Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner in Black ❤ Review and Photos!

Good black eyeliner is my kryptonite. Ever since middle school, it's basically been the one staple in my makeup collection that I feel I have to be snooty about. For the longest time, my "makeup" was just black eyeliner, and so I went through a lot of trial and error in finding good ones. My eyeliner of choice was the Zero 24-7 pencil liner from Urban Decay for many years, and when Perversion (from the same line) came out, claiming to be the "blackest black," I knew I had to get it. Buuuut, like most good things, people snatched it up before I got the chance to buy it. Eventually I got my hands on a mini version, but it went by far too quickly.
So, when I heard about the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal pencil liner being a dupe for Perversion at a quarter of the price, I began the hunt anew. Getting this eyeliner was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, if the hay was empty displays and red "sold out" text on websites. So when I spotted a Rimmel display at my local Wegman's (of ALL places!) I got super excited, snatched the last black one, and told my boyfriend that he couldn't possibly understand why I was so excited (he didn't understand, but you know.)

Click the "read more" link for the rest of the pictures, swatches, and review!

Wet N' Wild's Just Peachy / 903C ❤ Swatches, Review

This past week, Rite Aid hosted a 40% off sale of Wet and Wild and a few other brands. I figured this was as good a time as any to pick up a few more Wet and Wild lipsticks, since the first two I reviewed had become staples in my collection.

I actually picked up three - one I bought for a friend, and a second I ended up giving  to a friend after we went back and discovered I had taken the last of that exact shade, so that's why this review is only covering one lipstick. 

I'm going to tell you guys straight up - this color doesn't look very good on me. I bought it in hopes of trying to find a more nude-ish color for myself, but I should have paid more attention to the actual name of the lipstick.

Full review and more pictures after the jump!

NOTW ❤ China Glaze's Japanese Koi (Neon)

IT'S GONE. FINALLY, I HAVE BEEN FREED.

For weeks, my nails of the week have been plagued by similar colors. I couldn't escape the beautiful green-blues, until finally something stopped me in my tracks: Valentine's Day. While I didn't post the nails that I did for VDay specifically, it finally forced me to choose a different color, and that has finally freed me.

This week, I found myself craving something bright and bold on my nails, after weeks of so many muted colors. Maybe I'm finally getting tired of winter, but I think it may be all of the spring and summer trends starting to appear, which of course means bright neon colors.

I wanted to go for a neon green, but I seem to be lacking one in my collection, which means I'll be on the hunt for one for the next few months. I settled instead of China Glaze's Japanese Koi, a bright, traffic cone orange that even my camera had trouble picking up.

This polish is not messing around. I don't usually wear any kind of yellow or orange since they tend to wash me out, but I make an exception for this color. It's literally so bright that it would wash pretty much anyone out, so I don't have to worry.

The only downside of this color is that it is somewhat sheer - after three coats, my nail line is still visible, which you can see in the non-flash pictures.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to capture this color in the sun, but take my word that the picture above doesn't do it justice, though it's not as blinding as the flash picture. 

Because this polish is on the sheerer side, the plus side is that each layer dries very quickly in between coats, so you could pile on more layers pretty easily. 

What do you have on your nails this week? Are you starting to miss the bright colors of spring and summer like I am, or are you content to stay with your winter favorites?

Working with Red Eye Shadow ❤ A Valentine's Inspired Look

One of my first high-end eye shadows ever was MAC's Cranberry. I've long since lost it, but I remember always looking at it and wondering how I could use it (since it was actually given to me, I didn't pick it out.)

Red eye shadow is intimidating, and understandably so - red eyes aren't normally positive indicators, and red around your eyes isn't either. But red eye shadows do exist, so obviously, there's ways to wear them.

So, I took the opportunity to use red in a Valentine's-inspired look, pairing it with a red lip as well.

I'm happy with how it turned out, though I do want to invest in a new blending brush at some point, since one of mine has started to irritate my eyes in recent weeks. But I digress. 

Products Used:

Two Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk

Makeup Forever Eyeshadow in 

Coastal Scents Metal Mania Eyeshadow Palette (The shimmery cranberry color)

Urban Decay Darkhorse Eye Shadow

Urban Decay Blackout Eye Shadow

Urban Decay Virgin Eye Shadow

Mally Pencil Liner in 

Skiin Concealer in Light

Maybelline's the Falsies Flared

Benefit High Beam

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

MAC Russian Red Lipstick

Girl's Day In!

Ever since my  first post where I did my beyoooootiful friend Sharon's makeup, I've been wanting to have another go at someone's face. Luckily, I have two lovely friends who happened to be around and volunteered to be made-up, so I went for it. 

Sydney, my friend pictured below, has gigantic eyes. I mean really. Just look at the size of them.

Needless to say, I was a bit intimidated. But, I ventured on, determined to do a good job. She had on her Revlon BB cream and some concealer to start.

I generally use Sydney as my bright-color muse, since I normally go for such neutral looks on myself. She's no stranger to color, especially with her own makeup, so it seemed like a good fit. I used a mix of NYX, Urban Decay, and Sephora on her eyes, running into a bit of a rut when I tried to use a purple shade that refused to be anything but muddy and uncooperative on her. Apparently this is an issue she's run into herself, but I managed to make it work, adding a bit of a bright pink from Urban Decay into the mix and creating a super-obnoxious peacock-esque look.

Love & Beauty by Forever 21's Seafoam Nail Polish ❤ Swatches, Pictures, and Review!

You will groan at me. I'll be honest - I'm groaning at myself.

I seem to be stuck in a nail polish color rut. I sort of got myself out of it for a week or so, but now I've fallen back into it. The deep, dark pitfall of dusty green-blue colors.

I know. My past two NOTW's have been two entirely different shades of green-blue colors, but nevertheless: I present to you a brand-spankin'-new green-blue color, appropriately named Seafoam. Seafoam is a dusty, muted teal. Its coloring almost reminds me of denim in certain lighting  but in more yellow-y lighting, it definitely comes off a bit greener. If I had to succinctly summarize it, it would be: dusty teal-grey. From a distance, it almost does look entirely grey.

This is another Love & Beauty nail polish from Forever 21, because I seem to be unable to resist them as I move through the checkout line, their cute little glass bottles twinkling at me from the corner of my eye, seeming to call out to me, saying, Valerie, look at us! It's not like you have a million other nail polishes at home! I need to escape this place! Look, I'm a creme finish! You LOVE creme finishes!

And so, here we are. I'm glad that they at least have a good wear time and color payoff, otherwise I would be a lot more annoyed about buying them as frequently as I do (plus their $2.80 price tag isn't terribly offensive either.) Seafoam was a tiny bit on the sheer side, but it's definitely buildable. I used OPI's Natural Nail Base Coat, three coats of Seafoam, and two layers of Seche Vite.

OCC Lip Tars in Anime, Black Dahlia, and Lydia ❤ Swatches, Reviews and Photos!

For the longest time, OCC Lip Tars were like a distant, far-off love. I enviously stared at swatches on websites, watched videos of people wearing and using them, and sighed, resigning myself to the fact that they would one day be mine.

One day came much sooner than I was expecting when I got two Lip Tars as Christmas presents! I was ecstatic then, but when I realized that Sephora sold Lip Tars online as well I got a third one in the shade I had drooled over the most, Black Dahlia.

(Just a warning - this post is very picture-heavy!)