NAILS: Year of the Sheep // Chinese New Year

A little late but HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. Chinese New Year was February 19th, the start of the Year of the Sheep (or goat or ram - the Chinese word could mean either). Also referred to as the Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year is traditionally celebrated to honour deities and ancestors. For me, this means big family dinners with a lot of food, multiple dim sum outings, and red pockets of lucky money from aunts, uncles and grandparents. 

This year was a little more quiet so to celebrate the Year of the Sheep, I decided to paint the little pillows of fluff on my nails. The sheep shapes were inspired by Angela of Do Want Makeup. I'm a novice nail artist so I kept things simple and stuck to anything I could do with a dotting tool.  

The red background symbolizes fortune and joy (and also wards off evil spirits) in Chinese culture, while I used a dotting tool and a white polish to create the fluffy sheep, a nude polish for the sheep's face and a black and a dotting tool for the eyes and legs. 

Products Used: CoverGirl Ever Reddy*, Quo Purity*, NYC Black Cream Lace*, Sally Hansen 110 Birthday Suit*, and the Body Shop Dotting Tool*

Do you celebrate Chinese New Year? 

Press samples featured and denoted with an asterisk (*).

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Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette in Dim Light, Incandescent Light & Radiant Light

Gorgeously fingerprinted packaging? Check. Exorbitant pricing? Check. Baby's butt smooth powders? Check. I've been testing out the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette ($67) (dim light, incandescent light, radiant light) for two months now and I must come to final verdict. 

For one, this ain't no dealio. It's $52 for a single 0.35 ounce powder or $67 for 3 minis weighing in at .348 ounces in total. You're paying for variety and the semi-compact packaging. The packaging is beautiful yet prone to picking up fingerprints. These are my two and only two complaints. 

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders are meant to be groundbreaking finishing powders that capture, diffuse, and soften the way light reflects on skin. The finely-milled, talc/gluten/fragrance/nano particle-free formula is as good as everybody says. The powders add that je ne sais quoi to the complexion (not different from the Guerlain Meteorites). 

There undetectable on the skin, which is totally a good thing. This means that it looks like you're not really wearing makeup, like the light is just really flattering on your skin. Depending on your colouring, different powders = different colours. Here's how they work for me: 

- dim light (soft neutral beige) - meant to blur imperfections (per Sephora), I use this as an all-over powder

- incandescent light (pale white gold with shimmer) - too shimmery for all over the face, I use it as a highlighter

- radiant light (sun-kissed golden beige with shimmer) - it's slightly orange on my skin, so I use it as a blush/bronzer. 

Admittedly, this was a hype-induced purchase but I should get credit because I waited more than a year to pick the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette up. Regardless of anyone else's opinion, these are lovely powders that enhance the look of skin in real life and in flash photos. I have yet to come across a dupe for any of them but I'd definitely pick up the full size of dim light if and when I ever run out. Whether you need or must have them is up to you. 

Have you tried the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders? What did you think of them? 

Purchased by me

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New York Color Cityproof 24HR Waterproof Eyeshadows in Brooklyn Mocha, Tribeca Taupe, New York at Night, Central Park Tulips & East River Romance and Primer

Color in your eyes with the new New York Color CityProof 24HR Primer and Waterproof Eyeshadows ($2.99 each). There's 12 shades, a variety of your everyday neutrals with some vibrant pops of colour like purple, blue, and green. While I like the user-friendly colour in your eyes and go concept, the packaging isn't of the highest quality. The clear plastic caps are ughhh and the purple crayon already broke. 

Pictured above are the New York Color Cityproof 24HR Primer and Waterproof Eyeshadow Crayons in 605 Brooklyn Mocha, 610 Tribeca Taupe, 635 New York at Night, 640 Central Park Tulips, 650 East River Romance. 

There's 12 shades in the line. Not pictured are 600 Wall Street Bronze, 615 5th Ave Gold Rush, 620 Murray Hill Champagne, 625 Rockefeller Center Snowflakes (White), 630 Empire State Building (Gray), 645 Long Island Blue, 655 Madison Square Park (Green).

The primer (far left) is like a flesh-toned NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil. It's similarly creamy and a touch less sticky. It's a good primer (enhances coloured shadows) but nothing noteworthy on the staying-power front. 

Blended

There's no doubt that the shadows are vibrant and pigmented. However, the important thing to note here is that they're not all consistent. The bronze, purple, and blue have some glitter running through them, which makes them drag on the lids and a bit harder to blend out than the taupe and black. The taupe is slightly creamier and easier to work with than the black due to the pigment. 

Across all 5 shades is creasing. These are by no means 24 hour wear. The colours set quickly on the lids but by the third or fourth hour, these cream eyeshadows begin to crease if you don't set with a powder. When set with a powder, the New York Color Cityproof Waterproof Eyeshadows pass the all-day-long test. 

Overall, nothing to write home about but for $2.99, Tribeca Taupe is a stellar neutral matte base. 

Have you seen these at your drugstore yet? 

Press samples featured 

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Mary Kay Paradise Calling Whipped Eye Colors in Tiki Hut & Seafoam // Spring 2015

...and these are the last makeup products but certainly not the least in the Mary Kay Paradise Calling collection for Spring 2015. The Mary Kay Paradise Calling Whipped Eye Colors ($18) in Tiki Hut and Seafoam are lightweight cream eyeshadows. Not quite as bright or bold as the Nail Lacquers or Lacquered Lip Shines but pretty easy on the eyes. 

Mary Kay Paradise Calling Whipped Eye Colors in Seafoam and Tiki Hut

The texture of the Mary Kay Paradise Calling Whipped Eye Colors is not different from that of the Lise Watier Ombre Souffle Supremes. The formula is soft and airy. It feels smooth to the touch and, put simply, a dream to blend over the eyelids. 

One swipe yields sheer yet buildable color. The whipped eye colors can be layered up to something a bit more vibrant without looking cakey or patchy. Seafoam is a light green with golden-green shimmer and Tiki Hut is a medium brown with bronze shimmer. I love the pearly finish for a sheer wash of colour. The product dries to a powder finish and lasts all day without creasing (I've been wearing it for the last 10 hours as I write this up). 

Seafoam

Tiki Hut 

Overall, a the whipped eye colors are a hit. The buildable feature of this cream eyeshadow makes for a one-product eyeshadow look, perfectly paired with any bold lip or blush combo. 

What do you think of the Paradise Calling Whipped Eye Colors? 

Press samples featured

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Mary Kay Paradise Calling Lacquered Lip Shine in Exotic Orchid, Tropical Mandarin & Sun Baked // Spring 2015

More colour from Mary Kay's Paradise Calling collection. It's brights for the lips - the Mary Kay Paradise Calling Lacquered Lip Shines ($19 each). Time to indulge in some colour.

Mary Kay Paradise Calling Lacquered Lip Shine in Sun Baked, Exotic Orchid and Tropical Mandarin

I'd classify the Mary Kay Paradise Calling Lacquered Lip Shines as thick, ultra-vivid glosses. With the exception of the nude shade (Sun Baked), these are one-swipe wonders but look even better with two. The lip shine is thick and plush. It feels moisturizing on the lips and smooths over fine lines and dry areas. These don't claim to be long wearing, nor are they. Eating and drinking and touching your lips will have the product rubbing off. Since they're slightly sticky, these aren't particularly awesome for windy days. Picture Tropical Mandarin streaks all over your face. Not fun. 

Let's talk about Sun Baked, the nude shade. It's a nice tangent from the two brights but kind of blah for me. It's the blah blah black sheep of the bunch. It takes three coats to get opaque and the light pigment of the nude shade catches onto dry areas. 

Exotic Orchid

Tropical Mandarin 

Sun Baked

Overall, this is a pretty-to-look-at product. The colours are vivid and vibrant and warming to the face - the right colours for the warmer weather. However, they're not long-wearing or easy to wear if you like to eat pizza. 

On another note, the Exotic Orchid and Tropical Mandarin shades correspond to the Nail Lacquers. I love it when my tips and lips can matchy-matchy! 

What do you think of the Paradise Calling Lacquered Lip Shines? 

Press samples featured 

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Mary Kay Paradise Calling Nail Lacquers in Exotic Orchid, Tropical Mandarin & Lagoon // Spring 2015

The Mary Kay Paradise Calling Nail Lacquers ($10) are like a breath of fresh air. I'm saying buh-bye to the winter blahs and hello to the vibrant orchids, mandarins, and lagoons of paradise that are calling my name! 

I'm no stranger to the Mary Kay Nail Lacquers (see the Midnight Jewels collection here). It's a great formula. All three of Exotic Orchid, Tropical Mandarin and Lagoon are cream finish polishes. I'll keep it short by saying that they're super vibrant and fittingly opaque in one swift swipe. Furthermore, they dry down quite quickly and to a beautiful shine at that! 

Exotic Orchid

Tropical Mandarin

Lagoon

No negatives here. The only bad thing I could say is that if you're not into brights that these won't be for you. Other than that, these colours will have you warmed up like you're in paradise in no time. 

What do you think of the Mary Kay Paradise Calling Nail Lacquers? 

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Mary Kay Paradise Calling Spring 2015 Limited Edition Collection // Spring 2015

Get excited for Spring because Mary Kay's got the colours of paradise coming your way. Pops of orchid, turquoise, and mandarin have got me ready for the warmer weather. The Paradise Calling Limited Edition Collection for Spring 2015 is available as of February 16th (today!). Over the next few days, I'll be reviewing the lip, nail, and eye products in this collection! 

And even if you're not into the bright colours of paradise, at least you can appreciate the vibrant packaging: 

Here's what's included in the Paradise Calling collection: 

// lips - Mary Kay Lacquered Lip Shine ($19) in Exotic Orchid, Tropical Mandarin & Sun Baked

// nails - Mary Kay Nail Lacquer ($10) in Lagoon, Exotic Orchid & Tropical Mandarin

// eyes - Mary Kay Whipped Eye Color ($18) in Tiki Hut and Lagoon

// body - Mary Kay Moisturizing Spray Lotion ($18) 

Which Paradise Calling product is catching your eye? 

Press samples featured

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