Road Testing a Look...

Also known as "I'm sure glad I trusted my instincts on this one!" Tuesday.

My husband's company Christmas party is this coming weekend. I love it. It's one of a handful of times a year where I just get to go all out, full fledged, no holds barred, glam. Yes, I'm sure you're surprised to find out, being a part time grown up like yours truly, doesn't allow much opportunity for glamour.

So, since it's one of my few chances, I take it. New dress, get my hair done, new makeup, the whole nine. This year, while I was out on Black Friday, I picked up a few things, with an eye toward them being part of my Christmas party look. Instinct told me I should probably test 'em out, so tonight I grabbed up a few, and gave it a dry run.

Here's my guys. All by NYX. In this pic, you see:

Stay Matte But Not Flat liquid foundation in Nude

Stay Matte But Not Flat powder foundation in Nude

Matte Bronzer in Light

Illuminator in Enigmatic

Cream Blush in Boho Chic

The SMBNF power foundation is actually perfectly fine as a foundation in it's own right, just for this particular occasion, I wanted more coverage. Enter the liquid foundation. I was intimidated by the Illuminator too, because it was pink, and I typically buy illuminators in gold. And it was light pink, and illuminators never give off much color in the first place, but even still. Sometimes you get freaked out, know what I mean?

Just so you can see what I'm workin' with, here I am, washed, prepped and primed:

I used the Olay Fresh Effects mattifying face wash, and "Long Live Moisture!" moisturizer, along with L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur (Oil Free). Not bad. Some big pores, a little ruddiness, nothing major and tragic to cover, right?

I get out my Beauty Blender, the SMBNF liquid foundation, and go to town. I pretty quickly realize the error of my ways. In fact, I took a picture of my realizing it, in my bathroom. I don't like to take pictures in my bathroom if I can help it, the lighting is a little warm, but even still. This is no exaggeration;

Do you see the problem I have? As in, I went from "a little redness and some big pores, but nothing terrible..." to looking like a jaundice patient?! In one round with a beauty blender?!

That's the SMBNF liquid foundation only. That's it! But for some reason, at this point, I didn't stop, I kept going. I dutifully powdered, and highlighted, and contoured, and bronzed, and blushed, and did everything I could. I got it up to here;

Yeah. That's what I got to. And this isn't even a super great picture, as quality pictures go, but I like it because at the bottom, you can see the light hit my collarbone, and you can see just how wildly off in color and tone this Stay Matte But Not Flat foundation is.

The kicker? "Nude" is the second to lightest shade they make in this line. Kid you not. It's this dark, and it's the second to lightest shade that they make. Whoever is in charge of shades for the SMBNF line...apparently doesn't know any pale people. This is madness.

And oddly, Boho Chic, the cream blush? Was one of the darkest my CVS had. I had to resort to just stippling it on with my finger, and not even attempting to blend it, just to be able to see it!

Although the bright spot, if you want to look for one? The Enigmatic illuminator? The one I was so intimidated by? I didn't notice any difference between it, and any other illuminator I've ever used.

So a foundation that's bonkers, it's so dark (the formulation is nice, it's just a shame that no one that's any lighter than, say, a Kardashian sister, can possibly use it), a blush that has almost nada for pigmentation, but a nice illuminator. I wasn't exactly batting 1000 on my last NYX shopping trip, was I?

Sure glad I tested this before the day of the party! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an Ulta reciept to find! Until next time, my lovelies!

My Black Friday Haul!

I had my Black Friday haul out on the kitchen table, admiring my handiwork, and I snapped a quick pic so I could share it with everybody!

Mario Badescu Skin Care kit - $10 at Ulta, and came with deluxe size samples of the Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Glycolic Acid Toner, Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater, Peptide Renewal Serum, Seaweed Night Cream, and a packette of the Ceramide Eye Gel. I'm not terribly well versed with Mario Badescu skin care - but for $10, this seems like a stellar way to introduce myself to the line.

And then I went a little NYX crazy, and bought;

Matte lipstick in Alabama. This looks like a lovely, brown toned red. People talk about how everyone needs either an orangey red, or a blue toned one. I find I do better with the brown tones, myself. My skin isn't particularly warm or cool (I say I'm more neutral), so that's probably why.

I also got the Soft Matte Lip Creams, in Milan and San Paulo. San Paulo looks like a medium/deep pink, with Milan very similar, but coming in a few notches lighter. I've never tried either color, but I have tried the soft matte lip cream before. They go on with a doe foot applicator, like a lipgloss would, but dry to a nice stain. If that dry feeling isn't your thing, keep a lip balm handy. The bonus, of course, to the stain, is that they last longer!

Also, I got the Jumbo Eye Pencil in Sparkle Nude. By the by, if you like the jumbo eye pencils, CVS has a lot of them for 50% off right now, which made this little find a whole $2.50!

I stepped a little out of my zone on this one, but got the pressed Illuminator powder, in Enigmatic. Now, a pressed illuminator isn't the part of it that's unusual for me, but Enigmatic is a nice, girly pink tone, which is the unusual part. Typically, when I'm in the market for illuminators, I go for something more in a gold tone. We'll see how well I like this one! If you're wondering why one might need an illuminator powder, it's the "highlight" portion of the "highlight and contour". :)

And lastly, the "Stay Matte But Not Flat" foundation, in Nude. I've been a dyed in the wool BB cream girl for a while, so this will be unusual. But I'm going to my husbands company Christmas party next weekend, and wanted more of a polished look than BB cream might give.

I also got a Too Faced "Beauty Experts Darlings" kit. For $20, this kit included deluxe sized samples of the Chocolate Soleil matte bronzer, La Creme lip cream in Naked Dolly, Better Than Sex mascara, and Shadow Insurance eye shadow primer. I'm not sure which one I'm the most excited to try! The Chocolate Soleil is dark enough that it makes me nervous, but it smells delicious, so it's a toss up. I bought it for the mascara, but who knows?

And lastly - you know it, you love it, you've probably got some in your own bathroom, TIGI Dumb Blonde shampoo and conditioner. It was a deal I couldn't refuse. Normally $18 a piece, on sale for $7?! Yes please!

Look for my reviews, and with any luck, my much happier hair, coming up soon!

Later lovelies!

Black Friday!

Just wanted to do a quick check in with you guys! If you're not shopping on Black Friday, you should probably plan on it, just for the beauty goodies!

Ulta is going bananas on Black Friday. Or, what is rapidly becoming Black Thursday, because they'll have most of these deals live on Thanksgiving Day. Pretty excited for a lot of that stuff, honest. :)

But if drug stores are your jam, CVS will have all NYX lip products on sale for $3.88, and with each purchase, you get a $3 coupon to use on your next purchase of anything at CVS. They don't carry every lip color NYX has, I've compared their displays to being a little more like "NYX's Greatest Hits", but since you're basically paying 88 cents per lipstick, we can deal with them not having everything. :D My husband pointed out that the $3 coupon thing was really only a good deal if you planned to go back to CVS at some point, but like...who doesn't? Everybody goes back to CVS!

Right now at Ulta, virtually their entire drug store side is Buy One, Get One 50% off. Which seems to apply to clearance prices as well. Which prompted me to wonder of Revlon is getting rid of their ShadowLinks shadows. Does anyone know? I tweeted to ask, so far no word. Wal-Greens just put a bunch on clearance, now Ulta has a different bunch on clearance as well. For their price point, they're good shadows, I think. I've been scooping up all the on sale colors.

And for my most absurd find of the week, Ulta has One Direction makeup kits. Not a typo, not a joke. They don't even have them on their website so I can take a pic (but Macy's did; here's one, another, and a third!) Now, like I said, I think this is kind of absurd. But it's probably worth pointing out that I'm not in their target market, and I don't have a daughter I need to be shopping for. If I were personally in their target audience, or had a daughter who was, I'd probably think that that was the most exciting thing I'd seen in a while.

Ooh, one more - lots of places are thinning out their selection of Maybelline Baby Lips too. So if you're a aficionado, scoop up your favorites, they're on the move!

Just got a beauty blender, and I'm a little intimidated by it. So look for updates on that real soon. :)

Until then, my lovelies!