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

Swap with Aly from Wonderland Beauty

Happy Weekend, lovelies! Sorry I let another week go by without a post.  I really hope I have time this weekend to do a fun makeup look :)
In the meantime, I did a swap with Aly from Wonderland Beauty.  She's also reviewing the products I sent her, so go check her blog out!
Here's what she sent:

Top: Smashbox O-Glow self-adjusting lip gloss
Middle: Wet n Wild Glassy Gloss in Glass Confusion and Mow the Glass, CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Darling, Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in 528A, Jordana Easy Shine in Sweet Strawberry
Bottom: Josie Maran Lip Gloss in Precious, Wet n Wild Megashield Lip Color in Lolly Popstar, Wet n Wild Strawberry Lip Balm, Philosophy Peppermint Bark, Smashbox Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss

Loose blushes, cream highlighter palette, blush/bronzer/highlighing powder palette from ELF;
NYX Pearly White shadow base, Wet n Wild MegaGlow Powder, L.A. Colors Eyeshadow, L'oreal HIP Pigments in Rebel and eyeshadow duo in Ignited, Cargo duo shadow in Shanghai, Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Bamboo Brown, Almay eyeshadow

To be honest, she sent me a lot of shades I'd never buy - but I think that's a great thing! It means I'll get to try out lots of colors I don't have in my stash, and hopefully I'll find something quite flattering I wouldn't have found otherwise.  Thanks, Aly!

What's the opposite of a haul...?

Hey, there, lovelies!
To the point: I'm looking to do a swap. I could do a giveaway or a blogsale, but I just think a swap would be a lot more fun :D
I don't need the traffic a giveaway would bring and I don't need the money a blogsale might generate... I just want to clear out some of my back-ups and makeup that I basically haven't touched since I swatched it.  Any takers? E-mail me at smsolomo at hotmail dot com
<3 Sarah S.

FOTD: Too Simple to Be a FOTD (using some swap goodies)

Mondays always leave me rushing out the door so I can never do a look that requires lots of blending.  Last night I watched Lisa Eldridge's video about doing a kitten flick and that stuck in my mind for today's look.  I'm sure I've done a cat eye on this blog before but I also played around with several of the products I recieved from Riya at Pinkstrawberrielove.

Swap products used:
Real Doll Makeup Base: I think this didn't prevent creasing around my eyes, nose, and mouth, and on the worry line between my brows (bummer) but I do feel that this nicely filled/smoothed my pores on my cheeks.  In the future I'll just use it on my cheeks :). 
Beauty Credit Blusher in Orange Heart: Looks scary-orange in the pan but becomes a lovely, buildable peach on the cheeks. I love it!
Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara: this has a really interesting brush; it's a dual-sided plastic comb that is great at preventing clumps and separating this fiber-building mascara.  One side has shallow, wide teeth to deposit mascara and the other side is a finer comb.  It was suprisingly easy to put on and lengthens really well! I can tell why this is one of Riya's favorites.

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia on my nails at last ;-)


 Jacket: Express, Tie-neck blouse: Target (oooold), Foundation: Chanel Perfection Lumiere, Lips: Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Barely Legal, Eye Liner: Physicians Formula Glam Brown Eyes Gel CreamLiner (black with bronze sparkles), Eye Shadow: peachy shade from Almay Trio for Browns

My First Blog Swap: Swatch Edition

Round 2 post of Pinkstrawberrielove aka Chanriya/Riya's super-awesome swapstravaganza!
SWATCHES <3 Check 'em out!

Left to right: KATE Diamond Cut Eyes GN-1, Missha The Style Single in BR201, Anna Sui 900, Beauty Credit Blusher in Orange Heart

KATE Diamond Cut Eyes in GN-1. The best part of this palette is that buttery-smooth, pigmented deep blue!

Left to right: Missha BR201, Anna Sui 900, Beauty Credit Orange Heart Blusher (I'll admit I was scared of this in the pan, but it's actually quite sheer and easy to blend. UPDATE: This blusher is a gorgeous peach on the cheeks!)

Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow sample in Junebug (dry), Super+ Beblesh Balm BB by Skin79, same blended, Beauty Credit Cream Eyes in White Opal WHO1, same blended

Beauty Credit Cream Eyes in White Opal, same blended, Shengji 2 in 1 Crystal Bright Lipstick Eyeshadow Pencil (so soft, I think this would make a perfect inner eye corner highlight!), K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner 24h 1day Tattoo (I think Yu from Let's Make Yu Up loves this, too!), Missha The Style Lucid Berry Lips in PK04 (amazing pigmentation!), Etude House Plumping Lip Tint in Pink

All polishes by The Face Shop: PK109, PK107, OR201, FACE it OR201, GR501

Didn't fit on the one hand ;-) BL601

Hope you're all having a happy Friday! Did you pick up your copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? I did, and it's going to be a marathon weekend ^.^;;

My First Blog Swap! Super-Thank You to Pinkstrawberrielove

Wowowowow, I am so floored by the generosity of Riya from Pinkstrawberrielove!  She e-mailed me and offered to take my blog-swapping virginity (okay, she didn't say it like that at all, LOL).  Now I'm a little worried I was stingy or something, but of course I really hope she loves what I sent her ^.^

Look at this fantastically generous gift from Riya~

She knew I was having trouble finding Asian beauty brand cosmetics where I live (Detroit area) these days.  It used to be a lot easier but with our economy doing so poorly a lot of people have moved away, including shops that were importing fun Japanese and Korean beauty goods!  I got to try some Japanese products when I lived in Japan, but I haven't had a chance to try any of the Korean brands (Laneige, Missha, Etude House, etc.) that I've been reading so much about on some of my favorite blogs i.e. Musings of a Muse and, of course, Riya's blog <3

Skincare: Some wrinkle creams (haha, I need these and Riya most definitely does not!), those paper masks (I've never tried one! So excited! Including the Hello Kitty one <3) lotions, face washes, and even peels... I LOVE peels!

Look at that pretty purple Missha compact powder! I believe it's a highlighter and I can't wait to swatch (I'll swatch some of these things when I have decent light).  There's a tangerine blusher with a cute rocking-horse embossing, pink glosses, and a doll-skin makeup primer that Riya says is a favorite! She always looks so perfect so I'm really excited to use her secret (heehee).

I actually asked if she'd get me some of the Dolly Wink Lashes, and they are MASSIVE.  I wonder if they'll fit on my lil eyes? I'm excited to try the Sugarpill sample because I haven't used any of that brand yet :) The Majolica Majorca mascara is a favorite of Riya's, so I bet I'll really like it as well <3  The little gold eyeshadow is by Missha, and Riya must have read my mind (or blog) because that's a lime green Anna Sui eye shadow and greens KATE palette! <3 <3 <3 Lastly, there are some white shimmer cream shadows in a tube and pencil, and a liquid liner with a verrrry fine tip:

It came with a single J-Pop CD and I like some J-Pop a lot (mostly early 2000's Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada, if you're curious), so it'll be fun to give it a listen on my looong morning commute :)

Extras: For fun she included a bilingual Japanese/English fashion mag, Sugarpill decal, and some little nail art and hair care pamphlets. That little package with the rose on it is a shampoo brush which is awesome because I've been wanting to try one of those (but my husband will probably steal it from me for a scalp massage, lol).  The little Tous-style bear might be a hair tye but I'd wear it on my wrist :) I can definitely wear the little pink bow band! I've been known to make makeshift Alice bands with ribbon, after all.

Last but not least is a whole rainbow of adorable nail polishes. I'm absolutely going to swatch these and write a post as soon as we get a sliver of sunlight!

A humongous, enthusiastic "Thank you so much!!! <3" to Riya for her thoughtfulness and generosity.  You totally made my month! I'm so looking forward to trying all this amazing stuff out *happy dance*