Review & Swatches: Etude House Play 101 Pencils in #18, #28, #44, and #45

This review has been a long time coming, but I'm finally going to write about the Etude House Play 101 Pencils in #28, #44, #45, and #18 (Going from top to bottom)! The very top pencil is #21 and my review for that is here. #18 is the only matte shade and the other are glitters. The price varies, but I got mine on ebay for around $6-7.

Review & Swatches: MAC Cosmetics Sized To Go Pigment in Rose

MAC Cosmetics Sized To Go Pigment in Rose contains 2.5 grams / 0.09 US ounces and retails for $10. The full sized pigment contains 4.5 grams / 0.15 US ounces of product for $21. Rose is a beautifully frosty rose shade with copper sparkle. MAC pigments contain ingredients that help adhere to the skin so that you can create a subtle wash of color or even an intense look. 

Tag: The Jolly Blogger Award!

Hi! It's been a while since I've posted up a post. I had that finals rush and then was working non-stop. I'm finally back home and now I have time to answer some questions that Jenny from itsmeeejennyy!

1. Do you open your gifts on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day?

I actually open gifts whenever. Kind of cheeky, right? hahaha I've never been a super Christmas person because I feel guilty getting gifts. For the past couple of years, I've had some Christmas party with friends with gift exchanges and we would just open gifts on the day of the party. 

2. Favorite Christmas Song?

I really like Last Christmas by Wham! Not the most festive Christmas song, but I always find myself singing along to it. I also like almost every version of I'll Be Home For Christmas.

3. Favorite Christmas / Holiday Movie?

One of my favorite movies ever is Home Alone and now that I've mentioned it, I really want to watch it again. 

4. Favorite Christmas Decoration?

I really love Christmas lights. I used to going on car rides to look at Christmas lights and decorations when I was younger, but not that many people do it anymore. A lot of my friends in college hang up lights though and they always make me so happy.

5. Favorite Christmas Food?

It's not specifically for Christmas, but I love eating Hot Pot / Shabu Shabu / all the other versions of it during the colder months. They always warm me up and it's so delicious!! There's a place in Southern California called Boiling Point that I love to go to.

Taken from syorithefoodie.com

6. Favorite Holiday / Winter drink?

I love drinking hot chocolate during winter and my favorite variation of it is salted caramel hot chocolate. I got some K-Cups from a target brand and it can be a bit too sweet, but it is amazing.

7. Snow or no snow?

I like the idea of snow, but I've only experienced it two or three times. I don't live in an area where it snows and so I feel like I'm just romanticizing how lovely snow is.

8. Do you send out cards or no cards?

My family has never Christmas cards and so no cards! Maybe when I'm older though.

9. Do you secretly still believe in Santa Claus?

Nah, I never believed anyway. When my parents and relatives gave me gifts, I want to recognize their efforts and work that went into them. 

10. Your favorite winter clothing item?

I love oversized sweaters and fleece lined leggings! Oh man, fleece lined leggings are the best thing ever. They're thicker and don't... reveal as much? If you get what I'm saying. I got some sweater designed ones from Target and I want to buy them in every color available. 

11. One beauty product that you cannot be without this winter?

I wore so many dark lipsticks just in this past week. I bought Lime Crime's Velvetine in Black Velvet and I've been mixing them into other liquid lipsticks. I'm in loooove with dark lipsticks in general though. 

I'm going to cheat and also say a nice moisturizers for the dry weather! My favorite is Lush's Celestial Moisturizer. 

12. Best Christmas Memory?

I remember when I was younger, I really wanted a fake radio thing that was Barbie themed but my parents said I couldn't have it. On Christmas Eve, I was rocking a wrapped present on my lap and then suddenly this loud music started playing. I was so scared that I dropped it and ran. I then realized it was the radio that I wanted and was so happy! My parents were pretty annoyed that I figured out what the present was, but were glad that I was so happy about it. 

It's not the best memory I can think of, but it's one that makes me laugh a lot. We had a tree that year as well and it was decorated by my sister and me so it looked ridiculous, but it was still so beautiful in my eyes. The holidays always make me so happy and I'm glad to be back in my hometown to experience that happiness again. 

Well, I'm done with being cheesy!

For the people I'm tagging - 

Sharlynn from The Black Mentos Beauty Box - She is incredibly sweet and always has the best FOTD posts

Jacklyn from Jacklynv - I went to high school with her and she just started her blog recently. Her stuff is really great so far and so if you start following her, tell her I sad Hi! You won't regret it!

Stacy from Newfound Beauty Blog - She's one of the first people I started talking to and like the other two people I blogged, she's also super sweet and amazing. 

Review & Swatches: Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash

Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash contains 6 mini-sized lipsticks and 1 full sized lip liner in Ozone. The lipstick colors are Ladyflower, Crush, Illicit, Gash, Liar, and F-bomb. The first three lipstick shades are exclusive to this set and Gash is normally an Urbandecay.com exclusive. The whole lip set is $39, but the full sized lipsticks normally go for around $22 and the lip liner is $20. 

Congrats Lynn Marie - the Winner of One Hot Bamba!

Thank you all for being interested in my first giveaway and Lynn Marie is the winner!

Just for future references, what other products would you all be interested in for giveaways? I might not do them that often, but I always keep giveaways in my mind during purchases.

Just an FYI, the end of my school quarter is this upcoming week. I have some posts queued up, but I may be a bit slow on comment replies.

Good luck to other students and hope everyone's holiday season is going well!

Review & Swatches: Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics Palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics is a cool toned 6 pan palette with 5 matte and 1 satin eyeshadows. It was made to complement the second Naked palette (which I don't have), but it can be used just by itself. Each shade contains 0.05 ounces and the palette retails for $29. 

Review & Swatches: Lush Cosmetics Cream Eyeshadow in Focus

Lush Cosmetics Cream Eyeshadow in Focus is a iridescent blue-grey eyeshadow and there's a bluey green shift to it. It is infused with rose petals and Cupuaçu butter that helps blend out the product. The formula works as an eyeliner or shadow depending on the applicator and retails for $18.95.

October & November 2014 Favorites!

I didn't have enough favorites for an October Favorites post and so I combined it with November and now I have a lot to talk about! I'm slowly starting to shift to more "Autumn / Fall" colors. 

One of the products I put aside during my yellow-y blonde days was the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. I felt like the pink looked slightly off on me because I hadn't toned my hair to be more neutral / cool toned but now I can finally use the palette that I love so much. I tend to just use any mixture of one of the lighter and one of the darker shades depending on how dramatic I want to be. 

L to R:

Benefit Cosmetics Porefessional + High Beam has been my base/primer of choice lately. I'm not actually in love with Porefessional, but it does help smooth out my face a bit. I mix it with High Beam because the cooler air has made my face more dull. Mixed together, these products add a glow while help keep my foundation on longer. 

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Licorice (review here) is a dark purple with slightly red/plum tones. I wear this when I want to go for a more dramatic look. Actually, I wear it whenever because it's a beautiful color.

Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick in Touch of Spice (review here) is a more mauvey plummy neutral shade and I wear this when I'm not wearing Licorice. It is not drying like how some other matte lipsticks can be but it still lasts a super long time.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Soft Brown + Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow in Light/Medium is what I've been using on my brows nonstop since I've gotten them. I totally understand the hype and they make my brows look so nice and defined without being crazy dramatic. 

Benefit Cosmetics Blush in Rockateur has the same kind of mauve-y but rosy undertone that I've been loving so much recently. It's what I wanted Tarte's Exposed to be, but this has more of a sheen. I found out that I like blushes with more of a sheen because they're more blendable to me. Matte blushes make my face more flat even if I add highlighter. 

NARS Bronzer in Laguna + Blush in Deep Throat + Blush in Goulue are some other blushes I use a lot. I even hit pan on Laguna, which has not happened for any of my colored face products. When I'm not wearing Rockateur, I put on Deep Throat because it's the prettiest pinky blush that fits anything. Goulue is more for my slightly darker makeup days and Laguna is used to contour a lot. I also just add a bit on my cheek bones and forehead to create a bronzy glow that I lost from summer. 

& that's all for these two months! There was definitely a Benefit vibe going on, but I didn't even notice until I wrote up this post. I've just been in love with Benefit lately as well because their packaging is pretty adorable (except for the snakeskin on Rockateur).

What are your recent favorites?

Review & Swatches: Benefit Cosmetics Cheeky Sweet Spot Blush Palette + GIVEAWAY IS OVER!

Benefit Cosmetics Cheeky Sweet Spot Blush Palette contains 6 powder products and one cream highlight, Watt's Up (1.6 grams). There are 5 blushes which are Dandelion (4.0 grams), Bella Bamba (5.0 grams), Sugarbomb (6.0 grams), Coralista (5.0 grams), and Rockateur (5.0 grams). The only matte product is the bronzer, Hoola (5.0 grams), which is a cult favorite from the brand. The sizes of the blushes and bronzer vary, but you do get a good amount of each. The whole palette retails for $36 and is limited edition. 

Review & Swatches: NYX Butter Lipstick in Licorice

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Licorice is one of my recent lipstick additions and it's a dark plum that is more purple and has hints of red. NYX claims that the texture melts into the lips while giving high pigmentation. I wanted to go darker, but straight up purples are too scary for me right now. It contains 0.16 ounces / 4.5 grams the retail price is around $5 - $6.