Stila 15 year Anniversary Set

I'm so excited. I got my Stila 15 Anniversary Set in the mail today. I love Stila shadows. They are so creamy, so easily blendable. But at $18 a pop, it's a luxury that I can't really afford. I bought this set for $72, which by it self is a fantastic deal considering it comes with 6 really wearable shadows, a 6 pan compact, a full sized multieffect mascara, a full sized kitten eye shadow wash, and a liquid liner.

Here's the breakdown in terms of the retail price

6 eyeshadows $18 each = $108
(Upper row L to R ... Shore, barefoot contessa, viola; Lower row L to R black cat, mystic, oasis)

6 shadow compact $24

Kitten eyeshadow wash = $22

multieffect mascara = $20
(It's ginormous. It's bigger than lash blast)

liquid eyeliner $16

Grand total : $190 value !!!!


I was lucky and got the kit during the time they were offering 20% off your order and free shipping. So I ended up only paying $67 including taxes. That's like $7 per item. Or $123 savings.

I love shopping but I love shopping and saving even more. Besides... it will give me more money to go out and buy more makeup.

Best Goodie Bag Ever

I always found Sephora sample baggies to be so overrated. A few months ago, Sephora did a promotion where they offered a sample bag of 10 of their eye products, which basically amounted to 10 little bags of one time use products. Beauty.com on the other hand, offers some of the best sample bags ever, hands down. For example, the Shoshana bag was offered a few months ago and it is chock full of delux products equivalent to the one sephora Beauty insider delux sample that you get when you spend $100.

I am such a sucker for this and everytime they offer it, I have to get it. In the past, I was able to get some high quality products that have become staples in my collection. For example, I received a small size of urban decay 24/7 eyeliner (the size you would get in the velvet rope kit) as a part of one kit. I got a full sized Vincent Longo Baby Balm in Sheer Contesssa which is now one of my go to lip products. My Stila lipstick collection is basically full sized lipsticks that I got through these sample bags. They've offered samples of Too Faced shadow insurance and a full sized Urban Decay Primer Potion... Just insane samples.

The Shoshana Bag Breakdown
The bag is slightly tacky in it's loud floral arrangement but it's pretty large and lined with plastic which is a plus for any makeup bag. But the samples are pretty crazy. It's supposed to be valued at $120.

• Lorac Breakthrough Performance Foundation 0.12 fl.oz
  
• Arcona Booster Defense Serum 10 ml
  
• Stila High Shine Lip Color in Amber (full sized)
  
• Tarte Blushing Bride Cheek Stain 4.8 g
  
• Frederic Fekkai Coiff Lifting and Texturizing Spray Gel 0.25 fl oz
• Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash 1 fl oz
  
• Malin and Goetz Assorted Hair Care 1 fl oz
  
• Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener 0.13 fl oz
  
• Jane Iredale Eye Gloss in Champagne Silk full sized
  
• Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara 5 ml
  
• Ken Paves Healthy Hair Shine Serum 0.5 fl oz
  
• Bliss Lemon and Sage Soapy Soap1 fl oz
  
• DDF Daily Protective Moisturizer 1 fl oz
  

Nordie's Haul

Nordstrom Rack Haul
I heart Nordie's. Nowhere else can you find deals like this. I was able to find this cute Marc Jacobs slippers for only a third of the original price! I also got a great deal on this adorable Kate Spade bag. When times get tough, a girl's gotta go bargain shopping and The Rack is definately a place you can get more bang for your buck.

Stila Haul

STILA BACKSTAGE BEAUTY PALETTES

A note just on packaging. I'm so excited about the packaging on these palettes. They are just beautiful. It comes in this elegant black box. I just had to take a picture of it. Just too cute. The palettes are housed in this patent leather wallet in pewter gray (the runway look) and red (the redcarpet look) . Stila's got packaging down. Oh... forgot to mention that the eyeshadows are very nice too.

2009 Oscars

I'm not much of an award show person and I don't watch enough movies throughout the year to get much out of watching the Oscars however, I love flipping through pictures of the evening gowns. Everyone looked so glamorous and beautiful but I decided to do list of my favorites and my not so favorites for fun.

Oscar Winners:
1) Angelina Jolie: She looked stunning. As always, she picks these classic gowns and is able to make it look incredible. But I was amazed by how those emerald earrings looked on her. She looked amazing.

2) Kate Winslet: She's such a beautiful person and so talented. She looked wonderful in an off the shoulder number. Her hair, her earrings, her gown... everything was perfect. I hope she finally gets an oscar.

3) Anne Hathaway: Most of the time, I kinda find her annoying but she looked beautiful tonight.

4) Penelope Cruz: It looks like a wedding gown but she just looked so well put together.

5) Alicia Keys: I just loved the dress... Pink but classy.

Oscar Letdowns:
1) Heidi Klum: What was she thinking? It was an asymmetric pink mess.

2) Mylie Cyrus: It makes me so sad when young actresses try to dress older. That dress would have been suitable for someone in their thirties but for a teen, it just makes her look like she is playing dressup. Much prefer that Vanessa Hutchins dress, young and flirty and definately age appropriate.

Which ones did you like and dislike?

Crazy

Nars Blush in Crazed

Nars Crazed is crazy. I know that Nars blush in general is highly pigmented. With my Dolce Vita blush, I have to lightly tap with my brush and then tap it on to my cheeks to avoid looking like someone from the Red Light district. But Crazed is crazy potent. I used the same method because I heard that it is super pigmented but when I placed it on my cheeks, I still looked like a clown. I think I'll have to get a stipling brush or a less dense blush brush for this. I love the color. It's so vibrant. I did a swatch and this is the pigmentation from literally one swipe. Amazing...

Comparable Shadows to Too Faced

Left: TF Fawn, UD Sin, TF Bronze, UD Smog
Right: TF Silver and Black Spark, NYX Platinum Silver and Black

So I was so peeved by my Too Faced Smokey Eye palette. These shadows are so unorginal and the quality was so unimpressive. For example, I just looked into one of my Urban Decay palettes and I was able to find colors that are much better in quality that can be used to create the same look.

Day Smoke
So it's not an exact dupe but it's pretty close. For the swatch, I did one swipe of the Urban decay shadows and it showed up pretty well. The Sin didn't really come out on the camera but in person, one swipe gives you a lot of color. For the Too Faced, I really had to dig into it and as you can see, Fawn barely comes out at all.

Classic Smoke
You can probably create the same look with UD oil slick and polyester bride. Or with NYX platinum silver and black. Either way, with the classic smoke, any plain silver shadow and matte black will do because that's all it is really.