I've won another giveaway, yay ^_^! Plus some nail pics & New Acquisitions. Including a must have product under 5 $ - really.

Blogspot Beauty e-mailed me...To tell me that I'd won her contest :).

Well, that's about as good as 'welcome back to the blogosphere' can get, right XD? Thanks so much BB ^_^. Everyone else, do check out her blog ;).

Here are the nail pictures. I'll do a look as soon as I stop feeling like a dried out pancake.

So, Nails Inc Victoria:

I'd swapped for this one ages ago, can't believe I'm only posting it up now.

Well...It's an autumn kind of colour :-P? Not that I personally pick my looks like that, but many do ;).

Nails Inc Victoria topped (in retrospect & as visible on there, sort of clumsily - sorry!) with Icing by Claire's Signature Runway (black with red sparkles, pics minus the sparkles >:-D here).

Can you see the red glitter on this pic? It just won't show up >:-/. But for the record (if you're planning on getting the Claire's polish, and you probably should if you can 'cause it's cheap enough to take a chance on ;D), they are there. And they're most intense under electric light. I think that topping a chocolate colour with this would look like OPI Midnight In Moscow ;) :D.

Alas, I don't own a chocolate colour XD. But I love this combo too :) - and it's even prettier in real life 'cause one can >:-) see the glitter. I think I prefer this to wearing Signature Runway on its own, and I'll be wearing it again ;).

Wet & Wild Bijou Blue...

Blue is my favourite alternative (that is, not red, white, pink or nude) colour to wear on nails. I feared that I might hate this (I don't really like teal), but somehow, with my skin colour, it works :).

[Here's a proper review ;).]

I've also worn my Essie Flirty Girl, but was too lazy to photograph it >:-). Will do next time though ;D.

On to my new stuff :D. I love things :-P. You can probably guess that by now >:-).

First of all, here are some things I actually bought >:-D.

A sharpener for my concealer (in my favourite colour, of course :-P), and two Tigi Bed Head brushes :D. They're hot pink ;D, and have names. Whoever came up with that is brilliant :). I don't like it when products have numbers instead of names & there's no real reason for it to be different with brushes. The liner brush is called Fame, and the other one's called The Love Brush ;).

These cost me 6 Euros each. If you can get them for that price, do. If you can get them full price, do it anyway if you have the funds, 'cause these rule :-P.

So far, I've used Fame with my Kate silver gel liner. (My black liners work fine with the cheap liner brush the Jane one came with, but this one called for a better tool ;D.) It works wonderfully :). I love it ^_^. And I'm sure I'll also love The Love Brush when I get around to using that ;D.

And now (you probably knew this was coming...), here are some swaps :).

Swap 1 [France].

(For my Maybelline Line Stylist in Jade Flash, and a few extras.)

An eye & lip liner from The Body Shop, in Chocolate ^_^. Also samples of a Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream and something anti-ageing by Guerlain - swapped that one off.

Swap 2 [England, Kaleidoscope swapper].

(I got her an Oriflame Radiance Energy cream and Beauty Balm, and as usual, added lots of extras ^_^.)

Palettes galore :D...

Profusion 36 Glamour eye palette, Sleek palettes (finally got my hands on these) in Acid and Chaos (which is upside down on the pic >:-D), the ArtDeco Beauty Box I'd originally bought for her (with two eye shadows in it ^_^), Coty Puzzle perfume (50 ml), Bourjois Violet Absolut eye shadow, and a metallic blues palette by L.A. Colours as an extra :). It's beautiful ^_^!

That shiny thing on the bag's top right is a pore strip, it was an extra too XD.

More pics...

The Profusion palette is a must have. I mean it. And it's only a few dollars in the US >:-). So freaking unfair to us all in other countries, but at least I managed to get one through this swap :).

It's got a lot of lovely neutrals and enough smokes, but also a red, some greens, a lovely periwinkle blue...A wonderful variety of colours :). And guess what: these colours go on metallic if used wet, and many are duochromes :D. See that pale orange in the second row (second from left)? It reflects white ^_^. This is for a single colour out of a 3.99 $ palette that contains 36 of them. If you have access to it, get it now ;D.

Oh, and it has the best and largest mirror I've ever seen on a palette XD. If you have a hard time justifying this purchase, tell yourself it's for the mirror's sake - and once you try these amazing shadows, you won't have any more issues :-P ;).

That's Acid on the left and Chaos on the right.

Well, only the middle four shades in Acid are true neons :-/. But the other shades are pigmented anyway - and I suppose that them not being fluorescent will be seen as a good thing by most people XD.

As for the shades in Chaos, they remind me of clay XD. But they're really nice colours :). Look at that orange, it'll be great for autumn themed looks ;).

You can also see my two new ArtDeco shadows on that pic: 82 and 217. But since I have 243 from the same collection the Beauty Box was part of, I put that one there. And to keep things green, I added my other two ArtDeco greens. It now looks like this:

ArtDeco eye shadows in 318, 243 and 390.

And this is a better pic of the Puzzle bottle:

It's so cute :). But in real life it's green, not blue :-P. (Though personally I would've preferred blue like on this picture, lol. But oh well.)

Swap 3 [The USA].

(For my mini Lancome Juicy Tube in Frozen Punch, and I added a few extras.)

C.O. Bigelow Soda Fountain Strawberry Sundae Mentha Lip Shine ;D. As you know, I love these - and this one looks so pretty :).

Oh, and it was brand new & still sealed. Not that I care XD, I don't mind used lip stuff. But I suppose it's nice to swap for something unused every now and then ;).

Thanks for reading :). I've got a lot of catching up to do XD...

Swap with Thiamere (and look featuring the products) & swatches of all my Mary Kay products as requested.

*Disclaimer: New camera, still getting used to how it works, which places to photograph at, etc. so pictures may look a bit different from my usual lighting. Sorry about that, I'm sorting it out as we go ;).

So, Thiamere has finally received the stuff I sent her :D (you can see it here if you'd like), and now I can post up my stuff too :).

How did this swap come about? Well, she left me a comment here saying how much she loved my Victoria's Secret Mosaic Highlighter, and I (knowing what it feels like to have a product you really want unavailable in one's country) offered to send it to her :). But she was so nice and offered me some things from her collection that she didn't really use - and so we had a swap ^_^.

Here's what she's sent me :).

*A note ^_^.
*A metallic pouch :).
*Hair elastics for my sister (who was so happy to receive something sent to her & a bit surprised to be known around the blogosphere, lol).
*Rose paper soap :).
*Careline (I love this brand :D) pigments in Vanilla White and Moist Green. These are amazingly metallic when used wet, and still beautiful when dry :).
*An Elianto 3D Eyeshadow Cube in Gold Brown. Which isn't gold brown >:-). (I'll post a look below.)
*Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.
*A mini Sally Hansen lip plumping gloss.
*Everyday Minerals eye shadow minis in Matinee and After Party.
*Wet & Wild Precious Metals lipstick in Gold Rush. I'm so happy to have this 'cause word has it that this is a dupe of MAC Blonde On Blonde ;). I don't own that, but I'd like to - though for now I have this ;D. Yay ^_^!
*NYX Lip Gloss With Mega Shine in Burgundy.
*NYX Fruit Lip Gloss in Strawberry.

I've worn most of these products already, and I love everything. Thank you Thiamere ^_^!!!

Here are the close-ups...

I made up a look featuring some of these products today. This is the first one - I'll do a look with the rest too ;).

(See what I mean about the camera? But I promise I'll get used to it and take nicer and clearer pictures very soon ^_^.)
My fringe was annoying me so I trimmed it myself >:-). Could've been a disaster but I think it turned out alright :-P.

Skin: The usual. Loose powder instead of pressed though (Physicians Formula). Not sure why - I think I want to finish this one up 'cause I don't really need both. But I may change my mind >:-D.
Oh, and I forgot to contour. If it shows, I really don't care, I don't consider myself attractive anyway :-P.

Eyes: I applied the Elianto eye shadow as a wash, with a large, wide brush. Then I used Moist Green pigment by Careline wet, on my outer eyelids. Made a bit of an outer V too, but nothing too dramatic. To brighten inner corners, I pressed on a bit of Vanilla White pigment there, with my little finger. I lined my lower eye line with Styli-Style Flat Pencil in Buenos Aires (a shimmery white), using the skinny side, and then used ArtDeco Kajal Liner in 20 (a dark leafy olive green) on my inner eye line. Curled lashes with mascara on both top and bottom finish off the eyes.

Cheeks: Fashion 21 Fine Blush Powder in 1.

Lips: Wet & Wild lipstick in Gold Rush.

Sometimes I feel stupid, writing such detailed descriptions. This isn't a magazine. But even if nobody else really reads them, they help me a lot when I want to wear an old look again ;). So they stay.

Products picture:

Eye close-up with eyes open:

Eye close-up with eyes closed:

(I quite hate this pic but I need to show the colours.)

Bonus pic:

I put up my hair but then took it down again. This was the only decent pic of me with my hair up. (And the other full-face pic was the only decent one with my hair down, so they're even XD.)

And here are the swatches of all my Mary Kay products to date. Somebody asked me for a look, but it'd take me ages to use all these colours in a look XD, so I made swatches :).

Two photographs, taken with different lighting, in order to give the truest impression I could manage ;).

From right to left: Single eye shadows in Raspberry Rush, Periwinkle, Fig and Seashell, and duos in Cotton Candy, Ivy Duet, Jade, Safari Sunset, Tutti Frutti and Twilight.

And the rest ;). From left to right: Lip Liner in Dusty Pink, blushers in Apricot Breeze, Burnished Bronze (I suppose that one's technically a bronzer, but I'll use it on my cheeks), Desert Bloom and Pink Meringue, and lipsticks in Pink Coral, Pink Daisy and Pink Melon.

The lipsticks are pinker in real life, but they just wouldn't photograph properly >:-@. I gave up, but I may use those in a look or three so you'd get to see them :).

Oh, and here are swatches of my Mary Kay Mini Mineral Eye Colour Quad.

Silky Caramel, Lemongrass, Amber Blaze and Denim Frost. Silky Caramel is a soft matte while the rest are shimmery and mildly metallic.

Is there anything else I should swatch? Let me know ;). Thanks for reading ^_^.

My Make-Up Collection Part 3: Hello Kitty Lip.

[No, this is not a tutorial on how to erase one's mouth >:-).]

(I had a comment on Hello Kitty Eye, something like, "I thought this was going to be a Hello Kitty eye look...", and well, wasn't & won't be a lip look this time either ;D.)

This is the case I keep my lip products in :). It's Hello Kitty ^_^, hence the nickname Hello Kitty Lip XD.

View from the top:

Alright, let's open it...

Scattered on top of most lipsticks and glosses are various lip palettes, glosses that aren't tube-shaped, small-sized products, and certain lip balms that are coloured enough to belong here & not inside the Rimmel Case ;).

Hard Candy Pin Up lip palette, Mark Candy Stripes lip gloss in Candied Apricot and Candied Apple, a Mark Hookup double-ended gloss in Sugar Almond (left) and Marshmallow (right), a mini Hello Kitty lipstick, Tarte lip balms in Thursday and Friday, Embodyment Organic Essentials Cherry lip balm, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Scented Lip Gloss (this is a lot more of a balm-like product despite the name :-/), MAC lipstick in Malt (in a sample pot), L'Occitane lip gloss in Rose Bonbon, Biotherm mini Glossy Shine Luminous Crystal Gloss in 130, Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Champagne, and Oriflame Sweet Talking Lip Candy in Sweet Bubblegum, Sweet Caramel, Sweet Vanilla and Sweet Butterscotch.

These heart things are the tastiest lip product I've ever tried. It's sort of annoying because they're literally good enough to eat, and too often, I do >:-). Oh, and they're gorgeous too ;D.

After removing all the clutter on top, here's what is left...

Most lipsticks are located in the centre section, while the lip glosses are split into groups & live in the side pouches ;). I'll cover the glosses first.

Estee Lauder High Gloss in Ivory and Pearl, mini Pure Colour Crystal Gloss in Sugarcane, mini Pure Colour Gloss in Burgundy, Pure Colour Crystal Gloss in Raspberry Pop, and Pure Colour Cool Gloss in Cool Coconut.

Labello CareGloss & Shine in pink and nude (can't find a name on them :-/), Clinique mini Superbalms in Raspberry Tint and Mango Tint, mini Colour Surge Impossibly Glossy in Cream Soda and Camisole, and mini Glosswear For Lips in Air Kiss.

Mary Kay lipsticks in Pink Daisy and Pink Coral, and Liparazzi lip gloss in Velvet Rope and Stalker. Yes, these light up :D! Will do a review one day ;). Oh, and I'd love to swap for Premiere if anyone has it ^_^.

Palladio Plump 'N' Shine Herbal Plumping Lip Gloss in Frosting, Miners Double Trouble lip gloss (the pink one - no shade name given :-/), Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde lip gloss (which is what some will think of me after reading all this, I suppose >:-D), Dior Sparkle Shine Glitter Top Coat For Lips, and Wet & Wild Diamond Brilliance in 616 Rachel's Rocks.

L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Lip Gloss, Bourjois Rouge Pop Chic in Poupre Chic, Oriflame Plump & Gloss in Naughty Girl and Nice Girl, and Stila It Gloss in Striking and Inviting.

Bourjois Poupre Chic is rain-proof :D. And I'm referring to crazy flood-like rain. I'm always happy when it rains :), but a lasting-through-the-elements bright red lip colour just makes it better ;).

MAC mini Lipglass in Gold Charm, Lipglass in Cult Fave (Fafi), Totally It (Fafi) and Silly Girl, Pout Lip Gloss in Tickle My Fancy and Be My Baby, and Urban Decay XXX Shine Cooling Lip Gloss in Love Junkie.

For someone who allegedly dislikes glosses, I sure have a lot >:-).

And I happen to like lipsticks ;D...Guess what brand most of mine are by?

MAC >:-D! Of course :-P...Eleven and counting ;D.

Fresh Buzz, Pretty Please, Flowerplay, Fresh Brew (Hello Kitty), Fashion Mews (Hello Kitty), Strayin' (Hello Kitty), Not So Innocent (Fafi), Strawbaby (Fafi), Flash-N-Dash (Fafi), Fun 'N' Sexy (Fafi) and Utterly Frivolous (Fafi) - that was my first one ^_^.

Next, Oriflame.

Power Shine lipsticks in Rose Bite and Sangria Red, Matt Glam (that's how they spell it - why not 'matte', I don't know) lipsticks in Liz, Lauren, Jean, Audrey and Marilyn, Colour Attraction lipstick in Golden Forest (sadly, the pretty green tube's Limited Edition packaging :-P) and Visions Lip Love lipstick in Justin.

Opened:

Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby, Crystal Pink and Tiramisu, Futurist Full Treatment Lipstick in Divine Wine, and Pure Colour Long Lasting Lipstick in Sugar Honey, and Clinique Colour Surge Lipstick in Wow Violet.

Opened:

Wet & Wild, NYC and Essence.

Wet & Wild lipstick in 514A Cherry Frost and 519A Hot Red, Precious Metals lipstick in 762A Ruby Glam, Mega Colours lipstick in 909B Pink Suede and 907A Black Cherry (the packaging is completely different but both are named Mega Colours :-/), NYC Ultra Moist Lip Wear in 324B Cameo and Essence lipstick in 03 Romantic Secrets.

Opened:

NYX, Revlon and Barry M.

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Nude and Round Lipstick in Iced Honey, Revlon lipstick in Nude Attitude and Silver City Pink, and Barry M Lip Paint in 100 Baby Pink and 123. At least I think it's 123 - the label has partially faded. As of me writing this, there's no 123 on the official site.

Opened:

Various luxury brand lipsticks.


Dior lipstick in Golden Mirage, Orlane Rouge Extraordinaire Lipstick in 34, Cargo Plant Love lipstick in Nahinni, and Pout Full Cover Cream Lipstick in Mi Amore.

Opened:

Last but not least, my set of mini Mark glosses :-P.

Glow Baby Glow minis in Girly Girl, Bubbles, Smooches and Blow Kisses, and Glow Baby Glow Luxe minis in Lucky Luxe, Choco Luxe, Flirty Luxe and Petal Luxe.

Swatches/reviews/looks on request ;). Next, I'll be presenting my cheek stuff, or as I like to call them, Face Enhancers :). Thanks for reading ^_^!

Oh, and to the one person who answered, "I don't know why you do these make-up collection posts anyway, they're so show-off & frivolous..." on my poll, thanks for the honesty - and I do it to keep a log of what I own, and because I enjoy looking at make-up :-P. I hope some of my readers do too :).

Blogger won't let me include more than 20 labels, so I can't mark this post with all the brands I own. Sorry :(!

What may be the largest ever swap in blogging history :-P ^_^.

After lots of bubble envelopes and boxes, weeks of swapping, and much anticipation...

Here it is.

The Hello Kitty tote pictured is also part of the swap ;D :). I'd stupidly dented mine >:-/ :'(, but Sarah had extra ones available, and she kindly agreed to send me one :).

And that isn't even all of it. This photo has the things from Parcels 1 and 2. Funny story about these: one was a bubble envelope to be sent by Airmail, and one was a box to be sent by ground mail...But bless the absent-minded guy or girl at Canada Post who sent the box by Airmail XD - even though Sarah'd paid for ground shipping (which is cheaper) :D.

Of course, I'm going to describe all this in detail ;D...

Elf powders in Sunkissed, Warm Tan, Luminance and Tone 2. In real life, Tone 2 is darker than Luminance :-/.

The first three are meant to be bronzers. However, Luminance is not going to bronze you up unless your skin is literally white >:-). It's a beautiful and well, luminous XD powder that I use when I want my face to glow (for the record, I'm quite light) - and it can also be used as a highlighter ;).

Tone 2 is just a regular powder, and I got it for my sister ;).

Elf eye shadow singles in Moondust, Mocha, Sage, Wisteria, Ivory and Truly Pink. These are very pretty, but I ended up swapping them off to somebody who had them on her wishlist ;). I would've definitely kept them had I not known her though! They're lovely ^_^. My fave is probably Wisteria ;D.

Elf quads in Butternut, Pretty 'N' Pink and Nouveau Neutrals. These are so tiny and adorable in real life, and the colours are so pretty :D!

NYX eye shadows in Orange, Prune, Blondie, Lanikai and Lime Juice.

I swapped off Prune ;). Orange is a great matte orange :D, Blondie is a blondish gold and I adore the name, Lanikai is a very blue blue, and Lime Juice is true to its name ;D. I love these NYX cute square shadows and have since swapped for a couple more of them :).

NYX Loose Pearl eye shadows in Yellow Gold, Turquoise and Ocean Blue, and Wet & Wild cream eye shadow in Champagne Toast :).

NYX round eye shadows in Deep Purple and Prune (from a trio), and trio in Copper/Rust/Bronze.

I swapped away the first two. And I broke Bronze >:-). Maybe I'll use the pigment to make bronze body lotion - got that idea from a magazine article ;).

NYC lipsticks in Smooch and Cameo.

Smooch is a fairly metallic mid-pink. But the stain it leaves is a very lovely rosy colour - makes me wonder why they didn't bottle (tube?) that colour in the first place :-/. Cameo is a very pretty and on me, very natural looking (as opposed to a statement colour) coral :). Not sure about Smooch yet, but I'm definitely keeping Cameo ^_^.

Annabelle pigments in Cool Mint and Azure.

I'm in love with these pigments ^_^! They're vivid, they don't crease or fade, and they're so flattering with my eye colour that I really couldn't believe it XD :'D. I think I'll try to track some more down ;)...

(In case you were wondering, this is a Canadian brand ;D & their website is here.)

Wet & Wild nail polish in Bijou Blue and NYC nail polish in Kool Blue [sic >:-)].

Here's a detailed blog post about Bijou Blue ;). I swatched it on one nail and it turned out very turquoise - greenish blues don't really suit me (or rather, I dislike them), so that turned me off doing a full mani, but I will in the future and hope it grows on me.

While Kool Blue (stupid spelling notwithstanding) is The Perfect Icy Blue I Have Been Seeking All My Life :).
Thankfully, it's a 15 ml bottle XD ^_^!!!

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in Rose :). This is a lovely blusher that can be used as eye shadow & for highlighting too if you'd like ;), and as you can see, it has 5 rosy colours :-P. Love it ^_^.

(A bronze version also exists ;D.)

Everyday Minerals mini blushes in Pink Ribbon, Anytime, Theme Park, Corner Office, Jump Rope, B & B, Plum Dust, Best Friends, Photo Album, All Smiles, Cookie Sheet, Chit Chat, and Once And Again.

Once And Again was sent in an envelope because she forgot to include it with the rest of them - and due to Canada Post's rules about bubble envelopes not exceeding a certain thickness, she had to depot the blush into a baggie, unscrew the cap, and send it in that disjointed state XD.

I originally planned to swap some off, but after trying these, I don't think I will ;). I love them :). Oh, and the 'mini blush' name is misleading - since these are mineral loose pigment, you only need a little bit at a time, so they'll last for long ;D ^_^.

Everyday Minerals eye shadows in Tinsel Time and Bubble Tea, eye liner in Gingerbread Man, and sample size eye shadows in Wild Flowers, Baby Bath, Well Being, Oasis, Birdhouse, Shopping Spree, Pressed Olive and Cypress. The full size eye shadows are the same size as the mini blushes above ;).

My pigeon inspired smokey look features Well Being ;D :).

Everyday Minerals Lip Scrub & Silk Naturals Date Bait Perfection Powder and Sleep In A Jar Under Eye Concealer.

I love the way the Silk Naturals stuff feels, but unfortunately it's just too coloured for my pale skin :(. I gave Date Bait to my sister ;), and while Sleep In A Jar makes my under eye area look jaundiced, it works well as lid concealer (think Benefit Lemon Aid, but in powder form) ;D.

Dior Detective Chic palettes ^_^!!! I got the eye shadow & highlighter (Pearl Reflection) palettes, and I now have 3 Dior clutch palettes total :D :) ^_^.

Great classic neutral colours ;).

I'll probably use these as eye shadows too XD.

[Wearing NYC Kool Blue on nails ;).]

And...

Hey, I didn't swap for these!!!

She gave me extras ^_^!!! Hello Kitty pins and a Wet & Wild I-Sparkle quad in Celestial Realm ^_^!!! Thank you ^_^!!!

Here's the pic of Parcel 3's lot ;).

The Wet & Wild liner came in Parcel 1 or 2 (I can't remember which), but I forgot to photograph it then so I added it to this pic ;D.

Pictured: NYX trios in Spring Leaf/Lime Green/Green Tea and Aquamarine, and NYX round eye shadow (I suppose this has been depotted from somewhere) in Lakemoss (far right). There's also a MAC ribbon ^_^, a primer sample, and a Wet & Wild lip liner in 666 Brandywine. That was a wishlist item of mine :D, and a replacement for the Wet & Wild tinted moisturiser we agreed on, because she'd discovered it had gone bad ;).

And some more extra stuff - ads ^_^!!! If you're swapping with me and have any you don't need...Take note ;). I love them :).

That was a MAC promo card that I gave to my sister 'cause she's a Fergie fan, while I hate her >:-).

Lise Watier ^_^! Another Canadian brand ;). I like the look she's wearing there :D. And I like the look of this...

Colourless mineral foundation to match all skin tones? That's brilliant ^_^!!! Has anyone tried this ;D?

Gosh...Featuring 6 looks. This is my fave ;).

And Revlon :).

Sarah, thanks again for a truly perfect swap :D :) ^_^.