Holiday Favourites 2011: Last Minute Gift Ideas!

Scrambling around for some last minute gifts? You're not alone!

Tarte Puttin' On The Glitz Color Collection & Clutch ($48 USD, LE): For the makeup lover in your life that loves a little glitz and glam, this set of 3 palettes plus a gorgeous clutch and gloss will put you on her "nice" list forever! The palettes feature a good mix of matte and shimmery shades plus they are all well pigmented and long-lasting. You also get a new shade of their best-selling blush 12 hr Amazonian Clay Blush, bronzer and highlighter. The clutch has clever button snaps that allow you to interchange the palettes to suit your mood: casual Friday, sultry Saturday, or high-tea on Sunday. It also features slots for all your major cards, a mirror and a holder for the Maracuja infused gloss. 

Ojon Damage Reverse Starter Set ($32 USD): If you're not familiar with this fabulous all-natural hair line, this is a great set for those who are in need of some hair repair! My hair has been in the worse state it has ever been. It's overgrown and breaking at the root. Plus, my hair is coming out in clumps still which unfortunately is common after you have a baby. My hair already feels ten times better now that I've been using this set. It includes: Restorative Shampoo, Restorative Conditioner, and Restorative Hair Serum. 

What's on your last minute gift list? 

Both are available at your local Sephora store and Sephora.com. 

Products were sent for editorial consideration and I truly love them.

Cindy Lou and Martha May Too

Here's a funky look inspired by a request that I got. 

Someone's was having a Whoville themed Christmas Party and I liked that a lot!

I looked all through pictures to come up with a look

but alas could not find just the right one,

not even in a book.

So I thought and I pondered just what would I do

Then it came to me! I would not do just one Who....but TWO!!!

That's right not just one Who would do for today

so a new Who was born, her name? "Cindy May"

or Martha Lou? Cindy Martha? Lou May?

I think I'll need to better hone my Who skills especially since I keep saying and writing Betty Lou instead of Cindy. Oh Jen... but you get the picture =D. Merry Christmas!!! What are YOU doing this year to keep you from being the Grinch?

Holiday Lookbook: A Little Bobbi Brown and Armani To Glam Up Your Look

"Holiday smokey eyes" consists of rich colours in glitzy and shimmery textures. I love metallic finishes and glitter this time of year. Have some fun and bump up a traditional smokey eye with shades of metallic silver, grey, and black with flecks of silver glitter. For those of you who shy away from too much shimmer and glitter, Bobbi Brown has a great palette out this holiday. 

Bobbi Brown Cool Party Eye Palette ($45 USD): Go icy or go sultry, Bobbi's palette will take your day look easily into a nighttime smokey eye. I love gunmetal greys and silvers for a smokey eye. This palette is for cooler skin tones and would look amazing on anyone with fair to medium-dark skin tones. My skin is on the warmer side so I find only the taupe, and the 2 darkest shade really work for me. As long as you mix the darker shades with the lighter ones, warmer skin tones can wear this palette too.

For a sultry smokey eye, start with the darkest shade on the lid. Apply a medium shade to the crease and use the 2 lightest shades as a highlight on the brow bone and the inner corner of the eye. The shadows are long-lasting as well and very well pigmented. 

Gloss d'armani Lip Gloss #101 ($36 CAD): A smokey eye would not be complete without nude lip and a long-wearing one at that. Armani's newest line is a long-wearing gloss that is full of colour. While you're sipping champagne or noshing on some delectable chocolates, you don't want to worry about reapplying your lip colour every hour. When you first apply the gloss, it goes on smooth and non-sticky. But after minutes of applying, the texture starts to feel thicker and a bit tacky. It claims to last for 8 hrs, but it's more like the colour lasts for 6-8 hrs (the drier your lips the longer it lasts I find), and the shine lasts for about 3-5 hours. It's not a liquid lipstick, so as a gloss this is one of the more longer wearing glosses. I really like the angled sponge applicator. It really follows the contours of your lips making the application a breeze. #101 is a nude beige with silver shimmer. It looks gorgeous on the lips especially when paired with a smokey eye. It gives just enough colour so the lips don't look too pale. The shimmer gives good shine and makes the lips appear fuller.

Tip: If you're going to wear shimmer on the eyes and lips, keep the face shimmer-free. Use a matte blush and keep foundation more velvety than dewy. Also, exfoliate your lips really well before applying this gloss. I found it accentuated my chapped lips and dried them out slightly. 

Swatches:

Bobbi Brown Cool Party Palette

 

d'armani Lip Gloss #101

Have you tried these products? 

Products were sent for editorial consideration and I truly love them.

Holiday Sparkle

Here is a look with a little Holiday sparkle =). Sorry I had to resort to my old camera for this one but if you follow the techniques and use the same colors then your results will be AmAzInG!!!

Daphne Guinness For MAC

 

The imagination of Daphne Guinness, a new line from MAC offering the most romantic and gorgeous shades of rose. The lip shades are to die for in all of their berry goodness! I am not prone to drooling over a MAC line since most of the shades can be found in their already existing line under another name but THIS I might have to go out and get!!! It's available the day after Christmas so ask for a gift card to your local Nordstrom ;). Check it out:

Cremesheen Glass - $22
Borealis - pale grey pink with iridescent pearl
Japanese Spring - pale dirty pink
Narcissus - dirty eggplant
Richly Revered - deep brown plum

Source: beautycrazed (http://s.tt/14LHs)

Cremesheen Glass - $22

Borealis - pale grey pink with iridescent pearl

Japanese Spring - pale dirty pink

Narcissus - dirty eggplant

Richly Revered - deep brown plum

Cremesheen Glass - $22
Borealis - pale grey pink with iridescent pearl
Japanese Spring - pale dirty pink
Narcissus - dirty eggplant
Richly Revered - deep brown plum

Source: beautycrazed (http://s.tt/14LHs)

Powerpoint Eye Pencil - $18
Engraved - rich black
Grey Utility - uniform grey

Source: beautycrazed (http://s.tt/14LHs)

Eye Brows - $18

Fling - light taupe ash blonde

Stud - deep rich blackened brown

Powerpoint Eye Pencil - $18
Engraved - rich black
Grey Utility - uniform grey

Source: beautycrazed (http://s.tt/14LHs)

Eye Shadow X4 - $45

Interior Life Quad: 

Stratus - light pink (matte)

Interior Life - mid-tone grey blue (veluxe pearl)

Bruised Sky - dark lavender-y grey (satin)

Heather Belles - dark charcoal/carbon (satin)

Pro Longwear Lipcreme - $20 

Red Dwarf - blue-ink

Approaching Storm - deep rose

Seasoned Plum - mid-tone lavender

Warp Speed - light silver

Blush Ombre - $31

Azalea Blossom - light cool pink

Vintage Grape - mid-tone violet pink

Pigment - $24 

Aurora - pinked taupe (frost)

Circa Plum - frosty dirty mid-tone lavender (frost)

Nebula - dark greyed brown with pearl (frost)



Nail Lacquer - $18

Blueblood - deep eggplant (creme)Endless Night - pale grey pink with iridescent pearl (frost)

Hyperion - light grey blue green (creme)

         Powerpoint Eye Pencil - $18

         Engraved - Rich Black

         Grey Utility - Uniform Grey

Holiday Lookbook: YSL Beauty 2011

You may want to skip the mistletoe this year because you'll want to keep these lipsticks on! I adore YSL lipsticks especially the Rouge Pur Couture line (Makeup Junkie Top 5 Lipsticks)! And now they've come out with Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre which is equally as amazing. 

L-R: 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture in Rouge Eros ($30 USD): The original shades have a creamy non-shimmery finish, but Rouge Eros perfect for the holidays, has a subtle shimmery finish to it. This shade brings out more of the cherry undertones on me which I just love. To keep it on longer, apply a lip similar shade or use an invisible liner to prevent bleeding. I prefer it without gloss, but if you want some glossy shine just dab in the center of the lips. 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre in #110 Fuchsia Symbole ($30 USD): This lipstick has name all over it - literally! The lovely team over at YSL sent me my favourite shade of lipstick - a bright, fuchsia with gold shimmer. I didn't think it was possible but I've fallen even more in love with their new line (and it doesn't hurt that this particular shade has my name on it). It is still well-pigmented but has more slip to it than the original formula. My lips also don't dry out with this lipstick. I especially love the golden undertones and the shimmery finish makes the lips so pretty!

Make these lippies stand out by wearing minimal makeup and keeping the skin looking flawless and radiant. Swipe on a neutral shade on the eyes, define with black liquid liner and tons of mascara. Keep cheeks neutral either with bronze or a pale pink.

Swatches: 

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Rouge Eros

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre Fuchsia Symbole

Have you tried these lippies? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Want 'em?

www.yslbeautyus.com

Products were sent for editorial consideration and I truly love them!

Darling Girl Cosmetics: Blush swatches!

 Finally, it's the last installment of my latest haul series from Darling Girl Cosmetics! (Click for parts 1 and 2!)
This one is all about BLUSHES! I got several blush samples including some brand new ones and they're all amazing.<3

Let's get started :D

"Cherry Bomb" and "Secret Star"; I've already used Secret Star and I love it. In the bag it looks like a super light bubblegum pink and reminds me of Mod lipstick from the 60's, but on me it warms up to a perfect pink.

"Purple Haze" and "Orange You Glad To See Me?" Self-explanatory colors, both are matte.

The pink triplets, these are all new shades! As soon as I saw Susan's pictures on Facebook I knew I had to have them all<3

"Virgin" is a bright pink with slight blue duochrome. I already wore this one once I think, it's a bit more sheer than some of Susan's other blushes. It has slight shimmer and is nice if you just want a very sheer lightly shimmery flush :)

"Cheeky"; MAN was I looking forward to this one! It's a peachy-pink shade of coral and I love it. It's a soft focus blush which I think means it's mostly matte and extremely pigmented! I tried using this on and accidentally used too much.. yeah, don't make that mistake cuz this stuff stays put! I think I'll especially love this blush come Spring/Summer.

"Man Candy", kind of an inside joke lol; it's a bright pink, a bit warmer than Virgin. This one has duochrome too but I can't remember what color? Maybe blue as well? Anyway, it seems to also be a little more on the sheer side than the Soft Focus blushes I've tried. Can't wait to test this ;D

"Cougar" and "Boy Crazy"; neither of these colors is something I've used before since I'm pretty fair and neutral complexion-wise. I tend to think of colors like these as more suitable for warmer/tan people, but I'm sure if you were determined you could make them work on fair skin. I got them because they're new and I couldn't help myself lol. Cougar is a rusty shade with blue duochrome, I really like the color but I've yet to try it on myself. Boy Crazy is gorgeous, it's a really nice shade of brown with a little sheen; I think this could totally work as a blush or bronzer for even light-skinned ladies. I'm totally open to experimentation ;)

L to R: Cougar, Boy Crazy, Cheeky, Virgin, Man Candy, Cherry Bomb, Purple Haze, Secret Star, Orange You Glad To See Me?

w/flash

w/flash

daylight

Direct sunlight; the colors are not really this neon.. for some reason this camera likes to saturate reds.

Orange You Glad (last) looks red in these pics, just be advised that it actually is a bright orange. So bright in fact that the camera couldn't handle it's awesomeness!

So that about wraps it up for this haul! I hope you enjoyed these swatches and I hope you'll give Darling Girl a try when the shop is back up after the holidays! :)