NOTD: Revlon Sparkle Aplenty!

The other day, I was wasting money time in Walgreens and stumbled upon Revlon's latest runway polish release, Sparkle Aplenty. I first learned about this little pretty via Nouveau Cheap and I was SO excited to come across it in person. I have a black glitter polish obsession and this one is instantly my new favorite.

come a little closer

closer

closer

ok that's close enough.

This is .5 ounces of fabulocity!! Sparkle Aplenty is a sheer black jelly polish with large black, matte silver (think OPI Pirouette my Whistle) & translucent greyish hex glitter mingling with silver micro glitter . LOVE LOVE and LOVE some more! 

Formula wise, it was a bit runny, but not impossible. The above swatches are 3 coats of Sparkle Aplenty on its own with Seche Vite on top. I love the look of the layered glitter suspended in all that black jelly awesomeness! I also love that these glitters are nice and flat. No tacos and no pokey bits sticking up here. 

Now usually the Revlon Runway Report polishes are dupes of much more expensive polishes, but this particular polish doesn't seem to have an obvious high-end twin. The closest anyone could come to pinpointing a match is OPI's Metallic 4 Life (part of the Nicki Minaj collection from earlier this year), so I thought I would include a side by side comparison of Sparkle Aplenty and Metallic 4 Life.

Sparkle Aplenty on the left, Metallic 4 Life on the right

No dupes here! Sparkle Aplenty's glitters are larger, more sparse and, of course, Metallic 4 Life only has silver glitters, whereas SA has black glitter & grayish glitter, too. Also, Metallic 4 Life's glitters are much shinier. If I had to pick one over the other, I would definitely go for Sparkle Aplenty. I think it has much more depth and interest to it. But really, in my mind, the polishes are so very different that pitting them against each other doesn't make sense to my polish hoarding brain. 

 After a day of wearing Sparkle Aplenty as my mani, I decided to bust out the crack. It's been forever since I used any of my crackle polishes. For some reason, I suddenly got the urge to play with one and I chose my Barry M pink crackle. I love how you can see the large glitters peaking through the cracks--almost like the eyeballs of some creatures lurking in the dark lol....ok maybe I'm the only one who would ever make that analogy. My point is, it's a cool effect.

Have you spotted this polish yet? 

2 recent FOTDs featuring my beloved Sleek iDivine palettes

It's been forever since I posted an FOTD--mostly because I haven't been wearing a whole lot of makeup lately. We all that cosmetics + intense heat = eyes like Tammy Faye Bakker on a crying jag, so I've been opting mostly for either a completely nekkid face or just mascara + lip balm. 

But my hunger for color got the best of me this weekend and I busted out my Sleek i-Divine palettes and went to town. This is what happens when I go on a DVR RuPaul's Drag U viewing binge. I am absolutely endlessly inspired by drag queens, their astounding makeup wizardry & their ability to use color, contour, light, shadow--and of course glitter--to whip up a wholly different persona for themselves to inhabit. Oh if I only had those kinds of skills...

Saturday's Look:

                                          

                                          

                                                  

~~PRODUCTS USED~~

Face:

E.L.F. Translucent Mattifying powder

E.L.F. HD powder

NYC Color Wheel Allover Bronze Glow

NYC Color Wheel Pink Cheek Glow

E.L.F. Golden Bronzer (as highlight)

Eyes:

Garnier Anti-Dark Circle eye roller

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Sleek Curacao i-Divine palette 

Sleek Ultra Matte Vol 1 i-Divine palette

Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner

Wet N Wild ColorIcon shadow single in Panther

Jordana Extreme Volumizing Mascara

Wet N Wild Acapulco Glow bronzer (to blend out shadow and highlight browbone)

NYC brow kit

Lips:

L'Oreal Colour Riche Audacious Amazon lipstick (from last year's Project Runway LE collection)

 Sunday's Look:

~~PRODUCTS USED~~

Face:

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder foundation in Translucent Light

E.L.F. HD Powder

NYC Colorwheel in Pink Cheek Glow

NYC Colorwheel in Allover Bronze Glow

Wet N Wild Bronzer as highlight

Eyes:

Garnier Anti-dark circle eye roller

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Sleek Curacao & Ultra Matte Vol 2 i-Divine Palettes

Wet N Wild ColorIcon shadow single in Panther

Jordana Extreme Volumizing mascara

NYC brow kit

Lips:

L'Oreal Colour Riche Audacious Amazon

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Decadent

Who are your glam idols & makeup inspirations?

Patriotic monkey claws!

Happy 4th of July, USA! Hope you're all enjoying your day off. Me and my family are just having a real chill day at home--just us playing in the yard and grillin some burgers and later on we'll shoot off some fireworks we bought, cuz it ain't the 4th unless you're blowing something up, amiright??

So, of course, being a proud lacquerhead, I had to dress my nails up for the Holiday. Behold the uber creative (*sarcasm*) mani I came up with:

Gee...stamped stars and stripes & some red &  blue glitter on  a white thumb. Yea, I know I'm a nail art visionary...

Polishes used are: Revlon Frankly Scarlet; China Glaze Ring in the Red; Orly Stone Cold; Hot Topic BlackHeart Beauty 'Royally Screwed'; Finger Paints Papier Mache (both for thumb and for stamping); OPI Gettin Miss Piggy With It....and the whole she-bang topped off with Seche Vite of course!

Well, off to enjoy the rest of the day with the kiddos. Have a happy and safe 4th!

who's got 2 thumbs and just got over the most gnarly summer cold ever???

ME!!! And to celebrate, here's a nice, colorful FOTD:

(click to enlarge)

Yes I coordinated my makeup to my outfit and hair yet again. Also, you can see I'm off my neutral kick and strung out on color yet again. I know I've shown this color combo on here before, but this time,  I did it with different shadows--namely a bunch of shadows from my beloved Sleek palettes. Oh how I lovez me some Sleek. Too bad I live on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Thank you Ebay for helping me get my hands on these amaze-balls UK pretties!! At this point, I own 6 Sleek i-Divine shadow palettes: the Acid Palette; both the bright and dark matte palettes; the Monaco palette; the original palette & the Curacao Palette...and word in the blogosphere is Sleek is releasing a new "Glory" palette on July 4th to celebrate the 2012 Olympic games in London. And you bet I'll  be scouring the interwebz for that one, too! For now I will just have to drool over Musical Houses' swatches here.

Anyway, onto products used:

Face:

Wet N Wild Tinted moisturizer

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear powder foundation

L'Oreal Charming Cockatoo blush (from the LE project runway collection--which you can track down on Ebay--damn you Ebay!!)

NYC Color Wheel mosaic powder in Bronze Glow

Femme Couture Baked highlighting powder

Eyes:

Garnier anti-dark circle eye-roller

NYX HD shadow base

yellow shade from Sleek bright matte palette

lime green shade from Sleek bright matte palette

shimmering green shade from Sleek Monaco palette

Wet N Wild bronzzer Acapulco glow as brow highlight

Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner in black

Maybelline Falsies Flared mascara

NYC brow kit

ELF brow gel

Lips:

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick

So do you have any overseas beauty loves that force you to resort to Ebay in order to get your fix?

2 different neutral looks

Hell must have frozen over because I've been doing nothing but neutral looks lately. It all started last week when I picked up the E.L.F. eyeshadow quad in Butternut at Target (seriously, reach between your couch cushions, dig out 4 quarters and go get this quad. It RULES and, at 25 cents per shadow, you can't friggin beat the price!!)...ever since then, I've been pulling out all my neutral shadows and playing with them to make up for neglecting them in favor of all my bright shades for so long. Here are 2 contrasting looks that have come out of that experimentation--one more dramatic and one more subtle but still defined.

LOOK 1--on the dramatic side:

Here's a neutral look I did with the aforementioned Butternut quad. It's a soft cut crease with a pop of bright coral/pink gloss on the lips (hey I can't quit my colors cold turkey!!)...I've also been testing out the new Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation and have been LOVING it so far (will write a full review on this soon).

FACE:

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation in Buff

ELF Studio HD Powder

Physicians Formula Bronzer (this one is from years ago, the label's gone and I can't remember what it was called).

Milani blush in Dolce Luminoso

ELF Golden bronzer used as highlight

Eyes:

NYX HD eyeshadow base

ELF shadow quad in Butternut

Jordana Fabuliner in Brown

Rimmel Spark It Up liner in Tiger Eye

Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara

ELF brow kit Medium

ELF brow gel

Lips:

Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in Strawberry

LOOK 2--much less dramatic:

Here is a much more subtle neutral look with just some light contouring in the crease & at the outer corners of my eyes. Since the shadow was so understated, I went for a bold red lip and some cat-eye liner. I was being lazy this particular day and decided to skip liquid foundation in favor of a dusting of Physicians Formula Healthy Wear powder foundation.

FACE:

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation in Translucent Light

Old mystery Physicians Formula Bronzer

L'Oreal Charming Cockatoo's Blush (from last fall's LE Project Runway collection--which you can still track down on Ebay)

ELF Golden Bronzer used as highlight

EYES:

NYX Nude on Nude palette

Jordana Fabuliner in Brown

Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara

ELF Brow kit medium

Lips:

Revlon Cherries in the Snow (can't get more classic, iconic red than that!)

Swatch and review: Revlon Kissable Just Bitten Balm Stains in Adore and Romantic

Hey, look who's back! I'm sorry I haven't been able to post as frequently as I had hoped. Stupid life--all gettin in the way of blogging and shizz...

Today I have 2 more swatches of 2 more Revlon Kissable Just Bitten Balm Stains (that's one hell of a long product name, isn't it?)...in Romantic and Adore.

Romantic on top, Adore on bottom...

Adore left, Romantic right

Romantic Top, Adore bottom

Romantic

Adore

For the record:  my camera insists on making Romantic and Adore look the same on my lips. In person there is definitely a difference!!

Romantic is a warm tomato red. It's very subtle. I'm not usually a fan of warm reds (I'm a blue-based red kinda girl) but I love the flush of color this gives me. My lips are fairly pigmented on their own and this shade just kicks that natural pigmentation up a few notches. 

Adore is another warm red--this one has more brown in it, though. It also has gold shimmer in it, as you can see in the tip shot above. However, that gold shimmer is not very noticeable once on the lips--you just get the slightest gold sheen. I was kinda bummed about that, but that's because I'm a glitter whore and love da shiny things. If you are less inclined to slather your face in sparkles than I am, you'll probably love the effect. 

The formula in these was the same as the other balm stains I reviewed (which you can see here and here--same awesome moisturizing properties, same lush feel on the lips, same shine, same pigmentation, same stainability, same ease of application, same minty hint....I am most definitely a HUGE fan. In fact, these babies are seriously threatening my lip butters' spot as "most favoritest lippie ever"...

So have you gotten any of these yet?

Swatch and review: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten

So have the new Revlon balm/stains popped up in your area yet? Have you hauled every shade yet??  I'm practicing much self-resistance; even I'm amazed that I haven't cleaned out every display I've seen yet. I only let myself buy one at a time. Then I make myself test it and wear it for a week (must break hoarding habits!!)...

The latest shade that I've allowed myself to purchase is Smitten. It's a gorgeous deep magenta shade. It looks super dark in the tube but it applies sheer. Check out the pics:

So as I said in my other Revlon balm stain review, I am in soooooo much lurve with these nifty little poser-pencils. They apply SO easy, feel like a dream, come in gorgeous shades and the packaging is awesome! I've been wearing pretty much nothing but my balm stains since I got them a few weeks ago. I love that they give you color and shine and you don't have to worry about messing with lipliners or layering products and whatnot. They're the kind of lippie you can grab, swipe on and go. As a mom of 3 crazy boys, I can definitely appreciate the  time-saving convenience factor of these! The moisturizing properties are also amazing! They keep your lips happy, they don't feather and, even when the shine wears off (which happens after a few hours of wear), the color is still there. It definitely rocks BOTH sides of its balm/stain identity. And the subtle minty scent/flavor is nice and refreshing. 

Ok, great. Now I once again feel the urge to high-tail it to my Walgreens and buy up the rest of these...damn you, Revlon!! Stop being so awesome and causing me to go broke!

Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain in Lovesick-swatch and review

I was in Walgreens earlier and stumbled upon a display for the new Just Bitten Balm Stains by Revlon--win!! And then I noticed the "30% off Revlon" sign stuck onto the display--double win!! So of course I had to snatch one up-- I went with Lovesick--the fuchsia one, of course (yea I'm a creature of habit, what can I say)...with the 30% off deal, it cost me a whopping 6.49.

First up, I love the packaging! It's this awesome plastic pencil/tube hybrid. The product twists up (the bottom silver part is the twisty part), so no sharpening--woot! I also love that Revlon decided to continue with the "make the packaging the same color as the product" theme it started with their lip butters. 

Here's a close-up of the tip. Of course, with more wear, it's gonna get more and more blunt but, honestly, that is not a problem for me. When it gets to that point, t will just be like working with a slim tube of lipstick. No biggie. 

Now onto the swatches:

Blue-based fuchsia awesomeness. There's a trace amount of silver shimmer in this, which I personally love. The formula is amazing--nicely pigmented but not totally opaque, it slicks on with a true balmy feel. It has just the right amount of slip, not even the slightest amount of stickiness and your lips really do feel and continue to feel moisturized the whole time you are wearing it. When it first goes on, it has a nice shiny finish--it's not superduper glossy or anything. After a few hours, the shine wears away and you're left with that gorgeous flush of color so it truly does live up to its 'balm stain' name. 

I should also mention there is a bit of mintyness to this lippie. Nothing ridiculous, it's just enough to give the slightest, very pleasant cooling sensation to your lips.

So, to sum it all up, I am a BIG fan. Love the color, love the formula, love the performance and love that it actually does what it is supposed to do. Revlon has really been on a roll this past year with its lip and nail products! I'm definitely adding this to my "awesome junk I need every single shade of" list!

Spam on the Cheap, the FOTD edition

Yep, it's time to clean out the To Post folders again--I always procrastinate on sorting through my FOTD pics because I tend to take about 340850438504 shots of each look and it takes forever just to upload them and click through them all.

It's kinda funny--I can tell the chronology of these pics based on my hair color's metamorphosis. Gotta love my Manic Panic A.D.D.!


**Unless otherwise noted, I used the following in all these pictures: Almay Clear Complexion Foundation, Powder and Concealor in Light/Ivory; ELF Eyebrow kit in 'medium;' Jordana Fabuliner; Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara; NYX HD eyeshadow base**

Look, I still have pink hair in this one! 

Eyes: Sugarpill Chromalust in Tiara and Stella

Cheeks: Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush

Lips: Baby Lips balm--the minty one with no pigment in the lime green tube (I can't remember the name)...

Enter the Turquoise/purple hair! 

Eyes: Wet N Wild 8 Pan eyeshadow in "Blue Had Me at Hello." Sugarpill Chromalust in Stella

Cheeks: ELF blush in Pink Passion

Lips: Revlon Lip Butter in Dollypop over NYC Lipstain in Forever Fuchsia

Oh look, yet another blue shadow look...what a shock.

Eyes: Glamour Doll Eyes shadows in Fabulous  and Aqua Foil, some ELF loose shadow that I can't remember and Sugarpill Chromalust in Stella (oh yea I'm crushin HARD on Stella!)

Lips: ELF lipstick in Gypsy

Cheeks: Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush

This is my eye look from yesterday. I was being lazy and didn't do my whole face, hence the eyeballz only shots. For this look, I used Pearl Ex Pigments in Green/Yellow Duo, Blue/Green Duo and Interference Gold. 

What are Pearl Ex Pigments you ask? Well, if you are a crafty bitch like me, you might find the name familiar: they are powdered pearlescent pigments used to add color and luster to arts and crafts projects. You can find them in places like Hobby Lobby, AC Moore and Michael's. Here's the thing about them: they are non-toxic, inert, acid-free, amazingly finely milled, richly pigmented and they apply, blend, and last (all frickin day) like a DREAM...but they're not TECHNICALLY cosmetics. I figure if it looks like makeup, applies like makeup, and is made of perfectly safe ingredients, then HECK, to ME, it's makeup! But, to cover both my ass and Pearl-Ex's I'm gonna say if you wanna try them out, do so 'at your own risk.' I've worn them quite a few times with absolutely no ill effects whatsoever and I am always blown away at how vibrant they are and how easy they are to work with.  ...

Anyway, so there's some of the mugshots I've collected over the past few months. Clearly, I gotta lay off the blue eyeshadow for a while. It's funny. I used to avoid blue shadow like the plague cuz I always read it didn't do anything for green eyes. But, after I started dying my hair all crazy-like again, I decided to HELL with what's "appropriate." I just wanna play with COLOR, dangit! 

Here's to self-liberation...

So what's your color of the moment?