Pictures and Info of Viva Glam II

I just saw the new pictures of Lady Gaga's Viva Glam II lipstick and lipglass on Temptalia. Each product will retail for $14.50 USD and both are simply called 'Nude'. VGII will launch in US and Canada on 2/17/11 and internationally, it will launch on March! Are you as excited as I am? I'm a sucker for  good cause who happens to love Gaga.

Source: Tenptalia

Mail!

I wanted to share with you guys some goodies I received in the mail. I'm pretty sure I received both orders from Zoya and Sephora, about a week or two ago.

First, I received my Sephora order. I found out the Naked palette was back in stock so I ordered it... AGAIN. I feel absolutely insane for buying a 'backup' of something I already own that is supposedly permanent. I never thought of myself as 'that girl', you know, the one who buys into cosmetic hysteria. Yet, here I am. I love the Naked palette. I'm such a sucker. Anyone else out there who is a sucker for this thing too?

Also, to qualify for free shipping, I ordered 'Teal We Meet Again' from Sephora by OPI. I haven't tried it yet, but it sure is pretty!

Next thing: I received my order from Zoya. I picked out three polishes for FREE, thanks to their 20k fans on Facebook promotion. I did buy one extra, though. From left to right: Miley, Gweneth, Daphne, Charity. The shade I was most looking forward to (Miley), I was most disappointed by. It's pretty in the bottle but it's sheer. I mean, SHEER. With that said, the other three are absolutely gorgeous. To my surprise, Gweneth ended up being my favorite. I'm not necessarily a 'red' girl, but I may become one now!

Ah, and that thing in the upper right corner? I bought a new computer this past Sunday. I'm officially an Apple user! It took me a good while to figure out how to cut and paste, but I'm getting the hang of it. :)

Yash Lipstick, from MAC and Mickey Contractor

Hello, lovelies! I'm excited to tell you guys that I finally got my camera back. I'm sorry that I've been a naughty blogger. As I've said before, the focus of this blog is based around my pictures so if the quality isn't up to par, it's difficult to put my heart into it.

As you may or may not know, the Mickey Contractor collection is only available online -- which is a shame because I think it deserves to be sold in stores too. Before the release of Cham-Pale, I've been pretty disappointed with MAC collections. Releasing one like this has restored my love and loyalty.

MAC Yash: $14.50 USD

Yash is a darkened peachy-nude. I would say that because it's a little on the dark side, it'll be a more favorable color for its versatility. I think Yash will be exceptionally complimentary on warm / deep skin tones. On me, it looks like a dark nude because I'm so fair but I think it adds nice contrast. Also, this lipstick has a matte finish but I didn't find it to be terribly drying. Just don't forget to exfoliate your pucker! So far, most of this collection is sold out. Have you gotten anything?

Unflappable Mega Metal Shadow

I picked up Unflappable from MAC about a week ago. It's one of the new limited edition mega metal shadows from Peacocky. Each shadow retails for $19.50 USD which is significantly more expensive than the regular shadows which are $14.50. However, mega metal shadows are 3.4 grams and the regular shadows only offer 1.5 grams. In essence, you're getting a good bang for your buck.

Out of all the shadows, Unflappable is the most played down color. By that, I mean all of the other colors are very bold and metallic. According to MAC, it is a "frosted black with purple pearl". On the eyes, it doesn't look very frosty or very black. In my opinion, it's more gray with plum. Though, this is one of those times when I wish I had my normal camera because this one can't pick up on the plum (sorry). Anyway, I think it's a great color, especially for smoky eyes. I definitely want to try the other colors!

Benefit's Bella Bamba: A Quick Review!

So, I ordered Bella Bamba a few weeks ago. From looking at pictures online, it looked like the perfect pink. My idea of the perfect pink is a color that can suit cool and warm skin, light and and dark. Benefit describes it as "A watermelon-pink blush laced with shimmering gold undertones". They claim that it "creates the illusion of sculpted features". For $28 USD, you're getting .28 oz. of product versus their other collection of boxed powders which all have .35 oz. of product.

I think the packaging is very pretty and nice to look at. One of the first things I picked up on when I opened this was the watermelon scent. It's DELICIOUS! The blush itself is very pigmented. I mean, VERY pigmented! I can't stress that enough so use a light hand with this, especially if you're very pale. I found that this blush gave me a perfect flush. Looking at it in the pan or when it's swatched on my arm, you might think this would be way too shimmery but it doesn't transfer that way onto the face. Overall, it's a pretty color and I definitely recommend. Though, I do feel like the price is a little steep for a blush but you get a lot of product. 

New favorite eye liners!

Before I get started, I'm so sorry for not posting as often as I usually do. I'll work on that, I promise! It's frustrating to not have my good camera right now. Every time I make an attempt to pick it up from my grandma's, a snow storm hits. Yeah, seriously. For now, I'm stuck with my regular Nikon digital which is great for taking pictures of people, not so much for photographing your makeup. It just sucks because the main focus of my blog is swatching for you guys. Sorry in advance if the quality isn't up to par.

Anyway, I've been loving my eyeliners lately. Particularly, the ones I picked up from MAC's Cham-Pale collection: Feline and the NC15/NW20 Chromagraphic Pencil. I'll be up front and say that the real star of the show here is the chromagraphic pencil. I've been LUSTING for this since its release in the Pret-A-Papier collection. It sold out before I could get my hands on it. I know I could've ordered it from the MAC store, but I figured it'd be back around again.

Feline on top, NC15/NW20 pencil on bottom

Feline (14.50 USD, limited edition) is an ultra black kohl power liner. Seriously, they don't get much blacker than this. It's the perfect eyeliner to smudge or blend out with a smoky eye. Normally, I never wear liner on my waterline because I have small eyes, black liner just makes them look smaller. Still, I tried Feline on my waterline just to tell you guys what I thought of it. I didn't like it. It didn't wear long at all and it migrates quicker than the birds who fly south for the winter. After an hour or two, there was more liner under my eyes than there was on my waterline. I think it's safe to say that this is better for the upper lash line.

The NC15/NW20 Chromagraphic pencil (14.50 USD, limited edition) is top notch. I like to wear this one on my waterline because it makes my eyes look bigger, brighter, and refreshed. This works well when I'm doing the 'no make up'-make up look because it looks natural and pairs well with just a hint of mascara. I also love this when I'm doing a smoky eye with thick liner on the upper lash line. Apply a little mascara to your bottom lashes (just be careful not to hit your waterline) and you'll get that doll-eyed effect. Love it. The best part about this is that it wears for an exceptionally long time, like the chromagraphic pencils are suppose to do. Another thing I think this pencil would be good for is when you're doing red lips. Ever hear that trick about how you should take a concealer brush and some concealer then apply a little around the outside of your lip line to make your red lips pop? In theory, I imagine this would be perfect for that but I haven't tried it yet.

Feline (left), NC15/ NW20 pencil (right)

Both pencils are down right awesome but I'm especially pleased with the NC15/NW20 pencil. I noticed that MAC online is out of stock on both of these pencils. If you can get your hands on them at a store or counter, go for it! You won't be disappointed!

We have a WINNER!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my first giveaway. I thought this was a really fun way to give back to my readers. I'm sorry for being a lousy blogger lately, but I have a good reason. I promise! If you didn't win, don't feel bad because I have another giveaway coming up soon.

FYI: this picture is from *my* palette!

For this giveaway, the winner was chosen at random via random.org:

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHIC GEEK, NUMBER 28!

I'll be sending you an email shortly!

FREE Zoya Nail Polish!

Did you know that you can get THREE bottles of Zoya nail polish for FREE?! Because Zoya has reached 20k+ fans on Facebook, they're offering three complimentary polishes to their customers as a thanks. Don't quote me on this, but I believe that it's only available to their US customers. All you have to do is pay shipping, which for me was $6.95. The code is 'fb2011' and this offer expires on January 7th.

Each bottle of polish is $7 USD so you're essentially paying $6.95 for what would normally be $21+ shipping and taxes. Pretty awesome, yes? I picked out Miley, Gweneth, Daphne, and Charity. I bought an extra one. :)

To my American / Canadian readers...

The Naked palette is up for sale at Sephora. If you want one, I suggest you buy it right now! Before I purchased mine at Ulta, I tried to buy it from Sephora and it was removed from my cart AS I was checking out (back in August)! So hurry! Click here for a direct link to the page.

The Naked Palette is out of stock again. Boo!


Now for another edit, the Naked palette is still in stock. I think there was a temporary hold put on it but you still can get your hands on this as of 7:30 pm EST.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Good luck and happy hunting!

On another note, I'll be announcing the winner of my giveaway on Thursday! Have a great day! :)