Happy NOTD: OPI skull and glossbones

Why so happy? Because I've finally, after searching for over a year, found the perfect grey creme nail polish!
If you have seen my other NOTD posts you might have noticed me ranting about grey polishes always turning blue, purple or corpse toned on me.
I have laid to rest my search.

Skull and glossbones is from OPI's new pirates of the Caribbean collection. I picked up 3 other colors too (including silver shatter) because I really these odd dirty colors ;)

Skull and glossbones is a perfect mix of white grey and beige. No ugly green, purple blue or yellow undertones to be seen. It's a true ghostly grey.

For my pale friends I have to say that you need to check out the OPI pirates collection. Most of the colors look smashing against pale skin tones!

Estee Lauder double wear gel eyeliner stay bronze photos and swatches

Estee Lauder recently released some new double wear stay-in place gel eyeliners. Stay bronze caught my eye because it's a very red toned 'bronze' and somewhat unique. This color is limited edition.

For $23 CAD you get a pot of liner and a tiny brush to apply it with. I think it's totally worth the price because once this liner sets it does not budge at all until you take it off.

One thing about this color that is interesting is that it looks completely matte, but once applied you can see extremely tiny gold micro shimmer all through it. I love it. It's very hard to capture the shimmer in pictures, but you can see it IRL.

swatches of stay bronze:

My EOTD wearing stay bronze with some neutral colored Kat Von D eyeshadow:

I actually used the little brush it came with and it worked nicely. For a thinner line you would need to use something like the MAC 209. This gel eyeliner is excellent, I think I'm going to pick up the black one next when I have the chance.

Do you like any Estee Lauder double wear products? I really love the cream eyeshadows!

Neutral smokey eyes using ELF neutral beauty book with photos & swatches

With all the overwhelming hype of the Urban Decay naked palette flowing from every beauty blog page there is out there, it's a little hard for me to accept the fact that I will never get it.
Sadly, I live an hour's drive away from Sephora, and I didn't get the chance to grab one up.
Of course it's completely sold out online and I refuse to purchase it on Ebay for ridiculously inflated prices. *end sob story*
So - I decided to try something a little bit different for a 'naked' look.
I recently stumbled across E.L.F.'s neutral beauty book and immediately thought the colors looked really nice and wearable. I often find most palettes with 'neutrals' tend to be on the warm side, mainly bronze and copper colors which I don't like much.

Front cover:

It includes 12 shades of really neutral colors, ranging from shimmer to matte and warm to cool tones.
It turns out that a lot of these colors are really similar to some MAC eyeshadow colors! A few a dupes and some of are just really close.
The best part is this only set me back $7 CAD. You can get it online on the E.L.F. site for $5 US.
What a steal!

Inside you will find:

On the left page there is a step by step tutorial on how to create a basic look using the palette.
Included is a double ended sponge tip applicator, and a mini brightening eyeliner.

Mini liner:

Swatched:

It's actually a nice mid tone brown color. Great to use as a base for the smoky neutral eye look. I wouldn't expect any real staying power on the waterline since it is a kohl type pencil and smudges easily.

The eyeshadows:

I will admit that these eyeshadows are not the nicest texture. Some go on better than the others, but they are all very loosely pressed and tend to fall out when you are applying. The palette can get messy.
They will work best over a good eyeshadow base, I tried them over NYX jumbo pencil in strawberry milk and the colors 'stuck' well and looked vibrant.

Here are swatches and descriptions; No base was used for the swatches, but I did heavily layer the colors so they would show up well.

Row 1 Left to Right:

- shimmery light ivory with gold undertone
- shimmery golden tan -> similar to MAC woodwinked
- shimmery medium golden brown -> MAC mulch dupe
- shimmery deep brown with a plum undertone -> Similar to MAC smut


Row 2 Left to Right:

- frosty whitish gold -> MAC nylon dupe
- frosty light pink -> Similar to MAC pink freeze
- mid-tone pink beige with slight shimmer -> MAC banshee dupe
- Deep blackened navy matte -> Similar to MAC Nehru

Row 3 Left to Right:

- flesh toned beige shimmer (looks the same shade as my skin!)
- copper shimmer -> MAC amber lights dupe
- reddened purple with slight shimmer -> somewhere between MAC cranberry and sketch
- Dark neutral brown matte -> MAC brun dupe

EOTD # 1 smokey neutral for daytime :

For this look I used these colors from the palette:

EOTD #2 smokey neutral look for night:

Not sure why I look like an oompaloompa here...bad lighting :/

For this one I used these colors from the palette:

Overall, I think this palette is worth it just because it's easy to use; and so so easy on the wallet! The shadows coordinate well with each other and you can create a wide variety of looks using them.
It's great to have in your kit for those days you want to do something simple and pretty.
Just be sure to use a good base or you will be disappointed.
In no way is this comparable to MAC quality, but the colors I mentioned in the descriptions are very close.

What do you think about ELF products? yay or nay?

NOTD: L'oreal pro manicure sand castle

Model wearing L'oreal sand castle in Allure's 2009 best of beauty issue

I was recently craving a nude nail color, and I discovered sand castle in my stash of untried nail polishes. I think this is one of the two nude colors I own.
I wanted to buy sand castle because I saw it on a model in Allure magazine ages ago (2009 issue) and it looked pretty nice on her.

It made my nails pretty much disappear.

I'm not a fan of the mannequin hands look, but it is a welcome change from all the vampy colors I've been wearing this season. It also made my nails look a lot longer and added that 'clean' look to my hands. I need to find a color like this that doesn't make my nails totally dissaperate.

What is your favorite nude nail polish color?

Bourjois blush sienne photos, swatches and FOTD

I am loving Bourjois little blush pots more and more lately. They are so pigmented and always go on nice and smooth.
Sienne is more of a bronzer than a blush. It's matte and silky, with a very natural finish.

This time of year when my skin is at it's palest I need some sunny color to liven myself up a bit, and avoid looking like a vampire.
Sienne is a great color for this, it's a warm terracotta brown that looks surprisingly natural on. It's much warmer than NARS ninotchka or zen which are my usual 'go to' neutral blushers.

It's quite matte so I like to add a highlighter over top of it. To highlight my cheekbones I usually use Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Sunbaked bronzer in Pure Shimmer, which is a light champagne color.

Sienne gives a warm healthy glow to my skin. FOTD :

side view:

What's your favorite bronzer? I don't own very many but I would like to try more.

trash review: NARS all about eve eyeshadow duo with swatches and photos

The latest item I've completely used up is my NARS eyeshadow duo in All about Eve. I've been using it practically every day for about a year or so.

NARS eyeshadows last a long time! I can't believe how much use I've gotten from this product. I almost thought it would last forever.

All about Eve is a boring, plain, neutral flesh colored duo. The right side is a satiny almost-matte finish, and the left is a shimmery version of the same color.
It was so hard to get good swatches of these, since they are the exact same color as my skin. They completely blend in.

To prove how natural looking this duo really is, here is me wearing it on the right:

you can barely tell!

I'm sure you're wondering why I use this duo every day. Especially since it's so understated and minimalist. The secret is, the right side is the most perfect color to use for blending. I do my darker eyeshadows first and then blend it out with the right color. It's pure magic.
The left side of the duo is the nicest highlight shade I've ever used. It's not too shimmery or bright, it's just perfect.
This duo can be used with any eyeshadow look from smoky to natural, since it's so blendable and neutral toned.

Here is a look I did where I blended with the right side and highlighted with the left:

I have used similar neutral eyeshadows in the past for this exact purpose, but they have been either too shimmery or pink toned, and end up ruining my finished look. All about eve duo adds a finishing touch to bring the look together rather than distracting from it.
It always saves my time when I'm in a rush and need just a little something on my eyes. Slap it on with some mascara and your ready to go!
I highly recommend this if you are in need of a good eyeshadow to blend or highlight with. If you have darker skin, I'd recommend Alhambra duo since it's a shade or so darker.

Repurchase? yes

Price: $32 USD, $35 CAD

Rating: 5/5

Bourjois blush Lune D'or photos, swatches and FOTD

I think that Bourjois little pots of baked blush are incredibly cute. Lune D'or is a very pretty color, see swatches below!

Most people use this shade as a highlighter, since it is quite light and shimmery.
Being as pale as a ghost, I can actually use this as a sparkly neutral blush!
On my skin it looks light bronze peach, which is really nice to add just a hint of color when I don't want an overly bold cheek.

Swatches are shown in varying degrees of light, so you can see the beautiful luminescence of the shimmers.

And, while swatching Lune D'or, I realized it reminded me of NARS hungry heart highlighting duo. The left side of hungry heart is quite similar, it is peachy with golden shimmer. I swatched them together:

Let me start by saying I really didn't like NARS hungry heart duo at all. It was very chalky and the shimmer just sat there on my cheek looking gaudy. I ended up giving it away.

Although they are similar in color, Lune D'or has a much nicer smooth texture that adds a glow that I like much better than the chalky powdery look that hungry heart gives off.
Lune D'or is also more pigmented believe it or not, and a lot more affordable too.

My FOTD Wearing lune d'or as a blush:

What do you think of shimmery blush? Do you prefer matte?