Venomous Cosmetics Spaced Out Collection Eyeshadow & Lip Poison Swatches and Review

Today's post is going to be swatches of the rest of the Venomous Cosmetics Spaced Out Eyeshadows and Lip Poisons (I reviewed two of the colors previously here and here). I gotta catch up with pictures from ISSE Long Beach plus finishing up reviews of the things I got at IMATS LA so those will be up soon. The winner of my Winter Essentials giveaway will be announced soon too!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these swatches of the Spaced Out Collection.

Where to purchase: Venomous Cosmetics
Price: 

• For the loose eyeshadows: Samples are 1/4 tsp for $1.00 and full size is a 5 gram jar for $6.50. 
• For the lip poison: Three minis are $10.00 with 3.5mL for each and full sizes are $6.00 for 7.8mL

Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.
Packaging: 

• For the loose eyeshadows: Samples are packaged in a plastic ziploc bag and full sizes are packaged in a 5 gram jar with a sifter.
• For the lip poisons: The minis and full size glosses are packaged in cylindrical plastic tubes with silver accents and a doefoot applicator.

Swatches:

Eyeshadows were swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and both the lip swatch and eyeshadow swatches were taken in natural daylight.

For the Spaced Out Collection

Loose Eyeshadows

Atmospheric: "Rich blue with blue and red sparks" Okay you need to get this, I am telling you please. This is a deep blue and though it's difficult to see, there were amazing gold and copper sparks to the color that sparkled so well.

Space Station: "Grayed out purple shimmer" The base is a gray-purple with hints of a blue and silver sheen. This would be great for smoking out a smoky eye.

Satellites: "Medium purple with blue sheen" This is similar to January's Color of the Month but this is a less brighter, maybe a slightly redder purple with blue sparkles instead of gold ones. I found this a little difficult to apply though it's honestly typical of purples. Be sure to pat it on to get it to look well.

Lip Poison

Zero Gravity

Zero Gravity: "Pink to aqua iridescence" This is a milky baby pink with a beautiful aqua iridescence. This isn't a color I'd wear on its own since it's so milky that it sinks into lip lines but since the aqua iridescence is so pretty, it's be great as a topper for other lip products.

The lip poison formula typically wears around three to four hours on me.

Final Thoughts

Atmospheric is most definitely a must-have from me. Space Station is pretty too but not a complete must-have.

Are any of the colors catching your eye?

Disclaimer: I was sent samples of these products for review. I was not compensated for the review and none of the links are affiliate links. All opinions are mine and honest.

INGLOT Pacific Blue Lipstick Collection Swatches and Impressions

For ages now, I had been wanting to check out INGLOT'S Pacific Blue Lipstick Collection but was a little lazy about going to my local INGLOT freestanding store plus no one had any swatches online. Luckily INGLOT was featuring the collection at IMATS LA so I got to finally swatch and take pictures of them, hopefully someone will find them useful!

From left to right: 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292



Swatched in the same order: 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292


For the swatches, I did several swipes to get the true color but I felt that all the lipsticks had a bit of slip which necessitated a few swipes to build up coverage. Rikki has a review of 287 so you can get a better idea of what the formula for that color is like (it doesn't look very good). 292 is quite shimmery while the rest are cremes. 287 and 290 look a little similar but 287 is more of a sky blue whereas 290 is a little more periwinkle and a tinge darker.

Do you like the looks of the lipsticks?

Beauty Blog Coalition Weekly Roundup: Week of 1/25

Here's last week's beauty posts from the Beauty Blog Coalition! I hope you enjoy reading through each post!

Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom: Check out Destany's review of Nail Candy pens...one of the most inventive things to happen to Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom!

Blushing Noir: The Chanel Raffinement Quadra Eye Shadow is anything but boring! This palette will be your new Spring staple!

BeautyTidbits: Harshleen swatches and reviews the new Maybelline Color Whisper Lipsticks.

Portrait of Mai: Missed out on IMATS LA 2013? Check out this recap of all the booths and some of the brand new releases from Sigma Makeup and Sugarpill Cosmetics

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Lola's Secret Beauty Blog loves the entire vbeaute skincare line, and therefore wasn't surprised by how effective their Lite Up Intense Brightening Agent proved to be!

Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist: Quick and Easy 2 Ingredient DIY Sugar Scrub. Great for Dry Lips!

Beauty by Miss L: Miss L reviewed Lavera Basis Sensitive Organic hand cream.

TheFabZilla: Love coffee and tea? they're culprit to teeth stains. Remember, if you're not whitening you're yellowing. Will Crest 3D White Strips be the answer?

Beauty Info Zone: Beauty Info Zone puts Revlon Colorstay Suede Lipstick to the test. Was it a pass or fail?

Beauty Professor: Forever a foundation fiend, the Beauty Professor swatches and reviews Dolce & Gabbana's Perfect Finish Creamy Foundation!

Polarbelle: Sally Beauty has the Fingerpaints Candy Coated Collection nail polishes and caviar nail beads that is perfect for springtime!

Endless Summer: Elena reviews Estee Lauder Lash Primer Plus and mascaras, and shows how they look on her lashes.

Painted Ladies: Sheila from Painted Ladies works a bold, red lip with purple and silver eyes in 365 Days of Makeup.

Lipgloss Break: Angela reviews KISS Nail Dress nail stickers.

My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog shares her review on the Laura Mercier Creme Eye Liners in Indigo and Espresso.

Pammy Blogs Beauty: The MAC Matters "Build a Core Collection with $21 a Month" Continues! Check out what Pammy Blogs Beauty got in January for the challenge!

BFTE Cosmetics Emerald Bliss and Poodle Pandemonium: Eyeshadow Swatches, Photos, and an EOTD

At IMATS LA, I had the lovely privilege of meeting the owners of BFTE Cosmetics; Crystal and Matthew and their niece Kristy. With the chaos of the show, I completely forgot to get some eyeshadows on Friday and Saturday. I elected Alyson to get me two, Emerald Bliss and Poodle Pandemonium, pro colors that were created with none other than Phyrra. Emerald Bliss was created in response to Pantone's Color of the Year being Emerald.

These are their Pro Eyeshadows, different from their mineral eyeshadows as these have some extra dyes, carnauba wax, and a few other ingredients in the formula. I quite like the addition of the carnauba wax as I feel like the shadows have great adhesion and the other ingredients seem to have given the eyeshadows quite a bit of depth. Emerald Bliss and Poodle Pandemonoium aren't available yet but I do believe they will be soon.

Where to purchase: BFTE Cosmetics

Price: Samples are .5 grams for $2.00 and full size is 1-3 grams for $6.50. 

Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.

Packaging: Samples are packaged in 3 gram jars and full sizes are packaged in a silver rimmed 5 gram jar with a sifter.

Emerald Bliss on the left, Poodle Pandemonium on the right.

Swatches:

These were done dry over UD Primer Potion Original and pictures were taken in natural daylight.

Emerald Bliss is a true emerald with tons of sparkle. 

Poodle Pandemonium is a deep magenta with a blue sheen and lots of gold sparkle. To ensure the gold sparkle adheres, I'd probably apply this over a glitter fixative (I'm partial to Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy and Darling Girl's Glitter Glue)

I own Emerald City from the limited edition Wizard of Oz-Some Collection so I figured I'd compare it against Emerald Bliss. Compared to Emerald Bliss, Emerald City is much lighter, spring green and is more shimmery than sparkly. Emerald Bliss is more of a truer emerald. I know they make a color called Emerald but I don't own it so I can't compare them.

Oh and here's a quick EOTD I did using both Emerald Bliss and Poodle Pandemonium. I swept Poodle Pandemonium on as opposed as patting it on as I wanted the deeper base color with less of the sparkles. I used the flash for the photos so unfortunately it ate up the brilliant sparkle in Emerald Bliss. (I posted this look on my Facebook page first so you might have seen it there too!)

Do you like the looks of either Emerald Bliss or Poodle Pandemonium?

Disclaimer: I purchased these products myself. I am not being compensated for writing this post. All opinions are honest and mine.

IMATS LA 2013 Haul

Finally I've got everything together to do my IMATS LA Haul up. All in all, I only spent about $28.00. I think the fact that I went to IMATS six months ago meant that I was really shopped out by the time I went on January. This of course doesn't mean I didn't get a little shop happy at ISSE and won't at The Makeup Show >>.

Things I purchased:

BFTE Cosmetics Pro Color Eyeshadows in Emerald Bliss and Poodle Pandemonium (purchased for me thanks to Alyson!)
Enkore Makeup 5ekz Ultra Conditioning Brush Soap
Makeup Geek Electric Gel Liner
Sugarpill Saint Eyelashes
Sugarpill Pillkitty Keychain

(why yes I did awkwardly insert the two BFTE eyeshadows into the picture because I was too lazy to take a new pic)

I've already dived into everything and will hopefully have posts up soon.

Oh and I wanted to show off the Sugarpill lash boxes. The top box belongs to my new Saint lashes and the bottom box belongs to the Sinnocent lashes I got six months ago. I like that the inside of the lash boxes are now patterned and match the theme of the brand.

For people who like to match up their boxes to the lashes, the lashes now have a label on the back.

I also received a few Sigma Makeup products (courtesy of their Press bag). I got a mini eyeshadow palette, travel size E25 Blending Brush, and F88 Flat Angled Kabuki.

********************************

I had my graduate interview on Saturday. I'm not entirely sure it went well but I'm hoping for the best (won't find out for another month or two!). ISSE is still going on until today and I'm hoping to take more pictures of the show. I went on Saturday after my interview but a combination of uncomfortable shoes and soreness after my gymnastics class dampened the experience a bit (I gotta say though, I love that they actually had a Press Room, it shows that they really appreciate the press [and that includes bloggers!] at the show. 

I've got a test this week (why yes the semester only just started but my teacher found a way to make us have a test anyway) so busy busy until Wednesday in which case the cycle starts again since this class has weekly tests for the next four weeks (oh joy!)

How was your weekend? Is this week looking to be a good week for you?

Electric Royal Blue Liner EOTD

Hey everyone,

here's a look using two of the products I got at IMATS, I didn't want to wait to show off the look until after I posted my haul post. This was using Makeup Geek's Electric Gel Liner (a creme royal blue) and Sugarpill Saint Eyelashes. I have basically been waiting a year to get my hands on these Saint eyelashes from Sugarpill; I was being a cheapass about paying shipping for the eyelashes when they were first released last January and then they were sold out before IMATS LA in June but I made sure to get my hands on them at this IMATS LA. These were worth waiting for; I love the fluttery look to my eyelashes. Oddly enough though I feel like these only look good on me when I have winged eyeliner, go figure.

The camera seemed to swallow up all the sparkles in the look so trust me when I say that it was amazingly sparkly. I applied Electric gel liner for the shape then topped it with Sugarpill Royal Sugar.

Products Used

Urban Decay Primer Potion Original
Makeup Geek Gel Liner in Electric
Sugarpill Royal Sugar Chromalust over Electric Gel liner
NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Taupe/Ash
Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Volumizing Mascara
Sugarpill Saint Eyelashes

I've got my grad school interview tomorrow morning then I'm going straight to ISSE Long Beach. Honestly I find myself a little overwhelmed when I look at the exhibitor list for the show, it's the biggest convention I think I've ever been to (feel free to follow me on Instagram @ohmeohmai to see my exploits! After that, I gotta start studying for my classes (one of my classes is having a multi-chapter test every week for five consecutive so that's SO fun). Do you have any plans for the weekend?

ISSE Long Beach 2013 this weekend!

IMATS may be over but ISSE Long Beach is only just starting. This weekend, I'll be attending the International Salon and Spa Expo, a pro-only cash and carry trade show for people in the beauty industry. Think The Makeup Show but catering more to the hair, nails, skincare, massage and to a lesser extent, cosmetics. It's very similar to Cosmoprof but you'll be able to purchase products here. This is touted as the West Coast's largest total beauty event.

I know the blog tends to post mainly about cosmetics, I know I've been finding myself more and more interested in nail polish and things outside of just makeup. The convention is also quite local to me and I would really like to see what the convention is about. I know for sure I'm going to check out NYX Cosmetics (they chose not to exhibit at IMATS this year opting for ISSE instead), Violet Voss (for Enkore and Pursebuzz!), Nigel Beauty Emporium (I actually won a light-up LED Makeup Case from their raffle at IMATS!), and the big nail polish brands China Glaze and OPI. I'm really really hoping China Glaze will have their holographic polishes available (the ones that will come out in March) but I'm not expecting them to.

I hope you'll enjoy my coverage of the show! They only do two shows, one in Long Beach and one in the Midwest in Illinois so if you're in industry professional, hopefully you can go to one of them!

Shiro Cosmetics Holiday Glosses Lip Swatches and Review

Hey everyone, 

I'll give a brief reprieve from the IMATS LA posts by posting a few reviews that I kept forgetting to post about. School kind of snuck up on me and starts today (my long day, I've got class from 1-9:45 nonstop basically) plus ISSE Long Beach on Saturday meaning I'm going to be busy busy this week. I hope you enjoy the post!

Christmas is long over but it's still not too late to review some Christmas themed goodies. The lovely LiAnn of Sparklecrack Central (who has one of the most comprehensive indie eyeshadow archives I've ever seen and whom I got to meet at IMATS LA!) held a giveaway for these Shiro Cosmetics Holiday Glosses during her month-long Beauty Blog Advent Calender in December and I was lucky enough to win. I have tried one or two of Shiro Cosmetics's eyeshadows and own two of their Intertubes but I hadn't tried out their glosses before. 

These are limited edition, going on sale at the end of January and they'll be down permanently until the next year at the end of February.

Where to purchase: Shiro Cosmetics

Price: $7.00 for 10mL.  You can save $1.00 by buying all three in a set for $20.00

Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.

Packaging: These are plastic tubes with a gold cap and doefoot applicator. I do adore doefoot applicators but I did find that the wiper wasn't that efficient and tended to leave extra product around the wand. If wasn't careful putting the wand back, sometimes the top of the tube got messy. The labels for each color are all different and the artwork on them very cute and themed after A Christmas Story.

Product Description: "Our much-loved lipgloss formula is back with three new Holiday colors inspired by A Christmas Story!"

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time:

There are three colors available: Leg Lamp, Red Ryder, and Triple Dog Dare and each have their own flavor and opacity. Leg Lamp and Triple Dog Dare are said to be "sheer to moderately opaque depending on application" and Red Ryder is said to be "sheer to fully opaque depending on application". The glosses have a thinner formula that's not too slick and there is some tack to them so it stays on your lips without feeling heavy and the colors themselves have a nicely tinted base. I also found my lips to feel very soft after wearing so they are moisturizing.

Using the doefoot applicator, I found that I could only get sheer coverage. To get heavier coverage, apply the glosses with your finger. I can appreciate that the lip glosses have swatches on the website, though the ones on the website are of a heavier application. Each have a different flavor, toffee, peppermint bark, or sugarplum. I personally didn't like the toffee or sugarplum scent but I liked the peppermint as I've always been really partial to it. If you don't like the scent, you don't have to worry as it did fade away after a few minutes. 

Wear time was about three hours. 

Swatches

Pictures taken in natural daylight. With the one layer swatches, I applied the lip gloss using the applicator and in the heavily applied swatches, I used my fingers with two or three layers.

Leg Lamp



Leg Lamp: "Shimmery true gold" The flavor is toffee. With just one layer, you get a light shimmer of gold. When you heavily apply it, the color turns a little more metallic but much of your natural lip color still shines through.

Red Ryder

Red Ryder: "Bright candy-red with silver sparkle" The flavor is peppermint bark (contains peppermint oil and may have a mild stinging/plumping effect) I was a little disappointed with Red Ryder because I was hoping for it to be really opaque. The base is a little too translucent to really build up opaque coverage. I loved the scent though. There was a very mild sting to it but it eventually dissipated.

Triple Dog Dare



Triple Dog Dare: "Dusty shimmery plum with beigey undertones" The flavor is sugarplum. This is a bit of a weird color, a sheer plum with subtle pink sparkles.  I think this gloss would be a great one to layer over another color to deepen it. I think it doesn't look as good with one layer as the gloss does sink a bit into lip lines.

Final Thoughts

I'm honestly quite intrigued by the glosses and while I liked the formula, I was disappointed in the opacity of Red Ryder which I had hoped would be more opaque, especially since it appears to be on the website. Price-wise, they're really competitive compared to other indie glosses considering how much you get and I'd like to see them expand the line into other colors, maybe to also accompany some of their existing eyeshadow collections. I would like them to be more opaque. Their intertubes do really well as a lipbalm/lipstick hybrid so I'm not too surprised at the reception the lip glosses are having. The glosses felt quite nice on my lips, thin but with not too much slip, though I kind of wish the wiper worked better because the top of my gloss tube is getting a bit sticky. 

Disclaimer: I received these glosses as a gift. All opinions are my own and honest. I wasn't compensated for the review and none of the links in the post are affiliate links.

IMATS LA 2013: People I Met, Make-Up Museum, and Body Art

Here's the other half of my IMATS LA posts, this time covering the cool people I saw, the amazing special FX exhibits in the Make-Up Museum, and the Body Artwork done by the various booths. I'll have my haul post up soon once I get my BFTE Cosmetics eyeshadows!

On Friday I made a beeline to the BFTE Cosmetics booth so I could be sure to take a picture with Phyrra (I posted this picture in the last post but it bears repeating). The BFTE Cosmetics booth was SO nice and the owners extremely kind. I can't wait to get my BFTE Cosmetics eyeshadows so I can swatch and do looks with them. 

Click to see more pictures of the awesome people I saw, Special FX work, and Body Artwork! Some of the Body Artwork may be considered NSFW F.Y.I.

Beauty Blog Coalition Weekly Roundup: Week of 1/18

Here's this week's beauty posts from the Beauty Blog Coalition! I hope you enjoy reading these awesome posts from my fellow beauty bloggers. Also don't forget to enter my giveaway ending this week, January 25th 12 EST (Link in the sidebar!)

Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist: My YouTube channel got a facelift! Now you can find your favorite tutorials and product reviews organized into playlists. Enjoy!

BlushingNoir: It's a Mad Mad World, so says this Duo Eyeshadow from NARS Spring 2013!

Endless Summer: Elena shares her thoughts (and FOTD!) about a new product from Miracle Skin Transformer - Vanish Instant Imperfection Corrector.

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: If a highly effective power-packed anti-aging serum filled with anti-oxidants is on your list of wants- then Lola's Secret Beauty Blog thinks that you should check out vbeaute Undercover Agent STAT!

BeautyTidbits: Got sensitive skin? Skin Care Heaven Chemical-Free SPF 30 might just be what you're looking for!

TheFabZilla: When a product fails. TheFabZilla shares why Clarins Instant Smooth Lining Concentrate is a joke.

Portrait of Mai: To protect yourself against the chilly weather, enter this giveaway of winter essentials to win a L'Occitane Ultra Rich Body Lotion and Jack Black Lip Balm

Painted Ladies: http://www.painted-ladies.com/breaking-down-beauty-use-scotch-tape-as-an-eyeshadow-stencil/

Advice Sisters: LISI Cosmetics flatters all types of complexions. Alison Blackman of advicesisters.net. investigates

Beauty Professor: The Beauty Professor's recent birthday introduced her to the Sisley Phyto-Blush Eclat in Pinky Coral. What a gift!

Midnight Manicures: Looking for a soap that will leave your skin healthier and looking great? Try Reviva Labs All Natural Seaweed Soap

Mama Fashionista: They had her at Paris! Find out more about Quinn's new fave hand cream from NUXE Paris!

datyorkLOVES: HTF Ellen Tracy Gun Metal Gray Nail Polish *Photo Heavy Post

Pammy Blogs Beauty: Pammy Blogs Beauty's Cover-It: Concealer Review Series continues with her review of Make Up For Ever's amazing HD Concealer. Does it have what it takes to battle Pammy's Dark Circles?

Polarbelle: Are you looking for a lip plumper that doesn't burn but is moisturizing and comfortable to wear? Polarbelle has one for you!

IMATS LA 2013: Friday and Saturday Experiences and New Brand Releases

Hey everyone, 

I've got lots of picture to go over with you on IMATS LA . I was planning on doing my haul post first but I had forgotten to get some BFTE Cosmetics eyeshadows (I had to commission my friend Alyson/The Gloss Menagerie to CP me some) so I'm going to hold off until I can get a hold of them to do one cohesive haul post. I took a lot of pictures so I'm going to separate them out into two posts, this post will feature some of the cool booths I saw and some of the new releases I saw at the booths and the other post will feature the cool people I saw, the Makeup Museum full of special fx makeup, and the body makeup done by other artists at the show.

(To save your computers, I'm doing a "click to expand" for the post as I have way too many pictures.)

When it comes to booths I saw, the first I have to talk about was BFTE Cosmetics. The owner Crystal was so amazingly kind to me. I was supposed to only go on Saturday but last minute, Phyrra (who was working at the BFTE Cosmetics booth) asked me if I wanted to go in on Friday Pro Night as a blogger. I quickly said yes and am so thankful I did. 

BFTE Cosmetics

They had amazingly cute sets and a small portion of their colors available separately. If you haven't seen some of the amazing colors on the website, it's worth the look.


Click to read more on BFTE Cosmetics, Sugarpill, other brands, and some of their new releases!

Milani Color Statement Lipstick and Lipliner Spring 2013 Launch

If you've scoped out CVS lately, you might have noticed that a lot of Milani's lip products went on clearance. Some of the colors had amazing and I was a little sad to see some go but I got this press release showing off some of the new colors that will be available in both the Color Statement Lipsticks and Color Statement Lipliners and my sadness dissipated after seeing some of the new colors (check out Violet Volt and D'Oro!).

Color Statement Lipstick



Make a statement without saying a word!  True Instant Color. One stroke, full coverage application. This next generation lipstick gives the ultimate in color, texture and finish.  The lightweight creamy formula contains Vitamins A, C, & E to moisturize and nourish lips. Paraben-free. Available in Vinyl, Metallic, Cream, Shimmer, Pearl & Matte finish.

Color Statement Lipliner


Make a statement without saying a word. True Instant Color. Satin color in one stroke application. This next generation lipliner is a long-wearing, easy-glide formula to line & fill-in your lips. Paraben-free.

If you're not following their instagram, you might want to since they've been previewing some of the new products. I'm especially looking forward to the Ultrafine Liquid Eye Liner and Eyeshadow Primer.

Anything catching your eye?

Venomous Cosmetics Main Collection & January Color of the Month Eyeshadow Swatches

Hey everyone,

I still have some Venomous Cosmetics eyeshadows from the 2013 Collection and their Spaced Out Collection to swatch and review but I wanted to get this set up since I swatched the limited edition January Color of the Month.

Where to purchase: Venomous Cosmetics
Price: Samples are 1/4 tsp for $1.00 and full size is a 5 gram jar for $6.50. 
Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.

Packaging: Samples are packaged in a plastic ziploc bag and full sizes are packaged in a 5 gram jar with a sifter.

Swatches:

As always, the eyeshadows were swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance and photos were taken in natural daylight. 

Gila Monster: "Light orangey coral" I'd say this is more orange than coral but there is a hint of coral, there's also a bit of an orange sheen to it too. 

Salmon Pink Birdeater: "Light salmon pink" I'd say this is pretty much spot on as a salmon pink, maybe with a hint more baby pink. 

Thai Black: "Deep black with slight glitter" I can't seem to find this eyeshadow on the site, I'll ask to see if it's going to be added on. It is a basic black with a bit of glitter but I wasn't so fond of the texture, I felt like it was a little clumpy.

January's Color of the Month

Remember: "Medium purple with gold shimmer" Purples are difficult to do; matte purples with sparkles even more so. For best results, pat the eyeshadow on with a flat brush (do not sweep) and it'll keep its vibrant color. I was reminded of Darling Girl's Persuasion eyeshadow but the base purple is slightly different and the glitter in Persuasion is more of a flakie glitter.

Of the four, Remember is probably my favorite although it does take some work to get it to look as nice.

Disclaimer: I received samples of the eyeshadows for review. All opinions are my own, honest, and I wasn't compensated for this post. The link in this post is not an affiliate link.

***************************

Hope you enjoyed the post and don't forget about my giveaway!

Chiming down to IMATS LA 2013

It feels weird to be talking about IMATS LA now because I feel like it just happened (well technically it did since it was only just six months ago). They switched dates with IMATS London because of some issues the London show had had last year with the weather and since LA is pretty much temperate all year round, it seemed most logical. I won't be attending as press this year so unfortunately I gotta wait in line and the weather hasn't been so kind this winter. 

I feel so excited for this year's show since there are a few indie brands premiering for the first time. BFTE Cosmetics, an indie mineral makeup brand I've mentioned ages before on the blog and have been following basically since their inception are having a booth there and my fellow beauty blogger friend Phyrra is gonna be working there.

Makeup Geek, who I've watched on Youtube on and off for a few years is also debuting their makeup line and I'm quite in love with the Electric Gel Liner (it reminds me of MAC Royal Wink which has been long discontinued)

and of course Sugarpill Cosmetics. Ever since I saw pictures of the Pillkitty keychain, I've needed to have it. Sad to say that I'm way too cheap to pay the $5.00 in shipping for the $6.00 keychain. I missed out on the Saint Lashes last year and I'm determined to pick it up this year. 

Other brands I've been scoping are Sigma Beauty (20% discount ain't bad), Embryolisse (there are only so many tubes I can get my family in France to send me), Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (I'm sad they discontinued Belladonna lip tar though), and many more on the list.

I've been saving up my money and with grad school applications all paid for and most of my school fees, so I can spend a bit of money on makeup though I don't expect to get much. It's also a bit tough with ISSE Long Beach the weekend after which is massively huge and has so many more vendors (though they have more skincare, haircare, and nail related products)

I'm looking forward to hanging out with so many of my fellow beauty blogger/vloggers. I met so many last year and got to spend the day hanging about while enabling each other to get more makeup (that I'm sure many of didn't really need).

Do you have any plans to attend IMATS LA?

Wet n Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Color in Red My Mind Swatch, Review, and Photos

I swear, some of the Spring 2013 drugstore collections coming out are truly trying my wallet and right before IMATS and ISSE Long Beach too (two of maybe the best cash and carry beauty conventions). Wet n Wild especially have brought out some tempting goodies and when I was in my local Walgreens, I found an endcap with a few of the new 2013 stuff and picked up one of the Megalast Liquid Lip Colors.

Where to purchase: At this time, I think they're only available at Walgreens but I'm not 100% sure. These were available at an endcap and not with the main products. 

Price: At my Walgreens, they were $3.29 but each one came with a $1.00 off coupon so it came to $2.55 after tax (and I had a gift card so I really got it for free)

Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.

Packaging: The lip color is packaged in a tapering cylindrical tube with an hourglass shaped  cap. The applicator is a doefoot but one that's been cut to be more like a paddle. The wiper for the tube isn't that great though and it dispenses too much product. As the product requires spreading, I could see why they opted for the paddle shape but it picks up too much product. You can see how much excess product ends up on the applicator. 

The applicator is actually the same as the Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Glosses, in fact I compared the two below. The Hourglass applicator is on the left and the Wet n Wild applicator is on the right. You can see how my Wet n Wild applicator bypassed quality control since there's a big chunk at the top that wasn't cut correctly. It didn't impair my application of the product but it certainly was annoying. I may end up trimming it later.

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time:

I wanted to like this and I did originally, but over time I noticed there were problems. This dries down to a fairly matte finish so you'll want to be sure that your lips are as smooth as possible. The texture is light and thin, very liquidy. Red My Mind is a matte bright red with no shimmer or sparkle and opaque on my lips but I can't attest to the other colors in the range. 

Application is high maintenance since you have to be sure to clean off the applicator otherwise you'll apply way too much. You only need about 1/2 of the amount that you pull out. You can apply another layer as long as you wait for the previous layer to dry but it can make your lips look more wrinkly. The product will dry down within a minute or two and there was no transferring by the three minute mark.  Make sure you keep your mouth open so the product at the corners of your lips can dry. After it's all dry, it isn't very tacky, sticky, or heavy-feeling.

When it comes to wear time, I could only manage wearing this for about an hour because I noticed that in that time, the color had started flaking away from the inside of my lips and was getting on my teeth. The color on the rest of my lips was fine but it's just not really viable to have red flakes on my teeth throughout the day. I thought that I was applying too thin of a layer but even after two layers, it was still flaking. I think the product is just not flexible enough to be worn without flaking. Maybe the friction between your lips might be contributing so it so perhaps wearing a gloss might help with the wear time, but it ruins the matte texture.

Swatch:

This was one layer swatched and the picture was taken in natural daylight.

Final thoughts:

I had high hopes but I can't really recommend wearing this when it'll just start flaking away and getting your teeth. At least it wasn't expensive.

***********************

Have you seen this in your local Walgreens? Did you like it? If you did, do you have any tips for me to get it to last longer?

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself. All opinions are my own and honest. There are no affiliate links in this post.

One Color Wonder: Atmospheric

Continuing my one color wonder eyeshadow series, this is Atmospheric by Venomous Cosmetics. Described as a rich blue with blue and red sparks, it's a deep blue with lots of gold and copper sparkles. I have a few more eyeshadow swatches from Venomous Cosmetics coming up so look for them soon!

Oh and don't forget to enter my giveaway for a L'Occitane Ultra Rich Body Lotion and Jack Black Lip Balm!

Products Used:

Darling Girl Cosmetics Primped and Primed Eyelid Primer
Venomous Cosmetics Atmospheric*
Wet n Wild Brulee Eyeshadow

*Product received for consideration

**********************************

How was your weekend? I've finally finished all my graduate applications and am looking forward to IMATS LA this week plus hanging out with my fellow blogger and vlogger friends. My pre-IMATS post is also coming up soon and I'll talk about all the booths I want to check out!

Winter Essentials Body Lotion & Lip Balm Mini Giveaway

Hey everyone, today I have a mini giveaway for you! I'm working with Planet Beauty, a local California beauty boutique, for this giveaway of two body essentials for the winter season. The temperatures have started dipping in the 50s here in Southern California which admittedly isn't as cold as some places are, but definitely cold for me.

I'm giving away an 8.4 oz bottle of L'Occitane Ultra Rich Body Lotion and a tube of Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF in the Vanilla & Lavender flavor to one lucky winner. This giveaway is open to US only but I'll have future international giveaways!

This is open from now until January 25th, 12AM EST (9pm PST). Good luck! 

(Image not to scale of course)

(Image credit goes to L'Occitane and Jack Black)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize provided by Planet Beauty!

Venomous Cosmetics 2013 Collection Lip Poison Swatches and Review

Today I have five of the lip poisons to swatch and review from the limited edition 2013 Collection. I'll have the four loose eyeshadows and one pressed eyeshadow from the collection to swatch and review in a separate post. These will be available until February 18th. The website is a bit messed up at the moment but the product listings for the 2013 Collection items are working! 

I know the product pictures on the site aren't the best so here are some closeup baggie pictures of the colors. The colors look extremely intense in the product shot but you can see in the swatches that they sheer out.

Where to purchase: Venomous Cosmetics

Price: Three minis are $10.00 with 3.5mL for each and full sizes are $6.00 for 7.8mL

Cruelty Free? They are cruelty-free.

Packaging: The minis and full size glosses are packaged in cylindrical plastic tubes with silver accents and a doefoot applicator.

My Thoughts on the Formula/Wear Time:

These are described as "semi-opaque shimmers" and are glosses packed with various colors of flakie glitter and regular glitter. Glamorous and Memorable Moments were probably the most opaque out of the five I had (moderately opaque) because the lip gloss base is fairly tinted whereas the other glosses had lightly tinted bases. Resolutions and Champagne Bubbles were the sheerest and Glistening was in between, not too sheer or too opaque which is good since it's not a typical color.  I'd wear Glistening and Resolutions over other colors, Champagne Bubbles can be worn over other colors and on its own, and Glamorous and Memorable Moments would great on its own since the base is nicely tinted.

I know you might be concerned that the lip poisons will feel gritty or chunky because of the high amount of glitter in them but they weren't at all, I couldn't even feel the glitter. The formula is tacky enough so that the glitter sticks and the consistency was perfect so it didn't feel heavy on the lips. I also find them to be moisturizing, my lips feel quite soft after wearing them. Wear time for the lip poisons was about five hours without any glitter migration.

Swatches

As always, all swatch pictures taken in natural daylight (not direct sunlight). I applied the glosses with my fingers.

Champagne Bubbles (Sorry, I mislabeled it as Champagne Kisses!)

Champagne Bubbles: "Clear base with mid-tone pink flakie and holographic sparkles" Of the five, this is my favorite for wearing on its own. It's subtle to be sure but I love the holographic glitter and pink flakies.

Glamorous

Glamorous: "Bright berry red gloss with red and purple sparkles" Not completely opaque but still a beautiful berry color. The purple sparkle really shines in the middle of the bottom lip.

Glistening

Glistening: "Clear base packed with silver flakie glitter and holographic sparkles" The silver looks scary in the packaging but it sheers out well. There is a distinct silver look to your lips when you wear it and though sheer here, it does build up to good opacity (if you're into the Tin-Man look).

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments: "Magenta-purple gloss packed with pink flakies and red sparkles" The base for this is slightly less pigmented than Glamorous so it'd still be great for layering but looks great on its own.

Resolutions

Resolutions: "Lightly tinted purple packed with red toned purple flakies and red and purple sparkles" I'll admit that I was hoping that this would be more opaque but it would still make a great layering gloss.

******************************

Champagne Bubbles and Glamorous are my favorite from the collection. Are there any colors catching your eye?

Disclaimer: I was sent these products for review. This is my honest review and all opinions are my own. I was not compensated for writing my review. The link in this post to their website is not an affiliate link!

Beauty Blog Coalition Weekly Roundup: Week of 1/4

Here are last week's beauty posts from the Beauty Blog Coalition, I hope you enjoy them! 

Blushing Noir: Make your pucker stand out with MAC Night Blooming Mattene!

BeautyTidbits: Enter to win Playboy VIP Fragrance Set for Him & Her Giveaway.

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Beauty Resolutions to Consider from Lola's Secret Beauty Blog for 2013

Polarbelle: Polarbelle finds Sation's Holiday Golightly Collection nail polishes match her Northern Christmas.

datyorkLOVES: Find out what the Top 10 Post of 2012 are for datyorkLOVES!

TheFabZilla: TheFabZilla got playful with 2013 color of the year (Emerald Green) where else but her eyes. Plus check out how you can incorporate this amazing color into your wardrobe.

Beauty Info Zone: Everyone has a best of 2012 list but do they have a worst? Find out what Marcia from Beauty Info Zone names her worst product of the year.

Mama Fashionista: Looking for a budge-proof lip stain? Mama Fashionista found just what you need at the drugstore from New York Color!

Beauty Professor: Adding to her Tom Ford obsession, the Beauty Professor reviews her latest acquisition, cheek color in Frantic Pink!

My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog invites you to get ready with her!

Portrait of Mai: Despite the spooky name, these Darling Girl Cosmetics Zombie Apoca-Lips duochrome color shifting glosses aren't so scary!

Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist: To prep for 2013, I start by recapping the great moments of 2012. My favorite post of the year!

BeautyJudy: "The Beauty Loser" is back on BeautyJudy! Do you have any weight loss resolutions? Find out what's working for Judy this time around.

Fabulous Awesomeness: Mina Slater and her family say buh bye to acne! Check out her review of Relogy natural acne treatment system.

Lipgloss Break: Angela from Lipgloss Break shares tips on how to stay motivated toward fitness goals in the new year!