Nail of the Day

Today I'm wearing on my nails "Topless & Barefoot" by ESSIE. This shade is gorgeous, but you need three coats of it to get a smooth, opaque color! This very pretty pinkish nude is a pain in the you know what to apply, but it is worth the time because it looks very sophisticated and you can wear it with any outfit. What do you think?
<3

Ruth

VIB 500 Points Freebie!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to stop by really quick and let you all know that Sephora is having this amazing 500 Points Freebie Palette. The Palette is by Too Faced and it includes 2 eyeshadows from each of their bestselling kits (2 shadows from the Natural Eye, 2 from the Smoky Eye, 2 from the Naked eye and 2 from the Romantic Eye) and a mini Shadow Insurance Primer. The pigmentation of the shadows is really great and the other good thing is that it includes shimmery and matte shades. I got this palette at Sephora last week. Call your local Sephora and ask them if they have it. Here are pictures and swatches.

Favorites: April 2011

Hello beauties! I am doing my April Favorites today. I am going to start with my favorite foundation of the moment (I have a feeling it will be a favorite for a long time)
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua - I have a full review on this product, but to make it short I can tell you I LOVE THIS. To apply this foundation I use a brush that is also a favorite.
Borghese Round Foundation Brush #104 - This brush is part of a set that is sold at Costco. I've heard of this set on Youtube. A lovely girl called Faith did a video on it and I knew I had to try it. She always recommends products that I end up loving, so I decided to pay a visit to my local Costco and give it a try. Let me just tell you that the whole set is great, but this foundation brush is AMAZING. It has a fine point so you can reach spots like the inner corners of your eyes, around your nose, etc. It is dense enough to blend the foundation very well and it gives me natural finish. This brush + Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua= FLAWLESS.
I am adding the link to Faith's video in case you want more info about it. She has the most lovely personality and is a total sweetheart.
http://www.youtube.com/user/FaithersK#p/u/6/l6PKQPBEPcc

NARS Blush in Madly- I have been wearing either really colorful eyes or bright lips so my go-to blush had to be a neutral. Madly is perfect to balance a brighter look. It's really pretty and natural, nothing that will interfere with the rest of my makeup.
DiorSkin Poudre Shimmer in Amber Diamond - I love this highlighter, it has just the right amount of shimmer. What I like the most is that I can use just one of the shades depending on the color of blush I am wearing, or mix them all together and get a warmer more dimensional color. Love it!

For eyeshadows I've been enjoying my MUFE Aqua Cream #2 and #18. I actully found two MAC eyeshadows that work really well over them. I love pairing MAC Smoke and Diamonds with the #2; and MAC Mineralize eyeshadow in Devil-May-Care with the #18.

From Left to Right: MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Devil-May-Care, MUFE #18, MUFE #2, MAC Smoke and Diamonds

For lips I have been loving MAC Lipglass in Lychee Luxe. It is a gorgeous coral with gold shimmer. I haven't heard much of this color on youtube and I don't know why. I think this is the perfect coral for the summer and it will suit most skintones.
Another gloss I have been wearing a lot is MAC Sweet Strawberry. This was part of the Hello Kitty Collection and unfortunately it was limited edition.

The last lip product is a lipstick. L'ancome L'absolu Nu in Cream Lace is a very moisturizing lipstick that almost feels like a lip treatment. It looks very glossy and it feels great on the lips. The color is a pink based nude with a little bit of shimmer. It goes with everything.

I hope you liked my April favorites. I am celebrating my birthday on May and I am planing to get a few items that are part of my loooong wish list, so expect a haul to come soon.

xoxo,

Ruth

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil

After doing a lot of research on this product, I decided to purchase the Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil (maracuja is the Portuguese word for passion fruit.) This item is exclusively available on QVC.com and it costs $46 for a bottle of 1.7 Fl oz or 50 ml. Because of all the great reviews and positive feedback on the results of this oil, my expectations are really high. I am taking a before picture of my skin and I will have a formal review and a detailed description of how the Maracuja Oil worked for me. Stay tuned!!!

Here are pictures of the product. I added one with my Blackberry next to it so you can have a better idea of the size of the bottle.

Until next time!

Ruth

Current Obsession: Comfort Zone Eyeshadow Palette

Hi everyone! I have been loving the Wet N Wild Comfort Zone Eyeshadow Palette lately. I wore this shadows for the last two weeks and that is a huge compliment because I usually don't like to wear the same look over and over again. What I love the most about this palette is that I can create different looks with these 8 colors. I don't know if you can tell, but the majority of the colors are exact dupes for MAC eye shadows. The light champagne color is a dupe for Nylon, the dark burgundy is a dupe for Beauty Marked, the duo-chrome dark green is an exact duplicate for Club, and the one that I can't get over is the one that looks exactly like Dalliance!!!! (part of the mega metal eye shadows)
I purchased this palette at Walgreens and I paid $4.99 for it. I can't say enough great things about this palette. I'm just loving it.

Review: Shashbox Set

I don't own many Smashbox products so I did't know much about the quality of their products. I purchased the Smashbox Style Files Set at Sephora and the price was $59. My first impression was WOW, what a great combination of items and colors. The eyeshadows are really pretty, as well as the glosses and blushes. I also like the fact that eyeshadows, eyeliners, lips and cheeks had their own separate box so of you only wanted to use the shadows, you didn't need to take the whole package. After over a month of using these products, I can give you a better description of the quality of every item. Let me start with the shadows. Six out of the eight shadows have a decent pay off. I have to admit they are very soft and butery, but not necesarily super pigmented. They are more in the sheer side. I do love the color selection, specially the purples. The grey shadow is comparable to Coperplate by MAC and the light beige looks like Vanilla, also by MAC. The only two shadows that have poor pigmentation or a lot of glitter fall out are the peachy shade and the frosty lilac one. Overall, I am happy with them.

The cream eyeliners are ok. I found myself using them more as a base for my eyeshadows than wearing them as actual liners. The silver and the dark purple are my favorites. They do crease, so I had to use a primer underneath them. The pencil eyeliners were much better. They are very creamy, I would compare them to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners.

The best part of this set are the lips and cheek products. The coral blush is a dream! I haven't found anything like it so far. I love the color, the texture and how easy it blends into my skin. It is matte, it lasts longer than any other powder blush I have and what you see in the pan is what you get on your cheeks. It is simply perfection. The shimmery blush is also very pretty. I would compare it to Madly by NARS but more shimmery. Again, same quality than the peachy blush. The lipglosses are also beautiful. What I love the most about them is that they are not sticky at all. They feel very smooth on the lips and they are moisturizing. One thing I did't like about the set is that all the items don't have names. I don't even think they make this shades individually, which is so sad because the blush could easily be a best seller!  I think the set could have been better if the shadows were more pigmented, but that is just personal preference. They do work well for daytime looks. In general, I like this set. I think it's a nice way to try a little bit of everything in the Smashbox line. You also get a little book with different looks you can achieve with these products, so it's a nice way to introduce Smashbox products in my collection.

Final Score: B+

Favorites: March 2011

I have to start my favorite products of the month with my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation. I made a review of this product so I won't  write too much about it, but I just have to say that is definitely one of those staple products in my collection. L-O-V-E I-T! (here is the link for the review if you are interested: http://beauty360.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-chanel-vitalumiere-aqua.html)

The next product on my list is the Smashbox Blush #1 in the Style Files' Set. I have no idea what the name of this blush is. They just listed it as blush #1. I really wish Smashbox had this blush available individually because I honestly believe it could be a best seller. It has no shimmer, it's so smooth and I just love the color. Perfect for spring.

Frederik Fekkai Glossing Set I got this set at Target for $25. The set includes 4 oz of shampoo and conditioner and 2 oz of glossing cream. I've never used Fekkai products before but I have heard a lot of great things about them. I'm so glad I gave this set a try because I really like it. The shampoo leaves my hair really clean and soft, the conditioner is very moisturizing without weighting down my hair. My favorite out of the three is the glossing cream. The key ingredient seems to be olive oil and it shows because It gives me so much shine without feeling greasy. Did I mention that they all smell divine! I highly recommend them.

Lorac Front of the Line PRO Liquid Eyeliner I love liquid eyeliner and this one is really great. It has a very fine tip applicator that makes the cat eye so easy. I think what makes this product so special is the shape of the tip. I can draw a very fine or very thick line if I wish.

ELF Angled Blending brush I wanted to purchase a brush with this shape for the longest time. I found that Urban Decay makes one very similar but I only found it online, and I am not a big fun of online shopping. In my last trip to Target I saw this ELF brush that had just the shape I was looking for and for $3 I didn't think twice. I really love this brush. It's very soft but dense enough to get the job done. Blending is not hard anymore, it works really well to apply a highlighter on the brow bone too. Great purchase!

Zoya Nail Polish in Jules another grey polish. Shocking, right? Well this one it's actually so different. I don't wear many glittery or metallic shades on my nails, but this one is such a unique color. It has so much dimension because it looks different depending on the lighting. It has some purple, grey even gold undertones. It's just one of a kind!

The Body Shop Shower Gel in Satsuma I've had this for a couple of months now and I absolutely love it. It feels nice on the skin and it smells like mandarin oranges. I almost want to eat it!

What are your favorites products of the month? Let me know,

<3

Ruth