Friday, November 11, 2011

Blogger Love! Nouveau Cheap

If you don't know Blogger Love! is a series here on Hebridean Sprite Beauty that features some of my favourite bloggers that feature nail polish, skin care and cosmetics. Today's is G from Nouveau Cheap who only features items under $20 and is the drugstore and coupon Queen! She's also really friendly and approachable which I think in a big time blogger (she's very popular!) is a really great virtue to have.

1) Are you more of a Morning, Day, or Night time person?
Definitely a night owl. 

2) Something you struggle with on a day to day basis?
Responding to email. There is never enough time in the day, unfortunately.

3) Favourite Animal?
Elephant.

4) Favourite Colour?
Very pale pink.

5) Preferred foundation coverage and finish ex. Heavy coverage, matte
Full coverage.

6) How old are you?
40.

7) First makeup brand that really got you interested in cosmetics?
It was the L'Oreal Shadow Riche eyeshadows from the 80s. Once I tried those, I was hooked.

8) Do you have any makeup, nail polish or skin care items that are perfect for you? (HG items) If so which- include shade names please.
Maybelline Define-A-Brow eyebrow pencil in Dark Blonde is the PERFECT match for my brows. I have tried a zillion others but always come back to it. (G has just posted a full set of her HG items! You can check out them all and her reviews here!)

9) What is your favourite food? Drink?
Food: Nothing compares to homemade baked macaroni and cheese.
Drink: The Good Earth Peach Black Tea. I could drink a gallon a day.

10) Favourite Gem Stone?
I'm not really a jewelry person but I love opals.

11) Do you have any pets in your life? If yes, what are their names (and can we have pictures?)
Sadly, I do not. But I used to have a boxer named JD. :)

12) One place you’ve never been that you want to visit?
I cannot believe I've still never been to NYC. That's at the top of my list.

13) What inspired you to start your blog?
I used to work in an office where I was kind of the go-to person for all things beauty-related. One day one of my colleagues urged me to start a blog, so I eventually did it!

14) What are some of the most useful things you’ve learned about since you started blogging?
If you work hard, you're passionate and you write from the heart, the rest will fall into place. 

15) Favourite Season?
Winter.

16) What do you use to take your blog photos? What type of computer?
I have two cameras and neither of them is fancy. One is quite old but excellent for close-ups, while the other is newer but under $100 and I use it for outdoor shots. I have a very standard PC--nothing fancy there either.

17) What genre of movies/books do you like?
I'm all over the place when it comes to books. I just finished re-reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and then I read Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. I love fiction and nonfiction equally, but there are some genres that just don't appeal to me such as romance and chick-lit. I like difficult books that force me to think critically. If I want fluff, I'd rather turn on the TV!

18) Other hobbies or events that you’re involved in?
Blogging is my number one hobby, but I love to cook and bake (I'm a better cook than baker) and I love arts and crafts. I was really into jewelry making a while ago and I'm kind of doing that again in my free time.

19) Most unique eyeshadow you own?
Probably my original Urban Decay eyeshadow single in Road Stripe. I bought it when Urban Decay first came out in the early 90s (when the packaging was made of metal) and it's been long-since discontinued.

20) Most unique lip product?
I have a few MAC lipsticks that are quite old and were discontinued many years ago. They're pretty unique.

21) Favourite colour combinations?
I'm an earth-tone gal. I love soft, well-blended looks with lots of browns, taupes, golds, bronzes and olives.

22) Favourite piece of jewelry? Why is it your favourite?
All of the women on my mom's side of the family wear the same bracelet on their left wrist. As soon as you're old enough to wear a bracelet you get one from your mother and when you outgrow it, you get a larger one. We literally never take them off, so that's my favorite piece of jewelry ever.

23) Best drugstore product you’ve tried?
I can't possibly answer that, given the theme of my blog! 

24) Random fact you'd like to share about yourself?
I hate tomatoes in sandwiches, yet I love them in salads.

25) Favourite Nail Polish Brand and why?
Oh wow..I don't think I can narrow that down! But some of my favorites are China Glaze, Sally Hansen, Wet n Wild and Maybelline.

26) Most unique polish you own, why?
It's actually not too unique but it's one of those coveted flakies: Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

27) Favourite polish colour to wear?
A year ago I would have said taupe/greige/mushroom, but I'm afraid I've burned myself out on those lately. So I'll go with a nice olive green shimmer.

28) What are the best top coat, base coat, treatments you’ve tried for your nails?
I really love the Essie quick-dry top coat for when I have zero time to wait for my nails to dry, but I also LOVE the new Milani top and base coats. They work beautifully together and really extend the life of my manis.

29) What is your favourite finish of polish? (ie. Cream, holographic, matte, etc.)
I'm a sucker for a beautiful creme, but I also love holos of course.



I want to thank G so much for taking the time to do this! If you've got the time you should definitely check out her blog- she's my drugstore go to girl for sure!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hi-Fi Cosmetics Evil from Beyond Collection~ Swatches & Review

The Haul!
Hi-Fi cosmetics is an indie brand that has been on my radar for a while now, but I never got the real urge to actually take the plunge. Well that's over now as I bought the sample set of Hi-Fi's Evil From Beyond halloween collection. I also purchased a full-size version of 2 other eyeshadow shades from their core colours and a lip gloss that is also a part of the Evil From beyond collection.

Before the swatches I'm just going to talk a bit about my experience with the company. Though turn around time was a little slow, everything came packaged securely and safely. Plus, they were great with the discounts and communicate easily and well with their costumers. Their facebook page is very active, which to me is a huge plus, as I can read other peoples comments and how well the company responds to various issues. 

Now onto the eyeshadows! I found the lighter shades needed slightly under-pigmented, but the shadows are buildable so it wasn't too much of an issue. Plus I'm sure using some PE would help. All the shades are complex and have depth which is something I really appreciate about indie companies. They make it so there is never flat boring colours. I also love the names for the colours, I think they're really good, Vampire Club, Demon in Your Bed and Devil Tips his Hat being some of my favourites!
Top to Bottom: Devil Tips His Hat gloss layered, DTHH gloss sheered out, Bela Lugosi, Sepulchre,  Miss Fortune, Vampire Club, Straight to the Devil

Devil Tips His Hat gloss- click bigger to see the red sparkles!
Top to bottom: Devil Tips His Hat gloss, Bela Lugosi, Sepulchre, Miss Fortune
Top to bottom: Sepulchre, Miss Fortune, Vampire Club, Straight to the Devil
Dimmer light (to show colour change)- Bela Lugosi, Sepulchre, Miss Fortune
Top to bottom: Hell Hath No Fury, A Vampire Scorned, Book of Lore, Damned Soul, Demon In Your Bed
Top-Bottom: Hell Hath No Fury, A Vampire Scorned
T-B: Book of Lore, Damned Soul
Demon In Your Bed
Bela Lugosi is the palest of the shadows a sort of off-white peach/pink with lots of shimmer in it. I found that it was spectacularly sparkly when swatched on my arm, but not so much on my eyes. It also lacks pigmentation a bit as I had to build it up but it is a nice shade.
Sepulchre is a fairly standard silver shade. It has decent pigmentation and isn't too metallic. In some lights it can look grey.
Miss Fortune is at first glance just another gold, but it isn't! From the swatch pictures above you can see it has warmth to it, at times looking brownish and burnished without ever being red. Decently pigmented.
Vampire Club is a lovely muted mid-tone purple shade with reddened-purple and blue-purple shimmer to it. Swatched you can see more of this but on the lid it doesn't really show up. Not as pigmented as I would like either but a nice colour.
Straight To The Devil is an emerald green shade with lighter green shimmer throughout. Pretty and decently pigmented but not too unique.
Hell Hath No Fury, this shade really changes hue depending on what lighting you're in. Sometimes its red-orange, sometimes brown-orange, and sometimes pumpkin orange. Throughout it has a bunch of gold sparkles which makes for a unique shade, I haven't even seen anything like it. Decently pigmented.
A Vampire Scorned the name of this one makes me laugh especially when you associate it with the colour. Metallic blood red (Scorning Vampires isn't a good idea obviously). It has a strong brown undertone to it so it truly does resemble the real colour of blood. Only metallic. Good pigmentation.
Book of Lore took me by surprise. I honestly didn't think I was going to like this one all that much but it ended up being one of my favourites from the set. Book of Lore is a murky complex olive green with insane lighter green shimmer. This one is really awesome and transforms from meh in the bag to O_O when swatched. Good pigmentation.
Damned Soul this one has to be my biggest disappointment. I liked the swatch on the website way better than the shadow that I got. Basically this is a matte black with some silver glitter. I found it slightly difficult to swatch too. Which is a shame because in the bag you can see all this dark green sparkle and it just doesn't show up.
Demon In Your Bed Hehe, this name makes me giggle too! This is my favourite shade from the collection, a complex super sparkly gunmetal. Instant smokey eye material right here!

Now the gloss Devil Tips His Hat is awesome! Very similar in formula to my HG glosses the Venomous Cosmetics Lip Poisons, this is a Spotlight Lip glaze. It's moisturizing, long wearing and non-sticky. Just awesome. Plus the colour is super striking! It is a charcoal black with almost some silver metallic hints and red glitter. The red glitter doesn't really show up on but I love it! Completely freaked some people out today by wearing it and smiling at them. People really don't expect goth lips to smile, hehe. If you like your black lips I highly recommend this gloss for you. Plus you get a TON, I don't think I'll ever run out with how big the tube is!

Overall, I think I found some gems in this collection. There were a couple duds but I'm happy I decided to order from Hi-Fi and am looking forward to trying more of their products, especially their spotlight lip glazes.

Sprite Rating: Eyeshadows 7/10, Spotlight Lip Glaze 9.5/10

Would I buy this again? There are certain shades I would buy again, Book of Lore, Demon In Your Bed, Hell Hath No Fury in particular, some of the others though I wasn't impressed enough to purchase once my sample is used. I do love the Devil Tips His Hat Spotlight Lip Glaze though and would like to try more of those.

Sephora VIB 20% off Event

Sephora has been a bit weird lately, but this time at least Canadians can at least use their 20% off in store. You should be getting an e-mail but if you don't and you're in the US there will be an online code, or if you contact Sephora they'll send you your e-mail so you can print off the barcode.
The 20% off event goes from November 10th (that's tomorrow) to November 14th midnight. If you to a physical store you have a chance of getting a tote bag free too.
Things I'm getting are:
  • More Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer
  • Bettsy Johnson Perfume (for my sister for Christmas)
  • Too Face Poison Orchid eyeshadow (maybe)
I'm trying to keep my spending down this month as I know that the x-mas season is going to hurt the budget! I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately everyone, I've hit kind of a slump and midterms have just finished for me. Hopefully motivation will return soon!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

2 Nars Duos for just $10 each!

Sephora has a great deal on at the moment! Just like last year they've got 2 Nars eyeshadow duos ($33 USA dollars each normally) for only $10 USD. Last year I bought the two colours they've got up and they are a really good deal for well pigmented shadows.
Bysance

Island Fever
This year the two shades are Bysance a shimmering marigold, and a iridescent iris (gold and medium purple) and Island Fever a pacific blue shimmer and a dove grey shimmer.

The deal is limited edition, so I hope you can still get it while supplies last! You can check it out here.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Cult Nails Winter Pre-Sale- This Weekend Only!


THE SUPER POWERS COLLECTION

Power Thief (right) is a milk chocolate brown with a spark of powerful shimmer

Time Traveler (below left) is a royal navy blue jelly that dries to that perfect Cult Nails shine

Mind Control is a slate gray polish with a perfectly complementary magenta fleck

Clairvoyant (left) well... honestly... need we say more  
Cult Nails
http://shop.cultnails.com
Get all 4 colors for $30
plus shipping and handling
 
www.cultnails.com

Twitter: @CultNails

facebook.com/cultnailslacquer 



The pre-sale event will start 11/4/2011 and go through 11/11/2011
The collection sells for $30 (USD) during the pre-sale event only.  That is 25% off the regular price!  The pre-sale event will only include the entire collection.  Individual colors from will collection will release after the pre-sale event.