Saturday, March 17, 2012

VIE Shamrock Collection

St. Patrick's Day is everyone's favorite excuse to wear green, drink green beer, and eat corned beef and cabbage! But I prefer to keep the green subtle and this year, I'm making fruit-loop rainbows with marshmallow clouds and tissue paper shamrock sun catchers with my kids!!!


Anyway, on to more exciting things... I purchased Virus Insanity Eyeshadow's Shamrock Collection and I got it just in time for St. Patrick's Day! They're all duochromes, which means there's multiple colors in the same shadow, depending how the light hits it. So pretty and fun! 


As always, my package came safe and sound within the time frame listed on the VIE page. It's always in a cute fun package, all the sifters are sealed, a business card (so I can share the love with my friends!!!) and all shipped in a padded envelope. <3 


So, enough rambling - here's some pictures!



Pinch Me, Ireland, St. Patrick, Four Leaf Clover

Top half is on VIE's Crazy Primer, bottom half on bare skin

Left side over Crazy Primer, right side on bare skin


It's nearly impossible to capture the shifts of duochrome colors in a photograph.... so I didn't try very hard =/ sorry! However, this is how the Virus Insanity Eyeshadow's page describes these colors:
Pinch Me: Duochrome color. Metallic gold that shifts to a coppery reddish color.
Ireland: Duochrome color. Warm green with iridescence that shifts from light green to rose.

St. Patrick: Duochrome color. Very pale green with iridescence that shifts from golden green to silvery green.
Four Leaf Clover: Duochrome color. Teal with iridescence that shifts from turquoise to blue to purple.


They are all super smooth pigments that apply easily and blend beautifully. I had so much fun using a few of these together to make a fun and colorful St. Patty's Day look.






I used St. Patrick under my brow bone and in the corner of my eyes, Ireland on my lid, and Pinch Me as a liner on my lower lid, all applied over Crazy Primer. My application skills are not the greatest (I tried to smudge the color under my brow bone a little b/c it was too intense for my liking, and made a bit of a mess of it) but the colors were awesome to work with and stayed great, as always! I'm really in love with Ireland and can see myself using it often in the future!!!


Can you see some of the color shifts? What do you think of the Shamrock Collection? Do you think you'll be buying any of these colors? Please let me know what you think!


~The Painted Nymph



DISCLAIMER:
All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone and I have not been compensated in any way.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

April Showers Contest!!!

Okay, so I have a few blogs I want to write, but I've been especially busy with my family this last week, and I just can't apologize for that - I love that we're getting time together! However, I put a poll on my facebook page to see what theme everyone would want for a makeup contest, and "April Showers" won - barely! So I'm doing an April Showers Makeup Contest 


The rules are all listed here on my facebook. I'm soooo excited to have Lucky 107 Cosmetics and Dawn Eyes Cosmetics sponsoring prizes, and I'm hoping to get out to the store soon to get some more prizes :) But most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing all the beautiful makeup designs everyone will create!

Coming soon, I have swatches of two different sets of products as well as a "how to" I want to post, but this weekend is BUSY for me. Maybe next week? Stay tuned!  Is there anything you'd like to see from me? Or any prizes that would give you that extra "nudge" to participate in my makeup contest??

~The Painted Nymph

Monday, March 5, 2012

Contest Mania!

So, a friend has recently turned me on to makeup contests! They're fun and you can really branch out of your comfort zone! I'm thinking about entering some of them (I may make a few posts about them, as well, if I get gutsy! haha) So where do I find makeup contests? I find all mine on facebook. Look around (especially indie makeup pages) and you will find TONS with all sorts of different themes! Here are some to get you started:


Arabic Beauty contest on Beautiful Expressions by Ceny - ends March 10. There are two categories, newbie and expert; this is a judged contest.


Spring Into Makeup Contest on Star Wave Creations - ends March 15. Only open to US residents age 18+ with two categories, newbie and expert; this is a judged contest.


St. Patty's Day Contest on Lucky 107 - ends March 16. This is a judged contest.


Disney Princess 100 likes Contest on Lipgloss and Flipflops - ends March 23. Open to US residents only.


Go Big or Go Home contest on Abigail's Boutique Designs - ends March 25. This is a full-look contest, not just make-up, with two categories, newbie and advanced; this is a judged contest.


Glitz & Glamour theme 10K Contest on MakeupbyLeahh - ends March 25. Open internationally, full-face makeup look required; this is a judged contest.



Contest inspired by a Charity close to your heart on Make-up by Tab - ends March 25. Open to US residents only with two categories, newbie and pro; this is a judged contest.



Jeffree and Kim Contest on Fake Eyelashez - ends March 31. Must recreate either a Jeffree Star look or Kim K look; this is a judged contest.


Beautiful Butterfly Makeup Contest on Makeup Mama - ends April 4th. Open internationally, age 18+ or with parental permission with two categories, newbie and expert; this appears to be a judged contest.


That should be enough to get you started! PLEASE be sure to read the rules VERY carefully on each and every contest, some require you to follow them on twitter or youtube or their blogs, and I believe they ALL require you to "like" their page and the pages of any/all sponsors. More than anything, HAVE FUN! And feel free to share any contest looks you do on my facebook page. Do you know of any other contests right now? Are YOU holding a contest right now!? Please share! Here or on my facebook page!


-The Painted Nymph

Friday, March 2, 2012

Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss!

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 
 Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!


So, today would have been Theodore Seuss Geisel's 108th Birthday! <3 I don't know about you, but I grew up LOVING his books. I learned valuable lessons and I believe it began my love for books and escaping into the alternate reality that books had to offer. My favorite was There's a Wocket in my Pocket! 




I had it all but memorized as a child! So when I realized today was this beloved children's author's birthday... I knew I wanted to do something to celebrate! So I decided to attempt some makeup inspired by Dr. Seuss's whimsical, colorful, nonsensical style. I remembered a lot of his characters having yellow and orange and bright colors.... and (to be quite honest) it's late, so I'm not in much mood to type a lot... so here's some pictures with what I came up with :) It was very out of my comfort zone.







The colors I used are:
Eyebrows: Unique Pigments Pcockery
Eyes: Carina Dolci Lemon, Carina Dolci Orange, Virus Insanity Eyeshadows Orange Julius, Virus Insanity Eyeshadows Becca-ecca, Mary Kay luxury liner (liquid)
Lips: thin layer of Virus Insanity Eyeshadow Lollipop Anti-Virus Lipgloss covered in Virus Insanity Eyeshadow Learn From Yesterday







I'm curious what you think and what your favorite Dr Seuss book or memory is?! Please share!


-The Painted Nymph


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