Review: Illamsqua Intense Lipgloss in Hermetic

Hmmm.... sort of on the fence with this product. Thats not too common with things I review. You see I try to do only positive reviews, unless I find something dangerous that I think people should know about. And this.... I don't know if its right for me. But if its right for you is completely your choice so lets move on to the pics!

Illamasqua describes this as "a deep wine red". I've seen a bunch of swatches to back this description up, lots of lovely deep glossy red lips. But on me it definitely pulls bronze. On me I'm say this is a dark red toned bronze, and I'm a little disappointed about that. Thats not really anyones fault, I just don't know how well I like it on me.

Now for the more important details. The formula for this gloss is on the thick side, but isn't overly sticky. Which is the deciding factor for me personally, I can't stand sticky lipgloss. It lasts more like a lipstick and as the title says is very intense in color. Its easy to go overboard and apply too much with this gloss. I'm grateful I have  their packaging with the brush applicator rather then a squeezey tube, I imagine that would've been harder.

I've found a couple ways of making this a little less intense that I like the look of better. The first is to apply only a little on top of a reddish color.

Hermetic over Covergirl LipPerfection Lipstick in Enthrall

The second method is to apply the gloss full force and then blot it so a little more lip color shines through. This makes the color lighter and more wearable; however blotting takes away the pretty shine that lipgloss has so I put a clear gloss over it.

So for quality and intensity these are brilliant, but I have to work a littler harder to get my desired color.

I may or may not return this one, I've yet to decided. However I will probably try out more over Illamasqua's Intense Lipgloss line, Galactic (a metallic silver) looks amazing so I might have to get that one. If I do return this lipgloss I'll replace it with Succubus which is a lighter blood red, but that doesn't have the pretty shimmer.

Illamsqua Hermetic Intense Lipgloss is $20.00 for .02 oz at Sephora or Illamsqua 's websites or certain Sephora stores.

Holika Holika Petit Clearing BB Review

This little darling went on my wish list as soon as I saw it! I've been having trouble finding a BB cream that suits my skin type, and unfortunately the BB cream I fell in love with, Skin79 Diamond the Prestige BB, really really broke me out. I'm talking crazy, this can't possibly just be hormones type breakout. So imagine my happiness when I stumbled across a BB designed for acne prone skin, at a good price no less.

(Left Before, Right After)

This BB cream supposedly helps control acne and control oil with tea tree oil, and oil absorbent powders. I'm always skeptical about claims like this. Not that I don't believe in natural ingredients working, I definitely do, but unless its an all natural company I feel like they're just tacking it on just to say they have it. 

That being said, I really like the finish of this BB. Its matte were the majority of the BB creams I've tried have had very 'dewy' textures. Its a pretty good match color wise for my skin, a little lighter but in a brighting sort of way. It evens out my skin tone nicely and goes under the eyes well too, thats great on day when I don't have much time to get ready. I also don't feel the need to powder my t-zone, and it has SPF 30 so it really is a time saver. But I feel like this like many blemish balms makes you a little one toned and pasty so I think blusher and or bronzing powder is needed to complete my look.

As for helping reduce acne? Its too soon to tell, however its not causing breakouts, and it conceals them well so I'm happy with that. If you want to see pictures of the actual product I did a haul with it here.

I got the Holika Holika Petit Clearing BB from prettyandcute.com at $12.99 for 30ml

Halloween Series: Cute Pumpkin Look!

Now after my last Halloween look (Wonder Woman, for those who missed it ;D) I had a poll asking what look I should do next, and it actually had a three way tie! So I just picked this one. The goal of these looks is to be fun and festive while being fairly easy and I think this one fits the bill.

   

I think I make a rather cute pumpkin! =)

As always I started out with a primer as always applied to my whole eye. Then taking a bright orange color, I put it all over my lid this is the main color so use the bright orange you have. Then I took and orangey gold and put a little in my inner corner for dimension. Then taking a dark matte brown I really deepened the crease and outer corner, you could also use black, but I like the way the brown transitions with the orange.

For my lower lash line, I took a bright green color and ran it almost all the way to my tear ducts, I left a little room where I placed a lighter green eyeshadow. Then on a whim I decided to deepen the outer corner with a light more dark brown. Now to make my pumpkin tendrils I took a small flat liner brush (I used E.L.F's studio small smudge brush) and dipped it into the bright green from before. Starting at the point of my outer corner I made little loops going toward my earlobes. I did three loops, mine are fairly similar but they don't have to be perfectly matched so don't sweat it. After that that I lined my upper lash line with black gel eyeliner put on a quick coat of mascara (top only!) and then applied my half lashes. (I know I use them a lot, but they're my favorite!)

After that I filled in my brows orange, this is optional. My hair has a bit of an orangey tone right now so I think it looks cute, but it might come off a little clownish. Then I took a orangey cream blush and dabbed it on the apples of my cheeks for some color.

Okay now on to the lips, I started out with applying a red orange lipstick. Now if you want you can stop there and thats fine, but for extra fun I added a coat of tacky lipgloss and then pressed pretty orange/gold glitter. This glitter also has a beautiful green shift that isn't showing up, but you can imagine!

Products Used:

(In order of application)

Face: Holika Holika petit Clearing BB, Hard Candy Concealer in Light and Medium.

Eyes: Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Sleek Sunset Palette Orange Color, Sleek Sunset Palette Medium Gold Shade, Urban Decay Backdoor Eyeshadow, Wet n' Wild I Dream of Greenie Color Trio Lid and Brow Bone Colors, Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in Blackest Black, Maybelline Lash Stiletto Waterproof Mascara in Black, Ardell 305 Black Lashes.

Brows: Sleek Sunset Palette Orange Color.

Cheeks: Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Candy Coral.

Lips: Mac Sail La Vie Lipstick, Hard Candy Plexi Gloss in Genie, Nyx Glitter Powder in Apple.

If you liked this comment please comment below! Next week I'll either do a Cat or Nymph look as those were the other two in the tie. =)

E.L.F HD Blush Review!

So this is an update from a few days ago when I got my E.L.F Studio HD blushes. And all the things I suspected from the swatches turned out to be true. Sorry for the poor picture quality on these, I could not get good lighting to save my life! =(

Superstar

Superstar is a bright peachy pink, that decided not to show up very well in photographs, but trust me its much more pronounced in person. I started out with just a tiny drop of the product and blended it in: however this one is a lot less scary, and considerable more buildable.

Showstopper

Showstopper was terrifying to use! But I actually kind of like it. Its a dark plum in the bottle, and I got it blended down to a plummy rouge. It is a tad purpler then it looks in this light, its not a very natural color on me but I'm weirdly dedicated to making it work! You might get an update later on that... But anyway I used about half of the tiniest drop you can think of for this, and then blended like a mad woman. I would never tell anyone that they can't work a certain color, that being said I think this will be more easily wearable for darker women.

Encore

Finally we get to Encore, which is the random one in the bunch. Encore is exactly the same on me as it is in the bottle, a really bright raspberry. If you like really bright pinks, like Mac's Her Blooming Cheek, this is similar if a bit redder.

All in all these are pretty fun and I like them. They take a little bit of practice, but with the amount you need to use, you'll never run out! I used a couple different methods to apply these, E.L.F recommends using their stippling brush- so I tried that, but it deposited waaaaay too much color. Using your fingers works well, but the darker colors are quite staining, so thats a little messy. I'd recommend trying cosmetic sponges, or maybe applying a tiny dot to your face and then buffing it out with a brush, although that still might stain your fingertips. I hope you enjoyed this, what color would you like to see E.L.F make in this line?

Mini Pretty and Cute Haul!

This haul really is mini- it only has two items! But they're both exciting and adorable so I thought I'd share.

    

I got Holika Holika Petit Clearing BB Cream, and this cute little Etude House Perfume holder. Sephora sells a similar sort of perfumer holder, but this one is cheaper and waaay more fun. As I haven't used them yet I can't review them (I will soon though!) but I am very impressed with this site! Their shipping was really cheap, and fast. They sell Japanese and Korean cosmetics, but they're based out of Oregon so their shipping will much faster then order from overseas if you live state side like me. =)

Got my lovelies here: prettyandcute.com

E.L.F HD Studio Blush First Impressions

I'm super excited to share these with you, because I've been anxious to ty them since they started showing teasers for these blushes in mid summer. I ordered these the day they came out, and I thought I'd do a quick first impressions before I test all of them out.

(Superstar, Showstopper, Encore.)

I got three shades: Superstar a peachy pink, Showstopper a reddish plum, and Encore a BRIGHT raspberry color. While I'm excited to try them out, Showstopper and Encore are terrifying swatched and in the bottle! Also one thing that I dislike but I should have know is the size of these. I guess I just pictured them bigger. I think I had MUFE HD blushes in my head, but given the price difference I'm not complaining. 

They are super pigmented and have a sort of oily texture. This concerns me a little bit, because my face is naturally pretty oily and acne prone. But they are so strongly pigmented and stain like so I'm guessing they'll last a long time. I'll give a full review soon!

E.L.F HD Studio Blush is $3.00 here

Goin' Gold Childhood Cancer Awareness

September is national Childhood Cancer Awareness month. This obviously an important cause, however it doesn't get nearly the amount of attention it needs to raise support. Enter in the Goin' Gold Campaign, their goal is to raise awareness and support the afflicted children and their families. The gold ribbon should be just as easily recognizable as the pink, so today I've put together a tutorial in support.

I started out with a primer all over my lids and brows. Then I took a bright yellow-gold eyeshadow all over my lid up to my crease. Using a darker bronzy gold color I deepened the outer corner and crease. After that I took a the first bright yellow color and brought it along with a smudge brush. I stopped at my inner corner and added a much lighter white gold color. I just lined my eyes with black eyeshadow and applied a light coat of mascara, just enough to get them all black. Then I added fluttery lashes. After the lashes dried I added sparkly gold eyeliner on my lids.

I dotted fondation on my face and then buffed it out with a flat topped brush, then I applied a gold toned bronzer under my cheek bones and lightly around my face. Then I applied a liberal amounts of highlighter and shimmery golden blush.

To make my ribbon I first took a gold shadow pencil and mapped out the shape. Then I applied shimmery gold on top of the cream base. To make it stand out a little better I used a dark neutral color around the edges and put some concealer in the center.

For my lips I applied a lighter pink lipstick on to my prepped lips, and then patted a little gold powder in the center.

Thanks for reading and please pass along awareness to the people you know!

Products Used:

(In Order of Use)

Eyes: Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Lime Crime Goldfish Eyeshadow, MAC Woodwinked Eyeshadow, Lime Crime Lotus Noir Eyeshadow, Maybelline Full n Soft Waterproof Mascara, Ardell 117 Black False Eyelashes, Nyx Liquid Crystal Liner in Crystal Gold.

Face: Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation in Ivory, Benefit Ten Bronzer, theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Luminier, E.L.F Giddy Gold Studio Blush.

Ribbon: Nyx Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Pure Gold, Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow in Goldilux, MAC Omega Eyeshadow, Hard Candy Glamoflage Light Concealer.

Lips: Nyx Round Lipstick in Stella, Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow in Goldilux.