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


Visit me on facebook!

Crazy Primer vs Starry Eyes Serum

So.... I decided to do a small experiment and see which eyeshadow primer was "better" on my eyes. The two primers I have are Virus Insanity Eyeshadow (VIE)'s Crazy Primer and Carina Dolci Mineral Cosmetics' Starry Eyes Serum. I let my husband choose my colors (so you can thank him for the strange combination! lol) and then went to work with The Crazy Primer on my right eye and the Starry Eyes Serum on my left eye. The colors I used were Carina Dolci Mineral Cosmetics Creme Brulée, H.I.P. Matte Shadow Duo in Striking, VIE Fireworks, and VIE Navy Brat. So I used different brands, too.


Virus Insanity Eyeshadow's Crazy Primer description on their facebook:
The VIE Crazy Primer is made with moisturizing butters to help improve the condition of your eyelids while keeping your eyeshadow in place. Waxes help hold your eyeshadow (and glitter!) all day and night without creasing, while making your Virus Insanity Eyeshadow crazy bright! This primer is a cloudy white color, the pigmentation is really soft and translucent.

The VIE Crazy Primer comes in a 5 gram jar full to the brim!! It also has a black lid so you can tell it apart from your eyeshadows.


Ingredients: Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Candeilla Wax, Microcrystalline Wax, Mineral Oil, Castor Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Titanium Dioxide.

picture courtesy of VIE's facebook

The label has since changed for the Crazy Primer, but it is an all-white primer in a 5g jar and I find it best to apply in a thin layer. It can be purchased for $6.50 and the jar is packed to the very top! An excess of the primer tends to result in creasing for me, but the way my eyes are shaped, my eyeshadow seems to crease rather easily (more so than most of my friends). It is not greasy or slimy feeling, and makes my skin feel less dry (which is a big problem for me where I live) even after removing my makeup. I find it very easy to blend my shadows on the Crazy Primer. Usually the primer lasts all day, except when it's exceptionally hot (I live in the desert...), but then even waterproof mascara starts to melt on me... But I'll let the pictures do the talking:

There was minimal creasing, and the color sticks beautifully, glitter and all, to the Crazy Primer. I do sometimes touch the inner corner of my eyes, no matter how hard I try not to touch my eyes, and it did not make the colors all disappear. Even with an intense red, you could not see any of the color remaining after I removed my makeup.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Carina Dolci Mineral Cosmetics' Starry Eyes Serum description on their etsy shop is:

Whether you want your eyeshadows bright or blended for a more natural look, you WANT this primer! It helps keep your eyeshadows put ALL DAY!

Love Glitter, but not all over your face? So do we! 

Our Starry Eyes Serum has been tested all day and withstands rollercoasters, motorcycle riding, bonfires (nothing is worse than an oily face bleeding color), and micro glitter applied wet over primer (DOES NOT MOVE!)

Our Starry Eyes Serum comes in a 5.9mL lip gloss-like tube with a sponge wand applicator for easy use! You just need a very small amount to thinly coat your eyelids! We recommend you apply a small amount to the middle of your eyelid and rub in with your finger across your entire eyelid.

photo courtesy of Carina Dolci Cosmetics

The primer is a thin, clear liquid that you apply to the eyelids, then rub in across the eyelid where you plan to apply your eyeshadow. It can be purchased for $13. It beads in a curious way on my eyelid before I rub it it, but once rubbed in, it's completely impossible to tell it's there! I do find it a little more difficult to blend on. If I get the product too close to the inner corner of my eyes, I do find that it can be a tad uncomfortable, so I try to be especially careful not to get any of the serum in my eye... b/c it burns a bit.  However, I find absolute zero creasing or smudging.

I felt like I had to apply a lot more of the yellow for it to stand out (sorry the picture didn't come out as clear, this was the best of several attempts) You can see where I was having trouble with blending the red into the yellow on the corners of my eyes, tho. The red did seem to apply more intense, tho, and the purple didn't smudge at all, nor is there ANY creasing. It essentially looks exactly the same. However, upon removing my makeup, my skin had some minimal staining from the red pigments.

So overall, I find the Crazy Primer easier to work with, and very moisturizing/conditioning on the very gentle skin on my eyes, but the Starry Eyes Serum did a better job holding the colors in place with no creasing or smudging. I feel I get more bang for my buck from the Crazy Primer, but I think for exceptionally hot (or perhaps moist) situations, I'm going to need the Starry Eyes Serum, but I can't see myself wanting to use it every day since it feels drier on my eyelids and costs more. What do you think is a better buy? Do you think you'll be purchasing either of these?

-The Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

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

Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara

Okay, so I had a FAVORITE mascara, and I always bought it in blackest black, waterproof... but then I couldn't find the waterproof and got the regular version. Well... I didn't like it as much anymore. haha So I used it for about 6 mo, and it was starting to dry up, so I tossed it and got a new one. (yay!) but I went to the store with a friend and I saw this new mascara I had never seen before, and on the package it claimed Instant lash extensions. No flakes" and "Formula with 4mm Fiber Extensions" so I asked my friend, and she said she'd seen a commercial for it and gave me a little peer pressure. Boy am I glad!

Here is Maybelline's Illegal Length

 (sorry for the flash, I'm working on a better photo-op situation)

I decided to take a before and after of my eye when I did my make-up, so I could put the pictures side-by-side and compare, and see what it REALLY did.

    Left picture: no mascara | Right picture: with mascara

The directions on the package suggested 2-3 coats without allowing the formula to dry between, so that's what I did and it went on amazing. I didn't have any clumping or goop or tarantula eyes. It went on gorgeous and I feel it lived up to it's claims. I was a bit surprised I liked it as much as I did, as it uses a more traditional spoolie brush, and I usually favor the new rubber-y bristles most mascaras switched to. It is a fiber mascara, so if I'm not careful when I apply it, I can end up feeling like I have something in my eye, which is slightly less than pleasant... but overall, I'm in LOVE. I wore this ALL day, out to the store, chasing after kids, cooking, and no smearing, smudging, or flaking occurred. My lashes are finally almost as long as my husband's and I can be a little less jealous! haha Also, it does wash off relatively easily, which is nice as well.


I'm hoping to try out the Falsies and/or Falsies Flared when I have the chance. Have you tried Illegal Length yet? What did you think? If you haven't, does this make you want to give it a try? Give me some feedback!


-The Painted Nymph

DISCLAIMER:

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

Anti-Virus Lipgloss in Pin-Up and Kiss Me

Okay, so I want to start with some of my favorite products. I love Virus Insanity Eyeshadow (VIE) and their Anti-Virus Lipgloss line.  What a fun company and a cute play on the name for the glosses!  Some of the colors are limited-time, and they make them in small batches, so if you see one you've GOTTA have, you've gotta grab it! All of these colors are hand-mixed by VIE, and has the ingredients on the bottom of all the full-size glosses (scent included!) so you know what is in them. However, they also listed the ingredients on their FB for fans! Here are the ingredients:
Hydrogenated Polyisobutene(and) Ethylene/Propylene/Styrene Copolymer(and) Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Castor Oil, Flavor Oil, Natural Additive(as sweetender), Vitamin E OilMay Contain: Peppermint Oil, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Carmine, Magnesium Stearate, Red#22, Red#28, Orange #5, D&C Yellow#11, Polyester -3
They also posted that they only use 0.004 glitter, so the lip glosses won't be gritty.


Here is one of the very first colors I got from her, it's called Pin-Up. They were selling fast, so I was only able to get a sample. They claim the samples contain enough product for "Five to ten applications" but I beg to differ! I have used my sample of Pin-Up at LEAST 10 times, and I've maybe used about half of the product in the clamshell.

Here is a picture of the gloss from their FB

This is the description:

Pin Up - Strawberry flavored

Pigmented hot pink sticky gloss with blue iridescence and dark purple glitter.

the clamshell sample

Now for the fun pic!!!

I love, love, love this color! It has to be one of my FAVORITE colors I own, and I wear it often! The Strawberry scent is pleasant but not overwhelming (I have to admit, I don't lick my lips when wearing glosses, so I can't say how it tastes) You can put on a super thin layer for a sheer color and shine with a touch of glitter, or layer it on thicker for a more dramatic look. However, this IS a sticky gloss, like they says, so beware if you layer it on too thick, you will feel like you're eating it. Pin-Up also is not drenched in glitter, you will have a small amount of sparkle, but you won't look like that famous vampire (ha!). All in all, a beautifully blended, medium-pigmented build-able color gloss that is great for everyday wear.






Another color I purchased, more recently, from a Limited-Edition Valentine's Day line is Kiss Me. I bought this in a full size and it comes in a 5g jar PACKED to the top! You couldn't fit any more gloss in here without making it overflow, and it was shrink-wrapped so it wouldn't open up and leak all over my package during it's travels.

Here is a picture of the gloss from their FB 

 This is the description:

Kiss Me: Passion fruit flavored

Super hot pink shimmery sticky gloss. Very pigmented.

full size jar: top

full size jar: bottom

Now for the fun pics!!

 with my phone

with my camera

This has quickly become another favorite of mine.  A beautifully pigmented hot pink that goes on smooth. The passion fruit scent reminds me of bubble gum and it's a pleasant scent, not overwhelming (again, I admittedly do not lick my lips when wearing gloss, so I haven't got a clue what it tastes like). This is a bit more pigmented than Pin-Up so a thin layer gives you a little more color, but it's still build-able for a more intense, bright color. There is no glitter in here, so it's just a shimmery shiny pink. Again, it IS a sticky gloss, so if you layer too much on your lips, you'll be eating it. All in all, a gorgeous, bright, shimmery gloss great for every day wear.

I took a couple comparison pictures, b/c I thought they looked very similar

 with my camera

with my phone

Admittedly, I need to invest in a lip brush. It is difficult enough to properly apply lip gloss with your fingers when you have full lips, but to then try to do two different colors split down the middle? Incredibly difficult! So I apologize for the messy lines. But Kiss me is on the left, Pin-Up is on the right. You can tell my phone picks up more of the pigments and makes it appear intensely bright, while my camera is much more toned down looking... I think in person, it's somewhere in the middle. Not too intense, but still a nice color. You can see the similar blue shimmer in both, but Pin-Up is definitely more of a fuschia color, compared to the bright pink of Kiss Me.

So what do you think? Are you going to give it a try? Do you own any VIE Anti-Virus Lipglosses? How did I do? Would you like to see other products I've used, with my opinions on them? Leave me comments!

DISCLAIMER:

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