April Favorites!

With as much rain as we have gotten here in April, May better be covered in flowers! :) Anyway, here are my favorites for April!

1. MAC Blushcreme (meaning the previous formula- it's now called Cremeblend) in Ladyblush- I use this on my cheeks and lips. I haven't seen the new one, so I am not sure how it compares in shade.

2. Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark-Circle Roller- Oh man, this stuff...it's straight up holy grail in a rollerball. I plan on reviewing it soon.

3. PINK All My Heart Fragrance Mist- It's nice and light. A nice fragrance for spring.

4. Benefit Life on the A List lipgloss- Looks really pretty layered over peachy lipsticks. I've been layering it over Ladyblush.

5. Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Stray Dog- The closest eyeshadow I have that is similar is Satin Taupe. This is just a beautiful taupe liner that I love as an alternate to basic brown.

6-7. MAC Satin Taupe and Smudged Violet- I don't wear them together, though they definitely would pair nicely. I've really been into using only one shade on my eyes lately. I switches the most between these two in the past few weeks. Smudged Violet is LE from the Shadowy Lady palette, but Trax and Shale (permanent collection) are similar!

And that does it! What were your favorites for the month? Tell me or link me to them, if you'd like. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

StrawberryNET Haul Swatches

So here are my swatches from the haul that I showed yesterday!



^ The Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in Porcelain. The left swatch is heavily applied and the right side is blended in. I'm a NW20 in MAC and this works well for me.



^ The closest I had to the Golden Violet shade (Rouge Personnel #9) is MAC's Purple Rite lipstick. And to be honest, I prefer Purple Rite. Golden Violet is more glitter than color on my lips. I don't know how I forgot to take a picture of the Bountiful Plushglass aside from the group shot, but I managed to do so. Oops! It's an ok gloss...but more glitter than an actual pale pink shimmer.

^ NARS Bysance eyeshadow duo. This along with the tinted moisturizer is my favorite of my purchases. It hasn't gotten great reviews, but I don't see why. I absolutely love the purple color, which is mainly the reason I was attracted to the duo. And these are nicely pigmented!

StrawberryNET Haul and Company Review!

StrawberryNET contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would like to start a partnership with them. And in doing so, they offered me a coupon code to save 50% off of my purchase! It was very generous of them to offer and I feel very lucky that they stumbled across my blog.

One thing that I really appreciate is that they offer free shipping worldwide. You guys have heard me complain about companies that I find charge massive amounts to ship outside of their area, so free shipping makes me happy! And the more you buy, you get a discount off. The products ship from Hong Kong, so it may take some time to get to you with customs and all. My package took about three weeks to arrive. Also, I had to pay $13 in customs charges. Sometimes you don't, sometimes you do.

This isn't a paid review, I assure you. I only received half off of my order and paid for the rest of the amount myself. I just want to give you as much detail of my experience as I can and it just happens to be positive. I found the products that I received and the company itself to be legit. Also if you live in Canada and have Air Miles, you can go to the site through the Air Miles Shops website and get miles. If you're not in Canada, you can just go to the StrawberryNET website and change the sidebar menu to your country.

I didn't use flash on this one, so you could see the awesome wrapping paper and how it caught light! They were so pretty that I almost didn't want to open them. Almost.

^ A makeup kit and a Stila eyeshadow duo that I put to the side for future giveaways. :)

^It was like Christmas getting to unwrap pretty presents!

^ 2 YSL lipsticks, a NARS eyeshadow duo, MAC Plushglass, and Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer.

^ I got the moisturizer in Porcelain and the NARS duo in Bysance.

^ The MAC Plushglass is in Bountiful and the two YSL lipsticks are both #9s (Frivolous Pink and Golden Violet).

I will be posting product pictures and swatches of these five items in my next post! I couldn't fit everything I wanted to in this one. Story of my life! I do recommend checking out the company, reviews, and do some price comparing too. I found that I could purchase some items in store here or in CCOs for a cheaper price, so I picked out the things that I knew I couldn't find at such a great price!

Sephora Haul

Last week, they had the VIB event at Sephora and I had a 15% off coupon. I didn't go hog-wild, but I did pick up two things that I have really been wanting. If you got a coupon, did you use it and what did you buy? :)

Philosophy's Fresh Peaches with Cream bath gel and Urban Decay's Stray Dog eyeshadow.

After falling in love with Philosophy's Apricots and Cream scent, I knew I had to get the peach one. Peaches are one of my favorite scents and definitely one of my favorite fruits. I mean, I come from the south...we know peaches! ;) Anyway, this is amazing! I'm pretty sure I could sit here with this held up to my nose all day and just be in scent heaven.

I got Urban Decay's Stray Dog eyeliner in their 15 Year Anniversary set and fell in love. It's such a unique color of eyeliner and I am really going to be sad when I use it up. Sadly, it is only available at the moment in that specific set. I've been using it as a base and eyeliner in a few looks lately and just knew I had to get the eyeshadow to match!

I was surprised to find that it is not in any of my UD palettes. Stray Dog is a gorgeous taupe color, but when swatched it doesn't actually match the same shade as the eyeliner. It's still pretty and pairs extremely well with the liner, but I was really hoping for more similarity between the two.

Happy Easter!

So sorry to hardly update at all this week! I'll do my best to make up for it next week. I've been so busy with organizing my place and getting it ready, because I offered to host Easter dinner this year. And I've just been busy with errands and life in general! My to-do list was a mile long, but I've knocked it down quite a bit. In doing so, I kind of neglected posting.

Another reason is that I had a few doctor appointments and found out that I have a stress strain in my wrist and I was told to limit the use of my hands (computer, lifting heavy things, and even my Pilates/Yoga!) for awhile. Taking the computer away from me is like taking away one of my lungs! ;)

Anyway, I have a few posts planned for next week and my schedule isn't as busy. Yay! I hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend. And thank you so much for following me! I say it all the time, but I'm so grateful and thankful for each of you. It means the world to me that you clicked that "follow" button and have stuck around. I love getting to know you! ♥

On My iPod Pt. 14

I haven't done this in a while, but I thought I would share some of my favorite songs at the moment.

1. Rolling in the Deep- Adele
2. Do It Like a Dude- Jessie J
3. Judas- Lady Gaga
4. The Story- Sara Ramirez
5. What the Hell- Avril Lavigne
6. S&M Remix- Rihanna feat. Britney Spears
7. The Lazy Song- Bruno Mars
8. Hello Hello- Elton John
9. Haunted- Taylor Swift
10. Till the World Ends- Britney Spears
11. Nobody's Perfect- Jessie J
12. Rumour Has It- Adele

And as always, I'm open to recommendations. I listen to just about everything! I especially love British artists and bands. :) So tell me what you've been grooving to!

Tag: 11 Most Reached for Products

I thought I would do the tag that has been going around about the 11 products that you find yourself reaching for the most. I was going to make a video on it, but my voice isn't strong right now from allergies. Allergies would probably be the one thing I dislike about spring!

Also, I realize that this only shows high-end makeup except for the mascara. I didn't mean for that to happen, as I do use many items from drugstores. These just happen to be the products that I reach for when I need a quick "five minute face" to run out the door (which is really often!).



^ The face products! MAC Studio Finish concealer is one of my faves. I'm thisclose to hitting pan on it. Benefit High Beam is my absolute favorite highlighter, which I've said numerous times. Smashbox Blush Rush in Flush gives a pretty pink cheek and is a great texture. MAC MSF Natural often doubles as my powder and foundation.

^ The eye products! MAC Painterly Paint Pot remains my favorite base to go to. CoverGirl LashBlast mascara gets my lashes full. The Naked palette needs no introduction as to why it is fabulous. MAC 217 is a great eye brush that is capable of packing on color and blending. I use my MAC 224 to not only blend the crease on my eyeshadow, but I also use it to blend out my concealer. Urban Decay Rockstar eyeliner is my favorite alternative to black while adding a nice understated pop of color.

^ MAC Lazy Day is a really nice pink nude on my lips. I hate that it is LE and really hope MAC repromotes it in a future collection.

So what are your 11 products? Please share! :) I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! ♥

200 Followers Contest!- CLOSED

I now have over 200 followers and as promised, here is another giveaway! I tried to put a lot of thought into these prizes and I really hope you like them. Best of luck to all of you! :) Thank you for taking the time to read and follow my blog. It means the world to me!

Rules:
1. You must be a follower of this blog via GFC (which you can find on my sidebar on the right). I will check.
2. It's open internationally.
3. Get permission from your parents, if you are under 18.
4. You must be ok with giving me your address, if you are a winner.
5. As a comment entry, you can choose to leave your blog name/link or email for me to get in touch with you if you win. Any comment on this post is an entry!
6. A comment on this post counts as one entry. If you make a post about my contest on your blog, you gain an extra entry. If you add a link to your sidebar, that's also one extra entry. If you choose to make a video about it on YouTube, you also gain an extra two entries. The video can be you or a slideshow. So you have a chance to gain five entries total (comment, post, sidebar, YouTube)! Just link me to where you talk about it. If you only comment on this entry, you are entered in the second prize category. If you post links and/or a video, your entries go into the first prize category. Everyone will have a chance to win the third prize! Please let me know if this confuses you!
7. I will write out a numbered list and write your name down on it once per entry you earned under your category. Then, I will use random.org for the winning number. If that number is the one beside your name, you've won!
8. This will end on Friday, May 13, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. That's a month from today and should give you plenty of time to get your entries in, especially if you are taking the time to make a video! :)

Image for your sidebar:

First Prize Category:

Everything you need for a glowing look! A Maybelline quad, mini Benefit High Beam, mini Benefit BADgal Lash, NYX cream blush (perfect for cheeks and lips!), ELF eyeshadow brush, and ELF eyeshadow primer.
Second Prize Category:

Everything you need for a spring look! Maybelline quad, mini Clinique mascara, NYC blush stick, and a mini UDPP.
Third Prize Category:

Get perfect pink lips for spring! A NYX Diamond Sparkle lipstick and EOS lip balm.

Once the contest ends, comments will be turned off to no new comments. After the winner is chosen, I will privatize comments. I recommend using an email that you don't mind spammers finding. EDIT: Winners have been posted now and comments have been privatized and disabled! Thank you so much for entering!

*Maybelline quads were provided for free. Everything else was bought with my own money.

How To: Depot UD Deluxe & Sephora Eyeshadows

First off, I made a new signature for the bottom of my posts. I felt like I've had the older one for awhile, so I'm switching it up a bit. :) I have now reached 200 followers (THANK YOU!!) and will hopefully find time to start the giveaway this week. I say hopefully because I don't know how much I will be updating this week. I have plans three of the nights and I'm sick with a cold and allergies. Oh joy. The giveaway is coming though, I promise!

Now, here is my tutorial for how I depot Urban Decay Deluxe eyeshadows. I have one loose Sephora eyeshadow and it is depotted the same way, so I'm throwing that in the post too. These, I'm very happy to say, require no heat and take no time at all to get out of their casing! I would suggest using a hair straightener to heat the labels to peel them off, if you want the original ones. I just used some of my own labels to save time and energy.

- something with a sharp point (I use a knife)
- magnets
- labels (optional)
- palette to put the items

Here are my two UD shadows that I will be depotting.

Taking the point of the knife, place it in one of the corners and very gently start to wiggle the pan up. Do it slowly because you don't want the shadow to break. There is only one small droplet of glue in the center making these pretty easy to wedge out.

I placed a magnet and my label on them. Something about having to write in small spaces makes my handwriting sloppy. The perfectionist side of me hates it, but the other side of me says "Who cares!" and that side usually wins. ;)

Now, here is the eyeshadow from Sephora. I got this last year as part of the birthday freebies that they give.

Just like with the UD ones, you just slide the knife gently into the gap between the pan and casing. The glue is nearly non-existent on these and mine popped right out.

I hope that this was helpful!

Spring Trends 2011

I realized that I haven't done a spring trends post yet! Sure the typical florals are in, but I'm steering my list from that. I love love love florals, but we all know those are effortless in the spring and summer months. While I generally steer from a lot of bright colors, I'm really liking them right now. It feels so fresh and vibrant!

1. White.
2. Bow belts.
3. Brights.
4. Color blocking.
5. Mixed prints.
6. Maxi dresses.
7. High-waisted wide-legged jeans.
8. Stripes.
9. Cuffed hems on jeans.
10. Fringe.

Share some trends that you've seen that you're excited about! Is there anything that you're absolutely shaking your head about? I personally hate the flat wedges that are making rounds. I just don't find them appeasing to the eye at all.

*Derek Lam

UK Gifts!

My friend Amanda sent me a few more goodies the other month and I have no idea why I'm just now getting around to showing them on here. It's not that they haven't been getting love from me!

My first ever Cath Kidston item! I love her prints and going to her website is dangerous for me, because I want everything. :) She now has an American website to order from, so I know where I'll be ordering from before my next trip home! I'd love to order now, but unfortunately only the UK site ships here and it's relatively expensive.

Barry M Nail Effects in Black Magic. Now they have different colors available, so onto my wishlist they go! :) This is basically the same thing as the new OPI Shatter nail polish.

Barry M Fine Glitter Dust in 4 (Silver) and Dazzle Dust in 91 (Silvery Black).

Barry M Glossy Tube in 4. The website says it's a matte pink, but this is a sheer peach shade at best. Maybe they changed the colors and numbers recently and the website is showing a new shade? Feel free to let me know if this is indeed the same #4 shade that is currently available. Regardless, this color is gorgeous and looks so good over a nude lipstick.

Barry M Lip Paint in 152 (Vintage Rose). Gorgeous color to pair with a "barely there" eye look!