ShoeDazzle: April & May Purchases

I'm still on my shoe purchasing spree and no matter how much I don't really like platforms, they're so in this season and some of the styles are just too cute to pass up. Yes, I have issues with spending. :( Case in point: the amount of money I spent at Express yesterday.

Anyway, onto the shoes! I got these from ShoeDazzle.

For April, I purchased 2 pairs of Michael Antonio shoes and 1 pair of a ShoeDazzle original (I think...):





The nude shoes didn't fit as well as the blue ones did. In fact, it actually felt like it ran 1 size larger. I'm not quite sure how to address the inconsistency issues. :/



These were my fun pair. I've never had something that looked like this and I have a thing for straps so I had to get it. I think it'd look cute with a pair of skinny jeans. :)



I didn't think I was going to purchase anything for May - the selections weren't all that great. Then they came out with this LE and despite the platforms, I think the color is so gorgeous and unique.

Share with me some of you shoes for this season! I'd love to see what your likes are and it's a good way for me to see what I'm missing out on. :) Also, what do you think? Yay or nay?

Darling Girls: What Dreams May Come + Holo-Glosses

Hey all! So this is the last post of my most recent Darling Girls haul. I just placed a huge order last night for some samples from their general catalog in addition to the new dry oil sprays that they came out with. I'm super excited. :D

Anyway, moving on to the swatches!

First up, from the What Dreams May Come collection:





These were the freebies I received in my package:



And then the gorgeous, gorgeous holo-glosses:









I love the holo-glosses. I have a trouble with glosses/lipsticks drying my lips out so I don't wear them. However, these were not drying at all. The color goes on very sheer so it's best to wear over a color but I used them on their own and I thought they were great. :) I wish the container wasn't so difficult to screw the top on and off though.

Another fantastic purchase! I've loving Pennies from Heaven - it's SO pretty!

Have you guys tried any of these colors? The holo-glosses? What are your thoughts?

Darling Girls: Hello Kitty Collection

So far, I've posted swatches on two new collections by Darling Girl Cosmetics (see below). Here is the third and what I think is one of the cutest collection an indie company has come out with:













Again, some of the best formulations I've come across. All of these colors applied with a very smooth consistency despite the glitter/shimmer content in them. I love the colors.

Sugar Minuet has some gorgeous blue glitter action going on, Deery Lou is one of the more beautiful mauve shades I've come across, Purin looks like innocent fun, My Melody looks like it can become a daily favorite of mine, Chi Chai looks like the exact color of this one favorite dress of mine, Keroppi, Balletusa...gosh, more full-size must-haves to add to my to-buy list. :D

What are some of your favorites from this collection?

Darling Girls: All The Pretty Little Horses Collection

Hello! I can't believe Blogger was down for 2 days. I was starting to go through withdrawal. When it finally came back online, lots of great posts were made so I've been going through those. :)

Next up for swatching is the gorgeous collection full of neutrals and browns by Darling Girls named All the Pretty Little Horses. Oh gosh, my list for full-sizes has just gotten even longer!











Just like everything else I've received from DG, the formulation is buttery smooth. I loved how these shadows applied. There's also so many great colors you can choose from to use as a blending color, crease color, or just even day to day wear.

My absolute MUST HAVES are Dapple, Mustang, Unicorn and My Little Pony.

Unicorn had SO much sparkly action going on that I thought using this would be painful. Nope. The glitter is small enough to apply just as smooth as a not so sparkly shadow. I LOVE it. You should all check it out if you get the chance to.

What are your favorite colors from this collection?

Darling Girls: Spring Fling Collection

Alright, I have been a swatching fiend these last few days because I finally have some time to sit down and play with my Darling Girl haul and I already have a list of full-sizes MUST haves written down. I also just found out through her blog that another new collection will be debuting soon. Whaaaat? I can't wait! I can purchase my full-sizes then also. :D

The next few posts will be all about Darling Girl Cosmetics. I am loving this brand. Before I start raving, let me post the colors so you can see for yourself:











Quick run-down:

1. Shipping is quick as always. It was ridiculous how fast I got these considering Susan had just re-opened the store when I purchased and 4 new collections had debuted.

2. The girl has her formulations down pat. I love how smooth and buttery these shadows swipe on. There is no patching and even the ones with a lot of glitter go on smooth. Hello thur. I <3 you. (Patchy eye shadow is a big irk of mine.)

3. I love how soft the colors are. I can wear these for a night out and just as easily wear them into a conservative work environment.

I wish there were more collections! I want them ALL. Lol. Serious though, no joke, the formulations of the colors I have tried are amazing. With Meow, I love the variety but I always find some colors to be a bit patchy upon application. With DG, I have not had that issue.

From this collection, I have so many favorites! Plum Blossoms, Garden of Weedin', Butterfly Flutterby, Mango Tango...gosh, they're all so pretty!

Have you tried DG Cosmetics yet? If so, what are your favorites?

MAC Cosmetics Swatches & Review

I know a lot of you have reservations against MAC for many, many good reasons. It was actually one of the many reasons I stopped purchasing MAC products for a good ten years. I was never big into this company anyway; it was super expensive for a tween and that was the age when I bought my first item. I actually STILL have the items I purchased back then and use it from time to time. =X

In any case, I was browsing a few blogs one day and it seemed that the "Rose" pigment was being featured in every look. I love anything that's pink with a gold undertone so I went to the store to check it out. The ladies there were crabby but wasn't so offensive I could never go back. To tell you the truth, I did also help myself to one of their underside drawers - popped it open and grabbed my pigment. Nobody was helping me and I wanted to get in and get out. There was a lot of annoying people in there that day. o_O This was in the MAC store at the Tyson's Corner mall in Virginia.

The second time I went back, I went to the Friendship Heights, DC store and I had a fabulous rep attending me named "Anna". She was so friendly and nice and she actually took the time to listen to my request. I gave her an outfit and she gave me a look. It wasn't over the top dark and dramatic but soft and natural, which I loved. I'm pretty easy to please so I basically bought most of the items she threw at me. This is how I ended up with 2 pigments and a DazzleGlass. I was only going in there for *maybe* one pigment. I would've never bought the DazzleGlass if I didn't think "oh, I really like this girl, might as well!" If you read my previous post on lip items, you'd get a sense for my aversion to lip products. It was after this experience when I purchased Darling Girl's holo-gloss and all those NYX lip products.

Anyway, there you have it. I had a pretty good time at the MAC store.

Moving onto the swatches!

















All pigments were swatched over MAC Paint Pot in "Soft Ochre". It's not as bright as PE would have made it look but I love the soft colors. You can see that in levels of chunkiness, it would rate with Rose being the chunkiest, then Tan, then Vanilla. Vanilla is quite fine and in Anna's words, the absolute most perfect highlighter. I love all three colors.

I know a lot of people don't like the tackiness of MAC's DazzleGlass but I LOVE how sticky it is. I know it's going to stay on and won't have to apply as often. Also, it won't bleed past my lip because it sticks so well.

What do you think? What MAC products have you tried and loved? Any pigments or glosses you'd like to recommend?

NYX Cosmetics: Lip Lacquer Pots Review & Swatches

Hi y'all! I'm going to try posting as many swatches as I can with as much variety as I can while I have the time to do so. I'm going to be entering another busy 2-3 weeks in addition to more grad school applications. Therefore, you'll be seeing a lot of things from me in the next few days (hopefully). I've been practicing with my camera and I think I may have figured out a way to take decent pictures of my lips - yay!

Let me just preface by saying that I hate wearing things on my lips. I chew on them more than the average person does and most of the time, lip products dry them out so much which just makes me chew on them even more. It was after I tried a MAC product that I realized there was a new world to be explored. Yeah, I'm behind on the times. Haha.

HauteLook had an awesome NYX sale a couple of weeks ago. I snatched up an 11-piece set of their lip lacquer pots and a 13-piece set of their diamond sparkle lip gloss. The lip lacquer pots retail for $6 each and I paid $33 for the set. That comes out to $3 per pot.

According to NYX:

Drench your lips in this high-shine, high-impact lip lacquer in a portable pot. Whether applied over lipstick or worn solo, the results are always ultra-luminous.

Here is a picture of my normal lips:



Now onto the swatches!









Background: I don't usually wear lip products because I like to chew on my lips, smack them together and bite them. It's a hot mess. When I eat, I don't dab at my lips, I dig into my lips and wipe. I'm rather...'indelicate' (is that the right word?) that way. In any case, it never lasts long and I get too lazy to have to continuously re-apply. But I do like using them even if they last for a short while. The problem is, most glosses and lipsticks usually dry my lips out if I don't prep them with some lip balm so I have to be careful about what I pick up.

Formula: I used some lip balm before putting on the lip lacquer. The color pigmentation isn't as great as I thought it would be so a bit of layering is required. It's not as tacky as I thought a product with the word 'lacquer' in it would be. It's stickier than normal gloss would be though. If you just do a single swipe, it goes on pretty sheer. This is great for people who want a touch of color but a lot of shine. If you want it to be opaque on your lips, you may need to layer. It's not too drying - yes, I can usually tell even through lip balm - and there's no scent or flavor to them. This is a plus for those of you who have an aversion to flavored lippies.

Pricing: I would not fork out $6 for this item but $3 is fine with me. Like I said, I don't usually like wearing lippies so I'm not too keen about paying over $5 for cheaper end items. That being said, I think people who love lip products should at least try this out. It's great for daytime wear which is fantastic for me. I can just swipe it on and be off, no worrying about whether or not the color is okay for the occasion.

Use: You definitely need a lip brush. The jars go in a bit deeper than usual so you have to reach in with your finger. This may result in product under the nails which I know is a big no-no for some of you.

Overall: I really liked this product but I wished the product had more pigment in them. I also wished the formula was thicker but c'est la vie. At $3 a pot, I ain't complaining. NYX didn't do too bad of a job. Kudos! Like I said, I would not pay $6 a pot - I am stingy that way but I definitely do not regret this purchase. I LOVE the colors!

Please note that I will continue doing more swatches of this product! I just didn't want to rub my lips raw while taking the product off each time so I thought I'd do them in parts.

What do you think? Have you tried this product yet?

Meow Cosmetics: Wild Child Collection Swatches

Hello all! Happy, happy weekend! I did not realize the last two weeks were going to be so crazy. I mean, it was month-end but I honestly did not think it would be quite that bad. I am terribly happy it is the weekend now and knew that I had to post something to show that I am alive.

I'm not sure why these swatches turned out not so great. :/ I may redo them in the future. For now, here is a reference point for Meow's Wild Child collection of eye shadows and blushes!























I love how bright this collection is. However, the blushes really aren't my thing. I tend to like just a little bit of shimmer on my cheek. Otherwise, I look like something from outer space and not the pretty kind like Katy Perry in E.T.

Favorite colors are: OMG, My Bad, TTYL, Sexy Time, ROFLMAO, Flixting, GMTA, LOL

I actually did a couple of swatches from this collection in my past. If you dig way, way back, you'll find the crappy pictures I did, haha. I think this time around, the picture quality is a bit better. :)

What are your favorite colors? Anything from this collection that you wear daily?