Sugarpill Cosmetics Burning Heart Palette - Review, Photos, Swatches

Exhibit #273 that I'm losing my mind: as I was taking photos of today's product last week I started feeling an overwhelming sense of deja vu that I had photographed this palette already, and immediately began berating myself for my absent-mindedness. Well, it turns out I never actually did post this before (for shame!) so who knows what my brain was trying to tell me!. Anyway, today I am showing you the lovely, spectacular, stupendous, astonishing, wondrous (and many other positive adjectives) Sugarpill Burning Heart palette!

All swatches are over Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Look at how gloriously saturated and vibrant the colors are after just one pass of the brush!  The shades are beautiful and the texture of the shadows is soft with minimal fallout (much less than you would expect from such matte, bright hues). With primer they last all day while remaining fresh-looking. I've worn these in looks for a couple of my dance performances, and not only did the eyeshadows stand out under the bright lights, they withstood some serious sweat-age ;) 

The packaging is cute and sturdy, with a magnetic closure and a mirror on the top-side of the flap. The shadow pans are HUGE, so it's safe to say you are getting a mega-value for the price ($34). I highly, highly recommend this palette and can't say enough good things about Sugarpill and her products :) This palette and others are available from the Sugarpill Cosmetics online shop. Also, keep an eye out for the occasional sales!

What do you think? Do you love it or is it too much for you?

L'Oreal's Colour Riche Caress Stick Lipstick in Pink Vinyl, Blushing Sequin - Photos, Review, Swatches

Busybusybusy! D: I will try to get a few good, substantial posts in before my vacation, though!

Today I have for you two of the newish L'Oreal Colour Riche Caress Stick lipsticks. They come housed in pretty but fingerprint-prone gold packaging and, as far as I could tell, are available in 16 hues. I purchased two shades similar to what I like and tend to wear: Blushing Sequin, a warm bright rosy pink with a tinge of red; and Pink Vinyl, a cool pink with a touch of lavender. 

Blushing Sequin:

Pink Vinyl:

L to R: Blushing Sequin, Pink Vinyl

Alright. So, the shades are fairly lovely - sheer, easy to pull off, and providing a subtle wash of color. Unfortunately, the formula on this lipstick was terribly uncomfortable to wear. Immediately I felt stinging. (An allergy, perhaps?) It was mild, but still not something I want to put my lips through when I have other options. I found these drying and the texture to be slippery, very nearly slimy. Pink Vinyl disappeared within 1 to 1.5 hours of application.

Needless to say, I do not recommend L'Oreal's Colour Riche Caress Stick lipsticks despite wanting desperately to like them. I love sheer, balmy lipstick hybrids with a punch of color, and that's what I hoped these would be, but there are better options available. If you want to try out these lipsticks, they are available for about $9.99 each at drugstores.

New Year's Eve Celebratory Manicure Ideas!

Today I have for you a few New Year's Eve nail ideas! Note that there are no reds or golds featured here; I know some of you ladies love those colors for ringing in the new year, and that's totally cool, but my interest in them fizzled after three or so weeks of Christmas manicures! The shades I gravitate to this time of year are silvers, blues, blacks, and, of course, glitter (which is definitely a color, in my highly esteemed opinion ;).

I'll start with a classic: a shiny silver foil. My favorite, pictured below, is Zoya's Trixie. This is a flashy silver that doesn't veer to 'blindingly bright', and will match most outfits well. Unfortunately, it freaks my camera out a bit, but hopefully you can still make out its beauty -

If Trixie on its own is lacking in shine for you, never fear! Here it is layered with various silver and holographic glitter topcoats:

Pointer to pinkie: OPI Save Me, KB Shimmer Ice Queen, Nail Pattern Boldness Tin Man, Color Club Platinum Record

And if Trixie is too flashy for you (perhaps it's overkill to an already flashy outfit), you can try overlaying the silver with a half-moon manicure using circular binder tape. Shown below is my most favorite, most pigmented, smoothest black, CND's Blackjack. One coat is sufficient for full coverage -

I love deep, vibrant blues, and New Year's Eve is a perfect time to wear them! I picked two from my collection which offered a bit of sparkle in addition to lovely, dark pigmentation. Feast your eyes on these beauts! If I did not love the enough already, the Dr. Who reference is a sure-fire way to steal my heart ;)

Pointer and ring: Nail Pattern Boldness Bigger on the Inside; Middle and pinkie: Revlon Sparkling Midnight  

Another great hue for NYE is a black lacquer with holographic glitter. Here is Zoya Storm, which is stupidly, stupendously gorgeous -

Lastly, you can try the simple but elegant glitter gradient manicure, offering just the right amount of bling for a night out. For the photos below, I used Hungry Asian's Mumbling over one coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu -

Of course, this barely scratches a tip of the endless possibilities for a fun New Year's manicure! How are you doing your nails on the 31st? Let me know so that I can live vicariously through you - my nails are currently on a self-imposed detox to repair and restore length, so no nail polish for me for a few weeks. (Sad, but necessary).

Thanks for reading, and I wish you all a happy, healthy, and fun New Year's!

Hare Polish Nail Polish is Afterglow, Medusa Luminosa, A Positive, Cast in Bronze, Dead Man's Bones, Monster - Photos, Swatches

Not much to say today, but I do have a load of photos to share! This is likely my last post before Christmas, so I want to wish you all a very, very happy holidays!

These are a handful of Hare Polish nail lacquers that I have. They are all too, too gorgeous and I have a hard time picking a favorite, but I can say that this line offers some beautiful, unique shades that are all of high quality in my experience. If you haven't checked out Hare Polish yet, I highly recommend you do!

Afterglow -

 

 Medusa Luminosa -

 A Positive -

 Cast in Bronze -

 

 Dead Man's Bones -

 Monster -

 

Lovely, no? You can find Hare Polish at the Llarowe Shop for $11 each.

Thanks for looking! One again, wishing everyone a safe, healthy, and happy holidays!

Nars Velvet Matte and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils in New Lover, Frivolous, Club Mix, Sex Machine, Mexican Rose, Dragon Girl, Toundra - Review, Photos, Swatches

It has come to my attention that, at some point over the last few years, I have gathered a small but substantial army of Nars lip pencils! I swear I don't know how this happened 8D I do like these products, though, so I though I'd throw up some photos of the shades I have in case anyone was curious.

Club Mix, a sheer warm grape

New Lover, a sheer medium strawberry pink

Frivolous, a sheer pink nude

Sex Machine, a matte muted mauve

Mexican Rose, a sheer, vibrant hot pink

Toundra, a matte, rusted bronze

Dragon Girl, a matte classic red

L to R: New Lover, Frivolous, Club Mix, Sex Machine, Mexican Rose, Dragon Girl, Toundra

My favorites would have to be Mexican Rose and Dragon Girl. Mexican Rose is a lovely mid-vibrant, everyday hot pink that gives your lips a burst of color without being too over the top of neon for the workplace. It is my most used Nars lip pencil! Dragon Girl is simply a gorgeous, gorgeous creation - this is my go-to matte, blue-based red. I love the matte look (so vintage and classy) and I feel Dragon Girl is subdued enough, without losing the sexy sophistication often associated with these hues, to be a good fit even for those apprehensive of reds. My least favorite is Toundra; I got in on sale for $5 and I'm glad I didn't spend more! It is very unforgiving to dry lips, and is not a good complement to my skin tone.

The Nars Velvet Matte Pencils wear really well (about 4 hours) with even, non-splotchy fading. Dragon Girls and Sex Machine are comfortable to wear, though, as mentioned earlier, Toundra is drying. The Velvet Gloss pencils have a pleasant texture - smooth and soft. They don't hold as well as the mattes (only about 2 hours), but they're still really nice and shiny.

Both the Velvet Matte and Velvet Gloss Nars Lip Pencils sell for $24 regularly at Sephora (here and here), the Nars online store, and at some department store makeup counters.

What do you think? I'm a fan, and even more so because they come in pencil form!

Thanks for looking! :)