Italian Nails

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this, but here's a quick post from my smartphone.

This week is the 16th of July which constitutes a big feast in my hometown. In honor of this Italian feast, I of course did my nails. This design was hand painted, but then I went to my local nail salon to have a UV gel topcoat applied. I really should invest in a UV light!

That's it for now. Drop me a comment if you're still reading!

Testing

1, 2, 3....

Duochrome Topper Madness

Hey everyone!

Today I have for you some old pictures that originally appeared as a guest post on Wendy's blog, but since I've gotten a tiny bit better at photo editing I figured I'd give them a second chance. I've also been missing my long nails since I recently chopped them lower than ever (pictures to come!).

First I have pictures of Zoya Breezi (blue) and OPI Manicurist of Seville (red). Then, I'll show you what can happen with a little layering magic!

Here's Breezi again, topped with Nubar 2010. How gorgeous are flakies over blues? I mean, come on now.

And the final transformation: MoS topped with Kleancolor Chunky Holo Fuschia. Another winner!

There we have it! Sorry this first-post-of-the-semester didn't come sooner, but I've been really discouraged by the amount of work I have already! I'm trying to change that!

Thank you so much for reading! What are your favorite layering combinations?

Janna

Face Paint Friday: Blue-Based Smoky Eye

Hey everyone! This is a scheduled post so as you're reading this, I'm moving into my on-campus apartment for my senior year of college!

If you're a long-time reader of C&C, you'll probably remember that I very rarely post during the semester because I'm super busy all the time, but I've been saving posts that I should have been making this week with the intent to use them throughout the coming weeks. As always, thanks for your support, your comments, and sticking with me even if I'm not the most consistent blogger. You're all so awesome =]

Anyway, back to what this is supposed to be about: smoky eyes. The term "smoky eyes" can either make people extremely excited or extremely nervous. For example, upon hearing someone say they wanted to do a smoky eye for prom makeup, my dad said, "Isn't that what they do on Jerseylicious?" My father only knows that because of my mother and my slight obsession with that show. That would be an example of being nervous! Hahaha.

Every time I try to do a smoky eye, I stop and think, "This needs to be darker; it's a SMOKY eye, right?" and I keep piling it on until I look like I'm dressed up as something frightening for Halloween. These were a little easier to do and less harsh-looking. Here's what I came up with:

The main shadows here are MAC Parisian Skies and Palladio Teal (applied wet with a liner brush to the lower lashline)


As a brown-eyed girl, I love using blue whenever I can. Usually it's in the form of a tiny bit of teal on the lash line, but MAC Parisian Skies changed everything I used to think about using blue on my eyes. This is gorgeous and classier than what comes to mind when you think of blue eyeshadow.

So, I learned that I should go for the gray or any muted, grayed out shades when I try to pull off a smoky eye and instead of looking like I just got into a fist fight, I could maybe look a little bit sophisticated. Hmm, who know?

So that's my post for today! I hope everyone enjoyed it. What's your opinion on smoky eyes or blue eyeshadow?

Thanks for reading,

Janna

Summer Brights

Hey people!

Today I have for you a short post featuring China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy (one of my top shades of all time) and Crushed Candy, the "For Audrey"-esque crackle. These two make a pretty pair!

WARNING: My auto white balance feature on my photo editing program made the bottom two pictures look really strange. Me being editing/photography-incompetent, I didn't know how to make it look normal. My background in these photos was white but the auto white balance made it look green. The polishes look brighter and accurate though, and that's why I kept the white-balancing on two of these.

un-white-balanced.

What do you think of this look? Are you over crackles? Or now that they're not as popular, are you wanting to reach for them again? I was never really obsessed; I just casually use them when I think of it to spice up a manicure. Still like them!

Thank you for reading!

Janna

Haulage in Baltimore, Part I: Forever XXI

Hey there!

So as you may have read in a past post, I went to Baltimore last month. While I was there, there was nothing for me to do but eat and shop, so I'm going to show you all what I bought.

First I hit Forever XXI. I love how inexpensive this store is, especially the beauty supplies. I bought a nail polish and two eye trios for a very low price...I want to say like $8.

The polish is a flakie in a sheer green base. It was the last one there and it has some boring name like "Light Green." It´s really pretty in person and for $2 you can't beat it. One trio is a pale yellow, warm light pink, and light purple. The other is neutrals: a pale beige, medium brown, and a cool darker brown. They all had pretty good pigmentation. I like them for travel or to leave in my bag.

Finally we have Claire's, where I bought a lot more than I thought. I blame the boredom. I went home with a sparkly headband, a duochrome polish, the precious metals mini collection, an ear cuff, and a hair donut.

Sparkly goodness!

 This is a mini set, so each bottle is 0.25 mL, which is perfect for a mini bottle (NOT 0.125oz....you know who I'm looking at). These are gorgeous for layering. These are not small glitters; they're larger pieces than the ones I usually buy. On the left, we have a holo glitter, next a purple, green, and blue glitter, next a blue and purple glitter, then a pink glitter, and finally a black and holo glitter. I love the look of these big glitter pieces.

This is Claire's Drops of Jupiter, which is from the Starstruck collection, which is pretty shimmers. Train earbug, anyone? This is a teal-to-pink duochrome with a glassfleck texture. I layered it over Zuza (and failed to take pictures) but the pink was fairly noticeable. I was afraid it wouldn't show up but it did make its appearance. Pretty shade, really cool bottle.

Here's a picture of my ear cuff. These have turned into my newest obsession and I plan on going back to get three more with my coupon. I've wanted a cartilage piercing for ages but since my parents have never been too keen on it, I'm stuck with these for a bit. But I love them! A warning though: the rainbow coloring on this one has completely rubbed off and it's now just silver, so if you buy it, put some clear polish over it to protect the coloring.

So that's about it. I haven't posted a haul in a long time...I've just found pictures in the abyss of my computer of about 6 of them...woops. With that, I'll talk to you later!

Thanks for reading!

Janna

Urban Decay Haul - Part Two

Hello there! Welcome to Part 2 of my haul! For part 1 and pictures/swatches of the UD Vegan Palette and Lip Love Gloss in Stung, click here.


Now I'm going to show you the eyeshadow singles I selected at $9 each. I chose X, Mildew, and Last Call. As you can see, the shadows are packaged in a clear little box, and that box had a coordinating color label on it, which I thought was cute. X was pink, Last Call, purple, and Mildew, green. Just wanted to mention that.

X is a stunning pink with a strong gold sheen in the pan; when swatched, it's mostly a pale rose gold. Mildew is a deep olive shimmer that's darker than I expected. Last Call is a gorgeous deep shade bordering magenta and berry. This shade in particular is really unique in my collection.

Here they are swatched dry:

There was very little product on my finger, so the swatches are light. But rest assured they're very pigmented and smooth. X is a tad bit pinker in real life.


Then I sprung for the Sparkling Lickable Body Powder. When this was on sale (it sadly isn't anymore), there were three shades pictured but only one was on sale, so that's the one I got. Here's Marshmallow, swatched next to the shadows. Note: now, since it's not on sale anymore, the font on the packaging is a different. I guess that's why they were cleaning out old ones.

Shown next to Benefit Sugarbomb for reference. This thing is huge.

The packaging is so pretty and the container is huge! I also love the powder puff and can't wait to luxuriously dab it on before a night out (ha, who am I kidding?). This stuff smells super sweet; it's a little overpowering when it's all in the container, but on the skin it mellows out. The texture of this, and the appearance in general, reminds me a bit of a nail polish, oddly: Orly Winter Wonderland. There are sparkly tiny flakes that are iridescent white with hints of blue and pink. It's pretty up close but just appears white at a normal distance. It tastes good too!



Finally, I ordered the Body Jewelry Temporary Tattoos because they looked interesting and they are currently, wait for it, two whole dollars. Who could pass that up? They come in this huge roll thing that I can't figure out how to open. There's a video on the page for these tattoos that shows these babies in action.

One more thing that they included with my order: A Naked foundation sample! Seriously, I was/am more excited for this than anything else because I've been wanting to treat myself to a mid- or high-end foundation once my tan fades.

These samples are bigger than any other foundation samples I've ever received and I've gotten quite a few in my lifetime. There is definitely enough product in them for a full face. I'm excited to check out 2.0 because that's what the Urban Decay website suggested I try when I was researching this foundation; it was just luck that it was included in the sample though. The shades 3.5, 4.0, and 8.0 are also included. These are the ones UD considers to be their most popular.

If you don't fit any of those shades, there is a transparent set of swatches that you can hold to your jawline to find your match.

So that's my haul and swatches! If you have any questions, let me know and I'll be happy to answer them. What's your must-have UD product? Did you take advantage of the sale? Or are you going to?

Thanks for reading!

Janna

Urban Decay Haul - Part One

Hey guys!

The first time I seriously started looking into buying Urban Decay products was with the release of the (say it with me) Naked Palette. I own a few brown eyeshadows, but of course, mine paled in comparison to the deep, rich, smoldering neutrals of that famous UD palette. But me being my indecisive-to-a-fault self - and partly, the price tag - I couldn't commit to ordering it. After the release of the Naked2 Palette, my fever grew worse; I poured over too many blogs, staring at swatches and watching videos comparing Naked 1 and Naked 2 (how many different swatches of the same palette can one girl look at? a ton.), now having the even-harder choice of deciding between them. What would it be, that rich gunmetal gray and lovely plum of 1 or that AMAZING double-sided brush and deep matte black of 2? Ultimately, I ended up set on getting Naked1 and continue to pray for UD to release that double-sided brush separately (it would save space when I travel!).

Fast forward to August 9th, around 3AM EST:
I'm perusing blogs, about 5 days behind on my trusty Google Reader, when I scroll across THIS POST by G. of Nouveau Cheap (if you love cheap stuff, you're already following her). A massive Urban Decay sale! Oh, wait, it started 4 days ago. There's nothing good left.

Side note: This ALWAYS happens to me when I'm behind on blogs. I miss out on sales or things that need my immediate attention. Like free facebook samples. Still bitter. ANYWAY. Moving on.

I clicked on the link to the site anyway, and after reading a quick parody of Call Me Maybe advertising their sale, I started shopping. Two hours later (I'm a night owl), I had checked out, after having searched tons of swatches of the goodies being offered at amazing prices, deciding what I want, and committing to clicking the Checkout button and fill out all the information and confirm (am I the only one who has a hard time clicking 'Submit order'?) While I didn't end up with the Naked Palette, I ended up spending the same amount of money on a bunch of makeup that I love, instead of one palette.

So now that that long story is over, here's part I of my haul and swatches!

First up is the Vegan Palette. This is honestly the best $13 I've ever spent; you get 6 eyeshadows, 3 of which are Naked dupes (and my most sought-after shades in the Naked palette), 1 mini 24/7 Liner and one mini UD Primer Potion in Sin. Imagine my excitement over this palette since I've never used a UD liner or UDPP in my life. Shocking, I know.

The shades are Minx, Urb, Gunmetal, Twice Baked, Smog, and Half Baked. They're all gorgeous. Here are some swatches.

Minx and Urb were hard to swatch since there are some glitter chunks in those shades. Once I start using the shadows I'm sure they'll be easier to pick up. The one I was most looking forward to (Die-hard UD fans are going to laugh) was Half Baked. It's in a ton of their palettes, I know, but it's such a pretty shimmery gold-brown fusion and I love it. Plus, I'm new to Urban Decay, remember?

 Next I have Lip Love Lipgloss in Stung. This was a whopping $4 and Stung was the only shade available for that price. It looked scary in the picture and swatched on the skin; it's a very deep berry color that looks close to black, but in swatches it sheers out on the lips to produce a nice berry tint. It's a squeeze tube that has a slanted tip.

Once I swatched this I noticed two things: 1) It smells like baby powder. Odd, but true. It's really weird, but it didn't bother me too much. Just something to mention if smells, especially such specific ones, are definitely not your thing. 2) This feels AMAZING on the lips. It has a very thick consistency, which I thought would make it very sticky, but it is the least sticky gloss I've ever used. It feels like a creamy gel on top of the lips and after removal, your lips feel baby soft. Considering buying a backup or a different shade before the sale's over.

Bare lips for reference

This gloss gives a juicy berry tint

I also ordered the Lickable Body Powder, Body Jewelry Temporary Tattoos and some single eyeshadows which I'm reviewing in a second post because I don't want to make this post any longer. It will be up later tonight!

Everything mentioned in this post is still on the Urban Decay website, though perhaps not at the sale price. Go snatch some stuff up!


Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for part 2!

Janna