Season's Greetings..

Just wanted to wish you all the very best for the new year.  I have tried uploading a number of posts but Blogger keeps rejecting it... not sure if there is a problem with my account... Hope all is well with you...

what did u get for christmas..??

Review: Nyx long lip pencils

I have used this product for almost two years now. I know I’m only now doing the review that I promised so long. I bought this pencil at www.cherryculture.com about two years ago for $1.99. at that time also they had a sale going Buy 1 get 1 free so I choose rose and natural simply because most of my lipsticks and lipglosses are mainly rose mauve, natural/neutral colors. To my luck it has taken me almost 1 ½ years to finish 1 pencil, I’m almost complete with Rose. Now its important to note that I use this almost 4-5 times a week sometimes two times a day if I’m going out at night. Since I got this lipliner I haven’t used any other lip pencil… so faithfully I use it almost everyday and it has lasted me for almost two years…. I absolutely think that this product is amazing not only because of the bang for the buck experience but this pencil has the perfect tone for outlining my lips even Natural is amazing. Another thing I noticed is that this product did not go “bad” on me even though I used it for so long. I tried Natural a few days ago just to see if it was still in tact and amazingly it was…

Another good point about this lip pencil is that it says on your lips even after you’ve finish eating or drinking or whatever you’re doing with your lips  so when you apply lipstick or gloss you don’t have to worry about reapplying your liner… now generally I know most lip liners last pretty well.. like avon’s and even avon’s color trends (love the natural in this line also), sephora, cover girl.. la color most lip liners work well but if you want a bang for ur buck and you generally use one lip liner.. I would suggest you try nyx long lip pencil.. please note its not the same as the regular nyx lip pencil… (follow the link to http://www.cherryculture.com/ to view/purchase)  http://www.cherryculture.com/cosmetics/makeup/nyx-cosmetics/nyx-long-lip-pencil/16633&cat=0&page=1


so my question is.. is it a really great buy.. ?? for me it is.. but for those of you who like to keep purchasing… you may not want to purchase this product simply because it may take a long time to finish  and if you’re like me doing a Project 10 pan and this is one of the items on your list.. it will never end… lol 

So for some of my makeup friends who love to visit wonderful world every week or every other week when they get paid this may not be the best buy..  but it’s a great product that does not expire on you quickly… yay for another nyx great product….

How long have you been wearing makeup?

How long have you been using makeup?? To me I’ve been using it all my life… jk.. but I used makeup since high school.. I had bad acne in my teenage years and also have inherited bad skin .. thanks mom and dad…. So I used cheap makeup to cover the acne and the acne scars… I only wish I knew then what I know now.. if only someone at pennywise would have stopped me from buying those cheap foundations… now when I see ppl with bad acne buying certain foundations I actually stop and tell them they are beautiful without the foundation… its interesting to see how they look shocked… one lady was almost to tears she said that was the sweetest thing anyone ever told her.. she then told me about her bad acne and I told her in my teenage years I had it really bad and used cheap makeup she was shock to know that it was better to leave her face alone as against trying to cover it up… she didn’t even know that she needed to cleanse her face twice a day and at least use a moisturizer… so of course I stood there giving a makeup101 course while the pennywise sales clerk looked irritated that I cut her sale… lol


It then occurred to me that there are many people in Trinidad and maybe even in the world, in general, who do not know about proper face hygiene so to speak. They just slap on makeup and they are good to go.. then comes the breakouts and discoloration etc… one rule of thumb in makeup world is never to use cheap foundation…. To me you can survive with cheap eyeshadows if you have a good base… but cheap foundation just damages your skin… and cleansing, toning and moisturizing are so important.. ppl just take them for granted…. I honestly don’t mean to bash the cheaper foundation brands.. but when I watch my face in the mirror I swear I see the names of cheap brands all over it. I have actually decided that it wont hurt to invest in buying a good brand of foundation whatever the coverage that is needed… when you look at the amount of application you get from it… sometimes it works out next to nothing.. e.g. Revlon Colorstay foundation when I bought mine I paid $10.49US I think the price either went up or I got mine on sale… and I’ve had my bottle for about 4 months now and its half empty…. So I’m thinking I may get another 3-4 months use of it.. that is say 8 months use.. on an average of 30 days in a month.. that is on average 240 days… now divide that $10.49 by 240 that’s 0.04us that works out to 0.25c TTD imagine that its .25ttd a day for the foundation more than definitely work my money… I’m not sure how much pennywise has it for… gotta go do some research… [sorry I didn’t do it prior] and will see how much it works out per day.. I’ve had a Revlon color stay that lasted up to a year… so its all up to you…

I just realize that the questioned asked a the beginning of this post was How long have you been using foundation.. and here I am talking about buying foundation… lol

I have been using foundation since my teenage highschool years  I think it was somewhere around 14 years old… What year did you start using foundation..??

Simply Blogging

So here I am doing another blog offline with hopes of actually uploading…. So I blogged on Monday hoping to blog for the whole week… but didn’t.. its not that I didn’t think about blogging.. I did  I thought all week of what I could blog about and yet I didn’t find the time to blog… its been crazy… can’t wait for vc.. cant wait to go flying and exploring…. With the kids and hubby…


Wanna hear something funny… all week I kept thinking about topics I could possible blog about… and I didn’t get the chance to blog now I’m in front of the laptop I don’t know what to blog about  writer’s block.. ?? 

I recently did my eye makeup and realize I’m not a mascara fan okay so I know I’ve not been a mascara fan for years… then I started using mascara then I got obsessed with mascara use and now I just put it on like it’s a drab… I don’t know why its just a drab for me I guess because I don’t think that mascara does anything major for me and I’ve tried a few… I don’t know what my mascara needs are.. as I just use it because I hate to see eyeshadow on my lashes so I just use mascara to “color” them black  I’ve tried some mascara that say they make your lashes look longer, some say they give you volume… to be honest I use mine to just color my lashes and I try to use waterproof as I tend to rush my eyes a lot and cry for silly things as I’m so super emotional lol the great thing with the mascara though is that I throw them out after 6 months I had one that I used for year then read a review that said 3 months… then I decided to check it out and realize that the average life span of a mascara would be 3-6 months depending on how often you use it… interesting now I don’t get that much time to do eye makeup… so I use my mascara like twice a week… so you know I am throwing out mascaras that are about half filled .. but the risk of an eye infection is priceless so its work me throwing out…

Do you have a favorite mascara if so comment and say which brand is your favorite and why…. As I’m trying out different brands right now.. I currently have one for nyx [still new] one from Maybelline [I’m using] and one from kleancolor [using]. I have used mac, Clinique, loreal, almay and Revlon oh also ELF to me the ELF worked as great as the MAC and Clinique.. oh I’ve used Bare Minerals and a sephora one… cme to think about it there may be other brands I’ve used that I can’t remember…

Blogging again...

So Marsha posted an entry in her blog about individuals just blogging about things in their everyday life. I remembered when i started blogging it was 2 sometimes 3 entries per day. i also realised that i was able to express myself much better. now i keep thinking to myself i'm not getting out whats in my head in the right way, or i simply just can't express my thoughts out in words... which is sad because i "used to" excel in expression. would blogging solve my problem.. i doubt it but it may help..


I realized today one of my main pet peave in makeup in the creasing on my eyelid when I don’t wear any eye makeup… I’ve tried a number of things to just not see the crease.. nothing has worked for me not sure if anyone has any helpful tips that I can try … here’s what I’ve tried so far

• Putting foundation on my eyelid and just like my face makeup I set it with powder… my face remains oil free but I can fry an egg on my eyelid..

• Not putting foundation or anything on my lid… I can fry more than an egg I can fry a whole chicken

• Placed concealer on my lid and set with powder.. worked better than the foundation in terms of lasting longer without creasing but when the creasing became evident, it was worst than with the foundation

• Placed a primer on my lid without eyeshadow … this worked a bit but because I didn’t set it after a while it creased

• Placed primer added a bit of eyeshadow to set the primer… next thing I had on eye makeup with mascara and liner … the works.. lol eyes did not crease 

So that is my plight and the one thing in makeup that is irritating me….what irritates you right now with your makeup??

Oh, before I end I’ve tried a new Clinique liquid foundation.. don’t have it with me here while I’m blogging can’t remember its name  but I’m trying it out for the first time and I also bought a beauty treat lipgloss that was in a chubby short tube for 5.95 I think or 6.95 but I thought it was a lot for the cost.. haved used it for two days now will do a review soon about it… haven’t tried the tube ones as yet … have so many lipglosses out.. but somehow I always end up back with my elf mineral lipgloss or my avon glazewear…. Love love these two… and they are both around the same in price..

The issue of blogging....

So I've decided to really time extra hard to find time blog.. so as I eat my dinner here at the pc (which is not a good thing) I'm blogging.. Marsha i hope you're proud of me and my effort :) so my friend Marsha Sinanan from Aesthetic Glory decided that she would blog often.. not only did she decide that she would blog often, but she decided to motivate others around her to either blog or keep blogging... :)
But in all truth... I miss blogging.. today driving to pick up my kids the issue of blogging was on my mind.... I realized that my scope for blogging was mainly on beauty... and then I thought, maybe if i expand my scope on topics to blog on maybe then i'll blog more :) So just like Marsha, I will attempt to just blog.. blog about whats on my mind, blog about experiences, blog about food :) (no  Marsha not sharing my Thanksgiving story :)), blog about customer service in Trinidad and Tobago.. lol, blog about things i face day to day... so now that i've started here.. please give me some advice on other things you would like me to blog about... and Marsha you better comment :) lol.. have a good one pplz...

Reeleesweet: Little Bit of a Storage Change

I absolutely love her storage containers... I need to reorganize my stuff too ..
Hey Rhea, i want some of the orange and pink ones.. my two favorite colors... :)
Reeleesweet: Little Bit of a Storage Change: "Hey lovelies! Happy Monday night. I stopped by Better Value in Gulf View San Fernando today and found some baskets that made me want to ch..."

Mac Pigment Samples...

So I decided to do a little shopping in trying out some of Mac pigments.  I have a few and I wanted to try out a few to see their formulation before purchasing the jars themselves.  Upon checking around i came across "The Beauty Sampler" This site has their samples for $2.49US for most pigments and you get about 1/4 teaspoon of product. The 2.49 does not include shipping cost. So here's what i got..I added the names next to the pigments..

I haven't tried out any really i will swatch them soon and post it for you to see.. but so far from what i'm seeing i love bell bottom blue, accent red and fuchsia...
look out for swatches over the weekend..

September Favorites

So here are my september favorites...

• Avon Magix in medium... absolutely love this as a face primer... definitely will repurchase as i have hit pan with it already.. one negative is that it does not last as long as the original Magix.
• Elf makeup remover wipes.. they really does the job for $3US awesome..
• Up and Up maximum strength acne medication.. put this on a pimple overnight and pimple shrinks to less than half of its size.. sometimes overnight does the trick is drying up the pimple... really great product..
• Revlon Colorstay in Golden Caramel love this stuff... i keep changing shades that is my only problem... :( no fault of Revlon's 
• Elf mineralize lipgloss in Sorority Girl.. my favorite lipgloss for september, i've had this one since May and i used it throughout may and june then i changed to another gloss and this month i went back to it... its almost finish but there is lots in that little bottle.. its definitely worth every penny, i would say its even comparable to Mac lipglosses in its formulation.. wish Elf had a wider color range..
• Mac Hello Kitty Tinted lip condition spf 15 in popstar.. you saw this in my september favorites.. and its here again love this stuff... 
• and my  Maybelline New York, The collosal volume express waterproof mascara in black.. love this stuff. Does add a bit of volume, but love the fact that it is waterproof... and that it works.

So there you have it my September favorites.... did a little haul on some Mac pigment samples from the Beauty Sampler will post those soon..

Items added to project 10 pan

So i'm adding these items to my Project 10 pan.  my Avon Magix in medium and my Elf mineralize lipgloss in Sorority Girl.  absolutely love these two.. they are also in my September favorite..
http://sweetzrv.blogspot.com/2010/08/project-10-pan.html

Update: Project 10 Pan

This is an update on my project 10 pan...
I've completed some of the products and still working with others..
the Mascara i've decided to throw out since i've used it more than 6 months and it seems to be getting dry.. the avon luxury liner in dark brown still is going.. i swear that thing will never finish.. that and my nyx lipliner.  the udpp is still going but the smashbox face primer and the victorias secret fx photofinish primer i had to lay to rest.. i was so sad, i'm using my Rimmel Fix and perfect right now but i really miss my VS and Smashbox face primer.  I have also used out my elf pressed powder and i've started using another product in its place (and no i didn't buy anything i'm using something i already had..)  the elf bronzing powder is still going but the dark brown (bottom right) has broken off and is all smashed up.. but i'm still  using it :) love this stuff.  my sacha fix-it.... i'm not sure if i'm going to finish it.. i feel like its alcohol in a bottle.  i need to do another review on it.  i f ind that this product is making my face extra oily... well someone told me this.. and i haven't checked it out fully.. i will experiment this week on this and if its true, in the garbage it will go..
Rather than buying new items.. :) i'm thinking of adding new ones and keep things going.. :) i'm so holding off on buying things right now... and a fellow blogger Rhea .. reminded me about Wonderful World's semi annual sale which starts tomorrow.. and i'm thinking of going.. she's such an enabler... :)
so later this week i will post the replacements to the project 10 pan :) i feel so great when i finish products and of course i feel even better when i get new items :) lol...

Review: Neutral Starry Palette

So this is my review on the neutral Starry palette.  Please note that this is in my opinion.. no one asked or coerced me into saying anything in this review

Cost - $7.95TTD
Purchased - Pennywise, Trinidad and Tobago
Shadows in Palette - 6 different shades

Pros:
The consistency of these shadows are amazing.  They are soft and silky and very pigmented.  You do not need to pack on plenty of color as the shadows are truly pigmented.  They blend well and are not chalky.  They do leave a little fall out if you swatch your brush too many times in the shadow, so less is better. The swatches below were done with one swatch of product....

The packaging is great, its small and portable very easy to travel with not clumsy at all.  I took this on vacation with me and it fit really great in my makeup bag.  The packaging is black in color and is not tacky at all.  It comes with a small mirror that can be used. 
Overall for the price, this palette is top notch.  Would definitely recommend this palette to anyone.  Its perfect to give as a gift, because its reasonable, but its not cheap. 

The staying power is relatively good, but its great when you use a primer or a base. One day i had it on for almost 15 hours and it did not crease but it did fade a bit. 

Cons:  The mirror that came with this palette is rather small, i have used it before and it works pretty good though. 

This is truly a great product I just wish that Starry had more palettes with a larger variety of colors.

i'm finally blogging again...August Favorites..

So today is a holiday and i'm finally getting to do things i've put on hold.. like for example, my August favorites.. i've not had the time to post those and we're to the end of September.  So what were my August favorites...

• My Sacha palette: this is their neutral palette, now i really do not like sacha products, but somehow this palette has grown on me.. at first i had a hard time picking up any shadow on my brush/brushes, so i had to take a tissue and wipe over each shadow..after this i was able to use the palette, this is my substitute for the 28 neutral palette.  I will do a review on this palette as all of the colors have different consistency.
• my second favorite is the Starry neutral palette... omg i absolutely love this thing... i took it with me for my 10 day vacation and used this palette almost everytime i went out... "and its part of my september favs too :)" i've done swatches of this palette and will do a review after i'm finished here..
• Mac mineralized skinfinish in Light Flush i absolutely love this thing... gives my face a nice healthy glow..
• loreal hip jelly balm i have had this a while and used to love using it.. i did an inventory at the beginning of August and i found it i've started using it again and i'm in love with it..
• Mac tinted lip conditioner spf 15 in popster from the hello kitty line.. omg i love this it give my lip just a tint of color... really gorgeous...
• Urban Decay shadow in Half Baked i love this as a lid color or highlighter its such a beautiful color...
• Maybelline mineral power blush in True Peach i love how this gives me a light flushed look.. nothing too bold...
• and lastly, Revlon colorstay combination/oily skin in 360 golden caramel ... my skin tone keep changing.. :( so this shade is working for me now....

Stay tuned...

So many updates to give, but check in again.. will post my August favorites tonight, and some of the reviews will be posted before the end of this week....
What were your August favs?

Haul: Target and CVS items

I bought some items in Target and CVS, haven't used them as yet, but wanted to post the haul and ask you guys about the products.   They are new to me and I bought them to try them out.  I'm looking for a nice face wash to go along with a wash i'm currently using [I will post the brand and type later].  I'm so into nail polishes right now, so when I was at CVS i saw the brand Confetti, never saw/heard about them before, and thought i'll try them out.  So i bought two fall shades to try out.
Here's what I got:

• Up & Up facial astringent acne medication sensitive skin [very anxious to try this]
• Up & Up maximum strength acne medication benzoyl peroxide gel [tried this last night] will do a review in a few days
• Clean and Clear Morning Burst Detoxifying Facial Cleanser
• Neutrogena Body Clear body wash [bought this for my niece she's 11yrs old and her upper  body is breaking out bad]
• Sally Hansen Moist and Matte liquid lip color in Velvet [never saw this before in my life, but was curious as to it being liquid and still giving that matte look.  its a great fall color too.
• Confetti nail polishes in 055 Dressed to the 9's and 041 Masquerade Ball [looking at them from the bottle the consistency look a bit on the thin side, which means that the color is buildable.  not sure if i would like that or not.. gotta try it and let you know

If you have tried these products before let me know how they work for you.  I will definitely do some reviews after I've tried them a bit.  But so far I'm impressed with the Up&Up Maximum strength acne medication used it last night and pimple is almost gone :)

Project 10 Pan

So I've decided to start another Project 10 Pan

1. Elf Pressed Powder in caramel [used for summer]
2. Elf Warm Bronzer 
3. Sacha Fix-It Spray
4. Rimmel London Fix and Perfect
5. Victoria's Secret Pro Airbrush Fx Face Primer
6. Smashbox Photofinish Face primer
7. Urban Decay primer potion
8. Mac Zoom lash mascara
9. Avon eye pencil in dark brown
10. Nyx lip liner in coffee

The latter two I had from my last project 10 pan, they are never ending.  I almost use them every day and they wont seem to finish.  I plan on doing a review on them, one thing for sure I can say is that they last very long, definitely a bang for your buck.

 
The pressed powder had hit pan for about two weeks now, and the bronzer for about a month now.  Hopefully by the end of the month they will finish. I think I will have self control in not buying anything.  I will however, need to replace my pressed powder and my bronzer when they are finished, so I will definitely report on them. 

Upcoming posts:

• Review on Starry Palettes
• Review on Arista Palette
• Review on Sacha Palette 
• Review on Elf's Pressed Powder
• Review on Avon's Luxury Liners
• Review in NYX Lipliners
• July Haul
• ELF Haul
• Duty Free Haul
• Current Favorite Products
• Products I use the Most

Haul: Makeup Palettes

So after watching Aesthetic Glory and another makeup guru, whose name i can't remember now, I decided to venture out to Pennywise to get a few inexpensive palettes.  The brands: Arista and Starry.
I bought palettes a few years back from Starry and Arista, but threw them out last year for fear they had gotten old.  These brand actually is extremely good.  The Starry shadows are very pigmented and the staying power is great with a primer.  I will do a review on this palette another time. 
The Starry Palette cost around $8.99 and there are three available at Pennywise.  The Arista palette cost $19.99.  For those of you who don't know, Arista is made from the same company as Sacha, its just considered a lower end product.  The palette i choose I absolutely love the colors. 

The pictures I took out of the Starry palettes did not come out too well, they do not do justice to the colors

I will do swatches and a review on each palette after I have tried them out a few times.  I am about to venture on a project 10 pan, so I will try as much as possible to abstain from purchasing :).  I still have to post some other haul pictures from my last trip to the US.

I'm Back!!!!!

I am really back this time.  Work and school has kept me busy but things have settled down a bit and I can start blogging again.  Over the weekend I was in Boston, and at the Boston Logan Airport, American Airlines terminal, the DutyFree store had Urban Decay for 50% off.  They are discontinuing their sales of UD and so they were selling off their stock.  I got a few things, all the palettes were gone, their liners had like three colors, they had tonnes of shadows which at this time I regret not buying... after I made my purchase I kept saying I would go back, but then I ran late with my flight :( so I did not get to go back.  I will post that haul for you soon.  I also went to a CCO and bought a Clinique foundation, I have never used their foundation before.  I also got some stuff at Sally's and they were like 50% off, and lastly, I got some stuff from ELF.  I haven't really bought anything all year, and i've pretty much finished most of the items I had on my project 10 pan, and even finished other items too, so I thought why not splurge a bit.  So look out for a haul, I plan on doing a few reviews, and then I'll post some looks....So stay tuned....

Haul: CCO

I've been trying my very best not to purchase any makeup even for the Christmas holiday.  I'm really proud of myself because I did really well.  I was at a CCO [Orlando] last weekend and saw the eyeshadow palettes from this line

I had to get one of the palettes so i choose Fresh Cut, I absolutely love it. The palette has

• Floral Inc. - (Frost)
• Sun-Shy - (Lustre)
• Fresh Cut - (Veluxe Pearl)
• Poppy Noir - (Velvet)
• Bloomcycle - (Veluxe Pearl)
• Part Peony - (Lustre)
• #213SE brush

I haven't used it yet, but as soon as I do I will post a look.  I decided to pick up the shadestick in red velvet to use as a base with it.  Believe it or not that is all I bought.  I know that there are tonnes of negative review on shadesticks but i actually like them, since I travel a lot and they are travel friendly.  I will do some swatches later and post them.  Have a great weekend all!