Sunday, May 20, 2012

Sephora VIB Haul Apr 2012

So this is a little late in posting but here's to another haul post. I took advantage of the Sephora VIB 15% off discount back in April, even though I really had nothing I wanted, but it's a sale on ANY and EVERYthing that usually never goes on sale, so I splurged a little and hooked myself up with more "value sets".
Benefit's Legally Bronze Set $35 ($105 value)
Benefit's Legally Bronze Set is now out of stock. I've actually seen this for a while at the Sephora site. This set includes a Hoola bronzer, High Beam, Bad Gal mascara, the Gilded Gold Highlighter pencil and a plastic cosmetic bag.
Hoola Bronzer in old packaging
I ordered this mainly because of the Hoola bronzer, a popular cult favorite. The Hoola bronzer is in the old packaging so there's no mirror in the cap. The set also includes a full size High Beam, another cult favorite, but I've tried this in the store and wasn't fond of it. The included Gilded Gold Highlighter Pencil is pretty surprise, perfect for that eye popping effect at the waterline. I haven't tried the Bad Gal Brown mascara yet, but I'm excited as my friend was recommending the Dior Mitzah mascara. I would have liked it more if the plastic bag wasn't imprinted with the palm tree design.
Benefit's The Pretty Committee Set $38 ($86 value)
Benefit's The Pretty Committee Set is $38 but includes a full size Bella Bamba blush, Stay Don't Stray primer, Eye Bright highligher and a deluxe size High Beam. I've tried Stay Don't Stray and Eye Bright samples before and didn't make much of an impression on me. Eye Bright doesn't even work on my Asian yellow undertones. It looks way too cakey.
Benefit's Bella Bamba blush
Can you see the shimmers?

I ordered this set mainly for the Bella Bamba blush. The blush is described as a watermelon pink but it has really pretty shimmers. I love the new packaging! It includes a mirror and a very soft brush, very convenient but not very for traveling because it's still in the signature blush box shape, too bulky to carry around.

Super By Nicholas Perricone First Blush Brightening Serum $24
The SUPER line is getting discontinued from Sephora so the entire line is on sale now at up to 50% off. I picked up this First Blush Brightening Serum. It's supposed to do exactly as it says, to give you a blush. I haven't tried it yet, hopefully it works up to its name!

That's it for Sephora haul, more posts will be coming up soon!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Swatches: Winter vs. Summer Nails

Absolutely been way too long since my last post. I have so many ideas and things I want to write and review, it's overwhelming. I've been very distracted as of late. New secret relationships can really take a lot of your time! Plus I've been spending much of my every waking hour gathering items for Sims Social... such an addiction.

Anyway, not going to bore you all with the details. Here are some back logged nail pictures I found in my hard drive. A nice winter vs. summer nail juxtaposition collection.

Butter London's Lady Muck - 1 Coat
Here's a cool tone wintery nail color that I loved, Button London's Lady Muck, a murky blue-grey color. The color looks a little gloomy, so it'll probably be my winter choice, unfortunately not suitable in a professional work environment. This is one of my first Butter London polishes and they were super easy to apply and dry.This lasted longer than the Fairy Lights that I tried.

Zoya's MIA - 1 Coat
Here's a more work-friendly nail polish - Zoya's MIA. It's a neutral mauve pink that leans on the sheer side. Shown here with 1 coat only. Dries fast, but wears away from the tips without top coat pretty quickly. Doesn't last more than 1 day without the wearing off.

Essie's Muchi Muchi (2 coats) & Hello Kitty in Blueberry (1 coat)
One day I felt like being a little more "daring" and decided to paint my nails in 2 different colors. Essie's Muchi Muchi is a super sheer and needs at least 2 coats for opaqueness. But it's a classic baby pink that's perfect for spring so it's a keeper for me. Paired with the most gorgeous pacific blue color from Hello Kitty's Blueberry. The Hello Kitty nail polish was from my Sephora haul a year or so back. One coat, as you can see, is still very streaky. This polish will require 2 coats, but the color payoff is magnificent.

Revlon's Sheer Nude (1 coat), Milani's Nail Art in White Canvas, and Butter London's Tart with a Heart
Switching gears back to an office-friendly French manicure. This time I added a little bling to my normal French tip with Butter London's Tart with a Heart. This Butter London nail polish has a sheer pink base with multiple glitter particles in various shapes and colors, would probably look very weird alone (I haven't tried that yet), but looks really nice layered on top of a opaque color. I dotted my normal French tip with a toothpick, super easy, and super quick.

Revlon's Color Stay in Marmalade
Revlon came out with a new line of nail polish called ColorStay which claims to last up to 11 days as long as you use their top and base coat. I'm not too crazy for long lasting color for THAT long, but I was drawn to this bright orange coral in Maramalade. They are very pricey compare to the regular line, these run up to $11. They lasted quite a while on me, but as you can see, they also wear off pretty quickly at the tips. But overall, a perfect summer POP of color.

=)   That's it for the nails, hopefully my other reviews will be up soon!
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