Make-Up Look: Blue Sunset

I'm bringing you a look today created by My Beauty Addiction's mineral eyeshadow from their Rainbow Bright collection.

• On the inner corner of the eye I used "Champ", which is a bright blue.
• I used "Spark" on the outter corner, which is a bright yellow.
• In the crease I used "O.J.", which is a bright orange.
• I used "Twink", a bright matte white, as the highlight color.

Side note- The liner is "Cobalt Vault" which was released from the Fergie collection by Wet N Wild. It is a limited edition liner that was released in the fall of 2013, but it re-released for the holidays later in 2013. If you're wanting to get your hands on it you may still be able to find it in some drugstores, particularly Walgreens. A lot of times, I'll see a few items stuck with the regular merchandise that haven't sold yet from limited edition collections. - The lipstick is by Maybelline from their Vivid collection and it's "#870 Shocking Coral".

Christmas Nails & Make-Up 2013

As I stated in my last post, I was on vacation and I'm back now! So, I have a lot of catching up to do! Christmas is not a big holiday to me. I do not personally celebrate this holiday, but for family and friends I do. I spent most of Christmas day on the phone and internet connecting with my friends and family who were far away. I did go see the movie "47 Ronin" that day, which is a movie based on a true Japanese story, and I highly suggest you see the movie if you like action; skip the 3D though, because it was clearly not made for 3D viewing.

First let me start by sharing my nails and also asking that you ignore my Pinkie. I damaged my finger Christmas Eve and it bled under the skin. It has since healed. - I painted my nails in "Emerald Rock City" from Wet 'N Wild's Fergie line. This polish was part of Fergie's holiday collection from 2013.

My makeup is all from the Too Faced limited edition palette released over the holidays entitled "A Few of my Favorite Things":

• I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance to prime my eyes.
• First I used "Creme Colored Ponies" as a highlight color.
• Then I took "Melt Into Spring", which is actually a blush, and used it as the crease and blending coloring.
• I finished with "Pure Glam", a sparkly black, and that was all over the lids. 
• I lined my eyes with Tarina Tarantino's Eye Dream Hyperliner in "Spark of Envy".
• I used both bronzers from the palette and the blush I used on my face was "Raindrops on Roses".
• My lipstick is the color "RiRi Woo" which is part of the Rihanna collection from MAC.

Hope you enjoyed this look. Leave questions, comments, and links to your Christmas looks below!

Stay tuned for a load of reviews!

Drugstore Nail Polish Haul #1

I picked up a bunch of nail polish this week and thought I'd share what I bought. Everything is drug store! The top row is the limited edition Crystal Crush collection by Sinful Colors. I thought I had missed this collection all together. I saw it posted on Nouveau Cheap almost a month ago and had seen no sight of it anywhere around here, thus leaving me to believe that somehow I just missed it all together and the whole collection had exited my mind by now. I was so excited when I saw it at Rite Aid this week and even more delighted when I realized the display had been completely untouched! There was no price on the display and I wasn't sure if these polishes were going to be more than the regular $1.99, so I went and asked the sales associate and she told me they were $1.99. I was so excited, I picked up 6 of the 8 shades, which is what you see in the picture above! However, when they rang up $2.99 at the register I was really disappointed. The cashier was so nice that once she confirmed that the sales associate had messed up, she called a manager to make sure I could have them for $1.99 and so I got a lucky break on that collection.

Colors from left to right: 

• #1370 Purple Gleam
• #1367 Treasure Chest
• #1365 Ruby Mine
• #1368 Emerald Envy
• #1366 Face The Facets
• #1364 Got A Blush On You

There are 2 more colors in the collection; one is an orange shade and the other is a blue shade with purple sparkle in it. I was not interested in either of them and decided to skip them, even though the hoarder in me told me to take them anyway to complete the collection. -I over came the urge! If you're still trying to get your hands on this collection then I say don't give up just yet! Like I said, I just spotted this at my Rite Aid this week and I know they were also available at Walgreens and I have yet to see them at the Walgreens around my home, so there's still hope! The funny thing is that I was so excited to move out to the West Coast, because they always seemed to get things first. It seemed for the most part, the West Coast spotted things first, followed by the East Coast and then it all just sort of trickled inward from the bottom. Now that I'm out here, I'm finding that most collections come out quite late around here.

The second row in the picture is from the the limited edition Wet N Wild Fergie Heavy Metal collection for the holiday season this year. I found this display at CVS, also untouched! How lucky, right?! I scanned my card at the kiosk when I entered and not only did I get a coupon for $4 off a $12 beauty purchase, but I also had a 30% off all regular priced items coupon! There was no sale on Wet N Wild this week, so I basically bought 4 polishes and received 2 free. Pretty good deal.

Colors from left to right:

• #34269 Titanium Crush
• #34268 Mountain High
• #34267 Emerald Rock City
• #34266 Mazel Toy Madness

There were 2 other colors on the display I was not interested in. One was a bronze color and the other was a clear polish with silver sparkle pieces. I felt neither of those were unique or anything I didn't already have/couldn't buy on a regular basis.

Swatched: Wet 'N Wild Fergie Fall 2013 Collection Part 2

Here is the rest of the limited edition collection from Wet 'N Wild's Fergie line that came out this fall. These are the 2 creme liners and primer that came out. I know these were the products most sought out in this collection. 

The picture above is of the bright blue liner called "Cobalt Vault". Just by looking at it in the package, I knew I had to have it. Opening it up, it appears even more appealing.

The purple, which is called "Gunmetal Grape", appears much darker in the picture than it really is. Unfortunately, with the lighting in my place (and it was natural light) this is the best I could do. It is actually a much more vibrant purple, similar to the it's blue mate.

Here is just a swipe of the colors using the brush that came with them. They are bright and bold in color, but they are not opaque at first.

Using "Cobalt Vault", you can see the colors are buildable. In other words- you can build up the opacity of these, making them usable and wearable. - You can also see there is sparkle in them, which may or may not make it more appealing to you.

Using "Gunmetal Grape", I tried my best to demonstrate that these eyeliners don't wipe off very well and have really good staying power. After just one swipe of the color, I tried to wipe it off and there is a little smudging, but after that I could not get these off. Having never bought the core liners from the Fergie line, I had no idea what to expect, but I was really glad to see colored liner that stayed put, especially a purple one. In the past I have experienced a lot of liners that don't stay or aren't as long lasting if they're not the Black or the Brown of the collection. -This is not the case here, which I'm happy to report. I will say, that it does take a bit long for these to dry, longer than I would like and longer than a lot of other brands like Maybelline or Buxom; the longer than average dry time does mean that building the colors up takes time, because if it's too wet when you apply another coat it's not going to smooth over well.

The other thing I'd like to add is that the brush that comes with it is thick and bushy, which is not ideal for most of us when applying liner. You definitely cannot get a thin line with this brush and I have a good amount of lid space and still would not use this brush to apply liner. They are sturdy and they were both made the same (I've had problems in the past with buying the same brush from a company and they being quite different), which is good, but I would not recommend using them with any liner.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the liners in this collection though and I would recommend them if you are a fan of Wet 'N Wild and/or the Fergie line. Also, if you're looking for some fun and colored liners and don't want to spend too much, these would do good for you. They're obviously not the same quality as Urban Decay, Makeup Forever, etc, but for the price they are quite good.

The eyeshadow primer was what I was most interested in. This limited edition one is called "A Little Party...". I had heard great things about the core primer in this line, but I had never used it for I exclusively use Too Faced "Shadow Insurance", but I went ahead and bought this one anyway. The picture shows a good amount when I squeezed it out of the tube. I then took a little amount from the pile and spread it out. It is pretty thick and it definitely is shimmery as it advertises. It has a pink hue to it. I did not intend to squeeze out that much, it just comes easier than I expected -just a little warning. I did actually use this once, but I don't have pictures. The night before I moved I used it with my shadows. It showed up pretty well on my skin with the shimmer, but I don't feel it was anywhere near as good as the Shadow Insurance. I didn't really do anything active. I went out to dinner with friends to say goodbye and then we sat around and talked, but I felt this really only last about 4 hours. After 6 hours it was pretty much useless on my lids. I am not a fan of this and would not recommend it. Again, I have no experience with the primer in the core line, but this is a big disappointment for me. I do have really oily skin, so that did play a part, but I have no problems with Too Faced.

Swatched: Wet 'N Wild Fergie Fall 2013 Collection Part 1

First off, let me start by saying that I know it's been 2 weeks since I've posted anything, but I moved. It was not a small move either; I moved to the other side of the country. I drove too, which meant that it took days to get there and I had an unexpected car problem along the way which delayed me a day. Not to mention that I arrived to my new home one evening and the next morning I started work, and I have been working all week long. The day of my last post, I actually was leaving within less than 48 hours for my trip and still had to finish my work (job there), packing, loading up, and saying goodbye. - I am doing well though and am trying my best to adjust to a completely different atmosphere and culture, as well as dealing with being away from my family, friends, and cat.

NOW! As promised: Swatches of the Fergie Fall 2013 limited edition collection from the makers of Wet 'N Wild! Along with a review! I realize this is kind of late, but this collection for some areas is just hitting the market and for everyone else who has been on the fence about buying it, this may help you. - I'm starting with the Photo Op Eyeshadow Palettes to get them out of the way. I know that the majority of people do not seem to like these, but I have had good luck with the core line. I will say that with the few limited edition palettes I have used full out, they are not as good as the core line ones for some reason, with the reason being unknown to me. Overall, for the value, I think they're good and you're getting a deal. So, I like these palettes. These palettes seem to be a "love/hate relationship" for people; either people really enjoy them or they loathe them. So, feel free to skip this entry if you're not into them, or keep reading if you want see.

There are 4 palettes in this limited collection and you can easily identify them with the "limited edition" stickers that were stuck on them. Starting with the top left- The pink & purple palette is called "Rose Parade"; the gray, smokey palette is "Bulletproof Glide"; the blue palette is "After Hours", and the green palette is "Suburban Jungle".

Starting with "Rose Parade", this palette surprised me the most. I'm not a huge purple or pink fan when it comes to eyeshadow; I just don't wear them a lot or find myself reaching for those colors that often, especially purple. I do, however, like this palette! 

Here are swatches of the 5 colors from Rose Parade with no primer and a few swipes of each color. In my opinion, these swiped nicely with good pigmentation and I didn't have a big issue with fallout; there was a little fallout with the bright purple, but nothing major and not enough to complain about. The colors are real smooth and easy to apply. The light purple and the light pink are stiffer than the rest of the colors, but still very workable.

I did my best to try to show the gold in the dark purple color. The color has gold shimmer in it and though it appears to just be a grayish purple, it really is an awesome color! The purple in the center and the black are matte, but the rest have a shimmer or glitter in them. I'd also like to add that this palette goes nicely with the limited edition creme eyeliners and that came out with this collection, especially the purple one.

Moving on, the "Bulletproof Glide" palette is the most disappointing of the 4. The collection looks good on the palette, but the colors are not that great in performance and are not anything special. With all of the nude palettes out, both drug store and high end, I feel like you can't really produce a palette like this without making it great. 

Without primer, I swatched the colors with just a swipe. The colors do not have great pigmentation, with an exception of the black in the center of the palette. I know that the colors kind of blend into my skin tone, but trust me when I say the pigmentation is not really there in this palette.

Here they are with a couple more swipes. The colors are buildable, but not near as good as "Rose Parade" and it takes some work. The black and the brown color are matte, with the rest of the colors having shimmer to them. The black is really the only good performing color in the palette. The brown color does perform well and has good pigmentation, but it just does not go well with most skin tones since it has a grey tone to it. The creme color is just okay, but takes a wild to build and the gray and silver colors come up pretty disappointing. I would recommend skipping this palette, especially if you didn't want to buy them all anyway. I definitely would not use without a primer. I don't mean to sound hateful towards this palette, but in comparison to the others it is pretty bad. Also, if you buy the "Rose Parade" palette you're going to get a matte black. If you buy the "After Hours" palette, you'll get a silver which is pretty much the same one that you see here. So, not a loss if you skip this one.

Next up: The "After Hours" palette. This palette was made to go with the "Cobalt Vault" eyeliner that was created in this collection. -Just look at it! It definitely is a nice palette to create a night-time look.

The swatches are without a primer and with a couple swipes. The colors are decently buildable. This palette does have a pretty big fallout problem. The bright blue, lilac, and medium blue are quite big in terms of fallout. The colors look nice and can be built up, but you'll want to be careful with applying. The darkest blue, which comes off being black (even in person), and the silver are not too bad with fallout. The lilac and the bright blue are matte, with the rest of them being shimmery. The silver color in this palette comes off much better than the silver in "Bulletproof Glide" and it looks more like it has glitter pieces in it. - I like this palette, but I don't love it. If you don't normally wear colors like this, you may want to pick this up, since it's a good value and you'd have a chance to play around with this palette. For the most part, it's nothing compared to MAC or higher end brands, but it's pretty nice for a drugstore palette. It's not a must have in my opinion though.

Finishing this collection with "Suburban Jungle". This was the palette I was most excited to get my hands on! These are my colors, right here! A lot of people compared this palette to the "Shades of the Hamptons" palette that was released in the limited edition summer collection this year, but personally I think this one stands on its own. With the exception of the gold color in the center, it really is not that comparable. Shades of the Hamptons has a bluer, more turquoise color in it, where as this is an aqua green. The purple color here is just purple and SOTH has a very light pink. There is a blue in SOTH, which you do not get here, and the green in SOTH is more of a true green and much brighter.The gold color is slightly different in the 2, but not that much; in SOTH the gold is a bit more shimmery and pigmentated.

Again, no primer was used and it has a couple of swipes. The colors build decently. I like the palette and "Rose Parade", and they would be the 2 must-haves for me in this collection, both due to their performance and colors. Sadly, the bright green is the worst performing color in the whole palette and the one color that I really looked forward too. It has a bit of a fallout problem too. The rest of the colors are nice. The only other thing I would say is that the gold here would be better if it were not so light. 

This concludes my review and swatches for this collection. Hope this helped anyone who was on the fence about any of these. This collection is not as good as the summer one, in my opinion, because I feel that only 2 of the 4 really are worthy of attention.

Wet 'N Wild Fergie Fall 2013 Display

So, by now most people know that the Fall 2013 line for Fergie's cosmetic line through Wet 'N Wild is out. A lot of people have been searching for this, because it has quite a few limited edition things. This past week (August 25-August 31) Walgreens had a 40% off sale on the Fergie cosmetics. So, I was so hoping that I would find this display in time. Indeed I did! It took a while. I had visited 3 Walgreens and 1 of them I visited about 3 times, and had not found any trace of these. I went out to eat with a friend and decided to stop at the Walgreens around that area and I hit the jackpot! 

***Side note: I feel lately that Walgreens, or at least the ones around my area, have done a real poor job at advertising their cosmetic sales. I check a web site, Nouveau Cheap, every week to find most drug store sales and that's how I knew there was a sale this week at Walgreens for Fergie. However, only 1 of the 4 Walgreens I went into had signs up that told me that there were was a 40% off sale and that was 1 of the stores that did not have this collection. I also would not have known about the sale Walgreens was having on their Sinful Colors polish if it weren't for Nouveau Cheap, because my Walgreens failed to put any signs up until this last week, which is crazy since this sale has been going on for like a month!

The display was just a cardboard display that was sitting on the side of the cosmetics counter. The display seemed untouched. In the photo you'll notice some items missing, but my friend and I had already taken out what we wanted, so that's why.

The first row did not contain anything new. The mascara and the black & brown gel liners are from the core line and not Limited Edition. I did not pick up either of these, nor do I currently own them and I have never tested them.

The second row was a mix of Limited Edition and core line. The Shimmer Take On The Day eye primer and the blue & purple gel liners are Limited Edition. The other eye primer is from the core line. I did purchase all of the Limited Edition products, but skipped the regular primer. 

The third row contained eyeshadow palettes from the core line and you can purchase these any day. They were part of the 40% sale, but they're not new or limited. The palette on the far right (last one) I have previously owned and really liked. I highly recommend! The only reason I don't have it now, is because I dropped it and although the shadow did not break the plastic, clear cover did and I had to throw it out, because I could not fix it.

The last row, which contained 4 different palettes then the row above it were Limited Edition and they had the "Limited Edition" sticker on it. With the 40% off, the palettes dropped to $2.99 from their regular $4.99 price.

Now I'd like to point something out- On Nouveau Cheap's post about this display the creator, G, did not know if the new primer and gel liners were going to be added to the core line or not. While neither have the Limited Edition stickers on them, the displays do say "limited edition" under them, so I'm thinking they will not be added to the core line and if you want them I suggest getting them now! 

That's all I for now. Let me know if you found the display in time for the sale and what you bought. Stay tuned for swatches!

Wet 'N Wild Fergie Summer 2013 Photo Op Eyeshadows

I finally caved in and bought the Wet 'N Wild Fergie Photo Op Summer 2013 eyeshadow palettes. I missed the original display that came out earlier this year. I'm not sure if my Walgreen stores just never received them, if I just some how overlooked them or if they were only in Rite Aids and/or CVS stores, because I do not have a Rite Aid close to me and I rarely go into CVS now that I live in Tennessee. (I pretty much stick to Walmart, Target, and Walgreens -they cover every brand and all my drug store cosmetic needs. Occasionally, I go into a CVS.) Recently, I saw small displays popping up at Walgreens which contain the lip glosses and the palettes. They are just shelf displays, not real big, and some Walgreen stores didn't even bother putting up the displays and the palettes and glosses are mixed in with the core Fergie line on the shelves. I saw the displays in 3 different Walgreens and passed them up for 2 weeks. I have heard very mixed reviews on these. While some people are saying that they feel they get a good deal for their money and that the shadows are just as good (with some saying even better) as the core line, the other half of the beauty community is spouting to stay away and that they are a huge disappoint due to bad color pay off; very powdery; and no staying power. 

Personally, I feel the colors are appealing and they go together well. Here's what did me in- If you look closely on the right corners of these palettes you can see marks from where a peel off coupon was. These Walgreen displays had a $1 off coupon on them making these $3.99 instead of the normal $4.99.

I took these home and swatched them to see the color pay off and to get a feel of the texture and quality. Personally, I have had good luck with the palette that I received. For my birthday this year, I was given "#A029 Desert Festival". When using this palette, most people couldn't even tell I was using a drug store cosmetic. 

The picture is of my eye and a make-up look I did earlier this year. The purple color is from the "Desert Festival" palette. I have received tons of praise from this look and no one guessed I used a drug store eyeshadow.

The first palette swatched was "Shades of the Hamptons". This is the more colorful palette, although the colors are cool and pastel. The only color I really foresee being difficult is the pink color; it is a bit on the chalky side and not as smooth as the rest of the colors. It still does give color though and the rest of the shades seem soft, which will make them easy to blend. The fallout didn't seem like it'd be too bad either. I'm excited to try this palette!

The second palette is called "Newport Nights" and it is a more neutral color. Again, the only color that seems to be difficult is the pink color. Not sure what it is with the pinks....... The bronze color in the middle is very intriguing to me. You can't tell from the picture, but it is a bronze with a good amount of shimmer to it.

Overall, I am really excited to try these out and I think they're going to be good. Especially considering the price that I paid, only $3.99, it it was a good deal. The only real problems I have are- The names of the palettes were only on the sticker that you have to take off in order to open the palettes, so you either have to remember the names or look them up. A pet peeve of mine with cosmetics is when companies don't make it easy or accessible to find the names of their products on the actual product.

The other warning I have- my first palette I received for my birthday broke when I dropped it. Not the colors in it, but the actual palette. The clear plastic part that you view the colors through just came out and there was no way for me to put it back together or protect the eyeshadows, so I had to toss it. I only used it a handful of times. I have had bad luck in the past with Wet 'N Wild's trios and 8 pans breaking easily but dropping them or having them placed in the wrong way, but that was the actual eyeshadow breaking. With these, I would say that while the shadow seems hardier, the palettes feel more sturdy, but really aren't.

Just in case you didn't know- there are lip glosses that went with this collection, but I have never felt compelled to try Wet 'N Wild lip products, so I passed on those. I have also heard really bad reviews from the colors in this collection.