Long-Overdue EOTD with Urban Decay

Hi guys! I hope you've all been well.  I just realized my last post was just a bit over two weeks ago - I'm so sorry!  I had to go out of town for a wedding amongst other life happenings and I really haven't had time or desire to blog.  This afternoon I miraculously had a few minutes to wipe off my daily swipe of MAC All That Glitters in favor of something Lisa Eldridge-inspired: A beautiful, Kate Winslet Red Carpet Contoured Eye using some favorite Urban Decay shadows! I also finally trimmed up and used those Korean lashes from one of the recent My Glam Bags (they're not bad - not going to dethrone my favorite Revlon Naturals, though).  Do you like?

Products used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Maui Wowie (lashline to brow)
Urban Decay Darkhorse (upper crease and lower lashline)
Urban Decay Blackout (outer v)
Maybelline Gel Liner (upper lashline)
Korean Lashes from My Glam Bag (you know your eyes are small when  you have to trim off over a 1/4 of an inch!)
e.l.f. Essential Lengthening and Defining Mascara (quite nice for a $1 vegan mascara!)

I filled my brows with the brown side of my NYX Highlight & Contour Palette (I wonder why more people don't do this... there's absolutely tons of product there and it is meant to go on somewhat sheerly - I thought it worked a treat!).

I missed you guys!

Victorian Disco House Points EOTD

Bear with me - I'm not yet any good at using loose eyeshadows. I believe this is only my second EOTD using them, and the first was way back around the time I started this blog!  I'll admit I need way more practice.  The red shade's patchiness, especially, is entirely due to my application (I couldn't really tell until I looked at the enlarged photos - it's quite difficult to see in person.  The husband even gave it a thumbs-up before I took pictures).  Any tips on working with loose shadows, guys?
I wanted to see if I could make a look I like using all four colors from Victorian Disco's House Points collection (buy here).

Items used -

Stila Prime Pot in Taffy
Victorian Disco House Points Collection: Helga, Salazar, Rowena, and Godric
Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Perversion
Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Liner in Covet (waterline)
Maybelline Illegal Lengths Mascara

Can you tell I love Harry Potter?
<3 Sarah S.

More MAC FOTD

Hey guys.  Sorry I haven't been better about keeping up with the blogging world.  I've got all the usual excuses but basically I've just been busy.  I still love your blogs and read/comment as often as I can.  I'm still mad about makeup, too, of course!

A moment of stress led me to the MAC counter at Macy's yesterday, and I walked away with Force of Love Lipglass (from the Chenman collection) as well as Mythology eyeshadow and Star Violet eyeshadow.  After I returned to the office I googled those two eyeshadows together and up popped an old EOTD from a fave blogger of mine, Amanda B. of Beauties in Bloom.  So good to have that confirmation of my good taste right after a purchase, haha ;-)

Today I did a look with my new Harry Potter baseball tee from my recent Orlando trip.  I just love warm colors like these :-D A nicely made-up eye helps balance the tomboy look of my tee.

Face: (I have been breaking out since I stopped using Effaclar Duo... could be that or hormones)  Origins Vitazing, Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer, L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle Foundation in 518 Natural Buff, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer in Light Medium (it's a little too light. If you're NC25 or slightly darker, you probably ought to go for this concealer in Medium), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus, Milani Luminoso Blush, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Soft Matte Bronzer in 01 to contour cheekbones.

Lips: MAC Plushglass in Bubble Tea topped with MAC Lipglass in Tra La La (both LE, sorry!)

 Eyes: Tarte Lifted Natural Eye Primer, MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque, MAC Mythology on lids, Star Violet in outer crease, and All That Glitters on inner crease and inner corner. Lorac Multidimensional Eye Shadow in 3D-Luxe to highlight browbone.  Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Lucky on waterline and lower lashline, Urban Decay 24/7 liquid eyeliner in Perversion on upper lashline.  Clinique bottom lash mascara, Revlon Photoready Mascara under Maybelline Illegal Lengths mascara on upper lashes (that layering combo worked out pretty well!).

Hope you guys are having a wonderful Saturday <3

Brown Smokey Eye with my Neglected Naked Palette

Greetings, lovelies! I forgot I had a high-collared brown shirtdress, and decided to try out that collar with it. I feel iffy about it, still, but I did get some compliments so it can't be all bad :)

I don't wear brown eyeshadows all that often.  Usually if I wear neutral shadows, it's just a quick wash across my lids for a rushed daytime look.  I've really been admiring the brown smokey look I've seen on starlets lately, though, so I decided to be matchy-matchy and do the brown smokey eye with that dress.

I really like the photo above because it best shows the gradation I tried to attain.  Using the Naked Palette, I put Dark Horse thickly along my upper lashline, followed with Sidecar across the upper lid.  I opened my eyes and defined my crease with bronzey Smog, then put Toasted in the gap between Smog and Sidecar; really, the hidden part of my socket you can't see when my eyes are open.
I dusted a bit of Smog under my lower lashes, then highlighted and blended the crease color out with Virgin (though I would have preferred Sin once I saw how that looked. I felt like Virgin was a bit too light for all over my browbone).
Next, I rimmed my eyes all around with Urban Decay 24/7 eye liner in Corrupt and tried to get it on my waterline (but the shimmer UD 24/7 pencils don't work so great there).
I finished the brown smokey eye with Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Shocking on upper and lower lashes.

Haha, maybe you're thinking, "Naked Palette looks are done to death," but I am a weirdo and rarely use mine!  So this is a "different" look for me :-P

Bad angle (looks like I have no neck) but I like my smile.

Call Me Bubbles

The only thing I got from Shop MAC, Cook MAC was the eye shadow quad in "Call Me Bubbles."  And... you'll be shocked to know that this is MY FIRST MAC QUAD!
So far I'm really happy with it!  The matte coral shadow ("Full of Flavour") makes a really pretty blush:

I've got on NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk underneath the shadows, just FYI

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti kind of worn off into a stain, Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eye Liner in Perversion
Sorry the photos are kind of blurry, but the colors are true :)

It really makes my green eyes pop, and I imagine it'd do even better with blue eyes!
What did you pick up from Shop MAC, Cook MAC?

REVIEW: L'oreal infallible 24HR Eye Shadow in 997 Eternal Sunshine

Hanukkah starts tonight, and I had planned to do an elaborate blue-and-gold EOTD.  Unfortunately, I got some sad news yesterday and it's not a good time for a party eye look.

I was cheered up on my grocery run last night when I spied the L'oreal Infallible eye shadow display and I selected a festive, liquid-gold shade, "Eternal Sunshine."  Here's my first-impression:

The pot is a slim affair, and I think it's quite elegant (though the shade sticker makes this blatantly a drugstore item).  You can see the color easily through the bottom window, which I also like.  Inside, there is a sort of plunger just like Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense (ETKI) shadows. 

The texture is more creamy than the ETKI shadows, but still has a powderiness that is very similar.

I couldn't capture how stunningly metallic Eternal Sunshine is in a photograph... it kept appearing kind of margarine-colored in my crummy photos!

Applied to lids with my index finger, NOT over primer. If you'd like to know, my mascara is Majolica Majorca Expander Frame Plus... it is an AWESOME fibre-mascara!

It's not cheap at about $8.49, but L'oreal will of course go on sale at drugstores so that'd be the time to load up on several shades of this.

I am really liking it - it seems to me they are an awful lot like my two pots of ETKI without the ouchie price tag!  The only thing I can't yet speak to is the longevity of it, but I'll update this post with a wear-time evaluation later tonight.
UPDATE: I didn't see any creasing until the 8-hour mark. I bet they'd go much longer with a primer underneath. I'm really impressed!

Have you seen the infallible eye shadows display near you yet?

NAKED2 Palette Back in Stock on urbandecay.com!

Hurry over there guys if you want your NAKED2 palette! I got my order in ;-)

Look, it's MBB's Karen! <3 her!

No Judgement: Tropical EOTD at the Gym

I didn't have time for ANY eye makeup in the morning, so when I got home from work yesterday I overdid it:

I just want to reach into the photo and get the stray brow hairs...

Leftovers:  Wet n Wild Halloween Glitter Lashes.  They did NOT want to cooperate with the Duo lash glue.  Once I got them on, though, they stuck through my whole workout!
You can see the little bronze sparkles in the Physicians Formula Glam Brown Eyes black gel liner quite well in this picture.

Fun glitter fallout, cha cha!

Yes, I wore this to the gym; don't judge!  "Judgement Free Zone" is my gym's catchphrase, actually, LOL!
Additional products used: CoverGirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm in Coral
NYX Trio Eyeshadow in Tropical/Yellow/Lime Green

This is the tank I'm wearing (matchy, matchy) and you can get it here.

Lust Red EOTD: Is the Hype Around Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow to be believed?

Hi again, gals. I recently bought two Eyes to Kill Intense shadows by Giorgio Armani ($32 each retail, but they were 15% off with a promo code).  I had been lusting after them for months, poring over internet swatches and comparing their reviews on temptalia.com to help me choose colors... and I wound up choosing Lust Red and Khaki Pulse (not to be worn together, mind you!).

They're both creamy to the touch and swatch pigmented and gorgeous whether wet or dry, but I just can't settle my ambivalent feelings about them when I try them on my eyes:

In all of these photos, I'm wearing only Lust Red, without a primer, and applied dry (plus BADgal black mascara from Benefit).
Pro: the little red sparkles do come through, and this is clearly a black shadow, although,
Con: it is definitely a smokey black and not a true, deep black.  I'd like to try it over NYX Black Bean Jumbo Pencil in the future to see if I can get it to go deeper.
Pro: they last without primer and don't crease (some have called these cream shadows but I swear they're powder!)
Con: I experienced fallout whether I patted it on with a brush or my finger.
Pro: can be used wet or dry with a liner brush to make a smokey line
Con: even with a wet brush I couldn't get rid of the smokey, blurred-out effect and make a precise line like a glitter pencil, gel or liquid liner. It's just not as versatile as I'd hoped.
Pro: I think I like this vampy EOTD, but
Con: I tried to use this in my crease only with another look and it didn't blend as well as I had hoped. It performed "Just Okay" and nobody wants to pay that much for a color that performs so-so.

While this color is beautiful when swatched and the quality is not disputable, I have to confess I don't see why the hype is so big with these $32 eyeshadows.
I own all the 88 palettes made by Coastal Scents and my next order of business is to find a dupe. While the texture won't be creamy, I know, I think I could find a smokey black with red micro-glitters that isn't as flawed as MAC Beauty Marked and isn't so pricey (come to think of it, these pictures are reminding me of layering the gray and purple in the MAC Mineralize duo in Earthly Riches, too, but the look is only similar and not a dupe).
Update: There is also a new NARS Arabian Nights Palette with a similar shade (plus two others) for $45. Even though Chistine at Temptalia says the black with silver sparkles sucks, it's still NARS and it's still a better deal than the ETK shadows...

Don't get me wrong, I do like them.  I just don't think they're something to rave about if considering the full retail price (maybe $20 would be more appropriate?).  I really don't think they're must-haves or that you're missing out if you don't buy them.