Munich Haul & More #Holidaze

On my recent trip to Munich (which I talked about in my last post) I of course had to do some serious shopping, as the city boasts some great stores, and everything is cheaper than in Switzerland. Bonus!! I picked up some great pieces that will really get a lot of wear this winter, because I live in cold climate and I just love wearing warm sweaters, coats and scarves at this chilly time of year.

See my video below to see what I bought.

Items shown and where to buy:

Mango Coat http://bit.ly/1eUYkhv (UK) or http://bit.ly/1dUuJrW (Germany)

Mango Alpaca Sweater http://bit.ly/1dUrJvU

Mango Chocker Necklace http://bit.ly/1d4IAau

Vero Moda cardigan

H&M Cardigan 

H&M Blazer Black http://www.hm.com/us/product/12889?article=12889-A

H&M Blazer Wool http://www.hm.com/us/product/09812?article=09812-B

Zara Scarf

ASOS Plaid Leggings http://bit.ly/18I6FXk

ASOS Wet Look Leggings http://bit.ly/1eV6fvj

ASOS Oxblood Leggings http://bit.ly/18I71NI

Forever 21 Sports Wear bra http://bit.ly/IV5qby

Forever 21 Flower necklace http://bit.ly/1d4JeEP

Forever 21 Gold choker necklace http://bit.ly/IV2LP6

Forever 21 Black Rhinestone necklace http://bit.ly/18I7QGh

Forever 21 Rhinestone Stud earrings http://bit.ly/1eUXP6W

When KIKO and CND Effects have a baby...

...this is their offspring:

What a beautiful baby, don't you think? This is KIKO Nr. 336 as a base, with CND Effects Nr. 561 Sapphire Sparkle on top. I love how the CND Effects polishes just add a bit of pizazz to any cream finish polish, and they work great for layering. This one has an icy blue and purple duochrome. I picked up two of the CND Effects polishes on my recent trip to Vancouver, and I can't wait to try them out with lots of other combinations.

Yup, I changed the shape and length of my nails. I'm starting fresh and I need something low maintenance right now. My nails grow pretty fast, and I like having them short and round sometimes for a change.

I flew in from Vancouver yesterday after a rather pleasant flight - I managed to get a whole middle row to myself on the plane and even got a bit of shut-eye in - but am now rather jet lagged. I went to bed at 8:30pm and woke up this morning at 5am. Nothing like getting up super early and making the most of the day!

Now two brim-filled suitcases await me, ready to be unloaded with laundry to wash, and many beauty products to set aside for a haul video. I recently uploaded a haul of my USA shopping trip with my friend Heather, aka Sokolum79 on Youtube, so make sure to watch it to get a sneak peak of some of the things I purchased. I still bought a lot of other things while in Vancouver, so I may do another one.

I had such a great time in Vancouver with my family, but am now ready to get back into the swing of things and film new videos! Have a stellar day, everyone, and a great weekend! I'm off to the cabin for the weekend to do some skiing in the alps - first time this season. I'm stoked to try out my new boarding pants and jacket from Roxy and Burton to see how well they fare.

Oops I Did It Again! Haul

I have done some shopping. I thought I'd share...

Products mentioned in order:

Sleek Divine palette in Curacao (Caribbean limited edition)
Sleek Divine palette in Oh So Special
Sleek Aruba blush (Caribbean limited edition)
Sleek Pout Polish in Bonaire
Sigma Eyeshadow palettes in Bare, Dare and Flare
LA Colors Art Deco polish in Black & White
Essence 02 Style Me Holo nailpolish
Eucerin Sun Fluid SPF 30 for face
La Roche-Posay Hydreane Legere moisturizer
purse from New Yorker
top from Vero Moda
jeans from Vero Moda
Shoes from Deichmann (Graceland)
Dumont Berlin guidebook
Tucano Second Skin Macbook protector

Sigma makeup available at:
http://tinyurl.com/sigmamakeup

Sleek Makeup:
http://www.sleekmakeup.com/

Zum Schluss ist eine Nachricht auf Deutsch wegen potenzielles Abo Treffen in Berlin! Also bleibt dran...


Sleek and Sigma products were sent to me for review consideration. Everything else I purchased myself.

Fitness Haul

I really needed some new running shoes for the work outs that I do, so today I bit the bullet and went to a big athletic store and spent about an hour trying on all kinds of shoes. The last pair of running shoes I bought are about 10 years old and were bought on a whim, without any regard to their actual specs and comfort - I basically bought those because they were on sale and dirt cheap.

Unfortunately, they also really hurt my toes whenever I worked out in them, I think they were too small for me because my big toe nail would always knock against the front, which is really painful when you do plyometric jump training. No amount of nail trimming worked, so I knew I just had to get something better that actually felt good and gave me support.

After trying on so many pairs, I finally purchased the Adidas Response Cushion shoes.

These are actually mens shoes since ladies runners don't run in my size. I have to say I don't really care for the design or colors very much, but Adidas make some of the narrowest mens shoes (most other mens shoes are cut wider, so aren't suitable for most women) and these were actually darn comfortable with a lot of grip and support. Having large feet means my choices are limited, and the point of these shoes was to find a pair that filled my requirements, who cares what they really look like. I'll only be wearing these for workouts anyway.

Here with my horrible old and painful Nikes...

I don't really have a lot of experience buying training shoes, but the sales staff was pretty helpful and the best thing is to take your time and do a few moves in the store to see how they feel - if you run, do a few laps around the shop. I must have looked a bit silly doing plyometric jumps around the store! Haha... But in the end they felt good on and my toe wasn't hitting the front anymore. I think buying good shoes is definitely worth the investment if you plan to do a lot of exercise with them, it makes a huge difference to your comfort level.

I also purchased some fitness gloves for weight lifting and push-ups.

I used to think these were a bit superfluous unless you were a pro bodybuilder or something, but I've realized how slippery and wet my hands get from sweating, and it makes weightlifting a bit cumbersome when you can't get a good grip on the darn thing. Also, we have a hardwood floor, so when doing push-ups with sweaty hands, I'd leave huge hand prints or just be sliding around - not fun.

To be honest I didn't enjoy spending money on the shoes, they are so outrageously marked up here in Switzerland (they cost less than half online in the USA I saw) but I see it as investing in my health and well being and it's actually something I needed.

I can't wait to do my first workout with these tomorrow.

Summer Fashion Haul

I've filmed a video of some collective clothing hauls of the past while - I've been in dire need of some new summer clothes as my last year's duds don't fit me at all anymore. Check out the video to see what I purchased and how to combine it for cute, affordable outfits.

What I'm reading + Mascara Haul

My Amazon book order came - finally! Been really wanting to read something new and fresh, so I hauled these three books.

Water for Elephants is a New York Times bestseller, and is the story about an old man's recollections of his youth working with a traveling circus. It seemed like a very different type of story than what I would normally read, so I decided to go for it. Apparently it's also been made into a movie starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon and will be released this spring I believe - something I wasn't aware of when I bought it.

City of Thieves is a story based in Russia during the battle of Leningrad and a young man's experiences during that time. I stumbled upon this randomly just browsing on Amazon so I have no idea if it will be good or not, but it had very positive feedback and I wanted to read something set in Russia for some reason.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is the one I've already started (and nearly finished actually after one night of reading) and is the story about the unlikely friendship of two young girls from very different social classes during the 1800s in China, when foot binding was commonly practiced to ensure a good marriage. The story is about the status and everyday realities of women during this period, and also about the friendship between the two girls throughout their turbulent lives. It's a very fast and easy read, but very engrossing, if disturbing at times. I literally cringed at the description of the foot binding! Hard to imagine that this was regularly practiced by women back then.

I expect I'll be doing a LitChat review on my second channel when I'm done with these. Are you reading anything engrossing lately?

Then today I also picked up two new mascaras to try out. I'm a bit of a drugstore mascara fiend, so I thought I'd try something new. I might do a Drugstore Mascara Review 2.0 so please let me know any mascaras that have newly been released and hyped and which ones you want to see a review of, and I'll try to include them - as long as the brand and mascara is available here and I haven't reviewed them in my earlier video.

For now I just picked up the L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes and the Essence Multi action. Can you believe that the L'Oreal one costs over $25 USD here in drugstores? Yay Switzerland prices! :(

Asos Jewelry Haul

I've recently done some hauling at Asos.com, an online clothing/accessories/shoes/beauty boutique based in the UK. I purchased a dress for an upcoming event I'm going to in February, and my second haul was some of their costume jewelry. They have the cutest things, and the prices are good too. Here's what I ordered jewelry-wise; I'll probably show you the dress in an Outfit of the Day video for the event ;)

Lispy Spider Charm bracelet (£14) - I'm not much of a bracelet person, to be honest I hardly own any bracelets at all, but I thought I'd go for something different this time and see if I like it or not. I absolutely love the charms on this one, especially the spider of course! Not so great for arachnophobia!

ASOS Long Metal Spike Earrings (£6) - I've wanted earrings like this for a while. They look like plugs but actually aren't - they have a front and back closure.

ASOS Oversized Swirled Metal and Crystal Ring (£12) - I love this ring but was very hesitant to order a ring from a website as sometimes even the large size is too small for me. I have very large hands and long fingers, and I just hate when rings are tight on me. So I thought I'd order just the one and see how I fare with it. If it fits, I'll probably order more.

The best part about Asos is the free worldwide delivery! I don't want to do too much raving yet before I receive both my orders, but if this works out, I might become an Asos shopping whore. I'm eyeing a few more of their accessories, and they are constantly getting in new stock so you're literally spoiled for choice. I even like some of the shoes on there but I've never ordered shoes online before and am very hesitant about the fit as I have size 41/42 European. (About a US 11)

The good thing right now is that the Swiss Frank is very strong over the Euro, USD and Pound, so online shopping abroad is a steal for me!

Models Own Haul

At the end of August I hauled some Model's Own polishes when the company was having a 50% off sale. Model's Own is a British nail polish brand that I'd read a lot about online and had seen lots of pictures of their colourful shades. So when the 50% sale came and went, I decided to take advantage. Here are some swatches of my haul, along with some other polishes.

Left to Right: Eyeko Rain polish, Eyeko Saucy polish, (blank)
The next one are from Models Own: Magenta Pearl, Pink Punch, Raspberry Crush, Disco Mix, Feeling Blue, Purple Gray, Green Tea, Barry M Spring Green

Same color wheel snapped outdoors in the shade. My favorites are Purple Gray, Disco Mix and Magenta Pearl.

The Models Own polishes cost £5 full price, but sometimes the website has sales or special deals. I think these are a bargain if you can buy them directly in UK shops, but not really worth it if you have to pay full price and the overpriced international shipping fee (£9.95 flat rate worldwide shipping outside the UK and a minimum order of £20) I'm sorry, but for that price I'd rather buy from Barry M, who also ship worldwide with more affordable rates and who also have great, inexpensive nail polish in lots of colors. My haul was worth it because the polishes were 50% off, but I wouldn't pay full price for them. They are just drugstore quality and nowadays, many drugstore brands make colorful polishes. At the end of the day, while I like the colours, my curiosity has been satisfied and I probably won't be ordering any more. The polishes do apply very nicely, and almost all (except for Pink Punch and Disco Mix) were opaque in two coats.

Where to buy:
http://www.modelsownit.com/
http://www.asos.com/ (very limited range)

Eyeko:
http://www.eyeko.com/eyeko-products-nails-c-21_27.html

Germany Haul and a Giveaway!

I was recently in Germany (twice in November on business trips) and I did some shopping there. I bought some clothes, accessories, and beauty products of course! In this video I'll share my haul with you, and give some details on German drugstore brands - sadly not available in Switzerland.

I also picked up some great lipsticks by P2. It's a German brand and I have to say I've absolutely fallen in love with their lip products. Great quality at an unbeatable price. So I decided to pick up 3 more for a giveaway so that one lucky person might try them out as well. Here they are:

L to R: Kö (a bright berry tone), Regent Street (lovely medium peach), Rodeo Drive (nude)

How to enter to win these lipsticks

Go to my Facebook, "Like" my page (click the thumbs up beside my name at the top) and read my Wall update to see how to enter for the giveaway. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook. This giveaway is open worldwide.

http://www.facebook.com/mizzchievouz

Good luck!

Fall Nailpolish Haul

Eeeee! Polish overload! I'm a huge polish junkie and I could not wait to get this order in. Fall can officially commence now; my nails will be in style. I picked up some from the new Orly Cosmic FX collection, some Color Club, and China Glaze. I've also got two of the new Illamasqua nailpolishes that debuted out with their Art of Darkness collection. OK let's get right to the pictures! (Names are all left to right, click on the pictures for full size.)

Orly: Space Cadet, It's Not Rocket Science, Halley's Comet, Glitz & Glamour

Color Club Jewel of a Girl, China Glaze Wagon Trail, China Glaze Short & Sassy

Illamasqua: Viridian, Scarab

Now on to some detailed swatches and my overall thoughts of these polishes...

Orly: Halley's Comet, Space Cadet, It's Not Rocket Science, Glitz & Glamour

Halley's Comet: Intense turquoise multi-chrome with flashes of green, teal and gold with a unique finish. It's hard to describe the finish, it's a mixture between glass flecked, shimmer and foil.

Space Cadet: Multi-chrome color with flashes of lavender, gold, green and olive. This is so unique, I don't have any polish like this. It reminds me of an oil slick shimmering in the sunlight. Again, has that same foil/shimmer/glass-flecked type of finish. This needed 3 coats, but I think I'll try layering this over a black next time so that you don't get the "visible nail line". This colour is a must-have if you are into unique polishes.

It's Not Rocket Science: Green multi-chrome with flashes of golden olive and teal. Apparently China Glaze Zombie Zest from their new Halloween collection is supposed to be a dupe of this, but I can't say for sure (it was sold out when I placed my order.) Love this color!

Glitz & Glamour: This is a part of the Orly Holiday 2010 collection and I love it. It's a very warm toned gold (leaning almost to a golden copper) with a strong foil finish. I can't wait to wear this at Christmas time as it reminds me of gold ribbon, or golden Christmas tree ornaments.

China Glaze Wagon Trail, China Glaze Short & Sassy, Color Club Jewel of a Girl

Wagon Trail: Hotness in a bottle! A very dark olive green which glows from within, and runs to nearly black around the edges. It flashes intense golden olive in the sunlight. Applies like a dream too - I can't wait to do a full manicure with this. This originally came out in fall 2008 with the Rodeo collection, but it's still amazing now.

Short & Sassy: A rich magenta burgundy which also has that "lit from within" look and darker around the edges. Originally released with the fall 2009 Retro Diva Collection. It reminds me of cranberries - perfect for winter.

Jewel of a Girl: A deep maroon burgundy leaning to the brown side. I love this shade for fall, I'm just automatically drawn to these aubergine type of colors at this time of year.

China Glaze Branding Iron (for comparison), Illamasqua Scarab, Illamasqua Viridian

Scarab: A blend of copper, deep red and maroon is how I would describe this shade, with a beautiful shimmer finish, leaning to metallic. I've included a picture of China Glaze Branding Iron as a comparison but as you can see, it's not a perfect dupe. The colors are fairly similar but Scarab is a bit more coppery, and Branding Iron is a deeper red. Although, if you already own Branding Iron, it's probably not necessary to own both.

Viridian: Another beautiful green for fall! A mix of forest green and deep teal is how I would describe this colour, and the opacity is amazing as well. This has a strong shimmery finish. Actually, both Scarab and Viridian would make great holiday colors as well - I'm envisioning a manicure of Scarab with Viridian as an accent color on one nail. Must try that out for the holidays!

Where to buy:

transdesign.com

head2toebeauty.com

(Both offer international shipping, Trans Design has a flat rate option of $18 for 9 regular sized polish bottles. I ordered this time at Head2Toe as TD were sold out of some colours.)

Illamasqua polishes available at:

illamasqua.com

Link to my video on Youtube

Disclosure: Illamasqua provided their polishes to me for review. All other polishes seen here were purchased by myself.

Urban Decay haul and fall nails

I recently acquired the Urban Decay Naked Palette, thanks to a very nice Swiss subscriber of mine who offered to custom purchase one for me on her trip to London. (A custom purchase, aka CP, is when someone buys you something and sends you the product, and you pay them back for it. This is sometimes done for hard to find products.) Since Urban Decay isn't available in Switzerland, I was so happy to get my hands on this! (Thank you Fabienne!)

It comes with 12 neutral color eyeshadows, a mini Primer Potion, and a dual end 24/7 eyeliner in black (Zero) and brown (Whiskey). This palette has been much discussed in the beauty world, and I've heard from some it's a little bit hard to come by in the States now. For what it's worth, it's available at Sephora and Ulta in the USA, and House of Fraser, Debenham's and Boots in the UK. Ordering online through those sites might be your best bet.

For internationals, I contacted HQhair.com before I obtained this one, and was informed by a customer rep: "I can confirm that we will be stocking this item and it will be in stock at the end of this month." So fret not if you don't have it yet, and please don't pay exorbitant ebay prices for it! Don't quote me on this, but I think HQhair ships worldwide, hopefully that will count for this palette too.

Please don't expect any tutorials with this quite yet, I'm currently still ploughing through Halloween looks. Maybe I'll have time to do a look with this before Halloween is over but I can't promise anything.

Lastly I wanted to show you one of my favorite nailpolishes for fall. I give you China Glaze "Foxy".

It's a bit more brown toned in real life, but I absolutely love this shade for fall; the perfect blend of copper, brown and red. I do believe I'll be wearing this loads!

That's it for today. My mother is visiting this weekend for a few days, so I probably won't be around much. So wishing you an early happy weekend!

xx

MAC Style Black Haul

My MAC Style Black Haul! I purchased Young Punk Mineral shadow, Bat Black Cream Color Base, Night Violet Mattene lipstick, and Blackfire Glimmerglass. I have to say I really love the eyeshadow a lot and think it's so great for doing smokey looks, especially layered over a black base. I was afraid that Bat Black was going to crease like crazy, but after some experimentation I found that it works fine if you apply it over a MAC Paint (I like Untitled) with a brush and just apply a very thin layer. Didn't crease at all after that!

Overall I love this edgy collection and wish that MAC would release more collections like this - how many times have we seen the same colors just repeated over and over again in different packaging with a new name? Enough pinks and nudes already! How many MAC collections have we had this year with those same boring shades?

In this haul I also purchased MAC Media lipstick, and So This Season Lipglass from the F/W Trend collection. I love both! I have an obsession with vampy lipstick colors, can you tell? Don't be afraid to stray from the ever-so-popular nude lips - dark, bold lipstick shades can look fabulous!

Sorry, I'm not one for swatching, but you can find some great swatches of this collection here.

72 Neutral, 72 Ultra Shimmer and Concealer palettes Review

These are two palettes that I received as a sample gift from my trusty eBay seller jolieeeee (aka Sarah) who I have purchased many palettes from previously with great customer service. On the right in the above picture is the 72 Color Professional Eye Shadow Neutral Palette. The neutral palette is very similar to the 28 neutral palette, which I reviewed earlier on my blog and on Youtube. The main difference between this one and the 28 neutral palette is the size of the eyeshadows, they are quite small but as a trade-off you do get more colors. The color payoff and finish is really pretty much the same so make sure to check out my earlier review.

The palette on the left is the 72 Ultra Shimmer Palette which is the exact same format and size as the neutral palette but these colors are very bright, pigmented, and the finish is shimmery/sparkley. These shadows do contain a lot of sparkle/glitter in them so I wouldn't recommend this palette if you don't like that kind of finish as they are all like that. However, I did use a few of the shades for some looks already and they do look really pretty when combined with matte eyeshadows. I used a sparkley color on the lid and a matte in the crease and for me this was the perfect combination. It's a real mixed bag of colors but this is a great palette if you like sparkley eyeshadow, I could see this being very appealing to younger girls and teens. The finish is similar to MAC Lustre eyeshadows, but I found these apply and adhere better.

Sarah also sent me the 10 Color Professional Camouflage Concealer Palette that I was really keen to try out. The color range is great, I am lighter than MAC NC15 and I could still find a color in here that was right for my skintone! I am not sure what the darkest shade would equate to in MAC, sorry. So color spectrum - thumbs up.

As to the quality of these concealers, well...they are OK. I still would opt for my Ben Nye concealer wheel over these as far as lasting power and strength of coverage, but these aren't bad either. I was actually surprised at the quality, these are better than some drugstore concealers I have tried out! What I like about the texture is that it is very emollient and easy to spread, but then very quickly dries down to a smooth powder finish. It's almost like a cream-to-powder foundation in texture, but not overly heavy, and could even be used as a foundation.

The only thing is that this palette doesn't come with any color correctors (green, orange, lilac shades) so this would be of limited use to a makeup artist having to color correct, but these would work well to go over a corrector to even out the skintone again. I could see this palette being suitable for a beginner makeup artist just venturing out into the professional world without a huge budget to spend on kit essentials, or someone who just likes to apply makeup on other people, their friends, etc. Because at $6.99 for this palette (without s&h) you can't really go wrong. The quality is admittedly not top-shelf, but considering the price, this isn't a bad purchase for those people I just mentioned.

I have purchased several times from Sarah's shop and have always been happy with my purchases, the customer service, and shipping turnaround time. I would not be endorsing this seller if I did not stand behind her business practices. Her packages are always very well wrapped and I've never received a package with even a single broken eyeshadow. I would recommend insurance though just in case.

Her eBay store:
http://myworld.ebay.com/jolieeeee/

Drugstore haul and mascaras

I've been wanting to pick up a bronzer for a while now but didn't have time to go to the MAC store and also wanted to see if a drugstore product would do the job. I settled on one by Nivea called Stay Real because it swatched smoothly on my hand and wasn't too dark - a common problem for fair skinned people. I tried it out tonight for the first time just to see and first impression seems ok. No annoying sparkles and glitter, and no orange glow. So far so good!

I also picked up 2 mascaras: L'Oreal Double Extend waterproof and Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express. I've been wanting to try out some of these new mascaras on the market to see if they are any good. I don't buy high end mascaras anymore, I don't find them any better than drugstore brands and they all dry out eventually, so I don't see the need to spend lots of money on something I replace frequently.

I have a tendency to amass lots of drugstore mascaras though. I was thinking of doing a comparative review of popular drugstore mascaras soon. These are all the ones I have right now, and I might buy a few more - who knows!

In order from top to bottom: Essence Volume Boost base mascara, Essence Lash Mania, Maybelline The Colossal, Covergirl Lashblast, L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes waterproof, Maybelline Define a Lash waterproof, Max Factor Lash Lift waterproof, L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, Max Factor 2000 Calorie.

Stay tuned for a review on which ones I like and which ones....well....suck! Hah!

Sort of recent haul - discounted MAC!

 

Pictures of a recent purchase I made at allcosmeticswholesale.com for some MAC and Benefit. I get asked all the time where one can purchase MAC or other brands for cheaper than retail, and this site is it! I generally advise against purchasing MAC on eBay or other discount websites which are often rife with counterfeit items, but this site is legit. I found out about this website from Specktra and makeupalley.com with rave reviews from customers who confirmed the items were real, so I decided to try it out and yes, all my items are authentic. I purchased the MAC 109 brush, Benefit High Beam highlighter, MAC Dazzlelight pan, and MAC Flattering mattene lipstick (LE). Especially for customers outside of the USA, the prices will be extremely discounted, it's less than half of what I pay for MAC in Switzerland.

  

Here you can see a comparison between Dazzlelight and Shroom, both which are great highlight colors. However, Dazzlelight is far superior because of the texture - it's a buttery smooth Veluxe Pearl and Shroom is a horrible Satin. MAC's satin finish just doesn't work on me, and Shroom has just crusted up on me to the point where I can't use it at all anymore. The top layer is filmy beyond repair (I've tried scraping at it with a sharp knife), and it's the only MAC shadow I have that does this. Dazzlelight has much better pigment payoff and Veluxe Pearls are MAC's best finish.

 

  

Benefit High Beam is a nice liquid highlighter, I love the sheen it gives but hate the packaging. It is packaged similar to a nailpolish, the handle leads into a nailpolish brush. Who on earth thought up this horrendous packaging? I hate Benefit's packaging in general, too fussy and not practical, so a big fat ZERO on the packaging. But I love the product! It's smooth and easy to spread and gives a lovely sheen, and can be blended out nicely. High Beam is pink based, whereas Benefit's Moon Beam is more yellow based.

 

MAC Flattering Mattene lipstick (LE) 

Flattering is a nice neutral shade veering into the brown cream tone, and I love the matte finish. It's not as drying as other matte lipsticks I have tried, but a lip balm underneath is essential. Too bad the Mattenes were limited edition, they are richly pigmented and great if you want matte lips.

Nailpolish Haul and China Glaze update

Remember when I blogged about the upcoming China Glaze Summer Days collection? I said I would let you know when the collection becomes available. Well you can now order it on head2toebeauty.com and transdesign.com if you're interested!

I talk about my recent nailpolish haul in this latest video, I will try to get pictures up of my haul as soon as I have some good lighting again with daytime sun.

NYX Haul! Round Lipsticks and Tinted Lip Spas

NYX Round Lipsticks & Tinted Lip Spas

I recently ordered some NYX lip products and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of these lip products. For mere dollars per lipstick, these are great! They NYX Round Lipsticks are cheap as chips and have amazing color payoff, though the longevity is definitely not the same as MAC or other higher end lipsticks. These are the type of lipsticks that you will have to reapply frequently, and for the darker colors, using a lip liner pencil might be essential.

The Tinted Lip Spas are wonderful, I got Sake and Juicy. They have a light menthol tingling sensation, but not to the point where it burns. I would compare these to MAC's tinted lip balms. They don't have a glossy finish, but leave a nice color glaze on those days where you want to keep things low key, with the added benefit that they are very moisturizing on the lips. They are great to just throw into your purse and use them essentially like a lip balm, but they add a bit of color as well. My favorites from this order are Sake Tinted Lip Spa, and the lipsticks in Thalia, Femme, Georgia and Chaos.

If you want to order NYX products online, I would try out Shop Craze or Ms.Cuppycakes for etailers, both ship internationally and have good prices. I ordered these through cherryculture.com and had to wait a month and a half for my order! Totally unacceptable, I never have to wait that long for orders from the States, so I do not recommend.

Swatches (please click for full size)

Review: 26 and 88 eyeshadow, 28 blush palette

Please click the pictures for full size.

Finally I've had some time to upload pictures of the other 3 palettes that I haven't reviewed yet, including the 28 blush palette, the 88 matte & satin finish eyeshadow palette, and the 26 blush and eyeshadow combo palette. I've also added a picture (first one) of all my eBay palettes together, including the 120 color eyeshadow and the 28 neutral color palettes. There isn't a whole lot that I can add that I haven't already said in my previous reviews of these types of products. These palettes are all great bargains for the low-budget category, they are highly pigmented shadows and blushes mixed in with a few duds, that may not be the longest lasting cosmetics out there but they are a great bang for your buck. The blush palette is a bit harder to work with as the quality is not so amazing, but still a fairly decent purchase for the price. The size of the blushes in the 28 blush palette is the size of medium-sized eyeshadows, so you may need to use a smaller brush with it.

Which palette do you prefer, the 88 color or the 120 color?

I really can't say, it depends on your criteria. I would recommend the 88 matte and satin finish if you aren't too keen on lots of shimmery and frosty shadows. However, the 120 has a lot more color variety and I just like the colors that are offered more as there are some more unique shades. The downside to the 120 is that it's incredibly soft and the shadows are very fragile and I wouldn't really take this along traveling with me. The 88 palette is pressed a bit firmer so it would be more suited to travel.

Where did you buy these palettes?

I got all these palettes (except the 120 palette which was a gift from my sister) from THIS seller on eBay and had a very good experience. I highly recommend buying these palettes on eBay to get the best prices.

Review: 120 Color Palette

February 8, 2009
I received this palette as a gift from my sister; it's the popular 120 palette available from eBay. (I don't have the link for the seller as this was bought for me.) I've been looking forward to trying this out since ages! This is a great bargain for those on a budget. It's basically an assortment of dime-sized eyeshadows in one convenient case. Here are my thoughts on this product.

Pros

• very inexpensive! Available for anywhere between $20-$30 USD on eBay
• wonderful color selection with bright, vibrant shades
• 2 rows of neutrals, highlighters, monochromatic, 2 blacks
• variety of finishes although the majority are shimmering
• easy to blend
• great pigmentation payoff for most of the eyeshadows
• very compact so good for traveling and storage
  

Cons

• Not all the eyeshadows are equally as pigmented or have great payoff, though that is fortunately the minority
• These eyeshadows are very fragile and soft, meaning they are easily damaged and also cause some fallout during application
  
• some eyeshadows might be damaged during shipping so I recommend insurance
• lasting power not as good as high end brands
• the "marbelized" row is pretty pointless though I'm not sure if that's worth mentioning
  

Overall I think this is a great purchase if you are starting out with makeup and want a large color selection for not a lot of money, or you are missing some shades and just don't want to shell out for high end. Stay tuned for some tutorials using this palette on my Youtube channel! (Click on the pictures for full size!) You can also see pictures of all 120 shadows swatched on Vintage or Tacky's blog.

Review: 28 Neutral Color Palette

I already gave a review of this palette on my Youtube channel but I wanted to post a few more pictures and give some more details. Contrary to many, I did not buy this from coastalscents.com, rather on Ebay because frankly, it was cheaper that way.
This palette retails for $21.95 on Coastal Scents, and for around $10 on eBay (both without shipping.) That's less than half the price! With shipping to my country (Switzerland) it came to $22, insurance is optional for $2 and I recommend it.
The palette arrived within 9 days all the way from China, so shipping is super fast.
This palette is mass produced in China, along with all those other "cheapie" palettes sold on Coastal Scents.

Pros:

• very inexpensive so great for those on a budget
• great color variety for neutral shades
• variety of finishes (semi-matte, satin, shimmery)
• comes with highlighters as well as some darker colors and a black
• did I mention how cheap this is yet??

Cons:

• Not as highly pigmented as high-quality shadows (MAC, Makeup Forever, Ben Nye, etc.)
• lasting power of these eyeshadows is not comparable to high end shadows

I would definitely repurchase this palette and I am quite happy with it. Again, you can't compare apples with oranges - in no way can this palette replace high end eyeshadow like MUFE, Stila, MAC, etc. in quality. But this is ideal for those who are on a budget and looking for a palette for personal use, or are just venturing into makeup, or just want to have a wide selection of neutrals in one go. Click on the images for full size.