Covergirl Lip Perfection Lipsticks - Delish & Fairytale

I had no clue about Covergirl's new line of lipsticks til I hit up Walgreens few weeks ago. Lip Perfection line has a huge range of shades of lipsticks, 44 to be exact! Obviously when you are standing in front of 44 lipsticks, you must try a couple of them! :D At that time, Walgreens had a buy one get one 1/2 off promotion so I took advantage of it!

Packaging is light purple and has a mirrored look. For a drugstore brand, I actually don't have any complaints about the packaging. I like it more than the previous CG lipstick tubes. I think Cover Girl has done a pretty good job by putting the colors on the bottom of each tube and they are pretty darn accurate! One thing I do not like about these lipsticks has to be the scent, they have a old lipstick smell to them.The two colors I picked up are Delish (because it's nude, so it had to be done!) and Fairytale, because it's totally out of my "comfort zone"!

Delish is a browny nude. At the time I bought it looked to me as if it would be comparable to MAC's Shy Girl or Peachstock. Well, it was definitely nothing close to Peachstock so I didn't feel the need to even include it in my swatch comparison. As you can see in the photos below, it's not really comparable to anything! It is more comparable to Too Faced's Totally Nude of the 3 colors I compared it to, but it's not really a dupe.

L-R (in swatches) Covergirl Delish, MAC Shy Girl, NYX Pumpkin Pie, Too Faced Totally Nude



Fairytale is an intense, warm reddish coral. Again, at the store I thought it would be a good dupe for MAC's Impassioned and I was kind of wrong. While it is comparable to Impassioned and Rimmel's Nostalgia, they are all different. Fairytale has the most red of the three, Impassioned has more pink it and Nostalgia has the most pink.

L-R Covergirl Fairytale, MAC Impassioned, Rimmel Nostalgia

I absolutely love the way these lipsticks wear on my lips. They are super creamy and apply very smoothly. Fairytale has a really long staying power that after hours of wearing it, it leaves lips stained! I actually kind of like that, because I hate reapplying lipstick. In the past I have had red lipsticks that bled like crazy and I am happy to report Fairytale does not bleed! Delish, while a pretty color, doesn't have as long of a staying power as Fairytale. It's also not drying on lips like most nude lipsticks. They retail for $7.50.

Have you tried these Covergirl lipsticks?

Too Faced Romantic Eye

I have been loving me a lot of Too Faced lately! It's great to branch out and try brands that I don't usually use too many products of. Too Faced is, or I should say, was one of those brands that I always loved but just didn't own much of. As soon as I found out they are coming out with a new eye palette, I knew it had to be mine! I wasn't planning on buying it this soon, but while at Ulta the other day, one swatch of all the colors and I was sold!

Packaging is to die for! I love the floral details, it's so cute, feminine and spring-y! It's the same as all the other Too Faced eye palettes, except Romantic Eye does not have the little drawer that houses a small brush. Honestly, I can't say I am that sad about it. The cardboard packaging is bulky as it is and there is no need to make it bulkier by adding a drawer with a brush that most of us will not use anyway.

We have the same instructional cards in this palette just like the other Faced palettes. There are three of them; Day, Classic and Fashion. I don't really use the cards, but they are a nice touch and if you need some inspiration, well, there you have it! )

Romantic Eye features a mix of nine shimmery and matte shades. Colors have a very buttery soft texure, go on super smooth and all of them have great pigmentation. I haven't experienced fall-out from any colors like I did with "Nude Beach" in Too Faced Natural Eye palette. None of the colors have glittery textures so nothing to worry about! Too Faced eye shadows never disappointed me thus far! I love the names of colors in this palette; as you can tell, the theme is bridal and wedding-like.

How would I describe these shades?

Soulmates - Shimmer - Pale cream

I Do - Matte - Taupe

Un-veil - Matte - Black

Kiss the Bride - Matte - Pale/Baby Pink

Cut the Cake - Shimmer - Lavender

First Dance - Matte - Deep Purple

Bouquet Toss - Matte - Pale Yellow

Honeymoon - Shimmer - Green/Gold

Ever After - Shimmer - Brown/Bronze

I am already in love with Romantic Eye and so glad that I decided to bring it with me on my trip! My most favorite shades are Cut the Cake and Honeymoon because I don't have anything like them in my collection :)

What do you guys think about Romantic Eye?

Packing Light!

Some of you may know that I will be traveling to my motherland Turkey tomorrow, I am ecstatic! There is no need to say that I have a slight addiction to make-up...Although I try my best every time I travel not to pack my entire collection, I fail miserably! This time I made a promise to myself, which I will keep, that I am packing light! I thought "what I'm packing" would be a fun post so here it is!

Since I will be staying with my family, I won't be taking bath & body products and all the little extras (Hey mom and sis, hope you stocked up haha :)) I am also not taking my flat iron as getting a beautiful blowout in Istanbul is super cheap, most people can afford to get their hair professionally done for $5, the hair stylists there are amazingly fast too! (and anyway I wash my hair twice a week)

Here is what I'm taking with moi...

Foundation - Revlon PhotoReady

Powder - MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural

Bronzer - Benefit Hoola

Highlighter - Dior Amber Diamond

Blush - Illamasqua Lover, NARS Lovejoy & Douceur

Concealer - MAC Studio Finish, elf Concealer & Highlighter Duo

Eye Shadows-

Pro Color x 4 Compact - Filled with; Print, Patina, Satin Taupe, Grain

MAC Beauties Play It Cool Palette (I am obsessed with purples what can I do?!)

UD Naked Palette - Only because it's much thinner than my favorite palette ever Too Faced Natural Eye
 In a perfect world, I would take my most used MAC palette with me. However in my summer trip, I lost 2 eye shadows (Humid and Nylon) MAC palettes sadly don't seem to be too sturdy.

 Primer/Base - UDPP, MAC Shadestick in Sharkskin

Mascara - Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash

Eyeliner - Shu Uemura Painting Liner & Milani Liquif'eye Pencils

Lipsticks - Maybelline Pink Please, Revlon Soft Nude, MAC Shy Girl & Angel

Lip balm - EOS

Brushes - I definitely need them!

Skin Care & Fragrance

Origins Checks and Balances Face Wash

Origins Perfect World Moisturizer

Givenchy Ange ou Démon Le Secret

So what do you think, am I crazy for taking too many products or am I crazy for not taking enough? :) Are you guys light-packers when it comes to make-up or do you take everything with you?

Shadow Addiction

I love when it's time to back 2 MAC! I did some major depotting last week and as a result I had too many empty containers that were causing clutter so off to MAC I went! Okay I kind of lied, I just had the sudden urge to own two more eye shadows...for free...so I depotted away!

I don't know about you guys but I have an unnecessarily long list of products I want, neatly and alphabetically organized in Notes app in my iPhone. (Addiction at its best!) In case you didn't already know, I specialize in eye shadows, so I rarely get anything but when I back 2 MAC. Several weeks ago I put an asterisk next to Mythology after seeing swatches of it online. So I thought I'd be loyal to the little * in stead of getting something that's not in my list. 

 Mythology is a peachy-copper in Lustre finish. Lustre isn't my favorite finish (because Satin is) but I adore this color and its versatility. You can wear it all over the lid or on crease, day or night. In my photo above I have compared Mythology to MAC Coppering (on right) which is what comes to most people's minds when 'copper' is mentioned. Coppering is more orange/reddish-copper, it's a true copper in my opinion.

I, however, ended up picking the next product randomly...and that is Wedge. I can't believe I already didn't own Wedge (or had it on my list for that matter) why oh why?? I had been missing out on the best blending color in the world all this time! I'm glad we're finally united!

Wedge is a matte, taupe-y/beige. I'm not crazy about matte finish either, as I've always had difficulty blending colors in this finish. For some reason Wedge seems to apply and blend much much easier than other matte shades I own. Regardless, it does a fantastic job blending many different colors. I know, Wedge looks like what I would call a "blah" color but blending is the key to flawless eye-shadow application no matter what color you're using! It's not one of those fun colors but it sure is a staple. I've been using it religiously since I purchased it last week. I can definitely see myself hitting pan on this soon, of course after Print and Grain :)

What do you usually get for back 2 MAC, a mix of things or do you stick to only one type of product like I do? 

P.S. My blog is officially a year old! I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who read my blog and for your wonderful comments! It's such a great feeling to know there are so many people who care about what I have to say. Thank you guys so much! :)

Wet n Wild Color Icon Trios

Wet n Wild has made some great products in 2010 and looks like they will continue to in 2011 as well! I am stoked! I have stumbled upon these new trios at my local supermarket few weeks ago and was really excited to see some new colors with improved pigmentation from Wet n Wild. Unlike their 6 color palettes, all of the colors have amazing pigmentation and really velvety, soft textures. If this isn't improvement, I don't know what is!

I love all of these six trios so much I can't even pick a favorite! They are all pretty in their own ways. I love that there is pretty much every color a girl would need in these trios and colors aren't repetitious. I've been using Silent Treatment for my everyday looks a lot. I think it's great that Wet n Wild has embossed Browbone, Crease and Eyelid in each shade for guidance for those who are just starting out with make-up.There is also an illustration of where to place each shade, on the back on each container. Of course you can use whatever color you want wherever you want! My experience with these new trios has been nothing short of amazing as I get great color pay-off from crease-resistant, long-lasting, beautiful colors! These trios retail for $2.99 each and as far as I know, they should be available in all drugstores. Walgreens recently had 50% off all Wet n Wild products, so if you want to save some $ check them out!

What do you think about the new Wet n Wild trios?

Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara

In the past year, I don't recall how many times I have seen or read about Smoky Lash all over blogosphere! I knew I would have to eventually try it for myself. I just couldn't say goodbye to my Voluminous, even temporarily. I had a little hiccup recently due to the way my last tube of Voluminous performed. I have been kind of let down with it actually. About 2 months ago, I replaced my old Voluminous for a new one. Everything was cool until few weeks ago, out of the blue it started getting all clumpy and gross. Needless to say I had to chuck it. Only Smoky Lash could mend my little broken heart! And so off to Sephora I went...

Smoky Lash comes in it's own black box. I like the black packaging with white letters, it looks simple and neat.

I've been using Smoky Lash for a few weeks now and I'm really happy with it. As you can see from my photos below, it really takes lashes to another level! They may not look exactly like false lashes but I think Smoky Lash gets pretty darn close to it! It does remind me a lot of L'oreal Voluminous just that Voluminous' formula is a bit more mushy and the one I use has a curved brush. They deliver similar results though. Smoky lash has a medium-length dense brush. Short and wide bristles pack a good amount of mascara on them.  Unscented formula is neither too runny nor too thick. The only thing this mascara does not do is separating lashes. It won't make lashes totally clumpy but won't separate them one by one either. I personally don't like mascaras that give natural-looking-lash effect so it works out perfect for me! I know there are a few mascaras in the market that don't change the way your lashes look no matter how many coats you apply. I have found that with this mascara, if you apply multiple (5+) coats (like I did in my photos below) you can get quite a dramatic effect on your lashes. 2-3 coats will still give you added volume and length but I am all about drama when it comes to lashes so I apply a bit more! I also love its staying power, it lasts! I wore this mascara on NYE, when I came back home from a long night out my lashes looked exactly the same as when I put on the mascara, no flaking either!!

I'm so happy to have finally tried Smoky Lash! Based on my experience, it really does live up to all the hype it gets as it does everything it claims to do; it volumizes, lengthens and curls! The only thing that could prevent me from repurchasing it could be its $22 price tag especially when it's quite comparable to a drugstore mascara.

Have you guys tried Smoky Lash?

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation

 I first saw Maybelline's new foundation Fit me about three weeks ago while aimlessly walking through the cosmetics aisle at my supermarket but picked it up just couple weeks ago, because something just didn't feel right after coming home without it, in other words I just had to try it!

Maybelline is on a roll with its testers (first Dream Smooth foundation testers & and now this new line!) it's now more easier than ever to find your perfect shade! All you have to do to is to place your wrist under the cut-out below each shade. In addition to that, there are tiny bottles of testers for us to try. These foundations are numbered in a way so it's easier for you to find your coordinating liquid concealer as well as pressed powder. There are also four blushes and four compact bronzers in this line.

I love the idea but no matter which shade I put my wrist under, the colors were just way off. I usually don't even test on my wrist when I am foundation shopping, do you? I mean wrists must be some of the lightest areas on anybody as they don't really get much sunlight. So I did what I always do and grabbed a shade which I thought would suitable for me and hit the mirrors for neck comparison. Because it's winter and I am lighter (and I don't tan at a tanning salon or use self-tanning products) I picked shade 235 and I think it is a pretty good match.

The design of the glass bottle is a pretty unusual one for Maybelline as their previous foundations came packaged in cylindrical bottles or round compacts such as in the case of their Dream Smooth Mousse foundation. I actually like this rectangular bottle with black cap much better, it's sleek and has a more expensive foundation kind of feeling to it. I am bummed, however, that it doesn't have a pump! I know it's a personal preference but for me it's more convenient not to mention more hygienic.

Here is Fit me! compared to my other foundations; Revlon ColorStay, Revlon PhotoReady & MAC Studio Fix Fluid. This has to be the lightest shade I have ever used!
 

First off, I love how light it feels on my skin. Texture and finish-wise it's almost reminiscent of a tinted moisturizer with just a little more color thus offering light-to-medium coverage. It is essential to use a concealer if you have areas that need concealing as I haven't found it to be covering up the slight discoloration and some acne scars that I have. I do love its texture as it's very creamy and light. Even when you're blending it, it feels totally weightless. I think this would be the perfect summer foundation, as a matter of fact. It does have a faint powdery and pleasant scent (then again my nose picks up the faintest of scents) It dries to a satiny, dewy finish which I set with Mineralize Skin Finish Natural because I just prefer a matte finish. One con people will more than likely have about this foundation is its staying power. I can't really complain about it because it's not a heavy coverage foundation by any means, naturally it will not last as long as a heavy coverage foundation. I would say it lasts 5-6 hours on my normal-combination skin. So it will require a touch-up during the day. I think this foundation will definitely be a hit because of its very affordable price! It currently retails for $7.99, I did spot it for $5.99 at Jewel-Osco the other day. Overall I do like this foundation especially for its weightless feeling on my skin and its texture.

Here I am wearing the fit me foundation alone on my face with Elf concealer & highlighter duo under my eyes plus Bare Minerals concealer in Bisque to set. Foundation by itself looks really dewy and youthful in my opinion.

But I love the matte look! In the above photos, I am wearing Fit me + MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural, Benefit Hoola Bronzer and  Illamasqua powder blush in Lover. (excuse my crazy static hair!)

What are your opinions about this foundation?

Diorskin Poudre Shimmer Amber Diamond

I can't even remember how long I withheld myself from purchasing this gorgeous highlighter, all I remember is that I first saw it on my dear friend Obsessed Makeup Addict's lovely blog back in the day and have been lusting over it since then! It's kind of hard to bring yourself to shell out dough ($48 eeek!) for a highlighter because it's just a highlighter for crying out loud! But if you are anything like me and love to highlight your face daily and you want a high quality product which will make you glow beautifully then this product is well worth the money...and the hype!

This is my first Dior beauty purchase ever! Last time I felt this luxurious about a beauty product was when I purchased my first YSL lipstick! I had the same experience with this Dior product. The packaging alone makes the whole experience grand. I know I sound cheesy but it's true! So, as you can see in the above pictures, this multi-purpose product comes in this navy blue glossy packaging with silver lettering which nests in a black felt pouch. I think the little pouch is a nice touch however I don't think it's that practical. It also collects dust like I've never seen before, so I won't be using it much.

The sleek, blackened navy blue compact has Dior embossed in silver in addition to holographic CD in a lighter blue shade right under it which looks amazing!

There are a total of five finely-milled shades that include (left-right) a thin stripe of cream, wider section of champagne, thin stripe of coppery-bronze, and wider sections of both peachy-champagne and light gold. The texture is very smooth and they apply on skin very smoothly. I swipe my brush through all of them for my cheekbones and I love using cream and champagne colors on inner corners of my eyes . Cream alone makes a really good brow bone highlighter! If you want to highlight more areas, another one is the cupid's bow (which I don't highlight necessarily) which was a tip from the Dior make-up artist who applied this all over my face! All of these shades can also be used as eye shadows.

One thing I don't like about highlighters in general that they are impossible to take decent photos of. These photos do not do this product justice! If you are searching for something shimmery for your cheekbones  definitely go and check out this beauty in person!

 Amber Diamond looks especially gorgeous on cheek bones in my opinion, it may be due to the fact that I don't have anything quite like it but I do have highlight colors for my brow bone already. It's nothing reminiscent of  MAC Mineralize Skin Finishes, which are usually on the chunkier side. I personally do not like that much shimmer/glitter on myself. Amber Diamond provides just the right and subtle amount of glow without empowering your entire face. The pigmentation of all five shades are amazing as you can see in my swatches. I'm happy to finally own this amazing product and will definitely be repurchasing it when the time comes. My 'guesstimate' is that, it won't be for another year or so. It looks like it will last a long time!

Do you own Amber Diamond? What is your favorite highlighter?

New Year, New Loves

I wanted my first post of 2011 to be sort of a sneak peek of products that I'll be reviewing in the upcoming days. I hope everyone's new year is off to a great start and it'll have the same effect throughout the year! :) My resolutions for 2011 don't really include anything that pertains to make-up/spending but I will try to control myself from buying products I don't really need any more of, such as highlighters!

Which brings me to my next point, I purchased a new highlighter which I've been lusting over for a long time. Goodbye Rose Ole & Too Chic! (both from new MAC collections which I'll happily return!) I'm sure a lot of you, if not all, have either seen/heard about or even own this beauty. It's none other than Dior's famous Amber Diamond. I used to only occasionally, or make that rarely, use highlighters on my face. This all changed after I began blogging and seeing all sorts of amazing products in fellow bloggers' blogs and Amber Diamond was only one of them.

Diorskin Poudre Shimmer Amber Diamond

My last tube of L'oreal Voluminous mascara just gave me hell...I bought it about 2 months ago and was happily using it until it started clumping like nobody's business huh!? It wound up becoming so clumpy, gooey and disgusting that I had to chuck it. Not sure if this particular one was old to begin with or what? I thought this was the perfect timing to give Makeup Forever's Smoky Lash a try! Tried it, loving it...Happy Lashes!

Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash

Very surprisingly my local supermarket seems to get new products way before Walgreens or CVS and I think faster than most other cities in the U.S.? I have already seen the new Wet n Wild goodies, new L'oreal foundation, and Maybelline's Fit Me! foundation prettily sitting on shelves last week! I am nearly finished with my beloved PhotoReady and while I know that I will definitely repurchase it, something inside me wanted to try this Fit Me! foundation so here it is! It feels amazing on my skin but it's no PhotoReady. First impression of Fit me!; I like!

Maybelline Fit me!

Vintage Selection is one of the four paint pots in MAC's Cham Pale collection which is currently in stores. I initially wanted all four of the paint pots but Vintage Selection was the only that truly captured my heart while swatching in store so it came home with me! It's a beautiful shimmery champagne color that I love using as a base under many different eye shadows!

Vintage Selection Paint Pot

 I had no idea Covergirl was even bringing out a new lipstick collection but I'm very happy to eventually have found out about them :) There is a pretty good selection of colors, Delish (top) and Fairytale were right up my alley so here they are! I love the effect these lipsticks have on my lips, they are super moisturizing!

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipsticks

Here is one of the Color Icon trios I mentioned above. I feel like this trio in it's entirety may be a good dupe of something, I'll let you know in my review for these trios if I find anything dupable in my collection. The quality is just amazing, I think even more amazing than previous trios. The texture seems to be much softer, and all three colors have great pigmentation!

Wet N Wild Color Icon Trio in Silent Treatment

Here is the entire collection! There are 5 new trios at $2.99 each, what a steal! There is a wider color range too, I wanted them all but wasn't sure about the color pay-off/pigmentation etc for that reason I picked up the "safest" trio! Please excuse the photo quality below as I took it with shaky hands (via my iPhone) due to too much excitement! :D

Wet n Wild Color Icon Trios

What are you guys loving in 2011 so far?