Category Archives: beauty blog

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade 

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MAC has released a few versions of this beautiful pressed mineral powder highlighter over the years.  I have the current version in the permanent line with the new magnetized compact (MAC, please do this with all your compacts – never another broken nail!).  There is a limited edition version where the powder top is texturized, but I’m not sure how it compares to this one.


MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade

The product itself is beautiful.  You can see ribbons of gold, blue, and peach swirled throughout the yellowish base.


Swirled together, they come out to a very light champagne color, a light shade leaning slightly warm.  This highlighter is actually light enough to highlight fair skin, which is hard to come by!  I’m a MAC NW10 and this is perfection on me.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Lightscapade swatched heavily

This product can be worn heavily for a metallic sheen, or applied lightly for a barely there glow that’s suitable for daytime.  It’s shimmer without glitter; this will not emphasize imperfections in the skin like something that’s frosty might.


I wish my iPhone could show how it looks on me…I will get my fancy camera out and get a photo in the sun!  I’m wearing it here, but my house was so dark, it’s hard to tell. 😉


Lightscapade on high points of the face, worn with Urban Decay Bittersweet Blush and MAC Up The Amp lipstick

This compact comes with a whopping 10 grams of product.  It’s going to take ages to go through it, which is one reason I allowed myself to shell out $32.00 for a highlighter.  Next, I’m going to try it as an eyeshadow highlight.

MAC makes this great product in other gorgeous shades for darker skin tones and even colors that function like bronzers.  Do you use the Mineralize Skinfinishes?  How do you like them?  For me, I’ve found a new daily staple.  I only wish I had splurged sooner!

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick in Chatterbox

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Yesterday, I brought my 6 items to the local MAC counter to recycle for their Back To MAC program – their recycling program where you can bring or send in 6 plastic, glass, or metal items that are empty for recycling and in exchange, you can chose a lipstick, lipgloss, or small eyeshadow (I think perhaps limited edition items are excluded, but don’t quote me on that).  This time I picked out Amplified Creme Lipstick in Chatterbox, as it seems I have really loud lipsticks and nudes, but not much in the way of mid tones.  The Amplified Creme formula is my favorite and I have more of these than any other formula:  they’re packed with pigment and moisturizing with a little sheen.  I love the vibrancy and comfort of the lipsticks in this formula and Chatterbox does not disappoint.  What’s odd about this color is that nobody can agree on its undertones!  It’s definitely a mid-toned pink, but when I read reviews, I saw it described as everything from yellow based to blue based to everything in between.  It does appear that it looks different on everyone, so try this one on before buying if you can! 

Here it is swatched on my arm.  For reference, I wear an NW10 foundation in MAC, so I’m very pale. 

  
Here I am wearing it today!  I have on Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation in porcelain, which is more yellow than my normal MAC NW10 Studio Fix Fluid.  I think this pink shade of lipstick is fairly warm, possibly a yellow based pink, at least on me.  I’m in love with it!

  
Here it is with Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Luster on top.  Another nice sparkly one to go over this would be Revlon Colorburst lip gloss in Crystal Water.  

  
I love Chatterbox because I think it will be a great shade no matter the time of year and will go with just about any and every eye look.  What’s your favorite go-to lipstick?  

Makeup of the Day 

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Well, I’m breaking out and I forgot to put my nose ring back in, but gosh darn it, I look cute anyway!  (Heehee)  I am wearing the Naked2 Basics eyeshadow palette, Hikari blush in Tango, and MAC lipstick in Diva-Ish.  I also tried out ELF Gotta Glow blush as a highlighter and it’s gorgeous, but you can’t see it in my pictures – it has a beautiful golden sheen in the sun!

  

Miz Mooz Pasadena Sandals

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I have 2 favorite brands of shoes:  Fluevogs, and Miz Mooz.  The Pasadena sandals are my 4th pair from Miz Mooz and I’m in love!  These were originally around $90 USD, but they’re on sale for about $29 right now on Amazon and I had a birthday gift card.  Awesome!  These sandals run a half size large, so I got a 7 instead of my normal 7.5.  They have a lightly padded foot bed and were surprisingly comfortable for shopping in today.  Love them!  

I saw my first hummingbird at the feeder today.  Summer!  Sandals and iced coffee…ahhhhh ❤ I love it!! 

  

What’s on your nails? Zoya Midori

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Oh my GAWD, I love this color, you guys.  It’s an apple green with yellow tones and lots of gold shimmer.  It’s perfect for this late spring/early summer weather we’re having.  I’ve got it on my toes and I’m going to rock my birthday sandals with it this week, too!

Zoya Professional Lacquer in Midori

What’s on your tips and toes?  Do you go and get yours done or do you do your own?

Sephora Birthday Goodies! 

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So, every year I grab an item or two from Sephora around my birthday to treat myself and to get their yearly birthday freebie.  This year, it’s this awesome NARS duo of lip crayons:


Sephora Beauty Insider birthday gift, NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Satin Lip Pencil in Rkugen

Cannot wait to try this!  They look interesting.

I ordered myself two rather luxe items.  First, I ordered something I’ve been wanting to try for ages, but I’ve been waiting to use up another product (took me a year to use up my MAC Mineralize Concealer).  The object of lust is NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantillty, and oh my gosh…it appears to PERFECTLY match my ridiculously pale skin tone.  If it covers and wears well like the reviews say, I’m thinking this is worth the $29.00 for the color match alone!

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly

Next is something I have lusted after since before it was released (thanks, YouTube), the Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in the shade Bitter Sweet.


Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Bitter Sweet

Dat packaging tho…


AHHHH GAHD!  Can we talk about purple?  Let’s just talk about purple.  Purple is my favorite color and you can easily find purple eye shadows and lipsticks.  Blushes?  Not really.  You can find the rare lavender, but they usually end up reading as pink on the skin.  I can’t tell you how excited I am that UD is bringing back the COLOR with this blush line.  Check out the other shades and you’ll see what I mean…not everything is nudes!

SO EXCITE.

Anyway, Sephora was having a deal with a coupon code where you could get 3 deluxe samples, so I jumped on that.  Here’s what I got:

Deluxe samples of Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub, Jack Black lip balm, and Dolce and Gabbana Passion Eyes curling mascara

How awesome is that?  I usually make my own lip scrub with sugar and coconut oil, so having one from Fresh is always awesome when they have these samples (it’s a very nice product).  The Jack Black lip balm has SPF 25, so that’s going right in my purse!  I have tried the Dolce and Gabanna Passion Eyes mascara, but not this curling version (I liked it, just not $30 worth, LOL).

Sephora also always offers 3 free samples so I got this Urban Decay card sample of the blush trio in Naked Flushed:


Urban Decay Naked Flushed sample card

I also received a Christian Dior Diorshow mascara sample and a sample of the Kat Von D Lock-It Featherweight Primer (I’m excited to try this, since it’s a water based primer):

Samples of Christian Dior Diorshow mascara and Kat Von D Lock-It Featherweight Primer

All in all, I would say with all the deluxe samples that this order was a great value for the money and made my birthday feel rather special!  I cannot wait to share how these things work for me with all of you!

What do you guys do for your birthday?  Anything special?

Guys, guys, guys!! NYX is having their Memorial Day sale and the whole site is 30% off! 

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Look what I got in my email!

Don’t do like me and order $15.00 of stuff because you didn’t realize you get free shipping with $25.00 orders, ok?  LOL My total was $20.00 and then I saw the fine print…fail.  ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT!

Can’t wait to share my stuff with you!  I’m trying the new HD blush in Taupe for contouring, the Porcelain HD concealer, the Wicked Lippie in Betrayal (metallic purple), and the Primal Colors shadow in black.

Two years ago during this sale I got a bunch of the slim lip pencils for around 2 bucks, so it’s a great time to stock up on those – they are awesome!

Makeup of the day — Sleek Bad Girl Palette 

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So, I had a bit of a makeup fail today.  I tried out the Sleek Bad Girl eyeshadow palette today for the first time.  This was a gift from a friend and I was so excited!  I did not realize, however, that these are basically pressed pigments and SUPER rich and have tons of fallout.  It’s not the fault of the product, really; pigments are just like this!  But I had already done my foundation when I went crazy with the dark blue and purple colors in the palette…which blend much easier than I thought they would…and I looked like Tammy Faye Baker circa 1992.  NO, NO PICTURE FOR YOU.  (Kristin was dying.)

So, I took all my makeup off with some Simple Micellar Water and started again…and this time I used the less challenging silver and grey shades from the palette.


Sleek i-Divine eyeshadow palette in Bad Girl

I still probably should have done my eyes first, but regardless, I had a much easier time using these shades.  Honestly, even as bold as I like to go with my makeup, the dark blue and purple in this palette are fairly impossible to work with because they’re so dark and become muddy easily if you blend a lot. Perhaps I can use them wet as eyeliner?

Here I am after my second attempt!


I’m in the U.S., so the only way to get Sleek that I know of is to order on Amazon, but I must say the prices are awesome!  I’m thinking of trying some other products.  Any suggestions?