All Vegan Palette Now up at Urban Decay!

Yay!  I've been waiting for this palette to come up.  I love the colors, and the fact that it's vegan means it can be used on vegan/vegetarian people (I try to respect things like that when doing someone's makeup.  Granted, that isn't often, hehe).

Besides that, the Guerlain Fall palettes are up at Nordstrom.  $85 is a lot of money for a palette, but I just keep telling myself that it is 6 eyeshadows, and the packaging is to die for.  If you haven't seen what they look like, temptalia has some good pictures.  Karlasugar also has some swatches, in case you are interested.

... Bah

*Sigh* When it rains, it pours.  (No one passed this time, but serious amounts of RL stuff happened, and is still going on).

I'm going to change my blog to just random posts (as in random time, random subject, etc.).  It's the best that I can do at this time.  I just wanted to let people know that, no, I have not abandoned my blog, but I just can't write on it like I want to.

On another note:

Free shipping at Giorgio Armany with FSHIPPING code.
shu uemura is offering 2 deluxe samples of depsea facial mist with code DEPSEA
DuWop vintage sale from July 21st - July 27th (50% off vintage stuff, or something like that)
stila's new travel palette is up

Happy shopping!

Urban Decay Sale!

Good deal, so I thought I would share it with you guys.

Estée Lauder Pure Color Crystal Lipstick

 image from nordstrom.com

Price: $22 for .13oz (3.8g)

What they say:
"Sheer color, daring shine. We've got your shade.

Light Up Your Lips

    * Super shine finish.
    * Cool, crystalline, high fashion shades with sheer coverage.
    * Prismatic crystal effects create a dazzling brilliance and dimension.
    * Delicately fragranced with a delectable fresh fig scent."

What I say:
The color that I got was Tiramisu, which I would describe as a light pink rose, without the brown many rose shades often have.  This lipstick is super sheer, so more shades would suit many skin tones.  Estée Lauder says that this lipstick has a crystal effect that creates a dazzling brilliance and dimension.  To me, this was a shiny, but not too shiny lipstick, that looked more like you applied a balm over or underneath.  Not a bad look, and one that can fit any age, in my opinion.

Pure Color Crystal Lipstick's texture is very much like a balm, which is refreshing, since many lipsticks can dry out lips.  I did notice some flakes being accentuated when I first applied this lipstick, but that was because my lips were in particularly bad shape (air conditioning can do that to me).  While the lipstick applies, and feels like, a balm, the stick itself is not too soft, so I have no worries about the base wobbling if I use too much pressure, of it melting too easily in the heat.  Mostly, I think, it is your lip temperature that makes it apply so smoothly.

The smell is the typical Estée Lauder kinda perfumey fig, which while not entirely pleasant, does fad quickly, and isn't the worst smell that I have had a lipstick have.  I would prefer having no scent over the fig scent, but it isn't a deal breaker to me.

The packaging is really nice, and I like the NYX-style lipstick in the bottom of the tube for easy identification.  Having the cap be a gold colored metal that somehow isn't the fingerprint magnet that I thought it would be is also a nice touch.

Overall, this was a nice lipstick, and one that I can see myself using up, since the color is a nice work color, without being just another MLBB (though I would classify this particular color as that).  The scent is a little bit strange to me, but the texture more than makes up for that, since it applies smoothly, with no need for a mirror.  I can't say that the price is that good, but at least you get a decent product for what you pay.  May or may not purchase another one, since the color selection, especially with a product this sheer, leaves much to be desired.

3.5/5 (minus for color selection and price)

Sonia Kashuk Travel Kabuki Brush

Price: $17.99 at Target

What I say:
This brush is so bad.

Back in the day, or should I say, a while ago, I had a great travel kabuki brush.  It was soft, it was compact, it was easy to bring with me, but it had a little problem; the glue for the ferrel was not the best, and eventually the brush head fell out of the brush, and while I could have fixed it, I thought I should buy another one instead.  The original brush was from an online mineral company, and the brush wasn't marked, and since it was a gift, and I had no idea who the company was...

Any case, this lead me to find another brush, but most companies charged quite a bit for a brush that I wasn't sure if I would like online, and not many companies sell decent ones in person.  Finally, I stumbled upon this brush at Target, and as there was a tester, I was able to get a feel for the brush before purchase.  The brush in person was soft, not shedding, not too stiff, not scratchy, and basically a good brush for the price.

New brush in hand, I headed home, and quickly lost the brush (if you have cats, you can guess what happened).  Luckily, being a tube, the brush was unharmed when I finally got it back, and so I started to clean, and use, said brush.

Hmm, a bit of shedding.  Well, even the most expensive brands can shed when first washed.

Hmm, a bit scratchy, well, that's not good.

Hmm, it smells funny, strange I didn't notice that in person.  Maybe if I let it air out a bit.

Hmm, still shedding, and now it is shedding when I use it on my face.  I never had a brush do that before.

Huh, still shedding, still scratchy, still smells, doesn't apply makeup well... bah!

Maybe I got a bad brush?  Or maybe Sonia Kashuk sends the best brushes, or superior quality ones, for testing.  Strange, because I have heard a number of good things about this brand's brushes before, and thought that after the reviews, and seeing it in person, that maybe I had found a good buy.

Overall, this brush is rubbish.  About the only thing that I can say it does even slightly okay is apply a layer of translucent powder (like blotting powder) during the day when traveling, and even that I have to be careful doing, since the application is sometimes messy from how this picks up powder.  You can try this in person, and maybe you'll be more lucky than I, but for the price, and how the tester was, I really expected a lot better than this.

1/5, don't waste your money (or hope you are more lucky than I was)

Update: new posts ^_^

No, this isn't an update to tell you that I am not posting.  This is an update to tell you about what!

Still waiting for my haul from Texas (almost all gifts, but still, a haul).  I had to ship it to me, and it still isn't here yet, so I can't do that for tomorrow, as planned *sigh*.

Posts about parts of the haul!  (Already have one ready to go, but first I will post a post that I had hoped to get done before I had to leave, so that's tomorrow's).

More skincare!  Being only able to take travel sizes of items really makes you travel light, and try new things.  For once, it didn't cause breakouts! (woot)

Nail polish review.

Hope I get my package soon.  Without it, I might just have to rummage around the house until I find something to review.  *Continues to stare out the window, waiting for UPS or USPS.... should have asked how they were shipping it*

And now, a rant!

/rant/ Okay MAC, I know you like to create hype about a product, but I tried last night after midnight to get Stereo Rose, but it didn't go up yet, and I tried again this morning, and it was already sold out.  If you know a product is going to sell really well, maybe you should make more of it?  I was going to order more from that collection, but decided I really didn't need any of it, and since the one thing I really ordered was sold out, I skipped (so basically, they lost money).  *Sigh*  Oh well, at least it's just makeup, not something like a vaccine, hehe. /rant/

Finally Back!

Yay, I'm back.  I was hoping to write a review or two while I was gone, but I only got to even check my email once, so that didn't happen.  I hope everyone is well, and that my absence didn't completely bore you.

Glad to be back!