Fyrinnae Inks

So I actually started this post back in April the same day as my last posting(it's mid June now, though this post will say April) , but neglected to finish this before I left on my trip and then proceeded to get rammed continuously by that thing we call life. I got this amazing little package in the mail before I left on the first of 3 trips though...my Fyrinnae Ink samples! 15 tiny little bottles of gorgeous color (about 2" long each). The samples are about $3 each on Fyrinnae's website (fyrinnae.com) and come in 2 ml sizes, which to a makeup junkie like me, is absolutely perfect. (sooo much of my stash is lightly used..it's a bit depressing). After trying these out for a couple of weeks I have to say that I definitely like these. They're vibrant, long-lasting, and completely nonirritating to the eyes...even if you're clumsy like me and end up with them IN your eyes. Fyrinnae's site says that these are designed for use on the waterline, but since I have trouble applying these there (hence the comment about getting these in my eyes...but I'm not used to applying anything to my waterline) I use these to line my upper lids and they work perfectly fine for that. On top of UDPP these last all day without smudging or flaking..provided that I don't take a nap and rub my face into the pillow or whatever it is I do in my sleep. I bought all but 3 of thesebabies at the time of my order, but Fyrinnae has since then added a few more lovely colors. I will quite qossibly be going back to order the other colors (plus the one I managed to lose already) so I think it's safe to say you can expect a 2nd set of swatches (eventually)

Inks..no flash
Inks with Flash

Swatches in Sunlight. I really quite like these liners..they look a bit different in different light.

Swatches in Shade.

Now that you've seen the swatches, here are the color descriptions (done to the best of my ability)
Charismatic Cream-slightly shimmery off white cream. It's a nice color for the waterline
Tinsel Taupe- a silvery taupe. It's less brown than Dior's Elegante Taupe liner (and most likely UD Underground..since I heard these two were dupes of each other) I think this is a bit light as a liner on medium-darker skin tones, but would probably be quite pretty on light skin tones. This one turned a bit gold on my skin after it dried down. You can also spread this color out a bit with your fingers and use it as a liquid eyeshadow if you really wanted.
Flattery Will Get you Everywhere-medium-deep pewtery taupe. I like this one a lot.
Bionic Brown- I don't think I describe this one too well, but it's a warmish brown with golden-copper sparkle
Lover's quarrel- I definitely don't describe this one too well, but this one looks like a deep brown color in the tube, but applied on the skin it's an aubergine? plummy-red-pink maroonish color. I think it's a bit redder than my swatches show, but the picture of it in the shade is more accurate than the one in full on sun. I think sixxmum has a better swatch of this one. You can find it on Karlasugar's blog.
Superherioine- This one's one of Fyrinnae's more simple shades...it's a yellow gold
Sterling Starlight- On my skin it's a nice silver with some possible blue undertones
Intoxicating- grey in the tube, but grey-turquoise on my arm.
Colorful Metaphor- light silvery green
Turquoise Tease- bright shimmery turqoise. This one's going to be a favorite of mine this summer I think.
Flamboyant Forest- mid-deep shimmery green lighter than Ivy shimmer ink
Make-up sex- deep blue-green
Captivating Cobalt- blue shimmer
Midnight Mistress- shimmery deep blue
Violet Vendetta- a nice shimmery purple.

I really like these liners, generally, they're some of the easiest to apply liquids I've come across, though in the mini tubes, the brush that comes with the liners tickles quite a bit when i try to apply it on the waterline. They do take a while to dry down a bit, so it's possible for these to transfer a bit while it's more wet. I also like these because you can kinda smudge out and soften the line with these if you want to. The biggest con to this product is that you have to frequently dig these out of your stash to shake these up, even when you aren't using them, or the product separates. (though you have to shake these well before use anyways to get a more vibrant line) They don't appear to separate at all before you crack open the tube though. Either way, I like these a lot and definitely recommend these to anyone who wants to play with some fun colored liners.

Bobbi Brown Nude on Nude Shimmerwash Palette

I guess this is more of a "I have the swatches already, so why not post them?" post :] Today's review/swatches are of the Nude on Nude Shimmerwash palette, which I believe originally retailed for $45 (at least I remember seeing it briefly on QVC for that price last year) I'm not really sure on this, however, as I recieved this palette in a swap preloved (one shade particularly so, as you can see below) This palette is a palette of mostly shimmery eyeshadows, with one matte shade. This is the shimmer palette with this name, as there is another palette that Bobbi Brown also named "Nude on Nude". The other Nude on Nude palette is a palette of matte shades, and is a travel exclusive palette. The shimmerwash palette is unfortunately not just the shimmer version of the matte version or vice versa. I believe they have different shades.

This palette contains 4 of Bobbi Brown's Shimmerwash shades and one matte shade, all of which I believe are in Bobbi Brown's permanent line;
Nude: a nice light pinky peach nude. This shadow is an excellent base shade with shimmer that sparkle just a bit. It makes an excellent wash or base shade. I literally used this shade twice before it hit pan, but I'm sure I'll buy myself a full size of this shadow when I run out (which actually may take a while knowing me)
Cement : a somewhat silvery taupe. The shimmer in this shade is more of a subtle sheen instead of a sparkle like Nude. I think it's a bit similar to Shu IR Brown 860, but the Shu has more of a silver sheen on top
Woodrose: a slightly plummy taupe with a silvery sheen. The plummy undertone doesn't show much on my lids though.
Wheat: I guess I'd best describe this as a dirty taupe with olive undertones. I'm not sure if it's because this shadow shattered in transit and had to be repressed, but out of the 4 shimmerwashes in this palette, this one comes the closest to being matte. There a very low sheen to this one, and it's probably my least favorite color in this palette.
The last shade, Mahogany, is a matte, smoky blackened brown. It is lighter than Espresso, and I like this shade for darkening the outer corners from time to time. It also makes a decent liner shade.

Overall I'd say this palette is a nice palette of neutrals, but not really a must have if you have Stonewashed nudes or a bunch of other taupes and neutrals (which I most definitely do..but this will bcome a lot more apparent as I continue to swatch or if I get around to posting stash pictures at some point) I do reach for this from time to time, but it tends to be as somewhat forced for me, as this palette is in one of the drawers on my desk. It's a nice work appropriate palette, but it's not something I'd miss too much if I didn't own it. I'd say out of this palette, I'd repurchase Nude, and MAYBE Woodrose if I decide I like it down the line.

Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes Palette

I think my laziness is stronger than originally thought..and my stash is getting new additions soon, so I'm putting off the stash pictures until the end of June maybe. Therefore I'm going ahead with the winning option of the poll and reviewing some Bobbi Brown stuff. :] So the first item I'm reviewing is my favorite Bobbi Brown palette, Stonewashed Nudes. I was very lucky to receive this palette in a swap from a total sweetheart, and I'm still really glad I did. This palette is a bit hard to find at this point, but 6 out of the 7 shades in this palette are part of the permanent line, so I think it's still worth swatching/reviewing. The palette originally retailed for $50, but you can get the colors separately for $20 each US should you choose to. The palette itself is a decently constructed rectangular palette made of pewter colored plastic. The shadows inside are firmly anchored inside and are all of decent size for sticking your brush in. Additionally, the dual ended brush that comes with this palette is very usable and actually quite nice. Stonewashed nudes is a nice mix of matte and shimmer shades and is one of my absolute favorite palettes in my stash. It's good for everything from nice nude looks to smokey looks. The shades are as follows:
Navajo: This shade is a neutral toned matte cream color. It's good for a very subtle brow bone highlight and passable as a base color (It's a bit on the light side for me, but still works very well)
Mica (Shimmer Wash): this shade is a nice medium toned warm taupe shade in the pan, but on my skin, this shade is more of a warm slightly bronzey shimmery brown. The shimmer in this shade is golden
Ash (Shimmer Wash): this shade looks the same on my skin as it does in the pan, it'sa nice taupe shade with silver shimmer.
Hot Stone: slightly warm matte gray taupe
Stonewash (Shimmer Wash): This is the only shade exclusive to the palette. It's a cooler toned taupe with silver shimmer. I really wish that this shade was permanent, because I'l probably miss this a bit when it's gone.
Rock (Shimmer Wash): taupey gray shimmer.
Espresso: Blackened brown. This shade isn't very special, and is the liner shade in this palette. However, Bobbi Brown also makes this shade in a gel liner form, which I would probbly buy over this shade. Additionally, it seems to show up n a lot of palettes, so 'd skip buying this one separately.

Well, there you have it..Stonewashed nudes :]. The Shimmering nudes palette and Nude on Nude Shimmerwash palette will be up shortly (hopefully within the week, but I wouldn't count on it..lol)

Eyeshadow Primer Comparison- Lumene, UDPP, and Smashbox

A somewhat belated topic here, but today's topic is eyeshadow primers; more specifically, a comparison between Lumene's eye base, Urban Decay Primer Potion, and Smashbox's new photo finish eye primer.

I feel that all 3 are decent primers and all have their pros and cons.

First up is Lumene. Lumene is a nice primer that was found in drug stores like CVS for $10 and came in a nice little squeeze tube, which is a step up from Urban Decay's craptastic packaging. As you can see below, it's slightly yellow toned before you spread it out. However, once smoothed into the skin, it dries clear/nude without any problems. It's got a bit more texture than UDPP, so I like to use this primer for loose shadows and pigments as I get better pigmentation from this base than with UDPP. My eyeshadow lasts all day without creasing, although it does fade a bit by the end of the day.

Next up is Urban Decay's Primer Potion. This baby retails for $17 in it's regular size and is currently being sold in an XL size for $22. This is my favorite primer out of the 3. It is neutral toned when first applied and dries nude/clear. Eyeshadows are intensified when applied on top of this primer, and it also makes an excellent base for your brow powder. Eyeshadows last all day without creasing with this primer, though again I get some fading. The downside to this primer is that eyeshadows become a bit harder to blend on top of this primer, but this problem is easily fixed by dusting a nude/base color over your lid.

Last up is Smashbox's Photo Finish eye primer. This one was my least favorite out of the 3. IT retails for $20, more than either Lumene or UDPP, with only 0.02 oz in the tube...MUCH less product than UDPP has. I decided not to return this right away and give it a try, but unfortunately I decided that I prefered UDPP over Smashbox, though the smashbox is still a decent primer. Smashbox's eye primer is the darkest and warmest of the 3 primers and does not dry clear on my skin. On darker skintones than mine though, it probably would be pretty nude/clear. It did intensify colors and lasted all day without creasing, but fading still occured for me. Additionally, I felt that it made cooler toned and neutral toned shadows a bit warmer. It does have two pros over UDPP though; shadows are still easily blended over this primer, and it does not seem to be as drying as UDPP. nevertheless, it was not for me, and went back to the store right after these swatches.

Primer comparison before smoothing out. Lumene is a creamy yellow, UDPP is a neutal cream, and Smashbox I'd say is about a NC30 or so.

Smoothed out: I'm ot sure if it's visible here, but the Smashbox did not dry clear. It's a bit warmer than the other two primers. Lumene may have a slight yellow cast to it, but is clear for the most part. UDPP is completely clear on me.

For the eyeshadow swatched over the primers, I used Urban Decay Last Call..a red-magenta shade. Lumene intensifies color a bit, but not as much as UDPP or Smashbox. Again, the Smashbox changed the color a bit, but as Lst call is a warm based color to begin with, the change may not be all that apparent.

One more pic for color comparison:

Mango Mend

Well, the sun hasn't come out this week, so my stash pics are pretty late. So today's post is really just a review of a product I like that's not really makeup related; Mango Mend :]. It's a great dry skin treatment available at Sally's in a 4 oz. tub for about $7 or a smaller pod for $2.99. Mango mend is gel like in texture, but smooths out into an oil like texture when applied. I like to use it on my cuticles and heels(at night for deep moisturizing), and it works quite well. It's also got better staying power than cuticle oil. The pod form is nice and portable and it's a less messy alternative to carrying a bottle of cuticle oil as it won't spill or drip. A small dab of this stuff goes a very long way. It's definitely very nice and I highly recommend it for those with dry skin problems.

It contains:

Specialty Oils: Jojoba, Mango Seed, Kukui, Makadamia Nut, Soy & Saflower (hi-oleic)

Specialty Vitamins: Vitamin E USP, Lecithin USPSpecialties: Aloe, Mango Butter

Specialty Organic Extract Oils: Mango, Orange, Grapefruit & Tangerine

That's all for now. Stash pics will hopefully be up in a few more days.

"High end" lines at Target--Pixi

So I was in Target last night picking up one of those Digital Converter boxes for my mom and hunting for the new purple peep (Sonia Kashuk blending sponge), which I didn't find. Determined to pick up SOMETHING, I wandered over to the Pixi display, where I picked up one of the eye palettes in Mod (retail $28), which appeared to be a nice palette of neutrals, and brought it home with me.
The product is encased in ugly green plastic (which I could forgive) and is fairly thin. There is a small mirror inside, and a rather useless looking double ended brush. My biggest pet peeve about this palette is that the pans are not glued in very well. The glue reminds me a bit of rubber cement, except that it stays much softer than rubber cement does, and the pans tend to wiggle a bit. The pans are easily pried out with a toothpick..so if you decide you hate the green plastic, you can easily depot them and put them into something else. Luckily, the colors inside are quite pretty and the quality seems decent. All 8 colors are soft and blendable. They are all pretty sheer, but quite easily built up on the lid. Edit: the color fades off after a couple of hours for me.

closeup of the eyeshadows inside.

The colors are as follows:

• Sparkling white shade-just a bit intense for a brow highlighter in this palette, but it'd work
• Very light peachy-pink-nude shade with slight shimmer. This color makes a good base shade on my eye
• Satiny grey/silver shade.
• Shimmery taupey brown.
• Matte, light pinky taupe.
• Taupe with a hint of purple to it and silver shimmer
• Matte tan-taupe
• Dark cool toned grey with silver shimmer
  

Here's another pic under lamp light to show off the finish of these shadows. The lighting is warm here.

Overall the palette is mediocre, and I probably would not buy this again. The colors are nice and the quality seems decent enough, but it leaves me with a feeling of "that wasn't worth it" If they dropped the price of this by $10 or so though..that'd be a different story. For what I paid for this, I expected better pigmentation and packaging that was less shoddy. Either way, it was worth a try.

EDIT: I've just been informed that pixi palettes are $11 on beautycrunch... If you liked these swatches, go get this there. (If only I'd known..lol)

Estee Lauder Blockbuster

Well, I certainly seem to like doing more than one post at the same time, so here's today's second belated post. The topic for this one is Estee Lauder's 2008 Holiday Blockbuster, which retailed for $49.50 with any fragrance purchase or $80 skincare purchase (Nordies)

As I'm allergic to fragrance and didn't want to spend $80 on skincare, I opted to buy this set off eBay. It was even more beautiful in person than it was in product photos.

The set included a palette with 15 eyeshadows (all in their permanent line, a smaller palette with 2 blushes and a bronzer (also permanent), 3 lipsticks (permanent), 2 lipglosses, 3 brushes, an eyeliner, a mascara, and two cosmetics cases. The brushes were complete cr@p and I'm not really going to use the mascara or the eyeliner, but the rest of the set is quite nice. The brushes in this set, while kind of pretty with their gold handles, are terrible. They're quite scratchy, and aren't what I'd use for applying my makeup. They went straight into the trash for me. (If you have a pet that likes eating brushes..these are good for that) The eyeliner is a regular black pencil liner that tugged a bit, but stayed in place all day with no smudging or fading. I'm not a big fan of pencil eyeliners so it's unlikely that I'll use this again, but I kept this just in case I ever needed to draw a divider on my arm. The Gentle Eye Makeup remover is pretty decent, and is a great oil free makeup remover. It's not the best for removing waterproof makeup, but very few oil free makeup removers are good for this. This is definitely one of the better ones I've tried though, and is currently what I use to take makeup off my arm between swatches. (which feels like a waste to me, but can't use any makeup removers with oil for this) I didn't bother trying the mascara since non waterproof mascaras don't hold curl for me.

Here's the set inside the larger case. It's a suitcase style hard case without sections. I like it, but it's pretty useless for travel in my opinion, because things will just clatter around and most likely break inside..still, it's nice.

There are 15 eyeshadows encased in a red plastic case, with per row. 13 are regular singles, while two are from one of the regular duos (Roseberry). The shadows are all smooth and buttery, but kind of sheer.

The top row contains:

Vanilla: Very light shimmery yellow/gold

Ginger Drop: shimmery light orange..more on the yellow side than red

Sand Box: matte nudey beige

Amethyst: satiny? blue-purple. Looking at it closely, it seems like a purple with blue shimmer

Bronze Cube: this is close to matte, but has very very tiny bronze shimmer. It's not quite satiny either.

The 2nd row contains the following shades:

Camoflage: Satiny olive green
Cinnamon: Shimmery light brown. On the warm side

Honey Drop: Satiny light pink (more shimmery than the other ones I've said were satiny so far..those were closer to matte)
Mocha Cup: shimmery taupey lavender on my arm

Pale Moon: satiny pinky lilac

3rd Row:

Mink: Dusty matte purple-brown

Ivory Box: satiny shimmery very light pink

Roseberry Duo (Berry): Matte dusty lavendar with gold shimmer

Roseberry Duo (Rose): somewhat coolish pink with silver shimmers

Sugar Cube: shimmery white shade

Here's the blush palette.The bronzer is Bronze Goddess. This seems to be a favorite of Estee Lauder's for GWPs. This appears to be a warm brown with copper shimmer dispersed throughout he bronzer. On my arm though it appears to be matte.

Nude Rose: Matte brown-pink

Pink Kiss: Slightly peachy pink. It has some gold shimmer in it in the pan, but it's just mildly glowy on..still mostly matte though

The three lippies that came with this set were encased in gold tubes and are full sized products. They have the standard Estee lauder scent to them.
Sugar Honey is a warm brown-pink. It's not quite matte, but ha very low shine

Bois de Rose is another GWP favorite of Estee Lauder. It's a warm pink, with some orangey-brown undertones to it

Pink Champagne is my favorite of the three of these. It's got more of a glossy finish than the other two and is sheerer as well. it's a nice warm pink color

This set also came with two of Estee Lauder's high glosses. (Rose and Berry). These glosses are scented, but it's a bit difficult for me to place what they smell like (they've got an odd perfumey taste to them too). They're not completely nonsticky, but they're still nice.

These glosses, while absolutely gorgeous in the tube are rather sheer on, which I suppose makes them good for topping lipsticks. Rose is a light pink shade with gold shimmer. This is the more opaque of the two.
Berry is a simple sheer light pink gloss. There isn't much color payoff for this one, but I like it nonetheless

I hope you've enjoyed this post. Please let me know if the new font is difficult to read as a label. As a bonus, and to show just how long I've been putting off labeling and posting these swatches...here's my cat. From her size there, I'd say she was 4 or 5 months old..so I've been putting this off for at least a month. She takes great interest in my swatching activities..I didn't even notice her paw was on the mirror of this palette until after I saw the picture..but as she's never actually TOUCHED the makeup itself, I suppose it's fine. I also have to apologize for any typos in this post and future posts..my laptop's keyboard is a bit on the fritz and doesn't always register my input.