Coastal Scents: Haul + Hot Pot Swatches

This is a post I've been unintentionally slacking on (quite majorly)! I've been wanting to share my Coastal Scents haul of goodies that I purchased during their Black Friday sale. Yep.. you read that right! During their Black Friday sale.. oops. ;)

I actually stumbled upon a LivingSocial* deal (back in October) for a Coastal Scents voucher. The deal was $12 for a $25 voucher to use on the Coastal Scents website. At the time, I wasn't sure what I wanted to use it for.. but I had a few items in mind that I had been wanting to purchase. It was a good deal so I figured.. why not!? And then I got wind of their Black Friday sale (every year, they have had a 50% off sale - entire site marked down!)..... I knew what I was saving my voucher for!
*LivingSocial is a daily deal site much like Groupon! But, my favorite part about LivingSocial.. If you purchase a deal and then share that deal with your friends - if at least three of them decide to purchase the same deal, using your share link, you get yours for free! They can also share after their purchase and get three more friends to buy to get their deal for free, too! ;)
If you are interested in checking out LivingSocial/signing up - you can use my referral link if you like and LivingSocial will set you up with 5 'Deal Bucks' to get you started!

I had been anticipating the sale and so I was a bit ahead of the game by making my 'wishlist' (or rather.. 'plan to purchase' list) ahead of time. While I was adding things to my little virtual shopping cart (Thursday night), I noticed that they had already marked everything down to 50% off before making the big announcement. I didn't waste any time - I got my order in quite a bit early. ;) I had absolutely no issues with using my voucher toward my purchase (it acted as a coupon code, no code was needed during the 50% off sale = score!). Shipping was a  bit high for me but it was totally worth it! I know many people dealt with delayed orders/shipping because of how big the sale was - so I consider myself extremely lucky to have placed my order when I did. I only had to wait a week for it to arrive!

So...I wonder what this could be? ;) ...

The box was insanely bright! &Everything arrived safely bubble wrapped together 

and secured by tons and tons of tissue paper. :)

Here it is!:

Pictured: CS Winterberry Palette, CS Creative Me #1 Palette, CS Empty Magnetic Palette,

12 Hot Pots eyeshadows, two African Black Soap samples.

I made my own 'custom' palette by ordering an empty magnetic palette (retails for $5.95) and picked out 12 Hot Pot eyeshadows (retails for $1.99 each) to fill it with. The other two palettes had quite a bit of the colors I already wanted and it was much cheaper to purchase them in the pre-made palettes. :)

The palettes are pretty small and compact - when open, the entire top of the palette is a mirror &the bottom holds the eyeshadow pans magnetically. There is a small indention which makes it easy to lift out the eyeshadow pan if you ever decide you want to switch them up/rearrange them! The only thing that bothers me about the palettes is that the pans move around easily (I noticed this quite a bit when I was in the middle of doing swatches). Now on to the swatches!

I added in the text for the names of each color (and the previous number they went by before they were named).  As always, swatches are done over NYX JEP in Milk and are photographed in natural lighting. :)

Winterberry palette &swatches:

Creative Me #1 palette &swatches:

(Holy brights, batman!) I have to warn you, these colors have some staining power!
(Neon Red, Neon Bright Pink, Deep Grape, Magenta &Indigo leave a tint of pink behind).

'Teal Green' is just barely lighter than 'Shamrock Green' - also

'Teal Green' has a hint more blue, 'Shamrock Green' has a hint more green! 

Both photographed more blue, but in the eyeshadow pan (in person) they appear more green. 

Once again, 'Teal Green' & 'Shamrock Green' photographed much too blue. :( 

In person, these are much more on the green side and not cyan/blue.

Also - 'Indigo' is a beautiful blurple and photographed a tiny bit more blue.

My 'custom' palette &swatches:

Hot Pots in: Bombay, Light Slate, Empress Teal, Virbrant Blue Green,

Periwinkle (M11), Thistle Lavender (M15), Vibrant Plum, Profound Plum,

Bronze Peach (B03), Fine Wine, Light Taupe (M16), Timeless Taupe

Coastal Scents eyeshadows are pretty fantastic (especially for the price point)! I've never had any problems with application - as long as I use a good eye shadow primer and base (for them to stick/adhere to), these work very well for me. Some of these shades are meant to be more 'sheer' but all of them are really easy to build up. :)

I hope this post will be helpful, thanks for looking/reading! <3 <3

FTC: These items were paid for by myself/by my boyfriend. I am not being compensated to write this post, these are my honest opinions on the products and company. All photos were taken by me in natural lighting, &are unaltered aside from cropping/collaging!

Madd Style Cosmetics: Smitten with my Doctor Who mattes Tutorial

Hey everyone! :)  It's been a bit of a hectic (but fun!) month for me - lots and lots of celebrating. Between Valentine's Day, my birthday and anniversary.. I haven't been around too much, but I hope you don't mind me squeezing in a pretty girly look for our last day of February! :)

Here's what I used to create this look:

Pictured:

Top left: Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eye Shadow Primer

& Tick:Tock Cosmetics Infinity Eye Shadow Base in 'Milky Way'

Bottom left: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 'Perversion'

& theBalm 'What's Your Type?' mascara in 'the body builder'

Top &middle right: MSC eyeshadow pigments in: "Smitten" Potion, Birf'day Suit, 

I think you call me Sexy, Hallucinogenic Lipstick, &Bow Ties are cool

Bottom right: bdellium tools green bambu brushes #716, #777 & #781

Start off by applying your eye shadow primer and eye shadow base. I like to focus my eye shadow base on my eyelid and gently blend it out and up to my brow.

Next up, grab 'I think you call me Sexy' and apply this to the inner corner of your eyelid until about mid lid and then bring this color up lightly above your crease.

Then, lightly add in some 'Hallucinogenic Lipstick' focusing on the center of your lid (try keeping this below where you placed 'I think you call me Sexy' above your crease).

A little goes a long way with 'Bow Ties are cool,' so when applying to the outermost portion of your lid, you may want to use a small amount and build this color up little by little :)

Go back in and make sure you do a little bit of blending with your colors. To brighten up the inner corner/duct, apply '"Smitten" Potion' to give a bit of a glow.

After playing with '"Smitten" Potion' a bit, I decided I wanted more sparkle. ;)
I first went in with 'Birf'day Suit' to blend out/soften the area above my crease to just below the brow, and then took a tiny bit of '"Smitten" Potion' and sort of 'dusted' right along the area above my crease.

Last but not least.. Apply your eyeliner and mascara and you're all done!.. (unless you're like me and fell in love with '"Smitten" Potion' so much you had to add it to your bottom lash line, too... hehe) ;)

Thanks for looking! &I hope you all enjoyed! :D

Ipsy (formerly MyGlam): February 2013

It's that time again! My February Ipsy bag arrived yesterday! :)
The theme this month is 'Red Carpet Ready' which, I think, is a bit of a breath of fresh air - I'm quite happy to see that not everything is centered around Valentine's Day this month.
The only varying product for subscribers this month was the Coastal Scents eye shadow sample set. There were two different sample sets sent out ('In The Spotlight' containing Dark Goldenrod, Sunbeam, Golden Globe, &Dark Golden Olive and 'Glitz & Glamour' containing Candlelight, Gunmetal, Incognito, &Ashen).

Here's a look at my Ipsy bag and the products I received:

Pictured:

Lash Card - The Lash Card

POP Beauty - Smoky Lash Kapow!!! mascara in 'Smoky Black'

Coastal Scents - 'In The Spotlight' eye shadow sample set

MicaBeauty Cosmetics - Gel Eyeliner in black

Pixi - Flawless & Poreless pore minimizing face primer

&now for the close-ups!:

Lash Card - The Lash Card deluxe sample

I received a deluxe sample containing four lash cards (individually wrapped as pictured above - click to enlarge the photo :)). These retail for $6.99 per pack of ten on their website, found here. My deluxe sample is an estimated value of $2.80 (4/10 * $6.99 = $2.796).

Personally, this isn't a product I feel like I would need or use often.. but I will likely still give them a shot eventually. If nothing else, they may come in handy for catching fallout while applying overly glittery eyeshadows. ;)

POP Beauty - Smoky Lash Kapow!!! mascara in 'Smoky Black'

I received a deluxe sized sample (0.17oz/4.8g) and a full size (0.25oz/7g) retails for $18.50 on their website, found here. My deluxe sample is an estimated value of $12.58 (0.17oz/0.25oz * $18.50 = $12.58).

I've seen a lot of bad reviews so far, but I actually quite like this mascara. Bottom line is that it didn't replace my holy grail mascara (Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes) but it worked decently enough that I will finish off the sample. This mascara gave me more length and volume, but it can easily get clumpy during application, wouldn't hold much of a curl, and transferred/smudged underneath my eyes after a few hours of wear.

Coastal Scents - 'In The Spotlight' eye shadow sample set

I received a quad of these little sample sized eyeshadows (2g/0.07oz) with an approximate value of .99cents each. These samples are actually comparable to the size of the eyeshadows found in their 88, 120, & 252 palettes and NOT the size of their Hot Pots eyeshadows (which retail at $1.99 ea.). You can visit their website here. 

We've received this type of sample set in the past, and a size comparison can be found here from my previous post about them. :)

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love and highly recommend Coastal Scents. These eyeshadows are great quality and highly pigmented at a fraction of the cost! I own a few of their palettes myself, and I have a ton of swatches I still need to post from the most recent palettes I've purchased.. but, for now.. here's some quick swatches for the 'In The Spotlight' sample set I received! ;)

Left to right: Dark Goldenrod, Sunbeam, Golden Globe, Dark Golden Olive

*Swatches were done over NYX JEP in 'Milk', 

&photographed in natural sunlight.

MicaBeauty Cosmetics - gel eyeliner in black

I believe these MicaBeauty gel eyeliners we received are full size, though the container doesn't specify. A full size (0.18oz/5g) retails for $35 on their website here, and typically comes with a cap that has a brush inside.

I cannot even put into words how much I love this eyeliner! Super creamy, super pigmented, very easy to use (thankfully I have a few eyeliner brushes already). Also love using this on my waterline.

Pixi - Flawless & Poreless pore minimizing face primer

I received a deluxe sample (15ml/0.5fl oz.) and a full size (30ml/1.01fl oz.) retails for $29 on their website here. My deluxe sample is an estimated value of $14.50 (15ml/30ml * $29 = $14.50).

I'm not super impressed with this primer, unfortunately. :/ The consistency is a bit watery at first but after rubbing it into my skin it feels more like I'm applying lotion. I expected it to feel really hydrating, but instead it feels drying on my skin.. maybe not so good for the 'winter' months. heh 

I'm not ready to give up on this primer just yet!

Last but not least.. I put together a look using the products from my Ipsy bag this month. I also had a hard time capturing this look with my camera.. so, please forgive my silliness. :)

*Products used:

eyeshadows: all colors are from my Coastal Scents sample set aside from the brow highlight which is a random white from my Coastal Scents 88 palette.

Sunbeam (inner corner/duct), Golden Globe (inner portion of lid), Dark Goldenrod (outer portion of lid), Dark Golden Olive (outer corner/crease)

eyeliner: MicaBeauty Cosmetics gel liner in black (upper lash line/wing and waterline)

mascara: POP Beauty Smoky Lash Kapow!!! mascara in Smoky Black (upper and lower lashes)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Valentine's Day, thanks for reading! :)

FTC: This sub was paid for by myself/by my boyfriend. I am not being compensated to write this post, these are my honest opinions on the products and company. All photos were taken by myself in natural lighting, are unaltered aside from cropping/collaging!

Madd Style Cosmetics: Sheer Sparkle Tutorial

I was playing around with some of my newest MSC additions and actually liked how this turned out! It looks so much more shimmery in person, and 'Fade Away' has such a beautiful blue-purple iridescence that was seemingly impossible for me to photograph. Even though the weather hasn't been on my side (at least for photographing makeup, anyway) I hope you will still enjoy this look I put together. <3

Here are the products I used to achieve this look:

Top left: Tick:Tock Cosmetics Infinity Eye Shadow Base in 'Milky Way' 

& Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eye Shadow Primer

Middle left: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 'Zero'

& theBalm 'What's Your Type?" mascara in 'the body builder'

Bottom left: bdellium tools green bambu brushes #777 & #781

Top &bottom right: MSC eyeshadow pigments in: 

Birf'day Suit, Frankenberry, The Zed Word, &Fade Away

Apply your eye shadow primer and eye shadow base :) I focus my base on the lid, but lightly bring it all the way up to the brow.

Next, using a shadow brush, apply 'Frankenberry' to the inner-most part of your lid. Use a lighter touch as you get closer to the center of the lid.

Still using your shadow brush (I continue to use the same shadow brush - I keep a paper towel handy &wipe my brush off between switching colors) apply 'The Zed Word' to the rest of your lid. Focus 'The Zed Word' more on the center of your lid, lighten your application toward the outer corner. You may want to overlap 'Frankenberry' a bit to help them blend a little better.

Next up is 'Fade Away' :) Apply using a shadow brush (or whichever brush works best for you!) to the outer corner of your lid, working slightly into the crease &blending with 'The Zed Word'

I then went ahead a blended my colors together a bit more and applied 'Birf'day Suit' above my crease, using my fluffy crease brush, to blend them out.

Apply your favorite eyeliner &mascara and you're all set! :)

(Since these shades are particularly sparkly.. I know, hard to tell in the photos :(... you may need to clean up some fall out! I usually just grab a q-tip and lightly dip it into a liquid makeup remover to clean up any mistakes!)

Thanks for viewing! <3

Birchbox: January 2013 (box #23)

My love/hate relationship with Birchbox will live another year ;) I decided to re-subscribe for now and I am actually pretty happy with my box this month! Here's a look at what I received:

(Insert from my box)

Pictured:

DDF - Acne Control Treatment

Embryolisse - Lait-Crème Concentrè

theBalm Cosmetics - Hot Mama

Aerie - Shimmer

LA FRESH - Waterproof Makeup Remover

&now, the close-ups!:

DDF Acne Control Treatment

I received a sample size (0.5 oz). A full size (1.7 oz) retails for $44, giving my sample a 'value' of about $12.94 (0.5 oz/1.7 oz * 44 = $12.94). I think this is actually a decently sized sample that will allow for multiple uses, &I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè

I received a sample size (5ml). A full size (30ml) retails for $16, giving my sample a 'value' of about $2.67 (5ml/30ml * 16 = $2.666). This is actually a really tiny sample.. especially for being such a multi-purpose product! I had never heard of this product before Birchbox but a lot of ladies are referring to it as a 'miracle cream' so I'm excited to see what all of the fuss is about. :) This cream can apparently be used as a primer, moisturizer, and even makeup remover!

theBalm Cosmetics Hot Mama

I received a cute little sample size (1.0g). A full size (7.08g) retails for $20, giving my sample a 'value' of about $2.82 (1.0g/7.08g * 20 = $2.82). I absolutely love theBalm and actually already own a full size of this! ;) Hot Mama can be used as an eyeshadow or a blush, making it that much better. Though it looks really small, this sample will go a long way and I think this is a perfect example of a 'deluxe' sample size. I've received other samples of theBalm products through beauty subs and I really love that their packaging for samples is always on par with their full size products and are always very generous.

Here's a size comparison of the sample I received and the full size I already own, and why I think the sample is 'cute' :)

(sample size from Birchbox on the left, full size on the right)

Aerie Shimmer

Received a little sample perfume vial, no size specification which doesn't surprise me as perfume samples are typically free anyhow. A full size retails for $39.95 (1.7oz).. however it appears to no longer be available from American Eagle/Aerie.

I don't even know what to think about that, haha. At least it was nicely wrapped (like a candy/treat) and smells a lot better than I expected? (a light scent with noticeable citrus and thankfully not over-powering when it comes to the vanilla!) :P

LA FRESH Waterproof Makeup Remover

Received a single use packet (1 wipe). A full size retails for $9.99 and contains 18 of these individually wrapped packets, or for the same price you can purchase a package of 24 wipes (not individually wrapped).  My individually wrapped packet, which is actually my 'lifestyle extra', has a 'value' of about $0.56 (1packet/18packets * 9.99 = $0.555).

This will come in handy for on-the-go use &although I don't wear waterproof mascara, I am curious to see how well this will remove Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.. because those things are stubborn! :)

If you want to join in the Birchbox madness, I won't hold you back from signing up and using my referral link here. ha ha  Thanks for reading! <3

FTC: This subscription is paid for by myself/by my boyfriend. I am not being compensated to write this post, these are my honest opinions on the products and company. All photos of products and swatches were taken by me in natural lighting, and are unaltered aside from cropping/collaging!

Ipsy (formerly MyGlam): January 2013

My January Ipsy bag has arrived! The theme of the month is 'Super Stars' which I think is kinda cute but also terribly cheesy - however, I really do love the star pattern that they lined our makeup bags with (you'll see what I mean). :)
There were a couple varying products between subscribers this month. Ipsy sent out two different 'classic' Nailtini polish colors (either 'Bloody Mary' or 'Frappe') and three different SOHO brand cosmetic brushes (either a concealer brush, crease brush, or eyeliner brush).

Here's a look at my Ipsy bag and the products I received:

(Insert from inside the bag)

Pictured:

Pacifica - Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter

Nailtini - nail lacquer in 'Frappe'

Josie Maran - 100% Pure Argan Oil

Sexy Hair - Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray

SOHO - crease brush

&now for the close-ups!:

Pacifica body butter in 'Tuscan Blood Orange'

The body butter is a deluxe sample/travel size (2.5 fl oz/73ml). It retails for $7 on their website and can be purchased here. I am absolutely in love with this scent (so much, actually, that I purchased their solid perfume in this fragrance.. hehe). I'm really happy to have discovered Pacifica - they are a cruelty-free brand, their products are vegan and made without: phthalates, parabens, sulfates, propylene glycol, benzene, GMOs, mineral oil, peanut oil, and triclosan. Basically everything they make is full of win ;)

Nailtini nail lacquer in 'Frappe'

Received a full size (.5 fl oz/15ml). Nailtini nail lacquers retail for $13 on their website, this shade (described as a 'sheer pale pink') can be purchased here. I'm not very familiar with this brand, though I did receive another one of their nail lacquers from a previous Ipsy/MyGlam bag. I never did give it a shot because it was mostly bar glitter (which I'm not terribly fond of) and because of their price range.. I, personally, don't see myself purchasing this brand in the future.  However, they are 3-free which is fantastic. :)

Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil

I received a deluxe sized sample (.17 fl oz/5ml). A full size (1.7 fl oz/50ml) retails for $48 and can be purchased here. (.17/1.7 * 48 = $4.80) I can't even begin to tell you how much this argan oil has changed saved my skin! I've had more breakouts/acne the past few years than I ever did as a teenager - and believe me when I tell you, I've tried everything. This is the first product I've used that has actually given me noticeable results (and quite literally) overnight. I actually purchased a Josie Maran gift set around the holidays and it contained a travel size of the argan oil - so, I already knew that I loved this product and couldn't be happier to receive a nice sized sample for a back up! :)

Here's a comparison of the deluxe sample I received in my Ipsy bag (.17 fl oz/5ml), and the actual travel size (.5 fl oz/15ml) which retails for $14.

(deluxe sample from Ipsy on the left, actual travel size on the right)

A little tiny bit of this oil goes a long way. I only use 4-5 small droplets to moisturize my face after washing, and I apply it while my face is still slightly damp by patting/pressing.

Sexy Hair 'Spray & Play' volumizing hairspray

Another deluxe sized sample (1.5oz/43g). This sample is actually a teeny tiny bit smaller than their actual travel sized Spray & Play (1.6oz/47g) that retails for $6 and can be purchased here. I found the size difference to be a bit strange.. oh well! I estimate the 'value' to be about $5.63 due to the sizing difference (1.5/1.6 * 6 = $5.625). I haven't had a chance to try this out yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

SOHO crease brush

Last but not least, I received a crease brush by SOHO. This brush retails at $8.99 according to their website here. However, I can't find this line of brushes available for purchase through any online retailers (Walgreens carries them in store only). The brush is much larger/fluffier in person and I will probably pass this on to someone who will get more use out of it.

My favorite part about the actual bag this month?...

...stars!

FTC: This subscription is paid for by myself/by my boyfriend. I am not being compensated to write this post, these are my honest opinions on the products and company. All photos of products and swatches were taken by me in natural lighting, and are unaltered aside from cropping/collaging!