Beauty Blogger Club Blog Hop!

First off, sorry there haven't been any posts in a while, I've been super busy!

So I just joined the Beauty Blogger Club Blog Hop which is much better explained there. But basically, it's an awesome idea thought up by a few lovely bloggers including Ashlee of The Makeup Wonderland. There are a lot of great blogs already on the list and there's still thirty-one days to submit yours!

Review: Urban Decay Smoked Palette

Urban Decay’s fairly new Smoked palette, is sure to be a hit just like the popular Naked palettes. Smoked has a home in your collection if you love a smoky eye look. I prefer to buy as many of my Urban Decay shadows in palettes as I can because it’s usually a much better deal. An individual shadow is $18 while the Smoked palette was $49 and has ten full-sized shadows in it (making each shadow $4.90 not including the mini original Primer Potion and full-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion that it comes with). While some of the shades aren’t as pigmented as most shadows by Urban Decay, they’re still gorgeous enough to be worth the time it takes to build the color.

The first shade, Kinky, is a matte, milky white color that’s on the lightly pigmented side. The second shade, Freestyle, is a matte flesh-toned color that’s perfect for a base. The third shade, Mushroom, is an almost metallic grey-taupe that I adore. The fourth shade, Backdoor, is a matte chocolate brown that was less impressive for me. The fifth shade, Blackout, is a matte black that’s perfect for setting your liner. The sixth shade, Barlust, is a beautiful shimmery bronze that reminds me of Smog (seen in the Naked palette, etc.). The seventh shade, Rockstar, is a deep, shimmery purple that would complement any eye color. The eighth shade, Evidence, is a shimmery midnight-blue that reminds me of OPI’s Into the Night. This was one of the lesser pigmented shades, but well worth the effort to build it up. The ninth shade, Loaded, is a gorgeous, dark, shimmery emerald color. The tenth shade, Asphalt, is a shimmery charcoal that almost touches black. Lastly, the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion is one of the creamiest and most pigmented liners I’ve ever seen. With one swipe, it’s the blackest of blacks. The swatches below are on bare skin without a primer.

The set also came with a twenty-nine page booklet with very detailed instructions on several different looks and other good information for any beginner. On my nails below (if you're wondering) is a Sally Hansen base coat, two coats of Wet n Wild Mega Last in Deadly Dose, and two coats of Sinful Colors All About You.

Review: NARS Joie de Vivre Palette

Appropriately, my first purchase from NARS is what they're most famous for: blush. I was lucky enough to snag the Nordstrom exclusive Joie de Vivre palette before it sold out. At $65, I expected better pigmentation. Although, considering that their individual blushes are $28 each (.16 oz.), it's a good deal for six nearly full-sized colors (.12 oz. each) at just over the price of two full-sized on their own.

The first color in the palette is Albatross. It's a gorgeous fine golden shimmer highlighter and might be my new favorite. The second color, Gaiety, is a light matte fuchsia. It's beautiful, but most likely won't suit my skin tone. The third color, Luster, is a peachy bronze with fine golden shimmer. This would be a great color for when (if ever) I get a tan or for someone with a darker skin tone. The fourth color, Laguna, is a warm bronzer with again, fine golden shimmer. This was the most disappointing to me pigmentation-wise. It took almost seven heavy swatches to get the color in the pictures below. The fifth and most infamous color, Orgasm, lives up to it's hype. It's a beautiful pinky peach with fine golden shimmer that looks natural on the cheeks and can give even the dullest complexion life. The sixth and final color, Angelica, is a darker fuchsia than Gaiety (but similar) with a thicker sparkle than the rest of these colors.

Review: OPI Number One Nemesis

OPI's Number One Nemesis from their The Amazing Spider-Man collection is beautiful. Mine is from a mini set that I have. It reminds me of New Years Eve and I'm kind of in love. It's a metallic charcoal-silver with very fine gold, green, and red glitter. The formula is on the sheer side, but with two heavy coats the color is completely opaque. Another plus, much like the other colors from this collection, it dries very quickly. On my nails below I have a Sally Hansen base coat, two heavy coats of Number One Nemesis, and then a Sally Hansen top coat. Unfortunately, pictures can't do this one justice.

Exciting News!

I have recently acquired a real domain name and will be transferring over content once I finish building the site (this is why there haven't been many posts yet). I'll make an announcement when everything is complete, but it won't be just yet. The new site will be at celiacbeauty.com!

Edit (8/8/12):
For now, when you go to celiacbeauty.com, you will be automatically redirected here. So go ahead and start using the new address!

Review: OPI Into the Night

OPI's Into the Night is another from their The Amazing Spider-Man collection. Again, mine is a mini bottle from the set that I have. Into the Night is a beautiful pearlescent midnight blue with a purple hue - or 'Frankenberry' as my mother called it. While I love the color, the formula was extremely disappointing. It's very streaky and hard to work with. Even with two very heavy coats, it's only about 90% opaque. On the up side, much like Just Spotted the Lizard, Into the Night dried very quickly. On my nails below I have a Sally Hansen base coat, two heavy coats of Into the Night, and then a Sally Hansen top coat. 

Review: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard is an amazing color and an exact dupe for Chanel's Peridot (which I don't own but have seen side by side comparisons of). I have the mini bottle that was part of the OPI The Amazing Spider-Man Collection and like the polish so much that I plan on buying a full sized bottle before they're all sold out! With careful application, it's not streaky and is completely opaque after two coats. It also dried fairly quickly. On my nails below I have a Sally Hansen base coat, two coats of Just Spotted the Lizard, and then a Sally Hansen top coat.