May Faves 2011 + Thank You!

I can't thank you enough for the kind words and thoughts from my last post. I really appreciate them. I'm taking each step one-at-a-time. I still get sad and weepy to walk by his room and see his toys, but I'm getting there. ♥

Now for my favorite type of post to make- monthly favorites!

*ELF Eyebrow Kit
*Sally Hansen All-Over Brightener
*Too Faced Naked Eye Palette
*MAC Well Dressed blush
*MAC Enchantee Kissable Lipcolour
*Smashbox Bionic Mascara
*Glee!
*Tumblr - If you have one, let's follow each other. :)
*home design blogs and magazines - If you have some favorites ones that you read, please tell me about them!

Don't forget to tell me/link me some of your favorites!

RIP, George.

I had it in my mind that I was going to post Friday, but it was just a horrible day. I found out an online friend passed away and then my cat got really sick. For the past few days, George wasn't eating, drinking, or using his litter box at a normal rate. He went from around 15 lbs. to 11 lbs. And he had become very lethargic.

We took him to the emergency vet clinic as soon as my husband got home. I thought it was going to be his heart murmur messing with him. They ran tests, did an exam, and x-rays. Turns out he had a huge tumor close to his liver. Within thirty minutes I went from him having a fixable condition with the murmur to a very difficult situation of cancer.

They explained that they could do the surgery, but the odds were against George. They quoted an 80% chance that he would not survive. And even if the surgery worked, I would only be looking at another two years with him at most. So I had the decision to make of trying the surgery or going ahead with putting him to sleep. This is easily the hardest decision that I have ever had to make regarding a pet.

I cried about it all night and all the next afternoon, but I knew my choice. I spent all Saturday afternoon just sitting with him in his room, crying, and petting him. Then, I watched as my husband carried him away one last time. I couldn't dare go to the clinic, because I would have lost it emotionally. It was a difficult thing for me to decide and even more difficult to come to terms with, but I made the right choice. The vets agreed with me by saying again how truly slim his chances were of survival. Doesn't make it any easier, but it did help to hear professionals validate my choice.

I don't tend to get too personal on this blog often, but it feels good for me to write this out and talk about him. And this explains why I've just not been fully into blogging for the past few days. I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things this coming week, though.

May my little Georgie rest in peace. ♥

200 Followers Giveaway Winners

So sorry it has taken me awhile to announce this! I've been so busy and I just haven't had much time to sit down and get the entries together. What's up with real life getting in the way? Seriously, I need to have a talk with life and tell it to calm down. :D

I chose the winners by making a list of the names with how many entries they got. Then, I made a numbered list for each category and wrote down the names (once for one entry, twice for two, etc.). Random.org gave me the number and if your name was by that number, you're the winner. Without further ado, here are the winners! I hope to mail the prizes out by early next week.

Prize #1 goes to...

Chloé! To refresh your memory, you just won this-


Prize #2 goes to:

Jennny (follows, but doesn't blog)! And to refresh your memory, you just won this-


Prize #3 goes to:

Steph xox! And to refresh your memory, you just won this-


I will be contacting each of you for your info! Thank you to everyone that entered. It quickly turned into my biggest giveaway yet. I assure you that I'll have more in the future, so stick around! And a BIG thank you to all of my followers friends (because you all are so much more than followers!) on here. You make blogging so fun and worthwhile! ♥

Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette Swatches

This is probably my least favorite of the Too Faced palettes that I own. It's not that it is bad, but I don't see much versatility with it as I do with their Naked and Natural palettes. Boy, the packaging sure is pretty though! :)



^ One thing I like is that the packaging is smaller, because they didn't add the pull out drawer that houses the sponge applicator like in the other Too Faced palettes. The Romantic Eye one actually doesn't come with an applicator at all, which is fine with me!



^ Soulmate, I Do, and Un-Veil. The most neutral of the rows.

^ Kiss the Bride, Cut the Cake, and First Dance. I really like the middle shadow!

^ Bouquet Toss, Honeymoon, and Ever After. This row is the one that I don't really care for. I think it would look great on warmer skin, but it just doesn't look good on my cooler skin tone.

Do you own this palette? If so, let me know what your favorite color combinations are!

Also, I'll list the winners from my contest soon. I just haven't had time to make a list of all of the entries. I've been busy working on some things and planning my husband's birthday party. Life is a bit hectic at the moment. I promise that you'll hear who won by next week! I apologize for the delay. :)

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil Swatches

My goodness, Blogger has had some real issues the past few days! First, the blogs I read were not showing up on my dashboard. Then, it went into read-only mode for the past two days. Hopefully it's back up and running permanently now! And my giveaway ends tonight just before midnight, so there is still time for last minute entries. :)

I have gotten some more NYX eyeshadow pencils since my last swatch post on them. So I am providing swatches of the old and new ones that I own.







I love these! They are pigmented, cheap, and make eyeshadows pop. I find that they do crease, so I use them over a primer. I also only use a small amount and blend out. I never wear them alone, as I prefer to pair a similar color of eyeshadow on top to give it lasting power. The lids and pencils can get a little messy, but it doesn't affect the pencil. And the bigger side of dual sharpeners do a fine job of sharpening these when you wear the tip down.

My favorite ones are Milk, Iced Mocha, Yogurt, and Horse Raddish (that's the way they spell it). Which ones do you own, if any? I'm sure I'll be getting more of these in the future, especially if NYX has a booth at IMATS again! :)

Happy Friday the 13th! Have a great day!

Sunset Sleek Palette Swatches

I have had this palette for awhile now, but I realized that I never swatched it. It is a part of Sleek's permanent line. Sleek Makeup is an UK-based company, but I do believe they ship anywhere but Africa. I got mine as a gift from a friend that lives in England. And I honestly want to order more of their products, because I've really been impressed with their eyeshadows and gel eyeliner.

These are my swatches for the Sunset i-Divine Palette, which has shades that represent the sun, sea, and sand. I love that the compact is small and has a big mirror that takes over the entire inside lid. The eyeshadows are a decent size and very pigmented. They are a bit powdery, so there might be fallout when you use them. I usually spritz my brush with Fix Plus and apply them wet to avoid that. They take on a whole different silky look when wet and you can double the black as eyeliner and the reds as lip color.







The Sleek brand is worth checking out. They pride themselves on especially being able to serve skintones that are often under-represented by other makeup brands. For their face products, they even offer tester kits so you can find your perfect shade before buying a full-sized item. Have you tried Sleek? What's your favorite product by them?

Lush Oatifix Face Mask

Around three weeks ago, I purchased Lush's Oatifix face mask. I generally stay away from Lush, as I had a rotten experience with their customer service and management years ago. That can really dampen my opinion of a company, no matter how good some of their products may be. I believe in second chances, so I've been buying a thing here or there. It's been mainly soaps and bath bombs, as I feel those are Lush's best products.

Their face masks are meant to be stored in the refrigerator. So if you buy one while you're out shopping for the day, make sure you can get home to store it properly. I chose Oatifix because it is specifically for dry and sensitive skin. Some of the masks differ in time to leave it on, but this one is only 5-10 minutes.



They do expire quickly. They always put a sticker of when it was made and when it expires. You can click the picture for a bigger version to read the ingredients.

It doesn't look like a lot based on the size, but it is packed with product. For close to $6, you get enough product for a few applications. I used it three times and still had plenty left over. It can be a bit wasteful, actually. I'd say you can go over the expiry date by a few days, but no more than that. After that, scoop the mask out and keep the container. Every five black jars gets you a free face mask.

(It all melted to one side before I could get it in the refrigerator.)
Where I scooped my fingers was just one use! I found it very difficult to try and finish the product. It just didn't happen. Though it's a pretty decent price even if you only even get three or four uses out of it! It smelled overly sweet to me and very similar to baby food. And it felt and looked like a baby threw up their baby food on my face while I was wearing it. It really made my stomach turn. And that smell sticks around. I was not a fan at all. Also because it is cold, it makes the mask really clumpy and hard to apply.

Other than that, I didn't feel a difference in my skin at all. It didn't feel any more moisturized than what my actual moisturizers do. And I'm pretty sure that it is the culprit for my skin breaking out. I rarely have breakouts and I only used this on my cheeks where my skin is the driest, which is where I started seeing spots pop up shortly after.

I have heard really good things about this mask, so it may work for you. It did not work for my super-sensitive skin (and stomach!), though. I might try another Lush face mask at some point, but Oatifix will not be a repurchase.

Swatches from my recent swap with Antonia!

Here are the product swatches from my latest swap, which was with the lovely Antonia. :)



Left to right: Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Fast Fix Concealer in All-Over Brightener, Hard Candy Baked Blush in Living Doll, Maybelline blush in Pinch of Coral, and Wet-n-Wild blush in Heather Silk.

Wet-n-Wild eyeshadow trio in Silent Treatment. These shadows are so silky!

Left to right: ELF lipstain in Birthday Suit (also comes with clear gloss), Hard Candy concealer pencil that comes with Glamoflauge both in the shade light (last swatch shows it lightly blended in). I will be doing a review on the concealer and comparing it to MUFE Full Cover Concealer!

I can't believe that I have gained over 100 new followers in three weeks time. I appreciate every single one of you. I'm behind on comments right now, but I always try to reply so feel free to leave me a comment. I love getting to know you! And don't forget- my blog giveaway is still open for ten more days! :)

Swap with Antonia :)

Someone asked if I would be doing a post on the wedding of William and Kate, but I don't think I will because I didn't even watch it. Though my perspective on the fashion and hats that I've seen pictures of isn't much different from what other blogs have already said. The wedding dress was absolutely gorgeous and a perfect choice for her. I also realized that I don't think I would want to attend big British events like such, because I don't really like wearing hats and certainly not ones that are capable of making such big statements! ;)

Anyway, I recently did a swap with Antonia. Though I feel super bad because A) some of my package to her did not remain intact and B) she went over our limit. That was super naughty of her! :D I'm going to send her an extra gift or two to make up for both of those facts, though!

Everything was nicely wrapped. Pink AND florals? I was drooling before I even opened them up to see what was inside!

Everything! I have had a hard time here trying to find the Hard Candy Glamoflauge (light) and blush (Living Doll) in these two shades. And I never could find the Sally Hansen highlighter, even though I searched Sally's, Walgreens, and Target when I was over the border. Super excited about all of the other goodies also! Those include a lip stain/gloss duo, two blushes, an eyeshadow trio, and a lip balm.

I'll be swatching these products in my next post. I love the cream highlighter. I have powder and liquid ones, but this one rocks. I used it the other day on my cheeks, brow bone, and inner corner of my eye. So easy to blend! A BIG thank you to Antonia for my swap goodies! She's a fantastic girl who is extremely sweet,personable, and down-to-earth. ♥