NYC City Duet Eyeshadow in NYC Times: Review and Swatches

Being the makeup junkie that I am, I bought a few of the NYC City Duet shadows on a total whim because they were on sale for under $1. I really like NYC, I have a few of their products that I think are fantastic and they are obviously really affordable. I also am always looking for new matte shadows that are great. Who can complain for the price, right? Apparently Ashley.

One of the shades I picked up is NYC Times. It contains a matte white and black so I had high hopes for this product.

Here are the claims, and what I think of them.

Ultra silky texture, comfortable all day long - No

Intense, color-rich shades - Intense? In what world?

Long-lasting eye shadow - With primer
Color glides on smoothly, evenly - Look at the swatches above. I don't think they are very smooth. Too chalky.

As you can tell from the swatches, they do not go on evenly, the pigmentation is not there, and they are so chalky. I know we are talking drugstore makeup, but Wet n Wild has some of the best eyeshadows ever in my opinion, so I expect similar quality from NYC then. That's fair, right? The black doesn't even look like a black, it is more gray, even after the color is built up. Oh, and the white is practically invisible.

These retail for $2.99, and honestly, I say save your money and go pick up some Wet n Wild trios. I cannot recommend this particular duo to you guys. I have two more of these so I will be reviewing them probably sometime in the future.

What are your favorite matte eyeshadows? Please let me know!
Ashley

JulieG 2012 Holiday Collection: Review and Swatches!

Good morning, girls :) I've been all about everything that will get me in the Christmas mood this year! I've been enjoying the photo a day challenge on instagram and blogging every day with some holiday themes. All of this just makes me extra excited for the holidays this year. So I thought I'd share a holiday collection with you all today.

Big Red Bow, Under Mistletoe, Light It Up, Ornamental, Gift Wrapped

I originally saw a swatch of Light It Up on instagram and immediately knew I wanted to get my hands on this color. However, I do not have a Rite Aid in my state so I had to order it online. Not sure what part of me said, Ashley, you need all these colors, because my nail polish collection is already big enough. Somehow I ended up ordering the whole collection, story of my life!

I'm not going to go super in depth with this review, just cover the basics!

Thumb: Gift Wrapped - Magenta shimmer. Opaque in one coat.
Pointer: Big Red Bow - Red shimmer. Opaque in one coat.
Middle: Light It Up - Multi colored and sized glitter. One quick swipe across the nails was done above. Absolutely beautiful. Looks good over any color, or can be built up for an accent color.
Ring: Ornamental - Gold shimmer. Opaque in one coat.
Pinky: Under Mistletoe - Green shimmer. Pretty sheer, even with two coats, which is what is on my nail.

I just had to include a picture of Light It Up. Look at that gorgeousness. Just makes me happy to look at it, lame I know!

All of these colors apply smoothly and go on opaque in one coat, aside from Under Mistletoe which needs between 2-3 coats. Staying power seems great with these polishes with a basic top coat, I've gone about 4 days and only had one little chip that was barely noticeable.

Overall, I recommend you pick up these shades! I think they are very holiday appropriate and are very festive. My favorites are Light It Up and Gift Wrapped. I'm not a huge fan of Under Mistletoe just because the quality isn't as high as the other four, but I still recommend it if you like the color! These are $3.99 each and can be purchased at Rite Aid or online at Jesses Girl cosmetics!

What are you favorite holiday nail polishes?
Ashley

Classic Holiday Makeup Look

I think the safest look to rock for the holidays is dramatic winged eyeliner and a bright red lip. I thought it would be helpful to share with you guys the products I use to achieve this look, in case you want to create this look for the holidays but need affordable products to use! I’ll include the steps I used down below as well!

Face:
Maybelline Pure Stay Powder Foundation

Eyes:
NYX HD Eye Shadow Base
MAC Painterly Paint Pot
Wet n Wild Lust Palette (Cream colored Shimmery Shade)
ELF 32 Eyeshadow Warm Palette (Light Matte Brown Shade) Anything will work!
Wet n Wild Mega Liner in Black Sparkle
Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Crème Shadow Pencil in Pixie

I put nyx shadow base and mac paint pot on as my primer. I then took a creamed colored shimmery shade and applied it all over my lid. Took a light matte brown and lightly ran it through my crease for some definition. I winged out my eyeliner using the wet n wild mega liner. Finished off the look with putting a wet n wild crème shadow in my inner corner to add a nice sheen.

Lips:
ELF Matte Lip Color in Tea Rose
Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in Hot Paris Pink
Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie

I quickly outlined my lips with a matte dusty rose color but any color will do for this. I just like using a deeper color to really define my lips but the main purpose is to just keep the red lipstick in place. I then applied wet n wild hot paris pink all over my lips and topped it off with revlon lip butter in berry smoothie for a deeper look and to add a really pretty glossy appearance to the lips.

I hope my little explanations made sense to you guys. This is a really easy sure fire look to rock for the holidays and I just adore it. I like to be a little more daring with my makeup during the holidays though, so I will be back with a more exciting look for you guys in the near future :)

What makeup looks do you like wearing for the holidays? Do you find this post helpful or not?
Ashley

All I Want for Christmas: Beauty Wishlist!

I thought it would be fun to share with you what I'd love to get for Christmas this year beauty wise. Keep in mind I am not actually asking for all of these things for Christmas, nor do I expect I will even get any of these, this is just on my wishlist this year :)

Too Faced Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection: Every time I see this eyeshadow palette in use on youtube and such, I just love every single look I see. I already have an abundance of eyeshadow, but I feel this would be a safe palette to add to my collection because I love neutral looks.

Sephora In The Glow Set: Omg, there are so many products in here that I am dying to try. I'd rather spend the $45 on this set and see if I really like products before I go out and spend $45 on the full size products that I maybe don't like. Just a beautiful combination set that I'd love to test out.

LORAC 3D Liquid Lustre in Diamond: This just looks absolutely beautiful. I would say this is towards the bottom of my list of these products because it's something I don't really need, but I feel this would be absolutely stunning for special occassions and $16 is not a bad price at all.

Selena Gomez Eau de Parfum Spray: I usually like to ask for a perfume for Christmas because I do not like buying them for myself (I feel guilty spending that much money on myself ;). I was smelling the JB perfume Someday and was convinced that would be the one I'd ask for because the scent lingers all day and just smells really fresh and nice, but the lady at the counter I was at made me smell this and OMG. This honestly smells amazing. I can't really describe scents at all, but this is just really fruity but still smells sophisticated in my opinion. Other perfumes I like are Britney Spears Fantasy and DKNY Be Delicious. If you have similar perfume likes to me, you gotta try out the Selena Gomez perfume! Oh, and the perfume bottle is gorgeous!

Let me know your beauty wishlist down below :) I love getting suggestions from you guys :)

I have lots of holiday themed blog posts in mind and like I promised, I will be posting every day up until Christmas so keep checking back on my blog for some fun new posts :) Thanks so much for reading guys.
Ashley

Products I've Been Loving: 11/25-12/1!

Happy December lovely ladies :) I hope you all had a wonderful month of November. Today I'm going to share with you the products I have been loving for the end of November.

Come back every day in December up until Christmas for a new post :)

All of my products this week are new and affordable, with the exception of one. Let's jump right into it :)

NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker: ($3.99) This applies to the cheeks as a dusty rose color. I'm am fair skinned, and if I apply this lightly, it looks beautiful on. I would recommend this more for medium to dark skin tones but I can still pull it off if I really blend it out! I just draw it onto my checks and blend it out with my fingers. People talk about these being discontinued but I still see them around and they are stil listed on the NYC website so I'm not sure what to believe! If you can find these still, pick up some shades :)

Prestige Waterproof Eyeliner in Black: (~$5.25) This is not the most jet black eyeliner, however this lasts the best in my waterline and does not irritate my eyes! I have bad luck with eyeliners on my waterline but I cannot complain with this one. If you have similar problems as I do, I would definitely try this one.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze: (~$6) This was my go to summer shade! I pulled it out of my collection this week to use and found if I apply this in a thicker layer, and then pop MAC Satin Taupe in the crease this looks beautiful for a fall look! The color tattoos are my favorite cream eyeshadow and I love each and every color of them I own!

MAC Satin Taupe: ($12) Talked about this quite a bit already on my blog. This is pretty much my go to every day eyeshadow. I can throw it into any look and it just works. So versatile and beautiful.

Revlon Colorstay Quad in Addictive: (~$7) I've been using the warm matte brown a lot to deepen up any looks I've done recently and it's surprisingly worked out for me. The quad itself doesn't really impress me because I feel the shadows aren't that pigmented and are super powdery, but I reach for that brown a lot and can't complain about that color.

I thought it would be helpful to include swatches of my favorites for you guys.

(Bad to the Bronze, Satin Taupe, Addictvie matte brown, Prestige eyeliner, and Berry New Yorker)

That's all for this week guys :) Leave your favorite products right now down below!
Ashley