Review

City Color Cosmetics Haul

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Hello!

Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend. Mine was spent mostly with The Boyfriend, which is always wonderful. I got to see some friends perform. And yesterday, we hung out with The Dad of the Boyfriend and family.

Today, I have a City Color Cosmetics Haul to review.

Let’s hurry up and go.go..go!!

City Chic Lipsticks… I like these. They feel good on the lips and have a medium opaqueness. The shine is a good, too. None of these (that I picked out) have and shimmer and they are very creamy.

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Here’s what they say on their site:

City Chic Lipstick is our new signature creamy lipstick line that is fitting for all occasions. Its advanced formula gives your lips a hydrating and long-lasting wear throughout the day. Comes in 30 flawless, richly pigmented shades. From luxurious nudes to vibrant berry hues, these velvety lipsticks are ideal for any classic City Chic look.

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Yesterday, I wore N6 and P2 together for a darkish 90’s lip. I’m totally loving the fact that this look is coming back in (Thank you, Kylie Jenner’s MUA!). I loved it then… and I know “they” say if you wore the trend the first time you shouldn’t the second time around… to that I say… TBBBHHHHHHHHT! (Very mature, right?) P2 is Your Lips, But Better. It’s a really good everyday shade.

Now, the second half of the haul… (the items that aren’t lipstick)!

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This feels nice.. and it has a lit from within look, when sheered out . Dries matte. I can’t wait to mix this in with my foundation or layer it on the high points of my face. The only draw back is that it does have a faint smell that reminds me of grandma. The Boyfriends says it was an old talc smell. I’m sure it won’t deter me, too much, it’s so pretty.

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BLUSHES! Lately, blushes have made be so happy. I’ve been reaching for the Be Matte Blush in Blood Orange a lot, lately. It looks a little bold, but when worn with a light touch… it’s a very healthy flush of a blush. The other one is Natural Glow in  Glamorous Desire.  Both blushes are very smooth and have good pigmentation. Seriously, each of these are under $4.

Of course I picked up a ‘Totally Not Me’ item to try……

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It is bold and pearly and smooth and wears well! I’ve only swatched it… haven’t gotten up the nerve to rock it, yet. (…and I can’t find it on their site.)

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Here are the swatches…. from top to bottom….. Be Matte in Blood Orange, Natural Glow is Glamorous Desire, Illuminating Cream and the Bold liner in Blue.

You should totally check out City Color Cosmetics… They have a lot of wonderful products, that will not break the budget… Now, what’s not AWESOME about that! I know that I will be checking out more of their stuff!

Cheers,

Clare

Be a Bombshell Review.

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Hello Y’all!

By now you have figured out that I attended Cosmoprof North America 2014. Since The Boyfriend works 10-12 hour days and vacation is barely in his vocabulary…. he sets me loose at Trade Shows. A few weekends a year in Vegas (once in San Francisco and once in the Bahamas) and I get to sample all the new make-up and goo… Done!!

This year like last, I grabbed Mani Pedi Diva. We hopped into my trusty Coleoptera Car (Beetle) and sped through the desert to Vegas! Our first day while doing Recon, we found the Be a Bombshell booth. Immediately, we fell in lurve with them. I would totally add them to my Christmas Card List… (if I could actually get my Christmas Cards out. Shhhh!) After a bit, we decided they probably should talk to other people, we parted ways. As the final day was coming to a close, we swung by just to say goodbye. Much to our surprise they handed us a bag of swag. HEAVEN!! I might have squee’d a little.

Without further ado….. Let’s start this Bombshell party!

 

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Just look at this color! This is Starstruck. The photo is reading more fuschia/magenta-y, it’s not at all… it’s a *true royal purple*. Creamy and blendable. I’ve only swatched this shadow, but it may bring me to the dark side of color. I’m pretty much a neutral/darks kinda girl. This color is royally awesome! With 24 colors you’ll definitely find some that you’ll love.

 

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While standing at the booth and looking at all the shadows they had displayed…. I started having a little love affair with the green shade, Tease in this quad. I even took a picture of it so I could purchase it when I got home. Little did I know that my eyeshadow dreams were answered right here in the quad. This one is New York City and contains: All Nighter, Tease, Halo, and Dancing Queen. When I wear these shades my light blue eyes shift ever so green.  I already own one of their other quads Bora Bora and it’s brilliant, too. There are 4 total quads available.

 

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Next fantastic item is their lip gloss in Sangria. Feels wonderful and not sticky at all! Again, the photo is reading too pinky. This is a mauve-y shimmery shade. On me it’s very YLBB (Your Lips But Better) with a little sparkle. This lip gloss reminds me a Chanel Levres Scintillantes one I had years ago that I loved. I lost it moving and can’t remember the name to save my life. Now, I have Sangria to fill it’s place. Srsly, I love the texture and shine of this gloss. Check out the other 17 colors (and there’s a clear one)!

 

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I take my eyeliner seriously. It sounds completely vain. I just love me some eyeliner.  Someday, I take a picture of all my eyeliners and y’all will understand my terrible problem. Pencil, felt tip, cake, liquid, gel… I have them all. It takes something special for me to get excited. And this liner gets me excited. This felt tip in Onyx, it’s black, noooo it’s BLACK! (I’ve been known to layer different eyeliners to get the effect I want… 3 is my tops.) Once it dries, there’s no smudgin’ or budgin’ until you take it off. You can draw a thin line, thick line and anything in between. It comes it 5 different colors. It’s the Bomb(shell)!

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Finally we have a blush. This shade is Sweet Cheeks. The texture is smooooooth and pigmented. It’s really a sweet pink with a little touch of coral. I’ve used this by itself and I have dust this shade over whatever blush I’ve used and it glows. I’m sure that you’ll find your favorite in one of the 12 shades that they have.

 

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Here are the swatches. For some reason my camera was reading things a bit pink today.

If you have Be a Bombshell on Twitter/FB you might have seen this:

 This is the last week to receive 5 of our best selling items FREE with purchase of $75 or more. Don’t miss out!

Go check out Be a Bombshell! Not only are they great folks, they have wonderful products. I hope run into them next year in Vegas. 🙂

Cheers,

Clare

Ipsy Bag – August 2014

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Hello Y’all!

I’m still on a Iggy Azalea kick.

Rocking out to ‘Work’ as I work on this reveal…. Just to let you know it’s not work or kidlet friendly by any means…

This morning I had some blood tests done. I’m glad I no longer have a BIG need phobia, it makes this (points at picture) easier.

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And then I thought it would be a grand idea to add one of these things to my empty stomach! WEEEEEE!! HERE WE GO!

IMG_3867 So, lets get this party started.. Ipsy Style.

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This month’s very cute orange polka dot bag is a lot like the clear pink plastic bag we got a several months ago.. (which I think my mom ‘stole’ from me. Who am I kidding, I probably gave it to her. We use them in our purses.). 

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First thing I pulled out of the bag was Urban Decay’s Perversion Mascara. I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried it. I have a bunch of mascaras going at the moment. I really do want to try it and I’ll let y’all know when I do.

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Second was Abolute’s You’re the Balm in Grape. This has been living on my night stand (tubes roll off or the cat thinks they are toys). I like it, I feel totally 12 when I use it! It’s GRAPE-Y! it looks like it has tiny flecks of glitter in it, doesn’t show up on the lips. The formula is very slick and seems to be moisturizing. I haven’t had dry lips in a week, so there’s that.

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Third is Dr. Brandt’s No More Pores. I lurve this stuff! I used it this past weekend for a night out. My foundation went on more smoothly, seemed to last longer and made my face feel smoooooth. It was a good day/night to test it… it was 90 in my “getting ready” area in my house! While my hair drooped 30 seconds after curling it, my face stayed intact. WIN!

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Fourth is Coastal Scent’s Forever Blush. The colors are pretty. Swatched nicely. I just don’t think they are in my color wheel house. A little too orange and a little too baby pink… Swirling them together is okay. I go for blushed that are darker, like MAC Breezy.

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Lastly…. Lord & Berry’s Silk Kajal. It’s good. It’s very smuge-able, it doesn’t seem to set. I still could blend it out an hour after swatching. It’s black. It’s an eyeliner. I do love me some eyeliner. This will be in my backup. 

There you go… Ipsy for August. A pretty dang good bag!

If you want to subscribe to Ipsy, CLICK HERE! It’ll help me rack up some more points. 🙂

Cheers,

Clare

NYX Suede Palette Review

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Hello Y’all!

First things first!  I’m the realest.

(Sorry, I’m such a fan of ‘I’m so Fancy’. It’s totally my Summer Jam!)

Okay… First things first… RENEE WON the last GIVEAWAY!!!  Congrats Lady. We’ll do lunch!

Second. I’ve been watching a lot of Haven and Supernatural. I have distinct urge to salt my windows and doors to keep out the demons. Also, I had this thought. What if you had the ability to actually know what was behind people’s social media post. Mostly the ‘OMG! My life is soooo awesome.’ -or-  the ‘oh so wise quotey’ posts. And you know they are really sitting somewhere boring as heck, bored outta their ever-loving minds or they’re sitting in the loo, would be worth a giggle or two. WHAT?? Like none of you have ever had a thought like this?!

Third on to Beauty Stuff!

The NYX Suede Shadow Palette

I have a drawer of eyeshadow palettes. They are like crack to me. I love them. So when this little guy popped out at me at Cosmoprof NA… (I’m pretty sure it made my Instagram) I was hooked. After waiting a month and not buying any eyeshadows, I pulled the trigger. I also found a code on the inter webs: WELCOME25 (for 25% of your order)

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They have a really smooth texture and very blendable. In the pan they seem really shimmery. For me, once they hit the skin the the shimmer mellows out. I can see myself reaching for this palette often, especially as we go into Fall. Most of the colors are rather neutral, even that dark blue/green isn’t a pow pow kinda color. Not only do they blend well, they layer nicely, too. This would be a great work/office palette. Here’s a quick look I did:

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I used the dark taupe, off white and the dark blue/green. (This picture was a quick selfie, no judgin’!) On the eyebrows, I used the new NYX Eyebrow Gel in Chocolate. Since, it was my first time using this, dos brow be bold! (Eyeliner Rich Experience by MAC : One by One Mascara by Maybelline)

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I think the secret to using this stuff is… to use the least amount of product possible. Unless, you like the Total Bold as &*%# Brows look! This could is a dupe for Makeup Forever’s Eyebrow Gel. That I wouldn’t know, haven’t used it. $7 for NYX vs $20 for Makeup Forever.. Take yer pick.

They you go..

In the next few days…. I’ll have an Ipsy bag unveiling, an August Favorites List and a Be a Bombshell blog going up.

Cheers,

Clare

GIVEAWAY – J.Andre Sponges

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I know I’ve been absent a bit from here. You want to know why?

I have the balance of a 90 year old woman.

Seriously.

So, there I was waiting for my Caturday Coffee. (It’s a thing in our house, The Boyfriend gets up and makes stovetop espresso on Saturday mornings. His coffee is better than mine. Don’t ask how, it just is.) Standing there minding my own business… our cat Simon, headbutts the back of my knee. As I was fighting the imminent fall, he comes background for the side swipe. It was all over.  I was just a flurry of flailing limbs and BOOM… I squarely fell on me arse. Usually, there’s enough padding back there (Thanks, Grandma!), but this time I fell “perfectly” to feel my spine “accordion”. It took a few days to get back to normal.

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Yes, this guy. He thinks it’s totally okay to headbutt the backs of knees.

To add insult to injury a few days after this event, when I was feeling better… I picked up The Boyfriend’s wheelie briefcase and pulled a muscle. *wanh-wanh*

Yes, I’m *that* much of a klutz.

There you have it… it’s funny now.

Back to Beauty Stuff!!

While I was at Cosmoprof North America, I met the CEO and Director of Sales of J. Andre Sponges. Two really awesome women. They gave me some samples.

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Here’s a little info about these from their site:

“Every Sponge in both the Classic and Definition Collections naturally contain Vitamin E, are latex-free, and are Hypo-Allergenic. These healthy and skin-friendly properties allow the sponges to glide across your skin creating a flawless application with each and every use.

These durable sponges will never peel, flake or crumble.  They are baby soft and will not your skin of any of its essential elements.

All of your J. Andre Sponges are completely washable and reusable, and with proper care will be your best tool for years to come.”

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The other day, I whipped out the Sponge Applicator, the pointy oblong shaped one. I currently use a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush (Which I love!) or my fingers. I’ve used different sponges and brushes. I’m usually a skeptic when it comes to new things. Let me tell you, these sponges are the fecking bomb-diggity. I definitely put it to the test (for me). I dampen, it grew like other cosmetic sponges. I then squeezed it out in a towel… dotted Elf’s Flawless Face Foundation all over my mug. This foundation is notoriously hard for me to blend out for some reason. It sits on my skin, never looking natural on me. This sponge made it look like my skin, but better. I even asked The Boyfriend what he thought (He spent years performing under stage lights and understands makeup.) he said that my skin looked great, even in broad daylight.  These sponges are super duper soft and a dream to bounce, bounce, bounce all around your face. I also noticed that it seems to *NOT* drink up my foundation. That makes me uber happy, I want more of it on my FACE than in the sponge. I can’t wait to try this with my Revlon Colorstay.

Next, I’m trying to guy out!

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We’ve come to the GIVEAWAY! Some lucky reader will be getting all of the triangle sponges and a powder puff (not pictured). Same rules as the last one: Share this blog, Like this blog, Tell people. Sharing is caring, folks! Come back here tell me your favorite foundation. GIVEAWAY will end Wednesday at Midnight PST.

Here are my Top 5 Foundations, in no particular order:

1. L’oreal True Match

2. CoverGirl True Blend

3. Bare Mineral Original

4. MAC’s Face and Body

5. Elf’s Flawless Face Foundation (NOW!)

To sum up…. These sponges are a WINNER and I’m so glad I got to try them out. The women I met at J.Andre were wonderful. I love it when it all works.

Cheers,

Clare