Maybelline Bleached Neons collection swatches

When I heard about the Bleached Neons collection coming out for a limited time for Summer 2014, I heard nothing but good things which made me immediately keep an eye out for it around here.

The main hype in this collection is the color tattoos. They are apparently identical to the ones that came out for a limited time last year...just under a different name! This is a bummer for people who bought both unknowingly but awesome for people who were sad they missed them the first time around (guess which camp I fall into)

So the one thing I remember most about the original color tattoos was that they were fine on their own but they really shined when over a black eyeliner/eyeshadow. I couldn't wait to buy these and try the technique out for myself.

My goods! Left to right. Maybelline master drama Chromatic eyeliner in turn on the teal, Color tattoo in Sunwashed Sky , Color Show nail polish in Bleached in Peach, and Color Tattoo in Shimmering Sea

Here's a close up of the color tattoos and nail polish

I tried showing the tip of this eyeliner. It's soft and wonderful.

Maybelline Chromatic eyeliner in Turn on the teal - with flash

Take a look at that swatch. I'm in love! I'm actually sitting here wondering this asking myself why I haven't used it in any looks yet. I don't know why, it's gorgeous! 

Maybelline chromatic eyeliner Turn on the teal - daylight bulb, no flash

Anyway I'm definitely smitten with this eyeliner it's probably one of my favorites! 

I am very tempted to go and pick up some other shades, as there was a pink, purple and more.

Unfortunately i don't have any better pictures of the nail polish. I purchased it to use in a Easter manicure which I never got to post because after a certain point it seemed odd to post an easter mani, am I right? 

Swatches of that polish soon. But for what its worth, I liked it!

Now for the real star of the show- the color tattoos

Maybelline bleached neons Color tattoos

Here are the two side by side...they look a bit different in pictures but in person they looked very similar to be honest. If you can't see the lids, Sunwashed Sky is in the left, and Shimmering Sea is on the right.

Let's take a look at Sunwashed Sky first.

Right away you can tell it's beautiful

Here I have a swatch of the color tattoo on its own on the left, and over black eyeshadow on the right. As you can see, the shadow really comes alive when placed over a black base.

I love the duochorme shift that becomes much more obvious over a black shadow. I had some trouble layering it but I think it's because I tried doing it over a powder eyeshadow. I think these would look good over a creamy pencil liner- like the cheap wet n wild ones I got in the packs I've reviewed lately. 

I think Shimmering Sea is my favorite of the two!

I like the way Shimmering Sea  looks on its own. It looks good over black but not as much as Sunwashed Sky does. 

All in all I think there are several things worth picking up if you see this display. Basically everything in this post! Haha! I highly recommend all of it. 

Have you seen this display in your area? I'll be honest I was surprised when I saw they restocked ours after I picked htese up. It still remains mostly full when I pass by! So you should still find them near you but don't wait too long as these are limited edition!

Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeliner holiday gift set

It was the beginning of the holiday season when I spotted this set on display. It was part of the Wet n Wild display featuring Fergie products and other products that were mostly parts of sets- as is common to hit drug stores around Christmas.

You might remember when I posted about the Wet n Wild Idol eyes gift set I found at big lots. I wanted to compare the two sets and I have to say they are not even in the same league. It's truly difficult to believe that these came from the same company.

I couldn't help but snatch this up for only $5. 5 eyeliners for $5, it's pretty much a no brainer. Even though they are miniature eyeliners, I still feel the price was fair and worth it.

I couldn't pass these up because they were such fun colors, not your usual blacks and browns (ok yes there is one black)

I couldn't wait to swatch and use these but let me be honest- after I swatched them I sort of forgot about them! Yikes. I pulled them out recently and on a whim used the middle color above to fill in my eyebrows. It was so fun and I loved the way it looked.  I will do that again in another look as I didn't get very good pictures of it.

BAM! Those swatches are rich and pigmented and oh so pretty. I am sitting here looking at them, kicking myself for not using them more. That purple! those blues! That pink! and yes even that black! So great. So soft and easy to work with- reminded me a little bit of the Urban Decay 24/7 glide on pencils. These aren't long lasting or waterproof or anything but the texture and how they glide on are similar.

If I was presented with the choice I would definitely choose this set over the other. I know the other set also has more 'traditional' colors so if that is more your cup of tea, that might have appealed to you more.

So now that you have seen both kits side by side, which one is your favorite?!

Wet n Wild Idol Eyes eyeliner (Startling eyes gift set) : review & swatches

So if you saw my Big lots haul post you saw that I got a pack of eyeliners from Wet n Wild.

As you can see they are packaged together...but right away you can tell that they seem a little mismatched. The labels are in different places on each one, to start. And what's with that random green one in the middle? Hmmm. Things like this are what clues me in to how it ended up at Big Lots to begin with.
The pack itself is called Startling eyes but these are the Wet n Wild Idol eyes eyeliner

But when the price is only $3.50 for 6 eyeliners, I couldn't pass it up.

Right away out of the package you can see the differences between all of them. In this picture I had already taken off all the plastic which, let me tell you, was quite the task. Some of them came off easily because they had perforated plastic wrap. Others took lots and LOTS of effort. Like, I'm legit embarrassed how much effort it took. But that was a huge annoyance to me and I had to remind myself that for the price I got it at, it's expected that it won't be great.

L->R  black (self explanatory), charcoal (gray), navy blue, dark brown, mink brown, & sky lights (the most random...a sparkly blue-green)

On the bottom of each eyeliner is one of those smudger sponges and a plastic tip that indicates what color it is. I know looking at the picture above doesn't look like they are that different. Also, under neath the plastic tip is a sharpener.

The colors are in the same order as above. As you can see, the black is not very dark or black. It looks pretty similar to charcoal. Dark and mink brown are similar too, but distinguishable. I am just not a very brown eyeliner kinda person. The sky lights is a great color and I'd say it's my favorite. All these swatches (minus the navy blue) are the same amount of swipes.

The eyeliner formula itself was nothing to write home about. These were dry and sort of tugged at the skin. It wasn't a great application.

Unfortunately my favorite of this set is the navy blue color...it's a GREAT, perfect even, color. However this one was the WORST. It was somehow softer than the others and when you tried to apply it it just bent against the top of the pencil and broke. It was SO difficult to even get this swatch!
Because I like it so much I want to find a way to salvage it. Maybe I can depot it into a jar and apply it with a brush. That seems like that might work.

Anyway do I think these were worth $3.50? It's hard to say. That's such a low price so it's pretty hard for a brand to miss that low expectation. I would say that if you like at least two of these colors, or even one color a lot, it makes the price of all of them worth it.

If I can salvage the blue, these would definitely be worth it. It's also nice to have the brown eyeliners even though I don't think I will use them. I know I won't use the black.

Have you tried these eyeliners? Do you think they are worth the $3.50 price tag?

Check back soon to see the review and comparison of the other Wet n Wild eyeliner gift set!

Big Lots Haul (lots of Sephora by OPI!)

So I have documented my attempts at finding good nail polishes at Big Lots before, but I have never had too much luck. 

But this past weekend when I went I got some pretty good scores!

I heard a while back that Sephora by OPI polishes would be making their way to Big Lots because they were discontinued. I didn't get a chance to look for them for quite a while so I didn't have my hopes up when I went. But as you can see, I got a handful of great ones!

Plus they were all $1.80 which is an insanely great price, especially for OPI polishes/something that was sold at Sephora.

From left to right I got-Thyme for a Mani ; Meet Me at the Disco ; Frankly, I don't give a-dam ; It's Bouquet with Me ; Give Peach a Chance ; Spark-tacular ; Already Famous

I got almost an exact mix of cremes (all neutral colors) and glitter bombs.

It's nice cause some of these are from limited edition collections.

The one I am most excited about is, of course, Meet Me At the Disco. Holographic glitters top coat! Yes please. I can't wait to see what this looks like on the nail, and I will definitely post pictures when I use it.

The second thing I got was this set of eyeliners from Wet n Wild. These were only $3.50 for 6 eyeliners so I couldn't pass up that deal. It reminds me a lot of another set of Wet n Wild eyeliners I got during the holidays so I will be posting swatches and reviews of them both to compare and contrast them!

Above is a great example of how I'm sure this ended up at Big Lots. The caps are all different! They come in the same set yet they all seem like different products. So strange. I will talk about this more when I review the set as a whole!

So that's the small, but successful, haul I had from Big Lots this weekend. Have you found any Sephora by OPI polishes at your local big lots?

Stay tunes for reviews of these products, coming soon!

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!

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