the second shade of the new Radiance Enhancers.  I thought from the online pictures that this would be lighter and more gold, but it's a rather deep rose-gold shade.  On my skin it leans bronze, as you can see in my swatch.  Blended out it's very sheer and leaves a subtle glow- perfect for anyone who likes a little highlight but nothing over the top.  I'm not sure I'll get much use out of this just because of the shade, but it'll make a nice base for blush.

ELF Smudge brush

I've been wanting a brush in this style for awhile now; it appeared to be perfect for applying color to the lower lash line.  As it turns out, it is!  There are a few comments on the product page online that the bristles aren't dense enough, but I've had no problem.  A few have shed on me already, but for $1 I'm not complaining.  It makes applying color close to the lash line really easy.

ELF Studio blush in Twinkle Pink

Twinkle Pink is one of two new shades of the Studio blushes (Giddy Gold being the other).  The shade is really gorgeous, and is a slightly pinker version of the blush side of the Studio Contouring Blush/Bronzing Powder.  I'll compare these in another post- they look quite similar in the pan, but swatched you can see their differences.  Anyway, Twinkle Pink is pretty powdery and glittery but it's a gorgeous color.  I have so many of these peachy-pink shades that I think I've hit my limit, haha.

Left: Dawn, Right: Bronzed

ELF Studio cream eyeshadows in Bronzed and Dawn

First of all, the packaging with these cream eyeshadows is just as bulky as everyone says it is.  In terms of product, however, I just love these.  They don't crease and make for great bases for eyeshadow.  Bronzed is a bit smoother and more pigmented than Dawn, but they both blend easily and are overall great quality.  I hope ELF comes out with more shades, because I'd love to try more!

I also purchased the small size of the Mineral Booster, which I'll review in a separate post once I've tested it a little longer.  I was hoping for it to be a good dupe for my loved Mineral Veil, so we'll see how it goes!  

If you guys haven't entered yet, there's one week left to take part in my giveaway.  Thanks for your continued support that has allowed me to do this! :) xox

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My ELF order arrived! Part one: lip products

I had been wanting to order from ELF for the longest time, but for a number of reasons didn't get around to it until last week!  At first I was waiting for new products to come in, and then when they did come in the other products I wanted were out of stock (and ELF takes forever to restock things it seems).  A few weeks ago Total Beauty featured a daily deal (which I posted about) that was $10 for a $25 voucher to ELF.  I purchased it right away, and that kind of gave me the push I needed to finally place my order.
So, exactly a week after ordering, my package arrived.  Yay! :)

I apologize in advance for 1) the lighting of the first few pictures, and 2) that I didn't take pictures of a few of the products before using them.  I wasn't able to open my package until late last night, and I couldn't get very good lighting for pictures.  And there was no way I was waiting until today to try out the products... haha.  So I'm sorry for that!

Everything together!  I will be breaking it down into individual posts, so today will be lip products.  I'll go into detail about the rest of the things I got in a separate post. :)

Essentials lipstick in Nostalgic, Mineral Moisturizing Lip Tint SPF8 in Rose, Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph

Essentials lipstick in Nostalgic

I've never tried any of the $1 lipsticks before, but as soon as ELF put up the new colors, I knew I had to try this one out.  I noticed my package had been opened (the lipstick was untouched, but the plastic packaging was ripped open) which was weird, but the product hadn't been opened anyway.  My initial reaction is so-so.  The bullet sticks up a little farther than the top of the tube, so I nicked the lipstick right away.  The reviews on the website are right- this lipstick is really fragile.  The color reminds me of my Revlon ColorBurst lipstick in Fashion's Night Pout, but maybe a tad peachier.  

Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph

Having heard so many good things about the mineral lipsticks, I knew I needed to try one!  Natural Nymph has been on my wishlist for a pretty long time.  It's definitely a 'concealer lips' color, and makes for a great nude lip base although it's a little patchy on me.  The mineral lipsticks feel so much better quality than the $1, from the packaging to the product itself.  I'll definitely try out more of these in the future- I have a feeling the deeper shades would apply better.

Mineral Moisturizing lip tint in Rose

This was one of the products I was waiting for to make my order, and unfortunately by the time I actually placed my order, most of the colors I wanted had gone out of stock.  I love this, though, especially being someone who doesn't really like lipstick.  It's pigmented (as you can see in my lip swatch), and gives my lips a lovely rose-y berry color.  I can't wait for these to come back in stock, because I'll definitely order more!

Mineral lip tint in Rose, Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph, Essentials lipstick in Nostalgic

Stay tuned for the rest of my order, where I'll cover the new Studio Radiance Enhancer, blush, and cream eyeshadows, along with the new smudge brush (I'll be reviewing the Mineral Booster in its own separate post).  

Thanks guys! :)

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