HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! :)

The two greatest compliments I received today:

1. "It looks like I'm watching you in HD!"

(this could be due to the primer I was wearing OR a highlight I used on my cheekbones OR the bronzer?! I think it's the primer...)

2.  "Your lashes look fake from here" 

(such an amazing mascara that makes your lashes have a BOLD statement! = LOVE; i don't like to fuss with false eyelashes, simply because I suck at putting them on and when I mess up it ruins my eyeshadow, also I don't want to practice.. )

***Just wanted to share this. I'm not trying to be full of myself!!  Just thought, I really must be using good face/makeup products to get such wonderful compliments!! These should be HG products then!  Comment to know what I used!

more DISCOVERIES coming soon...

- MAC lipglasses vs L'Oreal Colour Juice Lipglosses

- my favorite pale nude lip combination

- my favorite dark red lip

- Lippie F A I L S

- most used blush

- blush fails

- favorite makeup brushes

***Don't forget to tune in every week for these upcoming discoveries!!! You'll want to try them yourself!! If you can't wait to hear about these awesome discoveries, then leave a comment and I'll try to post them sooner! :) 

Transforming the color of a Lipstick!

Did you know.....

 you can achieve different lip color looks with ONE lipstick?? 

Well, that's the beauty of LIPLINERS!!!  

It's amazing how lipliners can transform the color of the way your lipstick looks in the tube!

I made this awesome discovery when I tried on 3 different lipliners with my current favorite lipstick, MAC Jubilee!!  My lipstick mainly took on the color of the lipliner and, in addition, added a nice texture and look.  :)  Also,  in this process, I discovered a dupe for MAC Spirit (satin) lipstick! (stay tuned to find out...)

So, today I had the urge to buy some lipliners!  I bought 3 creme lipliner pencils from Wet n Wild: Brandy Wine-#666, Chestnut-#711, and Willow -#712.  These were only $0.99 each!!

I tried each of these lipliners underneath either MAC Jubilee or MAC Hug Me.

I applied the lipliners all over my lips, not just to outline.  

*I'll post more pictures later this week. 

Brandy Wine (#666) - shimmery medium bronze (This looks great paired with MAC Hug Me.  It makes the lipstick darker and gives a warm brown/bronze look)

This is with 

Picture below:  

WnW Brandy Wine lipliner + Mac Hug Me l/s + L'Oreal Colour Juice l/g in Caramel

Chestnut (#711) - medium matte brown with slight orange/red undertone; similar to an indian brown (This color is the darkest of the 3. This to me is a dupe for MAC Spirit lipstick! But, a hint lighter maybe.) 

Willow (#712) - neutral matte light brown with peach undertone (Great to use for a neutral/nude lip)

All three of these are beautiful!!  I'm already in love with them.  They apply so easily without tugging!  They don't feel drying, but I did moisturize beforehand.  You get a good amount of product; the pencil is 7-8 inches long (that's what she said)!  I bought these at Walgreens and they carried maybe 3-4 more lipliners.  I would definitely recommend trying these, especially since they are sooo cheap!!  Also, they look like they can be dupes to MAC lipliners, especially the WnW Chestnut (but I don't know the names of MAC's nor do I own any, but I saw they have a popular brown/nude one they tend to use on people).  

Review: Dupe for MAC Lollipop Loving l/s

I saw on a youtube video that a dupe for MAC Lollipop Loving l/s was Wet n Wild 516C  l/s.  This color is not flattering on me at all!  (FYI: I have berry/red pigmented lips and been told to be NC40 in MAC. ) 

My natural lip color.

WnW 516c lipstick

First, let's talk about the l/s itself,  it costs 99cents without tax.  It did not seem drying and it applied easily.  The picture above of the l/s is true-to-color, orange-red-pink with some shimmer. (Sorry, forgot the actual color of the shimmer, since I already gave this to my cousin.)  The shimmer might look like glitter on the l/s tube but on your lips it has a frosty effect.  The l/s applied basically true to color on my lips.  Also, itseemed a little frosty in appearance.  

The above pictures are my lips with the WnW l/s.  

I don't think this picture shows how unflattering it is,

nor does it really show that the l/s is true-to-color.

The picture reflects the frosty pink color.  

In this picture, it actually looks nice! But don't be fooled!  

You know how your lips look when you drink fruit punch, or some other drink, that stains your lips slightly red?  Well, that's exactly what my lips looked like, especially when I opened my mouth and you see my inner berry/red lips.  

WARNING: I would NOT recommend this l/s color to anyone with berry/red pigmented lips! It's not a good look.  HOWEVER, I had my cousins try this on and it looked nice on her.  She has much more darker skin than me and her lips are almost a muted brown with slight pink undertone.  The l/s on her had a baby pink frosty effect and lightened her natural lip color. 

I can't say that this l/s really is a dupe for MAC LL l/s because I don't own MAC LL l/s nor have I tried it on. 

Review: VS Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm

HG status!!! I was using Carmex in the tube and the Walgreen's brand but these were just "ehh decent for the moment".  Also, they seem to just absorb into my lips, then my lips would feel dry again and I would reapply.  It did nothing to repair cracked skin lips.  I exfoliated all the time and these chapsticks did nothing to repair my skin lips.  However, once I started using VS Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm, I barely had to exfoliate and I notice a big difference in the condition of my lips!  

I use this balm every morning and night.  It feels light and non-greasy.  It has a slight glossy effect on lips. May be slightly sticky?? If it does, it doesn't bother me.  It's simply perfect!  Barely feels like you even have it on. 

On the back of the container, there is a small piece of paper that you can open up and it states the ingredients in the balm. The ingredients are listed below.  I think the oils in this product is what makes it effective.  I wonder if other balms have these also? 

Ingredients:

polybutene, hydrogenated polyisobutene, petrolatum, ceresin, ozokerite, propylene glycol dicaprylate/dicaprate, octyldodecanol, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum, huike minerale), camphor, menthol, retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate, ascorbyl palmitate, tocopherol, stearyl alcohol, calcium sodium borosilicate, allantoin, propylparaben, butylparaben, tin oxide, limonen, linalool

The only thing I don't like is I have to use my finger to apply.  I don't like this type of application, which is why I don't bring it with me everywhere and reapply during the day.  I only use right after washing my hands.  I don't want to contaminate the balm.  I plan on taking out a chunk of the lip balm and putting it in a mini jar/sample jar so that I can carry it around; this way, if anything, only a small chunk of the balm will get contaminated.  

I highly recommend trying this!  It's different from other chapsticks and lip balms I have tried in the past!  I think it comes in 3 different colors.  I have it in petal soft.  They have clear and some other one.

Large list of MAC Dupes

 Here is a list of drugstore/ inexpensive recommendations for products very similar or “duplicates” (aka dupe) of MAC products.  This list was compiled from youtube videos, blogs, and boards. 

 

***Please comment to add onto this list or to state if the products listed fail to be a dupe for you

 

Happy reading and shopping!!

 

L I P G L O S S

• Big Baby - Revlon CS timeless nude
• Chai- Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Cappuccino 
• Clear Lipglass- Wet 'n Wild Glassy Gloss in Clear; Bonne Bell Enticemint (clear);
  
• Rimmel Lip Vinyl in Clear; NYC Kiss Gloss; Caboodles Fruitopian Glosses 
• C-thru- Milani Secret #12 gloss, Prestige Vinylwear lipgloss in Liquid 
• Dreamy- Wet 'n Wild Precious Metals Lip Gloss in Sugar Plum 
• Explicit- Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Shoutin' Sugar 
• Fancy That- Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds Liquid in Marquise Peach 
• Freezefrost- Wet 'n Wild in Shimmy Shimmer 
• Love Nectar - Milani Coral Shimmer lipgloss 
• Lovechild- Rimmel Snog 
• Lust- Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Cappuccino, or Mocha Mousse,Neutrogena Lip Gloss in Chic, Prestige Vinylwear in Cha Cha, Jane Mirage Lip Dips pot lipstick, Almay 1 Coat lipgloss in Blush, L'Oreal ColuorJuice in Passionfruit Squeeze 
  
• Lychee Luxe- Chanel Glossimer in Sirop, or Volage, Neutrogena Lip Gloss in First Blush, NYC in Sungold Pink 
• Nico- Maybelline Lip Polish in Purple Passion, L'Oreal Glass Shines in Luminous Lilac & Lilac Crystal 
• Nymphette- Milani summer baby
• Oh Baby- Neutrogena Lip Gloss in Glimmer, Rimmel Vinyl Lip in Cosmic, Milani Serendipity gloss, Revlon Lip Glace in Lounge Lizard, L'Oreal Glass Shine in Bronze Radiance 
• Oyster Girl- Caboodles Lip Dee-lish in Deelux, Neutrogena Lip Gloss in Tickled, NYC Lipstick #548A 
• Pink Clash- Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Berry 'Nilla Creme 
• Pop Mode- Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds Liquid in Jewels 'n Berries 
• Prrr- L'Oreal Colour Juice in Mai Tai, Almay One Coat Lipstick in Petal; Rimmel Lip Vinyl in Essential; Rimmel Lip Vinyl in East End Snob; Wet 'n Wild Liquid Lipstick in Rose Gold 
• Revealing- Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Cappuccino 
• Russian Red- NYC Kiss Gloss in Cherry, Prestige Vinylwear in Sleek 
  
•  Song and Dance- Prestige Vinylwear in Mica 
• Star Nova- Sonia Kashuk Sexy lipgloss 
• Underage l/g - L'oreal Color Juice Bubblegum, L'oreal paris bare natural lip conditioner Soft petal, Milani secret, Wet 'N' Wild Glassy Gloss in Sugar Glaze 
• VGV - Neutragena Dreamy lipgloss or Salley Hansen Diamon Lip Treatment in
  
• Royal Romance 
• V-Red- Prestige lip liner in Baby 

L I P S T I C K

• Blonde on Blonde- Wet 'n Wild 770A Gold Rush 
  
• Bubbles - Wet 'n' Wild #516A lipstick 
  
• Carnal - L'Oreal Wine and Dine lipstick 
  
• Creme de la Femme - Rimmel Asia, Milani Pink Chiffon 
  
• Creme d'Nude - Revlon Matte l/s in Nude Attitude
• Cyber - Manic Panic lipstick in Black Witch 
  
• Dainty Cake - NYC Firefly #306b 
  
• DEl Rio - Cosmetic Factory Brazil lipstick, Necessities lipstick in LeeAnn 
  
• Delish - Wet 'n' Wild Ice Cream lipstick 
  
• Diva - Jane lipstick in Really Raisin 
  
• Film Noir - L'Oreal Colour Endure lipstick in Hot Fudge 
  
• Flavour - Maybelline Nude Pink lipstick 
  
• Frenzy - Revlon Bamboo Bronze lipstick 
  
• Frou - Bonne Bell Vanilla Volts lipstick 
  
• Grid - Bonne Bell LipGear in Traffic Jam 
  
• Haku - Wet 'n' Wild #546-A lipstick 
  
• High strung - maybelline A12 sugarplum ice
  
• High Tea - Milani Sheer Lipstick in Amaterro 
  
• Hyper - Revlon Granite lipstick 
  
• Impish Lipglass- Rimmel Vinyl Lip in Eastend Snob 
• Lame - Prestige Sorbet lipstick 
  
• Lavender Whip - NYX Power!
  
• Lollipop Loving - WnW 516C 
• Lust - Maybelline Great Wear lipstick in Silver Lilac, Revlon Virtual Violet lipstick 
  
• Midimauve- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Smokey Rose 
  
• Modum - Almay Malt lipstick 
  
• Myth - Revlon Matte l/s in Nude Attitude
• O- Chanel Glossimer in Spark, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Copperglow Berry, Jordana Bahama Bronze, Jordana Bahama Bronze; Revlon Mulled Cider; Prestige Fudge Brownie Aromatherapy Lipgloss; Wet 'n Wild #769  
  
• Oak- Rimmel Femme Fatale 
  
• Odyssey - Bonne Bell LipGear in Berry Bash 
  
• Pervette - Jane HipLips in Pink Slip 
  
• Retro - Jane Lipstick in Browned Down Red 
  
• Rockocco - Milani Candy Apple lipstick 
  
• Russian Red - Sonia Kashuk lipstick in Geisha or Prestige Lipstick in Fatal Red 
  
• Sequin - Almay Sequin one coat lipstick 
  
• Strawberry Blonde- Victoria's Secret Love Bite 
  
• Strength - Avon Brilliant Moisture Lipstick in Tiger's Eye 
  
• Touch - Jane Browned Down Red lipstick, The Body Shop Vanilla lipstick 
  
• Twig - Avon Twig lipstick, Prestige VIP lipstick, Jane LipHuggers in Kind Of Carob; 
  
• Underworld- Neutrogena in South Beach 
  
• Viva Glam V- Neutrogena Moisture Shine Gloss in Dreamy, Milani Sher Lipstick in Pink Chiffon, Neutrogena Moistureshine Tinted Lip Balm in Clean #20 , NYC ultra last lipwear in 412B, NYC Cafe
  
• Viva Glam II - Jane Flipstick in Roseland, Maybelline Great Wear Lipstick in Flesh 
  
• Wuss - Avon Spice lipstick, Wet 'n' Wild #547A lipstick 
  
• XS - Cosmetic Factory Extra lipstick, Wet 'n' Wild #506A lipstick
  

 

L I P L I N E R

• Girlfriend- Prestige lip liner in Baby 
  
• Mahogany- Prestige Auburn 
  
• Plum- Prestige Lip Pencil in Deep Plum, Revlon Colorstay Plum 
  
• Spice- Cover Girl CG Smoothers Lip Liner in Cinnamon Slick, Wet 'n Wild #712 or #666; Avon - Glimmersticks Lip Liner in Glimmer Simply Spice; Annabelle Lip Pencil in Spice, Prestige Sand, Estee Lauder Spice, Wet n’ Wild #666 or #712 Liner  
  
• Spirit - Cosmetic Factory Angel lipstick 
  
• Stripdown- Rimmel Femme Fatale 
  
• Test Pattern- Sephora Lip Pencil 114 
  
• Whirl- Rimmel Darling Nude 

 

B L U S H

• On a mission blush (style warriors) - Revlon Powder blush #6 Wine with everything
  

E Y E S H A D O W

• All that glitters – WnW  neutral trio palette (light shade); NYX Champagne
  
• Amber Lights - Milani Sun Goddess, NYX Golden 
 
  
• Bamboo - Wild and Crazy Wild Guava 
 
  
• Black Tied - Jane Clubbing, Milani Storm. Prestige Onyx 
 
  
• Brill - Wild & Crazy Bahama Water 
 
  
• Brule - NYX nude
• Carbon - NYX Black
• Contrast - NYX morocco?
  
• Cork - NYX Dark Brown
• Coppering - Milani Flare 
 
  
• Creme de Violet - Aromaleigh's pure eyes frost e/s in Desire
• Dark Soul pigment - Jane Clubbing 

  
• Dazzlelight – WnW neutral trio palette 
  
• Dementhe, Steamy, Humid - Milani Clover 
 
  
• Electric Eel - Milani Atlantis 
 
  
• Gorgeous Gold - Prestige Glitz C-157 
 
  
• Guacamole - Milani Limbo Lime 
 
  
• Handwritten - loreal hip duo in shady
  
• Humid - NYX mermaid green?, Milani Clover, Ulta Shamrock
  
• Jest - Milani Peachy Peach 
 
• Juxt - Milani Garden Mist (juxt is lighter and yellower), Jane Rain Forest 
 
  
• Little Madame - Milani Illusion 
 
  
• Lucky Green - Wet n' Wild Marquis 
 
  
• Mulch, Sable - Milani Java Bean 
 
  
• Naked Lunch - Wet n' Wild Fine Wink, NYX Sahara
• Nocturnelle - Milani Shock 
 
  
• Nylon - NYX barely there
  
• Paradisco - Flirt! Feeling Hot, NYX Tropical, Covergirl Tropical Fusion Quad (orange shade) 
 ; Revlon Brushed Copper
  
• Parfait Amour - Milani Enchantment 
 
  
• Passionate - NYX Cherry
• Perverted Pearl - Milani Silver Bullet 
 
  
• Pink Freeze - Milani Taffy 
  
• Plum dressing - Loreal hip duo in Cheeky
  
• Sable - Milani Java Bean
• Satin Taupe - L'oreal hip duo in Sassy (brown shade), NYX Root Beer, NYX Iced Mocha
  
• Shadowy lady - loreal hip duo in wicked (purple side)
  
• Shale - Milani Icy Plum 
 
  
• Shroom - Milani Classic Beige, Jordana's Beige
• Silver Pigment - Milani Mercury 
 
  
• Sketch - Milani Marooned 
 
  
• Stars n Rockets - Milani Shock
• Steamy - Milani Clover
• Sumptuous Olive - Milani Antiqued Gold
• Trax - Flirt, Glamourazzi 
 
• Vanilla - Covergirl single in French Vanilla, Milani Snow Frost 

• Vellum - Milani Moonlight 
 
 
•  Wedge - Loreal hip duo in Shady
  
•  Woodwinked - Milani Golden Bronze, Loreal hip duo in Wicked (brown side)

  

*Milani single e/s fit into ELF e/s palette or MAC's pro e/s palette

*Check out this website where they have a link of left side that says "MAC Clones". Apparently they attempt to make products very very similar to MAC. I have not purchased from this site nor am I affiliated with them but I saw someone mention it. If you give it a try, please let me know how the products are!

Review: My first MAC palette!!

MAC e/s: (left to right) 1st row- Brule, Arena.  2nd row- Hypnotizing, Graphology

BRULE (satin) - pale beige color, smooth application, used for e/s base to smooth out the lid so other e/s colors will apply better, can also be used as a highlight for brow bone

ARENA (satin) - light champagne color, not glittery but does give off a sheen, great for everyday neutral main lid color.  It gives the look of people questioning whether you are wearing e/s or not because your eyes just "pop" which is definitely the look I'm going for and was looking for an e/s color that did just that and finally found it! Can you say HG! :)

HYPNOTIZING (frost) - chameleon effect of colors from purple, mauve, brown, gray;  color reflected may depend on what other colors are used with this e/s; when swiped with finger may come off chunky but definitely did not have that effect with a brush and applied to lid, great unique e/s color to have

GRAPHOLOGY (matte2) - dark bluish purple with hint of gray, very easy to blend, great for outer v or crease, this color is not sold online at MAC and I think is being discontinued but some MAC counters near you may still carry it because that's where I got mine recently, great color for smokey eyes

Tools used to depot e/s:  Hair straightener, metal nail file (single and the one on a nail clipper), magnetic adhesive roll (from Michael's for only $1), Rubbing alcohol (mine was 70% alcohol), qtips, and baking wax sheet (to protect hair straightener from plastic or glue melting on it)

*I youtubed videos to depot e/s and found that using a hair straightener to melt the glue was the easiest and fastest way to do it despite the fumes.  I would highly recommend this technique because it takes less effort and gets the job done quick!  No need for special scissors to cut the plastic or pliers or whatnot.  It actually took a bit more effort and time to take off the excess glue stuck on the e/s pan with alcohol and qtips. 

***For steps on how to do this, just youtube a video that uses a hair straightener.  I used a few slightly different tools:

- metal nail file (single) to remove the e/s from the container, take the e/s pan off, and the e/s sticker

- metal nail file from nail clipper was used to poke through the back of the e/s once the glue was melted to remove it from its black counterpart

- wax paper was placed on straightener plate and e/s was then placed on top of it; this way no glue or plastic or any residue was left on the straightener

The magnetic roll already has an adhesive side which I stuck to the bottom of the e/s pan.  This is sandwiched between the e/s pan and the e/s label (the sticker underneath MAC's e/s container).  To remove this sticker from MAC's e/s container, I put the container with the sticker side placed onto the straightener and let the glue melt, then I used the nail file to remove the sticker by sticking it underneath the sticker.  I stuck the sticker onto the magnet without the use of extra adhesive; the sticker was still sticky after removing it from the container that it didn't need any more to stick to the magnet.

*** If you have any questions on the technique I used or the e/s, please comment.  

FAIL BLOG!

Sorry, will post a review tomorrow.  Post tomorrow will be about my first time to depot MAC e/s and how much I like the new e/s in my first palette!  

Also, I might start posting 2 reviews a week or as I feel, but will definitely have at least one a week!  The reason I chose to do a review once a week was because I felt I didn't have enough makeup to review, however now I feel I have so much to say and share with the products I have that I just can't wait a whole 7 days to share! :) 

I will take requests on makeup you would like reviewed into consideration and at which time these request reviews will be posted weekly.  

Party & Christmas look

First time doing fairly dark eyeshadow.  The flash from the camera phone makes it not look as dark though.  

Eyes:  UDPP; mixture of gray, silver, and black from the coastal scents 88 warm palette  (highlight brow bone color from this palette also); Wet n Wild Liquid eyeliner; Rimmel 

Cheeks:  Contoured with MAC sculpt & shape in accentuate from Dsquared; Flirt- Bronze Kissed blush dusted over cheeks; MAC MSF Refined as a highlight over cheekbones

Lips: Revlon Colorstay Lipliner in Natural; L'Oreal Fairest Nude lipstick;  NYX Frosted Beige megashine lipgloss

Merry Christmas

Eyes: mix of brown eyeshadows from Coastal scents 88 warm palette; main lid color MAC Hey eyeshadow from Fafi eyes palette

Cheeks: same as above

Lips:  Rimmel 1000 kisses lipliner in Cherry Kiss ; NYX Black Cherry lipstick

Review on "My Drugstore Skin Care Routine"

Since I failed to do a review last Sunday, here's a package deal on reviews for the products I use as part of my skin care routine.  I have combination skin: dry in the winter and fairly oily in the summer, and sometimes an oily T-zone.  

Morning routine: face wash + moisturizer

Night routine: face wash + acne spot treatment (I don't moisturize at night)

Face wash: Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash redness soothing gentle scrub microclear

"clears breakouts & reduces redness; naturally soothing aloe and chamomile"

Active ingredient:  2% salicylic acid

Price: ~$6-8

My review: This face wash is amazing!  I have dry skin in the winter and this leaves my skin feeling moisturized, smooth, and fresh!  After washing my face, there's a cooling sensation and my skin feels so soft to touch.  However, I still have to moisturize.  The texture is quite creamy and you're suppose to "add water and work into a lather".  You only need a small amount- about dime size and mix with water and in circular motions I apply onto my face.  The smell isn't unpleasant- just fresh.  I feel that the beads exfoliate my skin every time!  My skin used to have some dry patches but after using this product those patches are gone!  Also, the areas of redness on my face were reduced when using this.  I been using this product for about a month without any problems, and I even notice less breakouts! :)  Definitely, recommend trying this!

Acne spot treatment:  Clean & Clear Maximum Strength Invisible Blemish Treatment

"Fights pimples all day"

Active ingredient:  2% salicylic acid

Price: ~$5-8

My review: I use this every night after washing my face.  I apply a small amount of product on my acne.  It dries clear and leaves a clear film where applied.  The next morning I notice that my acne is less red and even reduced in size!  Definitely recommend trying this product if you have small breakouts here and there!  

Face Moisturizer:  Clean & Clear Oil-Free Dual Action Moisturizer

"Moisturizes dry skin; treats & helps prevent pimples"

Active ingredient:  0.5% salicylic acid

Price: ~$5-7

My review:  This is a cheap and decent moisturizer.  I been using this for a couple years now.  I still have breakouts every now and then while using this product and the only thing I feel this does is moisturize.  This product doesn't feel greasy.  It's a cream and absorbs fairly quickly onto skin.  Throughout the day, my T-zone may get oily (but it can also be due to the food I'll eat).  I don't have much to say about this.  I'd recommend this if you are looking for a cheap moisturizer.  

Words from Kandee

"if your heart is hurting or sad....just know that you are wonderful, everything you've done in the past can be washed clean, and everyday is a fresh start to enjoy and change your life.....

God gives us a fresh new canvas to paint our lives on, every morning..."