IMATS 2013 Haul

Hey dolls! I know I am a bit late in posting my IMATS Haul but right after my mini vacay to Pasadena I have been working non stop! I had the best time at IMATS this year and it was really amazing getting to see everyone, meet new people, visit the different brands and admire all of the talented makeup artists & special fx artists all under one roof! If you have an IMATS Haul blog post or YouTube video please leave your links in the comments below. I would love to watch them all!

Let's begin!

Velour Lashes - I have been wanting to try these lashes for the longest time. The price was definitely holding me back. I was extremely happy to see Velour Lashes at IMATS and to find out that their lashes were on sale! I was immediately attracted to this style which is called "Oops! Naughty Me" I love how they looked layered and they are longer in the middle. I usually wear a winged liner and I love having more volume in the center of my lids. They feel so luxe and look very natural. 

Lit Cosmetics - You all know how much I love glitter right? Lit Cosmetics has the best glitter out there. I love that you get to chose the cut size of the glitter. I usually get size 2 and 3. From left to right I got Peacock, Hot Chocolate & Twisted Sistah. I can not wait to incorporate these glitter into my looks. I have a difficult time photographing glitter so if any of my fellow Beauty Bloggers have any tips I would greatly appreciate that.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics - OCC was packed. I was pretty bummed because I wanted to try out their concealers but it was really hard to get a chance to grab any testers. I knew that I wanted these two lip tars in Vintage and Hoochie. Both of these lip tars are must haves for your collection. I can see myself wearing Vintage everyday. It is the perfect deep red. Hoochie is lighter than Belladonna and is more on the magenta side. Love them both!

Sugarpill - We may sometimes think to ourselves, "Why don't I own this already?" and that is exactly how I feel about Goldilux Loose Eyeshadow from Sugarpill. I would see this color featured in so many gorgeous looks. I really have no idea what took me so long to get it but I am so happy that I am finally a proud owner of Goldilux! Let me tell you, Sugarpill had this AMAZING palette for sale that featured all of their eyeshadows rolled up into this mega palette. I was so close to buying it but since I already own the Burning Heart palette I just couldn't do it. When that palette does hit the Sugarpill website I may consider it again.

Lime Crime - So many items that I wanted to get! Let's start off with her newly reformulated and repackaged Eyeshadow Helper. I loved the original primer but the concept of needing a spatula to scoop out the primer every time was a bit time consuming. I love that it is in a tube now. I have already used this primer and it works just like the original! Next on the list was Poisonberry lipstick. This lipstick is beyond. When I run out which I probably will because I feel like wearing it every day I will definitely buy back ups. Drum roll please...Velvetines!!! I can not even begin to describe how awesome this product truly is. I bought Red Velvet and Suedeberry. They look like a gloss but in reality they are like a matte lipstick. They are not dry whatsoever. I wore Red Velvet out and by the end of the night it was just as vibrant as it was when I first applied it. This is my honest feedback. I always prep my lips with lip balm but there are some matte lipsticks out there that even with my lip balm tend to get dried out and make my lips feel tight. I do not get that feeling with the Velvetines. The bad news is that they are currently sold out on the Lime Crime website but they will be back in stock in March. Lime Crime also hinted about adding more colors to their lineup. I can't even.

Not Pictured - Sadly, there were a few products that I did not get a chance to photograph up close. (a.k.a I forgot) I also got Model In A Bottle setting spray, Sigma E40 Tapered Blending Brush, Sigma F05 Small Contour Brush, Ardell Wispies which also came with a free large makeup case.

Review - Benefit Cosmetics Perk-Up Artist

Hello!! Today I will be reviewing Perk Up Artist from Benefit Cosmetics. It is a trio of different color correctors and comes with a travel sized double-ended brush.

Official Description - This portable complexion correcting kit has everything you need to correct, cover, and brighten. Disguise redness and discoloration with the creamy yellow neutralizer. Hide dark circles, imperfections, and blemishes with the beige concealer. And turn tired eyes into big, bright peepers with a perky pink shade.

I tried wearing this product alone and on top of my normal everyday concealer which is Stay Don't Stray from Benefit Cosmetics. I naturally have dark under eye circles and I usually conceal them with my concealer. My concealer definitely gets the job done for me but if I don't use any foundation it looks a bit weird with just the concealer. I wanted to see if the Perk Up Artist would help correct my under eye circles without the need to add foundation on top.

It has a creamy consistency and the product was quite sheer. I had to build it up a bit to notice any corrections. I started off with Cover and in the picture below you will see that it did help correct some of the darkness. That was after about 3-4 layers. I think this product would be great for those that need light coverage. I went in with Brighten after to see if it would give me that pop of brightness but it then took more layering to notice anything. 

After all of the layering it did look like my normal concealer but less heavy. I was pretty excited because even without foundation it looked like I did not have any dark circles. I decided to wear it out for the entire day. After a few hours I noticed creasing, which could of been in large part due to the fact that I had many layers on, and it faded revealing a lot of the dark circles. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out. 

I am not going to give up on this product. I will still use it around red areas that I get around my face like around my nose. It definitely won't help with any red blemishes I get around my forehead but I will use it on areas that can use light coverage.

» Price -  $30.00

» Availability - Benefit Cosmetics

» Overall Rating - Light coverage color correcting trio. Recommended for those that do not need full coverage. Goes on sheer and when layered it caused creasing. Comes in a convenient travel friendly compact. I would not give it high ratings nor low ratings. Average.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored review. Although I did not pay for the product I was not asked to promote or do a review on it. These are my honest opinions.

MAC Strength & Aprés Chic Swatches

Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you all some pics and swatches of a few things that I picked up from MAC Cosmetics newest collections. I bought two lipsticks from their Strength Collection and one MSF from their Aprés Chic collection. 

I am in love with the two lipsticks that I got from Strength. The lipsticks launched early online so I was able to place an order right when it came up. Strong Woman is described as a bright violet. The second I put this lipstick I fell in love. It is a gorgeous violet color that has me so excited to wear it out. This is one that I am regretting not getting a few backups of. Party Parrot is described as a bright red-pink and it is a strong vibrant color. I was super bummed that I missed this lipstick when it launched with a previous MAC collection. It is definitely a statement lip and has just the right amount of red and pink. 

The Mineralize Skin Finish that I bought from Aprés Chic was Stereo Rose. I love MSF and Stereo Rose was definitely one that I needed for my MSF collection. Stereo Rose is described as coral with golden/bronze shimmering nuances. I love coral blushes but this one is a perfect mix of coral and gold. 

Stereo Rose

Party Parrot

Strong Woman

Influenster Cosmo VoxBox Review

Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you my new Cosmo VoxBox that I received from Influenster! The site is now invite only so please let me know if you are interested in getting an invite so I can send you one! Here are the goodies that were in my Cosmo VoxBox.

FriXion by Pilot Pen
» Price - $4.58 for a 3-pack / $11.00 for 8-pack
» Description - Do you want to be mistake free? Now you can be with FriXion by Pilot Pen. FriXion writes unbelievably smoothly, in expressive gel ink colors, and erases completely with its rubber tip. You have to try it to believe it! FriXion is the newest innovation from Pilot, the #1 seller of gel ink pens in America. So, with FriXion....who's perfect now?
» My Review - This reminded me of grade school when there were pens out with magical erasers. I remember ripping a hole through my paper trying to erase the pen marks. This pen wrote nice and smoothly. It has a nice fine tip that does not release too much ink. Now on to the erasing part, while it did erase it what I wrote it did not erase it completely. I guess it depends how dark you write. Perhaps if I were to write a bit more softly the writings would erase completely. The price point isn't so bad. I would definitely recommend these pens to those that are required to write in pen but tend to make that occasional error that needs slight erasing.

Forever Red Eau de Parfume Exclusively at Bath & Body Works
» Price - $10.00 for .25 fl oz / 7mL / $44.50 for Full Size
» Description - A Touch of red is pure magic! Bath & Body Works introduces you to their new, most luxurious fragrance ever, as you lavishly spray on a passionate blend of pomegranate & red osmanthus with a sexy surprise of vanilla rum, for a forever enchanting way to fragrance. Even will be commenting on how great you smell.
» My Review - The description of the scent is spot on! Starts off smelling like pomegranate and continues to work it's way through the other notes. It was not bad but it definitely has a strong staying power that may not be that great for those that can get nauseated easily. I sprayed it once and that was enough to leave a statement. Fragrances are a bit hard to review because from what I have come to understand we all have different opinions on what smells good. It doesn't smell bad but it is definitely not something I would go out of my way to buy.

Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape
» Price - $2.79
» Description - The decadently rich and creamy milk chocolate in Sea Salt Escape is combined with bursts of sea salt and roasted almonds delivering an epicurean chocolate experience. Experience a moment of timeless pleasure with all natural Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate. Is your mouth watering too?
» My Review - So delicious. I love mixing chocolate with salty foods. It tastes so good. This chocolate bar is not overpowered with the Sea Salt at all. It has just the right amount of salt that you can slightly taste it. It was delicious with every bite. The almonds also provided a great crunch.

Venus
» Price - $3.50 - $4.50 per month for blade refills
» Description - The Fall Cosmo VoxBox contains not one, but two Venus products! Since any Venus blade refill fits any Venus razor handle, we're giving you two to mix-and-match!
» » Gillette Venus Embrace - Venus Embrace blade refills provide an ultra close shave with five blades that hug curves to get virtually every hair. Available in 4- and 8- count packages.
» » Venus & Olay Razor - Venus & Olay blade refills feature Olay Moisture Bars that contain skin conditioners to help lock in moisture and with every smoothing stroke, Venus' five blades provide an ultra-close shave. Available in 3-count packages.
» My Review - I was so excited to see Venus products in my Cosmo VoxBox. I fell in love with the previous Venus product that I received in my other VoxBox so I knew these were going to be another hit! I reviewed the Venus & Olay one in my previous Influenster post so please check out my review on that one. The razors provide a superb shave and I did not have any cuts. My legs felt extremely smooth afterwards.  It was able to bend easily when it went past on my knees. I love these razors and will continue to buy the refills.

Disclaimer: Influenster sent these products for free with the purpose of reviewing.