Birthday Haul (part 1): otherwise known as "I didn't need any more makeup"

Ok, I know I haven't given this blog the attention it deserves. So, my most recent haul has inspired me to come back and talk about the pretties - ALL THE PRETTIES!! This is part 1 of my birthday haul. There is still another Sephora order and a Fyrinnae order and whatever fun stuff my family decide to gift me with :-P

First of all, the Too Faced Palettes are very nice. I don't know why I never gave them a look before. The first one is called "Glamour To Go" and it's in pretty black ornate packaging. Very Anna Sui-ish! The 8 eyeshadows are easy to wear as they're nice midrange colors that blend well. Other than the pink and white (obviously intended as highlights) you could use any shade as an all over lid color.  In the slide out tray below there is a blush, highlighter and bronzer. The blush is pink enough for my cool complexion and the bronzer is subtle enough - you don't have to worry about that oompa loompa look!

Secondly, Glamour To Go II is a similar quality. Smooth, non-chalky colors in a range of easy to wear colors. There are shades of brown, tan and greys with a  pale pink and creamy yellow thrown in for easy highlights. In the tray below you will find 4 lip colors and a lovely pink blush. Again, I am pale and cool tones, but I can wear this palette.

Next item I ordered was the Stila "Love at First Blush Palette". I missed out on the one last year that had the gold overspray so when I saw this one I had to have it. There was also an option to order it with 2 coordinating lipglosses, but those glosses just aren't applealing to me so I went with the blush on its own. The surface of the blush has layered heart in relief and 3 separate colors. In the middle of the pan is a candy pink color (no sparkle). The bottom of the palette has a more vibrant pink tone and the top of the pan features shimmery lavender hearts. Using the right blush brush you could absolutely control what color or colors you put on your cheeks. I've been leaning towards using the middle and bottom color as my blush with the lavender as my highlighter,.

To wrap up today's haul I'll just mention that this year's Birthday Gift at Sephora is very nice. I'd always meant to try Fresh lipbalms and I can report I'm smitten :)  Lastly, I got a mini Shiseido lipstick and it's really all that. The color is RD305 which looks like a darker red in the tube, but goes on my pigmented lips as a more berry tone. Now I'm going to have to give Shiseido a chance. **grumble**

Until later, kittens. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the pudding

Color Craze nailpolish sets

Out and about today I happened upon these LA Colors nailpolish sets. I'd seen them before and decided against them, but today I was weak. There was a set of full size bottles, then there were these 2 sets of minis. I find mini ANYTHING tough to resist. Especially in a makeup item. I just never finish anything, so minis work for me.

It was tough to capture the glitter in the second set as I shot the pictures at night with flash. The 2 sets were definitely made to go together. There's a purple glitter to go over the purple cream, a gorgeous teal glitter to go over the teal blue cream. There're silver and gold glitter too, which will mix and match well. The pink one (2nd from the left) is a very pretty jelly with microglitter that almost glows! Is that the "holo" I hear people talk about?

What really impressed me about these nail polishes is that they're "3 Big Free" - no toulene, formeldahyde or DPB. That's something the higher end brands are doing now. It's nice to have a healthier product that's so affordable. Each set of 5 mini polishes was $2.99 and that is a bargain.