Big giveaway at Beauty Crazed!

In the words of someone much, much more elegant than I...

"Beauty Crazed has really lost their minds this time and is giving away over $500 worth of cosmetics! Treat yourself to a fabulous holiday present and enter now!"

Isn't that fantastic?? Here's an idea of what they're giving away...

- Chanel Rouge Coco in 05 Mademoiselle
- Pür Minerals Earthly Treasures and Heavenly Delights
- mark. on the dot Eye Color Compact & lip to be square Lip Tint
- LuMESH Lipgloss Magaly
- etc.

Check it out for a list of all prizes and enter to win it all! :)

Fusion Sweets: 8 Flavor Sampler

Hello all! I've got my first foodie review ever...here's presenting Fusion Sweets, a sample box of 8 different flavored caramels:



I first came across these on Phyrra's blog and what a fantastic recommendation. I clicked on her link, went to the Etsy store, and placed my first order. I got:



1. Star Anise, Saffron, Cardamom, Peach - tasted strongly of Star Anise, didn't get much peach. It was like licorice caramel.

2. Spiced Apple Cider - I come from Upstate NY and we make the best (biased) apple anything. I just had a cup of Spiced Apple Cider; this caramel tasted just like it! Except, you get to avoid burning your tongue and you don't need to warm it up to eat (or in the other case, drink) it.

3. Appleless Caramel Pie - Eeek. Tasted like buttery caramel.

4. Roasted Black Sesame - I LOVED IT. I love sesame anything so I was glad they pulled this flavor off so well. I already ate the entire piece, if that's any indication...

5. Pumpkin Pie - This was one of Phyrra's pick and I can totally understand why. There's lots of spices but not so much that one overpowers another. It's nicely balanced and it keeps the candy from getting too sweet. I know, strange that I could make that complaint about candy right? Well, that's why I'm not usually fond of sweets - they're TOO sweet. This was a really nice balance.

6. Maple Syrup - Omg, too sweet. It tasted like maple syrup so fans of that will love this caramel.

7. Taro - I think taro is one of the hardest flavors to pull off. Fusion Sweets did it. Not only did they do it but it's so well done that you cannot mistake it for anything else but taro. I LOVE taro so I loved this. I've been eyeing it ever since I took my last bit of the sesame caramel (like...2 seconds ago).

8. Matcha Green - Another wonderful flavor. I can taste the tea and not just any tea, matcha green tea. If you like green tea ice cream or just green tea anything, you will love this.



Aren't they the purties? So my picks are: Roasted Black Sesame, Taro, Pumpkin Pie, and Matcha Green Tea.

Let me preface by saying that one of the foods I hate the most are marshmallows. It's the texture that gets me. I love roasted marshmallows and I love those tiny, teensy ones you get in hot chocolate. Normal-sized marshmallows? Nothing makes my gag reflex react faster. Anyway, they gave me marshmallows as freebies so I figured, to hell with it, why not!? I got to try out four different types:

1. Chocolate Orange Cointreau - Yum. This is good freaking chocolate. I can even taste the orange in here! Great combination.

2. So Not Boring Vanilla Bean - Oh my...this is good. It's kind of nutty for some reason but it's nice.

3. Maple Syrup - Not as strong as the caramel so it made it pretty tasty. My roommate had a bite and she said it was pretty delish.

4. Zesty Orange Cream - Definitely get this if you love orange cream anything. Tasted just like the ice cream/sherbet. Yummers. :)

They got me to like marshmallows. The texture was nice - it was soft and melted in your mouth after a few minutes. Maybe it was because of the sizes or whatever but I actually enjoyed trying these out.

Have you tried anything from Fushion Sweets? If so, what are your thoughts? :)

Astoria Boulevard: The Chipmunk Song (I want a hula hoop!)

My classmate from school just posted this in Facebook. I love this song so I immediately listened to his and his group's rendition. I gotta say, it's fantastic. I've been listening to it non-stop now. Haha, I love good music.



There's also a free download available on their band camp page so go download! :)

Shiro Cosmetics: Kawaiishadow Collection Set Contest

Hello all! Lipsticks & Lightsabers is holding a contest for Shiro Cosmetics' new collection, Kawaiishadow!









I know there's a lot of coverage on these (much better than I can type up) so I'll keep this post short. Enter for your chance to win this beautiful, beautiful set!

Persephone Minerals: Sailor Moon Collection Swatches

Hey all! So sorry I haven't posted in a while - Thanksgiving was muy busy and when it wasn't, I was doing some serious vegging. I had a great vacation. I left Wednesday night (one of the busiest traveling days, second to Sunday, which is the day people return from Thanksgiving) and just cruised all the way back to the NE coast. For the first time in many years, my parents took off from work to celebrate with my brother and I. I mean, we don't normally celebrate Thanksgiving so I guess this was really just a reason for the four of us to veg together. :D

Not only that, my dad put together a hot pot dinner. He doesn't like doing it because it's not very filling for him but I *love* it. :D So happy! He even prepared a bunch of items (ie: ingredients, the pot <-- COME TO MAMA) so that I could do hot pot back here.

I miss those guys. :(

I'm currently trying to make it through all the food my dad prepared for me. The mean is a beast in the kitchen. I wish I had his mad skills.

ANYWAY. Onto the much-awaited Persephone Minerals Sailor Moon swatches!









She even sent me a sample of their new Rock 'N Roll Reindeers collection:



In addition, I got me some non-beauty items. From Tempting Tart, here is a sampler set of their awesome soy wax tarts. I've never used wax tarts before so I figured samples were the best way to go. Plus, it's SOY:





I actually got 17 tarts - they sent me a freebie, Warm Orange Gingerbread. Before taking a picture, I wanted to use one. So while I was packing (yes, I pack rather quickly; 1 hr tops is all that's needed), I lit the raspberry pomegranate one:



I was originally searching around for the store Painted blogged about once but I couldn't find the post again, nor could I remember what the store was. Then, a few days after I ordered from Tempting Tarts, she tweeted about them. I was all "YAY!" and got me ANOTHER set:





I don't think these guys are soy-based but nevertheless, they smelled awesome in the box. I guess the melting temperature must be really low because the wax is super soft. I will post a review of these babies once I've got through all the scents.

On Persephone Minerals...what are your favorite colors?

Mine are Moon Cosmic Power, Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss, and Moon Crystal Power. I experienced quite a bit of fall-out with the first three colors I swatched even though I used Pixie Epoxy. Eternal Sailor Moon has some serious glitter-age going on.

On Tempting Tarts and Country Home Scents, have you tried them before? What do you think about wax tarts? Are they better/worse than scented candles? Include anything else you can tell me.

Shipping was moderately quick for Tempting Tart. I ordered on 11/14 and received my package 11/24. Shipping for Country Home Scents was supah fast. I ordered 11/21 and received these on 11/26 - 11/27.