MAC A Novel Romance Collection: Haul and Swatches!

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

So today you get to hear about my very unique experience being both a makeup addict and a working girl. I spent most of yesterday afternoon calling all the different MAC counters in my city, asking if they would hold the two measly products I wanted from the new collection. Over and over again they said no, and I actually got kinda scared. I started thinking to myself. If I am unable to get my hands on these products, I shall be very put out.

Eh. Maybe not. But still.

People hoard MAC LE lipsticks like they're rare artifacts (and then sell them on eBay for $40, but I digress), and I was scared that I wouldn't get my hands on the two things I really wanted. I decided to phone in my order, so I set my alarm at work for 10 am and dialed faster than those nasty people over-order LE MAC lipsticks.

Needless to say, those babies are now mine.

LORAC PRO Palette 2: Swatches and Review

WARNING:

This review might influence future makeup purchases.

It's official. I'm in love. I wanted to meet him in person before I said anything (our relationship had mostly taken place online), but the moment I saw him, I knew.

Here's my love, the new LORAC PRO Palette 2.

Five Ways to Wear MAC's Riot House Lipstick!

Hey, guys!

Long time no see! For this post, I've got something a little different. I know the MAC Osbournes collection came out recently, and if you were lucky enough to snag what you wanted, congratulations! I got the Riot House lipstick because it was just the most adorable color ever, but then I realized that it is not necessarily the most wearable color for anyone above an NW20. SOOOOO..... Naturally I had to find some ways to make it more wearable! I found five different ways (with a mix of high end, limited edition, and drugstore) to wear Riot House without looking dead!

Ah! scary color! nooooooooooo

Drugstore Dupe for MAC's Toying Around lipstick from Playland!

Hey, guys!

So, I found something very interesting after I got home from my trip to MAC the other week. I had a feeling I had seen the color I bought (Toying Around) before in my collection, so I decided to pull out my coral pinks and swatch them next to each other. I found a near identical dupe, and I was glad/frustrated that the dupe is about a third of the price!

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette!

FINALLY.

Makeup you can eat. Well, almost.

e.l.f. HD Cream Blushes in Showstopper and Headliner: Swatches and review!

Hey, guys!

So, I know that I recently hauled and reviewed a ton of stuff from Sephora, which isn't all that affordable. I wanted to show these two products from e.l.f. that are absolutely outstanding and will cost you $3. These are the HD Blushes, which are very, very, similar to the Makeup Forever HD blushes. I have not tried the latter, so I can't say how the formulas compare. The packaging is nearly identical.

Review and Swatches: Butter London Colour Wink Mascara in Indigo Ink!

Hey guys!

Today I'm reviewing the Butter London Colour Wink Mascara in Indigo Ink. It's no secret that good, pigmented colored mascaras are hard to find, so I wasn't expecting much out of this one. Much to my surprise (and Landon's Dismay, I'll explain later), all of the mascaras in this range were pigmented and smooth, even on dark hair!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown: Swatches and Demo!

Hey, guys!

I know. It's happened. If you go on Instagram and follow any makeup artists at all, you will have seen this baby enough times to make you wanna throw your phone into the ocean. Anastasia Beverly Hills (the unofficial queen of brows in the makeup world) released a new brow product. 

You don't just ignore this stuff.

The new Dipbrow Pomade comes in five different shades: Blonde, Auburn, Chocolate, Dark Brown, and Ebony. I picked the shade Dark Brown because although it is nearly identical to Chocolate, it is cooler in tone and matched my hair and brows better.

Ombré Lip Tutorial: Candy Yum Yum and Viva Glam Nicki 2!

Hey guys! 

Today I have a pictorial for you! You've probably seen a ton of ombré lips on Youtube, Tumblr, and Instagram. I've seen them get pretty complicated, so I thought I'd show you an easy, hassle free way to get that faded look!

You want to start off with clean, moisturized, exfoliated lips. This will help the lipsticks blend better into each other, and will allow you to use unforgiving shades without worrying about dry patches.

NOTD: Neon Polka Dot Claws!

Hey, guys!

Today I have for you what may just be my favorite NOTD ever. Last summer I fell in love with the claw look, and this is my favorite look yet!

Laura Mercier Artist Palette: Swatches and Review!

Hey guys!

Another item I bought from Sephora earlier this year was the Laura Mercier Artist Palette. This is the second palette like this that Laura Mercier has put out. I don't have the first one, but I understand it was a lot heavier on the navies and browns than this one is.

Project Pan 2014

Hey guys!

Phew! So my second to last semester of college is now over (I survived, apparently), and I thought I would commemorate it with a special challenge. It's no secret that I love makeup, and I love staying on top of new releases and new products because I love changing up my look. As many of you know, however, makeup is not the most affordable of hobbies. Whether it be drugstore or high end makeup, the bill stacks up. I know. I've been there.

So here's my attempt at being a grown up. New products are great. They're exciting and they're shiny and most of them are really high quality, but the fact is they're fads. I always think about how unfortunate it would be if I were to fall in love with something in a new release and it was later discontinued. Now, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try anything from a new collection or that you shouldn't buy limited edition products (I have a thing for LE MAC lipglasses and blushes myself), but my point is that there is a good reason to avoid getting sucked in to collections just for the sake of getting sucked in. As consumers, it's kind of hard not to. Especially if you're subscribed to several companies and their newsletters. I found myself prey to this very efficient marketing strategy this past Black Friday and Cyber Monday; I knew I didn't need all of these things, but just seeing the constant emails made me consider making a purchase.

I could go on and on about the dangers of overindulging in a hobby like this (something of which I am extremely guilty), but I think PinkSoFoxy does a great job of explaining the benefits of "decluttering" one's life and makeup drawers. Click here for her cleaning out videos!

So here's my deal.

I know I have more than enough makeup right now. I know there are plenty of things I do not use enough. I don't like that. I would love to get to a point where I actually start using up my makeup and do more replacement purchases than frivolous new ones. I just recently made a ton of new purchases, and I feel like if I keep on that track I won't ever get a chance to really enjoy and get to love what I buy, but rather end up in an endless loop of more and more makeup.

If you feel like you're on the same page as I am, hop on board! We'll support each other through this project I'm starting.

Now, plenty of people have done no-buys and project pans before, and that's what I want to do. At the same time. Kind of. You'll see.

My agreement with myself is that I won't buy any new makeup products until my birthday (March 10th), or maybe even further on, but for now the date is March. I'm a few days behind this being a full three month ban, but since I haven't bought any makeup in the last few days, I think I'll be fine.

The Rules:

1. No new makeup purchases (this includes nail polish) between the dates of December 14th and March 10th (I shall celebrate the end of the ban by picking up my Sephora birthday present! :D).

2. No browsing makeup sites (Sephora, MAC, Temptalia). This will help me avoid the false feeling that I need everything new on the market.

3. Unsubscribe to companies' newsletters (to avoid the same problem).

4. Just avoid the makeup aisles!


The Exceptions:

1. Products that run out of which I only have one (currently, that includes powder, mascara, and black eyeliner)

2. Makeup remover, brush cleaner, and nail polish remover.

3. Makeup brushes


Here's hoping this works out! I really think it is time that I change my spending habits and regulate my makeup hobby in some way, and this sounds like the perfect start. So this list of rules is the no-buy part of my challenge. On to the pan part.

Project Pan

This is where I hope to use up some of the makeup I own. I will post a list of things that I expect to finish, check up on this blog as I finish them, and give my opinion of them!

Things I hope to finish by the end of Project Pan:

1. MAC Prolongwear Concealer

2. Benefit Fake Up Concealer

3. Revlon Nearly Naked Powder

4. NYX Milk Jumbo Eye Pencil

5. MAC Naked Lunch Eyeshadow

6. Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara

7. MAC Viva Glam Nicki Minaj

So I will check up to see how I'm doing with these products, and I really think this will influence new, more creative blog posts on this page. Rather than product reviews, I really want to shift my attention to beauty and makeup tips, which I think is much more useful and interesting than saying whether or not I like something.

Like I said, I did purchase a few things recently, so I will put up posts on those things, as well as many many many FOTD posts. (I'm also working on getting GIF-style step-by-step tutorial posts, so watch out for that!


If you choose to do something like this, whatever the scale, let me know and we can do it together!

Lots of love,
Fanii

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette: Review and Swatches!

Hey guys! :)

Today I'm sharing one of my most used products! I went for the longest time convinced that I did not need this palette, because the shadows appeared to be too light for my skintone and the majority of mattes honestly kind of turned me off to the whole thing. However, after stealing my mom's for about two weeks straight, I had to face the facts. 

I needed this in my life.

NARS Eyeliner Stylo in Carpates: Swatches and Review!

Hey, guys!

So... I've been on the market for a new liquid liner for a while, and I finally decided to go for the NARS Eyeliner Stylo in Carpates, since I've heard amazing reviews AND I've never owned a NARS product before. So here we go :)

Too Faced Pretty Rebel Palette: Swatches and Review! :)

Hi, guys!!

Ok. Prepare yourselves. This post is about the palette I've been lusting after for weeks. I had convinced myself I didn't need it (I'm kind of still sure I don't) and I didn't want it, but I finally caved. This swatched so beautifully at ULTA that I couldn't resist, so I grabbed the last one and scurried out of there like I was carrying the Declaration of Independence.

Review and Swatches of Inglot 382 Matte, 343 Matte, and 124 Rainbow Eyeshadows!

Hello, everyone!

A little while ago I placed an order at Beautylish (best customer service ever, btw) and got some cool Inglot goodies! I purchased a ten eyeshadow palette, and three really colorful eyeshadows.

NOTD: Essie Sunday Funday!

Hey, all!

You know what I haven't done in a while? A Nail Of The Day post. Here we go!

whoo!

Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette: Review, Swatches, and Looks!

Hey, everyone!

W're going two for two today with palettes! Today I'm reviewing Wet n Wild's Comfort Zone palette! I know, I know, where have I been for the past year, right? I always pass this up because I think I'll never get any use out of it, and the other day, with some help from my best friend, I caved and bought it. Trust me, you will not mourn the $5 you spend on this.

Swatches and Review: LORAC Unzipped Palette!

Hey, guys!

I know I haven't been on here for quite a while, and that's because I've had so many amazing things happening in my life recently! I was the godmother in my cousin's first communion, I scored interviews for two awesome jobs, and I'm starting to prep for graduation in May! I'm SO excited, and the product in this post really reflects that.

I've been eyeing the Unzipped Palette for quite a while now, and just couldn't seem to pull the trigger. What attracted me to it was, strangely, Stila's Kitten eyeshadow. I was on the hunt for a super shiny champagne color, and I was soooo reluctant to pay $20 for Kitten that I looked for it in a palette. This took me to Stila's In The Light palette, but I wasn't crazy about the other colors in it. Lucky for me, LORAC is right next to Stila at ULTA, and I fell in love with the Unzipped Palette. We flirted for a few months before I decided to take our relationship to the next level. We met at Sephora and decided to commit.