NYX sale on Hautelook 7/30

Hey, hey, NYX will be on Hautelook tomorrow morning, July 30th. It starts at 8 am, so don't sleep in! I actually set an alarm so that I'll wake up in good time, just in case there's some really great stuff (which there will be) and it gets sold out quick.

I want that butt "naked" eyes palette and some of the Mega Shine lip glosses! I hope they have some of the Round lipsticks as well. I had one in Tea Rose, but my son decided to play with it and destroyed it =_= so I want to get another one.

Let me know if you pick anything up!

Disclaimer: Post contains referral link.

Recent Hauls: Diaso, Sasa, Hautelook & more

Ahhh shopping.. who doesn't love shopping?

I know I certainly do, so I'm sharing with you the fruits of my addiction.

The Japanese ¥100 chain Daiso just opened a store in Irvine, CA. Most of the products are $1.50 and they have some stupidly, ridiculously cute stuff there.

Two super cute notebooks, one Paris themed and one cupcake/sweet things theme. A pink butterfly eyelash case, fits 4 sets of false lashes, glue and probably tweezers if you're so inclined. And a set of 'point eyelashes', they give a really natural fuller look. I used them in my 4th of July FOTD, two at each of the outer corners of my eyes.

This is the inside of the cupcake notebook, cute or what??? I think it'll be perfect for writing notes or letters.

I also got this ridic. cute laundry bag, for undergarments and delicate stuffs.

Next, a couple of things I got from Sasa.com. I love Sasa, they have some really good brands and a big variety. I got the Dolly Wink Volume Mascara and Eyelash Fix.

I haven't tried the mascara yet, but I am IN LOVE with the Eyelash Fix!!!! It makes applying falsies SO EASY like WTF.

Went to CVS to look for Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain... didn't find the colour I wanted, so of course I ended up buying nail polish. This is Spoiled by Wet n Wild Designated Driver.

It's such a taxi colour yellow, no wonder they called it Designated Driver.

These gorgeous floral pumps caught my eye when I was browsing Hautelook. They always have great quality brands on there SUPER cheap, I got these for $20! They are really comfortable.

Speaking of florals.. I've been on a huge floral kick lately, especially roses, so when I saw this tote and scarf I just had to pick them up. And guess where I found them? Walmart. No, seriously. How pretty are they??

I can't wait to try out all my new purchases :D Next on the agenda is some arm candy. I'll be heading to Forever 21 in the near future for that!

Have a great weekend!

Disclaimer: Post contains referral link.

Review: Urban Decay Summer Of Love Palette & FOTD

Hey Beauties!

I’m still adjusting to my little man being 3. It’s a difficult thing, coming to terms with the fact he’s no longer a baby. Makes me feel like I’m getting old too! Haha.

I got the palette on HauteLook for $15 (steal, what?) and it has such cute packaging!






L to R: Flash, Maui Wowie, Chopper and Smog
and mini 24/7 glide on eyeliner in Bronze.

L: Natural lighting, R: With flash. Click to see the shades up close!

It also has a mini sized Primer Potion in Sin, the gold bottle (which I forgot to take a picture of individually).

I thought the purple would be the most pigmented, but sadly, I was wrong..

L to R: Smog, Chopper, Maui Wowie, Flash


All the other colours I only had to swatch once, the purple required numerous swipes to be that opaque. It’s a pity, because in the pan it’s my favourite out of the shades

Smog and Flash have a slight shimmer to them, while Chopper and Maui Wowie have chunks of sparkly glitter. Maui Wowie is PACKED with glitter, but it doesn’t feel too gritty or anything which is a plus.

This is the 24/7 Glide On eyeliner in Bourbon and the Primer Potion in Sin:

L: Natural lighting, R: With flash

Some people don’t like this primer because of the frosty champagne colour, but I just blend it really well so it’s not as obvious. When using it with this palette it’s not really an issue anyway, since the shadows are shimmery gold and bronzey colours.

The eyeliner is smooth and creamy and very pigmented on bare skin. I had a few issues getting it to show up as well over the shadows though.

Quick PROS/CONS
PROS: Smooth, long wearing, product is a good size
CONS: Purple not as pigmented as I hoped, eyeliner not as pigmented over the shadows, some glitter fallout
MONEYSAVER: Yes! $15, thanks HauteLook
TIMESAVER: Pretty much, you can use the whole palette for your eyes, from priming to lining and in between I will probably use the shades separately though.

My FOTD!

   



As you can see, the purple is very muted

Face:
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 31
LORAC Box Office Hit palette Bronzer
Urban Decay Afterglow Powder Blush in Quickie

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Urban Decay Smog on lid
Urban Decay Chopper in crease
Urban Decay Maui Wowie in centre of lid and blended on browbone
Urban Decay Flash on top and bottom lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner in Bourbon on top lashline and waterline
Maybelline The Falsies mascara

Lips:
I did have on one of the lip colours from the Lorac Box Office Hit palette, but my #2 son CA decided to smooch it off!


They’re so sweet when they’re this age! He'll be 2 in July, that's when they start being terrors LOL!

Anyway, I just put some Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush lipgloss in Sugar High on, but I must have still had some of the lip colour on because it looks strangely dark around the outside of my lips and then lighter on the inside.

How do you like the shades? Do you think they are still relevant for this summer, or are they outdated?

Personally I think they still look great and I’m definitely going to be wearing them this summer!

Ishah xx

Urban Decay Haul

Happy Tuesday, Beauties!

My Urban Decay stuff from HauteLook arrived last week!



These are: from 2010, the Summer of Love eyeshadow palette and Afterglow powder blush in Quickie and from 2009, the Apocalyptic nail polish set.

The shipping was fast, however one of the polish bottles had leaked a little and pooled at the bottom of the bag



It’s only a small amount of polish and taped up, it’s usable, but this isn’t what you expect when you buy something that’s supposed to be brand new (no matter whether it’s full retail price or sold on HauteLook). Luckily, the customer service rep I spoke to was really helpful and refunded me the amount I paid for it straight away ($10). So I got 6 perfectly good polishes and one salvageable one for free! That is the kind of customer service that keeps me going back to an online store.

I can’t wait to try all these products out, so stay tuned for some reviews and swatches (and maybe a FOTD/NOTD )

It's my son's birthday today, so I'm going to take him out and spoil him with some yummy ice cream. He's only 3 and doesn't usually get junk food and sweets so it's a big deal! Lol

Ishah xx

Review: LORAC Box Office Hit palette & FOTD Friday

Happy Friday Beauties!

I've been so uninspired to take photos lately :( I think I need to get out of the house and do makeup photoshoots in the great outdoors or something. I had been meaning to do this palette for ages, but I just didn't feel like taking photos for some reason.

This is the last of my LORAC haul posts. Every time I think about how cheap the high end make up I bought on HauteLook was, I get happy :D If only they had sales like that all the time.

This was released around Christmas last year, as a limited edition exclusive at Ulta. It is such a cute little palette, the wine coloured faux croc skin oozes chic. It's a good size to pop into your purse and not have to worry about taking any other products (except brushes.. this palette really could have used some brushes!).

The colours are all really wearable, so I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it. The powders all have a slight shimmer, the more neutral shades have barely any but the darker shades have quite a bit.

The powder is quite soft, so you have to be a bit careful not to get too much on the brush or you will get fallout. I am far from being an expert with eyeshadow, so I usually like to keep it simple and these colours are just right for that. They are super-blendable and sheer, but can be used wet for more opacity. The lip shades are also pretty sheer, and go on smoothly. They don’t dry out and leave your lips feeling pretty hydrated, more like a tinted gloss than a lipstick. The soft shades are good for spring and perfect for work or school, or anywhere you want to be a bit more neutral/conservative (Grandma's house maybe? Meeting your boyfriend's parents?). The only really pigmented shade is the pink blush, but it goes on sheer and can be built up to a bright pink pop.

PROS:

• Pretty, soft shades
• Good for neutral looks, work/school/shopping/beach etc
• All in one palette, easy to take on trips
• Great quality, long lasting formula

CONS:

• Not for someone who prefers very pigmented colour
• Soft powder can leave some fallout
• No brushes

TIMESAVER:

Yes, it’s great because you could take it to work or on a weekend trip and you basically have everything you need to create a few different looks. Just remember to take along a few brushes

MONEYSAVER:

Yes. I got this from HauteLook for $15.

WANT/NEED/NO THANKS:

This is a NEED for me. I have used it more since I bought it than most of my other eyeshadows, blushes etc. The neutral look is good for me, since I have the kids.. don’t want to look like I’m going to a nightclub!

This is a really simple FOTD using some of the colours from the palette.

Face

• Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 31
• Avon Smooth Minerals Powder in Shell
• Pink Blush from the LORAC Box Office Hit palette

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
• Highlighter shade, first column, second row from the palette
• Lid shade, second column, third row from the palette
• Crease shade, second column, second row from the palette
• Brown eyeliner from the palette
• LORAC Lashes Volumizing and Thickening Mascara in Brown

Lips

• Natural rosy pink shade, top row, third across in the palette

Do you like to invest in palettes or prefer individual products? Neutral vs showstopping?

Ishah xx

...wow... looking at that photo for a while... I think I need botox in my forehead ;_;

Review: LORAC Lashes Volumizing and Thickening Mascara

Hello Tuesday.. And Beauties :)


My first mascara post! The first blog I ever followed was actually Clumps of Mascara. It's what got me into reading beauty blogs and eventually, starting my own blog :)


This is the LORAC mascara I got in my HauteLook haul. I've never tried a brown mascara before, my tendencies leaning towards dramatic black lashes. The mascara was $4.99 on HauteLook, so I thought I might as well give it a try!

Here's the product description:

Get perfectly defined and separated red carpet lashes with this mild, non-irritating mascara that lengthens, thickens and protects. Enriched with Pro-Vitamin B5 to help condition lashes, this unique formula doesn't clump, run, smudge or flake!

 The brush is quite big, with thick bristles that seem to really catch every single lash. It's not so great for control though. I had a few smudges of mascara on my lid when I was done, but it was easily cleaned up with a cotton bud.

The brown is very close to my natural lash colour, so it isn't as dramatic as my usual mascara look.
This is a more natural looking mascara definitely, but it still gives a nice lift to lashes. The formula is creamy, giving volume without any clumping at all. I was able to do 3 coats and it was still perfectly separated. It volumises, separates and curls, but the curl tends to drop after a couple of hours. It's also very mild, as it states,  my eyes sometimes get irritated by mascaras but this one was fine. Great for those with sensitive eyes :)

Left: 3 Coats of mascara, Right: No mascara

Sorry for my dopey look, I was trying to show the lashes a little better -_-;
I think this is a nice natural look for every day wear. I may start using this on days when I'm just going to a kiddie playdate or shopping, but still want to look nice :)

Do you prefer natural looking lashes or do you like more drama?

I have lots of makeup posts this week, I will be swatching the LORAC Box Office Hit palette and some of the Urban Decay products I have (also from HauteLook).

Ishah xx

Review: LORAC Mocktail Lip Gloss - Lava Flow

Woohoo, it's Friday Beauties!
Time for some R&R with my beautiful family :)

I got this lip gloss from the LORAC sale on HauteLook for $2.99 - apparently they sold at full price for $18 so I'm calling this a steal. They were released a few years ago so they definitely aren't on the cutting edge of beauty products, but for $2.99 I'm willing to make that sacrifice ;)