FOTD and EOTD: Maybelline 'Cozy Cashmere' Palette

Hi loves!

The Maybelline Fall 2012 collection has been a big hit in the beauty community.It has been the biggest drugstore fall collection I've seen! I wanted to share with you how I've been using the products I purchased from the collection, and I guess I will start with the Cozy Cashmere quad. This quad is ery neutral and great for natural looks. For a haul and swatches post for this collection, go HERE.

Here is the palette and the swatches

EOTD

I used:

-The entire palette for this look: (in order from left to right on the palette)

     -the shimmery silver-beige on the center of the lid and inner corner

     -the shimmery dark brown on the lower lash line

     -the brick red color on the crease

     -the medium brown on the outer V

-Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liner 'Perversion'

-Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara

HARE Polish 'Asteroid Turf'

Greetings from the Dark Side ;)

I have another HARE polish to share with you :D The first one was Cosmo Blossoms, a purple with green glitter.
Asteroid Turf on the other hand, is a jelly grass green with big magenta glitter.
I have two coats plus my top coat.

Isn't it gorgeous?! I love the combination of green and pink! I will be honest, it is super difficult to remove the glitter! But it is totally worth it <3 nbsp="nbsp">

EOTD: NYC Heavenly

Remember the products I purchased from the NYC Sweet and Devilish Collection for Halloween 2012? I used the products I purchased from the Sweet portion of the collection to make this~ I hope you enjoy this simple and sweet look~

Products Used

-ELF Eyelid Primer

-NYC City Duet Eyeshadow in 'Heavenly'

-Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liner 'Perversion'

-Prestige My Biggest Lashes Mascara

Heavenly Look

FOTD: Anticipation for Illamasqua Generation Q

Is anyone else super excited for Illasmaqua's next collection, Generation Q?

I love Illamasqua with a passion, and I haven't purchased anything from them in a while. So I decided I am going to splurge on some products from this collection. Since I am super excited about it, I did my makeup today in anticipation for Generation Q. One of the products I am most excited about is the Intense Lip Gloss in 'Boost' which is like a lip gloss version of the lipstick Underworld. Underworld is a permanent lipstick but it is also a part of this collection. Underworld is possibly one of my favorite lipsticks of all time, so I had to use it for today's look. Enjoy~

Products Used

-Maybelline Color Tattoo 'Fuchsia Fever'

-Urban Decay 24/7 pencil and liquid eyeliner in 'Perversion'

-Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara

-Revlon Whipped Foundation #150 Buff

-Illamasqua 'Morale' Blush

-Illamasqua 'Hollow' Cream Pigment

-NYC Shimmer Powder 'Halo'

-Illamasqua 'Underworld' Lipstick 

 Look

I will probably make my order sometime this week =3 I can't wait!

Return of the Look: Princess Zelda

Greetings from The Dark Side~

Welcome to my second installment of Return of the Look. Today's post is about one of my Legend of Zelda looks that I really loved: the Princess Zelda inspired look. This is really soft, girly, and has both some brightness and subtlety. You can see my original post HERE. I used the same color placement, and some of the same products, but I wanted to make it neater and...well...just better.

Products Used

Eyes

-Lime Eyeshadow Helper

-Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette (Midnight 15 and Chased)

-Lime Crime D'Antoinette Palette (Royal Flush and Ribbonesque)

-Maybelline Color Tattoo 'Tenacious Teal' Eyeshadow

-Victorian Disco Cosmetics 'Lightsaber' Eyeshadow

-Prestige My Longest Lashes mascara

-Ardell 'Wispies' Lashes

 Face & Lips

-Revlon Whipped Foundation in 150 Buff

-MAC 'Coygirl' Blush

-MAC 'Whisper of Gilt' Highlighter

-Jordana 'Lily Rose' Matte Lipstick

Princess Zelda

*Sorry for the out of focus shots. The Lashes are really long and they make my camera tweek out. 

-Urban Decay 'Chased' ( a bright gold) in the inner corner

-Urban Decay 'Midnight 15 (a beige-silver) on the lid and on the brow bone

-A mix of Lime Crime's Royal Flush (pastel pink) and Ribbonesque (pastel lilac) on the crease/outer v

-Tenacious Teal (bright aqua) and Lightsaber (bright blue) on the lower lash line

If you elongate the upper lash line a touch more, and maybe made the bright blue more subtle, it would be great for cosplaying Zelda. She is very royal, graceful, and really just beautiful! 

Hope you enjoyed! See you next time :)

FOTD: Gilded Cherry Blossom

Hello Dark Siders~
This look that I am sharing with you today has been sitting in my "To Post" folder for a while. I completely forgot about it, so I thought I would quickly share it with you today :) I did this to test out a few Unbound Eden Cosmetics stuff I had purchased.

Jewelry Review: Could Be Yours Chain Chomp Earrings

Hi everyone~
Do you remember the Chain Chomp earrings I purchased from Etsy a while ago? I want to share with my opinions on them! It is the only thing I have purchased from Could Bee Yours, and they are a very popular item on Etsy. As a huge fan of video games, I could not resist their charm!

The earrings came in a cute little box!

Tutorial: Urban Graffiti

I haven't been doing many tutorials for my eye looks recently, and I totally apologize. I do have this really simple and easy tutorial though for one of the looks I made using Eccentric Cosmetics. Enjoy~

FOTD: Fairy Tale

Greetings from the Dark Side~

I wanted to share today's look with you =3 This is a very girly, but edgy look.

Maybelline Fall 2012 Scene on the Runway Collection

Greetings from the Dark Side! :)
Finally, the Maybelline Fall 2012 collection! I have been stalking my local drugstores for this really anticipated collection, and I finally found it yesterday! Woohoo! Because this is highly anticipated and everything is limited edition, I want to quickly show you the products I purchased along with some swatches so if you like something, you can run out and get it before it's gone.

  Nail Polish

I only purchased one nail polish since most of the other shades were either not my style or I already had something similar. I can't say how this polish, since I have not used it yet.

'Downtown Brown' 

Color Tattoos 

I purchased all four of the new Color Tattoos because I really love these eyeshadows. They are great on their own and as bases, and they don't crease. Barely Beige and Gold Shimmer had the best pigmentation and texture. Rich Mahogany was the worst but it is still a really great, buildable shade. If I could only pick one, I would go for Gold Shimmer. I love golds and this one is really pigmented and has a nice antique-looking tone.

NYC Sweet and Devilish Collection (Halloween 2012)

Greetings from the Dark Side~

Fall is my favorite season, especially because both my birthday (Oct. 25) and my favorite holiday (Halloween) are in this season! I also love the yearly Halloween collections from drugstore brands. I just spotted the NYC Halloween collection Sweet and Devilish and I picked up a couple of products. This is not a review; it is more of a haul/swatch post to show you what these look like. It is really a heads up, so that if you want something from this collection you have a basic idea of what the products look like. This is limited edition and I purchased all of these at Rite Aid (and I get a small discount because of the Wellness Card, woohoo!).

Products

HARE Polish 'Cosmo Blossoms'

Greetings from the Dark Side ^_^

So, you might have noticed that I love indie makeup. I feature Fyrinnae, Shiro Cosmetics, Unbound Eden Cosmetics, Victorian Disco, and other indie brands on my blog quite often. But this is a first in the nail polish department! My very first indie nail polishes! And it is the most wanted brand on my wish list: HARE polish. I managed to swoop two of the HARE polishes during their last re-stock. I purchased 'Cosmo Blossoms' and 'Asteroid Turf'. You can find HARE polish HERE.

Cosmo Blossoms is a grey-toned purple base with loads of bright green glitter and very small black sprinkles. One coat was semi-opaque, and two coats was fully opaque. The swatches show two coats of Cosmo Blossoms with a top coat.
The formula is really amazing. It goes on without any trouble, and the glitter does not clump up at all. It dried very quickly too! ♥

Cult Nails'Captivated'

Hi hi ^_^

I am getting back to actually swatching the nail polishes I buy, and I wanted to start with this gorgeous polish from Cult Nails called 'Captivated'. 

Captivated is  jelly coral with tons of golden glitters. It really is a captivating color!
The formula is good but you have to be careful. It is a jelly, but it is quite thick. You can get an opaque color in two coats, just make sure to let the first coat dry completely before you put on the second one. I didn't wait and it resulted in some smearing and bare patches :(
Also, since this polish is thick and it has a lot of texture to it, applying a top coat is a must in order for it to look really good. 

FOTD: Mischievous Punk

Welcome to the Dark Side :) I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday night! I am being totally lazy just watching South Park and having some good laughs!

As I said in my Eccentric Cosmetics review, I wanted to do a separate post for two of the looks I made. One of the looks is a very easy burgundy/smokey purple look. It is very "punk", but still has a little bit of girly-ness and softness. Let me know what you think of it!

Haul: MAC, NARS, Maybelline, Nail Polishes, and Foundation Samples!

Hello~!
The end of July and the beginning of August have been official hauling days. I looking at this post even I am surprised by how much stuff I hauled. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves >_< Anyways, here is a collective haul!

MAC Immortal Flower and Full of Joy blushes
These were limited edition blushes that I missed out on but I was able to find them at Nordstrom.

MAC Immortal Flower and Full of Joy Blushes

Review: Eccentric Cosmetics

Hello Dark Siders!

I feature indie cosmetics pretty often on my blog, and I am in love with the affordability and awesome products of indie brands. So I have another brand to share with you all today: Eccentric Cosmetics. This is the first time I have tried this brand, and I have been using them quite often for the past two weeks or so. I think it is about time I share my thoughts, swatches, and looks.

This is an Australia based indie brand, just in case you were wondering :) Great for all of you who live in Australia! 

Price and Availability

*I received these eyeshadow samples for review purposes

$5 AUD per eyeshadow or $10 AUD for 10 eyeshadow samples. 

You can see all the products on the Eccentric Cosmetics Etsy store.  

 

Swatches

Here are swatches of the colors that were sent to me:

Tutorial: Autumn Desires

Hii :D

I showed a picture of this makeup a while ago on my FB page, and I am finally getting around to posting it. I wore this to my friend's engagement party (which was so much fun!). If you can't tell, I cannot wait until autumn! It is my favorite season, so I decided to do a more autumn-y look. This is a burgundy eye with a very awesome lip color, NARS 'Autumn Leaves' Lipstick!

TATCHA Skin Care: First Impression + Before Pictures

Greetings from the Dark Side!

I have something very exciting and different to share with you: the TATCHA skin care line, The Ritual. I have reviewed the TATCHA blotting sheets before, and I was not aware that they have launched an entire skin care line inspired by the Japanese Geisha's ritual of skin care. I was so intrigued by the idea, specially because I love Japanese skin care. TATCHA was kind enough to send me a press sample kit of the skin care line. Here are my first impressions of this skin care as well as a little experiment I want to try to see just how well this line will work for my skin :)

The Products

Jewelry Haul: Regal Rose and Claire's

Hey guys! I have something kind of rare: a jewelry haul!

I wanted to share this since I will be having a few jewelry reviews coming up soon! I also wanted to share a brand that I recently came across: Regal Rose. I heard of this brand on Youtube and I made my first purchase! I can gladly say that I am hooked! Their pieces, although a bit pricey for my taste, are stunning!

Giveaway! 1000 Followers!

Welcome! ^_^ I am happy to announce my 1000 follower giveaway ♥

I feel like I say this every single time, but then again I can't say it enough. THANK YOU! To all of you! You, my readers, followers, fellow bloggers, and friends, have done so much for me. I never imagined that I would have 1000 followers. EVER. I remember having less than 10 followers and being super excited! Now it has multiplied 100 fold! I love blogging and it has become a huge part of my life! So thank you so much for being here and for supporting The Dark Side of Beauty. I try to give back to all of you who have been so kind and sweet to me. I can never give anything worth the happiness that you and this blog give to me. But regardless, some free goodies never hurt anyone ;P So please, enter, for a chance to win some of my humble prizes~ And good luck!

Keep reading for more...

Return of the Look: Eyes of March

Greetings from the Dark Side!

If you have not read the introduction for the Return of the Look Series, please check it out HERE to see what this is all about! And if you have already read it, then welcome to the first installment!

Today I am going to re-do one of the first looks I made for this blog. There was a challenge called "Eyes of March" and it was basically a 31 day challenge to post a makeup look everyday using different makeup products each time. For one day, I made an orange look. I will be re-creating the look. You can see the original post HERE.

Products Used

Eyes

-Maybelline Color Tattoo 'Fierce & Tangy"

-Rock & Republic Eyeshadow 'Alloy' and 'Scorch'

-Sugarpill 'Love +' Eyeshadow

-L'oreal Lineur Intense liquid liner

-Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil Liner 'Perversion'

-Prestige My Biggest Lashes mascara

-Ardell #102 Demi Lashes

Face & Lips

-Skin79 Oriental Gold BB Cream

-Estee Lauder Blush 'Peach Ombre' 

-MAC 'Whisper of Gilt' Highlighter

-Revlon 'Papaya' ColorBurst Lip Gloss

Eyes of March Tutorial

 1. Apply a primer or base. I decided to use my Maybelline Color Tattoo as both my primer and orange-colored base. This is completely optional though. The base does complement the other shades we will be using very nicely!

Return of the Look: Introduction + Requests

Greetings from the Dark Side!

Here is a new series I am going to start soon! You might be asking yourself, "Return of the Look? What the heck is that?!" Well, my friends, I will explain! You see, as a beauty blogger, I have loads of makeup. That is because I love to try new products constantly! I am also always trying to come up with new looks. This is great and all, but I can get so carried away that I forget about the fabulous looks I've done in the past. It has gotten to the point  that I usually never wear the same look more than once. So I thought I would go back to my roots and re-create some of my old looks.

I want to do this for four more reasons. One, my older looks had really crappy photography! I did not have good full faced shots of looks (or none at all), and it really took away from the overall impact of the look. Two, I want to be able to create the same looks and either use different products or be able to tweek the looks slightly to make them look better! Three, this whole idea is quite nostalgic too. I get such a great feeling from reading my old posts! And finally, I have a lot of new readers that have not been able to see or experience these looks!

I think that pretty much sums up this series. I already have a few looks re-done and ready to be posted. But I want to ask you: do you have any requests? Is there an older look of mine that perhaps you really liked, but you would like me to re-do? Maybe I didn't have a full-face shot or maybe it just has super-crappy photos! Either ways, I would be happy to take requests :D

NOTD: Sparkly Angry Birds!

Hello~ Happy Sunday!

I presume you are all having a relaxing and awesome weekend! If you are, that is fantastic! Unfortunately my weekend has been crammed with crazy amounts of work and family events! It has been quite hectic.

Now I'm trying to settle down a bit, and I have some time to just relax. I did my nails yesterday and I wanted to share  them with you for two reason: a new nail polish and some new nail stickers!

NOTD: Angry Birds!

Hii :D I have a fun manicure to share with you all using these Angry Bird water decals from KKCenterhk. This is the first time I have used water decal stickers and it was really fun to use them for the first time!
Basically, you soak them in water, and use some tweezers to pick them up and stick them on your nails. I had these on for a week and they stayed on perfectly.
They are definitely much easier than doing nail art by hand! I still plan to use them more to really get the hang of them. In the mean time, I leave you with this mani. Sorry that my nails are really uneven right now :/ Ughh.

I used Rescue Beauty Lounge 'Bella' and the Spoiled 'Designated Driver'.

Review: Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Total Care Shampoo and Conditioner

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share with you my experience using the Clear Total Care shampoo and conditioner. I first received a sample of this product in the Influester Summer Vox Box and I instantly fell in love with it! So stick around if you want to know a little about this new line of hair care products :)

The Lipstick Compendium: Unbound Eden Cosmetics 'Fairy Folk' and 'Damsel'

Greetings from the Dark Side! :D
More Unbound Eden Cosmetics reviews! This time I have the new reformulated lipsticks~ These are my first indie lipsticks and I was so excited to try these out!

I purchased two shades: Fairy Folk and Damsel lipsticks. Here is the packaging:

A Song of Ice and Fire Series: House Targaryen

Greetings from the Dark Side!
If you are a fan of Game of Thrones, then you might appreciate this look~
A look inspired by House Targaryen!

House Targaryen is one of the coolest and weirdest Houses in the book, in my opinion. They are linked to the dragons and they were the ruling family of the Seven Kingdoms. Not only did they control the dragons, but they are also one of the most fantastical humans in the book. They had a very surreal appearance (silver hair and purple eyes). Dany is one of my favorite characters too, so I had a blast creating this look!!

The Targaryen motto: Fire and Blood.

"The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon...[their] banner is a three-headed dragon, red on black..." (excerpt from Martin's A Game of Thrones)

I used red and black to represent the House's banner, and a touch of silver to represent the Targaryen silver hair.

Review + Giveaway: Lady Butterfly Facial Blotting Paper

Welcome again to The Dark Side of Beauty!

Today I want to share my thoughts on the Lady Butterfly Facial Blotting Paper from WAWAZA. I will also be giving one away :D Let's get right into it!

Price and Availability

This product is available on the WAWAZA website. 50 sheets for $7.

Product Information

"The secret of Japanese facial blotting paper (Aburatorigami) is in the exceptional smoothness of the paper and the high absorptive quality of its gentle fibers.  Because of its smoothness, Aburatorigami makes near perfect contact with the surface of the skin, without penetrating into its pores.  This action allows Aburatorigami to remove the "excess" oil or moisturizer, without drying the skin." (wawaza.com)

Packaging and Product

The sheets come in this sleek paper envelope. If is perfect and cute to carry around in your purse/bag.

Here is a sheet that I used. You can see the oil that is trapped in the sheet! Gross!

Product Review

I've tried a few different blotting sheets, and I can say that these work just as well as any others. I can't say these work miracles because..well...they just blot excess oil. They do not take off my foundation or smudge my makeup, which is a huge added plus. They can be a life saver during these hot summer days when you sweat and your face gets shiny. I will usually always have this in my purse just in case!

I've also tried blotting y face after moisturizer to ensure that my foundation lasts longer and it definitely works!

Rating: 10/10

Giveaway

I have one of these to giveaway :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

*Products mentioned were provided by the company for review.

July Empties

Heeeeello!
I want to make this quick because I have so many crazy things to do right now D:< But I don't want to get super behind so I might as well show you all what I used up last month :)
I wanted to note that I am working on getting the prizes for my 1000 follower giveaway! Expect that sometime soon~

Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy Total Care Shampoo and Conditioner
I recently received a sample of these in the Influenster Summer Vox Box and I fell in love with them! Right after I finished these samples, I went to Rite Aid and purchased the full size. I haven't loved a shampoo and conditioner in a long time, and so far this duo has been wonderful to my hair!

Korres Lip Butter 'Jasmine'
I finished this finally! I honestly don't really like this. It smells really good and it feels nice, but it actually made my lips even more chapped. It also makes my lips look white and weird. I will not repurchase and I am glad this is out of my collection. I think a different color that suited me better would have been a lot nicer although I still don't think these will do much for my super chapped lips.

Tokidoki Colored Mascaras
I love these babies, but I have ad them for too long and they need to be thrown away. I want to keep them just because they look so cute! But I will be tempted to use them. That would not be very good for my eyes. Even a beauty blogger and makeup collector like me knows when something needs to be discarded.

 Benefit Erase Paste and Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer
These are two really awesome concealers. Right now I am using the MAC Studio Finish concealer which I don't really like, but I want to use up. The Erase paste is a great undereye concealer and it is thick and high coverage without being cakey. The Kat Von D one is thinner and also has a fabulous coverage. I like that one for acne and acne scarring. I will think about repurchasing one of these after I finish my MAC one.

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper (Primer)
I have a few of these Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper samples that I received when ever I made an order. I finished one last month and it actually lasted me a pretty long time! I really love this primer. It is so much better than the UDPP and my ELF Eyelid Primer. I am very reluctant to buy a full size though. I am going to stick to my samples and I will probably go back to my $1 ELF primer.

Bioderma 500ml Bottle
(I have no picture of this; I threw it away)
I also finished my first 500ml bottle of the Bioderma Crealine H2O. This stuff is amazing! HG status! I can't be without it any more. I purchased a second 500ml bottle!
I use it every night to remove my foundation. It is so much better than makeup removing wiped and much better than doing the double cleanse method. If you wear foundation/bb cream/powder/tinted moisturizer very often like me, then I highly recommend this!

So that is all~ I am trying harder to get use out of ALL my makeup this month. I have made it a personal challenge to use different products/ products I haven't used in a while. I hope to have some more empties for this month :)

Thank you for reading ♥