MAC Venomous Villains-- Vainglorious!!

Hello Lovelies!!

I have to admit, this review is a bit dated since Vainglorious is no longer available on MAC's website. =( For similar shades, I'd check out "Sketch" or "Cranberry."

However! I wanted to show the wonderful Muse of musingsofamuse.com some swatches of this beautiful color!

(Check out her post on Wet 'n Wild's new Holiday Palette to see where this all started~)

This is the "official" picture of the shade, Vainglorious:









































This shade is described as a "Bronze Burgundy."




















Here are some pics:

Just shadow and mascara-- I don't know where that creasing action came from =\


















Another, now with eyeliner, shows more of the burgundy tones.


















I feel like it really compliments green!
It doesn't go on too intense, but it has enough red in it to be interesting~


















This shadow came up because her review (linked above) contains a red shadow, and I noted that Vainglorious is the reddest I have dared to go, although red shadow has intrigued me for a while~ (it really can be quite stunning! check out the Muse's pic!). Also, I've noticed that with my green eyes that the more pinkish/warmer purples make my eyes pop better than the blueish/cooler ones.

I'm dying to try this shade (or something similar)-- ah! =D

True story: I was playing with a reddish NYX eyeshadow at Ulta and the woman told me, "That shadow wouldn't work in real life." Um, what? I mean, maybe she's right, but then help me find a way to wear it, since I was obviously intrigued, haha! I might just have to go try it again... hmm..

Though.. I am hoooooping to get my hands on the new Wet n' Wild palette!! Fingers crossed!! It's gorgeous, and affordable!! ;)

Hope you all have a nice week, and I will try to post more often-- I have a picture folder all ready to go! ;)

Until Next Time--
~Beauty Maven

The moment you've been waiting for...

MAC'S VENOMOUS VILLAINS COLLECTION!!

Hello Lovelies!!

Well, yesterday MAC launched the new Disney inspired Venomous Villains collection (eeee!!).
Needless to say, this chick made a haul yesterday.

Lots of pics =)
Not necessarily a "review," but it's fun to see some of the colors!!

LET'S BEGIN!!

Pics of the Collection:

























































Maleficent's Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo in My Dark Magic
























The Evil Queen's Lipglass in Hot House and Cruella's Lipglass in Wicked Ways















The Evil Queen's Eyeshadow in Vainglorious
















Dr. Facilier's Magically Cool Liquid Powder in Truth and Light












Dr. Facilier's Greasepaint Stick in French Quarter



















Maleficent's Nail Lacquer in Formidable!, Mean and Green, and Bad Fairy.



Descriptions of the colors, as per MACcosmetics.com:

My Dark Magic eyeshadow: Deep pink with pink pearl / Deep plum with purple pearl
Hot House lipglass: Deep raspberry with pink pearl
Wicked Ways lipglass: Deep fuchsia with pink pearl
Vainglorious eyeshadow: Bronze Burgundy
Truth and Light face powder: Sheer shimmer that reflects pink and silver
French Quarter greasepaint stick: Dirty black green with multi colour pearl
Formidable! nail lacquer: Teal green with pink multi-changing pearl
Mean and Green nail lacquer: Purple with teal multi-changing pearl
Bad Fairy nail lacquer: Red with red multi-changing pearl

And some swatches!!

Top to bottom:
Greasepaint stick in French Quarter
Penultimate eyeliner in Rapidblack (you're not going crazy, this is the first mention lol)
Vainglorious eyeshadow
Truth and light face powder
My Dark Magic eyeshadow, both sides
Lipglass in Hot House and Wicked Ways

Bright flash:




















Low flash:





















Nail Lacquers in Bad Fairy, Formidable!, and Mean and Green































Formidable!, Mean and Green, and Bad Fairy



Ok! So I think that's enough pictures for the day, haha! I'll do separate posts on these products with reviews~

What do you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Want it? What would you haul?? And if so, do it quick! I showed up at the MAC counter right when it opened (and I wasn't alone, lol) and they sold out of the nail polishes within 10 minutes. I was LUCKY to get 1 of each... And most of the products are sold OUT online. I don't doubt it! This has been 7 years in the making, and it's GORGEOUS!!

For more pics and info, check out my favorite blogger Karen's site: Make-up and Beauty Blog

Toodles!
~Beauty Maven

Hello lovelies!

This is a post from my phone so I hope it works!!
Sorry for being absent-- I've had a busy couple of weeks!! But I wanted to post a quick thought:

So I'm in San Francisco and it's been a day of varying events which called for different "looks." The easiest way I found to do this? Change up my make-up, of course!!

I have a foundation of skinny jeans, black flats, a white fitted tee, and a black boyfriend blazer. Oh! And sassy red nails :) I had a casual lunch (basic make-up with winged liner), a meeting (add light pink gloss and chunky pearl necklace), a business meeting (switch to red gloss->studies show that people see bright lips as a sign of confidence! score!) and then going out for drinks (add black shadow)-- hahaha!! All carried in my purse since there was no time to go back to the hotel, lol.

I wish I had taken pictures, gah!

Tell me your stories!! :):)

Color Changing Nail Polish!!

Happy Wednesday, all!

I have a fun treat for you today =)

While I was on vacation in Florida, I went into a store called "Del Sol." This store is fantastic! It incorporates "science and sunshine" to create "Fun in the Sun with color-changing apparel and accessories." Intrigued yet?

This place blew my mind. They had all kinds of things that changed color in the sun. I was like a kid in a candy store! And they had little UV lights set up over the store so you could see the color-changing take place. Whoa.

I got a fun shirt =)

Inside:



















After being outside!:




















The polish wasn't cheap at $10, but that's only a smidge more than OPI so I didn't feel too guilty. Plus, it's fun!

Pics of the bottle:
























The top tells you what color it changes to in the sun:

























Inside:












Outside!:

















Here are the polish colors available~ Del Sol Store

There are some that start out pale and then change to a vibrant red or pink~ a la Knock-Out and Sun Kissed~ that I am very interested in, as well, haha! Too fun! =)

I don't know how "new" these are, but I'm digging 'em!

Oh~ And the finish is very mettalic, which is gorg. The only thing is it seems to lose it's "changing" power after awhile, but if you put on a think coat it re-energizes it!

What do you think?!

Until Next Time~
Beauty Maven

Review: Revlon Grow Luscious by Fabulash

Hello!!

Up today is Revlon's new Grow Luscious by Fabulash~ $8.99 at Walgreen's.

What it claims:
Get lashes that not only look instantly longer and lusher, they will also grow stronger day after day. Lash enhancing formula complements the natural growth cycle of your lashes and improves their overall appearance and condition with each use.

Sounds like a great idea! Let us see!!

First of all, let's look at some pics of how well this makes lashes "instantly longer and lusher."

One coat, and bare lashes to compare:

















Well, one coat was okay but I really wanted some LUSH lashes-- so!
Two coats:











Ok let me tell you-- I am not a fan of HUGE brushes. They're just so hard for about 90% of the population to use because most of use need to work in to the root of lashes and build and build color to get the desired effect. So, complaint #1.
























Complaint #2. This is actually my fault, because I picked up the waterproof version on mistake. Oops. But it was very hard to build and got clumpy and nasty very very easily. In the "Two Coats" picture above it doesn't look bad at all, but that took a LOT of work. And you almost have to do two coats to get a real "volumized" look. I thought I took a "clump" picture but I can't find it! Sorry.. just trust that if I don't want to spend the time making it work, you probably won't either, lol!

I have to admit, I'm a bad reviewer in this case because since it was so clumpy, I only wore it for about 2 weeks.. frustration.. but I didn't see any improvement as far as the "lash enhancing formula."

However! I am a good researcher! =) So this is what I found:
"These products contain nutrients and amino acids that will increase the health of the lashes through their growth cycle. They will probably prevent lashes from falling out as much, and people may perceive that as increased thickness. But the products aren't going to make the hairs longer or thicker."
- Ophthalmologist Wendy W. Lee

(Which sounds a bit like my Lash Serum post awhile back~ and that makes me think of my Double Extend mascara, which I liked so much! I'm going to dig this puppy back out!)

What do you think? Have you tried this? What do you think of the mascara+serum trend?

Until Next Time!
~Beauty Maven