Buxom Time to Shine Full-On Lip Collection

Swatches & Review

Last Holiday, Buxom came out with an exclusive Time to Shine collection, which I have reviewed here (link). About a few weeks ago, I noticed that Sephora had a new set of the Buxom Time to Shine Lip Gloss set up. At first, I thought it was similar since these sets normally does not come out until around Fall, but after looking at it, I realized this set has different colors in it.

Like the collection last Holiday, this set includes six mini lip glosses. Three of the glosses have a creamy finish, and the other three have a diamond finish. Each mini lip gloss are about half the size of full-sized Buxom lip glosses.

Kir Royale: Creamy wine red. It looks a bit dark, but when applied to the lips, it sheers out to a nice red without it being too dark.
Cherry Flip: Creamy bright red.
White Russian: Creamy nude pink.
Tiffany: Shimmery red.
Gabby: Shimmery maroon.
Amy: Shimmery beige.

Out of these six shades, one is a repeat shade from last year's Time to Shine collection, which is White Russian. I actually prefer this set more than the one I purchased before because it seems like the cream finish ones will match well with the diamond finish ones because the colors are similar, but with a different finish, such as Kir Royale & Gabby, and Cherry Flip & Tiffany.

Buxom lip glosses are my favorite because I like the tingly feeling from them, but one thing to note is that you should not put too much onto your lips because the feeling will become a bit overwhelming, and a bitter taste comes with over applying, so it is best to not use too many layers of them. This set retails for $32 and can be found at Sephora (online & in some stores).

What do you think about Buxom lip glosses? Do you have a favorite brand of lip gloss you always stock up on?

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NARS Pierre Hardy Blush: Rotonde

Swatches & Review

Rotonde is one of the two blushes released for NARS x Pierre Hardy Summer 2013 collection. When I first saw the blushes online, I thought that they looked amazing, but the price tag on these made it hard for me to order them immediately. When they were released at Sephora, I swatched them at the store and I knew I had to have them. NARS Rotonde is described as "tiger lily."


The front of the packaging says Pierre Hardy on it.


This blush was incredibly hard to capture on capture, no matter what lighting I used indoor or outdoor. It is definitely brighter in person. It is a bright orange with golden over-spray to create a pattern on it. It was too pretty to touch so I waited a week before messing it up :P


On the left, it is swatched without the over-spray and on the right, it is swatched with the over-spray. It is a bit hard to see, but you can kind of see some shimmer with the over-spray. Without the over-spray, it is a matte vibrant orange.


Left is without the over-spray and right is with the over-spray.

Although it is $41 the one thing that made me have to have this was it was incredibly pigmented. This blush is very very smooth, pigmented, and easy to blend. When I swatched these, only one swipe was used and it stained my finger. I have tried these on my cheeks and on the cheeks, it looks a bit like a bronze-ish orange, which does not look bad at all. It is important to use a light-hand with these because it can easily be overdone & just a dab with a brush onto the pan is enough. After using it twice, the golden over-spray on the parts I have been using is pretty much gone. It lasted about seven hours on me before it started fading, which was really good for a blush.

For $41, you get 0.45 oz of product, which is not bad considering one NARS blush is $29 for 0.16 oz of product, so this is about three times the amount of a regular NARS blush.

What do you think about NARS x Pierre Hardy collection for Summer?

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OCC Lip Tar: Authentic

Swatches & Review


After Sephora came out with Pro's Pick V2.0, they have not come out with V3.0! I thought it was quite fast because I was expecting the next set to come out around the Holidays. Authentic is one of the shades in the V3.0 set, which was one that I was most excited about because it has a metallic finish, which is not like all the previous lip tars that I have reviewed.

Authentic is described as a copper metallic


In the tube, it looks like it would be a very rusty brown shade. When applied onto my lips, it looks more of a light red-rusty copper brown shade.

When applying these, I used a very little amount because a little goes a long way. I think if you would want the color to be more brown, adding a bit more may make it look a bit darker. I wore this for about six hours yesterday with slight fading. However, I felt that by the 2nd hour, this felt incredibly drying. I tested this out without the clear base, which is probably why, so I recommend using the clear lip tar or a lip balm underneath. I really like this shade because it has a metallic finish to it, which does not make my lips look as dry as the ones without the metallic finish because it is super shiny when worn outdoors.

This retails for $18 individually and the Pro's Pick Lip Tar Set v3.0 retails for $49. They can be purchased on Sephora.com (Non-affiliated).

What do you think about Authentic? Have you tried the newer lip tars with the metallic finish?

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Tarte Aqualillies Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye And Cheek Palette

Swatches & Review



For Summer 2013, Tarte has released their whole collection based on Aqualillies. One of the products in their summer collection is the Tarte Aqualillies Eye & Cheek palette, which is also waterproof. This palette consists of six eyeshadows, one bronzer, one highlighter, and one blush.

This is packaged in a plastic round case with the design printed onto it.


The eyeshadows, highlighter & bronzer form a circle around the blush.


From left to right:
Eyeshadows:
Hammock: Matte dark brown.
Bikini: Champagne with a satin finish.
Barefoot: Frosty light yellow-beige.
Parasol: Frosty white.
Sundeck: Matte light brown.
Poolside: Iridescent golden-blue.
Highlighter:
Champagne: Frosty champagne. This was pretty similar to the eyeshadow Bikini, which is also in this palette.
Bronzer:
Park Ave Princess: Matte light brown.
Blush:
Captivating: Matte coral.

I found that all of the eyeshadows were very smooth and pigmented and they are perfect to be used as an everyday eye color since it is mainly neutral. The highlighter was very similar to the eyeshadow Bikini, so I wish their highlighter was a bit different since there are some highlighters out there that lean a bit more yellow. The bronzer has a matte finish, so it is perfect for contouring, however, it applied kind of patchy for me (I have this problem with many bronzers). At first, I thought that the blush would be similar to Tipsy, but when I looked at it, Captivating seems to lean more orange than Tipsy.

I like that this palette is perfect to use for a full-face makeup because it comes with wearable eyeshadows, highlighter, bronzer, & blush. The thing that I do not really like about this is the packaging. The plastic packaging feels cheap and feels like it would easily break if it was dropped. When I bought this, it was SO HARD to open it, I kept breaking my nails trying to open it, but it was a lot easier to open it after I filed down the little plastic thing that keeps the product closed, but it was quite annoying. Another thing was that the bronze paint for my palette is already chipping off and I have only used it once. I have not dropped it or anything since I always keep the items in its original packaging, and the paint is just peeling off, which is kind of annoying as well. However, I was quite surprised at how well the eyeshadows were because with my past experiences with Tarte eyeshadows, they come off chalky & not pigmented.

This retails for $38 and the blush included in this palette is the size of their full-sized blush, which makes it a good deal considering the blush itself would retail for $26. This can be purchased at Sephora locations & tartecosmetics.com

What do you think about this palette? Is there a Tarte item that you love?

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OCC Lip Tar: Hoochie

Swatches & Review

Since my last review on OCC Lip Tar's, I have purchased a lot more since Sephora started carrying the brand & with some coming in sets. Recently, OCC Lip Tar has come out with the Pro's Pick Lip Tar Set V.2, which has Hoochie in there & that is the first shade that I have tried so far in the set.

Hoochie is described as a Vibrant Magenta.


In the tube, it looks like a Barney pink/purple, but once applied on the lips, it is more of a purple.

For the first lip picture, I took it in direct sunlight. The other two were taken indoor, with the middle one being in front of the window.

As you can see, the color when worn outdoors look more warm than when indoors. Compared to the description of it being magenta, I would say that it does not look very magenta. To me, this look more of a purple than pink, however, I do agree that it is very vibrant. Although it does not seem to fit the description, I love this shade! I have been looking for a nice purple shade and most of the purple lip colors I have been trying leans more pink and this is absolutely perfect for me! Like all the previous lip tars I have reviewed, these dry semi-matte and can be drying on the lips after a while. I like putting glosses over these for a bit of a "pop" to it. The staying time on this was better than a few previous lip tars that I have tried. It did not become patchy after a while, but it stayed vibrant for a good 4 hours before it started to fade.
This retails individually for $18 (the price has gone up again) & can be purchased at Sephora.com, select Sephora locations & OCCMakeup.com.
If you are interested in the Pro's Pick Lip Tar Set V.2, it retails for $49 & can be purchased at Sephora.com and select Sephora locations.
What do you think about Hoochie? What is your favorite Lip Tar?

Here is a picture of me wearing the shade & one w/ my boyfriend :)

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NARS Express Yourself Eyes Palette

Swatches & Review

NARS Express Yourself Eyes palette is part of NARS Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself kit, which I have recently won from Sephora's Holiday twitter giveaway.

This palette is packaged with a rubberized feeling on the outside.

The Express Yourself Eyes palette contains six eyeshadows.

Left to Right:
Abyssinia: Creamy pearl. This was a bit dry and chalky.
Silk Road II: Warm peach with gold glitter. This was gritty and has major fall-out because of the chunky glitter.
Strada: Lavendar with gold glitter. This was pigmented & even though it has gold glitter in it, it does not really show up. There was a little fall-out, but not as much as Silk Road.

Galapagos: Brown with gold glitter. This was pigmented, but there is a lot of fall-out from the glitter.
Fuji: Forest green. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Brumes II: Smokey slate blue with subtle shimmer. This was very smooth and pigmented.

All of these were swatched over NARS Smudge proof base. A majority of this palette is very glittery/shimmery.
Out of the six colors, I think the only two I liked is Fuji and Brumes. I'm not too big on glittery shades, especially with the fall-out, so if it was up to me, I probably would not have personally purchased this for myself. This is my first time trying NARS eyeshadows, and personally, I prefer Urban Decay, Too Faced & Inglot over this. The colors from this set is not that unique for me to justify spending $85 on this set. The top row's pigmentation was okay, while the bottom row had better pigmentation. I think with NARS, I will just stick with their blushes since I love the blushes I have from them.

What do you think about this eyeshadow palette? Have you tried NARS eyeshadows? What do you think about NARS items?

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NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara

Swatches & Review

I recently won Sephora's twitter holiday giveaway and as the prize, I received NARS Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself kit. The kit includes full-sized NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing mascara.

Like all other NARS products, the tube has a rubberized feeling to it.

The brush for this mascara has a honeycomb style.

For the swatches on my eyelashes, I have shown one with no mascara, then one coat, then two coats.
Be prepared to see a lot of eyes O_O

The picture on the left is with my lashes uncurled and no mascara. The one in the middle shows my lashes curled with one coat of NARS Larger than Life mascara. The one on the right shows it with two coats.
As you can see, the NARS Larger than Life mascara enhances my lashes a lot! With two coats, you can definitely see the lashes a lot better.

From my previous reviews of mascara, I mentioned that it was quite hard to keep my eyelashes curled because they normally go back to being stick-straight after a while. NARS Larger than Life mascara is not very wet, so it dries very quickly, which actually keeps my eyelashes curled! I have been looking for a mascara to keep my eyelashes curled and I think this is it since I have been loving it so far. This mascara also does not clump when applying, so my eyelashes won't stick together into one single piece. The downsides to this is that it is hard to wash off, even with makeup remover. I always use Bobbi Brown's makeup remover and it wipes everything off easily, besides this mascara so if you do not need to use more than one coat, I suggest only using one coat for an easier time removing it. The other downside is the price. It retails for $25, which is pretty steep considering mascara's dry out real quickly. Out of all the mascara's I have right now, I would definitely choose this over the others until I can find a cheaper alternative.

What do you think about NARS Larger Than Life mascara? Have you tried it? What mascara would you recommend for me to keep my eyelashes curled?

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Sephora Birthday Gift 2013

Sephora Beauty Insider News:

It has been a stressful few days for me so today since my boyfriend is off, he took me out shopping. When I went to Sephora (I can never not make a Sephora stop), I noticed them putting up a new birthday gift since it is the end of December and Sephora has new gifts for their Beauty Insiders/VIBs every year. This year was FRESH's Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo & next year, it will be.....

From Benefit Cosmetics!

The birthday gift in 2013 will include Benefit's mini They're Real Mascara & a mini Watts Up Luminizer/Highlighter. This set is called Real Birthday Turn-Ons, how cute is the packaging & the items itself? If you have a BI/VIB account, your birthday should be on the account and you can redeem the items the month of your birthday.

Personally, I like how Sephora has been included brands carried in their store as gifts in recent years because the years before Philosophy, it has usually been Sephora brand items (mini eye set from 2010, mini lip gloss set from 2009).

What do you think about this? Do you like the Benefit items Sephora chose for next year? Were you able to get the Sugar Lip Duos from this year?

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Sephora Beauty Insider Reward Card

Information:

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving & a very good day of shopping for deals! :)

Every year, Sephora sends out a "gift card" to their Beauty Insiders and VIB's. It normally comes the first Thursday of December, but since November is a long month this month, I hear that they are starting on November 29 this year.

This is how the card came in the e-mail for the past 3 years:

2011: $15 off $50 (Beauty Insiders)

2010: $15 off $40

2009: $15 off $35

I heard some of my friends already received their invitation from the mail (in the East Coast). So this year, the promotion will run from November 29 - December 10. Since it is coming via snail mail, it probably wont get to me until the day before it starts since I am in the West Coast. This year, the card is like last years, depending on your Sephora Status (BI or VIB) you will either receive a $15 off $50 if you are a Beauty Insider or $20 off $50 if you are a Very Important Beauty Insider. So get your wishlists ready!

What do you think you are going to buy? Are you going to take advantage of the Holiday Gift Card from Sephora? Any wishlist items? :)

If you are planning to purchase online, you can always go through Ebates* to get some percentage back from shopping at Sephora and other online retailers, such as Nordstrom and beauty.com. To access Ebates, you can click here*.
*This is a referral link.

& I still have two giveaways running! If you are interested here are the links:
OPI DS Original
Models Own Purple Blue.

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Sephora - Izak Satin Kiss Twin Lipstick: Mademoiselle

Swatches & Review

Sephora's Izak line is designed by French artisit, Izak Zenou. This lipstick comes with two shades in one tube, which is pretty cool since it is like a push-pop. There are three shades and the one I chose was Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle contains two lipsticks that are two different shades of red.

The color on the left is a darker red, and the color on the right is a brighter red.

On the top, I have the darker shade on. It is a gorgeous oxblood red shade, which is perfect for the fall season!
On the bottom, I have the lighter shade, which is like a tomato red. It is bright, but definitely wearable. I can use the lighter shade for the Holiday season for a "pop" on the lips and even when spring comes around!

The formula on these were really good, which is a nice surprise considering the Cinderella lipsticks I purchased, which is also from the Sephora Collection was a huge let-down. These apply so smooth and creamy, even smoother than my MAC lipsticks! It is also a good deal considering these are two full-sized lipsticks in one tube and is currently $11! These were one of the lipsticks that I did not find drying and they have a slight chocolate scent, which I do not mind.

What do you think about red lipsticks? What is your favorite lip shade?

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Disney Cinderella Moonlit Kiss Lipstick Set

Swatches & Review

When the Disney collaboration with Cinderella came out, I was super excited for it because Cinderella is one of my favorite princess movies (okay, almost all of them are). Out of the items that were released, the set I wanted to most was the Moonlit Kiss lipstick set. The Moonlit Kiss set comes with four lipsticks with each being 0.13 oz, which is pretty much the standard for full-sized lipsticks.

The packaging of these lipsticks have etch marks of leaf designs housed in a velvet case. It is very light considering it is plastic.

Left to Right: Lady Tremaine, Pumpkin, Who is She?, and My Moment

Lady Tremaine: Berry Pumpkin: Light Peach Who is She?: Rosy Mauve My Moment: Champagne Glitter

Indoor

Outdoor: All of these look glossy when it is outdoor.

If you can tell by my swatches, these apply very patchy. Just swatching them on my arm, they were tugging my skin so when I applied it to my lips, they were tugging a bit as well. I absolutely hated the smell of these! These lipsticks smelled like the old lipsticks that my aunt used to have. It has that fake plastic-y smell and I hate it. Although the packaging is pretty, the cap does not stay closed on the lipsticks. When I tested them out by putting it in my purse for a day, the cap for the lipstick came off and when I tried to drop it from 3-feet above carpet, the cap fell off it super easily. I usually never have that problem with other lipsticks. Since it is plastic, the tube scratches very easily as well.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with this collection. Normally, I do not mind Sephora brand items. I own a few Sephora lipsticks and some are the smoothest lipsticks that I have ever applied, but these were terrible with a bad scent! Yes, it is a good value considering you get four full-sized lipsticks for about $6.25 each. They tug, are patchy, and does not last on my lips through a meal! Almost all (besides Lady Tremaine) wipes off completely without any stain. I was excited for this set, but it was definitely a let down. I don't know if I should keep this, or return this since three of the four shades are too light for my anyway. If you do not mind it applying somewhat sheer with some tugging and the scent, then this may be a good purchase, but with everything that I did not like from this set, I definitely do not recommend this.

What do you think about this set? Do you have it? Have you purchased anything else from the Disney Cinderella collection?

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Sephora VIB Weekend & Urban Decay

November 8 - 12

Remember I talked about VIB weekend being in November last month (here)? It is this Thursday! So if you are a VIB, get ready to stock up on items you want & gifts!

I got this from Sephora's e-mail If you are not a VIB, but know a friend who is, you can definitely ask to see if they have one for you because each VIB has a card to give to one of their friends to use (with a one-time use code). However, the code for VIBs are universal and can be used multiple times within the 5 days, which is CELEBRATE

On another note, Urban Decay is offering free shipping over $25 today only. The code is VOTE. I have also noticed that they have put their deluxe eye-shadows on sale, as well as putting some shades back in stock for their lipsticks!

Image from Urbandecay.com

Is there anything that interests you on Sephora or Urban Decay? :)

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Sephora 500-point perk

This morning when I was heading to class, I was going through my e-mails on my phone while I was power-walking (which is not a good thing to do since I kept tripping). After deleting some e-mails, I saw that Sephora is offering a new 500-point perk, which about a week and a half ago was Dior. This time, it is Urban Decay!

Image was attached from a Sephora e-mail This point perk includes:
One full-sized primer potion in their old packaging
One full-sized eyeliner in Zero
One deluxe-sized sample of their All-Nighter setting spray.

I feel like this would be a good set if you have 500 points in your beauty bank and you do not already have the items, OR if you really love the items. I have about 1800 points and I barely ever get anything from point perks, but I ended up getting the Buxom point perk this past weekend (because I love Buxom lip items). This is just a heads up for anyone interested! :)

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Are you a Sephora VIB?

Every year, Sephora has a weekend for their VIBs to shop with an additional 20% off. This is usually after their friends and family sale. Two weeks ago, I talked to store director, and they have told me the friends and family sale begins on the 18th of October. Like all associates says, it's only limited to friends and family of current Sephora employees. However Sephora always ends up giving a code to use online for 20% off your purchase. With that in mind, VIBs have a special weekend just for them after the F&F as well. This year, it falls on November 8th, which is a month from now! The sale from what I know is usually for 5 days.

Here are some of my wishlist items:

OCC: Pro's Pick Lip Tar Set $49

Buxom: Time to Shine $29

Disney Cinderella: Storylook Palette $55

Disney Cinderella: Moonlit Lipstick Set $25

What's on your list? Whether it's for the F&F sale, or the VIB sale? :)

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Is Tarina Tarantino Getting Discontinued?

This is all up in the air right now for me. I have talked to a SA from Sephora & they have confirmed that the line is being discontinued // I went to check out their page on Sephora today, but many of the Tarina Tarantino's line has been marked down. Since they are a Sephora brand, I would not be surprised if their contract is up, just like Tokidoki leaving Sephora. Yes, some of their items are not marked down, but that was the same with Tokidoki. If anyone can confirm this, it would be wonderful!

The some great deals to get from this line is of course, their cheek palette. I have owned mine since last December and I love it! I do not use it on a daily basis (because I do not bring much makeup with me while I'm in school), but I use it from time to time and the pigmentation of it is amazing! Same goes for their individual blushes.

The original price of the Cheek Palette is $45, which is now $27. That is FORTY PERCENT off! Although it states that the value of the palette is $100, it is actually around $65, but it is still not bad! AND since Christmas is around the corner (not really, but time flies by quickly), these will be great gifts! Do you think you will indulge in this sale?

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