I’ve worn both of the Fyrinnae Lip Lustres I ordered now, and I like them a lot! They are definitely a unique product, unlike anything I’ve tried before.

Here’s the scoop. Lip Lustres are not a gloss, but rather something like a highly pigmented lip balm that applies like a gloss. The formula contains natural oils and waxes like a lip balm, but is soft enough to put in a tube with a wand applicator like a gloss. When I say highly pigmented, I mean pigmented like a lipstick, opaque and rich. Fyrinnae says they aren’t drying, but I do find the product drying to my lips – but then most lipsticks do that too. I’ve found the best way to combat this is to alternate Lip Lustre with a lip balm throughout the day. Applying lip balm an hour or two after Lip Lustre doesn’t disturb the pigment too much and does offer much-needed emolliency to my lips.

I bought two colors, Very Berry Happy and Kitty Ears.  Very Berry Happy is a semi-sheer milky pink, and Kitty Ears is shimmery golden dark nude color. Very Happy Berry applied heavily will give you a super-pale look, but apply it lightly and it’s pretty cute. I LOVE Kitty Ears! It’s an awesome golden color, and looks great on me.

Overall, I think I’ll order more of these, since they are SUCH a steal at $2.50 for the smaller size.

I went to the Cosmetics Trend Show at Nordstrom on Saturday, which was fun. I didn’t particularly learn anything new, but it was fun watching the videos from the brands, and I had my makeup done at the YSL counter. I always like having my makeup done, and this was no exception. It’s too bad that after about two hours I stopped being impressed with the products… I’ve never tried YSL makeup before, but have always been curious, especially since Touche Éclat gets such rave reviews.

I wasn’t paying close enough attention to what foundation the makeup artist used, but it looked good all day. I suppose  if I was interested in switching from Chanel I’d give it a whirl, although all the YSL foundations are just as expensive. He also used the new spring cheek color palette, PALETTE D’ARTISTE Collector Powder for the Complexion, which is a multiple-shade blush/bronzer combo. It looked FAB for about two hours and then started oxidizing an unattractive shade of orange. Fail! The Touche Éclat went under my eyes.

On the eyes went the PALETTE D’ARTISTE Collector Powder for the Eye, which looked pretty in the pan but was unimpressive on the skin. *sigh* My eyes were lined with Easy Liner Automatic Eyeliner in Easy Blue (looked awesome, but not paying $32 for eyeliner!) and lashes were coated with VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS in Fascinating Violet.

My lips were first given a coat of Pure Lipstick in Romantic Pink, and topped with Gloss Pur in  Pure Fuchsia.

I bought the blush palette, the Touche Éclat, the lipstick, and the lipgloss, and then started my eight-hour work shift shortly after. I ended up returning the blush on my lunch break, when it became totally apparent that it was heading in the direction of Unsightly Orange and not Lovely Glow. After wearing the face for my whole shift I decided that Touche Éclat just doesn’t do it for me, for the price ($40). It faded so much after just a few hours of wear, which Benefit Erase Paste does not (and Erase Paste costs less!). When I got home I realized I had a pink lipstick the exact shade of Romantic Pink. So today I took back the Touche and the lipstick. I hate returning stuff, since I work in retail and hate getting returns – but for the prices of this makeup I’d expect to really love it. I’m keeping the gloss though. Love it.

So that’s my tale of YSL woe. I wanted to love it all, but didn’t.

My Fyrinnae order arrived and OMG am I in love! I pounced on Cupcake Sprinkles immediately to go with MAC Aquavert, so that was my EOTD. (The pink shade in the pic is Love Potion, the ivory is Nijiro.)

What I used:

Cupcake Sprinkles – lavender with aqua shimmer
Aquavert – pale minty green
Nijiro – ivory with rainbow glitter
Bourjois Noir Precieux – black with purple sheen
Stila Smudge Pot in Black
TBS Roseflower pink blush
Hard Candy Piglet Gloss – bright pink with blue glitter

I put Aquavert on the lid, Cupcake Sprinkles in the crease, and Nijiro on the browbone. Blend! I used Noir Precieux wet to line upper and lower lashline, and use the Smudgepot for the waterline. I patted a little more Cupcake Sprinkles on the lower lashline as well.  The picture really doesn’t do these colors justice – Cupcake Sprinkles has almost a glow to it that is just amazing! I could use their eyeshadows exclusively I think, and be a very happy girl.

For some reason, I’m strangely tempted to mix Aquavert with Love Potion, the pink shade… I wonder if it would come out? So far, I’ve done it with Too Faced’s Label Whore (a brown with greenish-blue sheen) and also with Urban Decay’s Goddess (midnight blue with glitter). It’s a great color, I really love it’s icy minty goodness. I look a bit unhappy in this pic, not sure why. It’s hard to get the colors to come out right in photos – one of these days I’ll get a better digital camera.

I can’t wait to get more Fyrinnae colors! I also got two Lip Lustres, which I’ll write about in another post. They are very unique and unusual!

I haven’t tried Aromaleigh makeup yet, but after seeing the GAWGEOUS colors in this spring eyeshadow collection, I’m dying to give it a whirl. Go check it out!

Also, Aromaleigh is having a contest to win the FULL COLLECTION of the spring eyeshadows. Go to their blog entry to read the full details. Basically, you enter the contest by spreading the word about the contest. Easy!

Anyone tried Aromaleigh? Tell me about it!

It’s not that I don’t have things to review, I do. But at the moment, the creative muse is tired, cranky, and sulking in a corner somewhere, so I’m bereft of inspiration. Borrowing from The Non-Blonde’s Currently post, here is my list of current stuff.

Book: Beauty Pop Volume 2. Clever little manga.

Song:  Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) by Mika.

Frequently worn outfit/item: Comfy zip cardigan sweaters. Have them in black and tan.

Perfume: Needing citrus to improve my mood. The Body Shop Satsuma, L’Occitane Feu D’Orange.

Makeup: Bit of a MAC addiction brewing. I wore Hello Kitty again today, planning another Aquavert look tomorrow.

Food: Greek yogurt. Claire-made pesto pizza with veggies.

Drink: Starbucks venti non-fat latte. Yes please.

Guilty Pleasure: Slices of crusty bread with melted smoked mozzarella. Hard to stop at one slice.

Bane of my existence: My blood pressure.

Anticipation: Warmer weather and my tulips blooming.

Wishlist: Stila Indian Summer collection.

Sorry for missing a few days there. I’ve been tired and cranky and just not feeling like touching the computer much. After a little break, I’m ready to blog again!

One thing that totally lit the fire under me are these two bodycare products I’ve recently tried from Sothys.  I’ve tried Sothys skincare before and really liked it, so I was pretty interested in the bodycare products too. The first product is the Energizing Shower and the other is the Delicious Scrub. I love them!

The Energizing Shower is a creamy shower gel with a divine scent. It has essential oils of eucalyptus, cardamom, nutmeg and neroli, and boy howdy does that make for a zippy aroma! If you don’t like strong smells or particularly herbal scents, you might not be a fan. But if you do love an intensely green and herbal scent, you’re going to love it! The lather is really rich and creamy, and leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth. The scent lingers for a little while after showering, but not all day – so no perfume conflicts. Two thumbs up!

The Delicious Scrub is also super. It contains crushed ginger and nutmeg, as well as essentials oils of orange, mandarin, nutmeg, and ginger. One thing I love is that it comes with it’s one spatula for scooping the product out of the jar. Love it! No dipping wet fingers into the product! The texture has some scrub action going on, but it isn’t TOO scrubby. It forms a lotion-y texture as it mixes with the water on your skin and rinses clean. Very cool! It’s a little pricey, but the scent is amazing and it’s certainly worth it for a splurge-y treat. I love how soft my skin felt afterwards, and also the spicy scent is lovely.

Needing a little lift in your morning shower? Try these Aroma-Sothys products and you’ll feel instantly energized!

I finally made up my mind to cut my hair today. I used to wear it like this, for years, before I decided to grow it long a couple of years ago. Quite honestly, the long hair never felt like me, so I decided to go back to the short style I used to wear.

There’s a lot of reasons I love short hair. The first is that styling is a snap! I just towel it dry, use a little Aveda Light Elements Styling Whip to piece it up, and voila!Instant hairstyle. I was a big Control Paste fan until I discovered the Styling Whip, and I haven’t found anything else I like as much. The original Jonathan Dirt is okay too, but a little greasy sometimes. I also love to mess with my hair color, and having it short means low-commitment. If I’m tired of the color, it’s gone in two or three months, all cut off. I think first up is a cherry-brown color.

The downside is I can’t go more than about 6 weeks without having a cut, and 5 weeks is ideal. It’s not a low-maintenance look where upkeep is concerned, just in my daily routine. This is okay though, because I like going to the salon and being pampered.

In this picture, I’m wearing my new MAC Aquavert eyeshadow, along with an old favorite Too Faced Label Whore. Label Whore reminds me a lot of MAC Club, the color the SA demoed for me yesterday, a brown color with green shimmer. Label Whore has more of a teal shimmer but it’s still pretty greenish to me. I’ll do it again soon and take a closeup picture – they look good together.

Happy Day!

Today was a day off, so I visited the MAC counter at the downtown Portland Nordstrom to check out Sugarsweet. The nice SA did my eyeshadow for me, and I decided that Aquavert eyeshadow and Lollipop Loving lipstick had to go home with me. Face pics coming soon.

I gave the new Rock Princess a sniff, and while I think I like it, I’ll have to actually go for a spritz on skin to see. I really like the original Princess (sometimes you just want to smell like cupcakes, ya know?) so I’m inclined to like it. I’m just not sure it’s worthy of purchasing a full bottle. Also the bottle isn’t as cute as I was hoping it would me. It was sort of a run-by sniffing though, so I’ll give it a second chance.

I also gave Diesel Fuel For Life Unlimited a run-by sniffing, and will also have to give it a second try to tell if I want to buy a bottle. It seemed a lot fruitier than the original, which is still a favorite of mine.

Alaffia is offering a GIANT 32 oz. bottle of their super-awesome Shea Butter lotion at Whole Foods Market. If I wasn’t already drowning in lotion I would have bought one on the spot. See the pics on Alaffia’s Facebook page.

Thanks to the fabulous pics that Decorative Diva puts up all the time, I decided I needed to try Fyrinnae products. I ordered  samples of Love Potion, Cupcake Sprinkles, and Nijiro eyeshadows, and Kitty Ears and Very Berry Happy lip lustres. I can’t wait to get them! I’m kind of obsessing over pastel colors right now, and I love the nifty J-rock references of the lip lustres. Neko-mimi! Happy Berry! (Go read Paradise Kiss right now!) Yeah, I’m a manga and anime fangirl.

What have you hauled lately?