I'M BACK

SUMMER ESSENTIALS 2015

REVIEW AND SWATCHES - NEW SEPHORA COLLECTION CREAM LIP STAINS

REVIEW AND SWATCHES - NARS AUDACIOUS LIPSTICK IN ANNA

SKIN CARE FAVORITES 2014

SWATCH OF THE DAY - KAT VON D EVERLASTING LIQUID LIPSTICK IN L.U.V.

REVIEW AND SWATCHES - MELT COSMETICS DARK ROOM LIPSTICK

SWATCH OF THE DAY/ DOSE OF COLORS - KISS OF FIRE & PURPLE RAIN

MAKEUP ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - SASHA COLINA / @SASHATHEMUA

Hello Everyone! I am back with an exciting new post on an amazing makeup artist and my friend Sasha Colina. I had the honor of attending her first ever class "Glam 101" at the brand new Salon Le Rouge in Burlingame, California.

Swatch of The Day - NARS Audacious lipstick in Dominique

Price - $32
Availability - NARS Cosmetics & Barney's New York
Review - NARS Audacious Lipstick in Dominique is exclusive to NARS.com & Barney's New York. The pigmentation on this lipstick was simply amazing. Full complete coverage with one swipe. Dominique is a unique color that I can only slightly compare to RiRi Boy from the RiRi Hearts MAC Collection. The lipstick had excellent staying power and needed minor touch ups after eating. Now I know the price is steep and believe me when I say that I was going back and forth on whether to purchase or not. After wearing it out for an entire day and witnessing the staying power and not to mention how beautiful this color is I do feel slightly better about the price. I am trying to fight the urge in splurging on more colors but I don't know how long I can resist collecting all of the NARS Audacious lipsticks.

Swatch of The Day - Bite Beauty Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Aubergine

Price - $24

Availability - Sephora.com

Review - Bite Beauty has launched their new Matte Crème Lip Crayons and I am in love! I immediately gravitated towards the shade Aubergine. Love at first swatch! The pigmentation on these bad boys are amazing. No need to layer this on. Not only is this color gorgeous and pigmented but it is extremely comfortable to wear. It is described as a matte finish but I would say it's more of a satin matte finish leaning more towards matte. It felt nourishing on my lips. The color stayed highly pigmented throughout the entire day and only required minor touch ups after eating and drinking. I'm definitely heading back to grab more shades!

Swatch of The Day - MAC Cosmetics A Novel Romance Lingering Kiss and Hearts Aflame Lipstick

» Price -  $16

» Availability - MAC Cosmetics

» Overall Rating - MAC Cosmetics recently launched their latest collection A Novel Romance. Not much caught my eye from the collection except these two gorgeous lipsticks. Lingering Kiss is described as a deep plum red on MAC's website. I am OBSESSED with this color. A few Beauty Blogs that I have read compared this color to Talk That Talk from the Rihanna collection that I sadly did not get a chance to grab. The application was smooth and reached opaque coverage with the first swipe. Hearts Aflame is described as a mid tone brick red. This color was reminiscent of Rocker lipstick sans the micro glitter. This color stayed opaque for over 7 hours! Check your local MAC Store or counter for availability.

Review and Swatches - Sephora Collection Lip Products

L.A. Girl Cosmetics Glazed Lip Paint Swatches

L.A. Girl Cosmetics just released their brand new collection of glazed lip paint. I was introduced to this brand while I was at the PHAMExpo that just took place in June. I was intrigued to try out these lip paints because I am a fan of the Too Faced Melted lipsticks and thought these looked quite similar in concept and packaging.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette Look

Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you all a quick look using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette. Can I just say how awesome this palette is? First of all it also comes with a few extra items such as a mini eyeliner, mini brow pencil, brush, and a full sized tweezer! The colors on the palette are great in pigmentation and provide a variety of looks!

Here is a closer look on all of the colors:

GET THE LOOK

MAC Retractable Brow Pencil in Spiked

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot

Orange Soda Eyeshadow (Crease)

Sienna Eyeshadow (Crease)

Cream Eyeshadow (Lid)

Truffle Eyeshadow (Crease)

Black Diamond (Outer Crease & Lower lash line)

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner

LORAC Pro Mascara

Anastasia Covet Waterproof Liner (Waterline)

Velour Lashes in Oops! Naughty Me

» Price -  $38.00

» Availability - Sephora, Anastasia, Beautylish (Currently Sold Out) 

Swatch of The Day - Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm

Hello! It's been a long time! I have missed blogging. My work life has been quite hectic.

Today I bring you swatches of two new Matte Balm from Revlon's Colorburst line. I have quickly fallen in love with these lip balms. It's hard for me to pass up matte lipstick and when I saw that they had a purple one I knew I had to act fast! Today I bring you swatches of Sultry and Shameless.

Sultry

Shameless

» Price -  $9.98 (I paid at CVS which is a lot higher than other places such as Walgreens, Rite Aid)

» Availability - Drugstores

» Overall Rating - Love! These are very reminiscent of the Tarte Lip Surgence Matte Lipsticks. They are retractable and have a soft peppermint taste. Easy to glide on, nourishing and great pigmentation. Sultry is a perfect everyday color that you can pair with any eye look.  Shameless is a vibrant purple that has been hard for me to find for a drugstore lipstick. I did have to layer it a tad bit around the center of my lips to even it out. I can not wait to collect all of the colors. I have been reading from various places that these are permanent which makes me really happy! I recommend finding the best price around your local drugstores before buying these.

Review - Melt Cosmetics By Starlight

(L-R: MAC Cosmetics Seductive Intent, OCC Lip Tar Belladonna, MAC Cosmetics Strong Woman, Melt Cosmetics By Starlight, MAC Cosmetics Heroine)

» Price -  $19

» Availability - Melt Cosmetics

» Overall Rating - I have come to the conclusion that I have a slight obsession with purple lip products. It's quite difficult for me to pass up any new purple lipstick. This lipstick By Starlight is from a new brand called Melt Cosmetics. It was co-founded by celebrity makeup artist Lora Arellano a.k.a Loreleicakes on Instagram & Dana Bomar. The price is bit on the higher-end side and the shipping is high ($7+ ouch). They are a new business so hopefully overtime their shipping costs can go down. Now on to the actual lipstick. By Starlight is described as an ultra-matte, radioactive purple. It distributed evenly across my lips and the color was a beautiful purple! It is very vibrant and not like any purple lip product that I own. For being described as ultra-matte this lipstick was non drying. It lasted a few hours with minimal fading. It did not last during my meal but I have only come across a few lip products (lip tar,velvetines) that can stay untouched during meals. This is definitely a unique purple and gets a high rating from me for it's pigmentation and staying power! I am tempted to try more colors but I will wait till they (hopefully) lower their shipping costs.

Review - House of Lashes Noir Fairy & Hollywood Glam

If any of you makeup enthusiasts are on Instagram I am sure you have stumbled upon @HouseofLashes page. House of Lashes offers a variety of styles from natural to glam. Their Noir Fairy lashes are quite popular on Instagram and I immediately fell in love with their luxe appearance. I decided to order a couple of pairs to try out if these lashes were really worth all of the buzz.

» Price -  $18

» Availability - House of Lashes

» Overall Rating - .The Noir Fairy lashes definitely give your lashes that luxe look. I was a bit skeptical at first due to the fact that right after applying them they felt quite heavy. I did not think I was going to be able to wear these lashes. After a few minutes passed that heavy feeling went away and they settled in quite comfortably. I usually opt for thin/invisible band lashes but I got through the entire day without any discomfort. Do they live up to the hype? In my opinion, yes. This multi layered lash gives your look a unique and whimsical touch.

» Price -  $9

» Availability - House of Lashes

» Overall Rating - .The Hollywood Glam lashes are part of their "Au Natural" collection. When looking at the product photos and on the models the lashes looked quite full yet still natural. When I opened these up I could not tell a different between these and any other drugstore brand I already owned. It had a nice thin band but there was really nothing else mind blowing about these lashes. They did fill in my lashes a bit. For the price I will stick with my drugstore brand lashes that will give me the same effect for a fraction of the cost.

Swatch of The Day - MAC Cosmetics RiRi Woo

» Price -  $15

» Availability - MAC Cosmetics (Limited Edition) will return in June

» Overall Rating - A tad bit deeper than MAC's Ruby Woo. It has a retro matte finish and did not leave my lips feeling dry. Lasted a good 7 hours before signs of fading began to show. This lipstick will be launching again in June with the RiRi Hearts MAC Collection. The collection will be released in multiple installments throughout the year.