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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Avon True Color Eyeshadow Quad in Romantic Mauves Photos, Swatches and Review


Avon's True Color Eyeshadow Quad in Romantic Mauves is a quad of eyeshadows that consist of four shades of eyeshadows in the mauvey-purple family. The naming of the quads in this Avon line describes the shades pretty well. This particular quad comes equipped with a very light pinkish-purple shade which can easily be used as a highlighter and then a warmer purple, followed by two darker plum shades. The quality of the shadows are quite impressive, however, the last shade, the darkest purple with red irredescent shimmers deviated greatly from the quality of the shadows in its family. Instead of being pigmented and smooth, this "fourth" shade felt dry and could not be picked up well on a brush or even on the finger. A lot of fallout results from this shade as well. On another note, I like the packaging of this line of eyeshadows (Chanel anyone?) and I appreciate the fact that they have a little diagram at the bottom of the compact showing suggesting the placement of the eyeshadows, which is great for beginners. Overall, because of its sturdy packaging and great shade combinations and for an inexpensive price, I do recommend this quad if you have easy access to it. Romanic Mauves is great for those with brown eyes.




XO Nicole

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Slim Zip Wallet


Marc Jacobs has to be one of my favorite fashion designers. I love simple yet classic pieces and Marc Jacobs does just that. My sister, also a Marc Jacob fan (we have similar tastes I guess) went ahead and purchased this super famous/popular black MBMJ wallet, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Slim Zip Wallet. She chose the classic black (you just cannot go wrong with black) that comes with the gold hardware.




XO Nicole

Thursday, November 15, 2012

NYX Casablanca Eyeshadow Trio Swatches

The NYX Casablanca Eyeshadow Trio consists of two grey shades and a very pale pink shade. The pale pink shade has a very cool undertone so it can help brighten up your eyes by placing it all over the lid. All three of the shades are matte, with the darker grey having the slightest bit of sheen but it is barely noticeable. As you can see from the indentation on all three of these shadows, I use this trio quite frequently, everyday actually. The two greys I mix to fill in my eyebrows. As I mentioned earlier, while the darker grey does appear to have a slight sheen, it does not transfer when applied to my eyebrows (I prefer using grey to fill in my eyebrows because it appears more natural and is softer compared to using a dark brown). If one does decide to use these shadows for its intended purpose, it is important to use a primer underneath this as the light grey and the pink shade are a bit chalky and almost "dusty", (beware of fallout) and are not quite pigmented. For this reason, I suggest patting the eyeshadow on your lids as brushing the two light shades will not result in any significant payoff and will only leave a lot fallout.

The trio can be found on the NYX website among many other trios.


NYX Casablanca Trio

XO Nicole

Friday, November 9, 2012

Sephora VIB Tote 2012

Sephora VIB Tote 2012

So what goodies were inside this year's Sephora VIB freebie/gift? I thought the tote was a pretty good idea (it was an umbrella earlier year - click here for that post) as it was practical. In the email I received about the sale said VIBs get a free tote with purchase but I did not know that there was going to be some goodies inside as well so that was quite a surprise. What was an even better surprise was that the gift was a Make Up For Ever makeup case-bag filled with five (deluxe) MUFE samples as well! I think this was just great because Sephora occassionally have deluxe samples of different brands (for example, another VIB freebie perk earlier this year - click here) so this was different because it was all MUFE.

Sephora VIB Tote 2012 MUFE GIFT



Sephora VIB Tote 2012 MUFE GIFT

Did you get a chance to pick this up?

XO Nicole

Sephora November 2012 VIB Sale (and the Opening Party)

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL
Sephora VIB 20% Sale Haul
I have been waiting for the Sephora VIB sale for so long that my wishlisy was just piling up. When the time finally came, the restrictions sent my wish lists out the door! For Canadians, the sale was only applicable in stores and practically everything that I personally wanted was only available online. Maybe that's a good thing because I ended up spending a fortune on gifts for family and friends. I only purchased four things but they were all pricey! Nonetheless, a sale is better than nothing. Here are the gifts I picked up.

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL Dior
Dior Hydra Life Youth Essential Hydrating Program

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL Origins
Origins Skincare Must Haves

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL curler
SEPHORA COLLECTION Eyelash Curlers - Hot Pink

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL shiseido
Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Balancing Softener Enriched
I lied, I did get something for myself; I spent 100 points on this deluxe sample of Miss Dior. I always save my points for the better rewards (500 point freebies are always more worth it) but I honestly couldn't resist! Its pretty stupid too since I know I will be buying this perfume in the future too ... I'm just a sucker for Dior - what can I say. I will feature this adorable mini in a future post - be on the look out for that if you are a sucker for mini packaging.

Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL dior
Dior Miss Dior Eau de Parfum (0.17 oz)
In addition, on the first day of the sale, VIBs got a little tote has some great deluxe samples - want to know what was inside? Click here if you are curious!


Sephora VIB 2012 HAUL
Largest Sephora bag I have been given, and the Sephora tote freebie with samples
What did you guys pick up from Sephora? Let me know!

XO Nicole

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Essie A Crewed Interest vs. Soulstice Spa Kyoto (Swatches)

Here I have swatched A Crewed Interest by Essie and Kyoto by Soulstice Spa. When I received the Soulstice Spa polish, the shade immediately reminded me of A Crewed Interest, however, as you can see, with two coats of both, Kyoto is more pale and cool. They are definitely in the same family however. In fact, Kyoto was what I had expected or anticipated A Crewed Interest to look. Needless to say I am very happy with Kyoto.




XO Nicole
Read more:
Nail Polish Haul (OPI, Soulstice Spa)
Essie A Crewed Interest

Thursday, November 1, 2012

ChloƩ Eau de Parfum Gift Set


I initially had this on my wish list and when I showed my sister the perfume at Sephora, coincidentally, she said that this was the scent that she had smelled on a classmate and had fallen in love with it. She described it as an "expensive laundry scent" and I completely agree with that. When I smell this, it is the first thing that comes to mind as it is a very clean and florally (but not too overly floral like say, Marc Jacobs, Lola). FYI, I am not a fan of fresh laundry smell (like as a perfume, as candle scents, etc, etc) but I guess I DO like expensive laundry scents - go figure! Regardless, on the Sephora website, it is not the composition of different laundry cleaners (thank goodness) for this perfume; instead, it is a mixture of very soft and very feminine flowers: "This fresh, smooth floral fragrance evokes sublime powdery rose".


This perfume is great for daytime and nighttime because this perfume is so well suited for women of all ages and it has notes that are light enough for the day but a special hint of something that makes it sophisticated to wear at night.

The packaging is also gorgeous - I love the simplicity of it and even though the cloth bow-tie around the nozzle can seem tacky on some perfume bottles, but it works with this perfume. It's so feminine and elegant. Everything about ChloƩ is perfect!

- 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray
- 3.4 oz Body Lotion








XO Nicole