Baby Bird Revisited

Hey ya'll! An update on the baby bird ...

Special thanks to Rebecca for letting us know what our little fella is - an American Robin fledgling. We didn't go out and try to rescue him, we just peeked out and checked on him a few times a day. =)

He's doing well. Momma still comes and feeds him ALL THE TIME. It's crazy. I can't help but wonder if he's getting fed more for some reason. Then again, I've never paid much attention to how much birds feed their young.

He's gotten braver and has now moved out from under the tree to the other side of the yard.

He's filled out and he's starting to get more color to his belly. His momma has a red belly on her.

Anyhow, that's him. He's doing well as you can see. My husband says he'll try to fly soon. 

EOTD: Morphine Hijack

Since I recently showed you the Urban Decay Shadow Pencil in Morphine, I thought I'd show you a look I did with it.

Tee hee hee. I did something naughty. I figured out how to "retouch" a photo and I "retouched" all my little wrinkles away! Look how young I look! =D

Products Used:

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Morphine

Urban Decay Hijack

Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion

Urban Decay Super Curling Mascara

I didn't realize I used all Urban Decay products until just now. I do love that brand! 

I'm going to try keeping my camera in my bathroom (that sounds kinky for some reason) so I can photograph whenever I do something fun with my makeup. Hopefully I can do more EOTDs that way.

Recent Hauls & Nail Mails (pic heavy)

Hellow lovelies! I've just got some random hauls today. Nothing fancy but I realized I may as well tease you with all my goodies! These have come in over the past month or so...

FIRST a huge THANK YOU to Nory for sending me this gem! She posted (tweeted?) about this polish and I mentioned I didn't see it in my store's display, and she mailed one to me, like, the next day. So sweet and I love this polish. Thank you so much honey!! =* 

Wet N Wild Fergie Hollywood Walk of Fame

Wet N Wild Fergie Hollywood Walk of Fame is a great mixture of red, gold, blue, purple, and silver stars with short holo bar glitter and fine holo glitter. I can't wait to wear this on my nails. Any suggestions what I should layer it over?

Wet N Wild Fergie Hollywood Walk of Fame

Next up is a package from Apothica.com. I purchased Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue which I've never tried before, but I hear it's awesome. And I do love glitter. I also purchased Dermablend Cover Creme as I hear it's awesome for people with blemishes and oily/acne prone skin. Let's hope it does well on me! And the CellCeuticals is a sample that was sent along with it.

I won a giveaway over at Lacky Corner and got two awesome polishes, H&M Lady Luck and H&M Aqua Splash. 

H&M Lady Luck and H&M Aqua Splash

H&M Lady Luck is a beautiful green/blue duochrome that looks amazing in the bottle, and luckily, it looked just as amazing on the nail. Maybe a little less duochrome, but it's still awesome.

H&M Lady Luck

Just because this polish is so awesome and it changed so much depending on the angle, I took a while bunch of pictures and put them in a collage for you! I can't wait to get this baby on my nails. Feel free to enlarge that photo (or pin it!) to see the awesome color changing abilities. Dark blue, light blue, aqua, green, and I swear I see a little purple at extreme angles.

  

H&M Lady Luck

H&M Aqua Splash is a gorgeous turquoise glitter with holo glitter mixed in. Lovely with that little extra bit of bling.

H&M Aqua Spash

I did a swap with Rainbowify Me and got these lovely gems! Catrice Dirty Berry (lemming squashed, thanks!), Max Factor Max Effects in Cool Jade, Emerald Green, and Silver, and Claire's polish in a magenta glitter. You've already seen Max Factor Cool Jade here. Still working through the rest of them.

I won another giveaway at The Dark Side of Beauty and I received a sample of Aya Japanese Camellia Oil. You can see Nancy's review here.

Another package I received super recently is from Lensvillage.com. I received two lenses, Dueba Crystal.i Violet and G 307 Gothic 3 Tones Turquoise, along with two fun contact lens cases. Super cute huh? The purple are fishes and the green are elephants. I hope to get you reviews on these soon, I just want a day where I can wear them and test them out for more than a couple hours. Any preference on which I wear first? =)

Last, but not least, my Julep Maven American Beauty box! I know this is late, but since I moved, I had to wait longer to get mine as it needed to be forwarded to my current address. In this box I got a fun Julep tote and acetone free nail polish remover, along with two polishes, Julep Stefani (gunmetal grey) and Julep Dakota (medium rose pink).

That's all I have for you! Hope to use some of this stuff soon and let you know how it goes! 

Post contains an affiliate link.

Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish Collection

Lime Crime, a well known makeup brand on the internet, has branched out with an awesome nail polish collection.

What Lime Crime has to say about them ...

7 pastel shades, inspired by confectionary delights from Marie Antoinette's table. Recklessly pigmented crème formula is rich, smooth and opaque in just two coats. Each bottle comes equipped with a flat, wide brush for superb control and flawless application. Never tested on animals. 3-Free.

Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish Collection

I adore Lime Crime packaging. I'm all about the packaging in anything I buy, so I adore getting a purple shipping box in the mail. These polishes are in square, frosted bottles with purple logos on the front. LOVE.

The brush on these is a standard sized flat brush. Not too big, not small. Fans nicely when you paint your nails. 

Lime Crime Crema de Limon is described as a pastel yellow, but it's still very bright. Gorgeous color. This one gave me some problems with application, as most yellows do. Three coats to even it out. Lovely color. I have nothing else like it in my stash.

Lime Crime Crema De Limon

Lime Crime Crema de Limon

Lime Crime Lavendairy is a beautiful medium purple that dries to a rubbery finish. Not quite matte but not shiny. Rubbery. Very cool. My favorite of the collection. Purple + rubber finish = awesomesauce. Opaque at two coats.

Lime Crime Lavendairy

Lime Crime Milky Ways is an off white french tip color, but for me it's a creamy beige. Interesting addition to the rainbow mix, but a good neutral is always a fantastic addition! This one was a little streaky for me, but three coats got it even and smooth. Lovely.

Lime Crime Milky Ways

Lime Crime Milky Ways

Lime Crime Once In A Blue Mousse is a fantastic robin's egg blue. Covers nicely, opaque at three coats. Gorgeous color. Great name too! This one did stain my nail beds a bit, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Just be careful with application! Dries a little darker than the bottle.

Lime Crime Once in a Blue Mousse

Lime Crime Once In A Blue Mousse

Lime Crime Parfait Days is a beautiful medium bubblegum pink that dries slightly lighter than in the bottle. Good formula, two coats for opacity, but may be able to get away with one!

Lime Crime Parfait Days

Lime Crime Pastelchio is a bright neon green. It also dries to a rubber finish, like Lavendairy, making it even cooler! This color liked to run. It would leave my topcoat brush with green and when I did a few mani's with it, it liked to run and turn other colors a little green. Just be warned. This color is so fun though, I'm willing to  forgive and forget.

Lime Crime Pastelchio 

Lime Crime Peaches ♥ Cream is a vivid orange that applies beautifully in two coats. No troubles with this one.

Lime Crime Peaches ♥ Cream

Verdict: I really love these colors and the packaging puts them in top rank in my book. The surprise rubber finish on Lavendairy and Pastelchio was awesome. I'm very happy with these. 

Lime Crime polishes retail for $5.99 each or the entire collection can be purchased at a discounted $39.99 and can be purchased through the Lime Crime website here. Polishes are 3-free and cruelty free.  International shipping available, but you must purchase through here where they retail for £5.00.

Products provided for review.

EDIT: I'm slowly adding in pictures of the colors on my nails as I'm able to wear them! Hope this helps when picking out some polishes!

Shimmer Jasmine

This post is totally late! I tweeted about this polish awhile back to tease Alexis and then the pictures got lost in the shuffle. My bad.

Shimmer Jasmine is a gorgeous dense aqua glitter with light blue, green, red, and gold glitters. Possibly more colors, but I get a headache trying to sort them out.

Shimmer Jasmine, one coat

Shimmer Jasmine, three coats

Shimmer Jasmine, three coats

Shimmer Jasmine, three coats

Shimmer Jasmine, three coats

Just so ya know! This was taken quickly after I moved here and my cuticles were in awful condition. I chose not to do a partially shaded front on picture because look at those raggedy cuticles! From the side and in more light made them almost disappear. haha Camera trickery.

Shimmer Jasmine (and showing you my awful cuticles!)

I loved everything about this polish. Lovely colors. Lovely application - not too thick but stayed where I put it, which is nice in a glitter since clean up can be a challenge. No clean up required with this one! I can't sing enough praises! 

Info & Stats

• Etsy page (click here for inventory and purchasing!)
• Facebook
• Website
• $12.00 for .5oz
• She makes CUSTOM colors, $14 for custom colors!
• International sales & shipping

Product provided for review.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects I Love Lacey

I decided while I was going to be on the road, I was going to try some Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips. I hadn't wanted to wear them yet because I wanted to see how long they would last, and I had been trying to do nail art and swatching like crazy to make up for my intended break. I'm just now getting to edit the pictures but I was impressed with these!

First, the necessary packaging pictures...

Nail polish strips laid out after matching the sizes to my nails.

You peel off the tab and backing and place the polish strip on your nails, stretching it as needed to fit.

You take the included file and file down to clean up the edges.

You have to be careful with these. They are thin and will tear easily. This one I had some trouble with on the end, which wasn't a big deal since it was going to be trashed anyway, but then when I was stretching it, I tore the side. In the trash it went ... 

All done! My new manicure!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects I Love Lacey

My only complaint about this design was that it was a dark red with black design, so from far away in regular light, it looked maroon. You couldn't really make out the design unless you were in direct sunlight (ie these pictures) or looking really closely.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects I Love Lacey

Sally Hansen Salon Effects I Love Lacey

These wore really well. I wanted to find out if they wear better with topcoat. I put topcoat on my middle and pinky nails (2nd and 4th fingers below). These pictures were after 7 days. I had less tipwear with the topcoat (Seche Vite) but I had rough topcoat around my cuticles which caused them to lift and snag earlier than the other nails without topcoat. My index finger did chip, but I was moving and picking at tape and boxes.

I was really impressed with the staying power and look forward to wearing another pair again!

P.S. They are easily removed with nail polish remover as they are real nail polish!

I have two more pair waiting to be worn! Can't wait!!

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Morphine - Swatches & Review

I shared with ya'll the cream liners that Milani recently put out, and I wanted to share my Urban Decay one that everyone keeps comparing them to.

I have the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Morphine - a light purple with a pale blue shift. It's like a lighter version of Ransom.

I will preface this post with the fact that I've had this product for awhile, and like any makeup hoarder collector, I used it a few times and then became distracted by other products. I think I have makeup ADD. Haha. MADD. Yep, I'm MADD. Anyhow, I remember it being more even and soft, but now it seems to have dried out a little. I'm not sure what the shelf life of these is, but they do change a little over time.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Morphine, swatched on bare skin

You can find an arm full of swatches here at karlasugar.net

Urban Decay 24/1 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Morphine, swatched on bare eyelid

Just like the Milani Shadow Eyez pencils, you have some blending time before it sets, but it's hard to use as anything other than an all over lid color/base or an eyeliner.

Me Gusta:

- sleek, portable design

- great color selection

- nice as an eyeliner or wash of lid color

- good if you're in a hurry!

- great wear time, with or without primer

No Me Gusta:

- requires a super big sharpener which I don't have, and will waste product 

- on the expensive side, given new similar versions in the drugstores

- dry out quicker than other shadow pencils (per google search!)

- uneven coverage, can be hard on eye area to ensure opacity

- dry quickly on the lid, can end up tugging for blending

- may be too drying for regular/dry lids

Verdict: It's OK. I may buy another, but I'm not in any rush to do so.

You can buy these wherever Urban Decay is sold, and they retail for $20 for 0.1oz pencil.