Beauty Bible: Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets

Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Gorgeous

I left my SD card in my camera at work so most of the pics for upcoming posts are on it, therefore I was unable to work on the smokey eye post, as well as other product reviews so I will have to work on those next week. But they are coming! I am on my last book "Breaking Dawn" of the Twilight series so I am sure once I am done I can concentrate more on the blog, LOL. It's too addicting I tell you, once you start something that sparks your interest...you just gotta know how it ends!



Anyway, I recently got a helpful book "Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Gorgeous" you can get it on Amazon.com for around $13.

It's a pretty awesome book. It contains hundreds of insider tips and tricks from scoring a flawless complexion to creating a ton of hairstyles to working the latest makeup trends. It has a lot of helpful illustrations, pictures and how-to's to help even those who are new to makeup.

Also includes secrets such as getting silky, smooth hair, captivating eyes, and soft fill lips; as well as at-home spa ideas to pamper yourself like a pro.

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Eye Makeup Application Areas

I get a TON of questions on what areas of the eye are what, where to apply certain colors, etc. Like where to contour the eye or what the Outer-V is, so I created an "eye map" of where to apply your eyeshadow(s). "All over the lid" is obviously all over the lid, you might hear "brow bone" that is also the same as highlight. For me, MY crease is the top of where my eyeball naturally sits, not the actual crease. Which is why sometimes I will call it "contour", because you are creating depth in your eye to make it larger or place the eyeshadow color deeper in this area to bring it out more.

I hope this helps you out, I also included an actual eye pic with various colors so you can see EXACTLY where they should be placed...

*Note this doesn't have to be done everytime (makeup wise), you can do one color as your lid color for something simple, or make it more intricate. This is just a map of the various areas of the eye to help you when you read "apply on outer-V", you now know where it should go!

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They look hot! Twilight HOT!

I know Anastasia is gonna kill me because she isn't too fond of the book, but I gotta admit they look so adorable in this pic! Awww Bella and Edward, LOL.

I already bought my ticket to see the movie, I am excited to see how it turns out in comparison to the book as well!

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Urban Decay Friends & Family Sale! 11/10-11/18

Thanks to sgDrugstore as well for the heads up!

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Eyeshadow Primers: Art Deco & TheSheSpace Black Primer

I am already done with #1 and #2 and I barely started reading it on Saturday! I can't put the book down, gotta love ROMANCE! LOL. I can't wait to see the movie!

***Many of you asked me to do a tutorial on the smokey eye I did a few posts down using the Smokey Palette (as well as the run down), I will be doing it this week! So stay tuned, and of course I did not forget your other requests, editing pictures as well finding time to actually do them takes time (which I hardly have nowadays!) so I am trying to post some older posts to get em outta the way, but it's coming :)!***

I recently acquired 2 new eye primers: Art Deco Eyeshadow Base & SheSpace's Black Eye Primer.

The Art Deco Eyeshadow Base is NOT available here in the US. I had it CP'd to me (custom purchase) thanks to a wonderful friend Gio, from Beautifulwithbrains. It is a UK product (notice I said UK product as in they have it there, but the brand is German) and it is VERY hard to find, although it's also available in other areas like Poland from what other readers have told me. I suggest finding someone in the UK to send it to you if you are interested. It costs around $10 USD.

The Art Deco Eyeshadow Base is tinier than I imagined, (or at least in comparison to the picture I have seen online of it), but nonetheless, there is plenty of product in there! It's a tiny black jar, easy to tote around. It has a fragrance to it, that reminds me of a men's cologne my dad used to wear called 'Brut'. So it's no surprise that he was the first person I thought about when I smelled it. The consistency is the same to that of UDPP or TFSI (Too Faced Shadow Insurance). It has a slight shimmer, barely noticeable to the eye, and it goes on clear. It holds my eyeshadow for most of the day, and of course adds vibrancy to my eyeshadows. The only con? Like I said, it's not an easy product to find! (It was hard to take a pic of it by itself as the camera would not catch it, sorry!)





TheSheSpace Black Eye Primer adds vibrancy to eyeshadows. Although it works on certain colors (mainly darker ones), I tried it with "Fuchsia" MAC Pigment and it totally changed the color into a purple/pink, so if you are open to creating new colors, it's definitely neat to use, but if you are looking for a plain eyeshadow primer that WON'T alter the color, then stick with a colorless primer like UDPP or TFSI.





For these swatches I only used ONE loose pigment: MAC "Kelly Green" Pigment


(About Face IS "The She Space" in case you are wondering, same company!)


So how do these compare to each other? Well as you know, UDPP works better for me than TFSI. TFSI just didn't last long on my DRY lids. Art Deco has great staying power, easier to apply since it's in a pot, and the tiny shimmer it has really adds depth to my eyeshadows. The She Space black primer is great for certain colors, especially when it comes to creating an entirely new color that is also just as charming. (As you can see from my swatches). I can't really pick out "my favorite" since Art Deco and UDPP work about the same for me, and Art Deco is hard to find. The black primer is in a separate league of it's own considering it's not a clear base and alters certain pigment and eyeshadow colors.

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Cherry Culture Product Review: Styli-Style 24 Eyeshadow Pencils

Who doesn't love an easier way to apply eyeshadow? Take it from me, I am always in a rush traveling from point A to point B every time, that I love time-savers, especially when it comes to makeup. Any product that makes applying makeup a cinch in a short amount of time catches my attention; and by default I love Styli-Style products which is why I was excited to try the Styli-Style Shadow 24 because I am always looking for innovative makeup products, especially eye shadows or eye makeup that's designed to make life a lot easier!

It is described as a cream-to-powder formula that comes in a pen-like wand and has a soft, velvety sponge-tip for easy application that lasts 24 hours. The eye shadow color itself is located inside the actual cap of the wand, you just twist with the cap each time, and you have finely milled powder on the sponge tip. I tried out the “Sand” color, since I figured it would make a great highlighter on the brow bone. The color was great I just didn't really like this particular product from Styli-Style, I personally thought it was hard to apply with, and it didn't last 24 hours on me like it claims and I even have dry eyelids. Also because the sponge is pointed and tiny, it's hard to get color all over your eyelid and seems like the way it was designed is similar to that of an eyeliner where you have a pointed tip to work with. However it is easy to apply in general as the powder itself is pretty pigmented and finely milled for best results.

However, I do think this is perfect for lining your eyes if you are looking for a pop of color on your eyes to make your peepers stand out; especially on the lower lash line since it gives you perfect control and precision and the sponged tip part allows you to smudge the color in for a more smoky look. It's also in a nice pen-like packaging which makes it easy to just travel with or carry with you in your purse for touch-ups throughout the day, and is mess free since the powder is located deep inside the cap. These pencils come in a wide range of colors to suit everyone's style and are available for only $8 each, if you planning on nabbing one of these definitely check out the other Styli-Style products to compliment your look as their eyeliner and lip pencils are awesome!

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Product Review & Tutorial: Too Faced Borderline Lip Pencil

When Too Faced had their sale, I bought their Borderline Anti-Feathering Lip Pencil which is a clear-transparent thick lip pencil that you use to outline the borders of your lips to prevent feathering and bleeding of your lipstick or lipgloss basically keeping it "inside" the invisible border. You can also use it all over your lips for better control and hold for your lipstick or gloss.

Product: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Quality: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Would I buy again? Yes
Price: $18.50, TooFaced.com, Sephora.com

They describe it as: Keep your lipstick and now even lip gloss from traveling beyond your lip's borders with Borderline; a matte colorless lip pencil designed to fill in and plump up vertical lip lines while it locks down your favorite lip products. Apply to the area just outside the natural lip line to forego feathering and pamper your pucker with skin soothing moisturizing and firming ingredients. Our one-color-fits-all wonder pencil will revolutionize the way you wear lip gloss. No more sloppy fading creeping color.

How to use:
-Smoothly sketch or draw Borderline on or around lip area.
-Create a natural lip shape by staying slightly inside the lip. To plump up lip shape apply around your lip area slightly outside your natural lip line.
-Fill lips in entirely for super control.

Magical Performance - Colorless protection lays an invisible layer to wear with any shade of lip color.
Flawless Pout - Provides an anti-feathering barrier for lipstick and lip gloss.
Lip Lock Down - Line within the natural lip shape or overdraw if necessary, Borderline will keep lip products right where you want!
Infinite Skin Tones - Matches any skin tone.

Ingredients: Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Petrolatum, Synthetic Beeswax, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Polyethylene, Mineral Oil, Oleyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, BHT, Butylparaben, Citric Acid. May Contain (+/-): Mica.

PROS:
- No odor/smell- Completely odorless, just like wax
- Easy to apply, no tugging on the lips, similar consistency to that of chapstick
- Comes with its own sharpener
- Kept my lipstick "within the border"
- Feels moisturizing, doesn't give you that dry feeling

CONS:
- Lipstick/gloss doesn't last too long (like similar products like this)
- Price ($18.50 seems a lot to me for just wax, LOL) but I would buy it again

Overall? I like it, I am sure there are better ones out there, but this one works fine for me and keeps my lip color from bleeding outside the outlines of my lips. I rarely re-apply my lipstick/gloss when I am at work so I use it in the morning before I go to work and that's it...

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Shespace Swatches the Autumn 2008 Collection & Reader Questions!

I finally did swatches from my She Space haul last month. These are just SOME swatches from the Autumn 2008 collection that can still be found on her site.

Aren't they pretty? No base was used for these swatches.


Here are some recent reader questions:

Q: Are the little darlings lipglass/lustreglass sets sticky?
A: Yes they are sticky, they are exactly the same as their full-sized, permanent siblings- the only difference is that they are smaller (hence little darlings), but they are the same in terms of pigmentation, consistency, smell, taste, and texture. ALL MAC lipglosses are sticky to me, but I like it because they stay on a little longer than normal lipglosses I own; even though my hair disagrees with me when it finds itself stuck on my lips!

Q: Do the soft sparkle pencils have long staying power?
A: Unfortunately they don't, they smudge and wash away easily, but they have great pigmentation and color. I personally love Urban Decay's 24/7 Eyeglide Pencils, they do not smudge, they stay on and they are waterproof!

Q: What's the actual difference beetween lipglass, lustreglass, dazzleglass etc? to me they all look the same.......
A: The lipglasses have a sponge-tipped applicator, they have a lot of shine, and can be work alone or on top of lipstick/lipliner, the lustreglasses have a tiny brush wand and they are a lot more shiny and have a "glass look" almost metallic in some colors, the dazzleglasses are in a longer tube and have actual tiny flecks of glitter to give a more obvious shine and sparkle.

Q: What are the differences between MAC eyeshadow finishes? (Such as frost, satin, veluxe, etc.)
A: Enkore has a GREAT video on this!


From Specktra, they are described as:
SATIN - Pure color in Satin style finish, provides soft subtle non frost light refractive sheen.

FROST - irridescent shine that adds a highlight quality to any color.

LUSTRE - smoothly pearlized; intensely frosted with a deluxe ultra fine "conditioned" finish.

VELVET - Soft look finish, plush velvety look & feel.

VELUXE - superfine texture. Pigment rich & very luxe. Supple to apply, silky smooth matte finish.

VELUXE PEARL - Vibrant velvety soft with a metallic shimmer veluxe formula overlaid with high-shine pearl.

Q: What ingredients are in the Acmedica Acne Night Powder?
A: I accidentally threw the packaging away, but sites say it contains Sulfur and Vitamin C derivatives to help prevent acne.

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MAC Holiday Collection- Passions of Red & Little Darlings

I know, I am SO behind on everything, including the latest MAC holiday collections! I made a goal to catch up this weekend on all your questions/emails/comments, as well as all the product reviews you ladies are waiting for. I have TONS of stuff to review it's insane. My vanity and bathroom look like a tornado hit it with all the products just sprawled across his sink and mine, the BF is probably getting annoyed since my stuff is all over the place haha.

Anyway, I bought a few things from this year's holiday collection (last week) of course I had to get my hands on the little darlings collection! I love lippies, so the thought of having the pink and neutral lip/lustreglass set made me giddy! For $29.50 each set, that's a steal considering that one lipglass or lustreglass is around $14.50-$15 EACH. And you get 5 good-sized tubes in the holiday set, and they are all really pretty colors. Last year I passed on the lippie sets and instead got the eyeshadow palettes and the cool pigment set, but this year I went the complete opposite where I bought all lippies, and no pigments. (Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the Coral lip set!)

I also bought the Smokey Eyes Palette, I really wasn't going to get ANY of the eyeshadow palettes from Passions of Red simply because most of the colors are dupable with some of MAC's permanent colors OR they were just bleh to me considering I still have BARELY touched LAST YEAR'S holiday palettes. Even though I have last year's smokey eye palette, I wanted to get this year's because last year's was more on the smokey brown side, rather than the grey's and blacks and I thought it would just be a nice palette to have. (Also in case any of you are interested, I am selling LAST YEAR'S smokey eye palette from the Antiquitease collection since I have only used it twice and probably will never use it again, $30 with shipping, US Residents only, original price was $36, email me).

I also included a picture of the WARM eyes palette that my friend got, she let me play with it to get these pics, LOL.













No base, just lipgloss...
Swatches from the PINK set (my favorite is "Song & Dance" and some of the swatches are crappy since I was in a hurry!):










Swatches from the NEUTRAL set (my favorite is "love nectar"):
















Using the smokey eyes palette (inner lid used a bit of "Vex" which is NOT in the palette, but it's a permanent e/s):


WARM eyes:

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