Pearls by Carol's Daughter

Hey Beauties! Happy Monday!

I hope you are all getting your week off to a fabulous start. My weekend was super busy (and super hot!) but fun nonetheless. Now it's back to work!

I just wanted to stop in today to let you know that I have OFFICIALLY checked Pearls by Carol's Daughter off my lemming list. Yup! This fragrance is certainly not new (or should I say brand new) to the scene but it's the latest edition to my fragrance collection and I'm so happy I finally got my hands on it.

I actually wanted this back in December for Christmas but never got it. The Pearls set comes in a pretty jewelry box-style container and includes the fragrance and body creme. Sweet! I picked the set up at Sephora over the weekend (it's also available online at CarolsDaughter.com) and I'm so glad I did. This scent is right up my alley...light and floral with hints of fruit. Not too overpowering but definitely long-lasting. I fell in love the first time I smelled it. Oh it also gets the Sephora natural seal of approval!

You can purchase Pearls at Sephora or Carol's Daughter for $45 or $49.50 for the set.

Have a wonderful week, beauties!

M.

Stila Loves Barbie New Smudge Pots!

Hey Beauties,

Check out the new Stila Loves Barbie Smudge Pots! Seriously that blue and purple look GORGEOUS. Right now you can grab these babies up at stilacosmetics.com during their exclusive pre-launch.

You can also use coupon code SMUDGEPOTS for free shipping on orders $25 and over (offer expires 8/29/09)

Happy Shopping!

M.

Lipstick Queen's Chinatown Glossy Pencils!

Hey Beauties, Happy Tuesday!

Today I'm really excited to share with you two of the latest additions to my lipgloss collection: LQ's Chinatown Glossy Pencils in Crime (sheer hot pink) and Mystery (sheer vibrant purple).

I ordered these last week per the recommendation of fellow beauty blogger Felicia of ThisThatBeauty. Her recommendations are always on point and this is no exception.

Here's how Lipstick Queen describes them...

BRIGHT COLORS in a SUPER SHEER,
super moisturizing "draw on" gloss.
Yes! Gloss in a jumbo-sized pencil...
Welcome to Chinatown baby!

Check them out...
The pretty boxes...


The backside of the boxes...the original artwork is inspired by Roman Polanski's Chinatown (also inspiration for the glossy pencils!)


The beauties....


Okay here's Crime (sheer hot pink) on yours truly...




Here's Mystery (sheer vibrant purple) on me...




I LOVE them! No...really I do. They give a great amount of shine, they are smooth and moisterizing and the color is buildable. I think for these pics I had a medium amount of color on (you can go lighter or darker). They are also a good size and come with a special sharpener.

Lipstick Queen's Chinatown Glossy Pencils can be purchased HERE for $20 each.

Milan's Rouge Mondays: Down With The Swirl! Covergirl Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush

Hey Beauties!

Happy Monday. I'm sorry I was MIA last week but I needed a blogging break to really focus on work as things are really crazy in my office. But I'm back and excited for today's Rouge and also excited about some of the other posts I have planned this week. :) So let's get to it!

Today's Rouge is Covergirl's New Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush in Lush Berry. A couple weeks ago I got a nice email in my inbox from the Covergirl.com site about this new blush. I was colormatched for the Lush Berry according to my profile (if you want to get a colormatched profile from Covergirl click HERE). Sweet! I was interested in trying it out and now I didn't have to go to the drugstore and do the guesswork on which color would best suit me. Love!

Here's what the Covergirl site has to say about Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush:
"Creamy color defines cheekbones and stays suspended over fine lines and wrinkles for flattering flawless coverage. The Olay Regenerist Serum inside is infused with vitamins, skin conditioners and anti-oxidants that actually help improve skin texture to give you an instant healthy-looking, youthful glow."

Check it out in the pot!


Okay here's my rant though....I purchased this a couple week's ago but didn't open it until I was preparing my post for today. The hoops I had to go through to figure out how to open this blush was enough to give me a SERIOUS attitude with it. It doesn't come with any other packaging than the pot the blush is in and a seal sticker on the side. No instructions on how to open. So I figure once I break and peel off the sticker on the side it should easily open, right? WRONG! The pot has two sections...the bottom clearly has a catch on it so you can open it up...revealing a section that houses a sponge. See below...



Okay nice...great. But how do I get to the good goodness on the inside?! I looked for another latch. None. I twisted. Nope. I picked and pulled at it (chipping nailpolish and coming dangerously close to breaking off a couple fingernails). Still nothing. Now i'm irritated. So I google search to see if anyone else asked how on EARTH you're supposed to open this up. Didn't come up with anything. I headed back to Covergirl's website...got on the live beauty chat and waited for a representative to help me. Uggh! As soon as the representative got on the chat I asked her to help me open my pot of blush. She proceeded to tell me that the pot is sealed EXTREMELY tight to maintain the freshness of the blush. At this point...I don't care WHY. Just tell me how to open it. So she tells me to grab the pot upside down (this is apparently what i've been doing wrong...I was trying to twist it right side up). Make sure I'm holding a different section of the pot (meaning one hand on the bottom and one hand on the top portion). She told me to twist the bottom purple part counter clockwise while holding the top creamy blush portion steady. Viola! It twisted open. Sigh.

Here it is all open:



And here it is on yours truly....

Natural Light





Artificial Light

Overall after I got over my anger with the blush pot and Covergirl for taking me through that, I like! Its a really creamy texture and it feels slightly wet going on (blends well) and then after a minute or so it dries down nicely. I used my fingers (I despise sponges for blush application) and and applied to the apples of my cheeks and blended up towards my hairline. It also made my cheeks feel VERY VERY soft. Like a supple baby bottom (lol!). The color, as you can see, is very subtle although it's actually darker in person that it appears on camera (it flashes really light on camera). I do think that this is a good colormatch for my tone as the others would probably be WAAAY too light (although I did pick up one other color that may work...stay tuned I'll showcase it on Rouge Mondays soon!).

Let me know what you think? Have you tried this yet?

Milan's Nailpolish Addiction Stash!

Hey Ya'll!

I was able to get the pics of my nailpolish stash done last night so I'm going to share them with you today. I have become quite the polish girl in the past year and a half and my close friends know that I usually change up my polish color (on my hands) every few days or so. I counted them up and I have about 135 nail colors and about 20 nail treatments and base/top coats. The pic to your right is how they are usually stored. The basket is EXTREMELY heavy now and takes some work picking it up. I also need an alternative storage solution for my polishes. I'm thinking individual boxes grouped by color....we'll see.

Check it out!
My little soldiers...


Greens! I think these and my purples are the largest color collection. I just have a thing for green and purple nailpolish...


Purples!


Pinks!


Silver/Greys!


Blues!


Light Pinks and Peaches!


Berries!


Blacks and Blackened Colors!


Oranges!


Neon Purple! These actually look like the same color pretty much...it photographs pink but they are actually neon purple


Neutrals/Nudes!


Yellows/Golds/Burgundy!


Reds!


Nail Treatments/Design Colors!


Misc. Nail Stuff!

A Match Made in Heaven! Blush Tip...

Hey Beauties!

So I'm a tad embarassed to admit that I missed Monday's installment of Rouge. One of my favorite beauty blogging gals asked me about it (thank you for keeping me on my toes, girl!) so I decided to do a blush post this week to make up for Monday. I will resume the official Rouge Monday next week but in the meantime I wanted to drop a little tip on ya...

I've actually showcased both of these beauties on Rouge Mondays but together...they are AMAZING.

Blush Tip! If you're ever looking for flushed cheeks that seem to glow from within, try pairing a deep colored blush (for example in a red or berry tone) with a bronzey/golden color on top. Together this gives the illusion of a natural cheek flush that seems to radiate from within. I love it!

For this, I use NYX Rouge Cheek Cream in Red Cheeks topped with MAC's Warm Blend.


Check it out:




Have a great day, Beauties!

M.

Milan's Makeup Stash! Part II

Round 2 of the Makeup Stash...let's go!! :-) Click HERE to see Part I...


My larger makeup palettes...


Palettes Spread out...


Palettes Open...to the far left is the Coastal Scents/Crown Brush 88-palette, to the right is the 120-palette I got from EBAY (my FAVORITE!) and up top is the Coastal Scents neutral/nude eye palette


MAC 15-pan palettes that I've filled up...I need to grab another palette so I can depot some other shadows I have.


To the left is the Mehron Tropical cake palette and to the right is the Coastal Scents 78-eye/blush palette


Misc. Eyeshadow box...mini palettes/pigments and other shadows that I haven't/won't depot.


Misc. Eyeshadow box spread out...


Misc. Smaller Eyeshadow palettes, Special Edition/Holiday palettes, lashes, etc Box....


Misc. smaller palette box spread out...


Misc. smaller palettes open...


The Mini Goody Drawers...


Top Drawer...Mascaras...


Middle Drawer...pot glosses, balms, misc. glosses


Bottom Drawer...err...more random glosses/lippies LOL


Random stuff that hangs out because I use them often...


I THINK that's it!! Whew!! Thanks for checking out my stash. ;-)

Stay tuned for my nail polish stash...hopefully I can get that up tomorrow.

Have a beautiful day, ya'll.

M.