Clearly a fail. (cluster of reviews)

So, this blog has been failing hardcore. I blame it on the lack of decent lighting I have in my house. I'd have swatches, but I'm in the middle of packing to go back to Chicago right now, so I'm just gonna talk about some things I've received.

Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks! Shadows
I've been poking around Aromaleigh since I first heard of the Lime Crime debacle (early in the summer), but I never bought anything because I was too overwhelmed by the pretty colors. I finally gave in when Anastasia of Lipsticks and Lightsabers said there was a half off sale on the Rocks! colors, and I bought four. I do love how they ask for three colors of which you want samples, because I was thinking about buying more before I realized I was short on money.

Planetearth - Really pretty blue. I haven't played too much with it yet, but I can see it becoming a good favorite.

Greenhell - Gorgeous grass green. It was lighter than it looked in Ana's tutorial, which was the main reason I wanted it, but it's still pretty. If I still cosplay Bulbasaur, I'm using Greenhell. No doubt.

Psychocandy - Bought it for a makeup series I had in my head. I needed a hot pink and Facefront's Little Gremlin, while gorgeous, was not hot enough. Psychocandy fits the bill. It's verrrry shimmery, but so bright and awesome.

Helterskelter - I was expecting it to be darker than it is. It's a nice red, I have this thing for red eyeshadow, it works out. Grey of LeGothique mentioned the texture wasn't that great. I think when I swatched it, it was kinda rough, but when I used it for New Year's Eve, it was fine. It looked really nice as a blush too.

I haven't played enough with the samples, but I got Londondungeon, Coralfang, and EndlessSea. I've used the last one before, but it blended in a lot so you might not be able to tell. I'll post it eventually.

In the end, I will buy from Aromaleigh again. Actually, I already have - I put an order for a sample set of the Hot in the City collection, along with extra samples of Italian Ice and Brownstone (it's a DePaul thing, I can't resist), samples of two of the butterfly collection colors, and a tube of the Aromatherapy Lip Balm. I can't remember the names of the samples, but two were from the En Pointe collection and one was a Hi-Fi Matte.

Hi-Fi cosmetics
I checked them out when I got home from Chicago for Thanksgiving and wanted some of her shadows. I love the song-inspired names and the colors are really bright.

Because I'm an idiot and forgot about any of the BOGO sales, I only got three colors.

Chicago - yeah, I got this because of the name. I also needed some blue eyeshadow. I have tons of turquoise, not enough blue.

Soulmate - Easily the prettiest of the discontinued colors. It's a gorgeous orange-y color with pink sparks. Would be nice for an every day thing since the orange isn't obnoxious.

Let it Snow - same reason as psychocandy from AL. I needed a shimmery white for a series that I never did (I was sick), and this fit the bill. Sadly, I have two other shimmery whites that came in as well, but I like this one the best so far.

I got four samples, and I can't remember all of their names, but Lyrical Master is a really pretty grey/silvery color.

I plan on purchasing from Hi-Fi again. The shadows I got were all really nice.

Morgana Minerals
Another complany on the MMU mutiny I felt I had to try. Mainly for the lipsticks since I've been into lipsticks lately, but I did buy some eyeshadows as well.

Warped e/s - it was supposed to be a purple with a cool green sheen to it, but I'm not catching the green. Maybe it's the lighting, but it just looks purple to me. It would still work well, I'll still use it somehow, but I'm not catching the green.

Snowball's chance e/s - I bought it partially because of the name. It's a white that flashes green, purple, and blue depending on the light, but I haven't seen either. Again, it's probably the lighting.

Sugar Plum Rum l/s - I made the error of buying this before seeing the swatch on the site. It said it was a plum color, so I bought it (again, series). On the swatch, it's really dark, and that's accurate to the color in the tube. It's wayyyy too dark on me, which sadly pulls me away from wanting Sobe Botanical's Gothique Gothlips stix. I didn't think about the formula and now it's packed, so I can't say much about that, though I've heard nothing but pleasant reviews.

I thought the service was great, I didn't feel I had to wait too long for my product. I'm planning on purchasing more lipsticks. Metallic Maiden is teasing me, begging me to buy it, and I'm intrigued by Valentine, even without the swatch. I don't think my bad experience product-wise is going to make me not buy from Morgana, because it's more my fault than anything else. However, I'm probably gonna stick to the lipsticks for a while. That's the main recommendation anyway.

Other cosmetics I've recieved lately:

Sephora by OPI - BYOBoy
My mom needed help burning her $100 Sephora gift card. I couldn't pass it up. This color is darker than I expected, but it looked nice on New Year's Eve. My issue with it is the brush. It's really thin and it gets the polish under my nails sometimes. Formula's also kindof questionable, but I do like the color.

Urban Decay Pallates - Book of Shadows II and Deluxe Shadow Pallate
I'm sure you've seen the reviews before. they're both kindof amazing. I'll be sad that they're not gonna be with me until my mom ships them.

Urban Decay cream shadow - Rehab
I wore it today and it was lovely. It's a nice brown that blends out really nicely. I'll probably get Mushroom soon too since it's winter.

OPI I'm a Princess, You're Not!
Gorgeous color, looks nice on top of almost everything. The issue is it's not fast drying at all. If I use this at all in the winter, I'm using it verrrry sparingly.

Those are the main reviews I wanted out of the way. I have not recieved my Sobe Botanicals purchase yet, but I wanna blame that on the snow. I'm sure my mom will ship it to me if I get it when I'm in Chicago. I also wanted to keep the Lime Crime Candyfuture lipsticks' review in a different post. Lime Crime in general deserves separate posts.

(if anyone cares, I'm not for or against LC. I've bought nine products, own ten since one was an accident, and shockingly have no issues with customer service. Will I buy from them again? Probably not, but I'm not gonna trash what I own because of the scandal. That would just reinforce the fact that I wasted a shitton of money, wouldn't it? Besides, I didn't own TKB's colors beforehand, I'm more learning from error than feeling ripped off.)

I go back to school tomorrow! I shall post the FOTDs for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve soon. I'm gonna take some time to reconnect with the crew before then though. I miss all of my Game Design friends arguing about Dragon Age and Goldeneye. <3
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FOTD: Foa Foa FTW

This is from Sunday - I was just too tired to post it then. Or yesterday.

Sunday night was the Survivor Samoa finale. I'd been on the Russell Hantz/Natalie White train for a while, especially knowing that Russell wasn't gonna win and Natalie had a shot and deserved it. As I always do when I'm excited for a finale, I got all made up for it. Yellow and Blue - Yellow for FoaFoa, Blue for Aiga.

Spoilers and look behind the cut.





Eyes:

• Yellow cream base on lid (used Makeup Forever flash color in yellow)
• Light gold eyeshadow on top of cream base (used MAC Pigment in Vanilla)
• Darker gold eyeshadow in the crease (used Urban Decay eyeshadow in Baked)
• Matte dark brown in outer corner (used Heavenly Naturals Lights Out)
• Same light gold eyeshadow as browbone hightlight (used MAC Vanilla Pigment)
  
• Blue eyeliner on lower lashline and waterline
  
• Sky blue eyeshadow smudged on lower lashline (used MAC pigment in Clear Blue Sky)
• Brown mascara (used Covergirl Lash Stylish in Brownish Black)

Cheeks:

• Bronze-brown blush (used The Secret Minerals shimmer powder in number 58)

Lips:

• Coral-pink lipstick (used NYX Round Lipstick in Indian Pink)
• Pink-brown gloss (used Bath&BodyWorks Liplicious Lipgloss in Whipped Vanilla)

Congratulations, Natalie White, on being the Sole Survivor of Survivor Samoa!!

Congratulations, Russell Hantz, on being Player of the Season and winning fan favorite!!
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Week Haul : 12/14-12/20

This would actually be a bigger collection of stuff if I didn't miss the mailman on Friday and if it didn't snow like hell on Saturday. I know my orders from Sobe Bontanicals, Morgana Minerals, and Ms Cuppy Cakes all shipped this week, so I don't know what is at the post office that I have to pick up tomorrow. =/

Onto what became mine this week.

Lime Crime Candyfuture Lipstick in Cosmopop
This was actually a resend. I received my actual order the week before, but was sent an incorrect lipstick. I will have a separate review on the Lime Crime lipsticks eventually.

MAC Clear Blue Sky Pigment
Sent to me by sayanythingbr00ke from a LiveJournal sale. It's a very pretty matte sky blue color. I needed it for my Piplup makeup when I cosplay Piplup, and I've been in need of some blue eyeshadows as of late.

MAC Reflects Transparent Teal Glitter
Also sent by Brooke. I haven't used it yet, but I feel I have to for Christmas with my teal dress. =)

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Pallete
I've been wanting this for a long time, so I bought it from Sephora with my $15 off coupon. I love the deluxe shadows so much. I've used it almost every day within the past week or so, it feels. Lovelove.

OPI Princesses Rule!
Many people talk about it, I bought it (or got it for free. There was a buy 2 get one free sale on OPI at Ulta. My mom bought two and got me this one for free.). I'm wearing it right now. Loveee it. So shimmery and pretty.

Wendy Readers from Urban Outfitters
I bought them for a Kanako Mita costume for ACen '10, but I realized the black rims were too big for Kanako. I don't know where to find large scene-y glasses though, at least not the ones I'm looking for. =/ They were worth the shot, but not perfect.

Clear Umbrella from Urban Outfitters
I've wanted a clear umbrella for a long time. I finally have one, but I have no idea how I'm getting it back to Chicago. It's literally half my height.

Armwarmers/fingerless gloves from Urban Outfitters
Never have enough glove like articles of clothing when you live in Chicago. ;)

Seafoam green top from Urban Outfitters
Not pictured because I'm wearing it. Keep an eye out for it in the next post. It's super cute. Definitely one to take back in time for spring (or take it with me to Central America? Either or)

Aromaleigh Rocks! Eyeshadows in Greenhell, Helter Skelter, Planet Earth, and Psycho Candy (none pictured due to lack of sunlight)
The lovely Anastasia from Lipsticks and Lightsabers posted about a half off sale on the Rocks! shadows, and I had to get some. I'll have a separate review when I have time to playyyy. =)

Off to watch the Survivor Samoa finale soon. Today's FOTD will be posted tomorrow or Tuesday so I can congratulate the winner. =)

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Intro post.

So, maybe you're more familiar with my previous blog, Ripping Up the Real World. Maybe you're not. Considering how that was a complete failure due to how often I go against the popular opinion, I decided to start up a new blog. This blog, on the other hand, is focused more on makeup, style, all those things on which I blow my money. So, not a lot of talk about who I thought should've won Top Chef 6 or how much I want Russell Hantz to go home on Survivor Samoa (especially since I wanted Michael Voltaggio to win TC6 and Russell Hantz is my favorite on Survivor this season).

A little bit about me and the blog:

• I go to college, so I won't be able to update every second. but I will update when I can.
• I obsess about disney, watch a fair share of anime, and play Pokemon like crazy. If/when I do my tutorials, it will be focused on some kind of theme like that.
• If I mention a product in a tutorial, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm promoting it. Just use what you have, that's all I'm doing. (In other words, if I use products that have a lot of controversy, I'm not standing up for them. I'm just using them)
  
• I'm very blunt and I can swear like a sailor. Hopefully, since this is makeup related and not reality TV related, you won't see the latter part, but just a heads up.
• Since I live in the city, hauls might be the most often posted things here. Just a guess.

So, what you'll mainly see from me will be...

• Reviews
• Hauls
• Inspired looks/Tutorials
• Monthly recommendations
• Things you would normally see in video form on youtube, but in written form since youtube hates me 90% of the time?

Hope you enjoy! =)
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