NOTD - a England Ascalon

I've tested all of the varnishes I've purchased, review to follow. Meanwhile enjoy some grey-lavender holographic goodness!

Two Fragrances to Wear When It's Balls Friggin' Hot

Excuse the salacious title. But it's true.  These two fragrances are my go to scents when it is ungodly hot (ie 85 +) and everything that is not a Tea scented EDP is so cloying and drudge to wear.  Heat is great for light fragrances, it increases the sillage and blooms the fragrance faster.  Heat is the best time to wear single note or simply blended fragrances as you really can smell every detail and nuance and it does wonders for cheaper scents (mainly because heat increases the probability of the fragrance to be in a gaseous state, which increases your ability to smell the fragrance).  These two scents are available from the Body Shop and I feel like they are classic scents anyone can wear and feel pretty despite the heat, and are great formulas for summer because they are Eau de Toilettes, which are inherently lighter in composition.

NEROLI JASMIN

This is a staple Body Shop fragrance and what I like about it is that it's a floral that doesn't smell like a floral.  I'm not a huge fan of overly flowery fragrances, unless they have Violets or Jasmine in them. If it tends to smell like Roses, Tuberose or Gardenia - I'm automatically turned off.  Jasmine, to me, tends to read as a musky type scent, and comes off with evoking a more sensual mood while not being overbearing or loudly floral.  That being said, the main component is orange blossom, which gives a nice clean finish and lends a warm powder effusiveness.  When I wear this, I think of the beach and warm sunshine and sea breezes.  The fragrance itself is warm, soft and refreshingly feminine.

VANILLA

I can't find this product on the Body Shop website... maybe it's discontinued?  I'm not sure.  But this is a single note example of a great summer fragrance.  When I smell Vanilla I think of Americana, because it is a pure sweet fragrance, almost reminiscent of apple pie.  There's no mistaking that it is Vanilla. It's a scent that is recognizable no matter how its formulated, but whats nice about this particular fragrance is that it's light in all of its distinctness.  Instead of a heavy slog through mucky pits of cloying sticky sweetness - Vanilla is more like floating through some lovely Vanilla Creme Anglaise with crystallized Vanilla Orchids floating on top.  In the heat, the scent burns off most of the sweetness rather quickly so whats left is a light touch of the fragrance and I rather like it, its almost nostalgic.

Upcoming - Illamasqua Naked Strangers (Summer 2012)

I love me some Illamasqua!  My favorite collection thus far has been their Spring 2011 Toxic Nature showing, and I always enjoy the visuals that are created for each collection.  I like that its avant garde editorial makeup, kind of like an edgier, British MAC, without the commercialized lame (which some people hate hard-core against, much to my amusement).

This model is awesome.  She can still look sexy with rubber necklaces and a Gold Leaf Skull Cap.

I always think stock photographs like this are hilarious.  I doubt it's even a photo, but someone with a deft hand at computer graphics/ photoshop.  It's way too perfect and unnatural looking.

Anyways, this is set to drop 31 May on Illamasqua's website .  I personally want a gander at the Platinum Intense Lipgloss and the Monogamous Nail Lacquer.  Too bad they aren't selling the Skull Cap, because I'd totally shell out some Benjamin's for that.

FOTD - Maybelline Natural Smokes

Remember when those quads were all the rage? I still have one - the Natural Smokes Quad, and it was always my favorite. Other notables NARS Pure Radiance Tinted Moisturizer in St. Morritz and UD Big Fatty Mascara. This is typically how I style my hair, its pretty much air dried with some Redken Spray Wax and Aussie Scrunch Spray thrown in for seperaion and volume. Its dead easy in the summer and I enjoy showing off my natural hair texture.

Faves & Fails: Friday Edition

So... If you follow me on twitter, you'll know I got sucked into Klout.  Why?  I'm not sure - but it sorta was a kick in the pants to make me realize that the ability of this blog to reach people is dependent entirely upon me.  That being said - Something kinda cool happened that I was unaware of as a result of my May Birchbox post, but my review was linked to the website for The Sarah McNamara Miracle Skin Transformer Blog as a product feedback type thing.  Also, it was not my intention to completely wipeout my previous layout - I just wanted to update it, and Blogger decided to reset it back to white/ black Times New Roman font and will not let me change it despite my desperate attempts to make it not look like this.  However, it's growing on me, so I think it may stay until I can make a layout/ design/ cohesive visual statement.  Just think of me as a hipster of blogging - I'm going back to basics in an ironic way (except for this is entirely unintentional on my part). 

FAVES

- Kat Von D Triple Threat Tattoo Liner Pen Set - By far the best thing her makeup line has to offer.  Three superblack, smudgepoof, free-flowing, felt tip pen style eyeliners in fairly airtight packaging.  My favorite is the "Saint" pen (for the record you also get "Sinner" and "Poetica" tipped pens as well), and I use it every day when I want a quick, low slung cat eye that is appropriate for work.  Of all of the products I've tried, these don't smear, burn, leave latex based goop in my eyelashes, or make the process of winging liner any more complicated or thought consuming than necessary.  In fact, if the "Saint" pen (which is the finest, longest nibbed of the three) was sold seperately, I would preferentially purchase it.  I've had these pens for four months and because I keep them stored upside down have had no dry-out problems, despite everyday use.

- Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser - It's clear.  It's a chemical exfoliant.  It retails for $12 for 8 oz.  It's literally lasted me months and gives me smooth, glowing skin and is a great cleanser to use with the Tanaka Facial Massage in the shower, because the prolonged exposure of the cleanser to the skin clears out pores more effectively when allowed to actually sit and treat the skin.

- NYX Matte Bronzer in Medium - While not as good as NARS Laguna in terms of color nuance, for $10 you can't beat it.  It's soft, finely milled, blends nicely and can be used for contouring and bronzing.  The compact is a nice size, and has a really good mirror in the cap.  The shade is a tad too orange/ red based for me, but if I sweep the excess on the brush after contouring onto my cheeks, I get a nice not too crazy bronzed cheek.  All I need is some highlighter and I can skip blush altogether!

FAILS

I've got nothing.  I purged my stash a while ago and since then have found it really hard to hate on anything.

RANDOM

Mblog

From now on, if a post is labeled with Mblog (as a label, not title), it means I blogged from my iPhone.  I'm going to try to include several posts like this a week, and they're designed to be quick.  Usually with a main photograph to illustrate what I'm talking about.  I feel like it would be fun to see what gets my beauty ADD going. 

Mail Call

I received my a England order, which I've been spamming the blog with.  I need to do one more manicure to test out the last color before I can blog about it.  But trust me, its coming.

I also received my Drugstore.com/ Beauty.com order from their 20% sale.  This will be featured in another post to come.  I plan to draft a lot of posts this holiday weekend.

I'm waiting for shipping notification from Glossybox - but expect that in the near future as well.  Assuming the box actually ships in the near future.

Music

My Apocalypse by Escape the Fate.  This song has been doing it for me lately, namely its been helping me sink into the ether required to not mind running so damn much when you're running.  If you choose to listen you'll totally see why this would be an excellent song to run to.

Magazine

Lots of 'M' subcategories this post.  Runner's World.  Expect to see posts about my hilarious fail running exploits, too.  But I enjoy the hell out of this magazine.  Nothing gets me more pumped to run than reading it.  It also has lots of great workouts, tips, inspirational stories and awesome content to get you stoked about running, even if you're just starting out pounding the pavement (or treadmill/ trails/ pavement as it were).

So!  That's it!  Check back for a daily dose of awesome - and for my Friday FOTD Mblog post.   :D!

NOTD - a England Holy Grail

Another a England polish from my recent order. I'm giving them all a go before I formulate my opinion. Lovely gold color!

Things You Can Learn From YouTube - Soft Winged Liner

I follow Killer Colours blog for two reasons 1) She's Swedish! 2) She's got mad skillz!  Check out this winged liner tutorial she posted, its great!

Giant Hand of Swatch Vol. 4

The GIANT HAND OF SWATCH is back! (Not that it ever went anywhere - I mean short of amputation it is attached to me.) This time featuring my favorite summer lip shades!  This was photo-ed on my iPhone w/ flash and edited for color temperature, contrast, sharpness and text in Picasa (See disclaimer below).  Anyways, I think for the month of June I may do a LOTD every day post, either through Instagram or as a mobile blog (mblog) for some fun content!  As always the picture holds the key to the photo!

So pretty! So lipstick-y!

1) Tarte Matte Lipsurgence Pencil - Lively

2) Beaute Cosmetics Liqui-Gel Stain - Flouron

3) MAC Icon (Frost - Perm)

3) MAC Plushglass - Bubble Tea (LE)

5) MAC Go For It (Cremesheen - LE)

6) MAC Desire (Lustre - Perm)

7) NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil - Buenos Aires (Summer 2012)

8) Illamasaqua Intense Lipgloss - Facade (Fall 2011 - Theatre of the Nameless)

9) MAC Creme Cup (Cremesheen - Perm)

So, I've talked about photography before on my blog.  And suffice it to say, I want to make this an experiment in what you can do with a camera phone and some free photo-editing software.  You don't buy beauty products in a perfectly lit, composed, white out environment and I don't think photographing them that way, while showcasing the product, really does them justice as to how you will experience them in the store (i.e. - in less than perfect lighting, without zoom, photoediting, etc).  The photographs I will strive to post will try to provide what I think is credible visual information about a product on a nice background and swatched on a fairly common skin tone (my own).  Plus, I'm down with the challenge of seeing how decent a photographer I can become using a limited platform that is available to everyone.

NOTD - a England Princess Sabra

I got my order in! Super pumped! Nail sandwich as follows: Nail Tek Ultra (1x), aE PS (2x) and Nails Inc KCTC (1x).

NOTD - Color Revolution Risque

My nails = awesome. This is day three of wear. My product sandwich = 1 x Nail Tek Ultra, 2 x CRR polish and 1 x Kensington Caviar Top Coat by Nails Inc.