VIE's April Fool's Collection 2012

So, Virus Insanity Eyeshadow has created yet another gorgeous collection and I got it about a week ago (I've been slacking, I know!) but I wanted to share! It's another duochrome collection, which are so much fun! Duochromes, as described by VIE are "many different colors at once. They are incredibly hard to photograph, in person these eyeshadows are much more dynamic and the color changing effect is much more obvious." Because of this, my swatches include several angles of the colors, to ATTEMPT to show the gorgeous changes/shifts in color. There are 6 colors in this collection: Shenanigans, Mischief, Trickster, Foolish, Pranked, Childish. Lemme just show you :)

 Childish,      Pranked,       Foolish,       Trickster,     Mischief,   Shenanigans

 Childish,      Pranked,       Foolish,       Trickster,     Mischief,   Shenanigans

 Childish,      Pranked,       Foolish,       Trickster,     Mischief,   Shenanigans

Here is how the colors are described on VIE's website:

Childish - a warm peachy yellow with iridescence that shifts from lilac, to reddish, to silvery.

Pranked -  a tan with iridescence that shifts from blue, to silvery green, to golden green.

Foolish - a teal with iridescence that shifts from blue, to reddish, to lilac.

Trickster - a light shimmery blue with iridescence that shifts from red, to copper, to gold.

Mischief - a light shimmery purple that shifts from rose to green.

Shenanigans - a deep, plummy purple with iridescence that shifts from green to rose.

Swatched over Crazy Primer

 Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

Swatched Dry on Bare Skin:

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

Foiled:

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

  Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

 Pranked            Trickster          Shenanigans

Childish             Foolish                Mischief

I will say that Shenanigans stained my skin just a little when applying it foiled, but that seems to happen to my skin with any deep violet or red colors. However, I really enjoyed the color shifts in these. Even applied dry, these had a pretty duochrome effect, although dry, Shenanigans also looked incredibly PINK, more than when applied over primer or foiled. These colors are VERY pigmented, and I just thought this looked cool when I took off the foiled swatches, so I wanted to share:

Idk. I thought it looked artsy. lol (it's a baby wipe)

Here's a look I did before I went out using a few of the colors from the collection... I used Mischief on the inner lid, Shenanigans on the outer lid, and Trickster below - I've been obsessed with purple and turquoise together recently!

I think Triskster has the strongest duochrome properties... When I was wearing this, you almost couldn't tell I had a blue/turquoise color under my eyes. It looked very purple, but I LOVE it. Trickster was an appropriate name!

All in all, I think Trickster and Shenanigans are my favorite colors from the collection. What are your favorites? Will you be purchasing any? Or do you already own the April Fool's Day Collection? 

~ Painted Nymph

Dawn Eyes Cosmetics Samples

So, I just had a contest on my facebook page and one of my generous, amazing sponsors was Dawn Eyes Cosmetics, and not only did she send me samples for one of my winners, but she sent me some samples for ME, too!!! <3 So I took some time to swatch them all for you :)

 Rum Eggog, Spiced Cider, Trick or Treat, Be Mine, Perfect Gift, Candy Cane

 Rum Eggnog, Spiced Cider, Trick or Treat, Be Mine

 Be Mine, Perfect Gift, Candy Cane

Swatched: Left side is over primer, middle is bare skin, right is foiled

 Bottom to top: Rum Eggog, Spiced Cider, Trick or Treat, Be Mine, Perfect Gift, Candy Cane

 Bottom to top: Rum Eggog, Spiced Cider, Trick or Treat, Be Mine, Perfect Gift

 Bottom to top: Trick or Treat, Be Mine, Perfect Gift, Candy Cane

Bottom to top: Rum Eggog, Spiced Cider, Trick or Treat, Be Mine, Perfect Gift, Candy Cane

I couldn't find descriptions for these, as they are from LE collections, but Rum Eggnog is a pretty buttery golden tan color, Spiced Cider is a pinky-mauve base with gold shimmer and looks AMAZING foiled! Trick or Treat is a light to medium purple with some pink shimmer, but is a cooler pink. Be Mine is a pinky coral. Perfect Gift is a warm, dark purple color with a blue and a pink shimmer, and also look phenomenal foiled! Candy Cane is a deep, cool pink that reminds me of a lipstick color (in a good way!)

They applied very smoothly, and are very pigmented. I decided to create a look using a few :)

 I used: Rum Eggnog, Be Mine, Spiced Cider, and Trick or Treat

Buttered Rum as a highlight, Be Mine on inner half of lid, Spiced Cider on outer half of lid, Trick or Treat on lower lash line

I was trying to do a light, soft look, and admittedly.... it was hard! lol the colors were coming out really bright and bold, so I had to use a very small amount and blend, blend, blend to get the softer colors, but they looked gorgeous! I felt very goddess-like.

When I look at pictures like this, I realize how horrible I really am at blending... lol sorry!

I'd really like to purchase Dawn's LE Winnie The Pooh Collection before it's gone! Do you own any Dawn Eyes Cosmetics? Which colors/collections do you own?

~ Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. These are my true and honest opinions.

L'Oreal Infallible #308

I went to Target to get some Annie's Homegrown crackers for my kids (they love their bunny crackers!) and I had to check out the makeup... I love ELF products, and I usually check to see if they have anything new or eyecatching to pick up. But I also decided to check out some of the red lipsticks, since those are my new obsession. I found a gorgeous shade I just HAD to try - it was by L'Oreal and I thought the color would be the best fit for me (so hard to find a good red lip color!) It was L'Oreal Infallible Lip Color in #308 "Target Red" so I picked it up.

 Please ignore my giant smudged thumbprint I failed to wipe off!

It has a slanted tip with L'Oreal Paris imprinted on the front of the lipstick, and it is a super smooth formula that looked semi-glossy on my hand.

Once I got it on my lips, however, it was more of a satiny finish... You can't really see, but when I removed it, I noticed a lot of beautiful red glitter in the same color as the lipstick. It went on easy, and I didn't have to swipe it a million times to get a good color. In fact, it hardly took more than one swipe for full coverage and pigmentation. It comes off easily when eating or drinking, but otherwise, it stays on and is not drying at ALL which was surprising to me! I wore it for about 4 hours and my lips actually felt very hydrated. When I talked, it didn't wear off or make my lips feel flaky. I'm so excited I grabbed this color, and considering buying a couple other L'Oreal Infallible Lip colors next time I have some money!


What is your opinion of this color? Do you think it's a good red for me? Do you own any L'Oreal Infallible Lip COlors? Which colors, and do you like them? Talk to me <3


~Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

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

Moi Mineral Cosmetics Swatches

I recently made a purchase from Moi Mineral Cosmetics with some samples of their eyeshadows and it was so hard to choose which colors I wanted! The company is based out of Canada, so I did have to pay a little extra since I live in the US, but it wasn't much and my order was still incredibly affordable. Their samples came in small jars with no sifter (I'm not a fan of baggies...) which I loved! They shipped fairly quickly, and my package came faster than expected!


According to Moi Minerals' website, this is their mineral eye shadow ingredients:


Mineral shadows -->Mica, titanium dioxide,zinc oxide May contain:Iron oxide,tin oxide,ultramarines,ferricFerrocyanide.calcium aluminum borosilicate,Dimethicone,Tin Dioxide ,copper powder,
silicone Dioxide,carmine->(always will be stated in description of product) blue#1&yellow#5,Hidrogenated Polybutene ,Palmitic acid

 How my jars arrived to avoid any spillage

 the sample jars I chose

 the sample of glitter I purchased, the 5 sample jars I purchased, and a free sample (there is an option for 1 free sample on their website)

 left side swatched over VIE's Crazy Primer, middle swatched over bare skin, right side swatched over Carina Dolci's Starry Eyes Serum

Spank Me, Drifter, Chrome Blue, 18k Gold, Psycho, Pluto, Midnight Las Vegas

I should mention, I didn't put enough of the Crazy Primer on my hand, so when I swatched the glitter, there was no primer up there for it to stick to =/ sorry! Anyway, they applied pretty smooth. Spank Me is a metallic, silvery medium blue; Drifter is a muted seafoam green; Chrome Blue is a pretty true blue with a metallic finish; 18k Gold is a yellow-gold with gold glitter in it; psycho is a beautiful bright pink with blue tones; Pluto is a deep purpley-black color with a mild blue shift in it; Midnight in Las Vegas is just a myriad of darks colors, so pretty!

I haven't done a look with these colors alone yet, but I look forward to it. I also REALLY want to get some of their lipglosses! If you decide to order, be sure to check out their facebook as well!

So have you ever purchased from Moi Minerals? Do you own any of their eyeshadows or lippies? What's your favorite product from them? Or what do you want from them? Please share your opinions!

~Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

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

BF Cosmetics Mineral Paint Dust

Wow, so... it has been WAY too long since I've posted on here! omg! Anyway, lots going on in my personal life and the weather keeps getting warmer. But I've tried a few new products, and I can't wait to tell you about them!


So, on March 9th BF Cosmetics was offering a free full-size Mineral Paint Dust, just pay shipping. So I decided "what the heck... why not?" and I ordered one. But first I had to decide which color I wanted! There are 20 colors to choose from, and I finally decided on #111 (Turquoise). They shipped quickly and everything was packed well, so it got to me safe and sound, and intact!


BF Cosmetics' website describes their Mineral Paint Dust as


"Our Pigment Dusts are a gorgeous selection of irresistable, must have, loose minerals!  They work on all skin tones and provide intense radiance and shimmer! 

Talc and Oil Free, Paint Dusts will not clog your pores.  Our 20 dramatic colors may be used dry as an eyeshadow, wet as an eyeliner or to make it smudge proof.  It can be applied to your cheeks or anywhere on your body for a frisky, flirty shimmer.  It can be mixed with clear gloss to create your own lipgloss color!  Add a touch of fun to your everyday makeup!"

The ingredients listed on their website are: Mica, Titanium Dioxide.  May contain: Iron Oxides, Silica, Carmine, Ferric Ferrocyanide.

 left side over VIE's Crazy Primer, middle over bare skin, right side over Carina Dolci's Starry Eyes Serum

top over VIE's Crazy Primer, middle over bare skin, bottom over Carina Dolci's Starry Eye Serum; left side applied foiled.

My initial thought was that it was highly pigmented, but I wasn't sure I liked how it went on, but man... the color was gorgeous. And it had a nice sheen to it without being shimmery or sparkly to it. I'm not sure why I thought the color would be more matte, but it's really a very beautiful color.

 applied over VIE Crazy Primer

It has a gorgeous metallic sheen, but it was a little hard to apply and blend... However, once it's on it's a gorgeous color with a lot of dimension! I can't wait for a chance to use this again.

Check out BF Cosmetics on their facebook for freebies and deals! They seem to be an awesome company, and I really want to try some more of their products!

Have you tried BF Cosmetics? Do you own any of their Mineral Paint Dusts? What's your opinion? Give me some feedback!

~Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

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

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.

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

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

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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