Avon Haul

I got a few things from Avon today. A Glimmerstick waterproof eyeliner in Pearly, the 3 in 1 pencil sharpener (works great on my NYX jumbo e/s pencil, good thing because my most used one was completely flat), and 4 glazewear lipsticks that are labeled on the last photo. I'm already planning my next order, I think I'm going to try some of the hair products.

And my entire Glazewear lipstick family! Don't they look happy?

They have some really good sales right now. The Glazewear lipsticks are 2 for $6.99, the Glimmersticks are $2.99, and hair styling products are 2 for $6.99, plus a tons of other things are on sale too. These sales are good until June 5th. One of the things I love/hate about Avon is that something is always on sale.

Free shipping code is Ultimate815, good on orders over $15.

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Ebates

Who doesn't like a rebate? With ebates you can get back a certain percentage of your purchase from select online stores, granted it isn't much (usually 4-5% back) but if you shop online a lot it adds up. This works with Sephora, Target, Avon, Macy's, and about 900 other other stores. You can also earn money by referring other people (that's what I'm trying to do right here baby, support my shopping habit). Ebates will send you a check or deposit what you earn into your paypal account 4 times a year. I just got mine, that's what paid for my Avon haul. To sign up follow the link below, create an account just buy entering your email and creating a password. Making a purchase at any store they support before June 30th will give me $10, and you'll get $10 just for signing up. Then you can refer more people and get cash for that too, plus rebates for your online shopping. It might sound like bull but its not at all, I've been using this sight for 4 months with no problems. I wouldn't promote anything that wasn't totally genuine.

http://www.ebates.com/referral/0508bonusosu.htm?referrerid=zmiCm03v2roZ9LYxZ3dLeQ%3D%3D

Now if only I could remember to use the site, I didn't for this Avon haul *hangs head*.

MAC Eye Shadow Dupes

I haven't tried many of these, so some could be off but I think most are accurate. If you have any to add feel free to comment with them. The ones with the * are the ones I know for sure are dupes either because I have them or because I've seen side by side swatches.

Eye Shadow
MAC Amber Lights = Milani Sun Goddess, NYX Golden
MAC Aquadisiac = Jane Millionare
MAC Atlas = ULTA Silk
MAC Bamboo = Wild and Crazy Wild Guava
MAC Beautiful Iris = ULTA Iris, NYX Frosted Lilac
MAC Black Tied = Jane Clubbing = Milani Storm
MAC Brill = Wild & Crazy Bahama Water
MAC Carbon = NYX Black
MAC Coppering = Milani Flare
*MAC Cranberry = NYX Rust
MAC Crystal Avalanche = NYX White Pearl
*MAC Electric Eel = Milani Atlantis, NYX Irises
MAC Floof = NYX Cream Cheese
MAC Gorgeous Gold = Prestige Glitz C-157
MAC Guacamole = Milani Limbo Lime
MAC Hepcat = NYX Violet
*MAC Humid = Milani Clover, NYX Mermaid Green
MAC Jest = Milani Peachy Peach
MAC Jewel Blue = Jane Eye Zing in Surfer Girl
MAC Juxt = Milani Garden Mist, Jane Rain Forest
MAC Little Madame = Milani Illusion
MAC Llama - NYX Nude
MAC Lucky Green = Wet n' Wild Marquis
MAC Mink & Sable = ELF Sage
MAC Mulch, Sable = Milani Java Bean
MAC Naked Lunch = Wet n' Wild Fine Wink, NYX Aloha
MAC Nocturnelle = NYX Beauty Queen
MAC Nylon = Vanilla Sky
MAC Paradisco = Flirt! Feeling Hot
*MAC Parrot = ULTA Deep Sea, L'oreal HIP in Showy
MAC Parfait Amour = Milani Enchantment, NYX Luxor
MAC Passionate = NYX Cherry or Red Head
MAC Perverted Pearl = Milani Silver Bullet
MAC Pink Freeze = Milani Taffy
*MAC Satin Taupe = ELF Moondust, ULTA Twilight, NYX Iced Mocha
MAC Satellite Dreams = Daffodil
MAC Shale = Milani Icy Plum
MAC Shimmermoss = ULTA Luna
MAC Solar White = NYX Barely There
MAC Sketch = Milani Marooned
MAC Stars and Rockets = NYX Luxor, Milani Shock
MAC Trax = Flirt! Glamourazzi
MAC Vanilla = Milani Snow Frost
MAC Vellum = Milani Moonlight, NYX Snow Cone
MAC Woodwinked = Milani Golden Bronze

Pigments
MAC Dark Soul pigment = Jane Clubbing
*MAC Fuchsia pigment = Jesse’s Girl 553 Sparkle Red
*MAC Old Gold = Jesse’s Girl 567 Sunlit Cactus
MAC Pink Pearl = Jesse’s Girl 551 Superpink Pearl
MAC Silver Pigment = Milani Mercury
*MAC Sweet Sienna = theshespace.com Gothic Glamour
*MAC Violet = Jesse’s Girl 560 Cloisonne Violet
MAC Viz A Violet = NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Purple



MAC Sweet Sienna - theshespace.com Gothic Glamour
Sweet Sienna = $20 (7 gram jar)
Gothic Glamour = $4 (3 gram jar)







MAC Humid - NYX Mermaid Green
In the pot Humid has more yellow/olive undertones while Mermaid doesn't. When you apply them the color difference is not so apparent, you really don't need both. Humid is a bit more vibrant by itself, but Mermaid used with a good base or mixing medium catches up.

Humid = $14
Mermaid Green = $4

Review: Jesse's Girl Eye Dust

Jesse’s Girl Eye Dust

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging 5 out of 5
Price: $4
Where to buy: Rite Aid & http://www.jessesgirlcosmetics.com/

Jesse’s Girl pigments are really great. They come in large jars with 3.5 grams of pigment, and there are a bunch of colors in all sorts of shades. They don’t have names on the jar but it is on their website, so I'll just go by the color and last 3 digits of the bar code which is on the jars.

All the colors are duo chromed and/or slightly metallic. There are a lot of sparkles, but they aren't overly obvious. They are finely milled and quite pigmented. I find its best to use them over a tackier base, they don’t stick as well as I’d like to UDPP, but shadesticks or creamier bases are fine.

Another great thing about Jesse's Girl pigments is that a few of them are dupes for MAC pigments. There is a dupe of Fuchsia (middle swatch below), Violet (560 Cloisonne Violet), Pink Pearl (551 Superpink Pearl), and Old Gold (567 Sunlit Cactus).

I think most Rite Aids carry this brand. If you can't find it there you can order these from the Jesse's Girl website, where they have free shipping on orders over $20 in the US.


Swatched dry over UDPP on top, wet on bottom, with flash.
566 Duochrome Blue/Green, 553 Sparkle Red, 568 Majestic Green

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide
May contain: Iron Oxides, Iron Blue, Carmine (crushed beetles for red dye, yummy)

Review: ELF Brushes

ELF brushes have a special place in my heart, they were the first ones I bought just as I was seriously getting into make up. So I thought I would do a little tribute to them here.

Quality: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Price: $1
Where to buy: eyeslipsface.com
Cruelty Free: Yes

-Total Face, 2 out of 5
Total crap. Its not soft, its not dense enough, its not firm enough. At least it doesn't shed a lot, but thats about the only thing going for it. I never use this.

-Blushing, Bronzing, Blending, 3 out of 5
The ELF website doesn't show it, but this brush is angled. While its not scratchy, its also not very soft. I also don't like it because its not wide enough to apply blush in just a few strokes, you have to go back for more to cover a decent area. I did use this for a really long time, but then I bought my Sonia Kashuk blush brush and finally knew blush brush happiness. It had almost no shedding.

-Foundation, 3 out of 5
The bristles on the brush are stiff but soft, and also kind of crappy at applying liquid foundation (or maybe thats just me, I don't have a lot of/any experiance using foundation brushes). I liked it find for applying powder though. I never really use this, except sometimes I'll use it to put on asprin masks. I think there are probably better quality foundation brushes so I wouldn't recommend this one.

-Blending, 1 out of 5
I do NOT recommend this brush unless you like having your skin scratched off. The bristles are too sparse to blend well and very harsh. I only use this to brush off fallout pigment and to blend foiled pigments, and thats not very often. I don't know if it sheds a lot because I haven't used it enough to find out.

-Angled/Defining, 5 out of 5
This brush has soft angled bristles that are great for precise shadow application, brow filling, and lining. I have not experienced any shedding and this brush is still in great condition after months and month of regular use. I definitely recommend trying it. Zero shedding.

-Eyeliner, 5 out of 5
This is a thin, straight flat brush with firm bristles. I use this to tightline my top and bottom waterlines. Its also good for applying cream or gel liners above and below eye lashes although I do like an angled brush better for that.

-Eye Shadow, 5 out of 5

The quality of this brush is very good. Its soft but not flimsy, and it holds eyeshadow well. My eyeshadow goes on very smooth and blended, and I don't usually have any powder dropping onto my cheeks or lashes. I've had two of these brushes for almost a year and despite the cheap price they are still in as great a condition as ever. Have experianced little to no shedding.

Fyrinnae Swatches

I finally got these done, sorry it took so long. These are very true to color. They were applied over UDPP. My favorites are Kitten In Heels and Sennyo, which are a bit brighter then shown. Fyrinnae just put out some new super sparkly colors, so I think I'm going to do another order in a week or two.

With Flash
Natural Light

Review: Olay Ultra Moisture In-shower Body Lotion

Olay Ultra Moisture In-shower Body Lotion with Shea Butter
Infuse your skin with nourishing moisture at the ideal moment for moisturizing skin.

Replace your ordinary lotion with a revolutionary rinse-off body lotion! Olay Ultra Moisture In-Shower Body Lotion works with the warmth and humidity of your shower to reveal soft, smooth skin after just one use. Daily use will improve hydration of dry skin in five days!

After cleansing with your usual body wash or bar soap, and while still in the shower, smooth onto wet skin, then rinse. Step out of the shower and experience softer, smoother skin.

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Price: $5.99
Cruelty Free: No
Overall: 4.5 out of 5

In case you didn't know, Summer is coming. With that arms, legs, and various other long covered body parts are making their way out from under the layers we wore during the winter. For me this means is time to start moisturizing, something I don't do too often because it takes too long and I don't like my skin being sticky under my clothes. In addition to that I don't want my lotion to leave stains on my clothes either. So, I remembered getting two of those small travel sized tubes of Olay's in-shower body lotion last year, and I loved them so I decided to try it out again. Of course they re packaged and/or re formulated, but the new stuff is just as good.

PROS: You use this lotion in the shower. Just rub it on then rinse it off. No hassle. After that you just pat dry and you're good to go with super soft skin and you don't have to wait for it to sink in before you can dress. This really does leave my skin really, really soft. You notice it almost immediately. It does have what I call the 'Olay' smell, but its not too strong and I like it. I could see it being too strong for some people though. This also comes in an Age Defying formula.

CONS: For some reason they put a hole at the top of the bottle, I guess so you could hang it up on your shower. Honestly I think its a waste of space and the bottle is kind of heavy so it could break whatever its hanging on. Also the biggest concern to me is that Olay does test on animals, but I couldn't find anything like this by a cruelty free brand. Please don't hate me, I really tried to find a substitute!

This is available at Target, Wal Mart, Rite Aid, anywhere. Target is the cheapest place to get it. Its in the body wash sections, not the lotion section. There are two sizes, the smaller is $2.99 at Target and I think the larger is $5.99.

Fyrinnae haul pics!

Well, I got these much earlier then expected! I order on the 29th of April and got them on the 3rd of May. Looks like Fyrinnae's got things back under control, yay! I bought 8 e/s samples and got an extra one free, and I love them all. I went all over town today trying to find another birthday gift for my sister (was unsuccessful) so I was too whipped out to do swatches. I may get to them Sunday morning, but I've got my sisters party that afternoon so I don't know. I will hopefully get them done on Moday.

Kitten in Heels is a bit washed out here, its much brighter in real life.
These are a little lighter and a lot brighter in person, fyi. Sennyo was the freebie and I'm so glad they sent it, I would never have tried it based on their website swatches. Its so bright and pretty. Elven Dagger is a lot brighter, like Leif.

I hope this helps some of you out, and I hope you don't get to many lemmings. *evil laugh*

xox

Theshespace & Fyrinnae Swatches

I finally got swatches done for my latest shespace haul & I did some of all the Fyrinnae pigments I have. I'm also including short reviews and color descriptions of each pigment.

Bright Outlook: Cheerful shimmery pale yellow/orange. Soft but vibrant.
Aphrodite Screams: Shimmery true orange.
No Scruples: Bright purple with hot pink sparkles. One of my top favorites.
Far Too Fabulous: Dark royal blue, a little darker then the swatch looks.
Born A Savage: Dark navy blue. Not my favorite, hard to use unless wet.
Blaim The Rain: Soft lime green with a kick. Goes with a lot of colors.
Chasing Mystery: Soft teal/blue/green/grey. Swatch doesn't do justice.
Swim With The Fishes: One of my top 5's. Gorgeous aqua/teal.
Moral Enemy: Fantastic almost emerald/grass green. Love love love.
Art Of Noise: Dark sparkly green, not brown like the swatch shows.

Rapunzel Had Extensions: Soft coral with gold. Lovely color.
Melty: Warm pink. Really pretty.
Shallow Sleep: Great bright blue with hint of aqua.
Dragon Tears: Not at all like Fyrinnae's website shows, dark blue. Kinda crappy quality, have to use it wet or else it just doesn't stick.
Embrace: Also not anything like the Fyrinnae swatch, this is a dark almost matte teal. Not very impressive.
Japan: Similar to Embrace but greener.
Equality: Sparkly silver taupe. Really nice color.
Newcastle: This gets a lot of love but I don't like it. Looks like dirt from my back yard with glitter.
Leif: Great bright apple green, I love this one.
Dragon's Wing: Almost matte soft green.
Dragonskin: Green with gold tones, shimmery and very pretty.
Njordr: Dark forest green with silver sparkles.


I did just place another Fyrinnae order yesterday, so I should have more swatches in two or three weeks.

xox

Major SheSpace haul, I am in Love.

No swatches, the mail came way late and there isn't the greatest light atm & I have no energy. Those will come on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

My favs from this batch are No Scruples (I almost didn't get this, omg its ++ more amazing in person then photo), Fatal Glamour (almost didn't get this either, thought I wouldn't like it but I loooove it), and Cursed With Charisma. I can't wait to use these!

L-R
Bright Outlook, Aphrodite Screams, No Scruples, Swim With The Fishes
Blaim The Rain, Moral Enemy, Chasing Mystery, Art Of Noise


Custom Pigments, L-R
Fatal Glamour + Gold Twinkle, Cursed With Charisma + Pink Diamonds
Lives For Drama + Purple Diamonds, Click Your Heels + Turquiose Twinkle

xox

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania pigment swatches

As requested, here are the 18 NYX pearl pigments that I have. My favorites are silver, nude, space, and purple.

Review: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Eye Shadows.

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Price: $1
Where to buy: cherryculture.com is cheapest

These were my very first pigments ever in life. I got the whole set on ebay for $25. There are 24 colors (some I swapped away, so there are only 22 here). These are $1 each at cherryculture.com. The quality of these are amazing. Lime is the only one that doesn't have fantastic pigment, but its a nice sheer green. All the others are very vibrant. What you see in the bottle is what you get on your face. The powder is very fine, all the colors are shimmery. It has very good lasting power and its easy to blend. The jars are really small but there is actually tons of product inside. The only con about these are that the opening is very small, so you need a tiny brush to get inside. Usually there is enough product in the lid that you don't have to worry about that. Or you can just transfere them to bigger jars. Other then that, these are fabulous.

On a side note, if you're into pressing pigments these won't work. Myself and several other people have tried with no success, they just fall apart.

xox

Review: Sonia Kashuk Blush Brush

Quality: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Price: $10
Where to buy: Target
Cruelty Free: Yes
Overall: 5 out of 5

I had 3 blush brushes before, but they were either too scratchy (the ELF blush brush) or they shed too much (Studio Tools), or both. So I saw the Sonia Kashuk brushes for 10% off at Target and decided to try the blush brush (white handled, not black) in hopes that it would not shed like a cat or scratch like... well, a pissed off shedding cat.



I wasn't disappointed. The Sonia K blush brush is so soft, I just want to cuddle with it. It hardly feels like I'm brushing anything against my face. The brush is wide enough that it covers the right area without any hassle, but it doesn't apply too much. The best part is that it picks up just the right amount of blush so I only have to do one stroke from the apples of my cheeks to my hair line and one back, then I'm done. It doesn't look splotchy and I don't have any harsh lines to blend. I haven't noticed any shedding hairs either, so I'm in blush brush heaven!

Highly Recommended!
xox

Review: NYX Jumbo E/S Pencil, NYX Candy Glitter Liners

Here are my rave reviews on NYX Jumbo E/S Pencil, in Yogurt & NYX Candy Glitter Liners.

Quality: 5 out of 5

Packaging: 3 out of 5

Price: $3-$4

Where to buy: Cherryculture.com

Cruelty Free: Yes

Overall: 5 out of 5

This is Yogurt. I got it saturday, been wearing it ever since. It last 8-9 hours on my oily lids before it starts to crease.

These are some of my poorer e/s. They don't have much pigment dry, even over UDPP
Here I used them over UDPP, the NYX e/s pencil, and with a mixing medium. The mixing medium was the most vibrant, but after it dried it was flaky and if I touched it with my finger a lot of pigment came away. When I touched the e/s over the jumbo pencil little to no pigment was on my fingers.

Edit: I've gotten Pacific and Lemon since and they work just as well, incase anyone is wondering about other colors.

Quality: 5 out of 5

Packaging: 5 out of 5

Price: $4

Where to buy: Cherryculture.com

Cruelty Free: Yes

Overall: 5 out of 5

NYX Candy Glitter Liners

Crystal, Lavendar, Blue, & Jade. The first two are great with softer looks. Blue and Jade really pop. Mostly the glitter stays put, though there is a tiny bit of fallout. Wait for them to dry because they'll get on your brow bone if you're not careful. The applicator brush is really fine so its east to get thin lines.

Hope that helps. Have a great day everyone.

xox

Recent Hauls

On Tuesday I needed some retail therapy so I hit the mall! My first stop was a small beauty store that has a small display of NYX lipsticks. I was just going to order some from Cherryculture.com but Hebe was too gorgeous and I couldn't wait! Then I went to the MAC counter. I was going to get Parfait Amour or Aquadisiac, but Hepcat caught my eye so I got that one. Last I hit Charlotte Russe, the clothing store, and they have small bins of lipgloss and eye shadow trios at the counters that I always look through. They had two new color sets, Mermaid and Aquatic, that I didn't have yet so I got those too.

MAC Hepcat (free with gift card)
NYX round lipstick in Hebe ($1)
Charlotte Russe ($5 each)
My whole Charlotte Russe mineral collection.

Then I came home and put in an order at Cherryculture because they are having a 20% off sale until the 20th. I got 4 NYX candy glitter liners, 2 lipsticks, and 2 chrome pigments. I'll probably get them all next week.

Theshespace swatches.

I did swatches of the LE stuff, but that will eventually be gone, so I thought I'd do swatches of the regular collection.

Just so you don't get confused, the names of the colors are within the rows (hopefully that makes sense). I didn't feel like numbering them.

Animal Testing

About a year ago I was blissfully unaware of the horrible cruelty that goes on behind the glamorous fronts of so many major beauty companies. I don't remember how, but I found a link to a site that talked about the unpleasant facts of animal testing. I always thought animal testing including nothing more then funny people in lab coats sitting around putting nail polish on dog's toe nails or putting mousse in cat hair. Boy was I wrong.

Much of animal testing includes this:

• Putting harmful products in their eyes. Clamps are used so they can't blink. They'll be left like this for days. This is very painful and often leaves animals blind.
• Ripping away layers of skin with tape, and then putting chemicals on the raw skin.
• Forcing poisonous chemicals into their stomachs. Reactions can be convulsions, vomiting, paralysis and bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth or rectum.

If the animal makes a lot of noise, they will cut their vocal cords. Test subjects sometimes kill themselves struggling against their restraints. If they haven't been killed in the testing process, the animals are killed after so their organs can be studied.

Here are a few of the majoy companies and their brands that do test on animals:

• Church & Dwight (Aim, Arm & Hammer, Arrid, Brillo, Close-up, Lady’s Choice, Mentadent, Nair, Pearl Drops)
• Clairol (Aussie, Daily Defense, Herbal Essences, Infusium 23, Procter & Gamble)
• Coty (Adidas, Davidoff, Glow, The Healing Garden, JOOP!, Jovan, Kenneth Cole, Lancaster, Marc Jacob, Rimmel, Stetson)
• Johnson & Johnson (Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Listerine, Lubriderm, Neutrogena, Rembrandt, ROC),
• L’Oréal U.S.A. (Biotherm, Cacharel, Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Helena Rubinstein, Lancôme, Matrix Essentials, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken, Soft Sheen, Vichy)
• Playtex Products (Baby Magic, Banana Boat, Ogilvie)
• Procter & Gamble Co. (Clairol, Cover Girl, Crest, Gillette, Giorgio, Iams, Max Factor, Pantene, Physique, Tide),
• Sally Hansen
• S.C. Johnson (Drano, Edge, Fantastik, Glade, OFF!, Oust, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate, Windex, Ziploc), 1525
• Unilever (Axe, Dove, Helene Curtis, Lever Bros., Suave
• The Body Shop (just bought by L'Oreal)
• NARS (just bought by Shiseido)

Here are some of the brands that do not test on animals:

• Alba Botanica, Alima Cosmetics, Almay, Aquaphor, Avon (mark)
• Ban, Bare Escentuals, Bath & Body Works, BeneFit (?), Bobbi Brown, Bonne Bell, Biore, Burt’s Bees
• Citré Shine, Chanel, Clarins, Clinique, Conair
• e.l.f. Cosmetics, Estée Lauder
• Got2Be
• Jane Cosmetics, John Paul Mitchell
• Kiss My Face
• Laura Mercier, Lorac, LUSH
• M.A.C. Cosmetics, Mary Kay
• Nexxus, Nivea, NYX Cosmetics, New York Color (NYC)
• OPI Products, Origins
• Palmers, Physicians Formula, Pout, Prescriptives, Prestige Cosmetics
• Queen Helene
• Revlon
• Sephora, Smashbox Cosmetics, Sonia Kashuk, Stila Cosmetics, St Ives, Sally Hansen
• Too Faced Cosmetics, TREsemme
• Urban Decay
• Victoria’s Secret
• Wet n Wild

For more detailed list see here:

Companies that don't test: http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDontTest.pdf

Companies that do test:http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDoTest.pdf

Resources:

• http://www.idausa.org/facts/costesting.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_testing (I couldn't get through the page, it really upset me)
• http://www.caringconsumer.com/
• http://www.navs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ain_pt_whois This has a really helpful search engine, just type in the brand and it will tell you if they test.

If you see anything that is incorrect or know something that should be added, please let me know. I hope this is helpful to someone. I'm going on almost a year of buying only cruelty free products. On some things I slip up (like dental care, almost all major brands test) but at least I'm trying.

xox

Fyrinnae haul pics!

I finally got my Fyrinnae package yesterday! I order on Jan 5th, and it shipped on Feb 26th, so it took 37 business days for them to ship. It was crappy to have to wait that long, but I have them now and they are sparkly and pretty so I don't care. My only problem now is deciding what to wear today. I think I have over 20 unused colors I've gotten this week, my head is spinning.

Dragonskin, Dragon's Wing, Leif, Njordr
Shallow Sleep, Dragon Tears f/s, Prof. Embrace, Japan
Newcastle f/s, Equality, Rapunzle f/s, Melty (free sample)
Plus I got the rice primer and mineral viel samples.

Have a sparkly day!

xox