Velvet Beaute Brushes Review

I am obsessed with make up brushes!!!  I am constantly watching reviews of the latest makeup brushes out there.  I own quite a bit of brushes...I get a little embarrassed admitting how many makeup brushes I do have.  But I love them.  I love the look, feel and function of what they do for my face.  If you saw my other blog post, you already know that my favorite makeup brushes of all time is It Cosmetics and Sedona Lace Midnight collection.  I have seen a few Asian YouTube beauty gurus talking about the Velvet Beaute brushes on the Imomoko site.  I was very intrigued just looking at them. After watching a few more reviews and looking at them on the website, I finally bought them.  You get 9 brushes (1 is a dual sided brush) plus a carrying case for them for $99 with free shipping.  I read that Imomoko is having a sale on the brushes for $79 until March 7th.  Of course they are!  After all that time I waited and waited to see if a better deal would come up and nothing did.  Once I buy them, they go on sale LOL story of my life.  But enough of that let's get into the details about these brushes.

The packaging of the brushes is so cute.  All the brushes are packed in the carry case and packed into this nice cardboard sleeve.

 The VELVET logo is embossed in the corner of the case.  The case itself is made out of a Black velour material.  It is very soft and elegant feeling.  Does not feel cheap.  The zipper is hot pink which is a big plus for me since I love pink.

 When you unzip the case, all the brushes are individually wrapped in plastic and the larger face brushes come with a brush guard around them as well.  Each brush is placed in its' designated spots and the case offers a cover flap on each side so when you do use your brushes the flaps act as a guard to avoid makeup getting everywhere which is handy.  There is a piece of material that prevents you from opening the case open completely but it acts as a pocket to place other makeup items in there if needed.  Many gurus said you can stand it up and use it daily to put your mascara, eyeliner, etc. in the pocket.  Honestly this is not convenient for me.  Maybe if I traveled a lot but even then I don't think I would use it that way.  I think I would have preferred the case to open completely flat. It's a nice design but it just doesn't work for what I need which is not deal breaker or lessen the quality in this set.

There are a total of 9 brushes, the Foundation brush is not featured here because I never use that kind of brush (looks like a tapered paint brush) so that stayed in the case.  But I will list the other brushes that are shown below from top to bottom:

Detail & Angled brow/liner brush - this is the only dual ended brush you get in this set.
Tapered Eye Brush
Shader Brush
Blending Brush
HD Concealer Brush
Contour Brush
Flattop Brush
Powder Brush

The bristles on the face brushes are super soft and pick up product very well.  The blending brush is a little poke-y on my eyelids but mine are a little sensitive anyways.  Since I just received this a few days ago, I have not had a chance to use all of the brushes yet.  So far the Powder brush is my all time fave from this set but not of all time.  But this one is very nice.  The Contour brush works great as a blush brush for me but have not used it to do any contouring yet.  I used the Blending and Shader brush for my eye shadow today and it worked very nicely.  I am hoping that the bristles for the Blending brush will get softer after I have washed it a few times.  The brushes wash well and dry at a normal rate.  Another negative thing I have to say is the Powder and Contour brush shed quite a bit.  I am hoping it's because they are just new and the bristles are what didn't make it in the ferrule.  But even using the brushes on my face today, I had bristles on my face which is a little annoying.  I really hope this stops.  I bought a few single brushes from Sigma because I heard SO many good things about them and those are not cheap.  After I got them, the more I would use them and wash them they shed super crazy.  Drove me nuts!  We will see.

Final thoughts:
I do recommend this set.  For the price, you get many functional brushes and a wonderful case to store them in if you don't have a separate holder for everyday use.  These are super cute to look at, the bristles are soft and grab enough product to apply to your face or eyes.  The handle is sturdy and clearly marks what the function of that brush is used for.  I think this is a wonderful starter brush set for anyone that is just beginning to apply makeup with brushes.  My first brush set came from E.L.F. They are super affordable but some of the brushes were hit or misses for me from either the Classic line or the Studio line.

What's up with my nails?

I'm a HUGE nail polish and nail art junkie.  From the time I was a Senior in high school to when my second son was born I had acrylic nails.  A brief history on my real nails, I never had a problem with growing my nails out or them breaking.  I was actually able to grow them very long, I always had them painted and they almost seemed fake.  Then I jumped on the fake nails wagon in the 90's and messed up my nails.  I had the acrylics on for so long I just thought that my natural nails would never be the same.  About 3 years ago I decided to take off my acrylics for good.  I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I was able to get my nails healthy again. But I was sort of lost when it came to painting my nails.  I did the boring one color with an occasional glitter topper once in a while but it was pretty boring.  My friend at work was showing me all these different nail arts that she would love to have done on her nails but the nail places that did nail art were pretty pricey.  As she was showing me she tells me that I could totally do this.  I just looked at her like she was nuts!  One of the nail arts she loved was a Cookie Monster design.  I never did nail art ever!  She sent me the picture and told me to try it..."I have faith in you" she says hahahaha.  So that weekend I went to the swap meet and visited this nail booth I always see but never shopped at because I didn't know what to do with anything in there other than with the nail polishes.  I took a look around and saw a lot of interesting tools and picked up quite a bit and some nail polish colors for the Cookie Monster design.  At this time I had literally 4 bottles of polish.  I think I spent less than $20 there and got a lot of neat stuff.  Went home and started practicing.  I surprised myself how easy it was and how good it turned out.  I had a picture of it somewhere and I think I may have posted it on IG but I don't have one saved in my files right now.  I got a lot of positive feedback and so begins my nail polish hoarding.

Below is what I started doing right after I took off my acrylics.

This was one of my first dotting tool manicures and trying out the Magnetic nail polish craze. My nails were starting to take on a nice shape and length here.

There are a ton of pictures on my personal and beauty IG accounts but I really got the hang of nail art and my polish collection really grew.  I have over 100 nail polishes right now. It's cray-cray!  

Then I did the unthinkable last week and got acrylics put back on again.  I was in a rare funky mood with myself and my nails that week were just breaking off one by one.  I was getting so annoyed and I happened to be right next door to a nail salon that I decided right then and there I was going to fix my mood.  Do I regret getting them put on?  Not really.  Did I need to?  Not really LOL  But I did instantly felt better and I am still able to do nail art.  

I had seriously scuffed up the polish that the lady at the nail salon did so I didn't take a picture of my nails. I went home and took off the polish and painted the design below.  

I did a fresh mani today and I was feeling the purple and glam bling.

Overall I have not regretted getting acrylics again.  It will be nice to get away and have someone clean up my cuticles and fill them in.  I can handle the painting part lol  Go to my Instagram pretty_obssessed to see more post on nail art.  

Mini Makeup Haul, Feb. 21st (Almost all BLUSHES!!)

All products were purchased by me.  Brands mentioned in this haul: Milani, Rimmel and KISS lashes.

Man...is anyone happy today is almost over?  This week was hell with work, family and trying to find time for me to do what I want to do which was blog.  I ended up going to Target and Walmart after work to do some "unwinding". Last night I had a little makeup find rush.  I went to CVS and right when I walked in was a Milani display.  Now if you have read my other posts, there was nothing more "NEW" stuff left that I haven't bought.  I had mentioned that I did get one of the new baked matte blushes in Delizioso Pink which I do love.  Since I didn't give you a swatch, here is the best one I cold show:

The swatch on the left is with a heavy swipe all over the blush to build the intensity and the swatch on the is just one swipe and blended out.  I think this blush can be very build-able to get a very hot pink or a subtle hint of pink color.  I really do love this color.  

As I was saying, I walked in and saw the other shade in the matte bake blush in Bella Rosa.  I totally convinced myself I did not need this color.  It is very reddish and I did not think it looked good on me.  But I had a few things fighting against my will power.  1. it was the last one and it was staring at me...speaking to me to take it home and 2. I had a $5 off coupon.  I said what the hell!  So I bought it and it cost me $5-ish.  It was retailed at $9.99.  I came home pretty late last night and had to work this morning so I didn't get a chance to play around with it yet till now.  Below is a photo of the blush with the 2 swatches: heavy and light and this time I took a picture of the bottom compartment with the little brush that is included.  I won't lie, the color is too intense for me.  Just starting to get into blush and still learning different methods to apply blush on my cheeks.  I will need to play around with this shade and use a very light hand to see how this will look.  

 Looking at the color in the compact, it made me think that I had seen this color somewhere else.  Something that I actually owned.  I went to check and tucked in the back of my face drawer was the Essence Beauty Beats (a Justin Bieber thing??).  I picked this up at Ulta and I guess it just got put out on the floor and the display was fully stocked.  There was another similar compact with a shimmer, highlighter product which I didn't get.  Looking at the two blushes side by side, Bella Rosa is definitely more Red.

 I decided to swatch the Essence blush...in case anyone wanted to see an actual swatch.  From the picture it obviously isn't a Red intense color like Bella Rosa but it is similar to Delizioso Pink.  I think this Essence blush is a tad deeper in tone, maybe an in between shade from the hot pink or the intense red.  I do have to say though, swatching this blush I found it to be very chalky and powdery.  You can see from the pan that I have hardly touched this blush since you can clearly see the lettering on the top.

My most excited find today was the highly anticipated Rimmel London STAY BLUSHED liquid cheek tint. I saw nouveaucheap.blogspot.com first talk about this before they were popping up in the US.  She had bought one shade and did a review on her blog...I was hooked from that point on.  I did not hunt these down but I did frequently visit the usual drugstores, especially Rite Aid and Walgreens since I saw that's where everyone was seeing them.  For weeks I went to CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens a few times in the week during my lunch break.  I even went to 2 targets near my work during that week and I always came back empty handed.  I think mentally I had given up because when I stop searching they all of sudden show up.  Well that happened tonight. I went to a Walmart in my old city where I grew up, I rarely head to this particular Walmart because it's not the closest to me anymore.  But we were near that area and my husband wanted to visit for a bit.  As I normally do, I head straight to the beauty section and start down the first aisle and go up and down.  To my surprise when I got to the Rimmel section were the blushes...ALL of the shades...untouched!  I did a secret backflip inside and picked up one of each shade.  The retail price is $2.97 at this Walmart.  

Here is what the packaging looks like.  It's a simple plastic tube.  I'd say it is about the size of a Carmex lip balm, maybe a smidge taller. I think the packaging is super cute and it has the color shade on the bottom half of the tube that is suppose to represent the shade inside the tube.  As you can see there are 5 shades: 003 Peach Flush, 005 Apricot Glow, 004 Sunkissed Cherry, 002 Touch of  Berry and 001 Pop of Pink.  

Below shows how the product comes out of the tube.  Pretty standard for a product in a tube.

For swatches in the same color order as shown above,  this was a tiny squeeze of the product and literally got a half a pea size drop on my finger and did one swipe.  Peach Flush, Apricot Glow, Sunkissed Cherry, Touch of Berry and Pop of Pink.

Below is my arm after a few seconds when the blush dried.  They dry to a total matte finish and Apricot Glow has micro glitter in it.  The glitter becomes more obvious when the product dries.  It's actually pretty considering I am not a fan of glitter or shimmer on my face.  I will give this a try on my face to see if it's as noticeable like it is on my arm. At first application, Peach Flush and Apricot Glow was swatching very close to the same color.  Even Sunkissed Cherry looks very similar.  There are very slight different between these three shades when it first goes on.  But when it dries you can see a definite color difference.  Peach Flush is a bright coral color.  My camera didn't pick up the true shade very well (sorry for the suckiness).  But this is a very pretty coral that will be great for Spring and Summer.  Apricot Glow is a nice light touch of color...with shimmer.  I think if there was no shimmer, this would be a great everyday color.  This may still be a go to everyday color with the shimmer, I will have to give you an update later when I actually try it for a day or a few hours.  Sunkissed Cherry is a deeper shade from Peach Flush.  Touch of Berry is another great go to everyday shade.  I really like this color swatch but the true test will be applying to my cheeks.  Pop of Pink is a hot pink, kind of similar to the Milani baked blush in Delizioso Pink.

I ended up leaving the swatches on my arm to see how it affects my skin.  I would hate to be allergic to some chemical in this.  So far...no breakouts or rashes...YAY!  The texture it is super lightweight and applies easily with one swipe.  Since I didn't blend it out I can't talk about the blend-ability of the product at this time.  The color is very pigmented and I think may be buildable.  There is a pleasant smell to these blushes.  The smell is like an old school perfume scent from when I was little (I have no idea what it would be called). But then it also smells very clean like a soap.  My point is the smell is very nice and I would like a bottle of just the scent for everyday use on my body.  I just tried right now to wipe these swatches off my arm and the color isn't going anywhere.  Like....NO where.  It will be interesting how this will work on my face.  I will update later.  So excited to try one of the shades tomorrow!  Eeek!

 

My one non-makeup product are these KISS lashes.  I got the #11 and  #03 lashes.  I honestly have not tried this brand before but the price for 5 pairs of lashes was $10 which is crazy right?  My beloved Ardell #110 lashes are $5 something each normally.  What intrigued me about these was the overall length.  They don't seem as long as the Ardells.  I always have to cut them to make them fit my eye shape.  I hope I don't have to cut these.  We'll see! 

 

 

 

That's all I got tonight!  I think I wrote a book though lol.  Until next time...

 

Obsession with Lime Crime

Purchased by me

I haven't really dived into my new obsession with Lime Crime.  I have been hearing, reading and seeing so many things about this company's lipstick line but honestly the price point is what has stopped me.  The lipsticks normally run for $18 on their website and the Velvetines are $20.  If you are lucky, you can find the shade you want actually in stock (they are out of stock on the more popular shades).  I do admit that I didn't buy mine from Lime Crime's direct website.  I found mine through a seller on Ebay.  It was the same price so I didn't get a deal but at least the shipping was free.  Can't complain.  BUT...what sold me on finally deciding to go ahead and getting something from Lime Crime was reviews of the Red Velvet from the new Velvetine line.  1) The color was amazing and I LOVE red lipsticks, 2) it dries to a matte finish...second all time favorite feature in a lip product and 3) super long wearing.  Nothing bugs me more when a lipstick fades off my lips in an hour or so without doing anything!  No talking, drinking, eating, licking my lips...like nothing and the lipstick is gone.  Like it melted into my lip forever.  My second pet peeve is when a color bleeds around the outside of my natural lip line.  Now...I am pretty good about picking out lipsticks that I know won't bleed on me.  But occasionally I will get sucked in to trying a brand I have never tried or a texture that I know will bleed but claims to not...which it does.  I don't often use lip liners, it's just an extra step that I feel I don't need to do if I wear a good lip product.  With the Lime Crime's Velvetines, you definitely will be in awe by how well this performs.  It is not a lip gloss but it does come in a lip gloss form.  The applicator is a smaller doe foot but very precised at applying the color where you need it to go.  I will say it is a liquid lip stick, similar to the Milani Liquid Intense lipsticks that I reviewed a few days ago.  But the biggest different with the Milani is that it stays somewhat wet, you can feel it is there and it stains a little bit but will rub off when you eat or drink.  You do have to keep reapplying that product to maintain the intense color.  With the Velvetines, it applies wet but takes a few seconds for it to dry matte.  Once it dries...this sucker is not going anywhere.  Well unless you eat something that has a lot of grease/oil in it then it will slide off.  When I drink from a straw, you can see a reminiscence of the color left on the straw but you don't even notice anything missing from your lips.  Now I have seen people kiss the back of their hand and have nothing transfer.  Sometimes I do this and I get no transfer, other times...like today, I see a small amount of transfer.  But it really is small amount compared to the intensity that is on your lips.  And you don't see any color missing anywhere on your lips.  I posted a picture of the tube and of me wearing Pink Velvet on Instagram today.  

I did buy Red Velvet first and then a week later went back to the same Ebay seller and got Pink Velvet.  Have not regretted that purchase at all!  There is a third shade in Suedeberry which is more of a coral-pink shade.  To me it pulls more orange than I like.  But then I see other pictures where it is more pink.  For now I am going to pass on that shade and hope that Lime Crime brings out more shades because this product is bomb.com!  I wish it was also cheaper and more available at like Sephora or Ulta.  I do have one Lime Crime lipstick in Glamour101 which is a rich red that I love also.  But I don't reach for it that much because...well it's my only one and I don't want to use up the product hahahaha.  Makeup hoarder problems...I KNOW!  

FINAL THOUGHTS: I highly recommend trying one of the shades out.  You won't be disappointed.  OH..I didn't mention anything about the feel on the lips once it dries.  When the color dries, it does not dry your lips out.  It almost feels like you aren't wearing anything at all.  I'm a HUGE lip balm freak and I constantly apply lip balm throughout the day and I have to remember not to with this stuff because it feels like you have no product on your lips and I keep wanting to add a lil' somethin somethin.  I know IMATS LA just happened last month which I was so bummed I could not go.  One year though...I will make it there.  Everything looked so amazing and I heard there was a discount if you bought these Velvetines there.  Sad Panda :(  Where ever you can get these...GO get them!  I'm not yelling...just enthusiastically cheering you on :)  

Favorite Makeup Brushes

A little bit of a background about me, I am Obsessed with makeup brushes.  I sit for hours searching, reading and looking at all the different makeup brushes out there.  I have spent a lot of my money on different brands.  Some I love and are my holy grail and others I just hated.  The hated brushes are knock offs from Ebay that are suppose to be dupes of Sigma brushes.  All of the one's I have bought, the hairs smell badly and even worse when trying to wash them (imagine a wet dog...gross!) and the bristles fall out continuously.  But enough of the hated brushes.  I'm here to tell you my all time favorite brushes.  I won't go into too much detail unless you want me to but I just had to give these a shout out.

Last year, I think in August I discovered some reviews about It Cosmetic brushes.  These are all cruelty free, synthetic fiber brushes.  I saw Stephanie on YouTube known as SMLx0 rave about the Heavenly Luxe Jumbo powder brush (shown at the bottom left, first brush).  When I saw how large this brush head was I was totally shocked.  She said that she loved this brush so much and I was immediately intrigued.  I did a search to see what would be the best place to get this brush at a decent price.  These brushes are sold at Ulta, It Cosmetic's website and on QVC.  Honestly you get more for your money if you buy from QVC because you can select the brush to come with a product and the cost is less than buying the brush by itself.  The normal retail price for this powder brush is $58 which is insanity for one brush I think.  I truthfully found this on Ebay from a really nice seller (I wish I can remember her name....sorry!) for $45.  This was still a lot, the most I have ever spent on a make brush individually but it was free shipping so I decided to just go for it.  AND it did not disappoint!  I freaking love this brush so, so much!  From there I was on a obsessive mission to get all the brushes.  Slowly but surely I got all the brushes I wanted from It.  I didn't get the new 2013 holiday brush set with the stand, the reviews were not very good for that set so I decided to pass and I did not get the dual concealer brush because I don't wear concealer.  Weird I know! These babies are treasured and sit in a drawer.  Let me know if you would like a review on each brush I have.  

 My second all time favorite are the Sedona Lace Midnight Lace collection.  These are so freaking beautiful!  These brushes are so well made, the handle is sturdy and sleek.  The bristles are synthetic in a Purple and dark Purple that looks black in pictures and in person at a quick glance but it is a very dark purple.  I actually bought all 3 collection.  There is a 12 piece collection that comes with a travel cup which is super nice, the Se7ven set and the 4 piece kabuki collection.  I love all these brushes.  The bristles are super soft and wash like a dream.  They are very similar in quality to the It Cosmetic brushes but I do feel the hairs on the It brushes are slightly softer.  These are also treasured in a drawer.  

For everyday application of my makeup, the brushes pictured below is what I use.  There is a nice mixed bag of brushes in this picture.  I have some Soho eye brushes which I do love and these were super cheap.  I have all of the Real Technique brushes and the new Miracle Complexion Sponge (LOVE).  You can see in the small left tucked away is a container with beauty sponges.  I do own the Original and Pro (black) Beauty Blender which I freakin love but hate the price.  The RT sponge is just as good I think and at a fraction of the price.  The one shown in the picture is actually my second one.  The first one fell apart on me after the second washing. I also got the It Cosmetic sponge since I loved their brushes so much.  I was deeply disappointed in the sponge.  It is way too dense and feels like you are applying foundation on with a rubber tire. I wish I was exaggerating but that's what it feels like to me.  Did not enjoy at all.  I contacted RT and they sent me a new one which was fantastic!  I tried out some Bdellium brushes which are suppose to be like EcoTools, all natural bamboo brushes.  These are amazing also and they have a whole Pink collection.  These are next on my list to collect all of them.  I only bought 4 brushes online: flat eyeliner, fluffy blender, crease blender and the Angle face brush.  The bristles aren't as soft as Sedona Lace or It Cosmetics but they are nice brushes and for how many come in a complete set, it is actually a good price for professional brushes.  I so badly want to go to IMATS so I can get more of the brushes in person.  Ordering online is not ideal when I can't touch or see them up close.  It's hard to know what you are getting ya know?  I have a selected few Sonia Kashuk brushes and all of the Ecotool brushes.  EcoTools and ELF were my first makeup brand of brushes I purchased when I started getting into makeup a few years ago.  These were amazing starter brushes to learn techniques and learn what each brush does.  Which led into the higher end brands.  Sonia Kashuk is a hit or miss for me and they aren't that cheap I feel.  I have a blender, pencil and Stiple brush but none of the other brushes appealed to me.  I did get their holiday set last year for like $30 and it came with 12 brushes I think which is ridiculously cheap.  But realized I got cheap quality brushes.  Those were so scratchy and shed like crazy.   They were very pretty to look at but I did not like using on my face.  So those are stored away in a drawer.  I also own but not featured in the photo below are the Bubbi brushes.  I bought the newest collection she came out with and I do love the look and feel of those brushes.  I have most of the face brushes in a drawer to apply my finishing powder, blush and contour.  All of the eye brushes are in the cup in the pic.

  So that is what started out to be a quick jot down of my thoughts on makeup brushes which turned into a rambling mess didn't it.  Oh well...that's how my mind works.  If there is any brushes you'd like me to go in depth with let me know.  I'd be happy to give you my thoughts.  I didn't do it now because there are so many YouTube video reviews of the brushes I own, heck that's why I bought them!  LOL

My next quest at the moment is the imomoko Velvet Beaute brushes which retail for $99 and the Bdellium Pink Bambu collection w/kabuki brush (of course can't forget the kabuki brush), Too Faced new Teddy Bear brush set and retractable brush (super over priced but I still want them because I am an addict) and last but not least is the Sigma Copper collection.  This bad boy is over $400 but comes with 29 professional brushes and a nice, sturdy case.  That will be my dream purchase for myself one day.  Oh I can't wait to own that!!  I know, I know...I only have one face and I don't freelance, what the heck am I going to do with all these brushes??  Admire them in my drawer hahahaa.  Because that is what makeup junkies do.  Stand back and admire.  What are your favorite brushes?  I'd love to hear any recommendations!

2014 Milani Makeup

Feb. 19, 2014        All purchased by me

So I have been watching so many YouTube gurus reviewing the new Milani lip products.  Of course I was intrigued and there were so many I wanted to try.  So I marked it on my calendar the day I would be able to go to CVS and hope to see a new display.  I also made a list of which colors I wanted to pick up.  Does anyone else do this??  Just a freak like me?  Ok....moving on hahaha

First up is the Power Lip

There are a total of 8 shades and I picked up 7.  Claims are they are long lasting, moisturizing and a stain.  The colors I have starting from Left to Right: 08 Creamy Cafe, 05 Macaroon (fav!), 07 Mango Tango, 04 Pink Lemonade, 02 Cabaret Blend, 01 Red Control and 03 Raspeberry Tart (second fav). The one color that I did not get was Strawberry Sugar.  This was a very light pink which do not look good on me. I'm sorry that I did not get any arm swatches or lip swatches. These were the last for me to photograph and my camera just didn't want to cooperate anymore.  I can confirm that these are very long lasting and do stain.  Moisturizing....eh...the consistency is sticky for sure.  Not uncomfortably sticky but noticeably sticky.  I find the deeper colors like the Cabaret Blend and Red Control are the stickiest out of the one's I have which does irritate me a bit because I don't like feeling like I have liquid glue on my lips when I press them together.  It's like the new Wet n Wild Fergie Vicious Varnish lip glosses.  I'm doing a review on those too but I can't stand those and I want to love them so badly!      

The applicator is a white, plastic fiber brush.  When you first get this you have to "break up" the bristles to soften them up.  If you don't do this and try to apply the gloss on your lips, it is very uncomfortable and streaky.  Once you have run your finger over the bristles they do soften a little bit but it makes a big difference when applying.  There is no smell or taste...that I get from using these which bums me out cause some of the names are so delicious that I want them to smell like their names.  They apply on glossy and do stay glossy for a few hours.  I can get usually about 4-5 hours if I don't eat anything.  Even drinking from a cup or straw doesn't diminish the glossiness.  

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really do like these and highly recommend them if you don't mind a bit of stickiness while you are wearing them.  These retail at CVS for $6.49 and that is the same price on Milani's website.  

Next up is my FAVORITE of all time!  It is the Lip Intense Liquid Color.  This folks is no joke!  It IS intense!  They only come in 4 shades and I of course bought all of them!  Color shades from left to right: 01 Red Extreme, 02 Pink Rave, 03 Fiery Coral and 04 Violet Addict.  The applicator is your normal doe foot gloss applicator but the color pay off on these are amazing!  You can color your lips with the first initial use out of the tube without having to dip back in to get more color.  But it is the smell that I love...it smells of cake batter!  Like mixing a fresh batch of cake batter in a bowl.  The taste though isn't as appealing, it's not awful but it isn't very delicious as the smell LOL  

Above are arm swatches in the same color order as I listed above.  You can see how vibrant the color is and this was just one swipe of the applicator.  The second picture is what my arm looked like a minute after doing the swatches and tried to remove WITH a makeup remover wipe.  I scrubbed my arm red and the stain residue left was going no where!  

FINAL THOUGHT: if you like bright, bold colors and not afraid to rock a WOW lip, I seriously recommend picking up your favorite shade...or ALL of them.  I didn't regret purchasing these at all.  My favorite shade on me is Pink Rave and Violet Addict.  The color I will least likely wear more often is Fiery Coral.  Although from my arm swatch it looks very similar to Pink Rave, on the lips it is more barbie pink than coral.  It has been compared to MAC's Candy Yum Yum which is a very bold color but I have a hard time rocking that shade of pink.  I picked these up at CVS also for $6.49 each.  

No new lip collection is complete without some new Lip Glosses right?  These are the Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss.  There are a total of 14 color shades to choose from and I only picked up 4.  More on my reasons why later.  The applicator is similar is size as the applicator for the Lip Intense but it is more flat on both sides which works fine for grabbing product and applying to the lips.  These I can also get one total coat of gloss from the first initial product right out of the tube.  These also smell like cake batter but these have a better taste than the Lip Intense.  I'm sorry that I didn't get any arm swatches...I will have to try and add these at a later time but my camera was being a biatch.  The color shades I bought from left to right: 12 Red My Lips, 06 Ravish Raspberry, 09 Sweet Grapefruit and 01 Bare Secret.  

All four shades that I picked up are a Creme, no shimmers at all.  Quite a bit of the shades I saw had some or a lot of shimmer in them and I am not into shimmers.  My favorite lip texture is matte and this is why I don't tend to buy glosses.  Which is shocking that I bought these Brilliant Shine and the Power Lip since they are clearly labeled as a gloss.  The texture is smooth and very comfortable.  I like topping these glosses over a good color lipstick that doesn't slip or fade.  Normally I will top these over the Milani Color Statement Lipsticks (I will have to do a separate review of all the colors I own). 

FINAL THOUGHTS: I truly do enjoy these!  My favorite shades are Bare Secret which is a very perfect nude for me and Ravish Raspberry.  There are so many colors to choose from and if you like shimmer, you'll definitely find something that will suit you.  I bought these from CVS for $5.49.  

Moving onto other Milani non-lipstick products....

Starting with eyes, this isn't a new product I don't think but it's new to me.  I've had many girls rave about this and now I know why.  The Shadow Eyez crayon (is it a crayon or is it a pencil?) in Almond Cream. This thing is super creamy and works wonderful as an eye shadow base to even out the color tone on your eye lids.  I prefer this over the Maybelline color tattoo in Nude...something hahaha.  Mine is all dried out and in a drawer somewhere which was disappointing.  I have another crayon by Jordana in a very similar color but I did not enjoy that at all.  The Jordana one creases badly and I have a monolid...what does that say??? But this one I enjoy so much. I can't remember how much I got this for but on Milani's website it retails for $6.99. 

Below is the new Eye Tech Perfection Liner which is "ergonomically" shaped.  You may recognize a similar eye liner from NYX.  I have not tried that one so I can't honestly give a comparison.  But being honest, I was not going to buy this at all.   I am very loyal to my Maybelline Line Stilleto eye liner which I have backups of my backups.  Let's just say I will never freak out from running out of eye liner. I have bought the other eye liners from Milani and I truly were not impressed with any of them. So my mind was made that I would not give this a second thought. Last week CVS had the BOGO 1/2 off Milani so I decided to give this a try since I was trying everything from Milani. Let me just say...this did NOT disappoint.   This is a liquid eye liner with a felt tip point.  The point is so sharp and precise.  This isn't an eye liner you have to shake up the product inside like the Maybelline Stilleto so you don't really know when you are running out.  Not like I could tell with the Stilleto either but I felt like I knew when the sound of the metal ball inside sounded differently.  It's all mental folks.  But I truly LOVE this eyeliner...go figure right?  I have used this everyday for a whole week and I don't have any issues with this.  I have very oily eye lids and I always get the gross, gunky goo in the corner of my eyes a few hours after putting on eyeliner.  If I don't put a primer on my eyelids, the eyeliner will smear everywhere within an hour.  I find that if I forget to use my Urban Decay primer on my eyes, this eyeliner will smudge and transfer on my eyelids.  But with my primer, this stuff is bullet proof!  I do a wing liner everyday.  The wing stays in tact all day and all night until I remove my make up.  I seriously love this and I think this replaces my holy grail Stilleto liner.  I got this at CVS for the half off price so I can't say for sure how much this was originally or how much I paid for this.  Milani's website shows the retail price as $7.49.  

It was difficult to photograph this next time only because it is very basic and really nothing special about the packaging other than the gold handle.  This is the new Brow Shaping Clear Gel.  I will do a separate post about my love/hate relationship with my brows which I feel I have a better grip on them now than I did a few years ago. I have never used a brow gel, I have used clear mascara like the one from Maybelline.  Those never did anything for my eyebrows.  I felt like they made them greasier when the oil breaks through mid day on my face.  But this gel from Milani I like.  It puts the hairs in place without making them hard and crunchy. The brush applicator is smaller than a normal mascara wand which is great so you don't end up getting product all over your skin beyond your eyebrow (I hate that!).  I feel like it just puts the nice finishing touch on my brows.  More on that another day.  I got this at CVS for $4.49 which is a very good price for a brow product.  

Last but not least is the new baked matte blush.  The shade I picked up is Delizioso Pink.  There is another shade in Bella Rosa which I saw at CVS also but I seriously did not think I would use it because it was very bright reddish pink.  It just looked too intense for me and I am just starting to discover using blushes so I passed on that one. I bought this for $8.99.  I have seen some of them for $12.99 before but Milani's website sells them for $7.99 if you don't want to overpay.  I do not own any of the other baked blushes which has some shimmer to them.  I don't do shimmer...anywhere!  A lot of girls rave about those other shimmer shades but I can't spend the money on them.  This one the pink is very soft and subtle but buildable.  I love this color on my skin tone.  It gives just a nice flush of color on the cheeks.  This does come with a cheesy brush that is packed underneath the blush but I never keep those brushes so I tossed it before I thought about posting this on here...sorry!

 Other notable mentions: Milani also brought out the Gold Label nail polishes.  I have purchased 3 shades which it didn't occur to me to take photos of them (grrrr). There are 5 new creme finish shades and 6 glitter options.  I bought only one glitter topper in Sugar Rush which I have some mixed feelings about it.  I posted a mani on my Instagram account under Pretty_Obssessed using a Milani Speed Dry in Blue Zoom.  Go check that out if you'd like. The blue is intense!  If you are in the market for a bright blue, I recommend checking this one out.  Milani also introduced 6 new shades (I think) in the Color Statement lipstick line.  The only one I was interested in getting and bought was Pretty Natural.  I love this shade so much!  I have Naturally Chic which I thought was a perfect nude but Pretty Natural is the perfect Pink nude.  I will include this shade with my Color Statement collection another day.  Until next time...

I hope this post was informative and enjoyable.  I apologize again for the very little or non color swatches.  I promise to improve on this as I post more often and do more reviews.  I'm a bit rusty right now and on the hunt for a good quality camera.  For now, enjoy life and makeup :) Thank you for reading.

It's a New Year....2014! Here I go!!

So I had started a blog a few years ago and my life took a downward spiral.  It seemed I wasn't the only one but that was no comfort to me...it was a sign of the current time that everything in the world was messed up.  Luckily we all pushed through the next few years and here we are today...2014!  Was it me or did 2013 go by super quick??  I am sure most bloggers, Youtubers and everyone in general may have said the same thing but I was having a hard time grasping that we were starting a new year.  I wasn't ready...so I thought.

So it is now February 16th.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  It's not particularly my favorite day for many reasons (mostly due to an ex) but for me it has always been just another day.  My husband now does the best he can to show me a little extra attention on that day and I can usually count on him to supply some kind of treat or surprise.  These are the roses he got me.  The smaller glass single rose came from a very considerate co-worker that got each of us girls at the office one.  That was a very nice surprise.

Valentine's Day was on a Friday this year and needless to say anywhere we went was nuts!  We decided to wait till almost 8:30 to go to a restaurant because we knew (or hoped) that by that time couples would be finishing up and leaving to go the next destination. Luckily our guessing was right.  We went to a steak restaurant and it was busy but mostly of people already seated and half way through their meal.  So we didn't have to wait at all.  

My last blog was about makeup, hair and nail art also but since then my collection of "stuff" has reached a whole new level of crazy.  I'm actually quite proud of it actually.  I religiously follow many beauty bloggers on You Tube and their own personal blogs daily.  My favorites are Nicole Guerriero, Jaclyn Hill, Casey Holmes and HillieEatsLipstick just to name a few.  But I seriously have like 50 gurus I watch all the time.  So I plan on moving full steam ahead.  Some days I will post a bunch of things and other days maybe just one and some days...nothing.  Hopefully I will be active everyday.  Fingers crossed...