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One Week Naked: Day 3

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Hello everyone! This post is up later than I’d like, and also features some atrocious photography, lol. I was playing with the colors on my camera and couldn’t really correct it well, and I didn’t get to take more photos because this was taken around 1:30 am, after a Phoenix concert (!!!), about 10 hours after initial application. This, I hope, explains the glistening~ skin, too.

OW Naked - 3 - Face

So now, it is the third day of my Urban Decay Naked challenge and I am, frankly, pretty bored. I ended up using a colored base (OCC’s Crème Colour Concentrate in Newt) and just a few colors in the palette.

Oh, my base: y.e.t. Cosmetics Fill It Up Primer under the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Punjab. I used the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger, too. I set my face with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light, which did not get the job done because it is not a setting powder, lol. And then I spritzed my face with the Urban Decay All-Nighter Spray.

For blush, I have NARS Sin, and for lips, I have on the Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie in Crushing on You.

OW - Naked - 3 - Eyes 2

Now for the palette part. I put on OCC Newt all over my mobile lid and diffused everything with Buck from the Naked palette. Over top of Newt, I patted on Sidecar and was promptly reminded why I never use that shade. Extreme Fallout, 911! On the outer corners, I used a bit of Toasted.

OW Naked - 3 - Eyes 1

I used the Happy Skin Liquid Liner and Maybelline The HyperCurl Mascara—both of which held up stupendously and didn’t smudge. My curl didn’t hold, though. Look at how poorly the NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base works for me. Lots of people swear by this, but I am not one of those people.

Anyway, that’s that! Apologies for the bad photos. I hope I can recreate this look one of these days. 🙂

Urban Decay is cruelty-free.

One Week Naked: Day 2

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UD Naked - 2 - Face

Day 2 of my Urban Decay Naked Challenge! This time, I went in for the gold! And the dark brown. This was taken a few hours after application—after lunch and a few errands.

Face base is NARS Sheer Glow in Punjab over Rouge Bunny Rouge Prelude in the Clouds Aqua Primer. Blush is Revlon Mineral Blush in Roseberry.

UD Naked - 2 - Eyes 2

I primed my eyes with I used MAC Paint Pot in Painterly and fluffed on Naked softly into the crease. I applied Half Baked all over the lid and darkened the outer corner and crease with Dark Horse. Using the same color, I lined about 2/3 of the way into the lower lash line. I curled my lashes but did not put on mascara.

UD Naked - 2 - Eyes

UD Naked - 2 - Face 2

On my lips, I have Happy Skin Shut Up & Kiss Me in Crushing on You. It’s weird, it’s a bit warmer than I remember it being, the few times I’ve used it prior to today. Anyway, that is absolutely my ultimate “I’m too tired to think of what to wear” lip color at the moment.

I like this one better than yesterday’s look. What about you?

Urban Decay is cruelty-free.

NARS 2014 Collections: The Carina’s Wallet Death Trap

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Ayayay. I slipped and stumbled into another NARS purchase. Actually, this collection for Spring 2014 did me in real good—I even ended up purchasing a few things from the permanent range. Oh, dear.

Let me show you what was responsible for my lapse in judgment.

NARS FINAL CUT COLLECTION FOR SPRING 2014
nars-final-cut-edge-of-pink-collection-spring-2014-1
(source)

OK, first up is the all-pink collection. Which, you would think, would deter me from purchasing anything. But noooooo. I am unstoppable and my decisions make no sense. There are four blushes, four satin lip pencils, and one illuminator. Can you guess which ones I ended up getting?

See the collection here.

NARS HIGH SEIZE COLLECTION FOR SPRING 2014
spring2014_nars001
(source)

GUH. This is a beautiful collection, but I bought only two items. Can you guess which? (I bet you can.) See the entire collection here. There are two eyeshadow duos, two nail polishes, two eyeliners, one satin lip pencil, two glosses, and one multiple. Here, have another photo:

Nars-Spring-2014-Colour-Collection-Swatches
(source)

GUH. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re releasing a 15-pan palette. YES.

NARS SPRING 2014 GIFTING
spring2014_narsgifting001
(source)

I mean, come on world. You’re killing me (softly~). The NARSissist was available on Nordstrom by mistake, and I tried buying it on the NARS website, where it’s up, but I don’t have a US/Canadian credit card. Just as well, because I shouldn’t be buying this anyway. But… lookit. It’s so pretty. And compact. And complete! Unfortunately (or I guess, fortunately?) for me, this seems to be a dud. But now I want that Mekong single.

I’m so not interested in the cheek palette, even though it comes with a cute brush.

Also, for Spring 2014, check out this post on Spektra. (Seriously, click it. I’ll give you a clue re: what it’s about: MATTE MULTIPLES.) Swatches here and here. These are launching in March. I AM SO THERE.

So that is the story of my demise. Glad to have you here.

Post is affiliate link-free. NARS is cruelty-free, but is owned by Shiseido.

One Week Naked: Day 1

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Urban Decay Naked - Palette

I’ve been thinking about this series for a while, but it was Romzs‘ post on the UD Naked 1 that I finally decided to do it: a week of looks from the Naked Palette. I bought this quite a while back, but unlike most beauty nuts, this was not a love affair. I gave it a great review, but I didn’t really use it a lot because I jumped right into the arms of the rest of the shit I’ve been hoarding buying.

I’m doing this week-long series on looks using the Naked Palette since I haven’t played with it so much, and I want to truly see what the fuss is about. So, welcome, and this is the first look!

See Sheer

OW Naked - 1 - Eyes

I used the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk as a base. On the inner two thirds of the lid, I have Sin. I have Toasted on the outer third of the lid and on the inner third of the lower lash line. I darkened up the outer corner with Creep and used it on the outer two-thirds of the lash line as well.

I lined my lower waterline with the Rimmel ScandalEyes Kohl in Black.

OW Naked - 1 - Eyes2

I lined my upper lash line with the liquid eyeliner by Happy Skin. I used Majolica Majorca Lash King mascara, which I am about to throw away since I finally have deemed it too disgusting for use again.

OW Naked - 1 - Face

Blush is Oslo Cosmetics’ Carina (yes!) and lipstick is MAC’s See Sheer. For my base, I just used NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Punjab and the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger.

So that’s my first look! A boring daytime smokey eye like I always make… The thing is that when I use the UD Naked, I feel like the colors are so close and similar to each other that the final looks end up looking quite the same. Hmm. This is going to be more challenging than I thought.

Are you a fan of the original Urban Decay Naked palette? What’s your favorite combination?

Urban Decay is cruelty-free but is owned by L’Oreal, who tests on animals. Rimmel, Majolica Majorca, and MAC are not cruelty-free.

A Couple of MAC Randoms: Stormy Pink Pro Longwear Paint Pot & See Sheer Lipstick

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MAC Randoms

I don’t really buy MAC products anymore, but I get gifted with them once in a while. Here’s a paint pot I got from a Christmas gift exchange with my cousins and a lipstick I got from Sarie, who shot an event for MAC and was given store credit.

MAC Paint Pots have quite possibly my favorite cream eyeshadow formula, by a mile. They’re long-lasting on my oily lids (so much so that I don’t need a primer, which is pretty unheard of) and come in a great variety of mostly neutral shades that are easy to wear alone or layer under powder eyeshadows.

MAC - Stormy Pink - Swatch

I’ve worn Stormy Pink a couple of times, and I love it a lot. It’s actually more purple thank pink, but it’s pretty grey-toned (get it? Stormy?) and is a creamy matte. It’s one of my favorite things to wear these days. Here are a few looks that I’ve already posted here:

FOTD - Chestnuts Eyes

FOTD: Mauvelous Chestnuts – Stormy Pink all over the lids topped with bareMinerals Ginger Sugar, Velvet Mauve, and Toasted Espresso.

FOTD - Eyes

FOTD: Eye of Newt & the Storm – Stormy Pink on the outer corner.

FOTD - 1

Predictably, a hit for me. I absolutely love MAC Paint Pots, I have five other shades you can see here. I wish they’d go back to being cruelty-free, if only for these beauties.

MAC See Sheer - Swatch

Up next is the lipstick in See Sheer. It’s a MAC lustre finish, though I find it quite thicker than the other lustres I have and more on par with the satin lipsticks. It’s a beautiful sheer color that you can build up to a pretty true opacity.

See Sheer

It wears off beautifully and naturally, though it can sink into the lip lines if your lips are too dry. See Sheer is not a color I see a lot of and I don’t know why because I absolutely love it, despite how warm it looks at first. I’m not too big a fan of warm-toned/orange lipsticks and I opt for pinkier corals, but this is definitely a shade I enjoy. I’ve worn this in a post before:

Hourglass Dim Light Face

Review: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette

In darker lighting, the color is more intense, and much warmer. Which is why I only want to wear this in places where there’s copious amounts of sunlight.

Anyway, both are great additions to my stash right now. All I have to say here is: MAC, please stop selling in China already!

Both items were gifted to me. MAC tests on animals when required by law.

Nosy Beauty Vol. 25: Paulina

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Today’s Nosy Beauty candidate (lol) is a pretty special one because she’s one of my favorite people! Meet Paulina. She was my college blockmate (as in, we majored in the same… major and took a lot of the same classes) and is one of the funniest, sincerely nice, and coolest people I know. This is us, freshman year, lol:

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Paulina’s now based in Singapore, working as a graphic designer and art director for a design studio, so I don’t see her that often anymore. This is her portfolio, and sometimes she posts on her blog here. In any case, here she is! Read More

What’s the Deal with Nail Polish?

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This is my nail polish collection, perhaps the only area in my dip to vanity that has remained untouched by my magpie tendencies to hoard and collect the shinies.°

The only reason why I even bought these (except for the tiny MaxFactor Glossfinity,* which was in a BDJ Box I received) was because I was looking for cruelty-free nail polish that was available here. Butter London and Scotch Naturals fit the bill. They are CF and don’t have a lot of bad chemicals and are available here through online resellers like AVA, which is where I bought these ones that I have.

I have Bossy Boots, a creamy pale green, and No More Waity Katie, a weird purple-grey with shimmer, from Butter London, and then Ceasefire, a kind of deep hunter green from Scotch Naturals.

As much as I like these, I only have three colors because they are crazy expensive and take too much trouble to put on. This is my nail routine:

1. Base Coat
2. Nail Polish

I usually accidentally smoosh or chip the polish before it dries thoroughly, though I should note that Butter London is actually amazing and dries super fast, which is why I love their formula. Add to that, their polish can withstand a lot of trauma before they start to chip. I didn’t have the same luck with Scotch Naturals, and MaxFactor was just a smoosh pile on top of my nails.

I recently bought a top coat so that I can actually keep on using my Scotch Naturals because I love the actual contents of the formula, which contains four general ingredients: water, acrylic polymer, Butoxy diglycol, and ‘non-toxic colorants’.

When I rave about Butter London, you have to understand that I hate almost all nail polish formulas, and that me actually saying I love Butter London means a lot.

Anyway, I meant for this to be a short post asking what’s a beauty product everyone is crazy about that you never really got into? Mine is definitely nails. And maybe hair.

° This is actually not true anymore. I placed an order for a few Butter London colors, since they’re having a massive sale (Seriously, go here now.) and this is the only formula that made me actually like nail polish.

* PR Sample. MaxFactor is not cruelty-free.

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