NYX Macaron Lippies Part 1 Review & Swatches

It feels like forever ago when I first heard about the NYX Macaron Lippies (and yes, they are literally called Lippies. I'm not saying that to be obnoxious)..honestly it was before Thanksgiving.
I'm not kidding when I said I stalked NYX waiting for more word about these beautiful pastel lipsticks.

Well they finally went on sale a little bit ago and I bought them all right away! I did not buy Rose, the pink colored one because as I've mentioned before pink isn't really my color.

So basically this review has been a long time coming. They've been out for quite a while now. You can buy them on NYX's website or on Ulta's website. They will be coming to Ulta stores later this summer.

So the Macaron lipsticks are tons of fun colors at a drug store price- which has never really happened before. Everything from yellow to purple to white- all for around $6.

These lipsticks aren't what some people would consider every-day wear. But I enjoy wearing bright and unusual colors, so I do enjoy wearing them.

Lastly, I split these up into 2 posts because there are 11 lipsticks so that's a lot of pictures!

First off my order came in this adorable lace drawstring bag. I thought that was a nice touch. I can keep all of them together and find them easily in my makeup bag.

Here are all the Macaron Lippies in their glory. With my order I got a free gift of Nectar lip liner. I'm not one to complain about a free bonus gift!

Alright my first complaint comes from the packaging. Admittedly you get what you pay for. All the lipsticks above that are turned all the way up are the ones that sort of broke.
So the 3 that are low were fine...but the others..when I went to twist up the lipstick for the first time, they were hard to twist and when they came undone they kind of snapped... It's super hard to explain but when you twist the lipstick up as you normally would, it starts to slide back down and does not stay up. The only way to get it to stay up is to twist it all the way.
This makes application a little difficult but I don't mind too much. It's just a minor inconvenience.
I did find other reviews that mentioned it so obviously it's not just me. Hopefully they will fix this issue in future productions.

Part 1 is going to focus on these colors- Lavender, Citron, Chambord, Orange Blossom, Earl Grey

Hand swatches in the same order as above- Lavender, Citron, Chambord, Orange Blossom, Earl Grey

First up is Lavender. This is a true lavender color which is hard to find in a lipstick.  Most lean really pink. The picture above is taken with flash. 

Here is the lipstick taken with no flash, using daylight bulbs. The color seems a bit more washed out here but then again so does my skin. I just wanted to offer both versions of all the lipsticks so you can see what it looks like in various lighting situations.

This is definitely the type of lipstick that DOES look different depending on what kind of lighting you are in.

Citron, with flash

Citron applied quite patchy. The flash masked some of the imperfections but it definitely settled into dry spots.

It's really pigmented though, which is not easy to say about a yellow lipstick. 

Chambord, with flash

Chambord is a pretty good black lipstick for the price. It's not the best but it's far better than any other drugstore black lipstick I've tried.

Chambord, no flash

This color can also stain your lips if you aren't careful!

Orange Blossom, with flash

This one is very pale but I am surprised how much I like it. This is another color that clings to dry patches so it definitely pays to exfoliate and moisturize before using.

Something about this, I like it a lot. 

Last but not least we have Earl Grey which is a grey-toned pastel blue. This one was ok but the other blue in the collection is better, in my opinion.

I like this color mostly because it is unique. 

I have not worn any of these shades for an extended amount of time yet so I don't know the wear time yet. They don't dry matte and are quite creamy so I imagine it will have a normal wear time- not too long, but not too short either.

I picked these up with a 25% off coupon on NYX's website, and Ulta often has NYX for BOGO 1/2 off. So if you do want to pick these up, you can get them for even CHEAPER if you watch out for a sale. 

These are great colors if you're looking to step outside the box with your color choices, or maybe want to take some fun pictures or dress in a fun costume!

So that's part 1 of the NYX Macaron Lippies. Which one was your favorite? Did you buy any from this collection?

Let's talk about it in the comments!

Christmas Makeup FOTD

So let's start this new year off by pretending it's still relevant to post Christmas makeup!
K? K.

You may have noticed a few changes here 'round the blog. It's a work in progress! I was messing with a few things and I have just been experimenting, really. But believe me I know for right now, it clashes. But I can't wait for it to all come together!

In addition to that I have changed the font in my watermark and have experimented with changing the watermark up in general. I know that's a subtle change that probably no one will notice but me. But, what do you think? Do you like the old one better? Should I leave the ".blogspot.com" at the end? Leave your thoughts in the comments, por favor!

This is a look I threw together Christmas morning and it's equal parts tacky and stereotypical.
On one hand, it's stereotypical because it has all the things you associate with holiday makeup- red lips, red or green eyeshadow, and gold. It's tacky because most people don't wear all of them at once.
But I do! Because I really don't waste time listening to conventional rules and I do what I want anyway. SO. I think it turned out not half bad!

I think what I'm most proud of in this look is the eyeliner. Somehow it turned out just right!

I took a mixture of Swag & Underground from the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box and put it all over the lid. Then I took the red shade from the BH cosmetics 120 palette and blended it into the crease. I could have blended it more, for sure.

Then I lined my bottom line with the green shadow from the BH cosmetics 120 palette

As is my new thing, the colors I used are marked with a daisy!

Other products used in this look:
Jesse's girl waterproof liquid eyeliner
Urban Decay primer potion
Covergirl Lashblast Volume mascara
Covergirl 3 in 1 outlast foundation
Physicians Formula translucent powder
Elf eyebrow kit
NYX soft matte lip cream in Amsterdam

So I hope you all had a great holiday! Tell me all about it below!

December IPSY glam bag: celebration

As you can imagine things got pretty busy this month. But hey! The month's not over! So my review is still on time.

I know you guys have missed me (hold the applause) but I am ready to dive head first into 2014. I have so many posts lined up, so many goodies to share, and so many plans for this blog! So I hope you're all down for the ride!

This month's bag was a new design. I love that IPSY is branching out with not only the print design on the bags but the bag design themselves. This month's design had the zipper on the front, instead of across the top. It was a 'patent leather' material with a quilted design. Personally the material gave off a very strange scent at first. It was so strong at first that I couldn't stand it! I put away my bag for days before really looking through it.

The smell eventually settled down, though. 

This month's bag is eh. I am not thrilled but I am not disappointed, either. I feel like I say that frequently about IPSY bags. But that's fine by me. As long as they aren't disappointing then I don't mind dropping $10 a month on it. 

The first item I found was this set of false lashes. It comes with adhesive which is awesome because if it didn't I'd be shit out of luck. 

I am not the type of person who wears falsies that often- mostly because I am really bad at putting them on! I know that's something that comes with practice though so I am glad that I got this.

This is exactly the type of product I like receiving from IPSY. Something that I wouldn't normally want to buy for myself, but enjoy having.

Included was #33, a safe choice. They are just run of the mill lashes. Full and simple.

I've never heard of this brand and the IPSY website links to Ulta to buy it from, so I'm guessing that's the only place to buy it? It can be found here for $3.99

It's no secret that I love nail polish and may have a slight addiction. This is an interesting mini bottle from Indie polish brand Starrily. My first indie polish actually!

Bzzz Bzzz is a glitter bomb with various size glitter in yellow and black. Makes sense with the name, huh? 

However, realistically this is such a random color. Like, unless you like the Steelers, when the heck is this an appropriate color combination?

I can tell you right now I probably won't use this much. But since nail polish pretty much never goes bad, I don't mind tossing this in my collection.

Starrily polish can be found here, however, the store is closed for the holiday. You can't even look at the polishes, which is a bummer. SO I have no idea how much this retails for. I will be updating this as soon as the store is back up and running!

One product that I couldn't be bothered to look twice at is this eyeshadow trio from Pop beauty. 

It's a staple for most collections, a smoky eye trio. shimmery white, grey, and black. However once I saw it I didn't even have interest in opening it. Does that sound bad?

It's just, the truth is, those colors are boring to me. I have a million white eyeshadows and even more black shadows. 

To be completely honest, I didn't even open it to swatch it. I offered it to a friend right when I opened it and really, I had trouble trying to open it anyway so I didn't even bother! I think she will enjoy it so hey that's fine by me! 

So this is another confusing product to find the price for. There doesn't seem to be any trios at all on the Popbeauty website. So if a 10-pack runs for $24, a trio would cost approximately $7.21

After I was less than impressed with the Be a Bombshell chubby pencil, I wasn't too excited to find the Be a Bombshell The One Stick in my bag. It's an extremely chubby cream stick that is supposed to function as lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow.  

I got the shade Flustered, which is described as a "warm, bright pink". 

Swatch is on the left with a blended version on the right. In my opinion this is too bright and pigmented of a color to really work as a blush for me. I like subtle blush, personally. I suppose it would work as a lip color, however since it's so large and shapeless, it's a bit harder to apply than regular lipstick. As an eyeshadow it's more subtle, just a slight tinge of cream color. 

So I'm not stoked on this product, but it's not horrible. It did not sell me on the Be a Bombshell brand, though. Especially since this product retails for $16. I would never pay that much unless it really functioned extremely well as all 3 products it claims to be. 

The last product I accidentally didn't take a picture of the product itself. It's a Nyx round lipstick. I love Nyx but I have never tried their round lipsticks- only their matte lip products. 

I probably would have been happy with any shade. But I was pleased with the one I received- sunflower. 

Sunflower is described as a shimmery red-orange, but I see it as a coral. In the swatch above, it's the one on the far left. I really like this color because it's not one that I would buy for myself in the store because I'm not usually drawn to coral colors. However I will gladly wear it now that it's in my collection. For that reason alone I can be happy with this month's bag.

Unfortunately I'm disappointed that the two lip products I received were so similar in shade. I would have much preferred receiving a deep or even nude Nyx color, to contrast with the pinky red 'all in one' stick.

Nyx creamy round lipstick can be found here for $4. 

One last thing that I got- a beauty blender!! I traded my IPSY points in for my very first Beauty Blender. I haven't used it yet but I can't wait, since all I have heard are raving reviews!

So that wraps up my December Ipsy bag. All together it was worth approx. $31.20 (that's without the Starrily polish!) So once again, a great deal for only paying $10. 

If you'd like to get in on this great monthly sub service, you can click my referral link here and sign up! 

For those of you that have IPSY, did we get similar bags? Were you happy with your December glam bag?

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling

P.s. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, if that's what you celebrate. Or just winter holidays in general :) Have any big plans for New Years Eve? I'll be sharing lots of Christmas goodies (makeup, nails, & a haul!) this week! So be on the look out for that!

Halloween 2013: Pop Art costume

 {Warning: this is a pic heavy post!}

Nothing like posting about Halloween just shy of Thanksgiving!
But let's be real...Halloween is, like, my favorite holiday. I'd like to drag it out as long as possible.
Also, I'm slow. and lazy. but let's go with I love halloween!

pumpkins my friends and I carved...mine is on the far right, the disney castle symbol. No stencil!

September Ipsy glambag: Classic beauty

{I know this is SO overdue! Where has the time gone?! I got this bag late & then was very busy so bear with me!}

September's Ipsy glambag theme was classic beauty. I'm not quite sure how these products play into that, but nevertheless.  

I also wanted to put off writing this because honestly, I didn't know how I felt about it. On one hand, I was disappointed. Not that the products I got were bad- they aren't. But because I was hoping so much I would get the Jesse's Girl liquid eyeliner along with the Butter london nail polish. I know I probably didn't get the Butter London because I got the Urban Decay lipstick last month. It's only fair.  But I WAS hoping for the liquid liner. 

All in all this month's just feels...uneventful. The products are not great, not bad. I'll use pretty much all of them. I got my money's worth. It's just nothing to write home about, ya feel me?

But alas I will go through each item with you. Mostly because while looking through blog posts last month I found that I think most subscribers got very different bags. So in that regard, I'm intrigued if not impressed.

September Ipsy glambag

This month's bag was a cobalt blue with black design that resembled lace. It's a little bright but I do like the pattern. 

Find out the contents after the jump!

makeup look featuring Benefit's THEY'RE REAL! mascara

A while back (an embarassing amount of time back, if we're being honest) I got a sample size of Benefit's They're real mascara from Sephora for my birthday. 

I created a look with this mascara but before I could post it, my computer was dunzo (10+ points if you get that reference)...but now it's finally here!

Feast your eyes on a purple eyeshadow look I did featuring They're Real!

cranberry and lavender makeup look

More pictures and products used after the jump! -->

First Ipsy bag! *first impressions and swatches*

So I FINALLY got my June Ipsy bag! 

If you remember my excitement almost a month ago, I was so eager to sign up, I tried to get in before May but alas I had to wait until June. I began seeing others getting their bags almost 2 weeks ago... clearly, I have a bone to pick with the USPS! It is absolutely absurd to me that it would take so long to get from North Carolina to Florida. Even more absurd is the fact that the tracker had it in orlando for FOUR days. I am less than 2 hours from Orlando. Clearly, no reason to take five days! 

I'm crossing my fingers that the rest of my bags arrive in a timely manner. I can only hope. 

Now, on to the good part! The stuff!

I was pleasantly surprised with my first bag, and I am happy to have no regrets about subscribing!

First of all, let's be real. The way this arrives is cute as hell! It screams glamour and I couldn't wait to open it once I laid eyes on it.

The bag itself is a cute leopard print with lime green accents. I like the little tag that says Ipsy :) I was a little surprised at the material- doesn't seem to be the most durable. But since this is one of many to come, I'm not complaining at all! Soon I'm gonna have more than I know what to do with! (This is a big fat joke. You can never have too many bags. I am a bag lady.)

First item I opened was the Nyx mosaic powder in Dare. I saw that some people got blush with theirs and honestly I'm pretty happy with this! It's a gorgeous shade as you can tell from the swatch. I really like it! Nyx is a brand that I am familiar with since it is being known for being affordable and fabulous which is obviously right up my alley! I have never tried any face products of theirs before, however! I have only tried eyeshadows and lip products. I am interested in seeing how I like their face powders. 

Retail price: $7.00 via nyxcosmetics

Next up is the Jcat sparkling creme palette in Suzie . This is the "warm" or golden toned version. Some people got the silver or "cooler" toned version and I think I would have liked that one much better! But I' not complaining, as these colors are still pretty!  This is a brand I have never heard of. 

This is probably my least favorite item from this bag. I really want to love it but it's a strange consistency. I have heard from various sources that this is meant to be a face and body glitter only and is not meant for the eyes. I have a few gripes with this. First one being-why wasn't it labeled as not being eye safe? I think that's something that should be printed very clearly on the label. Secondly, let's be real. I'm not in middle school anymore so I don't exactly wear glitter on my face or body. Some people can and they rock it and that's great but I'm not one of those people (anymore) I really like the colors and honestly I might try wearing it on my eyes and seeing how it goes since I can't find any other use for this palette. If I can't use it on my eyes I will have to unfortunately render this product useless :( 

Retail price: $4.49 *as I am writing this the Jcat website is down! Perhaps from all the traffic generated by Ipsy users?? Either way I couldn't check the price, so this price came from a random review that I found via google. No promises that it's accurate! You know how fickle google can be ;)

This is the highlighter crayon in Ivory Lace from the brand Chella. This is another brand I have never heard of. I am eager to try this product. I don't feel either way about it, so I will just see what I can do with it! I haven't tried it on my face yet so I'm not sure if it even matches my skintone. It almost seems like I could use it as a concealer as well as a highlighter! I will have to play with it and see what I can come up with :)

retail price: $18.00

The next product is a lipliner from the brand Starlooks in tickle me pink 

This is another brand that I have never heard of! Confession time: I have never used a lipliner. I know, right? Who am I? I claim to be a beauty blogger? Whatevs. I am digging this color. I can't wait to try it out! It is a gorgeous shade.

Retail price: $12.00

The last product I received was this gel eyeliner from Cailyn in the shade Iron. 

Full disclosure: I only use gel eyeliners! So I'm a little biased! I have never heard of this brand but I really like the packaging. The brush goes right into the top so it all stays together and the brush doesn't get icky! I am not sure about the shade so far, it's a steely gray with some shimmer. I think I will learn to love it, though, if we're being honest.

Retail price: $21.00

All in all even though there were no products that WOW-ed me, I am still totally happy with this month's bag! I can't wait to see what next month has in store!

The total value of this bag was over $63! And I can't believe I only paid 10!! What a GREAT investment

The best part about Ipsy is that when you subscribe you are given access to all kinds of tutorials on the website that teaches you ways to use the products you were given.

As if that's not cool enough, you also are given discount codes so you can buy the brand/product you got in the bag! It's awesome. 

If you are thinking of trying it I definitely encourage you to do so! It's a monthly subscription service so it automatically gets taken out every month but you can cancel after your first month if you don't like it!

you can sign up here, and yes this is a referral link. So I may recieve incentives if people sign up through me (think of it this way, if you join, you get the same opportunity!) but let me be clear I am NOT recommending it for that reason. This blog is completely honest. sign up here!

Follow your bliss!

Ember Darling

Family Birthday party look!

Hey lovelies I know it seems like I'm slackin' on the posting and I DEEPLY apologize! I have been trying to make my camera work with videos and it's been a stressful process.

VIDEO REVIEWS COMING SOON! :)

But for now let's get on to the makeup and outfit I wore!

It was my brother's birthday this past week so the family got together for some Publix subs and margaritas (as it was also Cinco de Mayo)

I had a rose gold and burgandy look goin' on. I know it's hard to tell the burgandy part but I'm about to post a picture of the makeup I used, and you can tell! 

Now I know I've talked about my Profusion Palette a lot, as I use it in almost all of my looks! (because I can't say it enough: a review video is coming!!) but here's a sneak peak at what the actual palette looks like.

ooh, pretty colors! 

As demonstrated by the arrows, these are the colors I used!

Here's the rest of the makeup used to get this look:

Face:

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation in nude beige

Physician's Formula multi-colored pressed palette in Buff

for contouring: Elf contouring blush & bronzing powder in St Lucia

unknown concealer (I hate containers that fade so you can't even tell what product it is!)

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer potion in original

the eyeshadows demonstrated above

Maybelline eyestudio gel eyeliner in blackest black

Covergirl lashblast volume waterproof in black

Nyx Eyeshadow trio in honeycomb for highlighting and eyebrows

eyelash curler from Forever 21 (how cute is that- purple + rhinestones = <3 )

As always when I'm looking forward to a long day, I topped it off with Urban Decay all nighter setting spray to make my makeup last! Not pictured is some lip color that I threw on and did not write down what it was 

:(

Last but not least, you can peep my OOTD here:

everything I'm wearing is from Target! In fact the skirt was on clearance for less than $10. Now that is a steal!

Follow your bliss, 

Ember Darling