Quick New Years Day Look!

Happy New Year's everyone! This is a look I did for a party on New Year's Day that I was quite pleased with.

 I used
Face: 
Marcelle Ultra Thin Mattifying Fluid
Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer in Porcelain
MUFE Full Cover concealer in shade 1
Lost in Makeupland Oily Skin Finishing Powder
Lorac Oil-free illuminizer in pearl L1
Eyes:
Lise Watier Eye and Lip primer
Too Faced Glitter Glue
Darling Girl Cosmetics Rudolph eyeshadow
Darling Girl Cosmetics Blitzen eyeshadow
Blinc Tubing Mascara in Black
Lips:
Morgana Cryptoria Gel Lipstick in Persephone

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to 2012! :D

Too Faced Review~ Exotic Color Intense Eyeshadow in Poison Orchid

 For my birthday this year my mom got me Too Faced's Exotic Color Intense Shadow Single in Poison Orchid. I'd been eyeing this shade for a while as I had swatched it when they were first released and was amazed by the shimmer but as they are rather expensive at $18 USD a pop I never took the plunge. I'm so glad I received this though as Poison Orchid is incredibly unique and super sparkly.

I've left a whole slew of things at school as I was so sick non-essentials were abandoned and promptly forgotten. I was focusing on trying to breathe- then it turned out that I was much sicker than I thought and I've not made it back to school and so most of my blogging things are there. Thus, my swatches are only on Too Faced Shadow Insurance. 

This shade is amazing on but it does have quite a bit of fallout, so it really does need a sticky base like Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. 

Poison Orchid is a charcoal-purple base with violet shimmer throughout. It has a duochrome effect to it as well as you can see when you compare the two pictures below.

The packaging is adorable- flower shaped with a little window in the lid so you can see the shade inside. It's a hard black plastic that seems quite sturdy and is easy to open and close. However it picks up finger prints and powder like crazy.

On the eyes this creates a very easy purple smokey eye that requires no real work to achieve. It has good pigmentation and the shimmer/glitter bits don't have any discernible feeling to them unlike some glittery shades I own.

You can get this shadow from the Too Faced's website, from Sephora or any other Too Faced retailer.

This really does look better in real life but I think you can get an idea of the shade from the above shots. Poison Orchid is truly unique, I don't own anything similar at all (which is amazing as I own waaaay to many purple eyeshadows).

Overall, though I do think that these are priced too high I am really digging Poison Orchid. The colour is unique and sophisticated, perfect for a holiday party. I'll try and get an eyelid shot up of it soon.

Sprite Rating: 8/10- lost points due to fallout issues and high price.

Would I buy it again? Yes, I think the shade is unique and beautiful. Though I may want to get it during a sale to save my wallet a bit! (And don't forget to use ebates! Sephora is currently 8% cash back)

Too Faced 15% off Today!

Just a quick update for you all. Too Faced is having a sale today only for 15% off. The code is JETSETTER.

Click here to be taken to the site. :D Enjoy!

Too Faced Matte Eye Collection Swatches

I don't know about anyone else but I really like Too Faced eyeshadows, especially their matte shades. So when I saw they had brought out a matte shadow palette I was super excited! A fellow MUAer nikkohli had already purchased it from Sephora and was kind enough to let me show her swatches here for you all! Yay! So without further ado here you go. :D

T, L-R: Tuffed Suede, Chinchilla, Coffee Bean
M, L-R: Velveteen Bunny, Pebbles, London Fog
B, L-R: Fresh Linen, Vintage Violet, Midnight

T-B: Midnight, London Fog, Coffee Bean, Vintage Violet, Pebbles, Chinchilla, Fresh Linen, Velveteen Bunny, Tuffed Suede

T-B: Fresh Linen, Velveteen Bunny, Tuffed Suede

L-R: Chinchilla, Pebbles, Vintage Violet, Coffee Bean

L-R: Coffee Bean, London Fog, Midnight

Aren't they lovely?! nikkohli says that they aren't as chalky as some of the mattes she has used in the past, but that if you blend them too much they have a tendency to disappear. They are quite cool, but like nikkohli mentioned (and I agree with) there are many different combos that this palette can provide that are great for everyday. I especially love Vintage Violet and Pebbles, both are such lovely looking shades!

What about you are you a Too Faced or matte eyeshadow fan?

Too Faced Fall 2011

Too Faced has got a bunch of awesome releases for Fall 2011 and their Midnight in the Garden of Glamour collection. They've released another item too though which I'm just going to include as part of the collection. The new products are making me want to make a Too Faced purchase and the fact ebates is having double cash back at Sephora right now (8%) isn't helping! Anyways onto the products!


First up is the palette I'm most excited for, the Matte Eyeshadow Collection. I adore Too Faced's matte eyeshadows they are so pigmented and soft and I own about four of them. This palette is 9 matte shadows in lovely soft colours. There are three large and six smaller shades.

• Tufted Suede: a soft yellow based tan
• Velveteen Bunny: an off-white ivory
• Fresh Linen: a pale pink
• Chinchilla: a light to medium warm brown
• Coffee Bean: a dark neutral brown
• Pebbles: a medium cool grey
• London Fog: a navy
• Vintage Violet: a greyed violet mauve
• Midnight: a dark charcoal grey

All of the shades look really lovely, though some of the names seem a little off to me. Personally Pebbles and Chinchilla should switch names as should Midnight and London Fog; and Fresh Linen and Velveteen Bunny. Anyways, Pebbles really appeals to me as I've been on the look out for a matte light cool grey for a long time and have yet to find one that I like so I'm hopeful for this one. 

The only thing I don't like about this palette is that Velveteen Bunny and Coffee Bean are much like my Heaven and Teddy Bear matte eyeshadow duo from Too Faced that I already own, but under different names.

The palette cost $36 USD, or $45 CND.

Next up is a twist on the old favourite Lemon Drop Color Correcting Shadow Insurance, a yellow tinged eyeshadow primer. The slight yellow tinge is supposed to reduce the look of red discolouration on the eye lids that many of us have. I love the original clear version of Too Faced Shadow Insurance so this yellowed version intrigues me greatly. You can see my original TFSI review here.

Lemon Drop TFSI cost $18 USD or $24 CND, the same size and price as the original.

Next is a new mascara called Size Queen. Costing $21 USD/$28 CND for 0.5 oz the only shade available is Pitch Black. Infused with keratin, Vitamin C and Vitamin E, panthenol and red algae this mascara is supposed to give you length, volume and flexibility. 

Strangely, Too Faced has come out with a second Smokey Eye Shadow palette- only differing in name from the first by the fact the second has Collection, and an 'e' in Smokey; as well as a couple different shades. The same price and sizes as the matte shadow collection the smoky palette has 9 shadow colours as well.

• Firefly: A Silvery Taupe
• White Lie: Sugar White
• In A Flash: Silver shimmer
• Cloves: Bronzy Brown
• Nice Ash: Light Charcoal
• Smoking Jacket: Blackened Plum
• Up In Smoke: Blackened Brown
• Smokin Hot: Matte Black
• Smolder: Matte Navy

Personally most of these colours I either have already or just don't appeal. I felt this way with the first smoky palette too with in comparison had an ivory cream, a peachy taupe shimmer, a dark bronze, a peach-champagne shimmer, a blackened emerald green shimmer, a dark violet blue shimmer, a black, a silver shimmer, and a shimmery dark grey. I doubt you'd need both.

Too Faced has released a new line of single shadows as well named the Exotic Color Intense Shadow Singles. According to Sephora these are all satin finishes and are supposed to have "maximum color payoff". There are 12 shades in total.

• Cop A Teal- Peacock Teal
• Copper Penny- Bright Copper
• Enchanted Garden- Expresso Brown
• Firefly- Antique Gold Shimmer
• Frilly Lily- White Shimmer
• Magic Mushroom- Neutral Pink Shimmer
• Midnight Mist- Sapphire Blue
• Nice Stems!- Golden Green
• Night Nymph- Black Silver Shimmer
• Petals to the Metal- Metallic Brown-Blue
• Poison Orchid- Darkened Amythest
• Violet Femme- Lavender

I'm wondering how close Petals to the Metal is to their already existent shade Label Whore- or any of the other dupes out there, Mac Club, Urban Decay Lounge, etc. I would like to see some of these shades though, and I like the flower themed packaging and names. These cost $18 USD/$24 CND and have 0.06 oz of product. When comparing to their other singles though they cost $16 USD and had 0.08 oz of product which is disappointing. 

It's nice to see a smaller brush set available from Too Faced with this collection's launch. The Shadow Brushes Essential 3 piece set is just that, three eyeshadow brushes. Each brush is made from the synthetic fibre Too Faced likes to call Teddy Bear Hair. They all are supposed to be duo purpose as well with a liner/smudger (smallest) brush, a lid/smoker (medium height) brush and a crease/blender brush (tallest). They do all look nice and from previous experience I can say that Too Faced does have lovely soft, non-shedding  brushes. This set costs $39 USD.

Last but not least is the Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner. This is supposed to be a creamy long-wearing liner that sets for eight hour wear. It also comes with a slanted smudger on the end.

The pencils come in 0.04 oz and cost $18 USD/$24 CND. There are six colours.

• Perfect Black
• Perfect Black Orchid (Blackened Purple)
• Perfect Brown
• Perfect Peacock (Teal)
• Perfect Purple (Medium-Dark Purple)
• Perfect Storm (Charcoal Grey)

That's all for now! What do you like from Too Faced's new Fall Collection? (Yes, amazingly it's available now at Sephora and on the Too Faced website- just click any of the pictures).

Collective Summer Haul

Over the last little while I've bought quite a few things (to my bank accounts displeasure), but I thought you might enjoy seeing what I got.

Image from Swatch and Learn Blog

Though I haven't received it yet, I recently ordered a bottle of Nubar Reclaim over amazon. I can't wait to paint my nails in this shade! Holographic green!

Also in the mail hopefully to make its way to me soon (Stupid Canadian Postal Strike!!!!) is a huge order of pigment pressing pans and pressing medium from the Body Needs website. 

I also needed a new bottle of my cleanser from Murad (Clarifying Cleanser- my full review here) as I accidently left my half full bottle at my cottage. So I bought a new one at Sephora and also received a free sample of DDF's Advanced Eye Firming Concentrate which I gave to my mom.

I also bought 2 tubes of Jack Black's Lemon and Chamomile (SPF 25) lip balm- which is amazing! I have one and the other I gave to my grandmother who has a difficult time with her skin. She really likes it too! You can see my full review on this product here!

Also from Jack Black (and for my Dad for father's day) was the Pure Clean Daily Facial Cleanser, a cleanser designed to help with shaving and sensitive clog prone skin- which my dad has. He seems to like it, I keep trying to get more details out of him than that so I can write a review, but that doesn't seem to be happening all that easily. Oh well it's natural and he likes it so that is good at least!

I also bought an empty Mac palette to hold pressed eyeshadows and received my 500 point Sephora gift which was the best I've ever received a Too Faced 8 eyeshadow palette and mini Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It has a magnetic closure and has super pigmented shadows inside! I'm so pleased with it that I got excited and did swatches for you all. (Plus I've got a shot of the inside of the Mac palette for anyone interested).

Two shadows from each of the palettes from Too Faced

Two shadows from the Natural Eye kit- Heaven and Push-Up

Two Shadows from the Smoky Eye Kit- Silver Spoon and Smolder

Two shadows from the Naked Eye kit- Satin Sheets and Like a Virgin

Two shadows from the Romantic Eye kit- Honeymoon and Ever After

First Column T-B: Honeymoon, Satin Sheets, Silver Spoon, Heaven (looks invisible but is actually there just skin coloured)
Second Column T-B: Ever After, Like a Virgin, Smolder, Push-Up

Same order as above

I also got a Fruits and Passion Argan Body Butter as it was on sale for $10 CND. Their hand cream with Argan oil is really good so I'm hoping for results from this too! (Argan Hand cream review is scheduled to show up soonish).

The last time we were at the cottage it was raining as we were trying to get home and my poor little dog got quite wet and cold. Despite trying to keep him warm and drying him off as soon as possible he was shivering for about half an hour and so we ordered him this rain coat. It has a warm fleece lining that wicks water away from his skin and a nylon water repellent outside. It velcros on and even has a little collar to keep his neck warm. On top of that it's really well made and has a reflective strip that reflects light so we can see him better at night. I purchased it online at Gear 4 Dogs, a great easy to order from West Coast Canadian company. They have lots of colours and sizes available too!

I also bought some clothes though only the new shirt is pictured here. I love the colour of this shirt and the ruffles are really pretty on. I also recently bought a black sundress with little red and white flowers on it and a brown flowy tank-top but my photos have gone missing for these items and due to major packing we've been doing the clothing has disappeared so I can't conveniently take another photo for you. Sorry!

Last but not least I bought two little figurines. They're both hand-made in Uruguay and I just adore them! A chubby little Zebra and a sweet little Elephant! They'll fit perfectly with all the stuff I brought back with me from Tanzania when I went last year.

Phew! Sorry this post was so long, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Have any of you hauled lately?