Mini Sephora Haul

Hello lovelies,

I apologize once more for the lack of posts and comments. Other than planning my summer vacation, I haven't really done much but take some time for myself to just relax and think about what I'm going to do with my life, lol...fun eh? I need to get back into the makeup groove! I sorta lost my motivation.
I'm thinking about entering the Luuux contest so I'll sure come up with something this weekend otherwise I won't have any time for it.
So, this is an overdue haul. I actually purchased these products last weekend. I went out shopping with a couple co-worker friends. One of them is a Sephora virgin, lol...She's so cute. It was exciting to see her make her first Sephora and MAC purchases.
Myself, on the otherhand, had to take it easy since I'm such a makeup junky. I was actually proud of myself for not going crazy.

I purchased the Sephora Favorites In the Glow kit. This set contains 7 generously sample size products. I haven't had a chance to try any of these yet since I wanted to take the picture first. I thought that for the price of $35.00, it was a pretty good bargain.

This set contains:

• Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Illuminating Serum
• Clarins Delicious Self-Tanning Cream
• Kate Somerville Exfolikate
• Boscia Luminizing Black Mask
• Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation
• Ole Henricksen Truth Serum
• Josie Maran Argan Oil

The products I look forward to the most are Exfolikate and the Boscia Black Mask. The package has a nice range of facial products so I do hope I end up liking the other stuff too. I tried really hard not to buy any makeup but I've been eyeing the new Urban Decay products so I might pick up a couple more stuff next time I go back to Sephora.

I also received this free MAKE UP FOREVER VIB set with my purchase. I thought that was pretty neat. I love it when they do those kind of promo. They are all mini size but heck, still useful and cute.
The set includes:

• HD Powder
• Smoky Lash Mascara
• Lab Shine lipgloss
• Aqua Eyes eyeliner
• A plastic travel bag

At last, a clear eyebrow gel. Is it just me or what, I can't seem to find any clear eyebrow gel in drugstores anymore.

So that's it for my haul. Nothing too exciting. Booo me :-/

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NYX Matte Lipsticks (Swatches and First Impression)

I purchased these new lippies from Cherry Culture during their 4th of July sale and just received them a few days ago. It took a little while for shipping and the tracking number they gave me didn't work since I wasn't able to track anything with it. Eventually it arrived so that is what matters the most.

NYX just very recently launched these Matte lipsticks and my curiosity really wanted to test these babies out because for I sort of have a huntch that I will like these for some reason, lol. Anyways, I have not put these to the test yet so this is not a review but more of first impression with some swatches. Once I have a better feel for these, I will do a review with swatches on my lips/face, etc...

First off, the packaging looks and feel cheap! Oh well. The case has a matte finish also, which is silimar to that of MAC.
These lippies retails for $4.99. I also bought a Milani blush with my Cherry Culture order. The great thing about this purchase is that I used my rewards points toward this order so I was able to get $14.00 off and I only ended up paying  $13.50 after shipping was added. I did not want to spend $40 + for the free shipping because there was nothing else I really wanted. But anyways, to be honest, I totally forgot about my rewards points and when I looked at how much I could redeem it for I was quite excited! So if you buy a lot from Cherry Culture or if you think of buying from them in the future, keep that in mind and don't forget to redeem them.

The shades I purchased are...

• Tea Rose - a dusty/mauvy rose
• Sweet Pink - A medium fuschia
• Sierra - it's like a hybrid between coral, pink, and brown.
• Summer Breeze - medium blue-based pink

When I swatched them, the formula is very pigmented and creamy without feeling slippery. They have a very slight fruity scent that reminds me of Estee Lauder's lipsticks...So far I like and I am happy with the colors I picked and this is pretty much all I can tell you at this point so I will keep you posted once I get to use these a little more.

Have you tried any of these new NYX product yet? Would they be of any interest to you?


 **UPDATE--For additional swatches for other shades, please click HERE.  **


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Milani Baked Blushes - Part 2

I've managed to get my hands on  a few more of the Milani Baked blushes since I really liked the ones I purchased a little while ago. I've already done a review on these blushes on Part 1 so I will not be reviewing these but just give you a brief description on the product and color.

Red Vino looks like a deepened raspberry with a tint of purple and lots of gold shimmers and some gold veining running through it.  This color is very pigmented and maybe more suitable for darker skintone but you can still rock this if you are fair/light skinned and use a light hand.

Fantastico Mauve looks like a mauvy purple in the pan. It's actually not as intense and a slightly muted version of Red Vino. It also has a significantly reduced amount of gold shimmers but some pink and white veining running through it.

Rose D'Oro is a pinkish/coral with lots of fine gold and pink shimmers with some gold veining running through it. It reminded me a lot of MAC Stereorose but when I swatched them side-by-side, Stereorose is much more finely-milled, slightly lighter and more muted than Rose D'oro. Rose D'Oro also has a more prominent orange undertone. Although they may be similar in color, they are not quite dupes IMO.

Here is a heavy swatch of the shades 

And here is a blended swatch

Red Vino and Fantastico Mauve may appear to be more suitable for cool-toned and darker skintone, whereas Rose D'Oro may be more suitable for warmer skintone. But regardless of what your undertone and color, these are pretty pigmented and can look universally pretty on everyone.
These Milani Baked blushes may be difficult to find in your area but they are available in select drugstores and online. The average retail is $7.00 to $8.00.
I really like them, which is why I purchased more but if you do not like shimmers in your blushes, you will not like these.

If you would like to see my review and swatches of the rest of these Milani Baked blushes which includes Dolce Pink, Luminoso, Corallina, and Berry Amore, click HERE to see the review.

OPI Blue and Turquoise Shatter Swatches

Tired of my nail posts yet? This would be my third consecutive nail post. Whew...Ok, I promise the next one will not be about nail polish. I just neet to get these out of my to-do list since I haven't posted in a little while. Yeah, more crackle/shatter posts...lol. Ok, so far I am not planning to get anymore unless they come up with more amazing colors. I've accumulated way too many crackle nail polishes.

Blue Shatter paired with Borghese Limoncello. I thought I was going to like Turquoise Shatter a little more since it looked a lot prettier in the bottle but after swatched, I am leaning more toward Blue Shatter.

 On this picture, I added Seche Vite top coat and it instantly made Blue Shatter bluer.

Turquoise Shatter paired with Sally Hansen Celeb City. I'm not sure if these two make a nice pair on the picture but in person, they looked better.

Omgosh...please ignore my cuticles. They look dried and cracked. To be honest, I really didn't like the way these Shatter polishes crack. From my experience, I prefer the China Glaze Crackles over the OPI Shatters. They crack a lot better. OPI Shatters seem to require a special trick to apply. It can't be too thick or too thin. When applied too thick, it doesnt separate well and when applied too thin, the color doesn't show up nice. I am not sure if I want to keep these. LOL, I feel weird if returning most of the polishes that I got from my last Ulta haul but I don't wanna keep something I don't really like.

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Borghese Nail Polish Swatches - Limoncello and Stellare Notte

I purchased these polishes from Ulta a couple weeks ago while they were on BOGO sale. They are actually quite pricey and cost just as much as OPI polishes so I took advantage of the sale to snag these beautiful shades that I've been eyeing for a little while.

Limoncello is a bright yellowish green with shimmers. Such a pretty color and looks absolutely stunning on the nails! You get a good pigmentation and even coverage with 2 coats. This is one of those less common polish shade out there and you probably won't find too many dupes for it. This is apparently a fast dry polish formula but stupid me didn't even take notice of how long it took to dry cause I was only swatching.

Stellar Notte is not your typical dark polish. It's not a deep black but more like a greyish black with green and magenta shimmers. The combination of colors makes this polish a bit more multi-dimensional. At first it reminded me of Chanel Black Pearl but with more of a magenta sheen to it. Depending on the angle, you will see more green or more purple shimmers. It's quite beautiful and looks a lot prettier in person.

One last thing I would also like to note is that the brush is similar to that of OPI, making application a breeze. I'm quite impressed with these two shades and I would love to try more of this brand if I can find a shade that tickle my fancy and if I can get them on sale. I would definitely recommend you check these out.

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Pixel High Shine Nail Lacquer Swatches

A couple weeks ago I picked these up from Ulta and I believe these are new products because I have never seen them before. They retailed for $1.99 so I thought I'd give them a try since they were pretty cheap.
They are pretty tiny and the shape of the bottle is cute. They contain 5mL while the average nail polish bottle is 15 mL.

Oh Goly Gee was such a pretty color in the bottle. It's a shimmery burgundy/cranberry color with a copperish sort of duo-chrome. My greatest disappointement was that when I swatched it. It was pretty darn sheer and it took me 3 coats to get what you see in the swatches.

I picked up White Static because I wanted a plain white polish. Once again, I was disappointed not with the sheerness this time but with the streakiness and application. It was very uneven and felt kinda thick. I did 3 coats and still not even. I do not know how they came up with the name "high shine" because it's not as shiny as I would expect.

At last, Blu Ray Baby actually worked out a little better than the first two shades. The color is gorgeous. It's a shimmery teal blue. With 2 coats you get an opaque and even coverage.

One thing I noticed about these polishes is that they take longer to dry. The consistency of the formula tend to be on the thick side in exception of Oh Goly Gee. I don't know how long they last on the nail because I usually don't test them for that. But if you ask me, I would skip on these polishes. I'm probably only going to keep Blu Ray Baby because I really like the color. The rest is going back to the store.

Have you tried these polishes yet?

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China Glaze Crackle Metal Giveaway - Winner Announcement

Hi everyone,

I had a total of 64 entries from Luuux, My Blog, and FB combined but could only select one lucky winner.

**drums rolls**

I would like to congratulate Amista from Affordable Beauty by Amista! She also follows me on Luuux as well. You are the winner of my giveaway. I will send you an email shortly.

Thank you all for participating in this giveway and hope to see you again on my future giveway.

Never Lose Hope (Inspiration for the heart and soul)

I apologize for being MIA for the past few days but I needed some time alone to think and reflect on certain aspects of life. Anyways before I get started, this post is not about makeup so whether you chose to read or not is entirely up to you.

I think we can all agree that life has its ups and downs and everyone had their share of failure and success. I keep reminding myself that regardless of the outcome, each experience is a stepping stone.
I had my share of struggles and disappointments but for a few years I was able to keep my life balanced and I was actually content. Of course, there are still many goals and expectations that I am taking forever to reach and sometimes uncertainties are difficult to deal with.

Lately, the voices in my head were starting to distort my faith and the obstacle that stood before me never felt this insuperable. It didn't take long for me to succumb to expectations, limitations, and stress. I slowly pulled away and distract myself with my blog, Luuux, and shopping. Finally one day, I decided that I couldn't take it anymore, I let everything go and that's when I realized how empty I felt...How hopeless, I was. It was such a devastating feeling to have nothing left to hope for. I've stopped believing in everything that I fought and bled for because I was afraid. I was so defeated with fear that it took the best of me. It made me doubt in myself and distrust in others.

I consulted my Conscience for wisdom and he said to me "my dear, wisdom can only give you direction but Faith will take you to your destination. And Faith only resides in your heart." So I searched restlessly and deeper into my soul and beneath the darkness I found my Heart. He was still there, beating silently in my chest in spite of the fact that I ignored his presence. I apologized to my Heart "I am so sorry, I have forsaken you. I realize now how much I need you in my life!" And he replied calmly "don't worry, I'm ok. You are strong and I know you will find a way to carry on. I will always be here for you."

I found a token of Hope that my friend gave me not long ago. Amazingly, it is shaped like my heart. I decided to stick it to something that is always by my side so I glued it to my cellphone case that way I am always reminded that I have Hope in my Heart. My cellphone is also my lifeline and means of communication to my sweetheart. So I like how we are all intertwined this way :)

Get one for yourself or give one to someone who might need it. My friend said she got it from the dollar store. It's such a simple yet powerful and spiritual reminder than Faith is the fuel you need in life.
Sometimes we get so disappointed in ourselves for the things we don't have that we take for granted the beautiful things we have right in front of us. Don't forget to listen to your heart. He is the keeper of your Faith.

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Chanel Peridot Nail Colour Swatches

When I first laid eyes on this polish, I knew I fell in love and when I first swatched it, I knew I had to have it. I've never been this excited or impressed by a nail polish before. Sure I have a few that I really love but these Chanel polishes had me at hello, lol. If I start to sound infatuated, you know I'm in love.
Peridot is another unique and stunning shade Chanel created for their fall 2011 collection, which is limited edition. With that said, this won't be around forever.
The formula is very pigmented and smooth. When I swatched the color on my nails, I was instantly blown away! The color is a gorgeous gold with olive and green undertone. The color is very shimmery but it doesn't just stop there. There is so much depth and dimension in this polish in part due do the somewhat light green duo-chrome. If you look at my swatches you can see that the light green just "glows" along the edge of my nails. What a freaking amazing effect! I swear, I can't take my eyes off of it. I'm actually very surprised my camera did such a great job at capturing its beauty.
This polish has all the qualities you'd want in a polish....amazing color pay off and outstanding quality. Well worth the price in my opinion. Speaking of price, this is the first time I've ever paid this much on a single nail polish. It was hard at first but I knew wouldn't be able to get over it if I had gone home without it. Had I only seen pictures of it, I would most likely just lust for it but seeing in person was a total different experience.

I dare you to swatch it on your nails and tell me you did not like it one bit. I've never been this impressed and I am not usually impressed easily. Ok, enough said...enjoy the show and let me know if this polish managed to work its magic on you.

 Indoor, artificial light

 Indoor, artificial light

 Indoor, flash

 Indoor, natural light

 Indoor, natural light

Indoor, natural light

So...I wanna know what you think now? Love it or leave it? Just pretend you like it even if you don't or you'll crap my mood, lol.

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