FOTD: Quikie Looks using NARS Duo Eyeshadows

I'm on an FOTD roll! Anyway here are two looks (that's right TWO) that I did over the weekend and actually wore out. I don't think I can walk with red lipstick just yet. It's still a bit overwhelming for my face still, or maybe I just need a better red lipstick that goes well with my skintone.


First up, NARS Balthazar...






I finished the look with a brown liner instead of a black one for a more natural approach.


For my cheeks, I used MAC Nuance blush. Anyway, I love, love NARS e/s. Super easy to blend!





It can't get anymore natural looking than that. I look like I have that California sun-kissed looked without baking under the sun. Chea!

Up next, is NARS Bohemian Gold. I honestly don't know why it's called Bohemian Gold when the picture doesn't even remotely look gold to me. But this one is a bit odd cuz it photographs looking like a brown shade, when it looks a bit peachy pink in the pan.



This was the look that I did on Friday for my bf's graduation. I tried to keep it as simple as possible.

I don't know why it looks like I packed some mad blush on when it hardly showed up in person.

Halloween Costume Test Run: Dorothy from Wizard of Oz

I honestly don't know what I'm going to be yet for Halloween or if I'm even dressing up for that matter. Luckily, our bi-weekly Friday off lands on Halloween, so if I do decide to dress up for the night, I'll have enough time. As far as plans go, nothing yet. We were planning on hitting up Santa Barbara, but that still up in the air. If anything I might go to the Opera?? with my girls.

You know what, we were actually planning on becoming SailorMoons. LOL. My friend was going to have her mom make us the costumes, but we didn't really have time to coordinate everything. That would have been cool though if the plan had pulled through. There's always next year!

For now, the only costume I have is my Dorothy one. My mom actually sewed it for me three years ago because I couldn't find a costume that fits me properly. Everything was so friggin big cuz I'm such a stick. My mom has some sewing skills. She also actually made all three of my gowns for the proms that I went to in high school. Pretty sweet! She used to sew for a hobby when she was younger, and had a kick at making my dresses when I was a toddler.

Here are the things I used for this look. I tried to exagerrate everything on my face. We all know that Dorothy was a small town girl from Kansas, Texas who lived in the farm, so obviously she didn't wear this much makeup, and like always, I pretty much just used whatever I have on my stash.

EYES
MAC Tete-a-tint e/s
Milani Java Bean e/s
Modern Basic Please Me e/s
Ardell 131 Falsies
MAC NightHawk eyeliner
Stila Major Lash Mascara

FACE
Everyday Minerals Medium Beige Semi-Matte
MAC True Romantic Blush
MAC Light Flush MSF

LIPS
NYX Rea l/s
NYX Snow White l/s
NYX Hebe l/s
Paul & Joe 07 lipgloss

And for the look... I tried to curl my hair again. Lately, the curler has been my best friend. Luckily, I didn't burn myself this time. The curls would've showed up a lot nicer if my hair was longer. I used the falsies to dramatize my eyes a bit more and make it pop. Oh, and the blouse was from H&M.

And this was Dorothy when she found out she won't be going home anytime soon.

Here are some pictures from the Halloween my costume made it's first debut lol. The room where my full sized mirror is currently stash in a room where there's a whole lot of mess (we just moved). But this is pretty much how my costume looked like. I'm actually not wearing the tulle underneath the skirt to make the dress a bit poofy here. As you can probably tell, I'm not a big makeup wearer yet when this picture was shot. I think I'm going to put sequins on my red shoesies this time.

But which one would look better with the blue jumper? The H&M blouse or a tank top underneath??

And here's another costume that my mom did for my brother. The hat was from Downtown Disney. If you don't know who this character is... it's the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Look he even had a bunny to match his outfit. Yep, my mother dearest made the vest, coat, and even the tie. I've blocked my brother's face to protect his identity LOL.

And here are my friends who dressed as Alvin and the Chimpmunks. This was way before movie even came out. They were a hit at all the parties we went to.


I can only imagine how many girls are going to show up as school girls. I think that's the one costume that's overrated and needs to go away and retire already. Ok, I did dress up as one a long, long time ago, and I'm not even going to deny that. But let's change it up people! I understand that it's probably the easiest costume to throw to together, but let's be a bit more creative!

Show me your Halloween costume!

Swatches: MAC Adoring Carmine (Holiday 2008 Pt. 2)

Nordstrom is selling the brushes for $35 only ($15 off regular price, $49.50) both online and in stores. So if you're really eyeing on one of those sets, I hope you have Nordies near you and take advantage of that deal.

I initially wanted to get the basic brush set, but after seeing the display, I decided not to get it instead. The blush brush the basic set comes with seems a bit scratchy when I ran it against my skin. But everything else in the basic brush set was pretty awesome. I love the eyeshadow brushes, and the fact that it comes with a makeup bag and a satchel which makes the set great for traveling.

As far as the lip sets, they did pretty well with it. I can see the Rose and Red lips selling out because of the gorgeous pigmentation of these lipsticks.

Release Date: October 23, 2008

Click on the images to enlarge...

LIPSTICK SETS - $34.50USD

Adoring Carmine: 3 Neutral Lips (LE) - $34.50USD
Soft Spot (Lipstick) (Glaze)
Real Treasure (Lipstick) (Lustre)
My Dear (Lipglass)


Adoring Carmine: 3 Rose Lips (LE)
To Swoon For (Lipstick)(Glaze)
Romancin' (Lipstick) (Lustre)
Delicate Crush (Lipglass)


Adoring Carmine: 3 Red Lips (LE)
Adore It (Lipstick) (Glaze)
Racy (Lipstick) (Frost)
Frostlight (Lipglass)

BRUSH SETS

Adoring Carmine:5 Basic Brushes (LE) - $49.50USD (23 Oct: Nordies is showing this set as $35.00 on their website)
#129SE
#219SE
#239SE
#266SE
#316SE

Adoring Carmine: 4 Face Brushes (LE) - $49.50USD (23 Oct: Nordies is showing this set as $35.00 on their website)
#168SE
#187SE
#190SE
#194SE

Adoring Carmine: 5 Eye Brushes (LE) - $49.50USD
#209SE
#212SE
#217SE
#252SE
#275SE

(Colour Story and Product Info Source: Specktra.net)

Swatches: MAC Passions of Red Collection (Holiday 2008 Pt. 1)

I honestly didn't pick up a single thing from this collection...at least not yet. I pretty much just went to Nordies to swatch these before I went home. They looked a bit ordinary to me at the time I was there, and the colors looked like something I would already have. However, the more I look at the swatches, and think about it, I think I might have to pick up a couple of the eye shadow palettes. The warm eyes palette is calling me! They look so pretty. And how pretty is the blue in the Classic Eyes palette? I'm not one who can rock blue eyeshadow, but that blue is just gorgeous. I don't know if I feel the same about the rest of the eyes shadow in that palette though.

Maybe it's this phase that I'm just having with palettes? But really how pretty is the warm eyes one? It's pretty universal if you ask me.

Release Date: October 23, 2008

Click on the images to enlarge...

EYE SHADOW PALETTES - $38 USD

Fascinating Ruby: 6 Smokey Eyes
Scant - Creamy white with pink pearl (Frost)
Satin Taupe - Taupe brown with silvery bronze shimmer (Frost) (Permanent)
Dark Devotion - Black brown (Matte)
Gorgeous - Light silver with white pearl (Matte)
Ambiance - Cool mid-tone grey with silver sparkle (Velvet}
Carbon - Intense black (Matte) (Permanent)


Intriguing Scarlet: 6 Warm Eyes
Warm Suede - Frosty antiqued golden olive (Veluxe Pearl)
Grand Entrance - Dirty deep green with green pearl (Satin)
Real Drama - Dirty burgundy with red pearl (Satin)
Gentle Heat - Light muted grey taupe (Satin)
Well Spiced - Frosted warm peachy brown (Satin)
Sweet Joy - Frosted creamy pale gold (Frost)


Devoted Poppy: 6 Classic Eyes
Young Thing - Light creamy peach (Satin)
In Awe - Intense black with gold pearl (Velvet)
Fall Deeply - Frosty bright blue with white pearl (Frost)
Amourously - Frosty antique gold (Frost)
Sweet Eyes - Shimmery muted golden beige (Satin)
Awaken - Frosty light green with golden pearl (Frost)


Infatuating Rose: 6 Cool Eyes
Platonic - Frosty greyed perwinkle (Frost)
Cavort - Cool dirty lavender orchid (Satin)
Satisfy - Slightly shimmery pale ballet pink (Lustre)
Bon Fete - Frosty neutral mid-tone pink (Veluxe Pearl)
Deep Feelings - Dirty deep violet indigo (Matte)
Feast - Frosty pink plum (Velvet)

LIP PALETTES -$22.50 USD

Fascinating Ruby: 3 Plum Lips
Marvel (Lipstick) - Sheer pink plum with subtle pearl,
Insinuate (Lipstick) - Sheer purple plum with gold pearl
Mutual Attraction (Lipsglass) - Glossy mid-tone plum with multi-dimensional pearl


Devoted Poppy: 3 Coral Lips
Devoted (Lipstick) - Sheer mid-tone coral with subtle pearl
Soft Talk (Lipstick) - Sheer bright reddish-coral with pearl
Transparent Love (Lipglass) - Glossy apricot with golden red pearl


Intriguing Scarlet: 3 Cool Pink Lips
Make Me Melt (Lipstick) - Frosty muted mid-tone pink,
Overjoyed (Lipstick) - Sheer yellow pink with pearl
Sheer Vision (Lipglass) - Glossy soft baby pink with multi-dimensional pearl


(Colour Story Credit: Spektra.net)

Feelings on the new MAC Holiday collection? Do you think they did better this year compared to last year's Antiquitease collection? Who picked something out?

Chanel Beiges de Chanel Dupe?!?

As you may recall, I recently picked up and drooled over my Chanel quad 13 Beiges de Chanel in my previous post. I mean, a Chanel is a Chanel. It's pretty much the description of luxury and timeless classic.

So, the other day, I was cleaning out my stash of makeup that I've hoarded for some span of time. Trying to sort out which one I still use or items that I can probably sell. And then I came across the palette that Vanessa had given me at the Pow Wow, and it looks oddly familiar. Why didn't I realize this before?? Could this be a dupe of my Chanel quad?!?

Here's a recap of my lovely Chanel quad in all its glory. The FOTD seen below was taken from this post.

Chanel 13 Beiges de Chanel quad $54

It's neutral at it's best. It's a pretty good combo for that neutral look without looking boring and drab beside it being a Chanel quad.

But why not get the same (if not similar) look for mere pennies (well, almost compared to what you spend on a Chanel quad). I had it all along. I had this quad way before I even got the Chanel ones. Why I didn't realize they're almost similar? Because I couldn't get the dupe palette to open up for awhile, so I never really touched it until I had it side by side.

Tropez Sunrise to Sunset Palette in Olive Oasis $3.99

Ok, that's a whopping $50 big difference between the two palettes. With the Tropez palette, you even get two extra eyeshadows. By just looking at the palette, you can already clearly tell that the colors are similar to each other.

If that's not enough, here are some swatches comparing them side by side (or top and bottom, hehe).

Top: Chanel 13 Beiges de Chanel quad
Bottom: Tropez Sunset to Sunrise Olive Oasis quad

Both swatches are applied WITHOUT a base.

How striking is the resemblance? The quad only probably slightly differ with the last two shades on the right. The cream color for the Chanel quad has a matte finish while the Tropez one has a pearly or frosty finish, but are still both meant to be as a highlight color under the browbone. The golden shade for the Tropez looks looks a bit more chalky, but pretty much has the same color compared to the Chanel quad after you apply it on your eyes.

If you're still not convinced, I tried to replicate the look that I did with the Chanel quad using the Tropez Olive Oasis palette. You can almost see that the looks are very much alike, and all you really need is a good base.

(For the darker color, I ended up applying it to my crease and outer V instead of just the crease, hence why it looks darker on the outer corners. I also lined my upper lashline with a brown gel liner. And sorry for the ugly brows lol).

And yes, I really did use the Tropez palette to recreate the look.

Chanel v. Tropez
Blendability: For some reason, I found that the Tropez eyeshadow blends better than the Chanel one. Shocking, I know!

Price: Obviously, Tropez won this hands down. $54 vs. $3.99 at your local drugstore (and you get two extra eyeshadows).

Quality: Chanel has better pigmentation on the gold eyeshadow, but Tropez has a better pigmentation on the highlight color. You might be able to get away without using a base with Chanel and still have your eyeshadow look fabulous, where as the Tropez palette, you will really need a good base to prevent the colors from fading.

Extras: The Chanel quad is housed in a velvet sleeve to protect the compact and you have the Chanel logo screaming on top when you do decide to take it out of your purse. It's up to you if $50 extra is justifiable for those perks.


Verdict: In the end, I ended up bringing back my Chanels to Nordies and exchanged it for something else *ahem* NARS *ahem*. I have no reason of keeping it even though it's Chanel. I just really hate keeping duplications and makeup that I already own. For those who have been oogling at the new Chanel quad, you might want to consider the Tropez palette for a cheaper price. When you think about it... the Tropez palette is a lot easier to stash in your purse because you can just throw it in there and not worry about your quad getting scratch or your sleeve getting dirty. I mean the Tropez is not as pretty or as luxurious as the Chanel quad, but it does the job. Besides, $50 is a hugggeee chunk of change.


So who do you think copied who first? :]

Swatches and FOTD: Chanel Eye Shadow Quad 13 Beiges De Chanel

Ohhhhhhhh Chanel. How luxurious and pretty you are!!

As I slowly branch out from MAC to other high end brands, I've decided to pick out the new Chanel quad from their holiday collection. I was in the look out for a good neutral eyeshadow quad, and as I was perusing the Nordstrom counters this seem to jump out to me. Swatching time, and the colors was just so pretty that it had left me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Nordstrom Fall Trend Show and Dior Makeover

I mentioned in my previous post that I went to the Nordstrom Fall Trend show at my local Nordies on the day of the move. I actually woke up late going to this event since I was up pretty much all night packing my belongings, so I probably missed a good 15-20 minutes of the show and I didn't have the best seat in the house for me to take pictures. So you'll notice that most of the pictures are a tad bit on the blurry side since I had to turn off the flash to avoid looking too much of a papparazzi.

The brands who had a runway walk had awesome prizes that they were raffling away. Sadly, I didn't win any of the sweet goodies. They were giving away full sizes of: Chanel serum, Anastasia brow set, NARS Primer, YSL Touche Eclat and black gloss, Lancome set, T3 hair prouducts, Harajuku, and other high end good stuff. The only one who didn't have anything to raffle off... MAC. Cheap!

MAC

Although they had nothing to give away, they had the prettiest model IMO. She was so stunning! And her dress!!! They were promoting their Goldfever collection.

The lone guy in the audience. Surrounded by many other women. I think his momma dragged him to go to the show. He seriously looked bored out of his mind hahaha. And the pretty lady is not even enough for to keep him interested.

They had breakfast packed in the freebie tote they gave us upon entrance. So you know I was munching on this while watching the show.

LANCOME

I really don't know what they were thinking, or what the model is thinking for allowing other people to dress her up like that. I do not like her outfit at all... scratch that... her whole look. It was soo plain, drabby, and granny-ish. They could've probably have her worn a different top with that skirt or something if they really wanted her to wear that skirt. And her hair... I don't even know. She couldn't even walk in her heels either. Aiyaaah!

YSL

I don't understand why the other models had better outfits than that Lancome model. Anyway, the YSL model was soo adorable! She just looked so radiant! I'm not sure how I feel about her pants, but her shoes!! Her shoes were friggin beautiful!! It was pretty much the first thing I noticed when she started walking down the aisle (makeup second).

I tried to take a good picture of it, and this is probably the best one I could take. The MC said that they were Tory Burch shoes... but I couldn't find it on the Tory Burch or the Nordstrom website. They were sooooo pretty!!!

HARAJUKU

This was so cute. They had these four Asian girls dressed as Gwen's Harajuku girls. They performed a dance routine, and they were so adorable. And I just found it amusing how they were all the same heights too. Their hair was just exactly like the bottle figurines. So kawaii!

MY MAKEOVER

I mentioned before that I got my makeover done. As you can tell from the title, I got it done at the Dior counter only because I was planning to buy their Forever Compact afer getting inputs from some of you.

(all Dior unless otherwise stated)

FACE
Airbrush Foundation
Forever Compact #30

EYES
#609 5 Pan eye shadow palette
Sable eyeliner
Sand eye brow pencil
Iconic mascara

LIPS
#127 Dior Addict

And how exactly do I feel about this? Well, I like my eyebrows. I really liked the pencil but $27 for an eyebrow pencil is just a bit too much. I like the palette as well because they glide like buttahhhh on your lids. Considering he also didn't have a primer or a base on my oily lids, the eye makeup held pretty well especially since we were moving. Too bad I couldn't say the same thing for the eyeliner as it smudged on my lower lashline.

As for the airbrush foundation, I told him it was too light and he kept insisting that it's a perfect match. I didn't like it cuz it looked too made up for me and too much of a mask once you go outside and look at it under natural light. I just didn't want to argue with him since I wasn't really planning on purchasing the foundation anyway, and I have no where special to go to.

This picture doesn't look so bad . It might have to do with where my car was at which was in a shaded area. Although, I do look a bit orange, ya?

Although, I was pretty impressed with the Iconic mascara! He didn't even curl my lashes and it was curled. It didn't volumnize my lashes though, but there wasn't any clumping either. I almost bought it!

Now, here's the same look under different lighting. It's white I tell you. You can clearly tell that I have foundation on. I hate that look. It also looks a bit on the ashy side. It just doesn't match my neck (check out my forehead).

Anyway, I ended up walking away with the powder. I still wanted to try it out by itself. The packaging is so luxurious just as any high-end makeup brand. It comes with a velvet cas as well to protect your compact from scratches in case you decide to throw it in your purse.



My verdict: I didn't like it by itself either. It gives me that powdery look that you can tell I have something on. It didn't look natural. And for some weird reason, although this powder was lighter, under natural lighting, it seemed darker compared to my neck. My bf doesn't like it either and he said he can clearly tell I have makeup on. My skin has gotten better after I started taking care of it, and he said he prefers that I don't have anything on at all and says I really don't need it. I just wanted a powder to even out my skintone a bit and control shine. But I just might drop that whole idea as a whole.

I might exchange this instead for the Dior HydrAction Tinted Moisturizer after reading and seeing Joey's review on it. I gave it try at my Sephora store and just quickly put it on, and it looks more natural than the powder, and it doesn't look like I have anything on at all. It also brightened up my face and gave me that glow!! But I'm not sure how much of a greaseball I would turn into at the end of the day since I didn't have it on for too long to know. However, it's a lot easier for me to use since it applies as a moisturizer. Really great for when I'm running late. I'm all about doing things easy squeezy.

Although that whole makeover and powder was a fail, I do intended on buying that lipgloss that he used on me. It was sooo pretty. Maybe the quad too, but I'm afraid I already have something similar to it. I didn't get to crazy with my purchases even though they had GWP offers at almost every counter. It was tempting but I managed to resist. I'm trying to save my future makeup purchases for the Sephora's Friends and Family sale though (20% off the entire store; Nov. 6-21, correct me if I'm wrong). It's not for awhile, but gotta get my list ready, and it'll really give me some time to think about things. LOL.

But with the Saks Fifth F&F discount sale, I might pick up a few things this weekend. Whatever Sephora might not carry (i.e. Chanel). Any suggestions?