Urban Decay Online Sale

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are incredibly popular, and for good reason. Creamy, waterproof, and an amazing selection of shades. Right now, the 'vintage' shades (not part of their new lineup) are on sale for $9.50 on urbandecay.com; that's 50% off! 
*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

The vintage shades on sale are: Graffiti, Covet, Flipside, Deviant, 1999, Ransom, Gunmetal, Lucky, Eldorado, Crash, Binge, and Lust. (Shown below in that order.) I do not see any expiration date on this sale, so I'm guessing that it is while supplies last. Based on past sales of this nature, I'm sure that the price will go down further, but so will the shade selection. I chose Flipside and 1999. I almost bought Covet and Lucky, but controlled myself. (Ransom is not as smooth application-wise as the others, by the way, but the color is great.)

They have several other products on sale as well. What caught my attention is that their Deluxe Eyeshadows (discontinued) are down to only $4.00! They started at $18.00. I have one in the shade Graffiti and I love it, so I also bought Freakshow. I was able to narrow that down because I already have the Deluxe Shadow Box, which includes most of the other available shades plus some that have been long out of stock as individuals. That reminds me: the Deluxe Shadow Box, which I posted about here, is currently on sale for only $10.00.

Bonus: Free shipping when you buy $35.00 or more of products, valid until 06/25/13. (It is usually $50.00.) Their site says that this is for their Loyal Customers. It is unclear to me if this means that you have to already have an account, or if it will still apply if you register for an account now. 

You can check out all of Urban Decay's current online sales here: http://www.urbandecay.com/urban-decay-cosmetics-sale-products/sale,default,sc.html.

*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

Swatches and Review--Mirabella Colour Sheer in Daydream

Recently, I resubscribed to ipsy. (You can read more about ipsy at the end of the post.) In their May bag, one of the products they sent for subscribers to try is Mirabella Colour Sheer lipstick. I received the shade Daydream. I also have the shade Posy, which I received in a trade on makeuptalk.com, but I'm going to save that for another post.
*I paid for the subscription which provided this sample. There is a referral link later in this post.*

Application was smooth and easy to control. Daydream applies creamy, but without being slippery. It felt moisturizing for a few hours. My lips were not dried out after that amount of time, but no moisture was being added to them from the lipstick.

Applied lightly, yellow artificial light

Applied lightly, natural light

Daydream does have a shimmer to it that borders on a frost, but it doesn't quite go there, which is to its advantage. It is enough, though, that from close range it will emphasize any skin on your lips that has not been exfoliated. You can see that it also emphasized the lines in my lips, as they were dry to begin with that day, but it didn't sink into them and make the color uneven.

Applied lightly, white artificial light

I am not wearing any lip liner, balm, or any lip product in these photos other than Mirabella Colour Sheer in Daydream. Here are my bare lips for reference:

Bare lips, sunlight

Applied lightly, outdoors in the shade

As the product name suggests, this is a sheer color, but still pigmented and buildable. See the swatches below on my arm to show how you can certainly start subtly and build from there.

One swipe, artificial light

Six swipes, artificial light

Mirabella sells their Colour Sheers for $22.00 each on their Web site, in 14 different shades. I am skeptical of their representations of the shades, though, so you may want to look for reviews and swatches like mine online. Mirabella's site makes Daydream look like some sort of super pale lilac. I hope that it was just human error and they accidentally posted the wrong image.

Built-up color, artificial light

I've been keeping Daydream in my purse since I received it, and using it on the go. I'm happy with the product, so I look forward to trying my other shade, Posy.
If you're unfamiliar with ipsy, their Web site describes their service this way: "Each month, subscribers will receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products. Members can watch and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using. All for only $10 a month." They also give out coupons or coupon codes for the brands sampled that month.
*I paid for the subscription which provided this sample. There is a referral link in this post.*

My referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051fwxig0n810mm. You don't have to use my referral link, of course, but I would appreciate it very much. (If two people sign up for an ipsy subscription using my referral, I get a bonus product in my next Glam Bag.)

Paired with Bold Red Lips...

It seems to be the times that I'm not going anywhere that I wear the most makeup. I think it's because I have a little more time to play with it and take everything off if the look fails. Here is the look I paired with my bold red lip from yesterday's post:

Let's focus on the eyes for a while, because that was the area of this look where I tried a new-to-me product, Kat Von D's True Romance Eyeshadow Palette: Art of Elysium--Evelyn, shown below. (It has a mirror inside in addition to what you see.) I think the packaging is super cute, feminine in an understated way.

The shade names: Top left is Enjoy the Silence, top right is Sand Timer, bottom left is Leather, bottom right is Tijuana.

I prepped my eyelids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. (One of my so-called 'holy grail', or HG, products.) I then applied Sand Timer with a light hand from lash line to brow bone.

I applied Enjoy the Silence just to the inner third or so of my eyelid, up to the crease, as shown above. Next, I applied Leather to the middle third or so of my eyelid up to a little past my crease, shown below.

The darkest shade, Tijuana, I applied to the outer third or so of my eye. I brushed the shadow out into roughly a sideways V-shape. This is where your eyes start to look strange, like some sort of... Gothic Neapolitan ice cream?

When my eye shadow is applied in vertical strips like this, I start the blending process by using a soft crease brush to buff out the harsh vertical lines between the shades. I just use a few up and down motions with the brush until the shades flow into each other in a more progressive way.

Personally, I tend to use the same brush for my entire eye shadow process, just cleaning it between  dark and light shades. I used more of Enjoy the Silence to highlight just under my brow. Then I used Sand Timer again with a light hand and a motion like a windshield wiper, to blend horizontally between my three shades on the bottom and my highlight by the brow.

I used Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in shade #21 all over my face, and L'Oreal True Match concealer in Fair/Light Neutral. I filled in my brows with some brown powder by Maybelline and an angled eyeliner brush. (I've used the brow powder so many times that I can no longer read the label to tell you the name of the product.) For eyeliner, I used a somewhat bold line of black liquid: L'Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black.

I tamed my brows a little more with brow gel by Benefit. The mascara used is Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Black Drama, which I previously posted about here. 

I used the blush that I use most of the time, Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in Roseberry. This is an expensive blush to me, around $30, but I got it by using Birchbox points, their loyalty/rewards program. I only tap the brush onto the blush to pick some up, not sweep over it, to keep my blush unbroken for longer. Then I tap it onto my cheeks rather than sweeping it on, so it blends better.

Last but not least was freshening up my NYX lipliner (Hot Red) and lipstick (Chic Red) from yesterday's post.

*I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned and have not received any compensation or samples for this post.*

Shorty Post--Bold Red Lips

Bold red lips can be great if you find a red that works for you. My favorite red lipstick (so far) is NYX 'Chic Red'. 

The products:

NYX Lipliner Pencil in 'Hot Red', shade #817

The results:

 

Rolling my eyes at myself: Not smart to apply creamy red lipstick before any other makeup! I see smudges in my future. In my next post I'll show you what makeup I paired with this bold red lip.

NYX Cosmetics are available on their web site and at ULTA. The Slim Lip Pencils retail for about $3.50, and the Extra Creamy Round Lipstick retails for about $4.00. (I'm not sure how long the sale lasts, but as of March 14, 2013, ULTA.com has both products Buy 1, Get 1 for 50% Off.)

*I purchased the above products with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or web sites mentioned in this post.*

Review and Photos--COVERGIRL Outlast Lipstain 'Everbloom Kiss'

COVERGIRL Outlast Lipstain was one of the products I picked up from Bloom.com, which I posted about here, when they were having crazy sales. I chose the shade 'Everbloom Kiss'.

COVERGIRL Outlast Lipstain in Everbloom Kiss

I was expecting the color to be similar to that of the majority of the tube/marker. In reality, it was more like the small darker portion at the end of the marker.

Everbloom Kiss outdoors in partial sun

The application felt fine and smooth with good coverage. I did, however, find it difficult to get the color to be evenly distributed.

Everbloom Kiss outdoors in the shade

This Lipstain did not moisturize my lips, but it also didn't dry them out. I would probably wear a lip balm over it next time. Below is how it fared after five hours, including talking, eating, and drinking.

Everbloom Kiss after 5 hours

I really like this shade. I think it would be flattering on most skintones. 

COVERGIRL Outlast Lipstain typically retails for $7.99-8.99. Buymebeauty.com sells it for $4.99.

*I bought this product with my own money, and I am not affiliated with any of the brands or websites mentioned above.*

Just Photos--Maybelline the Falsies Volum' Express Black Drama Mascara

Two coats, no lash curler, no lash comb 

Two coats, no lash curler, no lash comb 

Review and Swatches--L'Oreal Infallible Gloss 'Sangria'

Lipstick is typically more my style, but L'Oreal Infallible is my favorite lip gloss so far. I have tried a few different shades, but the most recent is 'Sangria', which I bought from Bloom.com (see my Bloom.com haul post here).

This is their 6-hr Never Fail Lipgloss. It appears from L'oreal's website that they have kicked it up to 8-hr glosses instead.

In the bottle, 'Sangria' looks to me like a warm, dark pink. I think for many ladies it would create a 'my-lips-but-better', almost nude, effect. I am very pale and cool-toned, though, so I think that is why it looks warmer on me and less pink by comparison.

I think that the applicator makes it easy to almost line your lips with the gloss and then fill in the rest. You can be very precise, or just sweep it on.

Bare lips, indoors, natural light

Indoors, natural light

Indoors, natural light

As you can see, this gloss is very pigmented, none of that sheer stuff. That is probably why I like it so much, since it is closer to a lipstick than most glosses. 

Indoors, natural light

This is definitely a long-lasting gloss for me. It stays on for a long time, although the color does not stay at full strength. I will keep color from this gloss on my lips even through some eating and drinking, or a kiss. Yes, some of the color will transfer to your drinking glass, but is easily wiped off.  

Outdoors, natural light

Outdoors in the shade

Indoors, artificial light

What do you think? Do you prefer lipstick, or gloss? Or is a combination best?

Thanks for reading!