Nars Single Eyeshadow in "Tropic"

This is my first Nars eyeshadow. I've been wanting "Tropic" specifically for a long time... It always looked so pretty on display at Sephora. So I hauled this along with lots of other goodies (I'll post a haul post soon) as I step deeper into the world of Nars!

Gift Haul from a Friend!

I recieved a little package in the mail from one of my favorite people in the world, Heather, and she sent me some really nice shades. It was so nice of her & I wanted to share my gifts with you. And swatches.

Clockwise from top let: Sinful Colors "Bahama Sunset," Finger Paints "Lavender Highlight" (my first Finger Paints nail polish!), Sinful Colors "Innocent" (this color is so me), Stila lipstick in "Ponytail," NYX Lipliner in "Dolly Pink" and NYX lipstick in "Narcisscus."

NYX "Narcissus" and Stila "Ponytail"

Dolly Pink swatch, Narcissus swatch and Ponytail swatch.

And she sent me this super cute pad of paper <3

Thank you, sweetie! I love my stuff!

Blog Sale

Here are a few items I'm looking to sell. I'm not always great about pricing so please feel free to do a little haggling where you see fit. If you would rather email me than comment here, you can do so at jen@echoside.net.

I realize this isn't what everyone's interested in content-wise but I need somewhere to put this stuff and I'll only be posting this ONE blog sale post and then the link will be found over on the sidebar.

A few notes: I accept PayPal ONLY. Shipping is determined based on where you are and what you buy so please make sure you tell me where you're located. I ship internationally. I have a Makeup Alley profile here with 100% positive feedback. Because some items are only $1-ish, I cannot ship these alone so please respect a $5 minimum, thank you :)

I'm also very into swapping so if you have a MUA swap list or something you'd like to offer, please let me know!

Onto the sale...

One Kick Ass Nail Polish Contest!

This may or may not be old news to some of you but I just stumbled upon it and thought it was cool enough to blog about so I'm either giving you new info or I'm reminding you that Ji (of Rescue Beauty Lounge fame) is having a color contest to create *your* dream color.

This is part of a fan collection she is doing and I think it's such a cool idea/opportunity. I think it's really awesome that she seems so in tune with the nail blog community and that she's doing this. I have yet to actually try a RBL polish but I've been a big fan from what I've seen in swatches.

So anyway, the deal is, you will be submitting your color along with a photo of your inspiration for said color. Five finalists will be chosen and then Ji's readers will vote.

She says "I sincerely hope to make what’s in your heart—a true dream color that haunts you because it doesn’t exist anywhere."


The thing is... Starting tomorrow (January 13) at noon, you can begin submitting your ideas and the deadline is JANUARY 15th at noon. So it's really short notice but like I said super cool and I thought I'd pass on the info in case anyone didn't hear about this.


Go here to Ji's blog for all the details and how to enter.

Revlon Perplex Giveaway Winners!

I've gathered everyone's entries, randomized some numbers and now I have three winners!

Congrats to

Carmen!

&

Starification!

&

Jenny Stamos!

Please email me (jensawolverine@gmail.com) your addresses, ladies!

I learned a lot about how I want to go about doing these giveaways so the next one will go even smoother but thank you all for entering and I'm going to be having a second giveaway very soon so please check back!

Philosophy Purity Cleanser Review

I bought Philosophy's Purity cleanser several months ago by recommendation of one of my Specktra girls after I'd been unhappily using Detox Daily Cleanser by Kate Somerville. I like to have a cleanser that I use prior to my DDF Acne Scrub cleanser (review coming).

So let me say that this cleanser offers everything I could possibly need in a detoxer/purifier/whatever you want to say. It's light, works well and it's not bogged down with lots of gimicky promises. It just cleans your face.

There's no dryness or tightness after I use this cleanser. I mentioned that when using the Kate Somerville cleanser that it didn't remove all my makeup but that is not the case with Purity. I can do one wash, BY HAND (not using my Clarisonic), and all my makeup is gone. Usually I'm lazy and I don't do a separate eye makeup removal  unless I feel I need to after I wash my face/shower. With purity, it removes most eye makeup for me without rubbing. It does help if I do a little swipe with olive oil and a cotton pad (that's my eye makeup remover of choice because it's already in my house, ready to be used).

The only (sort of) downside I could come up with about this is that it doesn't clear up my skin, it just cleans it really well. I haven't noticed any change in blemishes since I started using this but I'm just happy knowing it's removing all of my makeup in one go.

I'm thrilled with this cleanser for the purpose it serves in my skin care routine. I don't see any reason to stray from this product in search of other products like it.

Rating: 4.5/5

Unrelated note: The three Revlon giveaway winners will be announced soon (as in today sometime) so check back to see if you've won!

Revlon "Ocean" Nail Polish

Okay so I'm not a huge, huge fan of Revlon polishes (usually) but this one had me impressed for a little while. It's a gorgeous teal-y color that I'm not sure looks like the Ocean per se but it's pretty nonetheless. 

I was also impressed with the formula as it only really needed one coat (I gave it two for good measure) and it went on smoothly. In the past, some Revlon polishes have been too sheer for me but this is definitely not the case with this one.

Here are some shots with flash:

February 2011 InStyle Ad Scans

Some of my favorite things about any magazine are the gorgeous ads that often comprise like, what? 50% of the magazine? But there is some gorgeous photography if you can look past the all the advertising being shoved down your throat. I can't think of the name of it but I really love that magazine that just shows the photography from ads, sans the designer/label names.

So I scanned a few of my faves from the newest InStyle to share with you. Just a little yumminess to look at.

Louis Vuitton

China Glaze "Goin' My Way?" Nail Lacquer

This beautiful brown polish is from China Glaze's Vintage Vixen collection (Fall 2010). I had forgotten I'd picked this up and when I chose it out of my to-be-tried drawer I was kind of surprised. Plus, it's not my typical polish because I usually go for more bold, bright, crazy colors. Or ones that look super special in the bottle...

... But this one IS special! It's much prettier than I anticipated and went on like a dream. A dream! The images taken with flash really show the gorgeousness.

Sugar & Honey Lip Exfoliation

In the past, I've been neglectful of my lips. I'm aware of this and I'm also aware of the chapped, dry lips that I often have that find themselves in dire need of exfoliation. When I was trying out my Peacocky Kissable Lipcolour, the need to exfoliate was especially apparent to me.. Sooo... My mom and I decided to try the sugar/honey lip exfoliation method.

I took a bit of honey and a spoon of sugar and mixed it with my finger in a little medicine cup. Then we both applied it to our lips and worked it in in a circular motion for about a minute or so. I wiped it off with a napkin, licking at my lips because it tasted so yummy. I followed up with some Jack Black lip balm.