Anyhow, I’ll probably still be away a little longer, but when I come back, I’ll be returning with makeup tutorials, beauty tips/advice, and the works.  Is there anything in particular that you guys would like to see?  :)

Thanks for understanding, and I promise I’ll be back soon!

Anyhow, has anyone ever used Boots No7 (the brand in Target that was originally from the UK)?  It’s fabulous, but the items, (like most drugstore items), are hit or miss.  I really do like their lip glosses, so I thought I’d try their lipstick again (which I didn’t like much before).  This time, however, I picked up their Sheer Temptation lipstick, which as the name implies, offers sheer (and glossy) coverage.  I bought the shade, Attract, and I am in love with it.

I’m thinking about going back and buying some other colors, but on me, Attract gives a glossy, nude finish and has definitely become one of my staples in the makeup bag.  I love that it’s cheap ($9-$10), so I don’t feel guilty applying it generously on my lips, yet it looks as gorgeous as lipsticks out there that sell for 2-3x as much.

Has anyone else tried this yet?  If so, what’d you think?  I’m definitely going back to Target again when I’ve got the time.  :)

Anyway, this limited edition set is to die for.  One of the first things I noticed when using this palette was that the color payoff is amazing.  When using Bobbi’s eyeshadows, I have to really pack the color onto the brush to make the color appear on my lids.  However, with the Chrome palette, the color pigmentation is wonderful, there’s really no fallout, and it sparkles beautifully on the skin without looking overdone.

So, you’ll have to excuse the quality of the pictures; I was too lazy to go to my little studio and take the pictures, so I just laid them out on my bed and took it with my point-and-shoot camera, haha.

Anyway, out of the set, I tried the Chrome palette (as you can see), along with the metallic lipstick in New Chrome, (which I adored).  I only purchased the palette though, since they’d already sold out of the lipstick.  I must say, though – the lipstick is incredibly cool.  I have cool undertones, so I guess it worked better with me, but it made my lips look icy, yet nude, if that makes any sense?  As soon as I put it on, the girl at Bobbi Brown and I were like, ooooooh, that is HOT, hahaha.

Now, the pricing of the palette, in my opinion, is very fair.  At $75, you get ten eyeshadows, four lip glosses, and two mini brushes (lip + shadow).  The design of it is also very compact, so it’s easy to carry along with you.  It’s the perfect set for giving you that nice ice princess look… I think it’s truly become one of my favorite, must-have palettes, which I think I’ll be using quite often now.

I guess my final thought is, warm undertones, beware!  If blue/grey/charcoal colors tend to clash with your skin tone, you’re obviously not going to like this set.  But if you’ve got cool undertones like me (I’m cool/blue), you’re going to look phenomenal in these colors.  So, go check it out, everyone, and tell me what you think!

Anyway, so now we get on to the good stuff!  You have no idea how many things I want to post about… I got so much stuff recently (Chanel, YSL, MAC, NARS, etc.) and am dying to review all the new products!  I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me for the next bazillion entries… :)  But back to the main topic at hand – have any of you fabulous ladies tried the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush?

Well, let me tell you this: It is phenomenal.  I don’t even know if I’m possibly downplaying the amazingness of this brush by saying that, but it truly is the greatest at-home concoction ever created.  At $195, it is a little bit pricey, but there’s no doubt that it’s worth the investment.  When asking around to other makeup artists, they’ve all told me the same thing: “It completely changed my skin.”  This ranges from people who used to have pretty bad acne problems to people like me, with a few blemishes here and there.

Now, I did hear that the cleanser/products (that come with the brush) caused a lot of people to break out, so being that I have incredibly sensitive skin, I decided to go with Peter Thomas Roth’s Blemish Buffing Beads, which is also fabulous.  So, is it a combination of the PTR + Clarisonic, or would it do the same job without the PTR?  Hard to say, but I don’t even want to break this routine because my skin has gotten so amazingly clear.

According to its claims, the Clarisonic brush is (more than) twice as effective as manual cleansing alone.  Actually, I used to wash my face twice in a row to get rid of all the dirt/oil, and it still wasn’t as effective as using the brush.  Anyway, it helps your skin absorb serums/moisturizers better, and it also reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and visible pores.  (And omg, does it ever work!)

I used to have a problem with a few under-the-skin bumps here and there around my chin area, and it’s completely gotten rid of those, too.  When you touch my face, it’s literally 100% smooth now… I didn’t even know it was possible to achieve skin this nice, haha.  :)  I mean, I’ve been using the Sonicare for years now, and my gums/teeth are in excellent shape… you’d figure the creator of the Sonicare would do the same for the skin, and yes, he’s done the same for the skin.  :)

Final thoughts?  Worth every penny.  When you think about the fact that you only need to replace the brush every 3-6 months, and the payoff is beautiful, clear skin?  I think the answer is pretty obvious.  :)  Oh, and yes, I did get the pink one, haha.

Anyhow, there are TONS of products that I want to review, tutorials that I want to post, along with a plethora of other things, but realistically, they may not come for another week or so.  I figured it was better to keep you guys in the loop vs. disappearing off the face of the world (Internet).  :)

Thanks for understanding, and happy early Halloween!  ♥

Image credit: vladstudio.com

Anyhow, this collection focuses primarily on dramatic, smokey eyes with a nude lip (nothing new, right?), but for some reason, I’m just in love.  I’m sure you could achieve the same look with any other brand, but as a package, it looks amazing.

My personal picks from this would be their lipstick in Nude Rose, along with their Lip Erase Balm.  I have that pesky problem of lips being too pigmented, so the lip erase balm really speaks to me… thing is, you can achieve the same type of look by blotting some foundation/powder on your lips.  I don’t know, I’m sure I’ll figure it out once I get to their counter.  ;)

Anyway, is anyone else as excited about this as I am?  All these winter collections sure are focusing on smokey eyes and neutral everything-else… and I am absolutely down with that!

So, as you all know, L’Oréal’s HiP line is pretty comparable to MAC in terms of quality and vibrancy of color… knowing this, I couldn’t resist grabbing their Color Chrome Eyeliner, and let me tell you: they are fabulous.  I’m going to go back to Walgreens and get the gold because the black and blue were absolutely worth the $6.99 I spent (they’re on sale!!).

I don’t know if this is how it is at all Walgreens, but I got two $5-off coupons for any L’Oréal product, which expires 10/06 (if I’m not mistaken).  You can get some stuff from Walgreens for barely anything! :)  I’m probably going to go back tonight and grab a few more things.

On to the skinny – this product claims to be smudge-proof and long-wearing; how true are these claims?  Very true.  I wore nude colors today and thought it’d be nice to add a pop of the electric/shimmery blue on my lower lid, and six hours later, it still looks like it was freshly applied.  This is some kind of act of God, too, because my eyes are pretty watery… it’s hard for me to utter these words (it’s like blasphemy!) since I love Chanel, but these apply more easily than Chanel and stay on longer… and it’s a fraction of the price.  My only gripe is that it only comes in five colors: black, silver, gold, blue, and violet.  (Maybe there are more, but I didn’t see them at Walgreens, and they’re not on L’Oréal’s website either.)

Also, these eye liners blow NARS out of the water!  The best comparison that I can come up with is that the texture/creaminess is similar to Make Up For Ever’s eye liners, but the staying power is unmatched (and even better than my precious Chanel).

Hurry up and run out to Walgreens and try these out… you will not regret it.  Now they just need to come out with more awesome stuff.  ;)

Isn’t it gorgeous?  I know Chanel’s got some yellow/blue quad coming out in October, (which is what prompted me to search for their winter collection), so I think we’ve got two amazing quads/collections on the way.  Hard to believe that 2009 is already coming to an end, isn’t it?

Anyway, since I’m a nude lip kind of gal, I probably won’t be touching the lipsticks, but if you can pull it off, man, that’ll look phenomenal.  I CAN’T WAIT!  :)

To be honest, my first choice was a beautiful Chanel watch that was just a wee bit out of our price range (uh, can you say $7,000?  AHHH!), so I was really stoked to see that there were some watches out there that were more affordable.

How cute is this thing?!  Since I wear all black at Lancôme, I figured this would be a perfect pop of color to complement my ensemble (plus, gotta sport the French manicure and all that other white crap!).

What are your guys’ thoughts on white watches?  Dirty too easily?  Pretty and funky at the same time?  I think I’ll be wearing this sucker for a long time. ♥  Again, Michael Kors, you are an absolute genius.

The tag line for this primer is, “Feel the vibration.  See the growth.”  Since Lancôme isn’t a pharmaceutical company, they can’t claim that it scientifically grows lashes, but in a study performed on a group of women, 81-88% said they saw fuller, thicker, longer lashes after a week of use.

So, how do I feel about it?  I’ve used it twice so far, and while I haven’t seen visibly longer lashes yet, I am in love with the way it makes my lashes look when I’ve got the primer and mascara on.  So far, I’ve tested it with L’Oréal Voluminous Mascara, and it looks incredibly thick, long, and gorgeous!  I seriously feel like I can get by without false lashes, while still looking like I’m actually wearing them.  (This is great for a lazy girl like me who never has enough time to put on falsies.  :D)

At $39, I think this primer is well worth the money, but I know a lot of people would disagree.  I have thin, short, sparse Asian lashes, so when I use this, I can really get a nice amount of mascara on every lash, and it doesn’t end up looking clumpy or ugly; it just extends and volumizes, which I love.

What do you guys think of it?  I would post pictures, but I don’t have a phone right now (waiting on the Android coming to Sprint!), so I can’t upload it until later (if anyone’s interested in seeing the results).  After regular use, I’ll report back and let you know if it really lengthens and thickens my lashes permanently.  :)