www.taylormademinerals.com

I love this site! They have awesome mineral eyeshadows in BEAUTIFUL colors when applied wet AND they have REAL swatches, not the computer-generated colors! Check it out!

www.taylormademinerals.com

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Reader Question: Shelf-Life of Cosmetics

Q: Hi Vanessa,
Love your site! You have a lot of great tips. I was wondering how long should you keep eyeshadow?
Thanks!
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A: Thanks! I also included the shelf life of other cosmetics, mascara is the quickest to expire. We all have makeup in our drawers that we will "oneday" use and never do!

Concealer up to 12 months: Eye liner should be sharpened regularly. Will last up to three years.

Eyeshadow will also last up to three years. Extra tip: A dark eyeshadow can double as eyeliner. You’ll need a super-flat eyeliner brush for this. Get the brush a little damp and dab in dark eyeshadow (black, brown or deep jewel-tones work great).

Foundation: Check the ingredients, a water-based foundation will last up to 12 months, oil-based will last up to 18 months. You may find you need two different shades of foundation each year:
When your skin is naturally darker and when you’re lighter. Extra tip: If your water-based foundation dries out before its expiry date, simply add a few drops of alcohol-free toner and shake to get rid of clumps. No need to do this to oil-based foundations. Because they contain oil, they will tend to separate. You have to shake anyway.

Lip liner Up to three years. Extra tip: Skip the push-up lipliners. They’re expensive, tend to break and you never really know how much you have left until you run out. No need to spend money on lip liners, there’s no secret to greatness for this product. Save your money for powders and foundation.

Lipstick Up to four years. Extra tip: If you store lipstick in the refrigerator, it will last longer. Bonus tip: Want your lipstick to last longer during the day? Shade in lips with lip liner before applying lipstick.

Mascara This product expires the fastest: Throw out after three months. Extra tip: If you don’t want your mascara to expire faster than its fresh date, don’t pump the wand in and out, you’re only exposing the product to drying air.

Nail Polish Up to 12 months, depending on the quality and how many times you apply it. Powder up to two years.

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My BRUSH BAG!

I got my Brush Bag today from Forever Female and I LOVE IT! I am so happy it fits even my biggest brushes (the Sonia Kushuk one I had for years had become outgrown!)

I can now travel with all my brushes in one easy to carry bag and what I love is how each brush has it's own pocket to eliminate me having to look for which brushes to use, I can see it all right then and there! It even has a sanitary flap to keep my brushes covered and protected while it's in my luggage or makeup box! I can't wait to get my CoastalScents Brushes!

When it's closed:


Open and empty:


Open and filled:

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Reader Questions (RE: Palladio Lipglosses, Nixie Palette, and Face Primers)

Q: I picked one of their glosses a few weeks ago at my sallys beauty supply. I've only used it once but so far so good. Have you tried their shadows?
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A: Yeah I love their lip glosses! Surprisingly I like their colored lip glosses even though I am more of a neutral/light pink lipgloss kinda gal, but their "Raisin" gloss is amazing! I have tried their eyeshadows and I actually like them, they have a good color payoff, I personally don't own any because I have so many eyeshadows already I doubt I need more, LOL!


Q: Hey Vanessa! Is the nixie palette made of cardboard or plastic? I was considering getting one. I like that you can see the colors before you open it up. Or is the MAC one better? I see you have both.
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A: The Nixie Palette was disappointingly made out of cheap cardboard, but nontheless, it's actually pretty sturdy, I DO WISH it was made out of hard plastic like the MAC Palettes or even the hard plastic one they sent me for being a PRO artist, (it's now my Neutral/Highlighting Palette, which btw I was able to get "Amethyst" outta there), but it's the only palette I know of that can fit all my ULTA eyeshadows since they are SO MUCH LARGER than the MAC eyeshadows! Which brings me to buy the bigger ones since they last a lot longer, and so much *ahem* CHEAPER! I got like 4 ULTA eyeshadows for the price of ONE MAC eyeshadow! I am thinking about also trying the MUD Palettes too....


Q: I am looking for a face primer at the moment and was wondering if you could help me out. I clicked "primer" and read the posts you've written. You have so MANY! While I'm at it, can I get your opinion on eye primers as well.

Can you do a review on ALL of your priming products now that you've added more to your collection? Which ones do you like the most? Best deal? Etc.
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A: My favorite for the face primer is: Laura Geller's Spackle (Sephora, $21) and the Sephora one for $12.



If you are on a budget, the Sephora one for $12 is awesome!

Or her Spackle Trio which has the Face Primer, Lip AND Eye Primer, ALL-IN-ONE!


TIP: You can use a cream foundation or concealer as an eye primer, as well as Vaseline.

But for eye primer, I use Urban Decay's Eye Primer Potion (Sephora, $15)


I personally DID NOT like the Airbrush Primer from Essence of Beauty, it felt a little too thick on my skin. Smashbox Face Primer is nice, but to me, the Laura Geller one is light and smooth on my skin, AND they give you more for your money. The Laura Mercier Tinted Face Primer was just too chalky on my skin, so my faves are the ones I mentioned above and what I currently use before I apply my makeup.

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Nixie Palette Arrived!

My palette from Nixie arrived yesterday and I am so unbelievably happy that it fits all my ULTA eyeshadows as well!

I also went to the MAC counter today and they were doing make-overs for their newest collection "smoke signals". I just picked me up their eyeshadow in "Freshwater", I also wanted their pretty neutral brown eyeshadow called "Patina" but they ran out. :( So i'll try the MAC Store in Woodland Hills....

My Nixie Palette:




A little palette happy....


My NEUTRAL/Highlighting Base Palette, I tried to get Amethyst outta there, but it wouldn't budge...


Also picked me up a pen holder which I am using as my lipgloss/pencil holder:


My pretty Freshwater!


And lastly, swatches of some of the blues I have:

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Palladio Lipgloss

In case you are wondering how to get 'em as I know they are not very popular to some of you, they have Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, and very soft on the lips!

CLICK HERE FOR LIP GLOSSES

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Reader Question

Q: If someone is on a budget and couldn't afford MAC, would you tell them to buy NYX?
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A: I am guessing you are a brand spanking new reader to my blog, if you go to some of my first entries (or the NYX Cosmetics label on the right hand side), you will see that I am a big fan of NYX! MAC IS expensive, and there are MANY other alternatives to MAC. I personally am open to EVERY BRAND imaginable, and my collection does not consist of just high-end brands or low-end brands; but a mixture of brands. I love NYX eyeshadows, loose powdered eyeshadows, and their lip glosses. I recently have been "collecting" MAC because I am really starting to like their color payoff, pigmentation, and quality of their products and I do see a difference between MAC and drugstore brands as well.

For example, MAC's Lipglasses stay on a lot longer for me than some of my drugstore lip glosses, even though I DO love the colors of drugstore brands better. So it just really depends on what works best for you. I bought a NYX Blush one time, and it cracked as soon as I got home! I never bought it again, and my MAC Blush lasts me for a long time! I also LOVE MAC's Paint Pots, it seriously stays on till you wash it off and I don't know any other brands that have anything remotely close to MAC Paints. To me, id rather spend $16 on an eyeshadow that will last me a long time AND has great pigmentation, rather than $5 and having to go out and buy it every 3 weeks. It just varies from person to person and I personally just buy what I like, if I can find a "MAC look-alike" for a lot cheaper, then I go for that one. Milani eyeshadows are a perfect example.

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Lipgloss Swatches

Some of you have been asking me about the lipglosses I use in some of my tutorials, and so I made a lipgloss swatch chart of my most commonly used lipglosses, I have others but rarely use them, so these are the ones that are on rotation...my favorite is NYX's Lipgloss in "Bubblegum".



And here is a swatch of NYX's Chrome Eyeshadow in "Blue Lagoon":



Im heading back to the MAC Store to pick up "Fresco Rose", at first I didn't think I can use it often since it's pink, but we'll see, I think it'll make a great all over base. I can't wait to get my palette from Nixie and fill it up! I pretty much have every eyeshadow shade/color I want, I just wanna get ULTA's "Peacock" and a few of their other colors. I LOVE the "Rubenesque" Paint, it's super pretty!

I think I wanna get a MAC Lipstick too, even though I am not much of a lipstick person, I used to get their "Folio" all the time during my teenage years, but it has since been discontinued and haven't found anything even close to it. But I am eyeing their "Brew" Lipstick from the "Smoke Signals" Collection....

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Reader Question (RE: Flat top brush)

Q: What do you use the flat top brush for? Thank you.
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A: I use it to apply my mineral makeup (foundation), I find it a lot easier to use a flat top brush AND it gives me awesome coverage and is less messy because it gives me better control as well as "holding" onto the minerals on its bristles. You can also use it as a bronzer or applying other makeup as well, not just for minerals.

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I love Coastal Scents (www.coastalscents.com)

They are having a HUGE Clearance sale right now and I got a blending brush for $1.99! And their Limited Edition PINK handled Flat Top Brush for $4.99! I was not ready to shell out $17+ for a damn brush....I even got the TRAVEL Flat top too!

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