Thursday, June 7, 2012

Urban Decay is No Longer Cruelty-Free or Vegan

UPDATE: Urban Decay listened to their current customers' outcries against selling in China while animal testing is required, and decided NOT to!  It was a great consumer victory, and my collection of 24/7 pencils was happily rescued from my garbage to be used (hopefully) evermore.

Original Post:
Yes, this sad news is resonating all over the beauty community - Urban Decay will sell in China, rendering their 16-year pledge against animal testing meaningless.  There are many places, including Urban Decay's facebook page and blog posts from far better blogs than mine, at which you can read their sorry statement, so I won't reproduce it here.  Instead, I hope it is okay if I redirect you to a very clearly-written post by Aly of Wonderland Beauty.  She isn't vegan like me but she sums up exactly why this is a betrayal of all Urban Decay fans, and not just the ones who abstain from eating meat!  We all should support companies that we can stand behind, but Urban Decay has made it opaque as to what they truly stand for.  Our guess is raking in big money, at this point.
Please sign the petition she links to for Urban Decay to reinstate its ethics!
<3 Sarah S.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Epic Swap with Pinkstrawberrielove

Hello gals! I am so very lucky to have been able to swap with the stunning and ultra-generous Chanriya from Pinkstrawberrielove <3 She lives out in California and has access to amazing Korean and Japanese cosmetics, and I am super-grateful that she's hooked me up <3 It feels like my birthday came early XD

First off she sent me loads of lashes and a cute Dollywink lash case - awesome because I will be able to rewear some lashes now I've got a chic little place to stow them.



She sent me several sheet masks, a couple of which I've tried before and enjoyed (the Earl Grey and Hello Kitty ones).  These are especially refreshing in the summer! If you can hunt some down I recommend giving them a try.

Next up is a fun-looking peel-off mask.  I've been lax on exfoliating lately and I found the Boscia black mask a bit too harsh/hard to peel off, so I hope this one comes off in larger pieces.



Pinky-peach and lilac nail polishes from The Face Shop:  The pinky-peach one looks a lot like the one she sent in our last swap, but I can't compare at the moment because it's in my personal box at the nail salon I go to.  I love a good lilac and the one currently in my collection (Orly Lollipop) pulls much pinker than this one. I'm glad to have a true lilac now ;)

Peripera My Color Gloss, Fruit Jelly Tube Gloss from The Face Shop, Skinfood Tomato Smoothie Tint

Skin Food Rose Cheek Choc#2 - this is so cute. I thought it was a lip balm until I read the lable.  I am excited to try out their cheek colors!

Three Peripera eye shadows in a cute floral drawstring bag - how adorable are these? <3  There's a chocolate shade, a buttery gold color, and a peachy orange.  So perfect for Summer.


Stila Eyeshadow Duo in Orchid: This combo should look great on my green eyes. I'm hoping to tuck them into my small Z-palette that currently has a lonely MAC Melba blush pan in it.

Visee Gold Loose shadow and Majolica Majorca pinky-red pressed shadow - Riya knows I love a red and gold sunset eye <3

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania loose shadows in Very Pink Pearl and True Purple Pearl - remind me so much of Sugarpill Birthday Girl and Paperdoll. I hope we've got some dupes here :-D

The Face Shop Soft Natural Powder Foundation - The compact is a cute teardrop shape and it's definitely the season I need to powder.  Most days, I'll try to get away with just some concealer and a powder like this on top, so I'm really looking forward to trying it.

Mini Pet Fruits Hand Cream - Oh my gosh, this is so adorable <3 <3 <3



Hadanomy Collagen Mist - The bottle is a heart, people.  A PINK HEART!  My Kawaii Receptors are tingling!  I love refreshing face mists and I don't actually own many (two: MAC Mineralize Charged Water, nearly gone; and Urban Decay De-Slick) so I am so thrilled to get this.  Riya read my mind!



Cute stationery - Thanks so much, Riya! I used to hoard stationery so I weened myself off of buying it and always ask friends and family for stationery as gifts but I still don't get enough ^.^

Loads of skincare samples - I love trying new skincare; it makes me feel so pampered.  Paying for full-size without testing samples first is not a good idea if you've got reactive skin like me, so I am always happy to get samples so I can make sure my skin loves it before investing.

Whew! I can't thank Riya enough for the amazing array of stuff.  She's such a doll - I definitely can't get most of this myself.  Thanks sooo much <3