Friday, November 19, 2010

Red: Part 4/4 -- Red eyes?! Again?? (NIGHT ELF!)

Hellloooo!!

So I saved the best for last =)

I FOUND WET 'N WILD'S NIGHT ELF PALETTE!!
*happy dance*

So um... if you're an avid reader in the beauty blogosphere, you'll know what I"m talking about, hehe.

Wet 'n Wild has some new little ColorIcon palettes for the holiday season, and one of the most coveted ones is called "Night Elf"~ the palettes retail for $4.99 and includes 6 shadows and 1 mini eyeliner.

Let's take a look!

**Warning!* Picture heavy post ahead!!**

Packaging:


























































(Forgot the eyeliner! It's black with little silver sparkles~)


Okay~ now I did this in 2 parts.
This is with the shades from the left side of the palette-- aka the "Tame" ones, lol.
Lightest shade on brow, medium on lid, darkest blended in crease~



















This look is actually really nice!! I've gotten lots of compliments every day I've worn this~ it's quickly become my "everyday" look, hehe.

Okay! Now the CRAZY looks~ lots of pics because I just think it's fun, hahaha---

Okay!
I just went with the look above and started adding colors....

+ Red:






















+ Red with the darkest "Tame" shade in the crease:






















With the black shade in the crease:























Black blended over red to subdue it a bit:

































Sassy face (and black added to lower lashline):























Okay! So you can probably guess from all of the pictures that I LOVE this palette, haha!!

The shadows are really great quality-- they look cheap as crap but once you play with them they are quite nice-- velvety and richly pigmented. SO great!! And the eyeliner is good, too-- really stays put.

Go get 'em!! Fun weekend goal ;) There's a really gorgeous plum palette, too. That's what I'll be doing this weekend!! =D

What do you think? Like the palette? Think you'll get it? And tell me what you think of that RED!

Until next time~
--Beauty Maven

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Red: Part 3/4 -- Red Eyes?!

Bonjoouuurr!!

Red eyes-- what?! Sounds kind of crazy, doesn't it??

Let's take a look =)

I decided to play with NYX's color "Rust" in both powder and eyeliner form~
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Rust: $4.19 at Ulta
NYX Single Eye Shadow in Rust: $5.99 at Ulta





























Yeah... don't let your cat knock it off the sink... it breaks =(

Swatches:





















Weird that they um.. have the same name but.. don't.. match.. ?

I decided to have them side-by-side~
Powder on the left, liner on the right:


















Then I thought, hey! Maybe the shadow would be more intense over the liner!
(Left: shadow alone, Right: shadow over liner)

























Believe it or not, I actually kind of like this, hahaha!! I mean, I don't know about for everyday stuff, but for going out and such it's kind of fun!

Or you know, for your Boswer Halloween costume, to match your red mohawk. . .






















Hehehe. So! I LOVE the quality of the NYX shadow (besides it breaking when it falls from the counter to the tile... ugggh... bad kitty.)

The liner, on the other hand, SUCKS. Don't waste your money. I'm just glad it was BYGO-50% off when I got these. It creases so badly! I don't know why you would ever want cream on your eyes... just look at the pics-- and those were taken shortly after apply! WITH A PRIMER! Geez.

On a more practical note, the reddish shadow is fun to layer because it instantly warms up any color, example:
Matte Brown-->Brown/rust/-->Rust















Thoughts??
BTW you get to see a real red tomorrow ;)

Until next time~
--Beauty Maven

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Red: Part 2/4 -- Red lipgloss!!

Hello!

Okay so part 2 of the Red mini-series, hehe.

My FAVORITE red gloss... and just one of my fave glosses anyhow, is Lancome's Color Fever Gloss in Mercury Rising. It retails for $26, which is WAY pricey, but it is simply amazing. Not to mention is looks like the Holidays! I mean, I just look at the tube and smile. Can't put a price on that, right? ;)

Plus, I've had it since last September and it's still amazing, so nyah! Bang for your buck! =D

Swatches!

Tube:






















Applicator:






















Bare lips:










That's right, my lips have NO COLOR, lol.












See-- it's red without being in your FACE about it. This would be a good first move into inching into the world of Red lips~

What I REALLY like about this gloss, (besides the amazing formula, shimmer, and shine!) is that it is a genuine red. A lot of red glosses that I have tried tend to come off more pink than red because of the thinness of the formula. This one isn't gloppy by any means, but even with a thin layer it is still obviously red. Score!

I'd put this on your wish list. =D I know I am!!

PS If you're looking for a red stain, Revlon's Just Bitten in Gothic is a great choice! Review here~

What's your favorite red lip product?? Please share!

Until next time~
--Beauty Maven

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Experience: Highlighting! Revlon Frost and Glow

Okay!

So this weekend, I had a NEW experience~ I got to highlight my friend's hair, eee!! I have dyed before, but never HIGHLIGHTED. It was so exciting!

Here is the kit we used:

Revlon Frost and Glow


















It's like most dyes where you mix together the dye, but this one you put in the little box it comes with~

















But first! You use the cap and crochet-like needle to pull the hair to highlight through the cap, ah! Once I got the hang of it, it actually was pretty quick. And you know, I can't even really explain HOW to do it, but I could show if anyone ever needs help, lol!






















Instructions for how to use the cap for what effect you want. Hehe doesn't she look so happy?

I think you can gather from the illustration what the cap looks like.
So here is a picture once her hair was pulled through the cap~























She pulled the rest of her hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. You then apply the dye with a little spatula like tool (included) and then pile the hair on top and put this other loose cap on, to make sure you don't lean on anything with the dye, I suppose lol.

Ok so I'm a bad reviewer and forgot to take a BEFORE picture, so here is the most recent one I could creep on Facebook with her hair straight =):






















After!:






















ISN'T IT GORGEOUS?!
I was really super impressed with this kit! There weren't any chunks and the color is even and beautiful-- nice job, Revlon!

Makes me want to dye my hair!!!!

Have you ever used at-home dye or highlighting kits before? Tell me stories!!

Until next time~
--Beauty Maven

Monday, November 15, 2010

Red: Part 1/4 -- Red Lips!

Hello all!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I'll tell you about mine tomorrow~ for now, I want to share some red lip colors for my lover reader Emily!!

Ok, so every girl needs red lipstick, right? Maybelline claims that their color "Red Revival" from the Color Sensational line is the "#1 Red" on the market right now. Let's take a look!













As you all know, I am a big fan of the Color Sensational line, so I was excited to try this shade! When I got this, they had a BYGO-free so I also got "Park Avenue Peach."

Swatch:
Park Avenue Peach and Red Revival




















Bare lips:















Park Avenue Peach:












Red Revival:












Park Avenue Peach is a good peach shade, but I didn't fall in love with it.
Red Revival, on the other hand, is a GREAT blue-based red!! I would definitely recommend it, especially since it's on the deeper side of red instead of the normal fire-engine BRIGHT reds that are out there. Thumbs up!

The ONLY "ehh" I have with these colors it that, for some reason, the red ones seem like the formula isn't as creamy. It took just a little bit to get them on perfectly aka they didn't just 100% easily glide on. Odd! But that also gave them really spectacular staying power, so maybe that's it? I wonder if maybe mine were just messed up?? lol!

Approved! Great red, Maybelline!

What do you think, Emily?? Also, another good red is Revlon Red-- I have heard, at least ;)

Until next time~
--Beauty Maven