nymphette

MAC will forever be one of my top favorite makeup brands, even if they churn out new collections far too often for my wallet's taste. One of my favorite things I've posted to tumblr recently was a photo from the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show during London Fashion Week. Too impractical to recreate in real life sadly, but I'm in love- and MAC has just posted a breakdown of the products used. 

• Eyes: Cyan Paint Stick, Electric Eel Eye Shadow, Bitter Eye Shadow, Juxt Eye Shadow, and Lime Eye Shadow were blended over eyelids, with High Def Cyan Chromagraphic Pencil used as an eyeliner.
• Lips: Kissable Lip Colour in Woo Me
• Cheeks: Well Dressed Powder Blush, Azalea Powder Blush, Salsarose Powder Blush

To see the look and shop for items on the MAC website, click here. Just click on "London" then "Vivienne Westwood Red Label."

friday favorites

I kinda like this type of post. Won't do it every Friday, probably just when there's new stuff to add or as a weekly recap. Anyways, here are some of my favorite things from the week:

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin- This series was in last week's favorites post, so sorry to repeat myself, but I haven't been able to put these books down!
2. CoverGirl NatureLuxe collection- I have the foundation in the color Maple (mentioned here) and the gloss balm in the color Marble. I use the foundation with my fingers as a light coverage/tinted moisturizer-like product, perfect for summer. The gloss balm is an affordable alternative to high-end "shine" lipsticks that gives the tiniest hint of color and lots of moisture.
3. MAC Double Feature 4- Available July 29th from the MAC Colorizations collection or now from the Nordstrom Cinematic collection (yeah, confusing), I love the colors in this duo. I haven't been brave enough to use them together yet, but separately this teal-green and ochre brown are unique to my collection and fun to use :)
4. Homemade Whipped Cream + Strawberries- My last post inspired me to be a bit more "culinary," which to me means whipping cream myself instead of buying a tub of Cool Whip. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere, right? Several pinches of sugar and one sore arm later, I (literally) whipped up a batch of delicious, lightly sweet cream to drizzle over my favorite summer fruit, and I'm never going back!
5. Apartment Hunting (sorta)- Fingers crossed, I found a place! Apartment hunting isn't a favorite per say- actually, it's kind of a pain in the ass- but I'm loving it for the part that will come after: deciding how I'm to decorate my new home, and a big trip to Ikea. Also, Pottery Barn sent my father a coupon for 10% off his next entire purchase, in a brochure that said "welcome to the neighborhood!" even though we've lived in the same house for 8 or 9 years now. Totally a sign.

june birchbox 2011

I received my June Birchbox in the mail today! Birchbox is a $10-a-month subscription service that sends you deluxe samples (meaning no one-time use foil packets, unless they're little extras thrown in) of beauty, hair, and skin products. The products are a good size, and they more than make up for the price! As someone who spends more than $10 a month on a beauty product shopping addiction random beauty treats for myself, this is a great way to try a few new products without breaking the bank. I'd encourage anyone who's interested to sign up for a month and see how you like it; you can always cancel any time!


This is my third box, and I've loved my previous two. I'm writing this as I'm opening it, so these are my first impressions!

Everything is so prettily wrapped, it's like getting a present :) There's also a little card included that explains the "theme" of each month's box. The first sentence starts with "we've got a serious case of wanderlust-" If you follow my twitter, you've seen a couple mentions of my own wanderlust. I think I'm going to like this month's box, it's travel themed! Perfect, since I go on vacation in less than a week!

So here are the contents of my box:

1. Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten in Honey Dipped
2. Pangea Organics Toner for Normal/Oily Skin
3. Travel spray top (and yes, I'm proud I got it to stand up like that)
4. Amika Obliphica Oil Treatment 
5. Kate Spade Twirl
6. Pangea Organics Balancing Oil
7. Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad

The Pangea Organics balancing oil counts as being an extra with the facial toner, and the glow pads are the extra thrown in. What blew me away is the Laura Geller baked blush- that baby is full-sized, and retails for $29.50! See what I mean about the price being made up for?

Anyways, there's not much I can review off the bat cause the oils and toner require a few uses, but I'm excited to try it all! The Laura Geller baked blush is really pretty and reminds me of MAC MSFs. Mine looks more like bronzer than blush, a gorgeous light golden-brown with a rich copper veining throughout. I have an NC40 skintone so on anyone lighter it would definitely be bronzer, but on me it gives a gorgeous honey glow to the cheeks and works well to add a bit of highlight and warmth with the subtlest touch of shimmer. I really love it!

The Pangea Organics toner smells a bit funky out of the bottle. It's supposed to be Italian green mandarin and sweet lime. However, when sprayed the smell is much more bearable and even pleasant. It feels really nice, though like I said this is a product that will take several tries to really form an opinion on.

The Amika oil treatment promises to be an anti-frizz, shine, and nourishment treatment- a tall order, especially for this girl's hair. My hair is wavy going on curly, and although the messy, just-rolled-out-of-bed look is how it looks best, I am no stranger to fly-aways and frizz. My hair is about to be subjected to chlorine and pool water, so I'll be waiting to try this later, and I'm hoping it lives up to what it promises!

The Kate Spade fragrance is pretty, not something I'd go out and buy, but I'll enjoy using it while the sample size lasts.

Overall, I really like this box and I'll be taking a lot of this on vacation next week!