Benefit's Bella Bamba

What's a 3D blush? My sister doesn't know, I don't know, I've yet to meet anyone else who does. Anywhoozle, whatever a 3D blush is, Bella Bamba apparently is one. (I mean it is technically 3D, but what cosmetic item isn't?)

Note: Here's a link for those of you who might be interested in filling out a quick survey but haven't seen it yet! =]

Inglot Polish 138

Sorry about not posting yesterday. Next week is finals week: As such, this week is the week before finals week. Trying to do things that aren't school related can get a little complicated. Firstly, thanks so much for all of you who did answer my survey. For those of you who didn't, I'm leaving it open for a week or so, so it would be really helpful if you dropped by and filled it out if you haven't already done so (BTW, I'll be linkdropping this for a while).

This review's been sitting, unfinished in my drafts for at least a month. I've finished it up so I can finally post it:

The products I like most from Inglot are their nail enamels. They're very underappreciated, and deserve so much more love than they get. So today, I'm introducing you to nail enamel number 138!

Quick Linnaeus Update, And Some Questions For *You Guys* To Answer

Firstly, an update with Linnaeus: Marin contacted me yesterday and let me know that her supplier did mislabel their matte black and it was not considered by the FDA to be lip safe. She's going to fix up all of the labeling, et cetera.

Secondly, I woke up this morning and had 98 followers... WOW! Thanks, you guys!

Thirdly, I have some questions to ask you guys and I'd love for those of you who read this blog (lurkers too!) to answer them. The survey is anonymous, and short. All of the questions are optional. I would really like feedback from both those of you who comment and those of you who don't.

Versatile Blogger Award (Numbers 2 and 3): Thanks, GenkiOriana and eRin!

Hiya, folks! Last week, I got nominated for my second and third versatile blogger awards. So a giant 'thank you' to both GenkiOriana of Beauty Raid and eRin of The Cheap Chick! Before I start with the nominating/fact-listing fun, I'd like to say you should definitely check out both of their blogs. Beauty Raid is a new beauty blog with a lot of personality, and multiple authors (I love blogs that are written by groups of friends; something about them just makes them more fun to read!) The Cheap Chick takes a really cool budget-beauty approach that a lot of you guys will really be able to use and she reviews Sinful Colors! I adore Sinful Colors!

Lazy Sunday: Linnaeus Cosmetics Sample Comparison

I keep skipping these things, I know. I'm so sorry, especially to the few of you who've submitted questions. I intended to put a little breakdown of the samples in with my Linnaeus megapost with the order details, but then I realized I forgot to take a closeup shot of the sample with an object for size comparison, so I decided to skip it (I also did a lot of swatches that day). Earlier this week, though, G contacted me with a question as to what I meant when I said that Linnaeus's sample bags are bigger than average. Yes, I know it's Monday, but let's all just pretend, okay?

Linnaeus Cosmetics: IMPORTANT Lip Safety Information

So, in the middle of the night yesterday (or actually, today, because it was 2:30 am) I was reading old blog posts, as one does, and I came across an old blog post about a lipstick recall because of ferric ferrocyanide not being lip safe. I recognized this ingredient as one used in Linnaeus's products, and I went to double check if these were the same ones I'd been swatching on my lips, because I'd thought them to be lip safe.

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby Collection

Let me start this post off by saying that neutrals rarely, if ever, rock my world. I bought this collection only because I know I should get some more neutrals into my stash. These though? They kind of rock my world, and I'll show you why.

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Green Mantella Collection

I love green things almost as much as I love purple things: true fact. I was originally going to buy this and the Emerald Tree Skink collection, but I ultimately decided that trying things from a variety of color families would give me a better reference point for evaluation. (I bought Emerald Tree Skink with my second purchase, though: I'm excited, because really like the greens that are in this collection).

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Maned Wolf Collection

When I saw the animal that inspired this, I thought "fox," but then I saw the name of the collection and thought "wolf." No and no. To quote Linnaeus's etsy shop, "The Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) looks quite a bit like a fox, but it actually isn’t that closely related to foxes- or wolves even! Despite it’s name, the Maned Wolf ‘s closest living relative is the Bush Dog."

Seriously, I definitely recommend reading the listings, even if you won't be purchasing. You'll probably learn something cool!

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Hyacinth Macaw Collection

It's for the art I say!

Okay, so a friend of mine made me think that having a favorite bird was weird, but apparently it isn't. (Yaaaay!) A lot of you guys have really cool favorite birds; thanks for sharing them with me! In the spirit of all the bird adoration, I decided to do the Hyacinth Macaw collection next!

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Lovely Cotinga Collection

As I mentioned yesterday, the Lovely Cotinga is my favorite bird.

Yes, I have a favorite bird. I'm just weird like that.

Of all the collections I bought with my first collection (five of them!) this was the one I was most looking forward to receiving playing with and reviewing. I have to admit, I took the above picture just for the art. Ha!

Linnaeus Cosmetics Review: The Overview (Details and Things)

Have you ever just been Googling awesome stuff and found other awesome, only-tangentially-related stuff by accident? A couple of weeks ago, being the nerd that I'm sure you all know that I am, I was Googling my favorite bird (the Lovely Cotinga--look it up, it's cool!) and I came across an etsy listing. For makeup. How perfect was that?

Bokeh Face Wants To Know: What Would YOUR Collection Be Called?

So guys, I found out about this nifty contest from Kattatonic Fiercology. It's run by an indie company called Bokeh Face. The task is exactly what it says on the tin: you get to name a shadow collection of up to ten shadows, and if they choose yours, it gets made! So without further, ado, here's my entry: the "Say What?!" collection.

MAC Quite Cute Nail Lacquer: Little Girl

Hey guys! This will be the last of my Quite Cute Posts. I'm kind of excited (I don't know why, it's only been a bit more than a week, but I feel like I've been doing these forever). This one will be on Little Girl Nail Lacquer, a pretty, pale lilac.

MAC Quite Cute Nail Lacquer: Mischievous Mint

Mischievous Mint is a lovely, pale mint green polish. Like I mentioned in this post, I've been looking for a good one for a while (I don't even remember all of the different ones I tried, but one of them was Hello Kitty's Minty).

MAC Quite Cute Nail Lacquer: Ice Cream Cake

Three cream finish nail polishes were released with Quite Cute (none of which are sold out online right now; yay!)

I'll be starting these off with Ice Cream Cake. I hope you'll pardon my messy application; I was trying to take all of these pictures one after the other!

MAC Quite Cute Mineralize Blush: Sakura

Did I tell you guys that my favorite of the three Quite Cute Mineralize Blushes was coming up? I have to tell you guys; this shade is amazing. I absolutely adore it, and have been wearing it quite a bit since I got it!

Sakura is a cool toned pink with a fuchsia heart in the middle!

MAC Quite Cute Mineralize Blush: Giggly

Hello, once more! I'm trying to catch up on my posting schedule (I'm a day behind, unfortunately). Hopefully, I'll be able to put up all of the nail lacquer posts by Friday. The trouble is that the weather sucks today, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to find good enough lighting to take photos. Thankfully, I took the photos for these blushes on Sunday!

Today, I'll be talking about Giggly, a warmish looking pink with a purple heart in the middle!

MAC Quite Cute Mineralize Blush: Miss Behave

Hey, all. Sorry for not posting yesterday; I had class from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, a dermatologist appointment at 3:30 that I didn't get out of 'til 4:30, and then the weather suddenly turned from foggy and disgusting to beautiful, so I wanted to take some time to enjoy the first good weather in two weeks. Then after that I had an essay due at midnight that I needed to tweak a bit, so posting had to take a back seat. Hope you all understand!

Of the items that came out with the MAC Quite Cute Collection, the most adorable were probably the Mineralize Blushes. Miss Behave is the peach color with the green heart in the middle.

Dare To Wear Challenge: Japan

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Funny Face Beauty's Dare to Wear Challenges (I certainly wasn't) but they're these challenges where Alicia of Funny Face Beauty posts pictures for her followers to replicate. This one in particular is to raise money for Japan; for each person who takes the challenge, ten dollars will be generously donated to the Canadian Red Cross. This look is inspired by a combo of the fifth and seventh pictures that she posted at the end of this post. I started with just the seventh, but decided it was too plain and decided to spice it up a little.

MAC Play Time Lipstick

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have a special love for the MAC Cremesheen Lipstick formula, so I'm always really excited to see cremesheens in any limited edition release's lineup.

MAC Candy Yum-Yum Lipstick

When I first saw this in the promo images for Quite Cute, I thought that I was lusting over a bright, blue-based pink the likes of Girl About Town (one of my favorite permanent lipsticks). However, this is a very unique bright pink, that I totally think out-pinks any other bright pink I've ever tried.

MAC Quite Cute Collection: What I Bought And Why

Hello, all. This post is coming out after some major Quite Cute collection haulage. I'm going to need some time to evaluate these products, but I thought a What I Bought And Why post detailing what I thought at the counter (I'm one of those customers who tries everything) might be helpful for those of you hoping to haul soon, yourselves!

Kingdom Hearts Inspired Look: Kairi

This post has actually been kicking around in my drafts since just after I did the Larxene post, so it's high time I actually put it up, you know?

I have to admit, when I played the first Kingdom Hearts game, Kairi was not one of my favorite characters. I didn't hate her, I just thought that the plot could've been written just as well without the typical shallow love interest element. I really loved when she got her Keyblade, though. It was enough to make it worth her presence for the entire storyline up 'til then.

Versatile Blogger Award: Thanks, Vulcan Butterfly!

Just yesterday, I saw a post on Vulcan Butterfly's (amazing) blog, tagging me for the Versatile Blogger award. I really appreciate it, and would just like to say that I picked up beauty blogging a month or two ago just to see if I'd enjoy it, and you know what? I really, really do! I've met some neat people on the internet who like makeup the way I like makeup (almost none of my real life friends do; in fact, most of them don't like makeup at all!) and have all around enjoyed reading other people's blogs that I would never have come across were it not for me starting to blog (Vulcan Butterfly's is actually one of these; if she hadn't shown me her post on Kat Von D's lipsticks, I may never have come across it).

Lazy Sunday: What Should I Look For In A Nail Polish Formula?

I introduced Lazy Sundays three weeks ago, and so far I've skipped two, like a silly person. Unfortunately, the last two Sundays have been really sucky for me. Today's going to be a lot better, though! I got two questions by email during that first week, and here's the first.

Jen doesn't really paint her nails, but she wants to start. She's heard people, including me, talking about 'good nail polish formulas' and wants to know what exactly that means.

Apothica, You've Earned A New Customer

I first found out about Apothica from one of my favorite blogs, Phyrra.net. The first time I saw it, I ultimately decided not to make a purchase because the discounts weren't quite as steep as I would like, and frankly, I'm generally skeptical about making purchases from online retailers that I'm not personally familiar with.

Favorites: March 2011

Happy April, guys! I know you've gotten lots of April Fools by now, so I won't be doing one. Hope you don't mind! ;) (The one on Temptalia totally got me, by the way xD)

So here's my first Favorites post!