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!

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!

Christmas Haul

Normally I wouldn't feel the urge to post what I got for Christmas. But I am doing so for a few reasons.
1- I have read on blogs recently people proclaiming to be 'so nosey' and wanting to know what others got for Christmas. So, why not oblige?
2- I left Christmas this year feeling overwhelmingly thankful for the people in my life, and how grateful I am for the gifts they kindly gave me. This year I got truly spoiled and I could not be more thankful!
3- A lot of my gifts were beauty related! So of course it's only natural to share them on my blog!!

First and foremost is the lovely gifts I got from my friend from work, Jessica from Leopurrd. She definitely spoiled me, as you can see! Here's a closer look:

Aside from the Seche Vite quick dry top coat that she knows I use, she got me these 2 lovely shades of OPI nail polish.
On the left is OPI DS Magic . Right when I saw the silver cap I knew this must be a special polish. I was right! The DS stands for Designer Series. So this is a lovely extra fancy polish. It's a shimmery sparkley blue that flashes a purple duochrome. I guess to me it's a true blurple, since it shifts!
On the right is OPI Underneath the Mistletoe, which is part of the Mariah Carey holiday 2013 polishes. It's a red jelly with silver glitter which is exciting because it's my first jelly polish!

In addition to the unique polishes, she gave me my first BH cosmetics! I got the 120 palette, the first edition. I love how thoughtful Jessica was- she got me and another friend of ours both the 120 palette. However she got me the first edition because it contained mostly bright colors and she knew that's what I liked; meanwhile she got our friend an edition that contained mostly neutrals because she knew that's what she liked! Truly thoughtful, I tell you!

Above is the top layer- soo manyyy cooolors!

And here is the 2nd row of colors. So many colors I don't know what to do with!

My favorite part about this palette is the size. I thought it was going to be the kinda palette that you leave at home (I often do my makeup on the go or at a friends house) but to my delight the size is perfect to throw in my makeup tote and bring along with me. It's not too big at all!

Not pictured that she also got me is the BH cosmetics flawless brow trio in medium. I didn't take a picture of this because I have used it far too much for it to be picture-pretty. I have to say that I like this trio better than the ELF one I was using before!

This amazing present was sent all the way from Colorado from my best friend! And how well does she know me!! First the 'big' gift is this lovely nail polish set from Sephora. In addition to the ones pictured is a black, clear, a multicolored glitter polish, and a set of star shaped studs. These are all great staple colors to have in your collection so of course I'm thankful for them.
However, the main star of this present is the Hocus Pocus lanyard! I can't wait to put my work badge on it and wear it every day. This just truly goes to show how well my bestie knows me, since it's in my top 5 favorite movies of all time! We also watched it one year in the middle of July just because! So this movie has memories for us, as well. I thought it was a very sweet and thoughtful gift to include, when the polishes would have been more than enough!

Now every year my mom usually buys me a fragrance for Christmas or my birthday. This is usually an interesting experience because my mom has no sense of smell! However somehow she has usually managed to be spot on with my taste- I don't know how she does it! Well, this year she cheated! Sort of. I truly wasn't expecting this present because my mom got me a big gift this year- pictured below.

Just before Christmas I half-mentioned that I should have asked her for a perfume this year, since I don't currently have one. She asked what I would have wanted and I didn't tell her because I felt that she already spent too much on me. Yet on Christmas here I opened a full size bottle of Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck! Whaaa? How did she know?! Apparently at one point I mentioned in a store that I loved it while I tested it. I don't even remember this and yet here it was under my Christmas tree! Truly taken aback and pleasantly surprised by this gift. I love this scent!

Now I'm saving the biggest & best for last so I'm going to shove these non-beauty items in here awkwardly.

If you know me then you know that my favorite animal is an Orca whale. I'm obsessed. So my boyfriend adopted one in my name! It's Princess Angeline from the J pod near San Juan islands in Washington. I have a friend that lives there and works for the whale watching tours so I have lusted after going there for years now. So he adopted me this whale because it's the next best thing :P

Princess Angeline was picked especially for me because for one, she's a princess, and I am also a princess. For two, her pod number is J-17 and my birthday is June 17th. And lastly, she was one of the whales in the Free Willy movies! I love those movies because they are what got me interested in Orcas when I was just 5 years old.

My boyfriend's family can always be counted on for media related gifts. They are religious black friday shoppers and always are sure to get media at a ridiculously good price!
This year they got me Pretty Little Liars seasons 1 &3, Season 3 of Justified (PLL and Justified are my 2 favorite shows! Next to Parks & Recreation). They also got me Eminem's Marshall Mathers 2 LP and (not pictured) Miley Cyrus's Bangerz, which is currently in the car player!

The big gift I mentioned my mom got me was this Nikon Coolpix S3500 point & shoot. I'm going on a cruise at the end of January and really wanted a point & shoot to take along so that I wouldn't have to drag my DSLR everywhere, and also because I don't feel comfortable taking it off the ship. So I am so excited to have a point and shoot camera again! Woo! Thanks momma.

Now for the grand finale!

First and foremost is this set of holiday MAC brushes that I got from my boyfriend. To be fair I specifically asked for these. I was going to buy them for myself but they sold out online. So naturally, I sent my boyfriend on a quest to find them. And he did! He got the last one apparently!

These are my first MAC brushes!!! I only own Elf brushes other than this, so this is a big deal!
Speaking of deal, this was a great one! I couldn't ever bring myself to buy any MAC brushes because the price is quite steep. However with this limited edition Holiday collection, the price of each brush is less than half price!
I got "the essentials" set, which comes with 168, 193, 217, 239, and 212.
I can't wait to try out these brushes!!

And, drumroll please...

I know. I know. My jaw is on the floor, too. ALL THREE Naked palettes?!?
I can't even.
Technically one is from my boyfriend, one is from his parents, and one is from his siblings. I am so overwhelmed that they would spend this kind of money on me and I truly can't believe how lucky I am!

To go from never trying a naked palette aside from lustfully swatching a few shades in Ulta, to owning all three is simply unimaginable to me. I don't even know where to begin!

So in 2014 you can expect LOTS of new looks! Between the colors in the 120 palette, the neutrals of Naked, the array of nail colors, and the beautful brushes I have to apply them, I am now so excited to put together looks and tutorials for you! And I'm going to smell great while doing it ;)

So that's the majority of my Christmas haul! I can't believe how blessed I was this year. I hope that you all were doubly blessed as I was and that this holiday brought you all you wanted and ever so much more!

Did you have a good holiday? What do you want to see me swatch first? Let's talk Christmas in the comments below! 

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling

P.s. As there is a slight chance this is the last post I will be posting will be the last of 2013 so THANK YOU everyone who has read this blog in 2013 and I hope you stick around through 2014! I can't wait to see what the next year has in store :) 

October IPSY glambag: The Art of Beauty

I know. October? That was like, 2 weeks ago. I KNOW! The thing is, right after I got my October glam bag...I promptly misplaced it. Because of halloween I was tearing through all my makeup and it just got lost in the shuffle! 

But this weekend I found it, and now it's here in review in all it's belated glory!

 

Fing'rs In Mint Condition: Review

Hey beauties! Sorry my beauty posts have been a little MIA lately. I have been keeping up with Inner beauty though, thanks to the YALLFest interviews I am lucky enough to post! 

But this review has been a long time coming. Honestly I'm not thrilled about writing a bad review but I have to be totally honest.

*note: these pictures were taken quite a while ago, before I really hit a niche with photographing, so take THAT with a grain of salt ;) *

Fingrs Heart 2 Art In Mint Condition

I purchased a few Fing'rs Heart 2 Art polishes a few months ago when the display first appeared at Walmart. You may remember me posting about it in my Walmart haul post. 

See the rest of the review after the jump! -->

Ipsy Glam Bag: July

The theme of July's Glam Bag was Beach Beauty.

I know, I know. Nothing like getting the July post up on the 1st of August! I could tell you that I've had a lot going on but the truth is that I'm ridiculously lazy. I don't have an ideal setup for taking pictures (still trying to get my boyfriend to build me a lightbox ;) so when I was unhappy with these pictures I kept wanting to take new ones, but the chance never arose.

Finally I decided to say screw it and post it anyway. So, yeah, I can see that these pictures aren't the greatest. But hey, it's a learning curve. I'm still new at this :) 

The July Ipsy bag arrived in a much more timely manner than last time, even if my post doesn't reflect it. Another thing I did this time was refrain from looking at other posts about it, or looking at my glam room before I got it. This time, everything in the bag was a total surprise!

While I definitely enjoyed having it be a surprise, I'm not so sure if I will do this in the future. It was so hard!

July beach beauty glam bag

The bag this month was a neon pink transparent-type plastic bag. It definitely reminded me of a beach bag, particularly the material which seems to be water resistant. The color is a little bright for me but again, it seems quite beachy. I especially like that the Ipsy logo is printed on this bag.

Read about the contents of the bag-listed from least favorite to favorite- after the jump-->

Big Lots & Dollar Tree Haul

When nouveaucheap posted that there were sightings of China Glaze, Zoya, and OPI and even Essie at Big Lots, I knew I had to hightail it over there ASAP. There is only one big lots around me (a few more if I'm willing to travel a bit) and I had never even thought of looking there for makeup! I didn't realize that they have actual brands, not knockoffs or cheap no-names. They have nice brands there! For CHEAP! 

Unfortunately in my venture I did not find any Zoya, China Glaze, or Essie. But the trip was not a bust! I still got all these great products!

First I found this lovely emerald shade of nail polish by Julie G cosmetics called *****. I have also seen this brand be called Jesse's girl so I really don't know which to call it. The packaging says Julie G, though, so we'll go with that.I have seen lots of bloggers talk about this brand but since it is only sold in Rite Aid and online, I figured I would not be seeing it anytime soon. There are no Rite Aids around me and I am not one to order online very often (this is usually because I am broke) . When I saw this shade for only a dollar I couldn't pass it up! 

I have since used it on my nails and can definitely say that I am pleased with the formula so far!

 

I have never tried any magnetic nail polishes before. But for $1.60 who can resist? I figured it was worth trying!

 

I have had one experience with "shatter" or "crackle" nails and let me just say, it was not a good one. I was not impressed at all. However when I saw this OPI Nicki Minaj **** polish for only $1.80 I had to snatch it! I am a sucker for a good deal. I am hoping the effect works, and it's cool to have a novelty polish like a Nicki Minaj one.

I got another magnetic polish, this time from Sinful Colors. Mostly what drew me to this was the pattern it has...unfortunately, I didn't realize until I got home that it didn't come with the magnet! I am still going to try using the Sally Hanson magnet, but it won't give it the same pattern it has on the tag :(

So that was my haul from Big Lots. 

Luckily (unluckily for my wallet) there is a Dollar Tree right next to my Big Lots...so of course I had to stop in! and I found more goodies there!

This is my favorite find. It's a gorgeous purple with gold shimmering purple glitter in it. It's beautiful, and it looks great on the nails! It is Milani brand which I have never tried and it is the shade totally cool . That it is, Milani. That it is.

 

I'll admit this was a little of a goofy buy. I don't have any hope whatsoever for the polish in there, but I couldn't pass up those cute little stencils, for only a dollar. 

This is another fun color called Treasure Island by LA colors. Another brand I've never tried but I really liked the color so I hope the formula is nice!

I picked up Elf's shimmering facial whip in lilac petals and I think it might be a little to pinky to work as a highlighter for me. I haven't tried it on my face yet though!

That's it for my dollar tree haul but I have ONE more item that I found at CVS on clearance. I know that most people don't like or prefer black lipstick of any kind but I am really into the vamp-y kind of look.  I got this lipgloss for only 1 dollar and some change!

Rimmel Stay glossy in black

Ignore the extreme closeup of my lips. But here is the gloss on my lips alone, without anything underneath. 

This is layered on top of Urban Decay's sellout. As you can tell I layered the product a bit more this time. It tends to pool at the edges so maybe a lipliner would help prevent this?

This is the gloss layered on top of CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain in Saucy Plum 450

I layered it over this because it's darker and I felt would accent the black more. It's still spotty in places as you can tell on my upper lip.

The 3 lip products next to each other for comparison (sans flash)

I am still searching for a true black lipstick or gloss. They all seem to be spotty and sheer at best. The search continues! But for a buck and some change, I'm not complaining.

I advise everyone to go to their nearest Big Lots and see if they can score any high-end polishes for the low! Let me know in the comments if you found anything good at your local one!

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling