FOTD: Anna Sui-Inspired

I was in the mood for some bright colours after seeing the promo for the new Anna Sui Kaleidoscope of Color collection on Chic Profile.

I switched the colours around a bit on the lids and this is what I finished with:

Face:

Elf  Studio Concealer Pencil & Brush in Fair

Elf Studio Complexion Perfection

Elf Shimmering Facial Whip in Pink Lemonade

Lips:

Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Visual Kei (love this colour!)

Eyes:

Elf Studio Eye Primer & Liner Sealer

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Sleek Circus Palette light purple shade (crease to brow bone); light pink shade (under eyes)

Fyrinnae 1.22 Gigawatts (lid)

Fyrinnae Parental Advisory (crease)

Joe Fresh Fine Tip Liquid Eyeliner in Teal Blue (I'm not 100% sure of the name and I can't find it but it's something like that)

I also used a pale shimmery blue over 1.22 Gigawatts and a pale shimmery pink under eyes. They're both discontinued but you don't need either. I just wanted it extra shimmery. 

Finished the eyes with a matte white brow hightlight, shimmery white in the inner corner, and black mascara.

Sleek Circus

A while back I won the Sleek Circus palette from Simone. Thanks Simone! These shadows go on easily, blend well, and are super pigmented.

In each photo the top row is over primer and the bottom row is over bare skin.

With flash:

Without flash:

The first shadow is a pale matte lilac, slightly lighter than these photos show, but closest to the flash pic. Then there is a bright, matte yellow (which goes amazingly with Fyrinnae's Bifrost to add some glitter); a matte white that doesn't show up in these pictures, but is somewhat visible in real life; and, a matte black that is incredibly pigmented and has amazing staying power (even on the waterline!). There is also a bright matte red that has some pink-orange undertones, but nowhere near as pink as the top photo or orange as the bottom.

With flash:

Without flash:

This green is gorgeous. It's a light, pearlescent chartruese green that almost looks foiled when you brush it on. I'm not generally a green eyeshadow fan (although I loved it with my auburn hair) but this colour is an exception. Then we have a matte sky blue, nearly matte fuchsia, and matte bright orange. 

With flash:

Without flash:

The no-flash pic is super blurry but is does show the colours accurately (though not the finish). The blue is actually a bit darker and it is shimmery, and foil-y and another standout in this palette. The dark purple has that same finish. Last, but not least, matte medium pink.

The pearlescent green, dark blue, and dark purple are definitely my favourites in this palette. I always find myself saying I need more matte shadows but the shimmers, glitters, and metallics are always the ones that catch my attention.

Yesterday, I showed you one of my dogs and I don't want to play favourites, so here is the other. This is Sergeant (aka Sarge or, affectionately, Sargie Muffin). Yeah, I like giving my dogs cute (or annoying) nicknames.

Sarge is a four-year old boxer but still acts like a puppy. It can be tough to get a picture of him not looking goofy. Want proof?

Make-up Coupon ... and a bonus pic

I just want to share this quickly with any of you who live near a Superstore. I know these are all over Ontario, and I think Canada. They have a $2 off coupon for any Joe Fresh eye or lip product. I absolutely love their lip stains (regular $6). The price is great, even without a coupon. But when I saw these coupons yesterday (just when you walk into the store, they have a board with a bunch of manufacturer and store coupons), I decided to try something new.

Their eyeshadows are $4 regular price so I picked up one of those. And then I saw their liquid eye liner pens. I've always struggled with eyeliner so when I got my Elf pen, I fell in love with it. It looks like a felt tip pen and makes lining your eyes super easy because it's just like drawing with a pen. So I got two of the Joe Fresh pens--brown and teal blue. With the coupon, these were $4 each. I used the brown today and it went on so easily. I've heard of some brands being too dry or hard to use, but this was a dream.

So, if you do live near a Superstore (or maybe even Fortino's because they carry this brand too, the coupon might be there as well), and have trouble with liquid liner, or just want to check out some affordable, good quality stuff, definitely stop by this week.

Ok, enough shameless promotion for Joe Fresh. This was pretty wordy so I'll end it with a photo in no way make-up related.

This is one of my dogs, a black Labrador retriever named Bonnie. She's an absolute sweetheart and I love her to pieces. Yes, she's wearing a hat, and, yes, I'm one of those people that likes to dress up their dogs. Though it's tough to find outfits for a hundred pound lab.

Lace Nails

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been busy with work and everything else. But I have been taking pictures of my nails every day and make-up most days so I can share them with all of you now. 

We had a James Bond themed party at work the other week, so I really wanted to something special on my nails. And I've been meaning to try out the lace nails I've seen so much lately. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do them.

Of course, this is the one time I forgot to take a photo before I changed my mani. So I decided to recreate the look with a falsie. Here's the finished look:

I know most of you have seen lace nails a million times before but for those who haven't I did a step-by-step tutorial. It's surprisingly easy but looks super complicated and intricate so it's perfect when you really want look-at-me nails in a short time.

Start off by painting nails with your base colour and letting it dry. You can either go neutral for a more elegant finish or to make the lace really pop, try hot pink or another bright colour. I used Elf's Champagne.

For the lace, you can check out dollar stores or fabric stores. Since you'll just be using small pieces, you can often find scraps or ends of the rolls for cheap. Or, inch-wide lace ribbon works really well and is fairly inexpensive. Cut pieces of lace to roughly fit each nail. It doesn't have to be exact since you'll be trimming the excess later.

For the rest of the steps, I prefer doing one hand completely, letting it dry, and then doing the other.

Working on one nail at a time, paint on a coat of clear polish and before it dries, lay a piece of lace onto the nail, being sure to press the lace down around the edges. Then seal the lace with a layer of top coat.

Once all of your nails are dry, simply trim off the extra lace, stand back, and admire.

Limited Edition Xtreme Wear

I told myself I wasn't going to buy every single new Xtreme Wear. But I just can't seem to help myself. I picked up four more yesterday and they're on sale this week at Pharma Plus ($1.99) so I'll probably get the rest this weekend.

Left to right: Mystic Lilac, Fireberry Red, Plum Burst, Cherry Punch

Sally Hansen did a great job with this collection and I'm having a hard time choosing a favourite. I thought it would be Purple Gala or Concrete, but after I swatched Mystic Lilac I wasn't so sure. It looks nice enough in the bottle, but on the nails you can really see how gorgeous this polish is. Pale greyish lilac with iridescent green shimmer. Mystic Lilac is subtle enough to be work-appropriate but still has a wow-factor when the light hits it.

Fireberry Red is the perfect fall version of Red Carpet. Dark and deep and dramatic. I already know this will be my Christmas nail colour.

Plum Burst true plum creme. Nothing too special but still a nice colour.

Cherry Punch looks like fruit punch with string and regular glitter mixed in. About half this collection seems to follow the same pattern of a shimmer base colour with the same glitter. You can pass on these if you have In the Spotlight or any other string glitter top coat since most of the base colours aren't very unique or special.

Have you guys tried these new Xtreme Wears yet? Which are your favourites?

I'm Michelle and I have a problem...

I think I'm addicted to nail polish. There's just something about using a new colour for the first time. Or the feeling you get when you finally find something you've been searching for. More than once that has caused me to come home with a bag full of polishes when I go to the store for something unrelated. Well, today I actually went for nail polish, but not nearly as many as I ended up buying. After seeing the new Xtreme Wear limited edition colours, I couldn't stop thinking about them. I want to wait for a sale, so I only bought two for now. But while I was at Pharma Plus, I saw the new Sally Hansen HD display. And I had a tough time choosing just one. 

Left to right: Sally Hansen HD Laser, Xtreme Wear Concrete and Purple Gala, Hidden Treasure

Hidden Treasure! I don't think there's anyone left who isn't in love with this one. My sister found two bottles at Zellers a while ago so we each have one but when she spotted this today, I knew I'd regret not buying it. I'm trying to decide if I should save it as backup in case more lines don't realize how coveted flakies are right now. Or should I pass it on to someone still lemming it?

I also went into Sally Beauty for polish thinner and ended up buying a China Glaze. Fairy Dust (the name is perfect!) is a holographic glitter. I can't wait to try it over black, and any other colour.

And since I can't be near a Walmart without checking out their nail polish selection:

I picked up Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost, French White Creme, Blue Moon, and Tickled Pink. I originally had about twice as many in my basket but managed to narrow it down since I had near-dupes for the others. For $1.57, these wear pretty well and there's a decent selection of colours. I also got some Rimmel Recover foundation for five cents each (that's right, $0.05!). Between two of us, we cleared out the display. I love finding makeup on clearance and you just can't beat that price. The same foundation was on clearance for eight bucks at the drugstore.

NOTD + Tag

This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green over Revlon Peach Petal. Obviously, before clean-up (again). Peach Petal is way too thin (like most Revlon) and tends to be streaky so this is 4 or 5 coats. And the colour isn't too special on its own, but I like how it turned out with the green. I used bundle monster plate BM20. On its own, Going Green is a medium shimmery grass green which is pretty enough but I really like how it looked more like a softer, pale jade green here. And I added a flower just to make it extra-special. Thanks to Stephanie for setting me off on this nail sticker kick. :)

I also have a quick survey from Stephanie so here goes;

1. Have you ever felt so disappointed in a nail polish you wanted to throw it out the window? And why?
Nothing that extreme but SH Divine Purple let me down. The colour was great but it lasted about an hour before chipping. I'll try it again with Seche Vite and if it still fails, then maybe I'll have to change my answer.

2. What are your top three favorite nail polishes?
  That's really tough. I can name three but then I think of one more that I really love and before I know it I have a list of 10 or 20 I can't part with. But if I absolutely had to name just three? SH Xtreme Wear VIP Pink, SH Hidden Treasure, and China Glaze Dorothy Who?, and also Revlon Gum Drop. I'm sorry it's just too hard to name only three.

3. What is your favorite online store?
I really like ELF for affordable, good quality cosmetics. But lately I've been hooked on ebay for accessories, nail stickers, and a million other things.

4. Is there anything you'd like to share with us that you haven't shared before?
Not that I can think of at the moment, but as I keep blogging, you'll all learn more about me.

5. What is your favorite song of the moment?
Right now, I'd have to say something of Michael Buble, but I can't name exactly one song. My taste in music isn't usually very similar to his stuff, but lately I've really liked it.