Caustic Cadets Cosmetics Swatches

I received some sample packets from Caustic Cadets Cosmetics, which are now sold on Facebook instead of Etsy. (The owner of the company told me that she made the switch because Etsy charged her about $20/month to sell her products.) I hope her Facebook store is a success!

Here are some swatches from the samples:

Caustic Cadets Cosmetics: (L to R) Beer Before Liquor, Walk of Shame, Comera, Cheeky, Speed Ballin', Galactic, and Wendy

I absolutely love Beer Before Liquor, Walk of Shame, and Galactic. Cheeky would be a gorgeous highlighter for special occasions. It's so glowy and the perfect shade to make my NC40 skin look dewy (not disco).

Beer Before Liquor (eye shadow): Bronze brown with moderate amounts of multi-colored glitter, highly pigmented
Walk of Shame (eye shadow): Electric violet with flecks of periwinkle shimmer, great pigmentation
Comera (creme paint): Matte black cream shadow, buttery soft but not as pigmented as I would like. It would probably make a great e/s base, though.
Cheeky (blusher/highlighter): Gorgeous metallic golden peach
Speed Ballin' (eye base): Sheer pearl shimmer loose powder
Galactic (glitter dust): Very pretty caviar black glitter with flecks of silver
Wendy (mineral lipstick): Tomato red, with more of a sheer lip balm consistency than lipstick

Bottom line: I love the colors and pigmentation of Caustic Cadets' loose eye shadows and glitter powders but I'd pass on the cream-based stuff, since they don't seem to be as pigmented.

MAC 162 Small Contour Brush Dupe: Naimies 827524 Angled Contour Brush

MAC 162 Brush (discontinued)

A similar brush I found at my local beauty supply store, Naimie's

A long time ago, while I was working at a makeup counter, I read Kevyn Aucoin's book, Making Faces, which is still pretty much the Bible of makeup application. I learned that contouring your face can make your features pop in all the right ways. I like to contour my nose (to make it look less wide) and cheeks (to make my cheekbones stand out more).
 
I went to Naimie's Beauty Center the other day, looking for a dupe of the discontinued MAC 162 small contour brush and found this AMAZING brush. It was only $8 and is the perfect width for contouring the sides of my nose. The brush is about 6" long and has blunt angled bristles. The circumference of the bristles are about as wide as a penny and they're dense. They're a bit stiffer and more bushy than the 162. Also, the angle of the bristles is a little less than the 162. The brush applies just the right amount of contour powder (in my case, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil) without giving you harsh lines down the sides of your nose, if you use a light hand.

You can buy this brush at Naimies.com. Check out Naimie's other brushes too- they're great quality for the price!

My first Sleek Blush lives up to the hype!

 

Sleek Blush in "Suede"

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard the buzz about Sleek Makeup's blushes, which hopped over the pond from the UK. Their blushes look very similar to NARS blushes and are supposed to have high-end quality pigmentation at drugstore prices.

Little Luxuries by MOR Cosmetics

While I was out shopping this weekend, I discovered MOR Cosmetics' Pomegranate French-Milled Bar Soap, the most divine berry scent I've ever smelled, and bought all of the bars I could find in the store.

MOR Cosmetics Pomegranate French-Milled Bar Soap, $9 at Amazon.com

MOR is an Australian company that makes cosmetics and bath products that look and smell luxurious. Their products include body butters, lotions, soap, bath soaks, lip gloss, candles, perfume oils, scrubs, hand creams, and more. I love the cute little Lip Macarons:

MOR products would make amazing gifts because of their uber-cute packaging. You can find gift sets on their website and you can also find some of their older products at BeautyTicket.com, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's.

Organize Your Bag with This Glam Joyrich x LeSportsac Tristlet

If there was a Guinness World Record for having the messiest purse in history, I would probably win. I'm the worst when it comes to organizing my bag- I just throw a bunch of shit in and dig for anything I need. But, after spotting this "tristlet" from Joyrich LA and LeSportSac on Karmaloop.com, I decided to turn a new leaf.

Shake up Your Makeup with Plum Blush!

It's getting cold out here in L.A.- I went to the beach last weekend for one last hurrah and promptly froze my *ss off, turned around, and went back home :( *Sigh*. Almost time to trade the bikinis for trench coats and flip flops for boots... but not just yet. Until then, all I can do is Fall-ify my makeup and nails... since the cooler weather suddenly makes bright peach cheeks and neon pink nails seem out of place.

My new beauty obsession this season is plum-colored blush, which looks so chic and makes a girl stand out from the rosy-cheeked crowd. It might seem intimidating at first, seeing purple blush in the pan, but use a skunk brush and a light hand and you'll get a gorgeous flush of plum.

Here are few that are guaranteed to look amazing with any Fall outfit: 

"MAC "Plum Foolery" Blush (light to medium skin tones)

 

 Black Radiance "Plum Sorbet" Blush (medium to dark skin tones)"

 

Bobbi Brown "Plum Wine" Blush (medium skin tones)

 

Chanel "Plum Attraction" Blush (olive to tan skin tones)

 

 Milani "Plum Parfait" Blush (olive to dark skin tones)

 

MAC "Breath of Plum" Blush (light to medium skin tones)

Note: All references to skin tones are suggestions only! You can definitely experiment with any of these colors, no matter what your skin tone :)

Would you wear plum blush in the Fall?

The Bold and The Beautiful: Bright Makeup from Indie Cosmetics Lines

SLEEK MAKEUP

My favorite products: the gorgeous, highly-pigmented blushes (great dupes for NARS blushes)

Sleek Santorini Blush, $6.50

Sleek Aruba Blush, $6.50

Sleek Blushes, $6.50 Each

MEDUSA'S MAKEUP

 My favorite products: the Eye Dusts and Lip Glosses

Medusa's Makeup Eye Dusts, $6 each

Medusa's Makeup Lip Gloss Set of 12, $29

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE COSMETICS

 My favorite products:the super-pigmented Lip Tars, which you can wear alone or mix to blend your own custom colors

OCC Lip Tars, $13 each

FACE FRONT COSMETICS

 My favorite products: the bright Cream Blushes and Color Bases

Face Front Cream Blushes, $11 each

Face Front Color Bases, $9.50 each

SUGARPILL COSMETICS 

My favorite products:  Loose Eye Shadows

Sugarpill Cosmetics Loose Eye Shadow, $12 each

NYX "Haute Jersey" Palette: It's Like Snooki-in-A-Box

Like any other born-and-raised New Yorker, I was bred to hate all things Jersey. That is, until I started watching Jersey Shore on MTV. For the record, my boyfriend and I only started watching that show so we could bash the pumpkin-orange, fist-pumping mess of a cast but, admittedly, I'm kind of obsessed with it now. (Hey, every girl's allowed to have some guilty pleasures.)

Now, to my even greater shame as a New Yorker, I have another Jersey-related obsession: the "Haute Jersey" palette by NYX Cosmetics. (Although the name will always be an oxymoron to me.)

NYX Cosmetics Haute Jersey Palette, $25

This palette is like Snooki-in-A-Box:  the leopard print (which is definitely what drew me to this thing in the first place), the bronzers, the intense eye shadow colors... as Ms. Polizzi would say, "It's fuckin awesome."

NYX Cosmetics Haute Jersey Palette, $25